Chimera

A few minutes later Brigadier Adesara and his staff officers watched the last An-32 to leave DBO lift off the dirt strip into the darkness of the night. Minutes later all strobe lights were switched off just as the first hint of reddish skies began to appear over the eastern ridgelines. Daylight was approaching.

The radio crackled to life: “Movement on Hill-two-four-three!”

NAGPUR AIRBASE

CENTRAL INDIA

DAY 2 + 0600 HRS

Small puffs of smoke flew sideways as the large undercarriage tires of the B-737 Boeing Business Jet touched the concrete runway. As the aircraft carrying the Indian high command rolled down the runway, the escorting Mirage-2000 fighters streaked overhead and banked away in the early morning skies. All five aircraft had been airborne for hours now, and could have stayed aloft longer. But unlike the American version of the VC-25 Airborne-Command-Post which was capable of aerial refueling and therefore potentially unlimited flight, the Indian counterpart was based around a smaller airframe and was not equipped accordingly. It did share similar defensive mechanisms and all the communication equipment required for long endurance C3I operations. A war could be run from the aircraft for stretches of time, but not on a near continuous basis.

Nagpur airbase was far enough south that it was considered safe from a renewed round of Chinese cruise-missile attacks. Besides, the airbase was deep enough inside Indian Territory that any enemy missile would have to penetrate large tracts of Indian airspace and defenses, and so the possibility of a cruise-missile breaking through was very low…

The B-737 rolled off the runway with a group of air-force police vehicles driving alongside. The airbase perimeter was currently being guarded by assault-rifle toting soldiers as well as guard-dogs. In the skies around the airbase, an air-force Dhruv helicopter was patrolling with snipers on board as they kept a sharp eye for potential threats. The B-737 finally rolled on to the main tarmac area on the base and halted alongside a parked C-17 heavy-transport aircraft.

There were a large number of people waiting outside on the tarmac area just as the morning sunlight started piercing through the low hanging mist around the base. As the engines of the B-737 spooled down, refueling tankers were already rushing for the aircraft while ground crewmen got to work. The doors were opened and people began pouring out. The PM was one of the first people to step out of the aircraft and he was whisked away by his SPG team towards the waiting convoy of three black bulletproof SUVs. Other military and civilian officials including the Home-Minister, Chakri, General Yadav and his other staff officers followed close behind.

Chakri put on his sunglasses even as the first rays of sunlight glistened off the white colored airframe of the B-737. The smell of aviation fuel was in the air and a cacophony of voices engulfed him. As he walked down the stairs on to the concrete, he turned to face General Yadav walking down behind him.

“So where are you heading now?”

Yadav stopped walking when Chakri did the same right outside the black SUVs. The Army-Chief had a different ride to take and he pointed it out to Chakri: an ERJ-135 Embraer utility-transport aircraft glistening in the sunlight beyond the parked C-17…

“I am off to the Southern Command Headquarters in Pune. I have an army to lead and they know I am on the way. A short flight from here to Lohegaon airbase and I should be back in command. Generals Suman and Chatterjee are trying to defeat the Chinese Group Army attempting to break through in Arunachal Pradesh and they can use every bit of help I can get them. The Ladakh front will open up soon, if not within the hour. The Chinese are not going to wait around while we get our act together. It’s going to get real messy, real soon,” Yadav said.

Chakri considered that and then noticed the looks on the faces of his security people: they were not happy with him standing out on the open tarmac where he was vulnerable to a sniper. He turned back to Yadav.