Atharv was absorbing each word spoken by Sameer. He had a sombre expression on his face; his eyebrows were furrowed as he jotted down points in the small diary he always carried with him. He was, however, waiting for the classes to end and the mission to begin.

Nirav and Anant said they were relishing the history classes that were rich in ‘quirky, shocking anecdotes’.

Rohit and Sahil had not made any comments on whether they were enjoying the classes. Rohit asked a few pointed questions related to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. When the queries were being answered, he wore an agitated expression, while Sahil’s face reddened.

Halfway through the morning session, Somaiya took over from Sameer.

‘Boys, you are here for a specific reason. The country calls for you. The blood of each innocent killed or injured by terrorists, spies and subversives sent by Pakistan calls out for you. Will you avenge them?’

The five-man audience erupted in unison, ‘Yes … we will!’

Somaiya smiled. ‘You will be trained here, get amazing skills for the mission. We will prepare you for every step of the journey. It could be a lonely one. But don’t worry; we will be there, guiding you.

‘You will be at ground zero, in the enemy’s lair. Your skills, courage and the ability to think on your feet will come handy there. These attributes will let you live. Through your actions you can ensure the well-being of the country. You know what our mission is – the destruction of the Pakistani state’s instruments of terror, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its mentors in the ISI.

‘When ready, you will set out like missiles to take out the enemy’s lair. Won’t that be fun, boys?’

The boys nodded.

‘All of you have certain commonalities. You are educated, intelligent, driven, courageous and young. You could have been elsewhere, but you chose to be here.

‘You have that X factor that separates you from the average Joe. And so you are here, at Hillary Point, preparing to scale the summit of your life. Only a few get such an opportunity.

‘Tomorrow you will be given new identities. What you learn in this group must stay in the group. If at all your paths intersect, it will be for executing a task jointly, and you will get information on a need-to-know basis. Apart from your immediate handler in the CTC, you will share nothing about your involvement or work with the CTC with anyone. Is that clear?’

‘Yes, sir,’ the boys chorused.

Somaiya looked pleased with the recruits’ enthusiasm. He turned to Sahil and Rohit. ‘Boys, like you, I too have a link with Mumbai. The name of that great city brings back the memories of Ahaana, who was like my daughter. Her father, Vinay Kamthe, was my classmate at St Xavier’s School. We used to call him Rana.