Vimana

'Yes, I have a damned handicap that robbed me of my dreams, but if nothing else, I'll fly one of your vimanas in a suicide mission.'

At this point Brahma ordered everyone to disperse and told Aaditya to get some rest, saying they would talk again in a few hours when he had had more time to think things over with a cool head.

Aaditya was stewing in his room when Tanya came in and sat down on the sofa next to him.

'Aadi, I'm so sorry. I had no idea about your father.'

'All I want is to get a chance to avenge his death. That's all I want.'

Tanya placed a hand on his arm. 'Are you sure you want to stay?'

'Yes.'

Tanya sighed. 'Aadi, you would not be the first one to say that.'

Aaditya turned to face her, as she continued, 'Many more have come in contact with them over the years. Lost travellers, crashed pilots, accident survivors, and explorers. At first, many of them want to stay, especially when they guess what's going on. But inevitably, they cannot bear being away from their normal lives and accept the full reality of what they're involved in. Without being mentally prepared for this, the pressure gets to them. Some go mad, others beg to return. When they are released, their description of what they've seen makes them objects of ridicule or worse. That's why they are so hesitant to have you stay.'

'What's your story, Tanya? You aren't like them, and you clearly haven't gone mad.'

Tanya looked away wistfully, as if bringing back memories she had not thought of for a long time.

'My story is different. My family was killed in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean, and I was the only survivor. One of the vimanas saw a five-year-old girl floating on a life raft and picked me up. They tried to send me back, but the problem was I had no family other than the one I lost. In the months I was here, they got attached to me, and being a kid, my mind was open enough to take in who they were. So I grew up around them, they educated me, and when I was older, they offered me a chance to go back. By then, this was home.'

Aaditya was looking at her in wonder.

'So, you never wanted to go back?'

Tanya smiled.

'This was the only life I really remembered, and over time, I made myself useful, serving as the contact for anyone like you who happened to stumble upon them.'

'Tanya, who are these guys? Their names…their aircraft…they certainly are not the CIA, nor do they look like any other government organization.'

'That only they can tell you. Aadi, can I say something?'

'Yeah, of course.'

Tanya was holding both his hands.

'I would be happy if you stayed. I have nobody I can relate to, nobody else here who will grow old like me. One day I will be an old woman and they will still be what they are. But do think hard about your decision, it will not just change your life, it will become your life.'

Aaditya had no idea what she was talking about. But he was sure he could not just walk away after learning what had happened to his father.

'Tanya, believe me, I wish I had nothing to do with all this. I wish I could just get on with my life. But for better or for worse, I am here, and now I cannot walk away. I'll stay, whatever that means, and try and do something. I threw away the dreams my father had for me, but now I will not let him down.'

As he spoke, he banged his fist against his right leg. Tanya caught his hand and looked him in the eye. 'Aadi, you're a better man than you give yourself credit for. Now, if you really want to stay, I imagine Brahma will want to talk to you soon.'

An hour later, Aaditya was back in the conference room, except this time there was nobody else other than him and Brahma. The old man asked him to sit down on one of the chairs and sat down next to him.

'We are forced to keep our existence a closely guarded secret. But if someone chances upon us, we believe in giving nothing but the full truth. Do you know why?'

Aaditya shook his head.

'Because the day is coming when we may have to reveal ourselves. And the last thing I want is for your people to mistake our secrecy for hostile intent. Are you really ready to hear the truth? I ask you one last time, because once they hear it, many people wish they had not.'

'I'm ready.'

Brahma motioned towards the centre of the room, where a holographic display materialized. It showed the Earth as viewed from space. It filled the screen rapidly, growing from a distant blue dot to a blue and green sphere ringed by clouds, where Aaditya could begin to make out features of the continents.

'What a beautiful sight. Aadi, do you know what that is?' Brahma asked.

'The Earth of course.'

'Yes, of course it is. But this is more than just a video of the Earth from space. It is a recording that I cherish dearly.'

Aaditya saw the wistful look in the old man's eyes and wondered where he was going with this.

'This, Aadi, is a recording of the first time I saw your planet.'

Aaditya's head swiveled towards Brahma in shock.

What did he mean?

'Yes, Aaditya. This was when I and my crew first came to your planet.'

A million questions were racing through Aaditya's mind, and not knowing where to start, he blurted out, 'So you're aliens?'

Brahma smiled.

'So many people say that. What a curious word: Alien. Considering how long we've been here, one would have hoped for more hospitality.'

He laughed at his own joke, and Aaditya stared at him, wondering if the old man was crazy or trying to tell him a tall tale. Oblivious to Aaditya's incredulity, Brahma continued.

'What you choose to believe is of course up to you. I can but share the truth. This, Aadi is a recording of our first descent to Earth.'

Aaditya turned to the image again. It showed what seemed to be North America, but as the ground loomed even closer, Aaditya was mystified by one thing.

'I see no lights, no cities, just barren earth. Why is that?'

Brahma turned towards Aaditya with a smile.

'You see none of those, my son, because this recording was made 15,000 years ago.'

***

Aaditya sat in stunned silence as Brahma continued with his tale.

'We are part of an alliance that seeks out planets that can harbour intelligent life, and we nudge them along till they develop to a level of self-awareness where we can ask them to join our alliance.'

'An alliance. Like a military alliance?'

Brahma shook his head. 'No, far from it. It is an alliance that shares knowledge and resources; that seeks to nurture that most precious thing in our universe-life.'

A map of the Indian subcontinent came into view.

'We first landed near what you today know as India, then set up bases across the world.'

Red dots emerged across multiple locations on the map-Egypt, South America, India and Europe.

'At that time, we found that your people were barely entering the phase of what you consider civilization today. It was far too early for us to make contact. We debated that last point, but the question for me was sealed when some of your people chanced upon us and began to think of us as gods.'

Realization dawned on Aaditya.

'That explains your names. Those are all names of Hindu gods.'

'People in other regions gave us other names, but having landed here first, we adopted these names over time. You know, Aadi, we should have never stayed. What we should have done was go back, and report that it was still too early to visit Earth.'

'Then why did you stay?'

'Because some of us broke our faith.'

The angry response had come from Indra, who had walked into the room flanked by Shiva and Vishnu.

'One of us got greedy. Seeing the primitive stage of development here, he decided to enslave your people and rule as a false God. He built monuments to his vanity and caused untold suffering. He began to corrupt others in our crew with promises of power.'