The rain was still slamming down on the stone arch of the Gateway of India, the sea waves crashing against the barrier wall. In the service tunnels beneath the Colaba streets, Vikram, Rohan, Rahul, and Rhea huddled in a concrete alcove.
Rhea had a woolen blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her hands still slightly trembling. She had connected her terminal to the metal collar on her neck. "I've bypassed the tracking emitter by loop-circuiting the encryption," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "But the Vow's database will detect the anomaly in ten minutes. We have ten minutes before Javed knows we're here."
"That's enough," Vikram said, looking at the 3D blueprints on Rahul's scanner.
"The blueprints confirm what Patil said," Rahul explained, pointing to the glowing layout. "The colonial reservoir is directly beneath the monument, but the only dry entrance is a service shaft behind the boiler room of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The hotel basement has a direct access corridor that was sealed fifty years ago."
"How do we get past the hotel security?" Rohan asked, checking the charge on his iron pipe.
"The hotel is currently using emergency power generators because of the Dadar node shutdown," Rahul said. "The security cameras in the basement are offline. But the service corridor is blocked by a brick wall and a heavy steel vault door. We'll need explosives or a high-voltage charge to break the lock."
"I can do it," Vikram said, looking at his hands. The blue sparks of his Prana were steady now, the training in Dharavi having increased his control. "I can focus the electric charge to melt the vault's lock cylinder."
"And the guards?" Rohan asked.
"Javed will be waiting at the core," Vikram said. "He knows we have to destroy the transmitter to restore the power. He's using Desai as bait. Let's move before the ten minutes are up."
They stood up, stepping out of the tunnel and heading toward the rear entrance of the grand hotel, the shadow of the Gateway monument looming through the rain like a dark giant.