Chapter 2
1071 Words
Chapter 2The Admiral
The Admiral who is tall, athletic in appearance, having white hair wearing his blue and black attire walks out from the meeting room, as the Imperial Building is completely air-conditioned and secured through special air filters from the outside air pollution, so a mask is unnecessary. The city officials stay in this building to look after the issues of the Water Confiscation Act, conflicts against the rebels of the region, take care of the supply of rationed water and food to the public. Most of the headquarters under the Imperial regime, function through solar power, but the lower strata of the community lack the facility. Water consumption by the entire community of the city is rationed out, as per the daily consumption limits, issued by the Imperial Office. Generally, it is about three l****s for a family of three to four members, or the same quantity of water may have to last for a week, depending on the scarcity limit.
The Admiral opens up the door to his office, followed by a woman secretary, who is tall similar to Mitra, having a hair bun on the on the neck, wearing a white clerical Imperial Suit.
Sam enters the room as soon, as he sees the Admiral.
Sam salutes him.
“Any news?” questions the Admiral.
“Mitra is here, Sir!
“The bounty hunter?”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Where is he?”
“In the waiting room!”
The Admiral comes out of his office and notices Mitra, without his mask. “Are you the son of Krishna?” he asks.
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Your father and I have worked together for a long time.”
“I remember…”
“Those were the days… the water confiscation…”
“I know…”
“Come on, in! Have a seat.”
Mitra picks up his backpack and they walk inside the office.
He continues, “Make yourself comfortable. The Governor asked me to help you with your need to find the rebels…”
The secretary is busy checking on the Admiral’s schedule.
“Meet my secretary, Judy,” he adds, with a smile.
Both Mitra and Judy shake hands. Greets each other.
“Judy, please arrange a room for Mitra and some refreshments,” the Admiral instructs her.
They sit down facing each other. The Admiral dismisses Sam and tells Judy to shut the door, asking her to leave them alone to give them some privacy.
The Admiral pours out Bourbon into a tall glass, which he offers Mitra, but he refuses.
“Not used to it?”
“When you live in the dry lands…you don’t need refreshments.”
“I understand, Son. I haven’t done any of that tough stuff for quite some time.”
“I know!”
Mitra brings out his copy of ‘Paradise Lost’ from the backpack and the envelope. He opens it, pulls out an old photograph of a woman, and passes it to him, apart from the other photographs. The woman looks pretty young and innocent in appearance.
He looks at the picture thoroughly.
“We believe you know her!”
“We?”
“Her name is Gayatri, the rebel leader!”
“I can’t recall…”
“Think.”
“Where did you find this photograph?”
“During my recent capture of the rebels, Pramnik, Richa and a few others. I found it among their belongings.”
The Admiral inquires, “How did you reach them?”
“Through a smuggler this time. Supplying food to them.”
“Did you kill the smuggler?”
“Apparently, no! He is under Imperial Custody by Governor’s order to extract more information about the location of the other rebel bases.”
“I see.” The Admiral turns to the photographs, he says, “So, you want to trace this person?”
“Her last known sight was in the Neutral Territory.”
“I see. Any other photographs?”
Mitra pulls out another photograph from the envelope.
“This is your father, Mitra, when he was young!”
“Yes. I have found these photographs and some more with the rebels.” Mitra gives the rest of the photos to the Admiral. The Admiral goes through the photographs.
“I knew few of them from my younger days. Most of them are put into labour camps.”
“I see.”
“So, you want to hunt the rebel leader?”
“True.”
The Admiral looks at him with a frown on his forehead, “Are you on some vendetta, Mitra? Hunting down rebels, killing them, putting them in labour camps?”
Mitra takes some time, a suppressed anger tone on his voice, “These rebels killed my father.”
“That was a long time ago! You are earning by killing them one by one.”
“That’s my only earning.”
“You could have done better, if you had not run away from us!”
Mitra raises his voice slightly, “I was young, Admiral. I hated you for being so late to rescue…”
“I am sorry! That doesn’t mean you can waste yourself in the dry lands!”
“Do I have any other choice?”
“Not anymore! You are a prized hunter of the Regime! That is why you are preferred for the job, the anger, the hatred, and everything.”
Mitra exhales a deep breath, “Anyways. The Regime will reward you with certain provisions in the coming days… and there are unreported attacks carried out by the rebels in the Ghost City.”
The expression on the Admiral’s face fills up with fear and anger. “How do they know?”
“You see, Admiral! The Governor feels this city is dying and will be demolished completely!”
“The Governor has never voiced this information to me!”
“Well, there’s another problem, most of the rations are not distributed by your officials, but are being distributed amongst themselves.”
“You are very well informed.”
“Conning the suppressed is what the Imperials do. I don’t care what you and the Governor wants to do!” Mitra pauses, he continues, “Anyways, I have to find the rebel leader and I will get a clean slate from ‘The Imperial Regime.’ Then, I will settle down in one of the lushes of the surviving rainforests!”
The Admiral feels relaxed from the words of Mitra, “Good for you, Mitra! You don’t want to be involved in this system.” He releases a deep breath, “Alas! I was promised a rainforest, but that never happened.”
Mitra looks at the Admiral and says, “So, shall we get started?”
“Yeah. Sure. I will fix up a search party in the Neutral Territory, along with the nomads out there. The Governor’s instructions are that you will lead the case. On a side note, you do your part and I will do mine. I will take a copy of those photos, now!”
“Excellent!”
The Admiral brings out a communicator from his drawer. The communicator is a telecommunication built with a screen for video calling, mini camera and has a GPS for location tracking connected to encrypted Imperial Cloud Storage.
The Admiral starts taking the shots of the same and gives the photographs back to Mitra. The latter puts it back in the book.
“And join us for dinner… I will be very happy to know you better and meet my family too.”
Mitra nods at the Admiral’s words.
- Writer
