Dragon Fire

Operational Directorate, South Block, Delhi, India

‘We must retaliate,’ said Hari Dixit.

‘No,’ replied Unni Khrishnan, almost in a whisper. ‘We must stop. If they strike again we are condemning the lives of another million people.’

Dixit shook his head: ‘And if we don’t we will lose India.’

‘I don’t care if your bloody government falls.’

‘Neither do I. But if we capitulate now, we will lose our status as a nation. Are the Agnis ready for launch?’

‘And if they target Delhi?’

‘We die,’ said Dixit.

‘Four mobile sites are prepared,’ said Khrishnan softly. ‘Enemy targets are the military headquarters in Chengdu, the Western Hills in Beijing, Zhongnanhai and Shanghai.’

‘We will not hit population centres.’

‘They have.’

‘We won’t.’

‘Then we lose.’

‘We’ve lost already,’ said the Indian Prime Minister.

‘Then stop,’ pleaded Khrishnan.

‘We can’t, Khrishnanji. Don’t you understand, India can’t surrender now.’