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Carlton breathed a sigh of relief If soe up information from the Colossus 3 in such a hazardous location, they would send a state-of-the-art recovery vessel, not some old rust bucket

FORTY-ONE

PORT OF MUMBAI

Although Mallik could have taken his yacht out to the designated coordinates in the Arabian Sea where his final Vajra satellite would be launched, he preferred the safety of his security vessel Kalinga After the Nilgiri-class frigate had been decommissioned by the Indian Navy, Mallik had purchased and refurbished her to provide protection for his sea-based launch system She currently used modern computer fire control systeuns, and torpedoes, but the Kalinga was also fully operational even if her computers went down, a situation that Mallik anticipated in the very near future

He had renaa—and her sister ship the Maurya—to honor Emperor Ashoka and his creation of the Nine Unknown This was before his current involvement with the Nine had corrupted Ashoka’s vision The years when the Mauryan Ea had fascinated Mallik ever since his father told him he would someday become one of the Nine Unknown He wished he could travel back in time to the birth of Ashoka’s peaceful nation, but he would have to be content with the creation of his own erace and balance Like all births, it would require pain and blood, but the result that he iined would be a beautiful new era of civilization, one free froence that could replace humanity

Mallik took the laptop fro the irony that this was one of the last few tied on to his network to review the status of the upco rocket launch and was pleased hat he read According to reports, the launch platfor resupplied and refueled while the Maurya patrolled the perimeter All tests of the Vajra satellite had been passed with flying colors, so they should be able to launch as soon as the rocket was transferred to the launchpad

The only probleion where the launch was to take place The weather team estimated that they would have to wait two days so the weather could clear Mallik was annoyed by the delay, but he didn’t want to take a chance with this satellite If it exploded on launch like the last one or crashed because of the storm, it would be months before he could send up a replacement

A knock at his cabin door interrupted his reading

“Come,” he said

Torkan entered with a thin smile on his face

“You have good news?” Mallik asked

“You were right about Carlton’s location His A380 is on Cyprus”

Mallik nodded “He has a ho with a security team around him for protection”

Torkan’s lip curled up as he nodded in agree refitted in the Limassol shipyard My sources say it fits the description of the Colossus 5”

That got Mallik’s attention “Do you think you can disable it again? We need more time”