The Secret Weapon (Part II)

Here’s The Secret Weapon (Part II), for today. I wrote this story for a course; I was doing in the 1990s.

The Secret Weapon (Part II)

“Hi, Radha! We need your help,” said Rashmi Sharma. The two friends were sitting with Ravi, Rashmi’s brand-new husband, in a restaurant. Lowering her voice she continued, “Ravi has been given a research assignment for the defense. His company, Shroff and Nagotnekar, is a research-oriented company, which does research assignments for different organizations. Ravi had a concept about a secret weapon that uses radioactivity. And he offered to develop this for the Indian army. And now…”

“And now,” Ravi took up the narrative. “Twice, thefts have been attempted on these plans! I don’t want anybody to know about it, so I request you to help me out. I need the plans until I officially hand it over to the army.”

“Do you suspect anybody?”

“As a matter of fact, no. All the staff has security clearance.”

“What exactly happened?”

“The pendrive, with the blueprints, is located in a highly secure locker in a special windowless room in our office building at Saki Naka. The security system is such that anybody within a few feet of the door can excite the alarm. The first time, the thief had been caught by the laser alarm but he escaped. The second time, we don’t know how but he passed this alarm without being caught. He had unlocked and entered the room and the alarm started ringing. When the guards reached there, they found only a toy dog inside the room.”

“This thief could have disarmed the outside alarm, the second time?”

“Could be.”

“Or is there someone, who is helping them from the inside?”

“I have started having second thoughts about the security clearance, myself. Now, who could have reached inside the room despite the security being beefed up the second time?”

“I think the man or woman behind this is playing pranks. Tighten up the security further. Also, exchange the blueprints for a fake one. Let us see what happens. In the meantime, can you get me the memory cards of security camera recordings of those days when the thefts happened? You must be having security cameras in the room.”

“In fact, due to the army authorities’ insistence, we have installed cameras at various points from the entrance of the building till the room and within it. I think I can manage to both change the blueprints and pick up the memory cards, tonight.”

“I hope no one will suspect you for it.”

“Don’t worry. I am used to visiting the room often, during the evening, too.”

To be continued…