"Boss and his dog are indeed hiding something big." Nick answered me.
"Damn!" I knew it!

But what?

************************************
"How do you know? Did Louis tell you anything?" I was getting impatient.

He kept his eyes on me for a few seconds. Then his face softened, and he looked down at the table, in pain.
"I need a break" he said.
"What?" I didn't understand what he meant.

"I'll leave KMA the day cadets leave. I need a break from this place, and the people. I've had enough." he looked in pain.
"What? Nick? Are you going? Are you not coming back?" I was afraid I'll lose him.

"I just want to go away. But my duties will not let me be free for long. I'll have to come back. For now, I'll ask for a six weeks leave. I'll be out of this maze atleast for sometime." he said still looking down.

"six weeks?! Nick! tell me what happened? Did Louis say anything to you? Did Killer say anything? Tell me what's wrong?"
"Sir Louis said a lot of things, which I should have heard from Wills. Or I should say, things that I should have never heard."

"What do you mean?"
"Wills was not supposed to come back alive from that mission, you know? He went there to die. TO DIE!"

We sat there for a few minutes in utter silence. I was playing rewind, all the words he just said.
Killer went to die? He was not supposed to come back alive? It was a suicidal mission?

" But ho.. How? Why? How come Uncle James didn't know about this? He would have stopped Killer from-"
"Dad sent him on that suicidal mission, himself." he whispered and I was shut.

"Jane, I need to leave this place soon, otherwise I'll become crazy. I feel so lonely right now, like I never knew these people, at all. I.. I feel cheated."
Oh goodness Nick, you're broken.

" Nick. Hey, you're not alone. They must have a reason for doing it. They must have hidden it from you.. may be because.... " I looked for a logical answer to complete my own statement.
"Because they didn't want to get their suicidal mission aborted. If I knew about it, I would have reported and it would have never become a success. Yea, that's why I was kept in the dark." he laughed to himself.

"My father decided that it was absolutely fine to get my brother killed in a secret mission, without even giving me an explanation, or atleast one last chance to meet him and say a final good bye."

"Hey there! Stop it! Don't talk like that! Dude he's alive! Your brother is alive! You can say him hi or bye whenever you want! Hell you can kick his ass whenever you want! Don't get depressed Nick, it doesn't suit you." I tried to cheer him up, but ended up becoming depressed myself.

He didn't speak for a long time.
"Nick, look at me. You are my best friend. The only one I trust here. Do you trust me? If yes, then tell me what happened. Who said what, that turned you into- this! I'll not speak a word to anyone, but please, let me share your worries. Please Nick... "
Nick looked at me with teary but doubtful eyes.
Finally he gave in.

"My heart aches, whenever I think about it. Wills told Sir Louis about his mission. He told Ren about it. Dad obviously knew about it before the mission was even planned. I was the only one who still has no clue about it."
I felt bad. And angry. How could Killer do that to Nick? I thought he cared for him. Didn't he know, how much this will hurt him?

"Nick..." I left the word for him to continue. And he did -

"
Oliver was on detention for past two days. I had inspected the mess thoroughly, there's no way he got food poisoning. Ren told me she's expecting some allergy. I couldn't wait till she finds out the cause, so I took it on my shoulders to find out the allergen. I thought of noting all the dates Oliver reported sick, and check the meals of the same date in mess records. I took out the logs and his files and sat cross legged in the med care store room to note the details and put it right back, instead of taking them out and studying it on my desk. Ren was not in the med care either so there was no point in sitting out, without a company.

I was just about to get up when Wills and Ren entered the med care. For a change, it was Ren who had everybody scrambling out of there in seconds when she shouted, "Anyone here by the count of three is getting a shot up their bottom." I was about to peek out and enjoy the site of men, who normally ran towards gun fire and terrorists, but now running away from Ren, a kiddo half their size, at the threat of a tiny needle in her hand. Before I could, however, the voice of Wills stopped me. He was trying to pacify her! Can you believe that? Wills, her biggest tormentor, was trying to pacify her. So, I stayed still in the hopes that Wills would not detect me hiding.

"Calm down Ren! You are going to pop a nerve, if you don't." said Wills.

Ren agitated at being asked to calm down snapped, "YOU are telling ME to calm down? I'm going to get that bastard killed! Does he have any idea what he could do to your recovery? I laid my life on the line for you and he blew us to pieces."

Wills in his surrendering tone, spoke, "I'm sorry that Major Martins shouted at you. Boss did not mean to hurt me."

Before he could defend, Ren cut him, "YOU are going to tell me exactly what happened there, between you and your Boss?"

Wills, immediately answered, "Please Ren, I can't tell you. He will have my as*. I'll do anything you say, just-"

"Go have a lot of pizzas and tons of ice-cream in your anything. Because I'll fail you in the medicals. When Colonel asks if you have cleared for restarting your training, I'm going to have you severely underweight, malnourished, with poor blood reports. I'll convince him to send you on a recovery leave under observation."

You could hear the shiver that went down Wills' spine. He gulped and stuttered, "He-he wanted to know about the mission. When I withheld information, he made me do Fumes. Nothing else happened."
Hesitating, he continued "Don't mess with my medicals Ren. He won't start training, and I won't be able to stop his over-feeding. These 45 days are my best shot at getting back in shape, he'll be free to train me. Please Ren."

Ren incredulously spoke, "YOU told him about your suicide mission! You, rotten ginger! I hope my role in all this, is between just the two of us. I'll fill chillies up your soul if you coughed up that."

"No Ren. You're out of it, totally. You will be called only if I die." he tried to calm her down.
"Willy, its true that many people want to relieve this earth off your weight, but I'm in not in that list. So stop that die-thing already!"

"Alright. Fine. But that girl Jane is becoming a problem. She suspects that me and Boss are hiding something. If she goes to father and he comes to know about this enquiry, I'm up for real death. God I'm messed up so badly, and I can't even kick a bag! It's frustrating. Hey Ren! Please don't use a red ink, I beg you."

"It's all your fault Wills. You wanted to be a hero! You didn't even let the old man convince you. I will think about your medicals."

"You are free to ask anything that helps me clear my medicals for training. Go shoot"
"Less Rambo and more trainer-like punches on my abs, now onwards."

Wills, too afraid of Dad, immediately jumped with the deal, but not before he threatened Ren with, "If Nick or anybody else ever finds out, I'll have Rambo's punches look like baby kisses" and marched himself out of there.

I wanted to storm out of there and force the details out of Ren, but I know that no amount of coaxing, threats or screwing will have Ren spill the beans. She is terrified of Wills to ever do that. So, I sat there completely still in wait for Ren to go find the cadets she had shoo-ed off so that I could leave without anybody finding out.

When Ren left, I immediately put the files just like they were and ran out of there to Sir Louis's room. He was talking to somebody on the phone, overly straight but when he saw me enter, he cut the phone without a word and glared at me. Normally, I would have scurried back if that glare was on me. But this time, I glared right back at him, daring him to throw me out. There is no way I was leaving that room without finding out.

Sir Louis immediately gestured for me to close the door and speak. This time, I made no move to filter or choose my words. "You are going to tell me all Wills told you about his mission."

"What mission, Nick? I have no clue what you're talking about? And mind your tone. You wouldn't want Colonel James-"

"Alright then, I'm going to march up to Father tomorrow and tell him how you screwed me and Wills the entire night because Wills refused to break confidentiality about his mission. I'm going to tell him that you faked a call to Colonel and said you have clearance to know the details. When Wills protested saying that he will tell the details when Father personally asks him to, you continued with the torture, ignoring Will's medical condition. Then, I'm going to tell him how you ensured that I got no medical help and I had to crawl back to the med care because you refused to do anything until you were told about the mission."

"Hey that's not just true! You can't -"

"I'll tell him that you had Wills do Fumes because he would not budge. You gave him enough glucose and water to keep him barely there and when Wills broke down and told you everything, you had him walk to the infirmary all by himself, hypothermic and dehydrated, possibly screwing up his arduous recovery. So, what shall it be, SIR Louis?"

I could see the wheels turning in his mind. There is no way Father would leave him alive if this is the version he finds out. There is nothing to prove otherwise either. So, he would have no chance to explain or prove himself before being hanged. Father would kill anybody who dared lay a wrong finger on Wills.

Sir Louis, for the first time since I have met him, gulped and spoke in a soft tone, "There is a terrorist organisation hiding in plain sight. On the outside, it looks like a corporate organisation and anybody who tries to prove otherwise ends up getting killed. The organisation hires young immature rebellions of the society and gets the illegal work done through them, and gets them killed when the job is done, or when they suspect the boy's loyalty. It also kidnaps and tortures people with important information about army and government, and shows them dead by using dismantled deadbodies to cover. Nobody is able to find the person who does the killings."

"What has Wills got to do with all this?"
"Your father has some vengeance with the leader of that organisation. So he got an IST approved from HQ. With Wills, he planned a secret mission to get him in the organisation, be found, tortured and killed, all so that he could find out their location and get some info regarding the man behind the scene. Wills, being Wills, agreed."

My father was willing to get his favourite son tortured and killed, so that he could get a stupid location for a terrorist organisation. I could not bear that thought of Wills screaming and begging for mercy. I slumped down against the wall and with shaking hands asked, "So, ho-how did Wills make it alive?"

Sir Louis was coming to comfort me but I put my hand up and glared at him, clearly telling him to shove his sympathy up his as*. So he continued, although reluctantly, "Wills has no idea why and how he was found, or at least that is what he has told me. All he knows is that Colonel used an old student of his to track Wills down and extract him."

"Who is the student?"

Sir Louis, pales even more, if that is possible and stutters, "He will kill me if he finds out that I snitched on him. Nick, please, put 2 and 2 together and figure it out. I can't say his name."

I pin my harshest glare on him, but he just shrugs and speaks, "Sorry man, I'll face your hate and anger, rather facing his."

Sir kept up his end of the bargain by telling me about the mission and I know exactly what he means about fearing his senior more than his junior's threats so I just sigh and sit there with my head in my hands.

"Nick, look I'm sorry for whatever your brother went through. I was pissed that he did not say goodbye before his suicidal mission. And I'm sorry that I took it out by having him do Fumes. Just please do not tell anybody that you found out about the mission from me. Please, Nick"

I was not sure if I wanted to keep shut, but I sure as hell wasn't letting this opportunity go. So, I told Sir Louis to back off from Wills and me for being Colonel's sons forever. Thankfully, he agreed without a word of protest and I ran out of there before I ended up taking my words back and asking him to kill Wills for keeping that shit from me.
"

I was trying to find words to pacify Nick. Uncle would never agree to such a thing. "Nick, your brother is crazy. You all are. A sane normal person would call you all suicidal because you run into danger when you are supposed to run away from there. When Major Louis came here, you told Killer that you should run away because otherwise, he will kill you guys. Look, you and Wills are both alive. You went through hell but you are not dead. Saying somebody will kill you does not really mean kill kill. I'm sure it is an expression. Uncle would have an extraction plan to get Wills out of there, no doubt about that. You can ask him when he returns. Besides, I don't trust Louis. Hey did you go talk to your stupid brother? I'm sure he must-"

Nick was ready with an answer. "After Sir Louis was done spilling the beans, I stormed directly to my brother's office. He saw me and his Boss rushing towards him. I asked him just one question 'Everything you told him about that mission, is it true?' he looked at me, then at his Boss, then his eyes were on the ground, Jane. I don't think I had anything left to hear from him. I had nowhere to go, no one to talk to. I feel cheated, like I haven't known any of them before."

"Nick..I- I-" What could I say? I was shocked beyond limits, myself.
"Did you confirm with Uncle James?" I asked him softly, hoping for a 'no' as a reply.

Nick just shook his head and spoke, "No, Dad would just shut me up with something else. Moreover, I don't want Wills to get into hands of Dad before I find out each and everything. I'll find out who this old student-cum-saviour was and just ask him. I hope he tells me the truth, unlike my own brother."

Well, I see no harm in that, except that if it is not true, Nick will end up doing worse than 6 consecutive night of Fumes. "Okay Nick. Just please be careful. You already have hurt Uncle by calling him names and accusing him of trying to kill his son once. You got a chance to regret that. Don't accuse him of that again unless you are sure. Uncle won't spare you and Wills won't forgive you. We won't be able to help you either."

But it felt like I was talking to a mannequin. Nick's resolve did not loosen a bit. He just solemnly nodded.

"I think I know what I have to do, and I have to do it before Dad comes back." and he left the mess, leaving me to analyse if indeed all of what Louis said was true.

************************************

Now that's a big reveal, isn't it?
Let me know your response through votes and comments 😉