Chapter 15:
Andy's heart came to his mouth as he saw the professor lying in his boxers inside the study. His shirt had his pant were used to tie his hands and legs together pretty tightly and his sock was shoved into his mouth. He looked at Andy with fear and contempt in his eyes. "Mmmmm." He muffled. Andy was dazed. Why in the world was the professor tied up and where was Prateek? Had he tied the professor up by himself? Where did he go then? The professor was wriggling as if trying to free himself. Andy hesitated. Should he free the professor or was this all a part of Prateek's plan? And by freeing the professor, what if he helped the professor and that hindered the plan? "Prateek!" He called out again. Maybe Prateek was in the next room injured. Maybe he needed help. Andy attempted to get out of the room when the professor started muffling even more loudly stooping him in his tracks. He took a look at the old man. He was sweating. His nose was swollen and had dried blood on it. His face had numerous scratches. He also looked like he was in pain as his ties were sinking into his skin. Andy felt pity for him. If he couldn't untie the professor, atleast he could get the dirty sock out of his mouth. As soon as he removed the sock from the professor's mouth, the professor started cussing him out. "I will make sure you get arrested and never ever come out!" he yelled. Andy was shocked. What had happened? "Prateek?" he yelled again. "What are you calling him for? He already escaped through the back door don't you know?" the professor now sounded surprised and confused. "Escaped? What do you mean by escaped?" Without waiting for an answer Andy ran towards the back of the house and saw that the back door was wide open. Andy was now anxious and confused.
"He is gone!" He told the professor in daze. "Why are you surprised? This was your plan all along? Will you untie me first please?" Andy was now even more confused but started untying the professor. The professor after being untied lied down on the ground breathlessly. "What do you mean my plan?" Asked Andy as the professor calmed down a little. "You were the one who betrayed us to the ISRO. You must have gotten millions of dollars for this right? And you have the nerve to accuse me!" The professor got up immediately and looked at him with an expression of shock. "What are you blabbering boy? Have you lost it?" "Yeah, Prateek told me everything!" "Prateek? He was the one who came up to me this morning to give me a report on the Senlings and then all of a sudden, he hit me on the head with my paper weight and tied me up. He told me that you and him had already informed the ISRO and they were going to make the aliens a live specimen for their research. He even poured all the chemicals down the drain to ensure I don't escape and travel to Khuldhara to rescue the aliens. He said you were in this plan too!" Andy's head started spinning. He remembered Prateek's phone calls in the secluded corner, he remembered Prateek being silent the whole car ride and Prateek wanting to go in and meet the professor first. It all fell into place now. "Professor! I think…" He began. "He betrayed both of us that crook!" The professor finished his sentence. "I had never informed ISRO. I was going to after the aliens left as I had promised. It was Prateek who has done everything and he bought you here in the hopes that if I manage to get free, I would call the police and you would be in jail and Prateek would have gotten a lot of money from the scientists and would have fled somewhere."
Andy's blood boiled. All along he had pretended to be his friend, Prateek had been silently planning to back stab them all. "Oh! And he mentioned he was going to Khuldhara with a business man and a NASA scientist." Andy's heart skipped a beat. Rani and the Senlings were now in danger! He knew that Prateek was a traitor but Rani didn't know yet. She might trust Prateek and those men and unknowingly put her and Senling's lives in danger! He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Nothing was going to happen if he was panicking. "Professor! Get dressed. First, we need to get the chemicals ready for the fuel. Do you have a car and do you know anyone that can sell us those chemicals right now?" The professor said yes to both. "Perfect! We don't have much time to lose many lives are at stake now. We cannot let that backstabbing cruel guy to win. Let's go!" the professor hesitated a bit but touched his face and felt the scratches that seemed to have provided him motivation. "Let's go!"
They reached the chemical store. The stores person stared at Dr. Puri. He was star stuck. "Wow! Am I dreaming? Dr. Puri himself is at my store!" Andy cut him off and asked if they had the chemicals that he wanted. The stores person nodded. "Please give me a barrel of each Guru. I need them urgently for an experiment. I will give you the papers later." The professor sounded desperate. "Oh! I thought you came to settle down my bills!" The shop keeper looked disappointed. "Bills? What bills?" asked the professor flabbergasted. Andy was dying of anxiety. They had to leave soon and the professor was playing 21 questions. "Your assistant Prateek right? He used to come and get chemicals saying that you wanted them. I have been giving you chemicals on credit for a year. You owe me atleast half a million bucks sir." The professor looked like he was about to pass out. "Listen sir, here is a deal. You give us these chemicals now, and he will settle your dues tomorrow, okay?" Said Andy hurriedly. The professor glared at him. "I am not giving any money. You should have asked me before giving the chemicals to Prateek." "I have approached about it in university ten times and each time you refused to see me!" Andy knew that this conversation was not going to end anytime soon if he doesn't do anything about it. "Excuse me!" he yelled and both the professor and the shop keeper quieted down. "We" he said pointing to the professor "don't have much time! So we need to go, please get the chemicals and settle his dues!" "And you! Give us the chemicals!" This seemed to have worked as the shop keeper gave them the chemicals and they left the shop without a word.
"That stupid boy!" said the professor as he was speeding towards Khuldhara. "He had got the chemicals under my name and sold them in the black market. That cunning guy. You know why his thesis is not going through? Because the quality of the thesis is pathetic! He can't research and write to save his life! He always published his girlfriend Anu's paper with his name. One day she came crying to me and I made them break up. She finished her PhD quickly after that and moved to the USA. This crook tried to follow her there to mooch off her more. But his thesis is as good as a nursery rhyme. He would have seen the aliens as a golden opportunity to settle down in USA with millions of bucks!" The more the professor talked about Prateek, the angrier he got; the angrier he got the faster the car got. Even though Andy feared for his life, he knew that they had to race against time. All Andy could do now was hope.