Deadline

Saying those menacing words, the alien slithered out of the window in a blink of a second. Ishar rushed out of the cabin, searching furiously for that back-stabbing idiot. How dare he just disappear, after threatening to end the world?!

Ishar looked around some more, but gave up in the end. He looked reluctantly towards the sky, glaring at the alien spaceship. 

7 hours.

420 minutes.

25, 200 seconds.

That's all they had left to save the world from its fate. Ishar could feel himself sweating anxiously. However, he knew that this wasn't the time to panic, or back out from fear. He was a soldier. An Indian soldier. He had been prepared, mentally and physically, for such hard times as these.

It was his duty, as a leader and a patriot, to never give up, to try with all of his best efforts to stop the invaders. And that was exactly what he was going to do now.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. As expected, it was Pratap's call. Tanik and Naren had also joined in. He received it, only to hear a clamor of panicked voices from the other side. 

"Can you see-"

"It just started-"

"Predicted 7 hours-"

"Stop," Ishar finally said, "I know what's going on. As you guys might have found out, our deadline of 20 days has been…reduced."

Pratap started speaking in a suspicious voice, "But didn't they promise to give us 20 days? What in the world provoked them?"

"Err…" Ishar started. How do you tell your closest friends that you are literally sped up the destruction of the world?

"I found Dr. Tanvir. And guess what. He's an alien. And I might have, unintentionally of course, angered him. Just a little."

He winced sheepishly as he heard his team members groaning disapprovingly. 

Gargi spoke up finally, "Look Ishar. We all have come to an agreement. We will remark on your stupidity, after saving our country. As Pralaya-1 inches closer, our communication devices will completely stop working. The whole country, maybe the globe will be in a black out."

"You tell us what to do. Lead us, like you always do, and hope that this mission will be a success." Karan remarked.

Ishar sighed, and glanced at the horizon. The sun was dipping below the water, and night had begun to spread its dark wings across the sky. A plan began formulating in his mind.

"Listen everyone. I have recorded everything the alien said and did, when I entered the cabin. I will send it to you. You might get a good idea of what's going to happen. Since Dr. Tanvir has the satellite camera inside the spaceship, Pratap, Aniket and Karan should try to get control of it again, to provide surveillance and security from inside the spaceship. Anjani, Gargi, do something, absolutely anything to get those astras working. It would be better if you come here, in Kerala with all your tools. Meanwhile, me, Tanik and Naren will find out how to stop them…or stall them. We know that Pralaya-1 is most likely to appear at the singular spot, so we might as well be there.

Mahendra, Venkatesh, you guys know everything about these aliens. Try to get your hands on the dimanium. Everything started because of that stupid substance. And whatever you all are going to do, do it fast."

"But, we don't have enough time to complete the tests and find out what powers the astras…what are we going to do if they don't work?" Anjani asked, worried.

Ishar clicked his tongue. "They have to work. If they don't, it will be terrible. And I'm not only talking about us."

There was a rapt silence on the other end. After some minutes, all the team members agreed to do their duties relentlessly. Ishar looked at his watch. 12:30 am. At 7:20 am, the aliens would strike.