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  “We have a Level 1 breach,” Manian Brahmarayan told Rajaraja in a panicked voice.

  “Tell me what happened?” asked Rajaraja in a surprised tone as that was the first time Kumari was facing a significant threat level. He was also surprised because it was the first time he saw his Commander-In-Chief panic.

  “We have identified a breach in our Anti-matter laboratory. The AI Robot that checked the anti-matter inventory this morning has identified that one of the anti-matter canisters containing one hundred grams of anti-matter has gone missing. The security report points to a breach last night from an inside source. We have analyzed the entry records, and the last person to have entered the lab making an unscheduled visit is senior energy scientist Udayan. We have issued a lookout notice for him across Kumari. We have not been able to find him or trace the missing anti-matter yet,” replied Manian.

  “Run a thorough background check on him to see what is going on, bring me all the details that you can find about him,” ordered Rajaraja.

  “I’m on it already,” replied Manian and left the room.

  Manian came back within thirty minutes and told Rajaraja, “We seem to have a big issue at hand. Udayan’s records indicate that he hailed from Tanjore, and his parents’ names have been recorded as Srinivasan and Pavithra. However, we can’t find a childbirth record for Pavithra.

  “Both Pavithra and Srinivasan have never had a child, they had adopted a boy given to them by a traveler. The identity of the traveler is not known. Our records indicate that Udayan was twelve years old when he was adopted. Reports from our spies who were present in the city during the time had mentioned that an unknown traveler with Sri Lankan origin had come with a boy.

  “He was shrewd in evading arrest by our spies in spite of repeated efforts. Records also indicate that he had left our mainland using a boat, but the boy was not with him. They seem to be related, and we have the suspicion that Udayan is actually from Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka; we will be able to get further details only after the arrest of Udayan.”

  Rajaraja got furious and said, “How did this slip through our security apparatus? I smell something bad in all this. It looks like some old enmity is following us. I suggest that we let the Minvandu bees out to expedite the arrest. We have spent a thousand years here waiting for this moment to save humanity, we cannot jeopardize our operations at this critical juncture.”

  “I will do as you say,” replied Manian.

  He called for a meeting of the intelligence chiefs across Kumari. He briefed them about the situation and told them to release the bees with Udayan’s arrest as the objective.

  Chandran, the intelligence chief responsible for the AI machines, including the bees, asked Manian, “Are you talking about our energy scientist Udayan? He is one of our senior-most scientists. How could he have done something like this? We have not used the bees in many years, are you sure this is the right approach?”

  “Given the current situation, our king feels that extreme steps are required to contain any further escalation of the matter. I agree with the king’s judgment, let us proceed,” ordered Manian.

  Chandran replied, “I will proceed as per your order; however, I would like to remind you about the Minvandu bees. There will be three million of them flying all over Kumari into everyone’s homes. No stone on Kumari will be left unturned.

  “These devices are controlled by Artificial Intelligence. Once we release the bees, we will not have any control over them till the target is acquired. There is a chance that Udayan gets hurt during the process. These bees are capable of flying at breakneck speeds to act as a projectile, which can pierce through Udayan’s body if he does not surrender. It is my duty to warn you of the consequences; the bees will be released in the next ten minutes.”

  Manian looked at Chandran and replied with a stern voice, “I’m well aware of the bees and their destructive potential! Let’s proceed!”

  People living near the control tower could hear a humming sound from the south side. The shutters opened with the noise of heavy metal cranking, and hundreds of tiny metal objects that were in the shape of bees started flying out in all directions.

  Within a few minutes, people were able to hear a buzzing sound inside their homes with tiny red lights intermittently glowing all over the place, and the noise in their home lasted for only a few minutes. After two hours had passed, large explosions were heard near one of the royal maid’s houses.

  Manian took a group of armed soldiers with him and surrounded the house. He then broke open the door with the sheer force of a single kick using his right leg and went inside the room where the sound was heard. He could see Udayan shielded behind a table with a sword in his hand. Four of the bees were lying on the floor, and a couple more bees were circling the room.

  Manian spoke to Udayan in a stern voice, “I advise you to surrender now! The entire set of bees will swarm this room within a few minutes. You know very well that you don’t have a chance to escape.”

  While Udayan got up to take a look at Manian, one of the bees shot through Udayan’s right shoulder, making a wide hole on impact. Udayan screamed with pain, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

  Manian asked the soldiers to move Udayan’s body to the hospital for treatment. They walked in with a stretcher and carried him away.

  Manian met Rajaraja and informed him that Udayan has been arrested and is receiving treatment at the state hospital.

  Rajaraja told Manian, “I need him completely healed and ready for interrogation this evening.”

  “It will be done,” replied Manian and left.

  Rajaraja got a message on his Kaikanini that Udayan was ready for interrogation. Kaikanini, a biochip inserted into the left palm, made the palm act as a smart communication device that allowed the people in Kumari to make and receive calls, send messages, and communicate with other electronic devices.

  Both Rajaraja and Agasthiyar entered the interrogation room. The room was dimly lit with no windows and only one metal door which was secured from the outside.

  “Look at me!” Rajaraja told Udayan. “I have trusted you all these years and had you on my privileged team of scientists. How dare you steal anti-matter from the lab? Tell me everything! Who are you? Why did you steal this anti-matter? What are you planning to do with it?"

  Udayan looked at Rajaraja with an angry face and said, “You can kill me if you want, but you will never get anything out of my mouth.”

  Rajaraja took a close look at Udayan’s eyes, walked over to him, placed both his thumb fingers on Udayan’s forehead, and held his head tight. Udayan started screaming in agonizing pain.

  “I will have to forcefully read the depth of your memories if you don’t tell me the truth yourself. We are at a Level 1 situation here. I have no choice but to use the most extreme of measures to find the truth,” warned Rajaraja.

  Udayan did not seem to budge. Rajaraja started exerting even more force. After a few seconds, Rajaraja’s hands began to glow, and the light passed through to Udayan’s head. Within a few seconds, Udayan’s forehead started to glow, and he went into a trance.

  Rajaraja pulled a chair and sat in front of Udayan. He then looked at Udayan in his eyes, they were locked onto Rajaraja’s eyes, Udayan’s eyeballs looked like they had frozen.

  Rajaraja ordered, “Tell me your name!”

  Udayan replied, “I’m Vikrama Tissa, twin brother of Kassapa VI and son of Mahinda V, the mighty ruler of Anuradhapura.”

  Rajaraja was taken aback by the answer and said in a shocked tone, “That cannot be true! Mahinda V only had one son named Vikramabahu, who assumed the title Kassapa VI.”

  Udayan had a sarcastic smile on his face and replied, “You only know half the truth. My mother bore twins, both were boys. She knew that her children were in danger because of you and your army. Hence, as soon as we were born, she sent me away with one of her trusted maids Avanthi to the Surpana ashram in Ruhuna. I missed the love and care that only a mother could give durin
g my childhood days because of your greed to capture Anuradhapura.

  “You invaded Anuradhapura without any provocation from my father, forcing him to abandon his kingdom and run away to Ruhuna, where he lived with utter shame. My mother committed suicide right in front of my eyes, unable to bear the shame. Even that could not satisfy your monstrous greed. You captured my father and took him away to Tanjore, your capital city, and tortured him to death in your captivity.

  “You’re such a curse to my family and me. I wish you hadn’t been born. My life would have been entirely different without you. I took an oath on my seventh birthday that I will spend the rest of my life, waiting for the right opportunity to kill you. Since that day, when I took the oath, every night before I go to bed, the only thought I have is the different ways in which I would kill you.

  “When I was twelve years old, spies from Sri Lanka who were loyal to my father brought the news that you have embarked on a secret mission to save humanity. I made up my mind on that day that I would join your mission, earn your trust, and then make your mission fail when the time is right. I decided to hit you when it hurts you the most. I don’t care if I have to take the whole of humanity down with me, just to get to you and see you fail.

  “You have spent the last thousand years waiting for the opportunity to save humanity. I have spent the same amount of time, in your presence, with only one goal in mind, TO SEE YOU FAIL!!!”

  Rajaraja was taken aback by this answer from Udayan. Moments from the past flashed back in Rajaraja’s mind. Anuradhapura, Mahinda V, beginning days at Kumari, different scenes ran through his mind. His thoughts came back to Udayan. He had spent numerous hours with Udayan in various meetings and brainstorming sessions, and not a hint of vengeance could be sensed in him.

  How did he hide so much hatred and yet carry on with his duties like everything was normal? Various questions about Udayan ran through Rajaraja’s mind.

  He kept his calm and replied, “Dear Udayan, you have served Kumari and me well for the last thousand years. There was not a moment earlier when you showed any hatred towards me.

  “You deserve to know the truth. It is a fact that I fought many wars and captured many kings, but you got it all wrong when you said that it was because of my greed.

  “I needed complete control of all the sea-facing lands around the neighboring countries to build and safeguard Kumari. I sent emissaries to all the neighboring kings to surrender the seaports and surrounding areas to the Chola empire. I could not tell them about Kumari for apparent reasons.

  “Many kings were smart enough to surrender their lands and avoid loss of life and property. Your father, Mahinda V, was not one of them. He had a bunch of idiots in his court as advisers who were stealing all the tax money collected from the public. Your father had no clue what was happening behind his back. I sent three emissaries to your father to persuade him to hand over the seaports of Anuradhapura, but he never agreed to do so. I was left with no choice but to wage war and capture the ports.

  “As per the teachings of my guru Agasthiyar, all I ever wanted was peace and prosperity to humanity. The responsibility that I took upon myself to build Kumari and save humankind did not come easy. I had to pay a heavy price for the same.

  “The most painful thing for a father to face in life is to see their children die before them. I saw my own son Rajendra die in battle in the most gruesome manner. I did nothing to save my son, keeping the promise I made to my guru, to make whatever sacrifices necessary to save humanity. Every action that I ever made after taking up this responsibility of leading Kumari was only for preparing us to face this darkness that lies ahead of us.

  “I completely understand the pain that you had to undergo during your childhood due to my actions. I had to do each one of them for the larger good of humanity. I got no pleasure from taking the lives or land from others. I’m solely responsible for all the actions that I have taken.

  “You had so many opportunities to take my life during our meetings, but it looks like you want to punish the entirety of humanity instead of taking revenge on me. Do you even comprehend the amount of damage the anti-matter in your possession is capable of?”

  Udayan replied, “I know exactly what a hundred grams of anti-matter can do. Work is already underway to build an implosion bomb that will make Kumari implode and collapse on itself, thereby killing you and destroying the last beacon of light for humanity. All that I loved and cherished came to an end before my eyes in Ruhuna when I was seven years old, that’s where the end of the Earth will begin. You are the root cause of this destruction; all the blood will fall on your hands.”

  Agasthiyar whispered something in Rajaraja's ears. Rajaraja nodded his head, bowed to Agasthiyar, and left the room. Rajaraja called Manian and asked him to set up a meeting with the artificial intelligence scientists.

  Manian arranged for a meeting within thirty minutes and informed Rajaraja.

  As soon as Rajaraja walked into the room, everyone stood up and bowed before him. Rajaraja sat in his chair, asked everyone to be seated, and said, “As you are aware, we are at Level 1. We need to activate Thuppari immediately.”

  Rajaraja looked at Manian and told him the brief for Thuppari. “Hundred grams anti-matter stolen, possibly located in Ruhuna, a region in olden day Sri Lanka.”

  Manian looked at one of the scientists sitting to his right side and nodded his head. Immediately, the scientist keyed in the input provided by Rajaraja into the computer terminal. Thuppari started building surveillance models using Artificial Intelligence.

  It started automatically monitoring all forms of communications, including chats and posts on social media apps, telephone conversations, emails, live voice and video chats, voice recordings over smart devices like voice assistants and smart TVs, and all other forms of digital text, voice, and video communications.

  Chapter 4

  It was 10:55 a.m. when Andrea walked into the situation room. All the dignitaries, including Secretary-General Antonio, were already seated.

  At exactly 11:00 a.m., Andrea took the gavel in her right hand and said, “Thank you all for coming. This 9431st meeting of the UN Security Council is called to order,” and struck the gavel.

  Even before she could place the gavel down, Rajaraja and Agasthiyar appeared before them.

  Though it was only the second time Andrea was seeing Rajaraja and Agasthiyar, she felt as though she had known them for years. She was glad to see them come back, on time, as promised. Rajaraja said, “Good morning, Madam President, Secretary-General, and all other dignitaries present here. Thank you for putting your trust in us. Is everyone ready for the visit?”

  Everyone nodded their heads. Andrea had asked Tom to pick just three of the best secret service agents to go with him, and all four of them accompany her to Kumari. She felt it strongly within her that Rajaraja could be trusted.

  Rajaraja stepped forward and said, “We will be taking a spaceship from here to the Rajarajesvaram temple in Tanjore and then taking a train to reach Kumari. Dear leaders, its time to go. Please follow me.”

  Rajaraja, along with Agasthiyar, led the world leaders onto the White House lawn. Andrea was flanked by Tom and the other secret service agents on all four sides as she walked.

  As soon as all of them got into the lawn, Rajaraja lifted his left hand and drew something on his Kaikanini using his right index finger. Immediately, a green light appeared on his palm, and a circular spaceship that was camouflaged in the lawn, right in front of their eyes, showed up.

  It was two stories tall, made with a crystal material on the outside. The surface was highly reflective. All of them around it could see their own reflection on the spaceship. Rajaraja keyed instructions into the Kaikanini again, and this time, the doorway opened, lowering a ladder.

  Rajaraja and Agasthiyar started walking towards the steps. Rajaraja waved his hands for the others to follow them. The spaceship was made of two floors; the first floor was for passengers, and the second floor was
for the pilots.

  Four air-hostesses were present on the floor, wearing a traditional saree, blue in color, made of cotton, with floral patterns drawn over them.

  They guided everyone to take their seats, which were arranged in a circular fashion towards the edge of the spaceship. There was a circular table in the middle with a device on it that looked like a projector.

  Agasthiyar went to the second floor, and the spaceship took off without making any sound or vibration.

  “Here’s your welcome drink, Madam,” said one of the air-hostesses handing over a glass of juice to Andrea.

  “What’s this made of?”, asked Andrea curious to know the ingredients.

  “This is coconut water mixed with Jaggery, Pepper Powder, Lemon Juice, and a pinch of Salt,” replied the air-hostess, happy to have struck a conversation with the President of the United States.

  Rajaraja said, “Dear leaders,” and waited for a few seconds to get everyone’s attention and then continued, “You are now inside one of the thousands of transport spaceships that we have in Kumari.

  “This spaceship is powered by Nuclear energy using a Micro Nuclear Battery, which we refer to as MNB. It has a shield which can act as camouflage and also protect us from hostile attacks. This spaceship can travel at a maximum speed of twelve hundred miles per second. We do not take our aircraft outside Kumari, we prefer taking our spaceships due to its stealth and defense capabilities.

  “As I mentioned earlier, we are now going to a small town in the south of India called Tanjore. This was my capital city when I ruled the Chola empire over a thousand years ago. We will be landing inside the sacred compound of the Rajarajesvaram temple. We will be cruising at a slow speed due to which it will take us thirty minutes to reach the temple.”

  Andrea looked around the spaceship and was astonished at its simple yet elegantly designed interiors. She turned towards Rajaraja and asked, “My ears did not pop during takeoff. What is our current cruising altitude?”