Chapter 17:
Rani stood rooted at spot. She couldn't believe that the man had shot Xezo. The man aimed again. She immediately rushed towards him and tried to get hold of the gun. There was a struggle of power. "Vika!" she yelled while trying to get the gun from the man. "Take everyone and run!" She hoped Vika would be smart enough to listen to her and not try to help her. Much to her relief, the voices of the Senlings died down. "Wait!" Said Prateek to the air. They had run away. The man pushed her to the ground and quickly looked around. "Missed it! All because of this stupid woman!" He said rushing towards as if he was going to hit her but he was stopped by the glasses guy. "Control yourself Sumeet! Save your energy. The aliens can't hide for long! They will come back to their space craft and now with the help of the Opaquometer we can see them." He said pointing at the Telescope like equipment. Rani tried to run but she couldn't get up. She was paralyzed with fear. Sumeet looked at her with disgust. "I wanted to capture them all alive! This crazy bi…spoiled it. I will kill her!" cried Sumeet. Rani gulped. "Yeah, after getting all the aliens you can kill her! Right now, let's just focus on what is important." Said the specs man. Prateek was surprisingly quiet. He avoided looking at Rani. Hot tears streamed down her face. It was all over! More than her being killed, she was worried for the Senlings. She was scared of dying without even looking at Andy's face. All of this because of the cruel, crooked Prateek.
The men quickly tied her up with ropes they brought. She wished Andy was with her. He would have made everything okay. Was he tied up too? Was he injured too? Would she even see him again in her life time? Where were the Senlings now? How long they could hide? What happened to Xezo? Are they going to sacrifice themselves? Many unanswered questions floated in her head.
Suddenly, she heard something which a sounded like a honk. At first, she dismissed it off as an imagination. But the honk got louder. She saw a big car was approaching the entrance. Even before the car stopped, Andy leapt down and started running towards the Entrance. Rani's heart jumped of joy.
Andy stopped and as he saw Rani was tied and was rolled on the floor. The professor also came along and stood in front of those men. Sumeet and Ram on the other hand didn't look fazed at all. "Oh! You are still alive!" Said Sumeet looking at the professor. Andy hit him square on the jaw. Sumeet yelped and fell down. In the meantime, the old man untied Rani quickly with a surprising speed. "Stupid people! Can't even knot properly!" he muttered. "Save our friends Andy! Save Senlings!" shouted Rani even before recovering. Suddenly Ram was pointing a gun at Andy. Her heart froze. No! Not Andy! The thought gave her tremendous vigour and energy. With a lighting speed, she sprang near Ram and snatched the gun from his hand. Andy quickly grabbed the gun off the ground and helped Rani up. "All of you! Hands up!" he said pointing to Sumeet, Ram and Prateek. They did as they were told looking scared. "Rani take the professor with you to the Senlings quickly! We have the fuel!" Rani was shocked to hear that the old man was the professor! Why was he helping them? And how did Andy get the fuel! But the explanations could be given later! Where were the Senlings?
Rani remembered that the Senlings loved their space craft! They cherished it and worshipped it even. Rani realized that if they were going to meet death, they would rather do it inside the place they loved. She quickly grabbed the professor's hand who grabbed the Opaquometer and rushed to the space craft! She quickly pressed the button on the left leg and the space craft opened. The professor looked at the space craft in awe. As they entered the space craft, they saw writings of an unrecognizable language. Amuthini maybe. It was dark inside which meant that they could see the Senlings. "Vika!" She shouted and finally she spotted the Senlings. Xezo, Vika and the others were about to eat the bean. "STOP!" she shouted running to them. The Senlings looked shocked. "We… fuel…" Said Rani breathless. She was exhausted and collapsed to a nearby chair.
The Senlings gathered around her. "Are you ok Rani?" Asked Vika gently. Rani managed to give a nod. She pointed towards the professor. "Um...hi... I am professor Puri." Said the professor who still looked dazed. "Rani are you betraying us too?! Why have you bought this dangerous man inside the space craft?" asked Vika enraged. "He... not dangerous. friend…" Rani managed to say. "Yeah, she is right. It was Prateek who had betrayed you. Not me. Listen, I have the fuel! You are all going home!
Everything went smooth after that. Xezo had recovered well from being stunned and quickly prepared the fuel with the help of others. "Well done, Vika!" he said happily. "You have shown bravery and leadership! You will be my successor one day!" Vika smiled shyly. "But chief! Won't we be in trouble for letting the humans inside the spacecraft?" he asked "No!" Answered Xezo. The humans cannot enter the space craft unless it is a life-threatening situation. I wrote the rule." Said Xezo with a twinkle in his eye. It was already dark as they finished preparing the fuel. Sumeet, Prateek and Ram were knocked unconscious by the toxic materials from the space craft that Vika poured on them Should be good for 12 hours!" said Vika. At last, they were set to leave.
It was very emotional for Rani. She was going to miss her friends dearly. The Senlings thanked the Andy Rani and the professor. Rani had tears in her eyes. Even Andy looked miserable. They didn't realize that in the last few days, the Senlings had become an important part of their life. Now that they were living forever, it was too hard to let go. Rani was happy for them though. Happy that they were going home at last. "Thank you so much my dear friends Andy and Rani!" Said Xero holding their hands. He had tears in his eyes too. This was the first time he had called them 'Friends'. "The help you did! We will never forget!" Vika hugged Rani crying. "I will miss you." "I will miss you too!" she replied crying as well. "When I get married, I will find a girl just like you! Oi! Andy! You better make her happy!" said Vika as he hugged Andy.
Xero came back with three boxes in his hand. "My dear friends, we are going back to our house because of you all! Please accept these gifts as a thank you gift!" Rani eagerly opened the box to find a precious metal! This would make them remember the Senlings.
At last, waving them good bye, the Senlings took off. Rani, Andy and the professor stared at the sky till they became a tiny dot. "Back to the Khuldhara life for us then!" said Andy. "I was thinking…" began the professor. Rani and Andy looked at him puzzled. "Maybe I need to start having people around. Due to loneliness, I have become senile and that led to loads of problems for me. Rani wondered where he was going with this. I also lost an assistant today. "So maybe I was wondering if you guys would be like my assistant, maybe stay with me, give me company, remind and schedule my meetings, and after everything opens you, guys can also get back your jobs what say? You need not live in Khuldhara all alone. Rani was excited. Did this guy mean it? Can they trust him? Andy looked at her. Rani thought a little. Maybe, they could take a chance. It would definitely better than staying alone in Khuldhara for sure now the Senlings were gone too. She nodded happily. "Good!" the professor looked pleased. "Now we have get these rascals to the police station. I will file a complaint against them for having an unlicensed gun and for smuggling chemicals in my name. The professor left with them and promised to come back the next day.
Rani looked up at the sky. Andy hugged her from behind. "Good bye Khuldhara!" he said. "Thank you Senlings!" said Rani smiling. Now on to a new life.