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.’Vijay shook his head.‘I don’t believe this is possible.I’ve studied physics, too.’‘I’ll explain.’ The scientist in Farooq came to the fore, and he settled himself comfortably in his chair as if preparing to deliver a lecture.‘You know how visibility works.Light reflects off something and renders it visible to the eye.’Both Vijay and Radha nodded.This was basic science.‘All naturally occurring matter displays properties that are determined by its atomic make-up,’ Farooq continued.‘The amount of light that is reflected or refracted depends on the interaction of the electromagnetic waves of light with the atomic particles of matter.‘There is a group of matter called anisotropic metamaterials.This group comprises materials that are not naturally occurring, but are artificially synthesised.Being artificial composites, their properties are not dependent on their atomic particles, but on the properties of the materials that make them up and the shape or pattern in which these materials are put together to make the metamaterial.There is a lot of research going on into this nowadays.‘Theoretically, anisotropic metamaterials have a variable refractive index and can actually bend light, so that if an object is sheathed in metamaterials, light isn’t reflected or refracted but is simply guided around it.All natural materials bend electromagnetic radiation in one direction; away from a line perpendicular to their surface, or away from normal.Metamaterials, on the other hand, can be arranged so that their index of refraction forces waves to travel a path that bends towards normal.By diverting the waves upwards, around the object and then down again, the object, from a visual point of view, doesn’t even exist.Moreover, if the light waves can be guided around the object in such a way that it returns to its original course, not only is the object rendered invisible, but it doesn’t cast a shadow either.So an aircraft, for example, sheathed in metamaterials will be invisible to the naked eye.’‘And that is your plan? To steal this technology and use it for terror?’ Vijay’s scepticism seeped into his voice.‘Correct.We will use this technology to attack the G20 summit in Washington three months from now.In one stroke, 20 governments will be wiped out.’‘You’ll be discovered before you can try anything.’ Vijay attempted bravely, trying to strike at Farooq’s confidence.‘Discovered?’ Farooq smirked.‘We’ve already told them.And they’re in a flap, trying to figure out why we’ve announced our plan three months before executing it.But the world can’t defend itself from what it can’t see! An invisible plane, carrying a deadly payload—how can any security agency in the world detect and stop it?’‘Radar.’ Even as he spoke, Vijay realised the futility of his argument.‘You’ll never get close enough to do any damage.’‘You aren’t thinking straight,’ Farooq replied scornfully.‘As you know, microwaves are the electromagnetic waves used in radar and their wavelengths are measured in anything from millimetres to metres.The wavelengths of visible light are measured in nanometres.If the technology is able to manipulate waves of visible light, manipulating microwaves is hardly a challenge.Perhaps you haven’t heard of contemporary experiments being conducted using metamaterials that can manipulate microwaves.Using a sheath of metamaterials, an aircraft can be invisible to radar.And, though DARPA is only now working on trying to create metamaterials minute enough to manipulate light waves, this technology existed thousands of years ago.So our aircraft will have two sheaths.The first one will make them invisible to radar.And once we are close to our target, we will activate the nanoshield, which will render them invisible to the naked eye.Mission accomplished.’‘There’s a flaw,’ Vijay persisted, unwilling to give up.The thought that LeT could spring a shock on the world and they had unwittingly aided them was hard for him to accept.‘And that is?’‘Granted, a sheath of metamaterials will bend light around the aircraft, as you have explained.But, since the light that would normally enter the aircraft is now diverted around it anyone sitting inside will have a problem seeing out of the aircraft.’‘You haven’t been reading the latest developments in this field,’ Farooq shook his head.‘Recently, Chinese researchers have claimed to have developed an anticloak that, theoretically at least, takes care of this problem.The technology can be made assymetrical.The anticloaking material is an anisotropic metamaterial that is impedance-matched to the refractive index of the invisibility cloak.By pressing the anticloak against the invisibility cloak, some light could be guided inside to allow a person inside to peep out.That will enable the occupant of the aircraft to see outside while remaining invisible to an external observer.Research is ongoing into this aspect of the technology.It would seem, though, that the ancients had solved this problem.’‘What about the visible spectrum?’ Vijay demanded, as another potential problem presented itself to him.‘The different colours of the spectrum exist on different wavelengths.How is it possible to simultaneously divert the different wavelengths in the visible spectrum?’‘I don’t know how the ancient scientists who developed the invisibility shield overcame this problem,’ Farooq admitted.‘And that’s where the location of the secret comes in.Our prototype is not completely invisible.We’ve missed something vital in putting it together; which is why we need the original shield or the blueprints of the technology to put it together again
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