Free THE MAHABHARATA QUEST:THE ALEXANDER SECRET by CHRISTOPHER C. DOYLE

others in the carton and start leafing through the documents filed in it. All the papers were either notes in his father’s handwriting or clippings of newspaper articles, that referred to various archaeological digs all over the country along with notes and diagrams. There was no context for the records in this file; just data. It was almost as if his father had googled all the data on these excavations or searched Wikipedia and then recorded the facts he had researched. Only, when this file had been created, Wikipedia hadn’t been invented, and Page and Brin were still working out of a garage in California.
    So what had his father been thinking when he filed these pages? Clearly a lot of work had gone into research to obtain all this information.
    Vijay had no idea. He began studying the papers, trying to find clues to his father’s thought process, attempting to understand why this information had been important enough for him to record in this manner.
    The more he studied the file, the more puzzled he grew. There had to be something behind this enormous effort.
    But what was it? 

12
    DAY THREE
    Jaungarh Fort
    Vijay sat and pored over the strange file he had discovered a few hours ago. The contents of the file were mind-boggling. There didn’t seem to be any connection between the documents, but then he probably wouldn’t see the connection unless he knew why the file had been created in the first place.
    Suddenly, his mobile phone rang and he jumped. The clock showed 3 am. What was Colin calling him at this unearthly hour for? Especially since Colin was in the fort!
    ‘You startled me,’ he reprimanded Colin.
    ‘Thank heavens. I’d have been worried if you were expecting my call at this hour.’ Colin’s repartee was swift.
    Vijay smiled. ‘And just why are you calling me at
this hour?’
    There was a pause. Then, ‘I think you need to come downstairs and see for yourself.’
    ‘In the living room?’
    ‘Yup. Don’t dawdle.’
    Vijay sighed as he shut the file and locked the door of the room. Since his discovery of this room, he had kept the key to himself, even making a duplicate which was hidden away in a safe place known only to him. He had been thrown a lifeline, a means of communicating with his parents, and he wasn’t going to lose this opportunity.
    Sometimes you never know what you have until you lose it.
    This was a night for surprises. As he entered the living room, he froze. It was like he had seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
    Slowly, he regained his composure and walked into the room. But he was still unsure of how to react to this situation.
    Colin read his friend’s face and said nothing.
    ‘Hi, Vijay,’ Alice ventured timidly from the white leather sofa, where she sat with Colin. She, too, was apprehensive.
    Vijay didn’t respond. His jaw was clenched, his brow furrowed. This was the last thing he had expected. He had forced the memories of the past deep down into hidden recesses of his mind and had thought that they would never resurface. Yet, today, they were bubbling up, as fresh as they were eleven years ago. And the emotions they brought with them disturbed him. This was one memory lane he had never wanted to walk down. Ever. And he was doing exactly that now.
    Finally, he found his voice. ‘It is 3 am in the morning.’ He tried to sound nonchalant. ‘Why are you here? You had said that you never ever wanted to have anything to do with me. What changed now?’
    ‘She’s in trouble,’ Colin interjected, before Alice could reply. ‘She needs our help.’
    Cold silence greeted this explanation.
    ‘Vijay, her life is in danger. We have to help her,’ Colin tried again.
    With an effort, Vijay suppressed his emotions. ‘It is a long way from the US,’ he said slowly. ‘If you are here and you need help, you must be desperate.’
    Alice gazed back at him. The old wounds were hurting once again. A reminder that, though she had tried to forget them, they still