Free Fenix by Vivek Ahuja Page B

away, moments later. It was already dark at Chandigarh. The last shades of red and orange sunlight were making the western skies look ablaze. He looked around as he saw the airfield abuzz with vehicles, aircraft, soldiers and cargo. The air was alive with military noises.
                  But down on this side of the tarmac, the activity was more subdued. He saw the two, large C-130J transport aircraft parked a few dozen meters away. Men in green flight-suits were milling about. A fuel bowser was parked nearby and a large pipe was trailing from its side as it headed above into the wing of one of the nearer C-130Js. Pathanya could see the rear ramp of the aircraft lowered and about a dozen men with similar rucksacks standing nearby.
                  As he walked towards the aircraft, Pathanya saw the pilots in the cockpit adjusting their helmet mounted night-vision goggles. The greenish glow from these optics reflected around their eyes as they settled into the darkened cockpit. It was then that Pathanya noticed that while the night had crept in, the airbase had not lit up as it did under normal circumstances. Lighting was being kept to a minimum. It would do no good for people in the pay of the Pakistanis to keep visual tabs on the happenings of this base, considering the base’s strategic value as one of the lifeline nodes to Ladakh and Kashmir.
                  “Major Pathanya,” one of the men near the ramp said, “glad you could make it to this party!” The group as a whole turned to face Pathanya and revealed that they had been consulting with small flashlights on the maps held by one of the men. This man then folded the map and stepped forward. Pathanya saw the man was wearing the shoulder ranks of a colonel and dressed as a Paratrooper down to the beret. Pathanya instantly dropped his rucksack on the tarmac and saluted.
                  “At ease, Pathanya.” Ansari put his left hand out. Pathanya saw the hand and shook it.
                  “Sir, apologies for my delay!” Pathanya said with sincerity that Ansari recognized. He understood. Logistics were a nightmare for the entire Indian military at the moment, and nobody was exempt from it. No matter how important their task.
                  “Understood, major.” Ansari said flatly and looked at the chaos on the rest of the tarmac. “Nobody expected to fight a winter war in the Himalayas. Despite the China war, we have yet to bring up our logistics in the mountains to acceptable levels. We are always caught flat footed, aren’t we?” Ansari shook his head and turned to Pathanya: “Well, we will make do. Hopefully we won’t have to go back into Tibet this time around!” He winked and then turned to the rest of the men as Pathanya picked up his rucksack from the tarmac and followed, still not entirely sure why he was here or what the hell he was supposed to be doing.
                  “Sir,” the group of men turned to see the pilot of the aircraft walk towards them in the cabin, “we are cleared to go in ten minutes! Suggest you get your men and equipment on board right away!”
    Ansari nodded and stepped on board the cargo ramp before turning to the men: “Gentlemen, let’s go. This war will not wait for us!”
                  As the others stepped on board and walked into the large cargo cabin, Pathanya took stock of the equipment that had been loaded inside already. This included a large contingent of small arms, explosives, communications equipment and a number of other Paratroopers and soldiers already sitting further up the cabin, keeping their own company aside from Ansari’s boys. They looked up to see the dozen men boarding the aircraft from the rear and taking their seats but otherwise continued with their work. He saw one familiar face in there. Captain Kamidalla smiled and waved at him from his seat further up the cabin. Pathanya smiled and