end of the rocky chamber was a smooth wall of sandstone which, he guessed, was the back of one of the Buddha statues. There seemed to be no crevices or niches in which to hide the contents of his satchel.
He heard the sounds of men scrambling down the tunnel and saw the glimmer from their horn lantern light up the cave with an eerie glow.
As the three men emerged, Pala knew he was going to die in this cave. There was fury in their faces; they had thought he would be an easy target.
One of them grinned at him. ‘You thought you could outrun us and escape?’ The leader chuckled, but the sound was devoid of humour.
Pala never saw the blow coming.
As he turned to face the man, something sharp and hard struck him on the side of his head. In the cold air of the cavern he felt something sticky and hot flow down his cheek. It was his blood, he realised, as his head exploded with sudden pain.
Pala sagged to the ground.
His last thought, before the darkness enfolded him, was that he had failed in his mission.
One of the men knelt down and rummaged through the contents of the dead man’s satchel. It contained books of bark, bound together in the manner that was prevalent in northern India. He handed the books to their leader who leafed through them helplessly. None of the three men could read much more than their own names.
He threw the texts down in the dirt in anger and stamped on them, unmindful of the destruction he was causing.
His voice was hoarse with rage. ‘We went to all this trouble for these strips of bark? The way he kept the satchel close to him as if he was guarding it with his life, I thought there would be something more precious in there.’
‘Here, what’s this?’ The man peering into Pala’s bag pulled out a metallic object. It was in the shape of a circle, made of solid metal. He handed it to his leader. The metal was black but definitely not tarnished silver. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. One side of the circular slab was blank and smooth with a matted black finish. The other side had circular grooves with markings and inscriptions that he couldn’t read.
He did not see any value in it and flung the disk at Pala’s corpse.
‘Curse the son of a dog!’ he spat. ‘We have nothing to show for our efforts.’
‘What do we do with the corpse?’
‘Leave it here. This cave isn’t in use any more. We’ll go back up and roll a boulder over the opening. No one will ever know.’
The three men made their way back up the tunnel, to the surface, and searched for the largest boulder. They finally had a huge one plugging the entrance, burying Pala’s body and the contents of his satchel with him.
Little did they know that they had just buried the truth about one of the greatest ancient secrets of the world; a truth that would lie buried with Pala for the next 1,500 years.
14
Present Day
Day 6
Jaungarh Fort
The little group was assembled in the study again. They were all eager to find out about Vijay’s discovery. Warm sunlight flooded into the study through the huge bay windows.
Vijay narrated his dream to them. ‘What struck me was the fact that the king in the dream carved nine rocks. I realised that I was dreaming about Asoka and his edicts. When we read the verse yesterday, we naturally assumed that it referred to the Nine Unknown Men, describing them. But uncle, in his third mail, urges me to follow the edicts of Asoka, saying they will lead me on a voyage of discovery. It occurred to me that perhaps the verse referred not to the Nine themselves but to the nine edicts of Asoka.’
‘So what we should be looking for are nine locations where Asoka placed his edicts.’ Colin took up his train of thought.
‘You got it,’ Vijay grinned. ‘Finally the years of knowing me have rubbed off on you. You’re getting smart, my friend.’
‘So I guess you also know which nine edicts the verse refers to, O Wise One?’ Colin retorted.
Vijay held up a sheaf of papers from
He heard the sounds of men scrambling down the tunnel and saw the glimmer from their horn lantern light up the cave with an eerie glow.
As the three men emerged, Pala knew he was going to die in this cave. There was fury in their faces; they had thought he would be an easy target.
One of them grinned at him. ‘You thought you could outrun us and escape?’ The leader chuckled, but the sound was devoid of humour.
Pala never saw the blow coming.
As he turned to face the man, something sharp and hard struck him on the side of his head. In the cold air of the cavern he felt something sticky and hot flow down his cheek. It was his blood, he realised, as his head exploded with sudden pain.
Pala sagged to the ground.
His last thought, before the darkness enfolded him, was that he had failed in his mission.
One of the men knelt down and rummaged through the contents of the dead man’s satchel. It contained books of bark, bound together in the manner that was prevalent in northern India. He handed the books to their leader who leafed through them helplessly. None of the three men could read much more than their own names.
He threw the texts down in the dirt in anger and stamped on them, unmindful of the destruction he was causing.
His voice was hoarse with rage. ‘We went to all this trouble for these strips of bark? The way he kept the satchel close to him as if he was guarding it with his life, I thought there would be something more precious in there.’
‘Here, what’s this?’ The man peering into Pala’s bag pulled out a metallic object. It was in the shape of a circle, made of solid metal. He handed it to his leader. The metal was black but definitely not tarnished silver. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. One side of the circular slab was blank and smooth with a matted black finish. The other side had circular grooves with markings and inscriptions that he couldn’t read.
He did not see any value in it and flung the disk at Pala’s corpse.
‘Curse the son of a dog!’ he spat. ‘We have nothing to show for our efforts.’
‘What do we do with the corpse?’
‘Leave it here. This cave isn’t in use any more. We’ll go back up and roll a boulder over the opening. No one will ever know.’
The three men made their way back up the tunnel, to the surface, and searched for the largest boulder. They finally had a huge one plugging the entrance, burying Pala’s body and the contents of his satchel with him.
Little did they know that they had just buried the truth about one of the greatest ancient secrets of the world; a truth that would lie buried with Pala for the next 1,500 years.
14
Present Day
Day 6
Jaungarh Fort
The little group was assembled in the study again. They were all eager to find out about Vijay’s discovery. Warm sunlight flooded into the study through the huge bay windows.
Vijay narrated his dream to them. ‘What struck me was the fact that the king in the dream carved nine rocks. I realised that I was dreaming about Asoka and his edicts. When we read the verse yesterday, we naturally assumed that it referred to the Nine Unknown Men, describing them. But uncle, in his third mail, urges me to follow the edicts of Asoka, saying they will lead me on a voyage of discovery. It occurred to me that perhaps the verse referred not to the Nine themselves but to the nine edicts of Asoka.’
‘So what we should be looking for are nine locations where Asoka placed his edicts.’ Colin took up his train of thought.
‘You got it,’ Vijay grinned. ‘Finally the years of knowing me have rubbed off on you. You’re getting smart, my friend.’
‘So I guess you also know which nine edicts the verse refers to, O Wise One?’ Colin retorted.
Vijay held up a sheaf of papers from
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