“It’s beautiful!” gasped Mayank as he sighted their resort, “Fort Aguada”, from the car. Mayank, Mudit and their parents had come down to Goa to for their annual summer vacation. Dad had decided that he would do nothing more than sleep while Mom was looking forward to lazing with a book on the beach. Mayank and Mudit however were hoping that an adventure would fall into their laps just like it did in all the famous five stories that they read.
“Race you to the lobby, dada”, challenged Mudit, as he stepped out of the car. Both of them got into a desperate dash with mom shouting at them to be careful as usual. And then the inevitable happened. Just as Mudit ran around the corner he bumped into a stranger sending his bags flying to the ground. The man looked furious as he gathered his stuff. Mayank and Mudit tried to help him, but were shoved away rudely. The man was tall and hefty and had a deep scar running down one side of his face. He quickly picked up his things, shoveled them into his bag and with a furious glare at the two boys went away.
The boys were abashed and walked slowly to where their parents were checking in at the reception. They were taken by the bellboy to a cottage on the beachfront. As soon as they were inside, Mayank whispered to Mudit, “Did you see what was in that man’s bag? I am sure I saw a gun!” Mudit replied, “I was scared dada, the man looked like a pukka goonda. I am sure he is a terrorist.”
“Look’s like he is staying at this resort too. Let’s keep an eye on him and try to find out what he’s up to” said Mayank.
They quickly had a bath and all of them went to the restaurant for breakfast. As soon as they saw the sumptuous spread, they forgot all about their mysterious stranger. Mayank piled his plate with dosas and idlis while Mudit ate his waffles and bacon ravenously.
After breakfast, mom and dad decided to go the beach. The boys walked to the Kids Zone that had everything that would attract two active boys – a trampoline, a fooz ball table, an air hockey table and a number of puzzles and books.
There were two swimming pools, a large one and a shallow one where the kids could have good fun splashing each other safely. They were soon busy in an air hockey match.
A few minutes later, their stranger came in and settled himself on a pool chair. It looked like he was waiting for somebody. The boys keeping to their plan, hid behind some bushes, trying to find out what the man was up to. Soon, the man was joined by a waiter. “Good afternoon, Mr. Khali,” said the waiter. “You are late, Tony,” snapped Mr. Khali. “Well, tell me what you guys have been up to”. “We have the plans in place to bomb the rally that the chief minister will be attending. All the details – the time, the place, the names of the bombers, etc. are in this computer disk,” said Tony and handed over a CD to Mr. Khali. “Good work, Tony, now all you need to do is wait for my signal and start working on the bomb. Now quickly get me a beer before anybody gets suspicious of what we have been talking about”.
Mayank and Mudit could not believe their ears. They had stumbled upon something dangerous. They must tell somebody about the terrorists plan. Uncle Sandeep who was an IPS officer was the right person to contact, but who would believe them? As it is, Uncle Sandeep always told their mom that her boys definitely had an overactive imagination.
“What should we do, dada. Shall we try to steal the CD while Mr. Khali is busy with his drink,” said Mudit. “No bhai, if we do that, Mr. Khali will get suspicious and the men will just change their plans. We need a way to get inside his room and make a copy of the disk without his finding out anything about it.” “Dada, that’s it! Let’s wait for Mr. Khali to leave his room, then we will get inside his cottage and copy his disk onto the drive that dad got us from Qatar.” Their father had recently got them a USB flash drive that doubled as a friendship band.
Next morning when they saw Mr. Khali come in to the restaurant for breakfast, they ran over to his cottage. Fortunately, he had forgotten to close the French window of his cottage and the boys were able to get in. They switched on his computer, put in the disk that they had seen Tony give to Mr. Khali and quickly began copying all the files onto the USB drive. Almost as soon as they had finished copying and had hit the shutdown button on the computer, they heard someone approaching. Mayank quickly closed the drive and slipped the band around his wrist. They ran out the French window, but as luck would have it, Mr. Khali came around the corner and saw them. “What are you two up to now, were you snooping round my room?”, shouted the man. “Sorry uncle, we are just collecting leaves for our science project,” quickly replied Mudit. “Have you taken anything from my room, let me search you both.” Mr. Khali checked all their pockets and when he didn’t find anything, he sent the boys packing, warning them to stay away from his room.
Mayank and Mudit came back to their cottage and requested dad to let them play on his laptop. “Can we take the laptop to the lobby, dad. Its Wi Fi enabled and we will be able to log into Hi5 and chat with our friends,” said Mudit. “OK, but be careful. Don’t drop anything on the way and don’t stay away for long. We will be going out for dinner to the Thai restaurant in the Holiday Village today.”
In the hotel lobby, the boys quickly e-mailed all the terrorist details to their Uncle Sandeep and asked him to take action quickly. “We have done all we could. Now we just have to wait for Uncle Sandeep to come through,” said Mayank.
In the evening Chef Mario served them an excellent Thai dinner. They were also serenaded by a group of singers who sang “Que Sara Sara”. And that’s just how the boys felt, “Whatever will be, will be!! The future is not for us to see!”. “You boys seem awfully quiet today,” said mom. “Nothing mom, we are just tired,” replied Mudit.
As they came back to the cottage, a surprise awaited them. Uncle Sandeep was waiting outside their cottage. “Congratulations Mayank and Nudit, your information helped us nab Mr. Khali and his gang of terrorists who were definitely up to no good. Thanks such a lot,” said he. Mom and dad were amazed. Once they were told the whole story, they patted the two boys and said “We are proud of you two. You boys are wonderful. We are blessed to have you both with us”.
“Race you to the lobby, dada”, challenged Mudit, as he stepped out of the car. Both of them got into a desperate dash with mom shouting at them to be careful as usual. And then the inevitable happened. Just as Mudit ran around the corner he bumped into a stranger sending his bags flying to the ground. The man looked furious as he gathered his stuff. Mayank and Mudit tried to help him, but were shoved away rudely. The man was tall and hefty and had a deep scar running down one side of his face. He quickly picked up his things, shoveled them into his bag and with a furious glare at the two boys went away.
The boys were abashed and walked slowly to where their parents were checking in at the reception. They were taken by the bellboy to a cottage on the beachfront. As soon as they were inside, Mayank whispered to Mudit, “Did you see what was in that man’s bag? I am sure I saw a gun!” Mudit replied, “I was scared dada, the man looked like a pukka goonda. I am sure he is a terrorist.”
“Look’s like he is staying at this resort too. Let’s keep an eye on him and try to find out what he’s up to” said Mayank.
They quickly had a bath and all of them went to the restaurant for breakfast. As soon as they saw the sumptuous spread, they forgot all about their mysterious stranger. Mayank piled his plate with dosas and idlis while Mudit ate his waffles and bacon ravenously.
After breakfast, mom and dad decided to go the beach. The boys walked to the Kids Zone that had everything that would attract two active boys – a trampoline, a fooz ball table, an air hockey table and a number of puzzles and books.
There were two swimming pools, a large one and a shallow one where the kids could have good fun splashing each other safely. They were soon busy in an air hockey match.
A few minutes later, their stranger came in and settled himself on a pool chair. It looked like he was waiting for somebody. The boys keeping to their plan, hid behind some bushes, trying to find out what the man was up to. Soon, the man was joined by a waiter. “Good afternoon, Mr. Khali,” said the waiter. “You are late, Tony,” snapped Mr. Khali. “Well, tell me what you guys have been up to”. “We have the plans in place to bomb the rally that the chief minister will be attending. All the details – the time, the place, the names of the bombers, etc. are in this computer disk,” said Tony and handed over a CD to Mr. Khali. “Good work, Tony, now all you need to do is wait for my signal and start working on the bomb. Now quickly get me a beer before anybody gets suspicious of what we have been talking about”.
Mayank and Mudit could not believe their ears. They had stumbled upon something dangerous. They must tell somebody about the terrorists plan. Uncle Sandeep who was an IPS officer was the right person to contact, but who would believe them? As it is, Uncle Sandeep always told their mom that her boys definitely had an overactive imagination.
“What should we do, dada. Shall we try to steal the CD while Mr. Khali is busy with his drink,” said Mudit. “No bhai, if we do that, Mr. Khali will get suspicious and the men will just change their plans. We need a way to get inside his room and make a copy of the disk without his finding out anything about it.” “Dada, that’s it! Let’s wait for Mr. Khali to leave his room, then we will get inside his cottage and copy his disk onto the drive that dad got us from Qatar.” Their father had recently got them a USB flash drive that doubled as a friendship band.
Next morning when they saw Mr. Khali come in to the restaurant for breakfast, they ran over to his cottage. Fortunately, he had forgotten to close the French window of his cottage and the boys were able to get in. They switched on his computer, put in the disk that they had seen Tony give to Mr. Khali and quickly began copying all the files onto the USB drive. Almost as soon as they had finished copying and had hit the shutdown button on the computer, they heard someone approaching. Mayank quickly closed the drive and slipped the band around his wrist. They ran out the French window, but as luck would have it, Mr. Khali came around the corner and saw them. “What are you two up to now, were you snooping round my room?”, shouted the man. “Sorry uncle, we are just collecting leaves for our science project,” quickly replied Mudit. “Have you taken anything from my room, let me search you both.” Mr. Khali checked all their pockets and when he didn’t find anything, he sent the boys packing, warning them to stay away from his room.
Mayank and Mudit came back to their cottage and requested dad to let them play on his laptop. “Can we take the laptop to the lobby, dad. Its Wi Fi enabled and we will be able to log into Hi5 and chat with our friends,” said Mudit. “OK, but be careful. Don’t drop anything on the way and don’t stay away for long. We will be going out for dinner to the Thai restaurant in the Holiday Village today.”
In the hotel lobby, the boys quickly e-mailed all the terrorist details to their Uncle Sandeep and asked him to take action quickly. “We have done all we could. Now we just have to wait for Uncle Sandeep to come through,” said Mayank.
In the evening Chef Mario served them an excellent Thai dinner. They were also serenaded by a group of singers who sang “Que Sara Sara”. And that’s just how the boys felt, “Whatever will be, will be!! The future is not for us to see!”. “You boys seem awfully quiet today,” said mom. “Nothing mom, we are just tired,” replied Mudit.
As they came back to the cottage, a surprise awaited them. Uncle Sandeep was waiting outside their cottage. “Congratulations Mayank and Nudit, your information helped us nab Mr. Khali and his gang of terrorists who were definitely up to no good. Thanks such a lot,” said he. Mom and dad were amazed. Once they were told the whole story, they patted the two boys and said “We are proud of you two. You boys are wonderful. We are blessed to have you both with us”.
