The lights of Islamabad flickered outside the office of Khalid Qureshi, head of ISI, but he barely noticed.
His focus was on the reports spread across his desk, each one a reminder of how close they had come to completing their mission.
They had failed.
And failure, especially against India, was unacceptable.
Khalid's usually composed face was a mask of frustration.
The Chagai Hills disaster had been a slap to Pakistan's pride, and now, R&AW's senior field officer, Raghav Kapoor, had slipped through their fingers.
"Directly targeting Rao was too risky," Khalid muttered, flipping through the reports. "Kapoor was the next best thing, and we let him escape."
Abdul Rashid, one of ISI's top field commanders, stood at attention in front of him.
His face was still bruised from the chaos earlier night, but his expression was unreadable.
He had led the mission. He had overseen every detail. Yet Raghav Kapoor had survived.
