The Hunt for Shambhala

23

It turned out that it wasn’t just a joke that Riley Carr knew a woman in every city. The one in Mumbai happened to be Akshara Johar, the sister of Arjun Johar, a Deputy Central Intelligence Officer at the Indian Intelligence Bureau, which many argued was the oldest intelligence agency on Earth.

After several minutes of heated arguments and an eye-watering face slap delivered to his left cheek, the Australian jogged down the steps of Akshara’s Dharavi apartment block with a smile on his face.

He waved a piece of paper in the air. “Got it!”

An hour later they were sitting in a small office like three delinquent teenagers opposite the headmaster’s desk.

“And you say he has now kidnapped two people?” Johar said.

“Yes,” Riley replied. “Good people.”

Arjun Johar looked anxious, but keen. “We have had Madan under surveillance for some time, but even the Indian Intelligence Bureau has its limitations, and you must bear in mind that Mr Madan is very rich. So rich, in fact, that he has more wealth than our entire bureau’s annual budget. It is not easy to monitor a man who can outspend you at every turn.”

“Why are you monitoring him?” Diana asked.

Johar tried to suppress a concerned glance. “The reason we are watching him is because of his space program.”

“His space program?” Riley said.

Johar nodded. “As you may know, there is a global race at the moment to see who can develop the first private space program — a vehicle that can take people into space and then return them safely back to earth. The Americans have SpaceX and here in India we have Rakesh Madan and his Svarga rocket.”

Decker frowned. “The Svarga?”

“Yes. Svarga refers to one of the eight loka or cosmic planes in the cosmology of our religion. This is why Madan named his space program after it — it reflects the symbolism of the Hindu universe, and space.”

“How touching,” Diana said. “You’ll forgive my attitude, but Madan threatened my parents in Portugal and I still don’t know if they are safe or not. When I called them there was no reply.”

“I’m sorry,” Johar said. “I don’t think there is anything I can do…”

“I called the police in Porto,” she said quietly, a tear forming in her eye. “They said they are not at home and are searching for them, but…”

“They’ll be fine,” Riley said. Ever the optimist, he squeezed her shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “They’re probably safe in a police station somewhere and lost in the system.”

“I hope so…”

“Deffo, mate.”

“You were saying something about Madan’s space program, Mr Johar,” Decker said, bringing it back to business. He didn’t want to look heartless, but his training as an officer meant he was always focussed on the strategic view.

“Yes,” Johar continued. “Whoever can offer the first flights into space will be able to make enormous sums of money as the world’s elite line up to take flights into orbit. We know Madan has plans to develop the technology further and intends to offer journeys to the moon, but this is a much bigger undertaking.”

“Tourists on the moon?” Riley said.

“Not exactly,” Johar said softly. “The initial plan is to send people into orbit on the Svarga and then send them on what’s called a free return trajectory around the moon, still — a hell of a view seeing it up-close like that, no?”

“And the cost per ticket?”

“I believe he’s aiming at the five million dollar range for a trip around the planet, or ten million dollars to fly around the moon.”

“Where do I sign up?” Decker said with an embarrassing grin.

“And this is why you’ve had him under surveillance?” Riley said.

“Of course. No government would allow such a program to be developed on its soil without being properly monitored. Space travel is no game, and Madan’s satellite technology is some of the best in the world. Eventually, individuals like Rakesh Madan will rule the planet with their wealth and technology, all completely unaccountable and untouchable. They must be kept in check.”

“But now he’s kidnapped two close friends of mine,” Riley said.

“Yes,” Johar said, flicking through the intelligence dossier on his desk. “Professor Selena Moore and Charlie Valentine.”

“Any idea where he might have taken them?” Decker said.

“According to one of my agents, they were taken to a private property in Darjeeling. We think he is raising a small force of paramilitaries there for some purpose. They arrived a few hours ago.”

“Are they in danger?” Decker asked.

“I can’t answer that. He may be keeping them as hostages to use as bargaining chips later, but…” Johar said, and broke eye contact.

“What is it?” Decker said.

“Yeah, spit it out, mate.”

“There are rumors.”

Decker and the others shared a glance. “Rumors?”

“Listen, it’s important you realize that there is no evidence to support the rumors about Madan.”

“What rumors, dammit?”

“Some say he is involved with something akin to the Aghori.”

“What’s that?” Riley said, but Diana gasped.

“When he was with me he talked about how he was the tenth avatar of Vishnu and the Destroyer of Filth, but it was just wild rambling. I dismissed it as crazy, but now I’m not so sure.”

Decker leaned forward. “Mr Johar?”

Johar frowned, and looked vaguely embarrassed. “I can’t comment on Madan’s claims to be the Destroyer of Filth. If true then this is concerning — it shows he has some kind of god-complex.”

“Let’s just agree that he’s nuttier than an almond farm,” Riley said.

Johar raised an eyebrow. “Quite. As far as the Aghori are concerned I can say that they are ascetic sadhus, a small group of what you might call monks, perhaps.”

Diana raised an eyebrow, and she had lost some of the color in her cheeks. “Monks!”

“What’s the problem, Diana?” Decker said.

“The Aghori are cannibals,” she said flatly.

Decker and Riley nearly leaped out of their chairs, but Johar raised his palms to calm them. “Please… these are just rumors. It is inevitable with a man like Madan and his high profile.”

“But cannibals?” Riley said.

Johar sighed. “The Aghori are an ancient feature of the culture, Riley, and they are not really a cannibal sect. Yes, they go to the charnel grounds…”

“The what?” Riley said.

“It’s a sort of graveyard,” Johar said. “Only it’s above ground.”

“Eh?”

“It’s a very important part of Hindu and other Indo-Tibetan religious rituals,” he said. “The provision of a site above the ground which allows for the… er… putrefaction of the human corpse is an essential part of these traditions.”

“What, traditions written by Stephen King, you mean?” Riley said.

Johar didn’t understand what he meant, but Diana moved things along.

“So these aghori dwell in the charnel grounds?” she said.

“If they eat corpses then they would do, wouldn’t they?” Riley said. “That’s just like the fat kid hanging around Hungry Jack’s.”

Diana frowned and stared at the Australian. “Don’t be so horrible!”

“It’s not the aghori we’re talking about anyway,” Johar said firmly. “If — and it’s a big if — the rumors are true then we’re talking about a modern murder cult.”

Decker shifted in his chair. “So he is connected to some kind of cult?”

“As I say, the rumors refer to something called the Hatyara Cult or killer cult. If true, then they are a secretive group whose sordid proclivities are somewhere between those of aghori and the thuggees.”

“We’ve got to get our friends back, like yesterday!” Riley said.

“Yes,” said Diana. “They risked their lives to rescue me and now I must repay that debt.”

“Not so fast,” Decker said, raising his hands. “You don’t just walk into the private estate of a man like Rakesh Madan and do as you please. There are things to consider — how many men has he there? Are they armed?”

Johar smiled. “I have a man named Bhandari in the north. He has been monitoring Madan’s tea plantation on and off for some time now. I will contact him and arrange to meet him up there.”

“And what about us?”

He shrugged. “I cannot tell you not to go. You are free men and women.”

“How fast can you make this happen, Arjun?” Riley said.

“Arranging the meeting with Bhandari is no problem, but it will take some time to requisition an aircraft to fly up there. Perhaps a few hours.”

Decker smiled for the first time since the meeting began. “I think I might be able to help you out there, Mr Johar.”