'It was a pain. Honestly, cant these flights ever be on time? First we have some silly volcanic eruption which disrupts thousands of flights, and now pilots going on strike. What next? A so called hijacking attempt gone wrong?' These and other thoughts raced through Ajay’s mind as he waited in the Indian Airways airport lounge in Delhi. He had to catch a flight to London which was supposed to have left 3 hours back. Clearly, patience wasn’t Ajay’s best virtue, and sipping diluted coffee stranded at an airport lounge wasn’t his favorite way of passing time.

Finally after Ajay had finished reading the Times of India twice, he decided he had enough. He would go and file a complaint. After all, he was Executive Manager of XYZ Labs, and had a considerable amount of influence, at least in the corporate world. These fools don’t know the meaning of management. Otherwise what else could explain the fact that the airline was making losses amounting to millions of rupees. But just as he got up from his not-so-cozy seat, his eyes caught a rapid movement to the left. It was a man, Caucasian, middle aged, well built, and dressed impeccably in an Armani suit. He took an empty seat, brought out a text book from his bag, and started writing something. Ajay noticed that he wore a peculiar looking tie, which had small symbols scattered over a golden color.

Curious, Ajay turned towards the stranger and asked-‘Excuse me sir, are you going to London as well? Flight 7643?’ The stranger gave Ajay a quick glance, nodded and went back to his work. Ajay was a bit taken aback, as he was not used to being ignored. He reminded himself that the man sitting in front of him wasn’t his subordinate. Ajay tried a different tactic-‘Sir, what brand is that sophisticated tie which you are wearing? I am not sure if I have seen it before.’ ‘You could not have. Its still a Beta phase product. Not launched for your common consumer yet.’ The man’s voice was husky and sharp. Before Ajay could reply, the man carried on, ’And yeah before you ask me any more silly questions, the tie is made of leather.’

That shut Ajay up. He was furious but somehow he could not find the guts to speak out in front of this man. And for some reason he could not explain, he felt nervous too. Nevertheless he was not someone who would back off that easily, especially while challenged.

‘So sir, what work do you do? And where?’ Ajay did not know why he was addressing that person as sir.

‘I am an Assassin. And I am afraid I cannot disclose my Group’s identity else I would have to kill you. And I do not want to do that, yet.’

Ajay was astonished at first, but soon recovered.

‘You are quite funny, Mister. We could use some of your humour back in our organization. Nice way to spice things up quite a bit, isn’t it? And please don’t say that Indian food is spicy. I have heard that millions of times.’ Saying this Ajay forced a laugh, but ceased it almost immediately after glaring at Mr. Assassin’s eyes.

‘That was not a joke. My profession is to kill people. Whether you believe it or not is upto you. But as of now, kindly do not disturb me. I am, as you can say, busy with an important assignment.’

Ajay felt that the joke had gone too far.

‘All right Mr. Assassin, we will play by your rules then. Tell me something about this assignment of yours.’

‘Fine, if you insist. My next target happens to be a politician or MP as you can say. He shall be campaigning in London tonight. My reports suggest that the man is a scoundrel, corrupt and rotten to the core. He is involved in several underhand illegal activities, including gambling, drugs and prostitution. It is imperative that he is removed immediately.’

‘Erm, so are you some kind of a Daring Robin Hood, who kills the evil guys, some self proclaiming judge of mankind?’

‘Not at all. I merely follow the orders given to me. The identity of the victim does not concern me at all. Whether he is good, bad, rich, poor, ugly, white, black all that is irrelevant.’

‘So how do you kill people? Do you use some advanced weapon? Maybe a silenced pistol or something? But you cant sneak that inside the airport can you? Which means I am pretty much safe,’ Ajay smiled.

‘I take it that’s your sense of humor. Well I am afraid the truth is far from it. For instance, this special plastic pen that I am holding right now can deliver a shock of 440 Volts which in enough to incapacitate you instantly. And without making much noise too.’ The man pointed his pen at Ajay, which was enough for the Manager to jump back in fright.

‘And there are other ways. Like poison for instance. Quick and efficient. Ever heard of Tetrodotoxin? It’s a potent neurotoxin with no known antidote. It quickly shuts down the nerve cells. Death is quick and painful. And I happen to have a certain amount of it with me right now.’ Saying this the man brought out a packet containing some powder and showed it to Ajay. And smiled. It was an eerie smile.

By now Ajay had began to panic. Was it possible that this guy was indeed telling the truth? No it was not possible, he consoled himself. The Airport security would have dealt with it. But this guy was clearly a professional. Could he have somehow sneaked in without being detected?

‘Well I know what you are thinking. Don’t worry, you seem to be a nice guy, I won’t kill you, yet ‘

Before Ajay could reply, there was an announcement,’ This is to inform all passengers that Flight 7643 is now ready to depart. Please proceed towards Gate number 5. Thank you.’

‘Ah that’s our flight. Lets go now, I don’t have whole day to waste, and I assume neither do you.’

Ajay could only mumble, as he somehow stood and staggered towards the departure gate. Just as he thought he would get a mental breakdown, someone thumped him on the back and cried-‘Oh there you are Ajay. I have been searching for you for quite some while. And your mobile is switched off too.’

Ajay turned around to see his boss, Mr. Chakravarty stand behind him. And standing besides Chakravarty was the Assassin. ‘Oh I guess I haven’t introduced you to Mr. Jacobs of FutureWare Analysts Corp. He had come to India to take a note of our daily exports. Quite a nice guy. ‘

‘Oh’, Ajay moaned. ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Jacobs.’ He extended his hand, which was shaking.

‘The pleasure is all mine.’ Jacobs shook his hand and smiled.

The Following day:

‘God that was one crazy experience. And to think I actually believed that I was talking with an assassin.’

Ajay lay on his bed in a luxury hotel in the London suburbs. Well, lets see what the London papers have to say, as he opened the Daily Telegraph.

‘Reputed Politician killed in a mysterious car crash. Police suspect foul play.’

Ajay’s heart sank.

The End.