Scene 1: **"The Dusty Blueprint"**
*South Block Basement, Delhi. March 1948. 11:00 PM.*
**R.N. Kao** (32, former IPS officer) traced a finger over a Kashmir map stained with tea rings. A single bulb swung overhead, casting long shadows on brick walls sweating monsoon damp.
**H.M. Patel** (Nehru's Secretary) dropped a file stamped *EYES ONLY*. "The PM wants an organization. Covert. Outside IB's bureaucracy. *Yesterday*."
Kao didn't look up. "Sir, the IB has twelve men tracking Soviet diplomats. We need networks in *Poonch*, not Prague."
Patel lit a Capstan. "Call it the 'Research Wing' if it soothes your conscience. Just give me names. Locations. Pakistani troop movements."
Kao pointed to Skardu. "Colonel Thapa held six months without intel. How?"
"Heroism."
"*Incompetence*," Kao corrected softly. "We sent men to die blind. Never again."
A gecko scuttled across the map, vanishing into Gilgit.
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Scene 2: **"The Major's Lament"**
*Abbottabad Safehouse, NWFP. Same Night.*
**Major Syed Akhtar Hussain** (ex-British Indian Army Signals) adjusted his headset, sweat beading under the green-shaded lamp. Morse code chatter filled the tinny speaker.
*...SKARDU FALLEN... GILGIT SECURE... INDIAN 161 INF REGT MOVING TO PUNCH...*
His radioman scribbled furiously. "Sir! Rawalpindi HQ will want—"
Hussain ripped off the headset. "Rawalpindi HQ *knew* Skardu was starving! They sent *nothing*!" He slammed a fist on the rickety table. "Intelligence without action is *obituary* writing!"
A knock. Three sharp, two soft. **Brigadier Sher Khan** entered, dripping rain. "Pack your toys, Major. You're now Deputy Director, *Inter-Services Intelligence*. Jinnah signed the order."
Hussain stared. "Inter-Services? Army, Navy, Air Force… under *one* roof?"
Sher Khan smiled grimly. "One roof. One enemy. No more blind wars."
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Scene 3: **"The Professor's Gambit"**
*Cafe de Paris, Geneva. April 1948.*
**Professor Malik** (Kashmiri academic, Kao's first asset) stirred espresso, watching **Captain Aslam Khan** (ISI, Gilgit architect) devour steak tartare.
"Pakistan needs scholars like you, Professor," Aslam purred. "Especially those with… access to Delhi's scientific circles."
Malik feigned hesitation. "My work on Himalayan glaciers… it's purely academic."
Aslam slid an envelope across the table. Swiss francs peeked out. "Glaciers guide armies. Tell me about Zoji La's ice thickness. *Hypothetically*."
Malik pocketed the envelope, heart pounding. *Kao was right. They bite fast.* "Hypothetically… the ice near Gumri melts first. Late May."
Aslam's eyes gleamed. "Welcome to the service, Professor."
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Scene 4: **"The Bakery Drop"**
*Lal Chowk, Srinagar. May 5, 1948. 8:00 AM.*
**Fatima** (Kao's courier) bought *lavasa* bread, her baby wailing. Beneath the loaf, a microfilm canister nestled in flour dust.
*Pak 12th Mujahid Battalion crossing Tithwal Pass. May 7. Strength 800.*
The baker yawned. "Bad night, sister?"
"Teething," she lied, tucking the bread into her shawl.
A Pakistani patrol stopped her. "Papers!"
The baby screamed louder. The corporal waved her on. "Go! That noise is punishment enough."
At the orphanage, she slipped the canister into a hollowed-out copy of the Quran. Sister Teresa nodded once.
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Scene 5: **"The Listening Post"**
*Murree Hills, Pakistan. May 15, 1948.*
Hussain adjusted the parabolic microphone aimed at an Indian border post. Voices crackled through static:
*"…ammo dump coordinates 34.812, 74.209. Shift before dawn…"*
His technician grinned. "Got them, sir!"
Hussain didn't smile. "Signal the *lashkar* near Uri. Hit them at 0400."
"Sir? That's… civilians will be—"
"War *is* collateral, Subedar," Hussain cut in, eyes on the oscilloscope's green pulse. "Or have you forgotten Baramulla?"
A moment's silence. The technician began tapping Morse.
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Scene 6: **"The Safehouse Blaze"**
*Rawalpindi Slum. June 1948. 2:00 AM.*
**Kao's Agent "Ravi"** burned codebooks in a steel bucket. Flames licked photos of his wife in Delhi.
*BANG!* The door splintered. ISI agents stormed in.
**Captain Aslam** stepped over the threshold, Walther PPK gleaming. "Professor Malik sends regrets. And this." He tossed a glacier report onto the flames.
Ravi lunged for a cyanide pill—
*CRACK!* Aslam shot his hand. "Where is Kao?"
Ravi spat blood. "Feeding your coordinates to Indian artillery."
Aslam nodded to his men. "Make him *sing*. Then dump him on the ceasefire line."
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Scene 7: **"The First Betrayal"**
*Nehru's Study, Delhi. July 1948.*
**Kao** laid Ravi's mutilated photos on the teak desk. "ISI did this, sir. They have networks *inside* South Block."
Nehru turned away, staring at Kashmir's map. "And your Professor?"
"Disappeared. Probably feeding them glacier data *right now*."
Nehru's voice was ice. "Burn your networks. Start over. I want an ISI mole inside *their* GHQ by year's end."
Kao gathered the photos. "Spies cost money, sir. And souls."
Nehru met his gaze. "Kashmir *is* India's soul. Protect it."
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Scene 8: **"The Midnight Transmission"**
*Abbottabad Safehouse. Same Night.*
Hussain decoded the intercept:
*...PROFESSOR COMPROMISED... CEASE ALL CONTACT...*
Sher Khan read over his shoulder. "Malik's blown. Burn him."
Hussain fed the paper to flames. "He gave us Zoji La's ice. Skardu's weak walls. Worth it."
Static hissed on the radio. A new voice cut through—female, urgent:
*"...Tiger to Falcon... convoy route changed... Bandipore forest... 0300 hours..."*
Hussain's head snapped up. "Who was *that*?"
The radioman shook his head. "Unknown frequency. Code not in our books."
Sher Khan smiled bitterly. "Meet your new enemy, Major. The Research and Analysis Wing."
Hussain stared into the crackling void. "Then we build better ears."
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