Adrenaline Rush

He ran as fast as he could towards the base camp, where Tanik, Naren, Venkatesh and Mahendra stood, glaring at him.

"I always knew that you would be the reason for my death." Naren snapped.

"For the first time in my life, I think Naren is right." Tanik agreed.

Ishar looked at them sheepishly.

"Well, what's done is done. I'm sorry. Now, we need to focus on saving India from the wrath of these aliens. Pralaya-1 has already entered Earth's atmosphere. There is going to be havoc everywhere- the media, government pressure. How do we even get up there?" Ishar asked.

o

"Why do you want to get up there?" Tanik said, "I don't think they want to negotiate…"

"Well," Ishar answered thoughtfully, "If I can get into the control rooms, I can somehow stop the spaceship from entering deeper into the atmosphere. We can blow it up in space, from the inside."

Naren looked at him blankly. "And how are you going to escape, once the spaceship blows up?"

Ishar hadn't thought of that part yet.

"Well, I have had a really good idea. I will tell you later."

Naren eyed him suspiciously but did not ask any more questions. Then, he smirked. 

"Well, as you all know, I am an Air Force Officer. Our jets have the ability to soar really high, and multiple defense weapons-"

"-Did you forget that Pralaya-1 melts everything that lands on it?" Tanik asked.

"Nope. As I was saying, Pralaya-1 is currently about 20,000 kilometers up in the sky. At the speed by which it is declining, it will reach 10,000 kilometers in 2 hours. One of our best fighter jets, the LCA Tejas, can reach an altitude of about 17,000 meters.

Now, you said that the aliens have given us a time of 7 hours, now only 6 hours and 45 minutes, so I am sure that they will slow Pralaya-1 down, somewhere in the middle. If we wait for about 3-4 hours, after it reaches Earth's mid-atmosphere, we might have a chance of dropping you inside the spaceship, using LCA Tejas."

Ishar mentally calculated the time, and then gave Naren a blank look, slightly frowning. "But that will give me only 1-2 hours to try and stop them. That isn't enough time."

Naren looked at him, irritated,

"Look, this is our best shot. Do you want to stop them or not?"

Ishar glared at him.

"How are we going to get it here?"

Naren smirked. "Just leave that to me,"

Ishar nodded. Then, he looked at Mahendra and Venkatesh. "You two should probably start finding the dimanium. I don't know, read ancient scriptures or something, but just be sure to find it."

Mahendra and Venkatesh nodded, disappearing into the camp with notepads and some books. 

"So…" Tanik said, "Have Gargi and Anjani found out what powers the weapons?"

Ishar shrugged, his eyes filled with hope. "No, I haven't. But, if the astras don't work, I think I'm going to have to carry a missile with me inside the ship, and hope that the interior doesn't melt everything that touches it. They will reach the camp in an hour."

"And what about Pratap, Aniket and Karan? Why didn't you call them here?" Naren asked.

"They have installed the satellite program at the Shimla Science Camp, and will be controlling the small spy device at a safe distance. Besides, one of the ISRO headquarters is near them, in case they need more computerized power."

The three went back inside the camp, feeling tremendously anxious about the upcoming disaster. It was as if their days, more like hours, had been numbered.

They kept glancing at the large screen which tracked Pralaya-1's movements, each second passing with thundering anticipation. An hour went by into helping Mahendra and Venkatesh search for the dimanium, using Tanik's naval resources. However, it seemed that their ancestors really wanted no one to find the rest of it.

Suddenly, the tent burst open, revealing Anjani, Gargi, and a few other scientists. They had large black bags, along with some scientific instruments, which contained the astras.