012

Karnak smiled in a way that for some reason sent a chill down Suneeti’s spine.

“I’m bringing on the external shield.”

She watched in fascination as exterior of the vimana glowed with diffuse energy. The shields came with sudden force and hurtled those men into the air like shreds of paper in a hurricane.

Suneeti had hardly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a group of tantriks approaching the vimana from the other side. She manipulated the display to bring them into focus.

One of the tantriks moved forward, as close to the outer limit of the shield as he could. He was wearing only a loincloth and rudraksh neck and armlets. His entire body was covered in what Suneeti knew was ash of a freshly cremated corpse. His hair were long and matted in locks. He carried a trishool in one hand.

The tantrik hit the ground in front of him with his trishool, holding it upright with both hands. Then he began chanting. The trishool appeared to glow in his hands. He lifted it up and thrust it into the shield. The shield buckled and bended inwards at that spot. It shimmered in colours that made Suneeti’s eyes water.

The tantrik took a step forward and the shield diminished around him. Two more tantriks had begun similar procedures on either sides of him.

“They have tantriks now,” Suneeti cried out with renewed panic, “do something!”

“I’m doing it!” Karnak lashed out at her, “This is an Atirath, not a ground-chariot! The systems are complex and I don’t have time to understand them fully. They have to brought online in as specified order for this to work.”

Suneeti kept her mouth shut. She knew that there was not much she could do to help.
She watched with growing fear as the tantriks took step after step, weakening the shield with each one.

Suddenly the floor shuddered. Suneeti had to hold on to the guard rails that encircled the room to steady herself.

The shuddering grew more violent. They were taking off. Suneeti saw the tantriks hurriedly back off as the ground around them cracked and melted. The air shimmered and the Atirath leisurely rose up from its underground recess.

The vibrations had become so violent that Suneeti had to sit down on the floor. On the screens, the ground fell rapidly beneath them and all she could see were pinpoints of light in the night.
She felt the acceleration growing. The air grew heavy and it became difficult to breathe. She closed her eyes. She was feeling as though she was going to throw up.

Suddenly the ship lurched, it indeed it was possible for an object of that size to lurch. The heaviness went away and Suneeti found herself staring at Karnak’s face who was sitting beside her with a worried expression on his face.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Suneeti grunted and sat up.

“We had only enough power to take off,” said Karnak, “but it gave us enough velocity to escape the gravity well. We’re currently on a parabolic orbit around the planet.”

“That that would not help us too long, would it?” asked Suneeti, “If they’re so keen on getting to you they’d be following us.”

“Yes,” Karnak agreed, “and soon. We don’t have much time. It will not take much time to prepare a shuttle and come after us.”

“Do you have another plan?” Suneeti asked with a grim smile.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

***