Time Renewed!

Nagesh Kumar CS
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781549865848

2017 Nagesh Kumar CS (Author)

 DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my family

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NAGESH KUMAR CS

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 TIME RENEWED!

Contents
1. Spacecraft arrives ....................................................................
2. The spacetime pundit!............................................................

3. Space travel to yesterday .......................................................

4. Back Yesterday ........................................................................

5. Closing In .................................................................................

6. Escape from captivity .............................................................

7. Return to Space .......................................................................

8. New Year Anew ......................................................................

9. Reboot Life! ..............................................................................
ABOUT THE AUTHOR .....................................................................

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NAGESH KUMAR CS

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 TIME RENEWED!

1. Spacecraft arrives
January 1, 2050.

Nandi Hills, Near Bangalore, India

When Alex Salian left the guest house at the top of

Nandi hills, it was exactly 8.00 am on January 1. He
drove down the serpentine hilly roads in his white
Ford SUV with ease, hardly expecting any traffic
either way on that day and time. And he was not
surprised.

It is not everyone who wakes up in a Hill resort on

the New Year day that early and drive back to the
City. They would be in all probabilities sound asleep.
It was only him every year and every time, who did
this religiously and he was happy with it. He sighed
as he negotiated an S-pin bend downhill. His
Intelligence bureau ID badge twinkled in sunlight,

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

where it lay on the dashboard announcing to the

world that he was a Deputy Director in the Bangalore
City office of the Intelligence Bureau.

He sighed with melancholy. That was all he was left

with. Try as he might he would never forget this day
in his life. Was it not on the fateful New Year eve
three years ago that he was in a luxurious city Club in
a New Year s Party with his lovely fiance lice
D Costa having the time of his life?. Everything then
had seemed so optimistic. Alice was a dimpled curly
haired 5 ft 8 in tall svelte beauty, whom he had
chased fervently and finally, she had accepted him as
her suitor.

Their togetherness, the laughter, the love. It was just

perfect. They were looking forward to not just the
break of a New Year dawn but were on the threshold
of a new life itselfhmmm. Whoever knew that it
was going to be so short-lived?

The sudden deafening blast that had ricocheted in the

Club hall at exactly midnight brought in a death and
devastation among the revellers like never before. A
cloud of smoke and all-pervading soot enveloped the
place and cries of pain and distress rang out. He had
survived and he came to a few minutes later. He had
looked for her, his Alice among the dead and the

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 TIME RENEWED!

dying, the blood and broken bon

es that littered the floor. He had found her mangled
body. He had lost her. Forever.

The bomb was detonated by a terror group; it was

learnt later through the latest rage, the New Age
Internet sky-cast that facilitated laser projections of
news on the sky so everyone could see. Only this time
it had made them gasp, some twenty innocent lives
lost for a cause only those terrorists believed in. New
Global Force Terror network, the group called itself.
They had bragged in their sky-cast that they were
indeed responsible and it was as usual just a
beginning and a sample .

ut the sample had been enough to destroy lex s

future personal life. nd lice s as well.

He had been in the hospital too for a few weeks

suffering from a fracture, a concussion and shock.
Then he had returned to a barren empty life. Without
Alice.

He had sought to lose himself working all the time. It

had helped. He had solved many a tough case and
earned a fair bit of respect from his bosses and
colleagues alike. He had become a specialist in
tracking down and busting terrorist networks.

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

But the New Year eve was always a sore memory

with him. He would leave home on 31st Dec evening
and spend a lonely night in this remote guest house.
Deliberately avoiding human contact and socializing.
Just to immerse himself in lice s memories. ll by
himself. It was a medicine for his injured soul. He
would drive down to the office the next day, the Jan
1st, not caring that it was an Official holiday and get
back to work.

He had done this every year since Alice died. This

time it was going to be no different, he thought
grimly. He will enter a near-empty office and lose
himself in some files.

He had turned another blind curve when he saw

something twinkle on the far horizon. He would have
dismissed it as an optical illusion but for the fact that
something large showed up in a few seconds on the
spot! He slowed down almost stopping and crinkled
up his eyes to look closely.

What, his mouth slowly opened in disbelief. It was a

huge cloud-like object racing towards him in the clear
morning sky. Was it a bird, an aeroplane or
Superman, he laughed at the comparison.

Well, it was certainly a golden globe like-object

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 TIME RENEWED!

hurling towards him, its metallic sheen twinkling in

the sun. He quickly stopped the car to the side of the
hill road and almost stumbled out of the van.

As he looked, it slowly dawned on him that it was no

mirage but a real spacecraft. His heart pounded in his
chest wildly and legs felt weak.

His lips felt dry and he had the presence of mind to

whip out his iPhone and turned the camera towards
the flying object.

But to his utter surprise, he found that his iPhone was

dead. Well, he had charged it the previous night and
it was working fine a few minutes ago.

As he looked the spacecraft or whatever it was,

slowed down as it neared him and stood still in the
sky. Alex could still not believe that an encounter was
happening to him on this lonely hill road right then.
He observed quickly that the vessel was about 100 ft.
in diameter and stretched to 50 ft. tall at the centre.
And it was spinning slowly around its axis as it stood
still as if observing him and challenging him to act.
Then suddenly a yellow beam of light shot out from
its bottom, and the whole area was suddenly bathed
in the gilded light. He looked at his Casio digital
watch and noticed that the dial had no display. It was

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blank!

But Alex stood stupefied, overwhelmed by the sight.

But the spacecraft would not let him be. The yellow
light which bathed him and the surroundings even in
the morning sun was drawing him up and away from
the ground.

Alex panicked out of sheer reflex and tried to stand

his ground, resisting the pull. He was soon floating
up above the ground, like a bird, drawn inexorably by
some magnetic attraction to the spacecraft.

He realized with a growing feeling of panic that he

was actually being sucked into the massive glowing
udders of the floating spinning object above. He
wanted to scream but his voice failed. The glowing
yellow light was all-pervading and intense. Quickly
his SUV van and the earth vanished from sight as he
floated up.

He floated in, sort of rushed into the bottom hatch of

the craft which stood open. He floated right inside
and his feet landed on the floor of the vessel.

He looked in awe at where he had arrived. It was

nothing very spectacular, but he noticed the metallic
exterior walls were not visible from the inside and it
was like a normal well lit room with soft walls but he

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could not see any lights. And it was bare, except for a
small ergonomic computer chair in the corner. Like
the ones, you see anywhere in the world. And the
yellow light was gone. Also, the hatch had seamlessly
closed behind him without sound. He was secured
inside this...what?

Quickly, lex s patience evaporated and he yelled at

no one in particular because there was no one inside.

Hey, who the hell are you? ...Why am I here?

He noticed that it was cool inside as if it had air-

conditioning. Again he saw that the walls and interior
were suffused with off-white light, not too bright. But,
no lamps.

After a brief pause as he wrestled with the thought of

shouting again, there came a reply in a kind of flat
robotic voice,

Please sit in the chair, Mr lex Salian! . It was in

English, not loud and without any emotion. But he
could not see who spoke.

lex shook his head, Look, what s going on here?

Who are you and how do you know me?...and The
words tumbled out in growing desperation.

lex Salian, the I Deputy DirectorCan you please

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sit? We have a lot to discuss .

He shivered with the realization that the voice had

now spoken in his native Indian language, Kannada,
not English. But the voiceover came from the other
corner of the vessel. There was no one visible.

The hell with this special effects stuff, he thought

irritated. Space vessel or new aircraft gadget on trial,
who cares?

He warned Look, Mr Special-Effects-Guy, whoever

you are. I don t give a damn. You have just
kidnapped an Intelligence officer in our country and
that s a crime. So just let me go back to my van and I
will forget all about it

He just heard an hmmmm sound from the corner as if

the invisible person was considering his threat.

lex gritted his teeth, s far as these special effects

are concerned, show it some school kids hooked on
sci-fi movies and TV shows. Doesn t awe me... He
was lying, he was in fact astonished to the core, but
he had no other option to bring the other person out
in the open.

The voiceover came back. Mr lex Salian, you are

everything we imagined you would be: bold, tough

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and outspokenwell, you are in no position to

threaten. You will understand shortly. Can you sit
there, please? We have provided a normal chair
belonging to your planet. Would that be OK? I will
join you soon

Oh, this was a conversation. Not some recording.

There WAS someone he could not see. But why? It
was quite clear these people did not belong to the
Earth, the way the speaker put it.

Alex sat down in the chair realizing that this was not
going to end anytime soon.

You see, you are now in the mother vessel belonging

to us. We are from a galaxy several million light years
away from here. We have come deliberately to meet
you in person The voiceover paused for effect.

I have no intention of speaking to an empty room

and a voice, if that is your idea of a meeting, lex
said tersely.

Oh pardon us, Mr Salian. The voiceover even

giggled like a human for the first time, You are not
able to see us with your eyes because we exist in a six-
dimensional universe

Alex never believed in the lien nonsense as he

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termed it with his friends, and nor did he do now.

If this is going to be over soon, can I get back to my

car and my office... he drawled, just to show that he
was hard to shake.

Hmmm The sound of a metallic hum came from the

speaker, You may please walk over to the glass
window and see for yourself if we are anywhere near
your office and Earth...

Alex shot out of the chair and went to the small

glazed panel that was embedded in the external wall.
He saw and gasped.

The whole outside was fully enveloped in the

shimmering yellow light that he had seen before. No
sky. No Earth. Nothing.

The voiceover came back helpfully, Oh, we are in

your Earth s orbit now, but we are in the fifth
dimension and quite invisible to your prying radar
and satellite eyes. That fifth dimension has the yellow
light, through which drew you in here, actually...well,
Mr Salian, you will return to Earth when we decide
soand now please go back to your seat This time
the voice seemed to emphasize that he was in their
control.

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lex was flabbergasted. Travelling on Earth s orbit,

Fifth dimension and invisible beings!!...What was
happening on this New Year day? Was it a fantastic
dream after all?

It is no dream, after all, this is quite true... lex was

shocked that the invisible speaker could read his
thoughts immediately.

The voiceover continued unperturbed at lex s

astonishment, Hope you are aware that this
Universe exists in more than 3 dimensions and you
know something about possible life forms in other
parts of this large system

lex sad sardonically, Yes, of late we have been

learning in our office about these celestial enemies
and how they might attack and harm us and so I am
aware of the space theory... He wanted to drive
home that Earthlings are not so nave.

The voiceover actually laughed, ttack from celestial

beings, huh? That s unbelievable coming from you,
beset as you are with your own internal enemies who
are bent on mass destruction. Besides we, who have
moved on millions of light years ago from this
primitive existence to higher forms what do we
gain by attacking you?If we will The voice

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continued in an air of self-aggrandizement, We can

destroy your planet the moment we wish sitting right
on our own planet. It s all so easy. But we have come
with a totally different motive now To protect your
Earth

Alex was thinking that this voice was speaking so

sensibly and he could be right too. They had not
behaved like enemies so far. But who are they and
why are they here and, specifically what do they want
with him?

Look, I do not know who you are. ut tell me, is this

for real? Or is this spacecraft drama just another test
devised by our Defence people to test my resistance
capabilities? He asked with purpose. He had to
know.

The voiceover hummed again, The reason you are

so suspicious of us is that you cannot see us. I can
come down from my six-dimensional level to three,
so I will visible to you. I can take some human body
and appear holographic Will that be fine with
you?

Yes, he had no intention of conversing with just a

voice in an empty chamber. Yes, please take some
form so I can see who I am talking with

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The minute he said it, a form started taking shape. It

was a holographic image of a man. He was wearing
an old-fashioned blue suit of an Air force officer with
a hat too. The paper-thin image projected in front
showed him sitting on a chair, about 6 feet in front
away facing him. It was so surreal.

He looked like a Eurasian man in forties, but from a

different era.

Hope you approve my makeover. I just picked a

mental image of a human being and an officer, and
simply wore it to appear quickly in front of you...
The image said self-consciously, You may call me
Captain ce, and I command this spaceship...

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2. The spacetime pundit!

Alex was impressed. This ET guy had picked a

respectable looking Airforce Captain s looks and he
was speaking in English and Kannada languages
switching from one to another with consummate ease!

He was about to say, You can call me lex too when

Captain Ace picked up his thought waves and
nodded affirmatively, cutting him short.

Well, lex. Thanks for taking me at this holographic

face value! I will explain and answer all your
questions now...

Captain ce continued, We know you as Alex

Salian, Deputy Director of IB in India. In fact, we

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know almost everything about your life.

lex interrupted, Do you keep a dossier on me?

Captain Ace laughed. This time Alex could see his

features.

Nothing so primitive. We just studied your life, from

birth to death on the space-timeline He sounded
like a professional astrologer doing mundane work.

lex kept quiet. His mind was in a whirl. It s not

every day that you meet an Alien fortune-teller.

s I said earlier, you must believe that there are

several life forms in the Universe too. You are not
alone, as they say. We hail from a galaxy, vertically
above your solar system called SMC, which is two
hundred thousand Light years distant. We inhabit a
planet there called CalmPlace. Our life started several
billion years ago and we started losing human
physical forms similar to yours and after many
mutations, we now exist in a six-dimensional space
upgrading ourselves from a three-dimensional
constrained world. We have in this long journey
conquered many physical and metaphysical barriers
and have advanced unimaginably compared to your
status...We have now started patrolling the Universe
like a peacekeeping forcelike galactic cops on

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rounds

I am sure all this may sound so much like a fairy

tale, but since I am here and you are here, you must
believe me

When Captain ce paused, lex pitched in, So you

knew me as living here now, despite having travelled
thousands of light years from your homes... You lived
so many years and knew it back then?

Captain Ace made a smirking sound like a professor

makes when his favourite pupil said something
stupid.

He replied, lex, again you are talking in terms of

physical measurements of time and distance as
known to humans. ut I don t fault you there. You
still have a lot to know. If I were to give you a small
lecture about space-time continuum and many of its
wonderful aspects, I feel things might become clearer
to you...hmmm?

lex shrugged Yes, you may do that , though he

felt it was sounding more and more like a Harry
Potter plot.

Captain Ace started to explain,

Well, for a beginning, Space and Time are not

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different, they are one...

Your own Dr lbert Einstein who propounded the

theory of relativity was correct, though late by
millions of years compared to us. But that started
some path-breaking debates and discovery of
Spacetime which your scientists are only just
beginning to scratch the surface of. For us, it is all
done and dusted. We already knew that the time is
different for different places on earth too. It is a day to
someone in one part while it is a night to an
unimaginably large area like this Universe and you
can see where it leads to. Actually, there is nothing
distinct like the past and the present or the future. In
the same fabric of spacetime, everything is embedded
already.

Which means, neither the past is over, nor is the

future yet to come. Everything is just present
Every timeframe is available somewhere on this
vast Spacetime. But it is we, who during our life s
journey keep going one timeframe to another and
consider the events as, the present, past and the
future. Did you so far understand this aspect about
the relative time?

Alex was, of course, hooked onto this school of

thought and nodded his head enthusiastically,

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Oh, wow. That means all the events of our lives are
already embedded in the vast fabric of spacetime but
it s only we who keep moving forward holding to a
rope of time and events keep unfolding to us
progressively. But truly speaking, the past and the
future are also co-existent, am I right?

Captain ce nodded appreciatively, Yes, that s the

aspect of Non-linear time which we understood long,
long ago. But, your human mind is tuned to linear
time so you think moving from the past into the
future is in a straight line, like dominoes knocking
over dominoes.

Alex nodded but did not interrupt.

s we progressed upwards into evolution, we

mutated into a new existence and heightened
perception, and kept conquering one Celestial secret
after another, so to say. Thus we are able to see what
happens in future on the timeline. In fact your future,
specifically

Alex still could not believe the enormity of what was

being told. You are able to see the past and the
future?

Captain Ace sighed and started with his flat robotic

voice again, Yes. Just imagine you are travelling in a

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train and keep seeing one station whiz past your

window after another. So just because you can neither
see the last station nor the next station right now, do
you conclude that they are not there at all? He
challenged lex s comprehension.

It had begun to dawn on lex s stunned mind that

this was a very novel and unheard of approach into
unravelling the mysteries of the Universe he had
heard so far.

The past and the future It is a continuous stream

of existence He nodded his head as he echoed
catching on to the new theories and concepts
unfolding.

Yes. ut remember the past is behind us and almost

impossible to alter, while the future is yet to arrive
and we can shape it the way we want by our choice in
the present...

We can change the future!? lex croaked as if

something got stuck in his throat. This holographic
guy was throwing one shocker after another, he
thought.

Captain ce nodded in affirmation, Yes, we have a

choice. By behaving differently now, we can have an
alternate future forming on our timeline. We can

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change the so-called destiny by simply choosing to act

one way or the other...

The Karma theory... The cause and the effect

muttered Alex, the Indian in him coming forth.

ction and reaction, in scientific terms. Yes, the same

thing. We conquered these long ago and so dis our
technology by leaps and bounds..

lex nodded appreciatively, So I guess you are

certainly our seniors in the Celestial journey and you
have nothing new to learn or gain. But then you are
here...

Captain Ace gave what could be interpreted as a

smile, but most of the time he was expressionless.

We are here for a purpose. I have already told you

that we have been trotting around the remotest
corners of the universe for troubleshooting.

We look closely at some planets and see if they are

on a destructive path for themselves or for their
neighbours in their solar system. If they are, we try to
stop them from harming themselves. We want, as I
said peace and life to prevail...

Alex was thinking hard to see where it is leading to,

Which means there is nothing in it for you. You do it

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as a social service, purely philanthropic as we call

it

The price for evolution, my friend... Captain Ace

actually smiled this time, and our leaders have
taken upon themselves to make the universe a safe
place for everyone.. We have gotten over the petty
feelings of supremacy and acts of destruction
prevalent in beings that are at a lower placer than us
in the chain of evolution. We have actually evolved
into powerful beings with superior consciousness,
trying to be harbingers of peace

Alex cut his rhetoric short with a wave of his hand,

and you are here because there is something
wrong you noticed?

Alex had become a little thirsty and was looking for

some water to drink and could not see any.

Captain Ace again miraculously latched on to his

thoughts, We can get you the same brand of mineral
water that you use, lex. Kinley!

He paused no more than a few seconds and waved

his hands exuberantly. And lo, there appeared out of
nowhere a bottle of Kinley water next to his chair.
This was incredible. These guys must know a lot of
magic out there, Alex surmised.

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Captain Ace crinkled his eyes derisively at him,

Well, not only the same brand, it s the same water
bottle from your refrigerator in your home!

As a stunned Alex listened, the water forgotten in his

hand, Captain ce completed, The same bottle you
had stored before you left home. We just went into
the fifth dimension and your three-dimensional world
fell into our grasp, including your house.Stole it for
you. Hope you don t mind... He raised his eyebrows
comically. Did they watch our TV Comedy show
actors too?

Alex sipped his water, his heart thumping, now fully

aware that he was in the company of some very
advanced and highly resourceful beings.

He said carefully, bout something wrong with our

world... prompting his captor.

Captain Ace looked at Alex intently for a moment,

bout your world, of course. But more specifically
with your country.Indiaand even more
specifically in your City of angalore

Alex thought this was not the right time to correct

Captain Ace that the city had been recently renamed
to Bengaluru. No use splitting hairs, he thought.

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 TIME RENEWED!

Captain Ace continued with his interesting backstory

of how they had to come here, We have been closely
watching your planet you call the Earth from a couple
of hundred years in your measure of time and
beyondI am saddened to say there is a trend of
reversal in your evolution to higher beings. Some
lowly elements with highly destructive weapons are
overriding majority opinion and are indulging in
harm. The wars and the terrorism! Extreme elements
are having a free run in your country. Your city hailed
as Brand Bangalore was blossoming most
handsomely but has been interrupted by Muslim
terror elements from neighbouring countries that are
jealous of your progress...

lex could not hide his smirk this time, You got all
this from the current affairs section of our
newspapers and TV?

Captain Ace listened without emotion and shook his

head, Humour, my friend is a good attitude that fills
human minds with energy and positivity, but entirely
misplaced in this context. Our observational powers
are all-pervading and comprehensive. We know no
barriers, period. It s nothing like the primitive as
news media in your planet. We look at, as I
mentioned the fabric of Spacetime and judge the path
taken by you and the possible resulting future for you
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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

there

Alex realized that he was not here to gain some

brownie points by indulging in wordy one-
upmanship. He wanted to lighten the atmosphere,
ut how did you learn our languages English and
Kannada?

Captain Ace looked at him with twinkling eyes from

his holographic figure, Well, lex, all the languages
you use are sound based pronunciations meant to
convey a message as a common intent. Please don t be
offended if I say that they are a primitive way of
communicating to us. We got to the base by studying
your phonemes and understood the message by the
thoughts they conveyed. Ultimately all languages
convey the same meaning for a given sentence, don t
they? So we process them instantly. I just relayed my
replies back to you, as you understand sounds;
otherwise, it is much simpler and realistic to converse
by exchanging thought waves...

Alex knew at once that he was right. If only our

people understood this philosophy and stopped those
silly fights over language supremacy!

But Alex could not but blurt out the question burning
in his mind, But why are you here and what do you

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want from me?

Captain Ace looked at him like a Professor would at

an impatient pupil, Wait a little more, lex. I am
preparing you for an important mission. It requires all
your fighting abilities and adventurous spiritut let
us again get back to our discussion on Spacetime

You had asked me how could we travel millions of

light years in our lifetime and still be here in time to
meet you. Well, what would you say if I told you that
we left last night from our planet in SMC galaxy and
we're here in the morning... his eyes twinkled again
mischievously, Just an overnight trip!

lex s eyes widened in disbelief. I would say you are

plain crazy if you expect me to be one to swallow
that...? he replied tersely.

Captain Ace threw back his head laugh but checked

himself, probably not to offend Alex.

That is precisely because you think in linear time

and calculate one light year in its actual magnitude.
But we have found a hole in the theory...

He paused for effect as though he was about to

announce something incredible.

Well, not any hole, but a wormhole in the

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

universe

Alex did not get whatever he was meant to.

He shook his head and watched Captain Ace keenly,

a wormhole is like a shortcut in spacetime from A to
. Do you understand?

Alex said he did not know what Captain Ace was

talking about.

Captain ce went on patiently, If a worm wanted to

travel from a side of a fruit to another would you
imagine it would travel all around the periphery and
reach there, or simply it would bore a hole through
and reach there quickly?

lex answered unthinkingly, The latter

If a similar phenomenon were to be possible in the

spacetime of the universe, wouldn t we bore a
shortcut through and reach the destination, a
different place in a different timespan?

lex s eyes widened at the ramifications, but he kept

quiet.

in a feasible travel time, wouldn t you accept that

as a possible solution?

You mean, you used ut he could not find any

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appropriate words to express his astonishment.

Captain Ace nodded in assent,

Wormhole is no more a surmise, nor a theory...it is

there for real and we have been using it for many,
many years

Seeing that Alex was still half-convinced, Captain Ace

continued, As I told you, we left our planet in SMC
Galaxy light years away, only last night and reached
here in the morning when we met you

lex tried to guffaw but could not pull it off, II

would say you are crazy or you are trying to fool
me thinking I would swallow anything you say..!

Captain ce did not take offence, I am not crazy but

you would be if you didn t believe me He said
that plainly enough. These beings, whatever cannot
be offended and angered easily, Alex was thinking.

The Captain shrugged and tried a different tack.

OK, lex, what would you say the time in your

earth would be now?

He saw that his watch was working fine now and it

showed 9.00 am. That would be right; he has hijacked
an hour ago into this spaceship. Alex told him.

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Captain Ace smiled crookedly and waved his finger

in a definitive no.

It is actually nearing pm there, lunchtime as you

would call itelieve that?

Something fell into place in lex s mind. Time warp!

You have slowed down the time here?

Well, we did not, but you are right. Captain Ace

smiled with pride at his new pupil who was catching
up fast.

lex, we are travelling in the outer space and we

have crossed the boundaries of local time as we can
call it. Especially being in the fifth dimension, unseen
to most of your space tracking equipment, which is
confined to Dimensions

lex s heart thumped suddenly, Will I get back to

my planet or he did not want to name the
alternative.

Captain assured him with a benign expression, almost

like a pat on his shoulder.

Yes, lex, you willand you should too as we need

you to achieve something very important, back over
there...

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 TIME RENEWED!

This was getting curioser and weirder!

When? He asked sharply.

Captain Ace took some time as if for a denouement.

Well, we want you to go there yesterday!

33
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

3. Space travel to yesterday

Alex did not jump half a foot but almost.

Captain Ace let his momentous words sink in.

lex recovered remarkably to ask, Time travel? ack

to yesterday? His voice was a croak, but he had
made his point.

Captain Ace seemed to observe him closely now,

Yes, lex. I have already told you about the
existence of wormholes and shortcuts through
spacetime to make our space voyages happen so
successfully. Now you will be a part of it. May I

34
 TIME RENEWED!

continue?

Alex nodded, realizing that this briefing was a crucial

one and his life actually depended on it.

But Captain Ace looked as if he thought of something

he had overlooked. I already said it was lunch time
for you earthlings. So you must have food and
sustenance. We cannot offer you any cuisine fit for
your New Year. But we did manage to grab some
homemade food... I mean, your homemade
foodfrom your refrigerator of course... I will be
back later

Sure... lex smiled as if he knew what was coming.

Captain Ace bowed and disappeared from the

hologram image. Alex was alone again.

But, when suddenly out of the blue his food appeared

on his plate coming out from fifth to the third
dimension, he was amused to see many raw
vegetables too, laid out on a stool borrowed from his
house as well. Oh, they did not know

His home burglar alarm system obviously was quite

powerless against these alien intruders! He thought as
he started to eat. He had not realized he was famished
till now... Well, there was bread, rice, curry and some

35
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

yoghurt. He did not think it was prudent to ask for

the microwave oven to heat food. He smiled at the
thought of him having the New Year s lunch in outer
space as surely not a mundane occurrence. He wiped
his fingers and drank some water.

He got up to go and have another look at the small

window like apertures through which he could still
see nothing but the all-pervading, unending yellow
spectrum in the present dimension. He thought how
wonderful is all this, would anyone back home even
believe if he recalled all this to them. If and when he
returns, that is

Talking of returns, he noticed that the hologram

image of Captain Ace coming up in the erstwhile
location. He was back. Alex did not even bother to see
where his used plates went. He would have to wash
them at home when returned.

Well, hopefully, your energy levels are back after the

lunch Captain Ace remarked.

What did you do for lunch? he asked out of

curiosity.

Captain ce grinned, well almost. We do not need

any external food. We have programmed our bodies
to manufacture its own food from time to time

36
 TIME RENEWED!

automatically for sustenance. Basically, we work in

energy manipulations, you see, not in gross physical
bodies

Alex nodded, knowing more was in store.

Well, lex, you must now get into the nitty-gritty

as they call it.

We have to understand time travel as your mind can

perceive and comprehend. Take a simple example
Captain Ace was sounding like his old professor in
the university!

Suppose you were to stand on a frozen river, what

would you get if you travelled in one direction?

Depends on which direction lex replied flatly.

Exactly Captain clapped his hands. If you

travelled back along the river to its origin, you would
reach where it beganThe source, correct?

Yes

and if you travelled forward from the spot, then?

Captain Ace paused.

lex replied cautiously, Its estuary perhaps, where it

joins the sea...

37
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Captain Ace appeared to appreciate his powers of

deduction.

This is the stream of time, my friend. One is the past

and the other end is the future and both are existent.
It only depends on which direction we take to go
Due to our highly evolved status and abilities to warp
space and time, we can see what happens in the
future timeline. But that depends on the present
course of action...

I can follow that. Cause and the effect. Kind of

natural law ut... lex hesitated.

Captain Ace waited for Alex to frame his words into a

question,

ut how can you change the past? It is already gone,

the events are over! lex s mind was actually saying
this was improbable, unlikely.

Captain Ace nodded as if he had to elaborate here,

Gone? Over?...These are the words used in the
limited 3-dimensional world of yours. As I said, the
Time is not actually linear. Due to a particular action,
there is one universe developed, similarly due to
multiple possibilities of actions, there can be parallel
universes with different events taking place ...We can
win over Time and reach any spot in the history too

38
 TIME RENEWED!

with the same logic, but it requires much greater

effort than travelling to the future

It s all about light and gravity, someone was telling

us in our Space Science training class back in the
office, lex mumbled half convinced.

Captain Ace nodded affirmatively,

Listen, Alex, we travelled into outer space today and

the time started going slower than it would on the
earth due to the effect of changed gravitational pull
and speed of light. That showed on your
watchHence if you travelled in the space for say
three months and returned to the earth, it would have
grown older by a generation, at the least. You would
see your mates much older now. How old depends on
how long and far you had gone and at what speed

You pulled me into the spacecraft and time went

slower... lex recalled suddenly.

Captain ce nodded, Yes, we used the

electromagnetic wave to suck you in and we orbit
now in the fifth dimension...Unseen by your
American and Chinese satellites... Otherwise, they
would not have hesitated to attack us with nuclear
missiles...

39
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

lex found this premise amusing, So you are afraid

of us and our nuclear capabilities?

Captain Ace almost laughed but controlled himself,

probably as the issue was grave, Nowe are always
safe in our six-dimensional existence. We can even
deactivate your missiles right from here. All this
nuclear arsenal and weaponry Captain Ace waved
hands casually we left them back thousands of
years ago as too primitive and destructive. But that is
not the issue here

It harms us more lex seemed to follow where

this was all leading to.

Captain Ace waved his hands as if encompassing the

entire universe, and your entire solar system. Such
nuclear radiations stay longer and make the solar
system most unsafe for other astral bodies and set
back the natural evolution for millenniums to
come...and we are here precisely to stop such a
catastrophe from happening

So you are well-meaning, philanthropic galactic

cops! He chided Captain Ace out of a growing
feeling of camaraderie. ut, you are yet to tell me
why I am here

Captain ce held up his hand advocating patience, I

40
 TIME RENEWED!

will tell you in due course...but we go back to throw

more light on this wormhole business... he smiled
lightly noting the play of words in the alien language.

The wormhole is a tunnel in the spacetime fabric,

caused by some planet or a star imploding, causing
an aperture of enormous negative energy. It could
connect two very distant points in space or time or
both in the same universe or an entirely new one
itself. It has two mouths one at each spacetime
terminal. We came through one such wormhole from
our planet to yours

He paused for effect.

lex said jovially, How very convenient, isn t it?

Far from it, lex gain Captain Ace seemed to

appreciate the pun. The creation of a new wormhole
requires a huge energy, unimaginable from your
point of view. We had to actually explode one of the
dead stars so the exotic matter bored a hole towards
the Earth. It was a calculated risk, but a risk
nevertheless, and it released enormous energy and a
wormhole resulted... Now just ask yourself, why
would we do all that?

Alex shook his head negatively.

41
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

ccording to us, the Earth contains some of the

most wondrous life forms there is in the Universe. In
fact, it s quite unique in many ways. It needs to
survive and progress. In your three-dimensional
world, you have thoughts, feelings and ability to
empathise, innovate and evolve. You have fantastic
foods and provisions for merrymaking... You can
laugh, cry, emote, celebrate, mourn and have so many
enviable abilities, compared to highly evolved races
like ours that have none of these. We must have lost

42
 TIME RENEWED!

these unique qualities sometime during our long race

for evolution and supremacy

Yours is an incredible race and many life forms

like ours look forward to your continued wellbeing
and smooth progress In fact, our leaders even
harboured a secret wish that you might evolve one
day into Universal leaders, a role model for others
ut las! It might not be so

Alex was disturbed to hear this gloomy prediction

about human future, just when he was beginning to
enjoy how nice it was all to hear so from the Aliens.

What do you mean?

You are aware of it, lex. Captain Ace sounded

melancholic. Not just aware, but you are in the
middle of it. In the IB as a Deputy Director, I mean,
dealing with violent extremists and fanatics. Some of
the individuals and groups have taken the path of
violence and mass destruction in a big way. I can
even call it an Industry now. You call them, the terror
groups and have formed anti-terror networks, but
they quite regularly breach your security measures.
This is spreading hatred among countries and races. It
may escalate into a global war tooUnchecked, this
might spell a definite doom to your beautiful planet

43
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

of yours, wiping out humanity

Just when Alex was thinking that this was sounding

like a current affairs political analysis TV show,
Captain Ace said something momentous.

You have a chance to stop one such major terror

strike, Alex. That is why you are hereand we are
here too...

You said me? You also said sometime back that I am

supposed to go back to yesterday lex thought
now he had a right to know every detail.

Captain ce nodded briefly, I was coming to that.

But I had to prep you properly beforethere is a
mission awaiting your attention. We have seen from
Earth s timeline that there is a young boy now in your
country who has all the qualities and opportunities to
be a future global leader and a harbinger of peace. He
can integrate countries and peoples into one. He will
be the one to whom the world will listen tout his
life, unfortunately, is endangered now

Alex sat upright in his seat. Now, this was his

business, Who? nd how?

Captain Ace was perhaps wondering for a moment

how to break this and he said, There is a terrorist

44
 TIME RENEWED!

threat and its execution is in progress, set to happen

in Bangalore today evening...But things have
unfortunately advanced to a critical stage In other
words, there is simply no time. We may have to jump
the time barrier, go back and reset the evil plan...

Who? repeated lex anxiously.

Their target is a different person, but we are

worried about the other young leader in making who
may be a collateral damage in the disaster they have
planned if they succeed. A political leader who is well
known in India is travelling by train today late
evening to New Delhi. His name is Anand
Khandelwal...

lex stiffened in his seat. He knew him alright. Is

that right? He is one of the VIPs in India now. He has
a fear of flying and hence always takes train journeys.
We are even supposed to provide him personal
securityut

Captain ce completed the sentence, ut he is not

the one we have in mind to protect. The boy is Chirag
Patel; we have seen for certain that he will be a
universally accepted and respected leader if he
survives this Train bomb blast. We have a mission for
you now; you can save this boy and the catastrophe it

45
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

may cause...

Alex was distraught at the mention of such a major

incident.

After all, he was in the Intelligence. Deputy Director,

no less.

Who is causing this catastrophe? nd by the way,

you need not have kidnapped me or whisked me
away to the skies, as you did for this task. I can just
call my Office and arrange additional high-security
arrangements. Come to that, you could have
informed my office, as you are a know-all... lex
could not hide a smile that he had scored one on this
celestial super brain.

Captain Ace looked at him superciliously and almost

grunted.

Inform your Office, approach them...How? Can we

just park this spacecraft in your parking area and go
to the Reception in this form? How would they take
it?

Alex nodded his head grimly understanding the

lien s predicament.

Captain ce continued his grim predictions, Well,

it s a little worse than that actually. Take it that we

46
 TIME RENEWED!

did inform your office somehow, then the same leak

and weakness affecting your office works again in the
terrorists favour. In fact, they have kidnapped the
daughter of one of your bosses and kept her hostage
to pressurise them into compromise and silence

nd more importantly, we have seen in the future

timeline of your country that you will be a part of an
adventurous mission and will somehow succeed but
the picture, we are afraid is vague and unclear at this
point. So, Alex, it all depends on whether you will
undertake this mission which we have planned for
you

Alex was only half listening, absorbed in his own

thoughts.

lex, thankfully, the past is not so uncertain like

the future, it is quite distinct and unambiguous in a
sense. And then, we can arrange so you can travel
back by one day and set things right

lex looked up. Do they know who this ...Chirag

Patel is?

Captain ce almost smiled, Luckily not. They are

targeting Anand Khandelwal so that if he dies, the
allegation will lie squarely on your Govt s
shouldersThey just need the political fallout from

47
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

this incident

ut then why did you search for me specifically?

asked Alex.

You wanted to take revenge on them ever since lice

died, now didn t you? Can t you guess who that
terrorist group would be?

lex gaped. He knew from his gut feelings, The

New Global Force Network? re they the ones?

Captain ce nodded grimly, Yes, that s rightthe

same

Alex jumped up, face flush with anger, The villains

who killed my liceI will...I will not spare
themthis time around! he said his voice breaking
with emotion.

Captain ce gave lex a few moments silence for

him to digest the news and cool down.

Finally, he asked him pointedly, So Alex, our

missionIs it on then? Without further arguments?

Alex sighed and lifted his head and looked at Captain

Ace directly,

Yeswell, since you guys being aliens and all that,

have taken many pains to reach out to me here for our

48
 TIME RENEWED!

safety, I will do my bit for my country tooEspecially

being the Intelligence Deputy Director myself. So go
ahead and tell me everything. If I succeed new future
beckons, and if I don t, I will be a martyr

Captain Ace acknowledged appreciatively,

Well, there s not much chance of your dying, of

course. We have seen that on the timeline, but a little
vaguely. Besides you have the element of surprise
with you

What Captain Ace told him next was any intelligence

gency s nightmare come true.

The New Global Force had planned a Train Bomb

attack well ahead and what s more, it was in the
advanced stages.

There was, Captain Ace said, a warehouse on the

outskirts of Bengaluru Mysuru Road, which was their
hideout where some had been working on mobile
bombs to be carried over to the Goods wagon of the
train, undetected by the authorities. Some of the top
IB Officers did receive half a clue about it but it was
cleverly neutralized by the terror group by
kidnapping the I Chief Deshpande s daughter Savita
and threatened that she will be killed if any police
bundobust was arranged to stop themSo the top

49
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

man was rendered helpless and was frustrated

enough by now to try to commit suicide than face the
guilty conscience the rest of his life

Deshpande is my own boss and I know Savita...Have

seen her around with her father lex said
unbelievingly. He was aghast! This was getting closer
than he had thought.

Iqbal Miya and associates had started a small bomb

factory in that warehouse, ready to move in for the
kill

lex interrupted. I know that warehouse myself.

Long since suspected that it would be a spot for anti-
social elements and criminals, but no one would listen
to me without evidence He recalled he was
chasing some criminals once and had accidentally
stumbled upon the abandoned rusting metal shed.

Captain ce nodded sympathetically, Yes, human

brains would not comprehend nor accept without
proofThey have no sixth sense developed fully

He continued as lex was keen on listening, They

are making some kind of non-detectable plastic and
powder mixed hybrid bombs that would easily pass
through your scanners in the railway station. But we
do know that most of it can just dissolve in water and

50
 TIME RENEWED!

become defunct. You have to rush there and

overpower them and neutralize the bombthere s a
water tank there... The lien finished helpfully

You mean you have already seen all this... lex

could not hide his astonishment tinged with a touch
of envy at the little details.

Captain ce nodded amusedly, It would hurt your

pride? You are cops here, but we are super cops,
much faster and better than you, as we can warp
space-time in the fifth dimension of existence and
keep real-time lookout everywhereut don t
worry...You have your skillsand your duty to
perform...The bomb should not go on the train, that s
it! He said with the finality of someone who had
overseen the mission so far and was now handing it
over.

lex said thoughtfully, ut Savita must be rescued

first, as well

Captain ce nodded, Yes, we expect no lessYou

would do that, won t you, lex?

Yes, you betIf you know what I mean He said,

feeling the aliens may not be in the gambling habit.

Yes, the chances you are good, you feellright,

51
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

now without further explanations, let s see the space

suit here!

Captain Ace then pointed his hand to the wall of the

craft and there opened a small crevice and a space
suit gear was hanging on a peg, ready for him.

Alex went over to the wall and Captain Ace hologram

moved to be close to him too. It was really weird and
eerie. He was there and yet not there, Alex felt.

Captain ce said plainly, lex, it is no child s play

to pass through the wormhole in any scenario. You
will be jumping out into a highly volatile and
dynamic, even destructive space void. There will be a
plenty of astral objects and stuff rotating about in the
highly dense medium and there will be extreme
gravitational forces at play there. Any normal mortal
matter would be destroyed by those crushing forces
into smithereens in no time if unprotected. The
protection has to come in the form of a special matter
called exotic matter which is vested with enough
negative energy to combat it. That alone will ensure
protection and safe passage into the wormhole and
out through it

This suit here is one such specially designed

protective gear to ensure that your body is not

52
 TIME RENEWED!

battered by destructive forces. It covers you from

head to toe completely and is fully charged with
negative energy now. You will go through. But you
have to grit your teeth and pray it's over if you are a
believer Captain ce s eyes twinkled in
affirmation, Yes, it will be a very tough passage, one
for your lifetimeWe will be observing you
throughout to make sure you have passed out safely
into yesterday s timeline back into your city and
home .

Alex was still staring at the spacesuit silently.

Try this on Captain Ace instructed.

He took it off from the wall hanger gingerly expecting

to receive some shock but he sighed with relief when
he felt nothing of the sort. It was light like a fur
overcoat too... Amazing, what they had come up
with!

The spacesuit fitted his size and seemed to be

twinkling with some unknown source of energyDid
he look like a disco dancer, he wondered.

He zipped up and it covered his head and shoes fully.

Captain Ace suggested to wear it a little loose so it
won t affect his breathing. There was a small
container near head from where he realised just

53
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

barely enough oxygen flowed. Also, he noticed there

were two buttons close to his right wrist. A green and
a red one.

He looked at Captain ce, Where will I be falling to

and what happens then?

There is a Eucalyptus grove behind your house, full

of tall treesWe thought that it would be convenient
to you to land there especially in the early hours of
the day, mind you yesterday, quite unnoticed If
you do bump into someone there, you have to deal
with the situation, of course

So you have dug a hole to my house from the space,

so to say lex demanded mockingly in his Cop
voice.

Captain ce nodded without a hint of offence You

know the grove behind your house, of course?

lex nodded emphatically, Yes, right behind my

house in Koramangala. I know it, it will be deserted
thenGo on

The spacesuit, lex!Immediately on emerging out

from a wormhole, the wormhole itself withdraws you
will press the red button to complete the landing
cycle and come to a stopGet up quickly and dig a

54
 TIME RENEWED!

hole somewhere close to the trees some three feet

deep in the ground and hide this suit in it and cover it
up. It is essential to do that to prevent the negative
energy from getting fully discharged lest you are
rendered without help in the timeline to return to the
present There are a few condensed energy food
capsules kept in your right pocket. Take them. That
will give you enough strength of about 4 meals. So
you don t have to spend time on searching for places
to eat

I never did like yesterday s food anyway lex

commented jokingly, which seemed to just bounce off
the impassionate Captain Ace.

You will run home, complete the mission and

come back there and take out the hidden spacesuit.
Wear it and press the green button this time. We get
the signal to get you back. We come out in space
above you and lift you away. Clear? Captain Ace
asked with concern

lex smiled. Yes, good return service like a hired

taxi

Hope you have guns and ammunition to take care of

the terrorists...We have no part in that Captain Ace
said almost apologetically

55
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Yes, surely...Guns, bullets, grenadesthe works, all

in my basementThat is my department lex was
happy there was something he was taking care of in
the mission too.

lex, we have even kept a small metallic axe in your

left pocketTo dig earth for hiding the suit This
time Captain Ace almost smiled at his finishing touch.

Alex wondered about something and asked, What

happens back home when I meet my old self this
exact hour a day agowhen I would be leaving in my
car to go to the Nandi hills?

Captain ce nodded appreciatively. Oh, good

question. I should have clarified. There will not be
TWO of you. Not at any time. You will sort of slam
into your old self when you rush back home. A
sudden unsettling experience thats your two
astral and physical bodies blend in spacetime and
become one again. A few seconds of discomfort Alex,
but you would have gained a day!

Alex nodded appreciatively too, understanding the

phenomenon and felt relieved. Excellent... So shall I
take off then? he asked with bubbling enthusiasm to
return to action.

Yes, you will jump soon Captain Ace replied. He

56
 TIME RENEWED!

paused for something. lex, when you come back,

you will have a nice surprise waiting for you here

lex looked at him wonderingly and said, Surprises

never seem to cease in your world! and walked to
the end of the craft, where a sort of walkalator was
opening and he could see the open space beyond.

There was no soft yellow light now, like when he had

come aboard. This was the real-time 3-dimensional
world!

In his suit, Alex suddenly stopped breathing when he

saw the entire gamut of night skies unfold in front of
him. It was more than astounding, it was literally out
of this world, the sight. The enormity and the beauty
of it all!

Creator s magic of space and its wonders!. The

brightly lit stars, the asteroids and such, zooming
every which way and then lo! There was the stark
wormhole which had been created due to the
initiation of Captain ce s team.

Huge dark swathing circle of bundles of astral mass

in cyclic motion in the circumference and the gaping
void mouth in the centre It seemed to be endless!

Whew!!

57
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Any lesser man would have turned and ran. For his
life. But not Alex. The vessel opening was fully clear
now, centred over the wormhole. The universe was
beckoning him.

Captain ce s voice boomed in his ears Jump,

lexnow!

Alex did not know whether he prayed or not, but he

had jumped with eyes closed.

He immediately felt the buffeting forces tear at his

suit even as some thousand astral bodies big and
small whizzed all around him and he fell...Deep in
the wormhole. He opened his eyes and saw and
gasped. It looked like a very close shave. He braced
for an impact from some astral body and it might end
his life.

Miraculously he fell quite clear of all the perilous

surrounding rotating mass as if he was being driven
through by an expert driver. Maybe Captain
ceMaybe God!

He thought nervously that it was better to close his

eyes till he was clear from these swirling spatial
bodies and felt in his left pocket for the metallic axe
for comfort!

58
 TIME RENEWED!

But his negative energy suit held out bravely against

all the external forces. He heartily thanked Captain
Ace and his alien breed for this miraculous safe
passage Their technology was truly unbelievable.
As soon as he thought this fall into the past might
never end, it did.

Slowly he was back in earth s atmosphere and he

could see dawn sunlight softly lighting up the earth
below.

He saw the familiar Eucalyptus grove in the backyard

of his house rushing at him from below and he braced
for an impact with the trees. He felt in his pockets
again for the axe and the food capsules.

59
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

4. Back Yesterday
December 31, 2049

He passed through the top branches of the trees with

not much damage. Well, nothing compared to his
predicament a few minutes ago in the vicious space
surroundings

He landed with a rough thud but remembered to roll

over to break the fall. He pressed the red button on
the suit and stopped. He got up sighing and looked
around. There was no one around like he had
assumed. Only a stray cat from the neighbourhood
looked at him when he appeared suddenly amid the
trees without warning and ran for its life.

He looked up. It was a familiar sight as from anyone

60
 TIME RENEWED!

from the ground. Some damaged branches of the trees

broke and almost fell on him. But he saw only a clear
cloudless morning sky.

No Wormhole. No nothing!

All over in a jiffy. Like the end of a dream!

But he was back yesterday...December 31st. It even

showed so on his digital watch. And why ever not, it
was true!

The Intelligence agent in him awakened first. He

hastened to remove the space suit. He took out the
axe and saw a big trunk of a tree nearby and felt it
would be appropriate to hide it there.

He started digging the earth to about 3 feet and he

stopped. He folded and kept the suit in the pit and
filled the earth back. He wanted to mark this
particular tree on return. He felt in his shirt pocket
and he got a small photo of the holy saint Shirdi
Saibaba there. He felt no one would dare to remove
this pic if he pinned it on the tree as a marker. India is
a country of believers and people revered him!

He would be back here in the evening if everything

turned out as planned. He now ran towards his house

61
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

towards the end of the grove and jumped over the

fence and the compound wall into his own house.
Nobody had come out to see him so far. The time
was just right. It was the same time he started from
home yesterday. That is today!

As he ran to the front portico from where he would

start his SUV van he saw his old self-coming out of
the front door momentarily.

But he merged with a slam into himself...It was

certainly nothing like had imagined nor could
prepare for. His whole entity whirled, the mind
became tumultuous and he saw crazy lights and
space dimensions whizzing as he suffered those few
seconds in the time-space merry-go-round. He gasped
with relief when the physical and astral body merger
was over!

Miraculously the door keys were in his hand like it

should. His Ford SUV van was there, yet to start its
journey to the hills. Not where he would be leaving it
the next day abandoned when he would be whisked
away in the spacecraft. Only it would not happen
again. ecause he was going to change it allnow!

He ran to the door and opened it. Nothing had

changed since yesterday. Except himself.

62
 TIME RENEWED!

He ran to his home basement and which served as his

small arsenal.

Over the years in Service, he had meticulously

bought, borrowed, and built up a small personal arms
cache, to serve him in an emergency. Like now

He opened his gun chest and selected his favourite

Colt 0.45 Revolver, Stun Gun, a couple of grenades
and enough bullets to last a small war. He put them
in a backpack and wore it. As he ran out to his SUV
outside, he looked at his watch. He had just lost 4
minutes in the process comparatively.

Well, that is alright, he reasoned, he had after all

gained a day.

He locked his door, got in the SUV and drove out to

the road in a hurry.

He did not get down to close the gate on his way out.

That could wait, but his mission could not.

63
 NAGESH KUMAR CS

5. Closing In
December 31, 2049

The abandoned warehouse that Alex knew lay in a

deserted stretch of land near Kengeri which was on
the outskirts of the City on the Bengaluru-Mysuru
highway.

As he drove west from his eastern suburb on the

Outer Ring road, he felt the morning traffic just
getting heavier by the minute. He knew the shortcuts
and so he arrived within the hour at the left turning
behind the old Abhiman studios.

The eucalyptus grove and small farmlands dotted the

countryside and the road became smaller and was too
badly potholed for a large vehicle like his. But Alex
knew how to drive.

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 TIME RENEWED!

He stopped the car about a kilometre from the

warehouse and looked for a hiding place for his
vehicle. He had to go surreptitiously by walk from
here on.

He drove the SUV into a thick clump of trees and

made sure it was hidden well to anyone on the road
and got out gingerly with his backpack.

He put his 0.45 and bullets in convenient deep hip

pockets and started his trek roughly in the direction
he assumed was right towards the warehouse.

He had to keep in the shadows of the tall trees and

made sure he would not be noticed by any guards
that terrorists might have deployed.

After walking through the rough shrubs for nearly 15

minutes he saw the roof of the warehouse to his right.

He watched closely and decided that there appeared

to be no one near the front rolling shutters.

So he walked in the shade of the trees to his far left

and came around the shed to the read entrance. The
steel doors were partially open and the shed looked
as old, rusty and abandoned than he had seen it
before. But he would not be fooled.

There was a Tata Mini truck standing in the broken

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down portico near the door. There was no one

nearby.

They might be inside or someone might be watching

over from a hidden location.

Yes, he could see a trail of smoke probably from a

cigarette wafting up from the portico inside.

Oh, he was standing in the shade. He was not

expecting anyone.

lex thought he would divert the Guard s attention

and scamper inside. He took out a stone was about to
throw it at the rusty metal tank in the opposite
direction of the guard when he felt something soft
touch his shoulder. He gave a start and whirled to see
only a playful little squirrel scurry away from his
shoulder.

He sighed in relief.

He threw the stone in a swinging arc and it struck the

metal tank wall with a sound loud enough to bring
out a lean bearded guard with a start, alert but panic
writ on his face.

He looked here and there and decided to take a walk

to the tank to have a look.

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 TIME RENEWED!

He turned to the shed and called out, Salim hai,

Zara Darwaza Dekho in Urdu rother Salim, Keep
an eye on the door)

muted reply came from inside, Theek hai, Razaak

bhai lright, rother Razaak .

As Razaak started his walk to the tank, Alex left his

hiding place and crawled out quickly into the open. It
was a risk but it had to be taken. A fatter guy with the
beard had come out into the open, blinking his eyes in
the sudden sunlight.

Alex hurried silently like a jungle cat trotting on his

toes and reached behind the new guard Salim. Just as
the guard turned in alarm, Alex gave him a quick
precise Karate chop to the base of his neck and his
eyes rolled upwards. Alex held Salim so he would not
fall with a thud to the ground and lay him down in a
thicket nearby, hiding his body from Razaak s view
when he came back.

He waited for the first guard return. As Razaak came

back with a worried expression of having found
nothing of interest, his eyes searched for Salim. Alex
rushed to his behind and used his Colt 0.45 handle to
hammer in a sharp blow to his head, to demobilize
him.

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

The guard gurgled something intelligible and lay

down in a heap on the ground assisted by Alex.

Alex then left both the guards in the thicket and

rushed inside the open doors

He expected to see some activity and he was not

disappointed.

There was a long wooden work table in the centre lit

by spot lamps and three men huddled watching
keenly over some electrical wiring and stuff. Their
hands carefully packed something in plastic
cylindrical cases.

Look at their high degree of concentration to

perpetrate a heinous crime, Alex thought sourly.

He stood splayed on his feet, drew out the Colt 0.45

in his hands and barked in his cop voice,

Hands Up! No one moves or you are dead

KyaKaun? What! Who? They uttered and one of

them quickly turned to Alex.

Up with your hands! he yelled and they quickly put

up theirs and stared at him in shock.

But some people never learn. One bearded youth

quickly bent down in his seat and picked up a

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 TIME RENEWED!

submachine gun lying hidden below the table and

was moving it up at Alex, who, without blinking his
eye, shot him in his hand precisely.

The man yelled in pain and dropped the gun with a

clang on the floor and held on to his bleeding hand,
whining.

Others stared at him in disbelief and heightened

fear... Terrorists they might be, but they had not
counted on someone shooting at them like this.

Alex walked quickly to them with his revolver still

pointing and his eyes took in the various assemblies
of gelatine-like bombs being packed in various stages
of progress on the table.

Why the hell you have agreed to do this horrid job, I

ask! Who hired youtell me! he thundered.

They were bewildered and whispered but no reply

came.

I don t have all dayWho hired you and who the

hell are you all? he yelled in Urdu and reinforced his
threat with another shot at their feet and the bullet ate
into the concrete. They gasped.

One of them cleared his throat, Sir, Please don t

shoot!. We are local Muslims... he switched to

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Kannada, the local language. We are poor and

unemployed and come from a nearby village. Iqbal
Miya and two others came from the neighbouring
country and met us after Friday prayers. They told us
we will be doing Islam a great servicethere is a lot
of money for us, he promised. They assured that in
the event of our death accidentally, our families will
be taken care of, for lifeSo... his voice petered out.

Alex gave an ugly smile and exclaimed in a voice that

dripped sarcasm. You will be taken care of for
lifeIndeed! So you want to kill other
innocentsExcellent Logic!

He asked one of them to get up carefully and bring

him the thick hoop of rope lying nearbythe man
obeyed meekly without protest

He asked others, Now where is this Iqbal Miya?

The man sitting next to the guy with bleeding hand

replied this time, He has gone out for
arrangementsut his two friends, Razaak and Salim
are outside and looked at lex in wonder as to
what might have happened to them.

They are taken care of lex replied. Now push all

the bomb into the gunny sacks here and close
themEverything!

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 TIME RENEWED!

The guy with the bleeding hand with blood trickling

down cried out.

Sir, Please tie my hands with a bandage...I will die!!

lex smirked cruelly, Not a big loss anyway . He

kicked some waste clothes and a wad of cotton lying
near him with his feet, at him Tie his hand
properly He told his mate.

Once his hand was tied, the three of them hurriedly

put all the explosives, circuit wires and timers into
two gunny sacks full, with lex s gun unwaveringly
held over them.

Lie down on the table now... I will bind you tightly

on the table top with the ropes and leave you
hereDon t make noise. Others will not be able to
come to your rescueut soon Police willYou will
be alright in custody!

They seemed thankful that Iqbal Miya may not find

them first like this.

Reluctantly with lex s revolver prodding them in

the ribs, all three of them laid down next to each other
on the long table. He did his job thoroughly, his
hands expertly tying them to the bottom of the table ,
his mind racing with what he had to do next with

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Iqbal Miya and his two associates outside.

He suddenly remembered, Where is Savita...where

have you kept her?

One of them looked up from the table, The lady? She

has been taken to the old deserted Jungle Lodge. And
kept there alone, tied up!

lex was shockedIn an old lodge in the jungle, tied

up and alone from yesterdayIf any animals found
her? My God, these heartless villains!

Where is the hell is this lodge, quickly? He jabbed

the muzzle of his weapon in his mouth.

Not us!Iqbal Miya dragged her out to the lodge

last night...It is to the west of this shedone small
pathway leads there about kilometres away! He
blurted out in fear.

Alex took a bottle of mineral water lying nearby and

thrust it into his pockets. Could be useful under the
circumstances.

Making sure that they do not yell, he gagged them

not too tightly on their mouths with some old clothes
and left them that way. He took the heavy gunny
sacks full of bomb material. He hefted them over his
shoulder, kicked the door behind him and went

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 TIME RENEWED!

outside.

He found Salim and Razaak whimpering and trying

to get awake. He stopped, took out his Revolver and
gave from its handle, two precise knocks each on the
backs of their heads. They rolled over unconscious.
Making indecipherable groans. Well, they are not
likely to wake up anytime soon after this, he decided.

There was still no sign of Iqbal Miya. But Alex knew

he had to dispose of the Bomb material first.

He quickly trotted over to the old water tank to which

he had previously struck with a stone.

He upturned the dangerous contents from the gunny

sacks into the water and stepped back. That would be
it. Dissolved and neutralised if what Captain Ace said
was correct.

Hmm, Captain Ace! It all seemed like a dream to him

now that he was back on the earth. But he would be
meeting him again soon. But only after the mission
was over by the evening!

Next, he had to go and find Savita. Then he would

come back to deal with Iqbal Miya, the mastermind
who had destroyed his marital life before it had even
started It would be a sweet vengeance but for now,

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Savita s rescue first.

He was thinking he would release her and

considering her condition, would drop her off where
she could get transport back to Bangalore. Probably to
her father s Office which could be the safest place in
this case.

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 TIME RENEWED!

6. Escape from captivity

December 31, 2049

Alex walked fast, almost on a trot to the west of the

shed and found the small winding path which had
shrubbery covering on both the sides. As he walked
the forest grew thicker and light shined lesser
through the thick foliage.

He found the deserted lodge after 15 minutes of brisk

jogging through the forest path.

It was under a clump of thick trees looked very dark

and dilapidated as he neared it. The walls had cracks
all over, windows had no bars and shutters missing,
and many roof tiles brokenut the wooden

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

battened Front door looked solid enough and was

locked with a padlock.

Was she there or not, safe and sound?

Having no clue, he banged on the door a couple of

times with fists and then with all his weight behind
him he rushed and shoulder banged the wooden
panels...

The door gave in under his sustained assault and

collapsed inwards. Dust rose as he fell inside on the
floor and he quickly got up to adjust his eyes to the
dark interiors.

There in the centre of the floor, sat a young woman on

a bare wooden chair.

She was securely tied to the armrests and legs of the

chair with ropes, she was gagged firmly with a cloth
tied below her neck and he could see her eyes
shining, widened in shock at his sudden entrance.

He went to her and to assuage her anxiety told her,

Don t worry, Ms Savita. I am the Deputy Director of
your father s office and I have come to rescue you!

He went about untying the ropes from her arms and

legs and ripped open the mouth gag. She gagged and
coughed clumsily as she took in a long breath of

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 TIME RENEWED!

dusty air.

You...How? Those rascals... They! She blurted

out, still feeling disoriented, tried to get up but fell in
a heap semi-consciously in his arms. She was soft and
well-rounded and Alex felt thrilled to hold on to a
young woman thus long after Alice had left his life.

She quickly recovered and asked for water in a faint

voice. Alex gave his water bottle from the pockets and
she drank merrily spilling it from the sides of her
mouth. God, she needed the water!

He took her hand, which was warm and sweaty. And

ran outside.

He stopped to look at her in the light.

She was quite tall, almost up to his neck level of his

six and odd feet. Her curly hair was dishevelled but
braided at the back like most South Indian women.
She was off-brownish in complexion and smooth-
skinned and wore a green flowery Salwar Kameez
dress that accentuated her contours. Her eyes looked
weak and her firm jaws, he felt were definitely from
her father, his boss.

What happened actually? he asked her softly

Theythey jumped me when I was going out of my

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hostel last afternoon. They kidnapped me and

brought me under the gun all the way to the
shedthey were making bombs...did you go there
and see that?

lex nodded and replied, ll that is taken care of,

Savitathen?

They showed it all to me to make me believe how

dangerous they wereI told them that I will tell
father and get them all arrested, but they slapped me
for it and dragged me out hereI just had two slices
of dry bread last evening was given by them. They
just tied me up like that and left me
hereloneThe bastards! She said feelingly.

Don t worry, Savita. ll those criminals will meet

their fate soon I am here for it...I am going to send
you to father s office. You know me, don t you?

She crinkled her eyes and looked at him and nodded

in recognition

Yes, you are the DD there. Mr Salian!..I have seen

you there... If you had not come now, I would have
died hereOh, Mr Salian! She shuddered as if
realising it a bit late.

lex for you, SavitaCan we go now...Hardly any

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 TIME RENEWED!

time left He said with a sense of urgency. She was

still feeling disoriented and kept silent.

These are food capsules, given by an expert . . . You

will get the nourishment badly needed and handed
over a couple of tablets from the bottle given by
Captain Ace.

She made face as if ashamed. I have not used the

bathroom since last afternoon. Can you turn that side
till I finish up and come back... Only a few minutes!
She requested

Alex nodded and turned the opposite side like a

gentleman till she finished and reappeared at his side.
She had rearranged her hair a bit and had used most
of the water in the bottle to have a splash on the face
and drink. She had consumed the food capsules too,
so her face now had regained her colour a bit and her
eyes again sharp and determined. Chip off the old
block, as he thought of her father.

Savita, we need to run now. I have come on an

important missionIf you do as I say, we will both
surviveMy SUV is parked nearby... I will drop you

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to a place where you can hire a taxi. Go straight to our

office and park yourself in front of your father. Don t
stir out

Savita interrupted, Where will you go

then? Women! He thought

By then they had already started running toward the

SUV on the jungle path.

Alex told her quickly and curtly,

I am on an important mission to weed out terrorists.

Time is the essence. Can t say anything more, you
understand the secrecy of our workOnce there, tell
your father to send as many ATF (Anti-terrorist
Force) troops as possible to the shed. You tell them
where it isut don t come here again... I will also
inform the local police station now

When will we see you then? She was huffing and

puffing, running with effort, having endured a
nightmarish time in captivity.

I will see you next year... lex replied shortly, and

she did not catch on.

Uh?

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 TIME RENEWED!

Today is December 31st and tomorrow is January

st. That s the next year! He clarified smartly
without revealing his secret further.

As they were sprinting along a difficult path full of

shrubbery and thorns, Savita silently ran the rest of
the distance with Alex. She thought Alex was just like
her father, full of secrecy and cryptic replies

Meanwhile, Alex made some calls to Police HQ and

even the local Police station in Kengeri to rush in
reinforcements soon.

As they took out the SUV and turned to the Mysuru

highway near Kengeri, Alex looked at his wristwatch
again.

It was 2.30 pm in the afternoon. He thought it was

imperative that he finish all remaining tasks before
sunset and get backto tomorrow!

He drove fast towards Bangalore and efficiently and

was on the lookout for any vehicle in the opposite
direction that looked suspicious enough It could be
Iqbal Miya getting back to his shed.

Shortly Alex found an empty taxi standing on the side

of the Highway with the driver snoozing in the back

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

seat.

He dismounted the van with Savita, shook the driver

awake. Hey, you take her to this office, fast... They
will pay you in the Office and thrust his card in
his hand. When the sleepy-eyed driver saw that it was
from the Govt. Security service he became at once
alert, went to his seat and mumbled Yes sir the
madam? and started the taxi.

Savita jumped in the back seat and looked up at Alex.

You take care too, lexI will be alright and I will

tell daddy everythingThanks a million! She
sounded so composed and confident now. That s the
girl, he thought

YesDon t stop anywhere unnecessarily. Drive

fast. In case of trouble, call me on that number on the
card. He told the driver, waved to her as the taxi
drove away fast. He sighed knowing that she was
now safely on her way back as the terrorists could
never know that she was headed to the City in this
taxi.

He got back in his vehicle and started his journey

back to the shed where he expected Iqbal Miya to turn
up sooner or later. On the muddy track, he observed
if any other car tyre marks were present. There were

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 TIME RENEWED!

some new marks in the wet mud from a recent rain.

Alex suddenly felt hungry and popped the rest of the
food pills given by Captain Ace into his mouth.

This time around Alex drove the SUV almost to the

nearest clearing to the shed knowing fully well he
expected the least risk now. He parked in a shade
silently and came out to look.

When he cleared some tree leaves obstructing his

vision from his hiding place, he saw a White Toyota
Corolla car standing in the front portico.

He saw a thickset man in his late thirties with a

goatee beard and cap lugging hefty wooden box to
the trunk of his Toyota.

Yesthat was Iqbal Miya! lex had no doubt. His

picture from the files in the office had been burnt into
the memory. His breath quickened and pulse raced.
He had been looking to avenge the death of his
beloved Alice for so long, now it seemed quite likely.

Just as was wondering what could be inside the

heavy box Iqbal Miya was handling, a bearded man
looking groggy appeared in the doorway croaking in
a shaky voice,

Miya, sab barbaad ho gaya..Hum par hamla karke

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usne sab bigaad diya! (Miya, everything is destroyed.

He attacked us and everything went wrong!

That was his mate, Salim. He was so up so early; Alex

wondered how; maybe my blow on his skull was not
hard enough, after all!

Iqbal Miya reacted as if he had an electric shock. He

reared back and caught Salim s shirt collars in his fist
and gritted his teeth.

Kaun re badmaash?Kaun aaya thaa?..kya bakthe

ho? Who the hell was it, you rascal?What
nonsense are you talking?)

In the next few minutes, Alex saw Salim furiously

explain what all had transpired in his Iqbal Miya s
absence and how he had been rendered powerless by
a blow on the head.

It was all quite animated and Alex actually enjoyed

the show as Iqbal Miya s anger rose with each
revelation.

shiny knife suddenly sprang in Iqbal Miya s hands

and he almost lunged toward Salim cursing bbey
saale , maar doonga!( You scoundrel. I will kill you!)

Alex thought this would be the best time to intervene

and perhaps save Salim s life.

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 TIME RENEWED!

That would be enough. Drop the knife, Iqbal He

barked jumping into the open, his gun drawn and
legs splayed in his typical professional stance.

Iqbal Miya startled by his sudden appearance froze

and looked at him unbelievingly.

rrre! he gasped in astonishment ap you , lex

sahib!.. Now, where the hell did you spring from?

From the same hell, you left me in, years ago, Iqbal...
Remember? He grinned evilly and walked briskly to
them.

Now, Iqbal Miya pushed Salim away callously so

strongly that the fellow fell down and scrambled up
scared.

You know me, don t you, Iqbal...How does it feel to

be outwitted?

Iqbal Miya laughed in derision, Of course I do. We

have intelligence sources too, lex sahiband good
onesprobably better ones than yours too!

Iqbal thought he would explain this away, What

happened in the past was not directed personally at
you, Alex sahib. It was a part of our Jihad

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

operationYour fiance was just unfortunate.

Well, fortunes change rather quickly from time to

time, Iqbal...I have changed everything you planned
this time. The bombs are gone! lex announced
purposely and pompously because he just felt like it.

No He screamed. I have time, I will make it up!

Iqbal, there are people who stop time and turn it

back too lex said meaningfully, but Iqbal Miya
could not understand it.

Iqbal Miya stared for a moment at Alex and grunted,

Yes, this bastard told me and he kicked Salim
with his left foot in frustration.

ut, I have a hidden bomb. Right here in this box .

He showed the heavy box in the trunk of the Toyota,
It may not be as big as the ones we had planned to
put on the trainut I will take revenge He
pointed a finger at Alex and smiled cruelly.

Alex was astonished and it showed in his voice,

What! Don t even try that, IqbalI will not let it
happen!

Iqbal said nothing and kept smiling evilly.

Alex warned grimly,

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 TIME RENEWED!

I have already neutralized your team members

inside. Police will be here any minute and those
fellows will sing. That s the end of your game!

nd you must have got out Savita too. ird has

flown the nest You are good, lex sahib . He
clapped in derision. ut I am betterthis bomb
here I will detonate it in your house, your home
will be gone!... And it is strong enough to kill your
neighbours tooI will have my revenge and I will lay
down my life for itJihaaaad! He screamed like a
demented soul!

You can t and you won t shouted lex. It was a half

scream and half threat.

Oh, I doYou haven t changed your house in the

last yearsThat s your fault and you will pay for it,
lex Sahib!! He said the last word as mockingly as
possible

Stop it, Iqbal! Warned lex, his gun waving at him,

with his blood boiling at his audacity.

I will stop you, SirLook inside, the local birds

whom you had bound, have been killed by this
Salim and he threw his knife at Salim catching him

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

in the throat. It was precise and deadly and it sliced

the assistant s throat. Salim gurgled, blood spewing
and fell on the ground in death throes.

Immediately Iqbal Miya got into the car and started

the engine.

Alex froze momentarily, rooted to the ground and

desisted from shooting. His mind was whirring. Have
the captive terrorists been killed? There was only one
way to know. Allowing Iqbal Miya to get ahead, he
ran inside to check.

He saw that the captives were on the table, just as he

had left them, and they looked at him with eyes wide
open.

Shit! lex cursed to himself for falling prey to Iqbal

Miya s lie and ran outside to his car, his heart
thumping in the chest.

The terrorist chief will not get far, Alex knew, he had
a better and faster vehicle to pursue. He saw that the
other guard was still unconscious in the bush where
he had left him.

That will do. He had to take care of his home and

neighbourhood now, he decided, got in and started
his SUV. With the gears clashing he got on the road

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 TIME RENEWED!

and drove furiously, leaving a plume of dust behind.

Iqbal Miya s car would be seen soon, he knew, before

he got on Bengaluru highway and he would pursue
him till the end, whatever happened.

His mind wrestled with the possibility of warning the

local Police to barricade the route, but he knew the
entire highway stretch was busy, teeming with
people. It could cause a major disaster if Iqbal Miya
decided to become a suicide bomber anywhere in the
stretch. So, it was better to allow him to go on all the
way...Yes, to the Koramangala Eucalyptus tree grove
behind his house and maybe he (Alex) will be able to
overpower him in the desolate stretch!.. Yes, that is
the only way to play this one, his mind advised him.

As he got back on the highway and drove fast, he got

the distant sight of Iqbal Miya s Toyota car moving
up ahead.

Alex in his SUV overtook some of the slow moving

vehicles on the road rather dangerously, but not
caring as long as he could see still Iqbal Miya s car.

He thought anxiously what would happen if they got

mixed up in the Eucalyptus grove where he had left
behind his exotic negative energy suit. But quickly he
put the thought behind as he realized that they would

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

be going in toward his house now from the northern

end of it, while his suit was buried almost at the
southern tip.

It was a dangerous pulse-pounding race, against

time, almost literally as both Iqbal Miya and Alex
drove furiously through the City roads sometimes
exceeding the speed limits. Luckily, the traffic cops do
not flag you down chasing the vehicles, in Bengaluru
yet. But there would be tickets waiting for him later.
But then Time was the essence!

As they neared Koramangala from the Outer Ring

road, Iqbal Miya predictably took the northern
entrance to approach lex s home. lex sighed with
relief that one disaster had been averted for now.

With dextrousness and efficiency matching a race

driver, Alex got his SUV just behind the Toyota car
and almost forced the smaller car to leave the road
and get into the Eucalyptus grove suddenly. Iqbal
Miya turned back in his seat a few times looking very
worried and tense as he had an explosive package
with him and he did not want to die in waste.

With his bigger SUV almost dashing against the boot

of Iqbal Miya s care, he left him no option but to drive
straight into the grove.

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 TIME RENEWED!

Once inside the thickly grown grove, the two vehicles

raced quickly and seeing his chance, Alex rear-ended
his bigger SUV on the back of the Toyota car.

Even as Alex turned away sharply after the collision,

he deliberately drove toward the other side to be near
to his hiding place and he saw Iqbal Miya lose control
of the car due to the strike and that car blindly raced
toward a big tree and dashed against it.

Iqbal Miya s death wish was fulfilled almost

immediately as the car exploded, the fuel tank going
up in flames. Alex heard a loud impact and leaping
flames that singed the swaying Eucalyptus trees and
he brought his SUV to a halt and did not turn back to
see what had happened. Soon there will be people
gathering at the spot from the neighbourhood and
there would be Police. That was not a part of his Time
travel script given by Captain Ace!

He had to get into the suit now and ask them to come
and take him back.

He did so, very quickly as he left his SUV safe and

turned to the tree. His SUV would be there for him
tomorrow as he left the Nandi Hills guesthouse. The
Saibaba picture he had pinned earlier, identified the
tree quite perfectly.

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

He dug the topsoil of the pit quite rapidly with the

small axe and got the suit out. He could hear the
explosive sounds receding some distance away and
he knew people would be rushing out of the house
any moment now

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 TIME RENEWED!

7. Return to Space

He stood up quickly, the lustrous suit twinkling with

its innate negative energy charge and pressed the
green button to hail the Aliens.

Immediately like magic, there was an activity up in

the sky and he saw the cyclic shape of the wormhole
open up.

Astonishingly fast a yellow path of light descended

from through the opening and reached his feet. He
felt being lifted and flown away like in an aerial
vertical conveyor.

God, they were so accurate and time conscious, he

gave another mental salute to Captain Ace and his
super-efficient space team!

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

He closed his eyes and thought the world closed its

eyes and no one would see his flight. They would be
more interested in the fireworks happening on the
ground than look above. Besides, he was relieved that
he was now being taken out in the fifth dimension of
space, so there was hardly any scientific possibility of
being observed from the ground!

As he flew up in the safe confines of the yellow light,

he saw the ground receding rapidly below and soon
he was thousands of feet in the sky and the sights
now resembled for a few seconds like those of an
aeroplane passenger from his window. But only a few
seconds, and then he was in the outer space, amid the
dark and light twinkling magic of multiple astral
objects that he had seen before.

Even before he could appreciate the sight, he was

sucked inside the parked Alien spacecraft on the
other side of the wormhole.

The door closed with a smooth click and Alex almost

fell forward due to the impact of landing rapidly and
steadied himself on the walls of the craft.

As he rose to see the now familiar empty sight of the

spacecraft, he again saw the hologram of Captain Ace
appear instantly in front of him.

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 TIME RENEWED!

This time the Alien Captain was actually smiling. Had

he taught him some such emotional trick, after all,
Alex wondered as Captain Ace spoke,

Welcome back, lexYou deserve big

congratulations on completing a tough mission rather
well, single-handedly!...Please sit down!

Alex smiled warily and collapsed into the empty chair

shown, Thanks to your great efficiency in running
this operation Captain!...Was I late by any chance?
He asked. He took a gulp of water from the bottle that
appeared suddenly out of nowhere.

Oh, by to seconds in pressing the green button

down thereut you are easily forgiven, as we have
gained some hours with success now!

How long did it take me to come back from the

ground?... I felt it was quite swift? asked lex
curiously

Yes, we turbo-powered your suction this time to the

extent your body would tolerate. Some 10 to 15
seconds in all!

Alex sighed in wonder. He removed his negative

energy suit and it flew remote powered back to its
hanger on the wallHmm!

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

Did you see what happened down there, Captain

ce?

Captain Ace nodded enthusiastically,

Yes, of course, we had what you would call a live

telecast... But, then we see it naturally in our
multidimensional existence!...You have eliminated the
terrorist ringleader and the rest of them have either
been killed or arrested. You have saved the life of
Chirag Patel. The train would be leaving rather safely
this timeSavita too got back safely to her father s
Office and did everything you told her to do. She was
responsible for wrapping up the mission as
wellQuite a young lady!

Well, that s quite a complete report for someone

sitting here in the outer space! lex said in
wonderment.

Wonder more, lex Captain Ace said teasingly,

Now you will see that I did not lie to you when I
said there would be a surprise waiting for you when
you came back!

Yes, said lex looking up. What would that be?

Well, you avenged lice s death very heroically.

What is the point in me congratulating you when

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lice herself could do it, right? Captain Ace asked

mysteriously.

What! lex could hardly believe his ears.

Captain Ace replied thoughtfully, like a professor

explaining a difficult philosophy to a student, Yes,
Alex...Death is very mysterious as far as humans are
concerned. In your limited knowledge of body
consciousness and association with the physical form,
you have always neglected and even pooh-poohed
the continuation of the existence of the spirit that lives
on in another world

lex interrupted Now, are we back to the folk tales

of spirits and such!

Hold on, lex. You do not lose anything by

listening, said Captain Ace resolutely,

Yes, lex... Human beings are a divine creation

with a permanent spirit that lives on from life to life,
casting away the body that wears out to a new one. In
between lives, there is a lull...a gap in timeThe
astral spirits then live in another dimension that is
invisible to the human eyes. That is the reason behind
much of this argument that spirits are nonsense...
Didn t you just a while ago doubt my existence in
other dimensions unseen to you, till I appeared in this

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hologram that you could see?

Yes said lex. Of course that sounded reasonable

so far.

Well, Human astral spirits live on in another

wavelength and frequency in a different sphere of the
worldYour science has not grown to a level that can
penetrate this secret. Hence you may disbelieve it
entirelyWe see the spirits all the time in our
multidimensional existenceut it s not easy to
locate a particular spirit at a point in time. It may or
may not want to be seen and may hide behind some
astral curtains if it is still in that form. Else, it might
very well have taken another life on your planet.
Then there is no use of looking for it Your
knowledgeable saints have correctly sung punarapi
jananam, punarapi maranam Life again, Death
again, a cycle

ut lice died three years agoso how would

Alex left it lingering.

Yes, we tried to locate her and met some resistance

but we won her over. By the way, your three years
was just three days for hergain, remember what I
told you about warping time...The passage of time is
slower in the other world than your mortal one.

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You won her over? What does that mean? lex was
all ears, his heart thumping with excitement.

Yes, we searched and activated her frequency and

sent a cryptic message that she could understand. I
will not explain the how anymore as you are not
advanced enough to understand it...Alice is living
peacefully for some time in the other world now. She
was reluctant to contact you firstShe was afraid you
would not understand and may get more
emotionalshe was right toout we told her about
the importance of your mission and your future,
lexShe wants to talk to you now..

She ...what? He croaked but that was all.

Well, she has agreed to appear in front of you in the

same Hologram medium that you see me inut I
must warn you, you have to listen carefullySpeak
peacefully, without emotion. Any waves of
excitement may disturb her frequency and she may
disappear and will not be able to come backShe will
be dispassionate and will speak matter-of-factlyYou
must not make any effort to touch or go near her
hologram as your frequencies do not matchDo you
understand and agree?

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Yesyes of course... I promise you, I will not disturb

her He said excitedly

Captain Ace looked at him pointedly as if he should

cool himself a bit. Alex nodded, composing himself
understandingly. Remaining calm and cool while
talking to Alice in astral form seemed to be a tougher
challenge than the mission he had completed!

But he would give anything just to see her and talk to

her again.

Suddenly, Captain Ace hologram vanished.

Alex waited, his heart racing.

lex, dear a voice came across the spacecraft

cutting through his layers of memory...It was lice s
voice for sure

He saw her appear some distance from him, like a

white angel in a floating formShe was looking
lovelier than he remembered, eyes more
lustrousShe had a benign smile on the lips.

lice, you... said he, voice choked with emotion.

How are you, lex? asked lice in the hologram

form. As naturally as if they were meeting for coffee

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 TIME RENEWED!

after a break!

I am fine, lice, living with your memories...Where

and how have you been? He thought he sounded
calm enough.

This is a wonderful world I am living in now, only

happiness and peace exist here for us soulsJust like
fantasyWhatever we wish for will be fulfilled in a
matter of nanosecondsthe speed of the mind!

You don t look older. Oh, your age stopped the day
you died, didn t it, lice? He asked wonderingly.

ut you do look older than years, is it? You look

worried too, Alex... I can sense you are not happy
inside lice observed.

I do miss you so gain his voice choked with

emotion.

That is exactly why I came to talk to you, lexYou

heard this wonderful alien Captain Ace. They are so
advanced. They found out where I am in this vast
universe in subtle form and called me in. He has told
you the secret of time and spaceYou know now to
distinguish between yesterday, today and tomorrow.
It s all real and there is nothing to grieve about...It is

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just the way the world isTime just passes and so do

we

She paused. lex was listening intentlyWe have to

live in the present moment. Only. That is the truth,
lex you have to let go of my memories. Even your
thoughts of me reach me and pull meThoughts are
powerful vibrations I don t need it and nor do
youYou have to start your life afresh with a partner
now

I have to...what are you? Doing matchmaking from

the heavens? He felt amused and laughed.

We have to start and restart all the time, lex She

smiled brightly too. Happiness is life and Sorrow is
death. That is what I have learnt. You start again
lexIt will make you happy and it will make me
happy as well

ut how, lice?You know we love each

other lex tried to reason with her.

We loved. Past tense, lex ...That was in my

previous lifeNot nowut your life is still going
onYou need to settle down with a life partneryou
cannot do it alone till the end

Alex was stunned and thought he will digest all that

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she had come to tell him.

These aliens are wonderful...You know what they

did?They created a new a dimensional view for me
and I saw everything that happened yesterday, I
mean little time ago, from right here You are so
dynamic and heroic...you are my hero as always,
lex! and she clapped happily to cheer him up.

lex brightened. You saw that, didn t you? I

avenged your killing, lice!

Alice was smiling without much emotion,

s long as that made you happy and the world...It

does not matter to me nowWhat matters is, you
need to marry. I think Savita there has all that it takes
to be your perfect life partner, perhaps much better
than I would have been. That is perhaps fate,
lexPlease do so, won t you? She beseeched as if
she wanted a reassurance to the effect.

lex got up from his seat and almost reached lice s

hologram.

You mean it, don t you, lice?

ut lice quickly drew back, No lex, stay

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 NAGESH KUMAR CS

thereYou may not be able to withstand my high

vibrations...

Alex froze and watched.

Yes. I am sure Savita will accept your proposal...You

will be happy togetherNow my time is up, lex, we
are burning enormous energy just to make this meet
possibleYes, I will leave now...

Alex said, holding back his tears. ye, lice. I

promise you to be happy!

He did not know whether he was happy or sad after

this unexpected meeting. It was in any case,
emotionally too draining.

ye, lex. Let us move on! and she just switched off
or whatever. She was gone like a conference call had
ended!

Alex just sat stunned in his seat and after a few

seconds, Captain Ace reappeared as a hologram
before him.

Sorry to butt in on your thoughts, lexut what

must be done must be done. ll in good time too.

Yes... lex found talking difficult and Captain Ace

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 TIME RENEWED!

nodded as if he understood.

You are disturbed and I can feel that, lex. Please

concentrate on your future, as lice s spirit advised.
Shortly we are going back to where we started

lex looked up and sighed. ack to tomorrow?

Well, it s already today there at the speed with we

are moving in spacetime. You may not feel it but we
are, as you would say, full steam ahead!

Fine. new beginning for me and the whole world!

lex said bringing enthusiasm back in his voice.

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8. New Year Anew

Captain Ace was talking,

We will be taking you back all the way this time. To

your guest house room, in fact, around 7 am. You will
get up and get readyWe had to recreate the new
timelineYou know the new day will start with you
coming out of the Guesthouse at 8 am and get into
your van. You will drive uninterrupted to your Office
as planned. You will not meet us in the sky this
timeWe have erased that now. When you reach the
office, you will be mobbed and asked a hundred
questions on what transpired and what you achieved
yesterday. You will convince them satisfactorily,
won t you, lex?...ut there will be no mention of our
meeting nor about travelling back and forth in time.
You understand?

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 TIME RENEWED!

Alex was absorbing all that was being said.

Yes, I understand. ut the train and Chirag

PatelShould I have checked?

Captain ce smiled at his anxious questions, You

forget... That is in the evening, you would have
already reached the office by 9 am. You will ask the
security to be strengthened on the train in view of
yesterday s terror incident. The train and the boy will
go on safely...You will be able to arrange that, won t
you?

Of course we will replied lex as if it was now

just child s play.

Then brace yourself, instructed Captain ce. We

will make a bigger wormhole and take you through
the spacetime. The journey may be a little turbulent in
this spaceship too. You will actually fall on your bed
in the guestroom. No one would have noticed
otherwise and how could they.You are yet to start
the day as far as they are concerned

Will I see you again? I mean ever? lex asked. He

wondered why he had become so attached mentally
to Captain Ace. A kind of Stockholm syndrome
maybe?

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Not possible, replied Captain Ace with a coolness

that had become his hallmark. If the human race
behaves most irresponsibly and creates peril to the
galaxy, we may interfere. Otherwise, it is nature s law
to let things go on. Millions of years may pass before
you become more mature and evolved and learn the
price of peace and coexistence. We will have nothing
to do with it. Reap as you sow, you call it

Will you convey gratitude and good wishes from all

of us Indians to your team and leaders for having
helped me and the nation this way? lex asked with
feeling.

cknowledged, replied Captain Ace with a trace of

a smile. May your country and the world prosper.
But remember always there is a big brother watching
over youHope we do not have to interfere in your
future nor in the spacetime natural laws again

Alex nodded, there was nothing he could say to

assure him on behalf of the whole humanity.

I will now go back in the spacecraft steering area, to

bring the spaceship exactly over your Nandi hills
guesthouse. The journey would be a little rough this
time but hold on tight. So, then, it was good meeting
you. Goodbye, lex! Captain Ace waved finally and

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 TIME RENEWED!

Alex was too overcome with emotion to do anything

but wave silently back. When Captain Ace
disappeared, Alex just sat firmly in his seat as seat
belts automatically latched on his waist.

Alex thought long and hard on all that had transpired

in this momentous journey and how he would carve
out his future when he got back home.

The journey this time turned turbulent as the

spaceship tossed and turned and he felt being sucked
and whisked down a long tube of passage in
spacetime. He knew he was just going back to his
room but he had travelled 24 hours astray in the
adventure of his lifetime.

He closed his eyes as he felt very tired and when he

opened them back, the spaceship had steadied itself
and he could see the familiar outlines of the earth in
the lone window in the craft. His seatbelts unbuckled
themselves and he got up. He saw the latch door open
and he walked towards it to leap out. Once he turned
back to the empty looking spaceship and waved to no
one in particular.

He did not know if any invisible multi-dimensional

beings from Captain ce s staff, were observing him
for the final time.

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There was the familiar yellow light path leading to his

room probably. Alex without a thought in the world
stepped out.

He felt like being whisked down a chute and dropped

on something soft but still with a dull thud.

He opened his eyes and saw he was on his bed in the

guesthouse. Just in time to see the yellow fifth-
dimensional pathway which had served him so well
since yesterday just vanish in the ceiling.

He sighed, blinked and took a few moments to

compose himself and got up. He quickly walked to
the window and looked up at the sky in the faint
hope of catching perhaps the last glimpse of Captain
ce s vessel.

But there was nothing to be seen, except clear blue

January sky bathed in early morning sunshine.

It was morning 7 a.m. on January 1, 2050.

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 TIME RENEWED!

9. Reboot Life!

In a few minutes, Alex heard a door knock and was

startled. Then he remembered it was the room service
waiter who was bringing in his cup of coffee.

In fact, he d already had this cup of coffee in the first

run.

He laughed to himself and called him in and asked

him to give it to him in person rather than asking him
to put it down on the table as he had done the first
time. As the same happened without a hitch he felt
thrilled and victorious that no one except him
remembered the events of the older todayIt was
all happening now anew for everyone else.

So also it must be for him, he decided.

He took his second bath for that day, but again, the
first on the new record. He dressed and checked out
of the Guest House smiling more this time at the
booking clerk, but the girl did not see anything amiss

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either.

He was pleased and astonished to see his SUV in the

portico just as he had left it the first time. This meant
the SUV was also fortunate enough to have done the
time travel through the fifth dimension through the
wormhole!

As he drove down the hill road at 8 am, he waited just

for a second at the same turning where he had
encountered the Captain ce s spacecraft earlier.

True to what was told, there was nothing but empty

blue sky this time. Wonderful time travellers;
efficiency and Technological advancement
personifiedLots to learn from these Spacetime
teachers!

He felt once again assured that it had indeed dawned

a new day, on this January of 2050. There would be
none of the exciting adventures that happened with
him, this time aroundNo Spacecraft, no bombs and
no terroristsbut his Office would be aware of his
heroics of yesterday. There would be Savita too

It was an uneventful ride on the way to the office as

it was too early on a New Year s Day to wake up for

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 TIME RENEWED!

the rest of the City.

His mobile phone rang even as he was reaching the

office. His boss Deshpande! He sounded plenty
excited

Hey, lex, where are you? een calling you last

night and sent word to your house too, you did it
man! .what a miracle...ut you weren t home!

He had switched off his mobile as he did not know

how to talk during the transition through the
wormhole.

I had to catch an urgent flight to Nandi Hills, sir...so

I left in a hurry! he smiled to himself on his wit.

What! flight to Nandi hills?you must be kidding

surely roared his boss in amusement.

Alex wondered what if he had said he had to take a

spaceflight in a UFO.

After a pause, the realization dawned on Deshpande

and he said. Oh, your yearly stay there on st. I
remember now!You didn t miss that, did you?

I didn t...well not really... lex felt awkward if he

said anything more that, it would be a lie.

You come back hereLots of people want to meet

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youand get the real story from the horse s mouth!

I am on the way. e with you in minutes lex

replied.

Savita is here too. She hasn t left the office after

coming back from thereshe is singing stories of
your braveryShe would give an award if she
could... I am so grateful to you, man. You saved my
daughter s lifeand averted a major catastrophe in
the City! said Deshpande more soberly.

I don t know if I should take all the credit, sir, said

Alex thinking of Captain Ace.

Savita thinks you should... Deshpande continued.

You know she is a very independent-minded girl,
not stayed with me since the day she joined
workJoined a women s hostel, I tell you!

I am coming right in, sir replied lex, cut the call

and drove into the parking lot.

As he walked into the Office, his colleagues gathered

around him, clapped and patted him on the back.
There were howls of joy and he thanked them all.
They had come to the Office on this momentous New
Year s Day despite being an official holiday.

How did you do it...Who told you about the bomb?

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 TIME RENEWED!

were the major questions he addressed in his report to

Deshpande in person when they sat down with coffee
in his cabin.

He attributed his success to a secret insider source

in his growing network in the underworld. He never
once mentioned his swashbuckling spacetime travel.
He had promised Captain Ace. Besides, who would
believe him otherwise in the Intelligence Department?
This secret would surely die with him.

Savita requested that she be there with them in the

cabin and was all ears and full of praise.

Deshpande briefed him that the other terrorists had

been caught as he had left them. The train of Anand
Khandelwal, the VIP politician had been provided
with Z-plus security and a national alert had been
declared. But only Alex knew it was the now
unknown young prodigy Chirag Patel who had been
saved in the bargain.

There has been a committee formed to check if Iqbal

Miya s case file should be closed, he said in the end.

lex smiled to himselfHmmm our Governments

will always be Governments. It might certainly take

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us millions of years to attain the advanced status of

Captain Ace and his multi-dimensional clan. If ever.

They had swallowed his white lie about yesterday

without murmur, but if he had revealed the real
incidents, he would have been advised psychiatric
treatmentThat s the way the world works.

As they came out of the cabin to the parking lot

talking, Savita caught his sleeve, lex, I want to
thank you heartily for saving my life so bravely!

She was wearing a pretty black and white silk dress

and her face glowed with happiness, her eyes
sparkled with life and it seemed to light up the dark
corners of his lonely heart.

I owe you my life. I wanted to spend the first day of

this new lease of life with you in a restaurant.It
would be my treat! she said firmly but pleasantly.

Alex looked at her and she looked at him.

She saw his eyes glow, perhaps with the new found
knowledge of having won time over. He had left his
past behind. Well, will you come with me then?
and opened the van door and took his seat.

Certainly! Savita beamed and came closer.

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 TIME RENEWED!

ll the way in my life? lex asked, his heart

brimming with hope.

Savita froze, her eyes widened in disbelief of what she

had just heard.

ll the way in your life?... Well, you surely have a

strange way of proposing, lex! she squealed, her
cheeks turning rosy.

nd the answer is? questioned the man who had

bridged yesterday with a new today.

Time will tell Savita replied cryptically and

jumped in the seat next to his, but Alex had no doubt
he had won.

Their new journey started as his SUV rolled out of

the parking lot.

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NAGESH KUMAR CS

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nagesh Kumar CS is a hobby writer of Kannada

detective thrillers and science fiction. He is a Civil
Engineer by profession and a blogger with reputation
from a decade.
This is his first English novel. He lives with his family
in Chennai, India

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