Novels by Ankit Roy

Sati moved effortlessly through the carpet. The climate conditioner was at full blast at this time of the day. She sipped at the cold water she held and felt it slip down her throat, feeling the cold through her lungs. The journalist on the Ariel was screaming at the top of his lungs over the disappearance of a power station engineer a month ago. The peacekeepers were clueless about the incident. The head of the crime branch, Mr. Harry was being accused by the nameless journalist of the Canneti TV Network. Sati rummaged in the shelf in front of her and found the remote control. She pressed the button to change the reception but her comm rang. A blue wireframe of Indrani popped up.“My laws have been accepted” Indrani said breathlessly.“That’s awesome!” Sati wanted to ask her how it had all gone but then a news flash on the Ariel caught her eye.She quickly dropped the comm device and turned up the volume. “This just in! Billi

Indrani pressed her face against the window of her workstation and jumped back massaging her face as it felt a sting of the heat outside. She notched up the weather conditioner and sat back behind her desk clattered with volumes after volumes of black leathered tomes scattered carelessly over the desktop. The papers on the desk flapped in rhythm to her heart. The cabinet meeting was ongoing and she had tabled the Dwarf Reservation bill the third time this month. The Prime Minister, Mr. Rutherford, had politely asked her to give them an hour to decide. The last three attempts were thwarted by the cabinet, undoubtedly under the influence of some wealthy businessman -rather one wealthy businessman in which her husband was a partner. She couldn’t bear to fail. Not after what she had gone through. She remembered her grandfather reciting stories of the Kritakash Landing. The ship that landed on the TRAPPIST Planetary system. The planet was a paradise. One big garden with rivers and lakes

The dwarf lay motionless in front of Kane, a thin curl of smoke rising from his body. The rain had started and in a matter of seconds, diamonds falling from the sky would rip apart the human. Kane hurried towards Dilip and held him up, pressing his comm to summon his hovercraft. The hovercraft whooshed past the grove and drifted slowly towards him. He pulled open the door and shoved Dilip inside. Just as he was about to enter however, a loud voice boomed over a microphone and took him by surprise. He turned around to look at the speaker.“I’ve got you this time” said a familiar voice.Kane turned around, “Harry? What are you doing here”“What do you think?” He clapped his hands and a couple of peacekeepers walked out of the tree around the grove and marched in resonance, geared with the formidable railgun, camouflaged attire and black leather boots. Harry moved forward, a mousy looking human moved wit

Fate had done Dilip no favors this morning. He'd dashed from his office into the open road. A mysterious man had walked into his office seconds ago and demanded to know all about the Pridewen’s chest. He refused. The maniac pulled out a lighting gun and aimed straight at his heart. Dilip was holding a hot grubbly root drink. He flung the glass cup straight at his face and dashed out. The curb of the walkway had stopped him mid stride and swung him hard left before falling. Dilip was suddenly stumbling off balance into the blinding sun. When he’d looked up, he was heading straight for a cluster of trees across the road. He had a weak heart and his left knee was broken years ago in a freak accident. The gift of the chest. He jumped over, brushing a loosely hung rope and dashed in. By the time he realized where it led, it was too late. Now he stood in a confined cell of trees and caught his breath. His side burned. Narrow slats of sun streamed through the openings in the grove. He

Kane even with all the technology of this day wouldn’t have found it possible. The plethora of information recorded over the centuries, and classified genealogically. It made him swoon over the earthling. Satellites were useless in the intense heat of R-786. It made radio communication impossible. But earthlings had found the way out. They sent short burst of signals for a kilometer, captured it at small foot long heat attenuators or HAR and sent the signal forward. A network of these HAR poles all across the planet was what the earthlings had established. And for what? To allow someone like him to track down and kill the corrupt among them. He was certainly enjoying himself for he received the tracer back with data. Data that corroborated with the request for TASK. And he was flying at an altitude of about two metres above the shining slag covered giant magnet strips under the asphalt that the humans used to ride their wheel based vehicles. He preferred flying

Sati walked out of the Wockhart house and went straight to her office. She closed the door and making sure there wasn’t anyone in the hallway outside, she pulled out a piece of paper that had a code on it. She dialed the code and a wireframe three dimensional image of the 404 CONTENT NOT FOUND popped up over the comm. A deep voice answered, “I was waiting for your call”“I have news. He has moved in with her. That’s where he was for two weeks”“I told you he’s cheating on you”There was an awkward silence broken only by the static of the comm.“What should I do now?”“Listen to me. Do as I say and we might still get him.”“Get him how?” Sati screeched. Talking about separating was one thing. Being separated was other. She felt like a broken piece of furniture nobody cared about. “He has an empire and you were with him when he built it. You deserve your share. I’ll help you with the court case, but I need hard evidence. Stay at his home for a while and gathe

Jyotsna was up at dawn, but somehow she still had a great deal to pack. Her mother dashed around the house looking for clothes and valuables. Her father ran into Jyotsna in the living room, still in his pajamas holding a steaming mug, tea dripping on the floor. Anwar’s mother had arrived to help them. Her red hair floated behind her as she ran around the house running errands. Mr. Jawed nearly tripped over the trunk her mother had jam packed with clothes. At last, they entered a taxi, an old ambassador Padmini, Anwar accompanying them to the school. They had barely driven for a minute when they were back. Jyotsna had forgotten her chemistry set. Two minutes after that they skidded to a halt inside the school administration building. They unloaded their suitcases and their cycles and Jyotsna boarded the third room on the first floor of the girl’s dormitory. Then, she waved her parents goodbye as Anwar stood beside her. The car disappeared around the curb.Jyotsna l

Mr. Sharma couldn’t believe his ears! Right before his eyes Nelson disappeared and now his father was dead. He couldn’t fathom what fate had befallen on the unfortunate accountant’s family. Grief changed to fear when he realised he was privy to an information that might very well have been the reason for the accountant’s death. For it was just a few weeks ago when Mr. Abraham had met him. His eyes were dark and looked tired. Twice he was heard arguing loudly with Mr. Nandy and on the day his kid disappeared, he had stayed late from work. All Mr. Sharma could think off was keeping Jyotsna safe. He turned off the television and turned to his wife. “Lock the door and do not open until you are sure it’s me” Mrs. Sharma looked bewildered. “What’s the…” But before she could finish, Mr. Sharma held her shoulders in a tight grip and said, “Do as I say. Do not open the door for anyone! I’ll be back within the hour.” Before he stepped out, he turn

The karate club had flourished to new bounds ever since Fire sir had taken over. Duelling was still on though nobody got hurt. Fire Sir presided every duel with a keen eye. For two weeks now, they had been practising for their first ever belt. Jyotsna had observed Anwar performing extraordinary feats. Fire sir himself had joined in to applause Anwar’s excellent three feet high round kick. Anwar, Jyotsna and Fire sir had become friends ever since he accompanied them to the hospital wing. Jyotsna had learnt that Fire sir was an orphan, and had served the Kolkata police as an Inspector before retiring voluntarily. He lived inside the school in one of the quarters made for the scullery maid when the school was still a royal fort. He had invited them to visit his dwelling. After the class ended, Jyotsna & Anwar started to follow him. He stopped abruptly so that Jyotsna rammed her head straight into his back. She looked around and saw Fire sir staring at Sabu sir who was talking anima

It was nearing five thirty and Mr. Sharma was sitting alone in his dingy cabin, staring at the long accounting logs. It was an hour past the usual office hours and he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. He had read and reread the logs, double checking every single entry for its legal sanctity. Everything added up and yet there was this unmistakable entry, like a small splinter in your nails that hurts a lot but doesn’t come out. Every month a huge sum of money was credited from a small time vendor that didn’t match with any purchase, sales or tax entry. He cursed his fate for opening the unsolicited envelope he received anonymously. Curiosity had gotten the better of him and curiosity killed the cat! Now he was stuck with these logs and the cursed knowledge of the unknown source of investment, illegal in all probability. He could burn the papers and forget he had received any such letter and live with the forbidden fruit. His pulse quickened at the very thought of covering up. Why

The Fist Fight The next day school ended with excitement! Jyotsna, Anwar and the twins were all up for the duel and hurried with the rest of the Karate kids onto the school grounds. “I wonder whom I will fight” Said Anwar loudly. They edged forward onto the chattering crowd and looked at Sabu Sir. He was standing in the middle of the grounds, in his candy white robes and black belt, waving his hands with a wide grin. Fire Sir was towering beside him with a stern face, almost sad. The chatter died away and Sabu Sir said, “You’ll be dividing into pairs, but choose an opponent of your own stature. The one left out wait for your turn.” The students began to shuffle and shift like a colony of lost ants. Jyotsna stood there and saw Anwar’s red head move towards Mahadev. Ruben and Brojen faced each other, scowling, to the right of Anwar. Just when she thought she was left out, Piu, the big seventh grade girl took the place in front of her. Jyotsna sa

Mr. Nandy kept marching forward holding Mahadev’s hand followed by the four huddled together. Jyotsna was suddenly aware of all the sounds around her. The crackling of a twig, the crushing of the leaves under their feet and the insects buzzing around in the distance. But there was something else that took her thoughts astray. A low persistent hum, like the scraping of stones with a stone cutter or a hand drill. Like metal on rock. They walked in silence for a minute. Then Anwar spoke, “When I saw ‘IT’, It felt like a gigantic dragon with huge shiny eyes and sharp jaws.” Mr. Nandy stopped abruptly and the kids rammed into him. He turned around and stared at Anwar. “I am a simple village man and value the lessons taught by our elders enormously. Make it a habit not to trivialize warnings given to you. It has been an unspoken rule in the village to avoid the forest to shorten your travels. And at times when the powers of evil are exalted kids have been known to disappea