Blake turned the laptop screen towards Imran. 'Watch this. We came across this video clip on a CD recovered from Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan.' He clicked on an mp4 file and the video clip began.

The image was grainy, an amateur recording, but there was no mistaking the face of Al Zawahiri, the new leader of Al Qaeda. He was speaking in Arabic but there was a voiceover translating his words into English.

'The West will pay for the destruction of Islamic lives in Iraq and Afghanistan,' Al Zawahiri shrieked, brandishing an AK47 assault rifle. 'The infidels will die. They think they are superior, but now the Islamic world will have powerful weapons of a kind that mankind has never seen before; weapons that will help us achieve a victory for Islam!'

He turned and looked at another man, who stood by with a look of aloofness on his face, as if he had been compelled to be a part of the show.

'Brothers,' Al Zawahiri continued, 'this is Farooq Siddiqui. He is one of the nuclear scientists who helped Pakistan develop its nuclear bomb. He will vouch for what I have just said.'

Farooq coughed awkwardly and looked into the camera. 'We have a plan and funding from powerful sources. We have access to designs of weapons that people have never dreamt of. Our factories are being built to manufacture these weapons. We have the prototypes ready. And once the factories are ready, no one can stop Islam from asserting its rightful place in the world!'

The clip ended abruptly just as a group of hooded and armed men raised their automatic weapons to the sky and let loose a barrage of rounds.

Imran sat back, contemplating the last frame of the video which had zeroed onto Siddiqui's face. He would never have connected the name Farooq Siddiqui with the Pakistani scientist who had worked on the Pakistani nuclear bomb and then disappeared suddenly in 2003. It had been widely presumed that Farooq had been kidnapped or murdered by Islamic terrorists during an attempt to steal Pakistan's nuclear secrets. His body had never been found. Yet, here he was in an Al Qaeda video, with Al Zawahiri, no less.

'I don't get it,' Imran came straight to the point. 'What weapons is he talking about? And where are their factories? Our intelligence has not picked up any such build-up anywhere. Have you guys heard anything?'

Blake shook his head. 'No idea. Farooq was careful not to describe the weapons and sounded deliberately ambiguous. This could be a recruitment video for attracting jihadis to Al Qaeda by promising them a technological superiority they haven't experienced yet. With Qaeda in tatters, this may just be an attempt to revive the group.'

'Farooq is the common factor between the phone tap and the video,' Imran summarised. 'And you think it is the same person?'

Blake shrugged. 'Could be. It is difficult to be conclusive. We only realised that we might be on to something when someone in the agency made the connection between the Murphy tap, the video clip and some documents recovered from Pakistan in a raid on a Lashkar-e-Taiba hideout. According to those documents, there is an LeT leader based in Pakistan by the name of Farooq Siddiqui. And we all know that LeT has links with Al Qaeda, possibly even ambitions of supplanting Al Qaeda as the foremost Islamic terrorist organisation in the world.' He paused to let his words sink in.

'As you say, there could be any number of Farooq Siddiquis in India,' Blake resumed after a few moments. He leaned forward to emphasise his words. 'The documents that named Farooq also mentioned a grand LeT terror plan, though there were no details. What if it is the same guy? Farooq Siddiqui, the scientist, swapping his lab coat for an AK47 and becoming an LeT leader? What if the reference in the Murphy tap wasn't to an Indian with this name, but to a Pakistani? And suppose the partner referred to in the call is LeT? Perhaps Murphy has been assigned to work with them on the project in India? It is plausible, since Murphy has connections in the Middle East as well.'

'Worth considering.' Imran looked at Vaid thoughtfully.

'If there is a link, we need to find it.' Vaid concurred. 'Kidwai, this one's your baby. Check on it and see if there is any substance to it. When you find Murphy, put a tap on his phone. We need to know who he speaks to. If our speculation is correct, there may be something really big underway and we need to stop it. I'll brief the Home Minister personally.'

Imran nodded. He had already begun planning his course of action. But two questions nagged at him.

Why was a renegade Pakistani nuclear scientist part of LeT? And what was he doing in India?

8.

Day 5 Jaungarh Fort Vijay shook his head and frowned. The Nine Unknown Men... now, why did that sound familiar?

'Who are they'? He asked.

'The Brotherhood of the Nine Unknown Men is an ancient secret society, perhaps the oldest in the world, going back 2,300 years.' White stopped, as Vijay sat bolt upright, his eyes widening with surprise.

'You have heard of them, then'. White remarked.

'No, I haven't,' Vijay replied slowly. 'But that number-9- was in an email my uncle sent to me on the day he was murdered. I didn't understand what it meant, but when you just spoke about the Nine, it suddenly struck me. I wonder if uncle was referring to this secret society.'

'Your uncle certainly believed in the existence of the Nine,' White said. 'He told me so on several occasions. You say he sent you an email about the Nine?'

'Go on,' Vijay said impatiently, 'please tell me more about this secret society.'

For a moment, White looked as if he wanted to find out more about the email Vijay had mentioned. Then, he glanced around the room. 'You have all heard of Emperor Asoka the Great.'

It was a statement more than a question, but Radha nodded. 'He was the legendary Indian king who lived in the third century bc. A fierce warrior who is said to have killed his brothers to ascend the throne, he fought bloody wars to expand his kingdom to cover almost the whole of present day India-except a bit of the south-and present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. His last conquest was Kalinga, present-day Orissa. Thousands of soldiers on both sides were killed in the battle for Kalinga. Asoka is believed to have been overcome by remorse at the death and destruction he had caused, which led him to renounce violence and convert to Buddhism. History records that he was a great king, devoted to the welfare of his subjects. He spread Buddhism beyond India. His son Mahindra went to Sri Lanka. He put up edicts in stone all over the kingdom, propagating the law of Dhamma.'

White smiled. 'Very good. You certainly know your ancient Indian history. Asoka ruled from 260 bc to 223 bc. And you are right to call him legendary. The story of Asoka would have remained a legend if his edicts hadn't been first discovered and translated by James Prinsep in 1837. The discovery of another edict in 1915, mentioning Asoka by name, confirmed the historical authenticity of a king who, until the 19th century, had been considered a myth.'

'But there is another legend about Asoka, one less known and not established by historians.' Bheem Singh took up the narrative. 'It is said that he founded a secret society-The Brotherhood of the Nine Unknown Men. During Asoka's reign, it is a historical fact that while religion and peace flourished, science was cloaked in a veil of secrecy. It is believed that Asoka, having renounced violence, wanted to ensure that the scientific advances made by mankind were not put to military use or to cause destruction and death.

'According to the legend, the Nine were given the task of documenting all the scientific advancements made in history, by studying ancient texts and documents, to preclude the possibility of any known means of destruction falling into the wrong hands.

'Apparently, as members of the Nine died, new members were recruited, over the centuries, from the leading scientific minds of India, in order to preserve the continuity of knowledge. People even say that great Indian scientists like Jagdish Chandra Bose knew of and believed in the existence of the Nine; and perhaps even received help from them in their experiments. Why, it has even been speculated that Bose himself was one of the Nine.'

'But that isn't true,' White interjected. 'The Nine died out centuries ago. Legend has it that there hasn't been a member of the brotherhood alive for 1,500 years.'

'True,' Bheem Singh admitted. 'We know that for a fact because my ancestor, the first Maharaja of Rajvirgarh, has recorded the disappearance of the last member of the Nine in 500 ad. His court astronomer told him that he was the last one alive and asked him for protection because his life was in danger. But before my ancestor could do anything to help him, the astronomer disappeared.'

'I've heard the legend of the Nine,' Shukla murmured. 'They wrote books on different subjects.'

Bheem Singh nodded. 'Nine books, according to legend.' He ticked them off on his fingers. 'Psychology or propaganda and psychological warfare, physiology, microbiology, alchemy or chemistry, communication, gravity, cosmology, light and sociology.'

White nodded in agreement. The others simply stared at the Maharaja. This sounded unbelievable, yet it was coming from Bheem Singh whose persona seemed to lend this tale some sort of credibility.

'I'm sorry if I sound rude,' Colin found his voice, 'but I find it hard to believe that someone of your stature, a member of Indian royalty, would place his faith in a tale like this.' Colin didn't share the inhibitions of the other Indians in the room, who had a natural deference to a figure of authority like Bheem Singh. 'Books on chemistry, microbiology and gravity written over 2,000 years ago...I know India has a great history and science was pretty advanced in ancient times in India, but this is a bit far-fetched isn't it? We all know that Newton discovered the law of gravity. And microbiology...why, microscopes weren't even around at that time.'

'Oh, I'm not saying that I believe in this,' Bheem Singh smiled at their confusion. 'I'm simply telling you what the legend says. That doesn't mean the legend is true.'

'Yet uncle believed in this.'

White shook his head. 'I never said that. Vikram believed in the existence of the Nine, but not in the legend of the nine books written by them or any of the other fantastic stories about them. Somehow, he had stumbled upon the truth about the Nine.' He looked at Bheem Singh.

'You see,' Bheem Singh took the cue, 'Asoka the Great created the brotherhood to guard a great secret; one that had its roots in antiquity. The Nine were tasked to protect that secret which Asoka decided was too dangerous to be revealed to the world. All the other myths and stories about the Nine were fabricated to conceal this great secret from inquisitive minds and prying eyes.'

'And what was that secret?' Radha asked.

White shrugged. 'We don't know.'

'So how do you know that the purpose of the brotherhood was guarding this secret when you don't even know what that secret is?' Radha persisted.

White pulled out the leather notebook Bheem Singh had given him and placed it on the glass-topped centre table . They all stared at it but no one touched it; as if it was cursed in some way.

'Have you heard of Ernst Schafer?' Bheem Singh asked of no one in particular.

Everyone, except White, shook their heads.

'Okay, what about the Ahnenerbe?'

'Hang on, wasn't that the organisation set up by Hitler to research the origins of the Aryan race?' Vijay screwed up his face as he spoke, trying to recall his school history lessons.

'Correct.' Bheem Singh acknowledged. 'In 1935, Hitler authorised Frederick Hielscher to establish the Ahnenerbe, or the Bureau for the Study of Ancestral Heritage. One of its objectives was researching the origins of the Aryan race. They focused on Tibet.

'In 1937, Ahnenerbe was made an official organisation attached to the Schutzstaffel, the dreaded SS-the Protection Squad.

'Ernst Schafer, a hunter and biologist led two expeditions to Tibet in 1931and 1935, primarily to fulfil his hunting and biology research interests. However, in 1938, the Ahnenerbe sponsored a third expedition at the invitation of the Tibetan government. One member of Schafer's third expedition was the anthropologist Bruno Beger, whose interests included racial research. In 1937, Beger had actually proposed a research project in Tibet and, as a part of the Schafer expedition, intended measuring the skulls of Tibetans for his research on the racial characteristics of Tibetans. '

He indicated the notebook. 'This is Bruno Beger's diary in which he kept notes of everything he saw and researched.' He briefly explained Beger's stay at the Temple of the Tooth and his discovery of the texts there.

Shukla picked up the notebook and began leafing through it, stopping in parts to read some of the entries. As his eyes fell on one of the Sanskrit inscriptions that Beger had copied, his face lit up.

'You can read Sanskrit?' Bheem Singh noticed Shukla's attention to the verses.

Shukla nodded, not taking his eyes off the page. 'I studied ancient Indian languages when I was in college. Vikram and I both did; we were keenly interested in the past. Pali, Prakrit, Magadhi and Sanskrit. Even Kharosthi. That was before he decided to become a nuclear physicist. This is fascinating.' The last remark referred to the page he was reading.

'Well, then, perhaps you can translate for the benefit of the others.'

Shukla looked around and nodded. He cleared his throat and began reading aloud.

'I, Surasen, do hereby put down a record of my discovery as part of the secret library of the Nine Unknown Men, the glorious brotherhood created by our beloved Emperor Asoka the Great, Devanampiya Piyadasi. I will not say what this discovery is, for the Emperor forbids any record describing what I have found in case it falls into the hands of the enemy; for this is the reason the brotherhood of the Nine was founded. But I must record how I made the discovery.

'On the instruction of my Emperor, I accompanied the jungle-dweller to his forest habitat, a 10-day journey from the palace. Leaving him and my escort of troops behind, I proceeded cautiously to the foot of the hill that lay in the midst of the forest. 'Before me, I beheld a small entrance, a dark hole in the side of the hill, hidden by a larger wall of rock. I stepped through the opening into the darkness beyond. I was not afraid of demons, for I am not superstitious, but I was afraid of the unknown; and I knew not what lay before me, beyond the opening.

'As I passed through, a curious thing happened. A strange light, soft and dim, lit up my steps leading me through a passage to the mouth of the cavern. As I entered the cavern, I could not believe my eyes at what I beheld.

'But, as the wise Emperor has said, such a discovery can put the world in great peril. So I must hold my tongue and say no more.'

Shukla looked up. 'This is amazing.' His hands trembling with excitement as he resumed his study of the notebook.

Vijay's eyes narrowed. 'How is it that you guys are so well-informed about a secret society that has managed to stay hidden for over 2,000 years?'

Bheem Singh smiled. 'This is confidential, Vijay. But I'll share something with you. I'm leading a government project that is trying to secure the secret of the Nine. The brotherhood died out centuries ago. Now, someone else is after the secret. And the government wants to ensure that it remains concealed the way Asoka intended. If Asoka believed it could destroy the world, we can't allow it to fall into the wrong hands.'

'There's a reason you're telling me all this.' Vijay looked enquiringly at the Maharaja.

'A couple of reasons, actually. First, the original Nine Unknown Men went to great lengths to secure the location of the secret. They devised an elaborate system of riddles and clues and divided up the pieces of the puzzle among a few members of the Nine so that no one member could find the location on his own. The first part of the puzzle is a metal disk with a verse inscribed on it which can only be deciphered with the help of a key.'

'It's all here in the diary,' Shukla agreed. 'A metal disk, a key, a ball of rock and a riddle-four parts to the puzzle.' He then corrected himself. 'Sorry, two metal disks. They made a duplicate; probably just in case one got misplaced.'

Vijay's eyes widened. 'So you're saying that uncle was murdered because Farooq and his cronies are searching for the secret of the Nine'?

'That's the second reason why I've shared this with you because you told us what Farooq was looking for. Apparently he has somehow come into possession of one of the two metal disks, though how he came by it I can't imagine. It seems reasonable to conclude that your uncle was murdered and you were kidnapped because of your uncle's knowledge of the Nine. You need to know that you may be in grave danger. Especially if Farooq, whoever he is, believes that your uncle knew the location of the key and handed this knowledge to you. Did Vikram do that?'

'No, uncle never told me about any key.' Vijay toyed with the idea of telling them about the emails. But he wasn't sure he wanted to share the emails with anyone yet. If his uncle had intended the message behind the emails to be common knowledge he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to disguise it.

Bheem Singh nodded. 'Anything you discover that might help in protecting the secret will be useful for us.'

'Sure, though I can't imagine how we can help.' Vijay couldn't help but feel that the Maharaja knew he was holding something back.

'In any case, please be careful,' Bheem Singh cautioned. He shared with them the details about the massacre at the Temple of the Tooth and the disappearance of the ancient texts that Beger had so painstakingly copied into his diary. 'And that's not all,' he added. 'Greg here was attacked last night.'

White nodded ruefully and his hand went to the back of his neck. 'I've got a bump here,' he said, 'from being mugged last night in my hotel room. I woke up to realise that the room had been searched.'

'There's nothing that Greg could have had with him that could help anyone on the trail of the secret. He had only just arrived in India and didn't even know the details. But his association with the project was, by itself, enough to draw attention to him.' Bheem Singh added and then addressed Vijay, 'We haven't lodged a police report because we don't want undue attention. I have asked Greg to move into my farmhouse. He will be safer there, as the farmhouse is well-guarded. I think you should also be very careful and watch your back. If this Farooq guy is really after the secret of the Nine, then he will stop at nothing.'

The butler entered the room to announce the arrival of the lawyer, Homi Mehta.

'Vijay, my boy, are you alright?' Homi's usually genial face was creased with worry as he rushed to Vijay and clasped his hand, looking at his injuries from his earlier escapade.

'I'm fine, just a bit shaken,' Vijay assured Homi and then introduced him to Bheem Singh, Greg White and Colin.

Vijay once again narrated the details of their kidnapping and escape. He had intended telling Homi about the key since he considered Homi to be a part of the family, and had begun explaining what Farooq wanted, when he noticed Bheem Singh frowning at him. Realising that the Maharaja was averse to telling anyone else about the Nine, he quickly skipped over that part of the story.

'Radha called me this morning when you didn't return during the night,' Homi said, 'She called me again when you did turn up, so I decided to rush here as soon as I could.'

Bheem Singh and White exchanged looks and the former cleared his throat. 'Well, Vijay, I think we'll be going,' he said. 'I'd have been happy to take you to Delhi in my car and have you dropped back but, since Mr. Mehta is here, I guess that's taken care of. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.' He handed over his business card to Vijay.

'And me too,' White joined in, scribbling his phone number on the reverse of Bheem Singh's business card.

Vijay rose and shook hands with the two men and they moved towards the door.

'I've brought all the papers relating to Vikram Singh's will and estates,' Homi handed over a plastic folder to Vijay as he sat down. 'Apart from all his assets, there is...' He hesitated and glanced at Radha, Shukla and the two men walking out of the room.

Vijay understood. Homi was not comfortable discussing the details of Vikram Singh's will in the presence of others. He smiled reassuringly at the lawyer. 'It's okay, Homi. Everyone here is a friend.'

Homi nodded, still looking uncomfortable, but resumed. 'Your uncle had leased a locker, two years ago, in Delhi. Here's the key. I don't know what's in there, since Vikram was very secretive about it. There's nothing in the will about its contents either.'

White and Bheem Singh stopped at the door to the sitting room as they heard this, and turned. Their eyes met Vijay's. All three men were thinking the same thing.

Was the mysterious key that Farooq sought hidden in this locker?

However, without putting this thought into words, Bheem Singh and Greg White left.

'Why don't we check out the locker while we are in Delhi? Vijay suggested.

He was excited about the revelation that his uncle had, indeed, hidden something away and he wanted to find out what it was; especially if it had something to do with a 2,000-year-old secret brotherhood.

Homi looked at his watch. 'I have a lunch appointment at one-thirty,' he said, 'so I'm sorry but I won't be able to drive you to the locker today.'

'Why don't you pick up my car on the way?' Radha suggested, as Vijay's face fell. She realised what he was thinking and understood his need for immediate action. 'We should anyway have a car at the fort, just in case, now that the BMW is out of action.'

'Good idea,' Vijay looked at her gratefully. 'We'll pick up your car once we finish at the hospital.'

Homi scribbled the address of the locker on a slip of paper, 'You'll need to carry an identification proof which has your photograph on it. The other papers that will give you access to the locker are in the folder I just gave you.'

Trapped!