Operation Jinnah by Shiv Aroor

Operation Jinnah by Shiv Aroor

Author:Shiv Aroor
Language: eng
Format: epub


Chapter 7

23 January 2016

[Palam Air Force Base, Delhi]

‘There she is. C-17 inbound.’ Akeela pointed and checked her watch. ‘We are seriously low on time, my friends.’

‘Akeela, you have got to stop talking like that. Where’s that nice girl we know?’ Saraswati was gazing out at the airplane, using her hand as a sunshade. The sound of the plane’s booming engines now swept in waves towards the soldiers, who waited on a short new runway reserved for military operations.

‘Folks, there’s no time to talk or explain. I’m going to give you instructions as we go along. When we have a moment to breathe, we’ll have a chat,’ Vikramaditya said. His face was serious now. ‘Until then, do as I say.’

Akeela had just arrived from the depot. The two other commandos helped her unload two long wooden boxes with equipment.

‘Is that everything I asked for?’ Vikramaditya asked.

‘How much can we carry, Vikram?’ she asked, squinting in the now dazzling sunlight.

‘Nearly nothing. We need the low deploy suits. And as much firepower as we can pack. We won’t have space for anything else,’ he said.

‘Great. We’re going in with nothing,’ Saraswati said, still laughing. ‘Akeela, did you at least pack a sniper rifle?’

Vikramaditya glowered at her. ‘Stop laughing and help me unload.’

‘Yes, there’s a Dragunov in there. They didn’t have the one you use.’ Akeela had opened the boxes and begun shoving equipment into a six-foot-long cylindrical kevlar military tote bag, which she had unfolded on the ground. In went the Dragunov, two TAR-21 rifles and packs of ammunition magazines. Carefully, she placed an almost brand-new Carl Gustaf M4 anti-armour rifle into the bag, along with four rockets and two reinforced jars of nitroamine.

‘That’s one heavy bag, my friend. Who’s going to hold it? You?’ Saraswati was looking down fondly at the Dragunov. Heavier than the Satevari MWSP that was now her weapon of choice, the Soviet-origin Dragunov was formidable. Strong and heavy-set, it was perfect if you had time and space. It was the weapon she had trained on in sniper school. A weapon no sniper ever stopped loving. While it was still the sniper rifle of choice for Indian Army units, the Marine Commandos and other special teams now had access to more modern rifles. Saraswati swore by her Satevari, a little-known weapon built in Georgia.

The C-17 had trundled up the tarmac, stopping in front of them. Once again, the giant airplane wheezed open its rear ramp. The three commandos watched for the next few minutes as the crew carefully wheeled the cargo out. It was now on the tarmac behind the big beast of an aircraft, dwarfed ridiculously in the painfully sharp winter sun.

In the far distance, airliners took off from and landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was connected to the airfield by an access-controlled taxiway. Rana had phoned in Protocol Shakti for the military airfield. The base staff would report only an hour later. In any case, the arrival of the C-17 hardly made a blip. Aircraft like it landed and took off from the military airfield nearly every day.



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