POV: Aritra NaskarDate: October 15, 2012Location: Pangi Valley, Himachal Pradesh, IndiaTime: 8:00 AM IST
Dawn's first light carved crystalline patterns on the snow-capped peaks surrounding Pangi Valley. From the helicopter's open door, I watched clouds drift lazily through cragged ravines, each wisp of mist glowing gold in the morning sun. Prayer flags snapped in the alpine breeze, their colors faded but bright against the azure sky—tabs of orange, blue, white, red, and green fluttering like the heartbeat of this highland sanctuary. Beneath us, terraced fields clung to the mountainside, each plot a patchwork of emerald and ochre, held in place by ancient stone walls. The scent of pine and juniper rose in the crisp air, mingling with distant smoke from wood-fire hearths.
I slipped my parka zipper higher and steadied the drone controller in my gloved hands. At my side, Katherine adjusted her scarf, gazing out with a quiet smile. We'd come here not to deploy weaponized systems, but to test Nova Tech's newest addition to our humanitarian fleet: the Aerial Skybridge Module, a drone-borne cable-winch system designed to lower 50-kilogram payloads—medicine, winter blankets, solar lamps—into villages unreachable by road. In the wake of Himalayan Sentinel's success, we'd promised the Valley nothing less than "therapeutic technology," a gift of safety and connectivity.
"Watch the feed," I murmured. On the handgun-sized tablet, a live aerial view shimmered. Four Skybridge Drones circled the drop zone: Aurora, Blizzard, Cloudfall, and Duskflight. Each drone's underbelly bore a cylindrical winch, spool bristling with steel cable. They hovered 200 feet above the highest rooftop, engines whisper-quiet against the canyon's echo.
Below, villagers had assembled on a plateau that flattened against a sheer cliff, a natural amphitheater ringed by pines. Elder Tashi Lama, his silver hair tied back and robes dust-brown from mountain wind, led the gathering: men in fur-lined woolen caps, women in layered shawls dyed in saffron and cerulean, children craning their necks with wide-eyed wonder. A bundle of supplies lay ready on the stone cairn at the plateau's center.
"Permission to release payloads," I radioed to Dr. Rhea Mukherjee in the valley's makeshift control tent—an insulated yurt wired to our satellite uplink.
"Proceed," came her reply, voice crackling through the comms.
I pressed the release on Aurora's winch. A slender cable shot down, carrying a blue-and-white crate marked "Nova Tech – Winter Relief: Blankets, Medicine, Solar Lanterns." Within moments, the crate gently lowered to the waiting crowd. Tashi Lama guided it with a prayer, his lined face breaking into a grateful grin as villagers formed a human chain to distribute the contents.
"Beautiful," Katherine whispered, leaning close so only I could hear. "This is why we fight."
I nodded, eyes still on the tablet as Blizzard and Cloudfall followed in turn: one payload of thick woolen blankets, another of iodine drops and antibiotics, the third of portable solar-LED lamps, the last of rehydration packets and thermal socks. Each crate touched earth with a muted thud under the watchful gaze of clip-on cameras streaming live to our Himalayan ledger node.
"Final drop complete," Rhea's voice announced. "Winches retracting."
The drones climbed, pivoting to hover in formation as villagers offered cups of warm butter tea and handfuls of apricot biscuits—a Pangi specialty—to our ground team. The radio crackled with Tashi Lama's blessings in the local dialect, each syllable echoing between cliffs.
I lowered the tablet. "Switch to surveillance mode. Let's give them time before extraction."
Katherine closed her eyes, savoring the moment. "They call this place the 'Hidden Paradise.' It's almost a sin to remind anyone we exist."
I glanced at her, warm relief mixing with a profound sense of purpose. "Every hidden paradise deserves a bridge to the world."
Location: Nova Tech – Salt Lake Sector-V, Security Operations CenterTime: 6:00 AM IST**
Back in the SOC, screens displayed the Pangi Valley feed alongside global nodes: unaffected by sabotage, each region thrummed with ledger accuracy. Above the Himalayan node glowed a steady emerald; below, a ticker scrolled praise from international NGOs and local governments.
Priya Menon turned from her station. "Aritra, we just received a message from Beijing. They've noticed Nova Tech's ledger activity in Arunachal and Pakistan—and now Pangi." She sighed, tension on her brow. "They're demanding access to the Skybridge Module algorithm—claiming it's dual-use for civilian disaster relief and border infiltration."
I pressed my palms to my temples. "Not going to happen. The algorithm's IP is proprietary—too valuable to share. We offer technical training to Chinese humanitarian teams in Sichuan, but no source-code."
Priya nodded. "Understood. Sending Jiangsu Command a response: 'Collaborative training only, no code release.'"
Location: Jadavpur Villa – Underground Council ChamberTime: 7:00 AM IST**
By the time I returned beneath Jadavpur Villa, Katherine, General Sen, and Director Chopra waited. The converging pressures—from UNIPAK's demands to Chinese border probes—had created a web of geopolitical tension.
Chopra cleared his throat. "RAW's intercepts show China massing logistics in Lhasa, planning joint ledger nodes under their Himalayan Ledger Initiative. If they mirror our bilateral ledger, they could legitimize their Arunachal claims."
Katherine's expression hardened. "We'll preempt: launch our Mandala Ledger Node, a trilateral India–UNIPAK–China network that includes remote community councils in Arunachal. By inviting China in on equal footing, we force transparency."
Sen exhaled. "We'll need to accelerate the node's deployment—mobile hand-carried units to Tawang and Tezpur. Drone support for ground teams crossing mountain passes."
I tapped my tablet, plotting new node coordinates:
Tawang Node: 27.5864° N, 91.8610° E
Tezpur Node: 26.6500° N, 92.8000° E
"Phase Five of Himalayan Sentinel," I said. "Mandala Node goes live within 48 hours. We'll broadcast it in a tri-nation press conference atop Sela Pass—'The Summit of Transparency.'"
Chopra cracked a rare smile. "Lord have mercy."