Chimera

He turned away and saw Potgam standing stoically next to him while the cold winds were shaking the blades of the parked AW-101 helicopter on the grounds behind him, its cockpit glass reflecting the noon sunlight. He removed a small handkerchief from his dress and wiped the tear away, cleared his throat and then turned back to the flashing cameras to outline his request for humanitarian assistance to deal with the nuclear fallout over his once-pristine Himalayan Kingdom…

CHAGRI DORJEDEN MONASTARY

NORTHERN BHUTAN

DAY 18 + 1430 HRS

Vikram took the three cups from the monks and walked over into the courtyard to find Captain Pathanya lying on the small wooden plank-sheathed bed, his left leg wrapped with thick bandages applied by the monks the day before. He was soaking up the sun despite the chilly winds battering hillsides that day.

Vikram walked over and Tarun took his cup from Vikram as he did a balancing act with the cups. Vikram walked up to the edge of the cot and handed Pathanya one of the two steaming cups just as the latter sat up straighter on the bed. Vikram finally took his last cup and walked over to where he had set his backpack and the Tavor rifle on the wall. He sat down, leaned against that wall and sipped the steaming tea, enjoying the taste, the hot fluid and most importantly, the calm…

Bhutan was quiet now, and for the last two days the three men had heard no more explosions or gunfire. And that was a welcome change to Vikram in particular, who had grown tired of it after so many days out here. But at the time they did have other problems on their hands.

The three men had walked south from their positions west of Barshong after the nuclear attack.

They had trekked over the freezing snow-capped ridges south of Barshong and had walked for more than a day and a half, with Vikram and Tarun taking turns to help Pathanya with his crushed left leg, until they had spotted the orange-brown rooftops of this monastery northwest of Dotanang.

They had walked over to the gates of the monastery on the verge of exhaustion and had been found by the monks inside. The occupants of the monastery had taken the three Indian soldiers inside and given them hot food and whatever medical aid they could. They had even sent a couple of young teenage monks as runners to try and reach the surviving Indian paratroopers at Dotanang to the south for assistance.

Those runners had not yet returned, and so Vikram and Tarun had discussed their options. One of which was that Vikram would leave Tarun here with Pathanya and then make the trip alone to Dotanang, and if required, Thimpu. They hadn’t seen any new flashes of light from the south so there was every expectation that Thimpu had not been nuked, although without radios they couldn’t be sure…

Vikram was still thinking about that as he sipped his tea when he heard the distant rumble of incoming helicopters. Pathanya and Tarun did as well and both men sat up straighter and looked south instinctively. They couldn’t see anything from inside the compound because of the high walls around it. Vikram put down his tea cup, picked the Tavor rifle leaning on the wall next to him and ran towards the main door of the compound. Tarun ran up behind him.

Both men spotted a pair of army Dhruv helicopters heading up the valley from the south. As Vikram shared a look at Tarun, the monks from the monastery also gathered outside near the grassy clearing. As the two helicopters flared for a landing, Tarun gestured to the monks to go back inside. Vikram walked forward and knelt on the clearing just as the skids of the helicopters touched down amidst a cloud of brown dust and dead grass…

The doors slid open and he saw paratroopers jumping outside with their rifles, heading towards the compound and other outlying buildings of the monastery. Colonel Misra removed the headphones inside the cabin and jumped out on to the grass. He put on his beret as he walked up to Vikram. Both men walked away from the helicopter just as the noise from its engines began whining down.

“Damn good to see you, Lef-tenant!” Misra said over the rotor noise as he patted Vikram on his back.

“Thank you, sir!” Vikram replied as he found a lump in his throat at seeing the Colonel having come all the way out here to get them. “How did you even find us, sir?”

Misra smiled: “Those monks you sent as runners found the leading detachment of my boys moving north with some N-B-C reconnaissance vehicles we brought in.” Misra turned as the two army doctors walked up to them.

“Where is he?” the Captain from the medical corps looked at Vikram.

“In there, sir.” Vikram said, gesturing with his arm towards the compound. Both doctors walked inside without any further ado. Misra and Vikram followed up behind them. They saw the two doctors kneeling next to the bed with Pathanya on it while opening the makeshift bandages on his leg. Tarun stood by in concern as they did their job.