Chapter 4: Smoke Over the Hooghly
Calcutta, 1875
Dry Season
The air above the Hooghly River shimmered with heat and coal smoke.
Arjun stood on the riverbank, watching a British steam freighter push against the current. Iron hull. Coal-fed boiler. Paddle-assisted propulsion.
Efficient for its time.
Obsolete for his mind.
"Engines that heavy waste fuel," he murmured. "And fuel is logistics."
Harish folded his arms. "You're staring like you want to sink it."
Arjun shook his head.
"No."
A faint smile curved his lips.
"I want to outbuild it."
Phase Two: Controlled Expansion
The workshop had grown.
Not visibly — that would invite suspicion.
But structurally.
Three separate locations now operated quietly:
-A metal refinement unit.
-A machine tools section producing standardized parts.
-A small chemical lab disguised as a dye workshop.
Standardization was the real revolution.
Victorian manufacturing in India suffered from inconsistency. Parts weren't interchangeable. Repair required custom fitting.
Arjun introduced gauges.
Measurement rods.
Tolerance margins.
For the first time, screws made in one workshop fit components made in another.
Harish stared at the organized racks of identical bolts.
"You're making machines that can make machines."
Arjun nodded.
"That's how empires are built."
The Internal Combustion Gamble
In a hidden annex near the river, Arjun assembled his most ambitious prototype yet.
A single-cylinder internal combustion engine.
Not refined.
Not elegant.
But revolutionary.
He adjusted the carburetion chamber carefully. Fuel mixture ratios calculated from memory. Compression optimized beyond what most engineers of the era understood.
Harish wiped sweat from his brow.
"If this explodes—"
"It will," Arjun said calmly. "The first few times."
He stepped back.
Ignition.
A cough.
Silence.
Another attempt.
A violent sputter — then—
A rhythmic thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The engine stabilized.
Harish stared in disbelief.
"No boiler?"
"No coal furnace?"
"Liquid fuel," Arjun replied. "Portable power."
He placed his hand on the vibrating frame.
"With this, mobility changes."
Steam required infrastructure.
This required refinement — but it promised autonomy.
Autonomy threatened control.
A Problem of Scale
Success created a new challenge.
Attention.
Railway mechanics whispered about unusual efficiency improvements.
Village leaders spoke of harvest miracles.
Merchants noticed cheaper, stronger tools.
Edward Harrington's reports thickened.
"This man," Harrington said to his superior, "is building something systematic."
His superior sighed. "Unless he builds cannons, it is harmless."
Harrington didn't look convinced.
"Industry becomes cannons."
The First Strategic Meeting
In a dimly lit room beneath the chemical workshop, Arjun gathered trusted allies.
Metalworkers.
Railway engineers.
Two schoolteachers.
A former sepoy.
On the table lay three objects:
1. A steel gear.
2. A small nitrate sample.
3. A cartridge casing prototype.
"We are not rebels," Arjun began.
"We are infrastructure."
He pointed to the gear.
"Industry."
To the nitrate.
"Agriculture and chemistry."
To the casing.
"Deterrence."
The former sepoy leaned forward. "When?"
Arjun's gaze was steady.
"Not soon."
Frustration flickered in the room.
"The British are strongest when provoked prematurely," Arjun continued. "They expect emotional revolt."
He tapped the table.
"They do not expect industrial competition."
Silence.
Then slow nods.
Electricity Spreads
A second dynamo came online.
Then a third.
Small electric lighting appeared in selected Indian-run workshops.
Productivity increased dramatically.
For the first time, Indian craftsmen worked night shifts safely.
British factories noticed output competition.
Questions began circulating in trade offices.
"How are they matching our efficiency?"
No one had an answer.
The First Moral Conflict
One evening, Harish confronted him.
"You speak of deterrence. But these weapons—"
Arjun looked tired for the first time.
"I know."
He remembered his old world. News headlines. Conflicts. Arms races.
Technology always cut both ways.
"I will not create chaos," he said quietly.
"But if we remain defenseless, we remain subjects."
Harish studied him carefully.
"You are not from here, are you?"
For a moment, Arjun almost told the truth.
Instead, he said:
"I am from a future that deserves to exist sooner."
A Shadow Tightens
Edward Harrington stood outside the workshop that night.
He watched the faint electric glow through shutter cracks.
He heard rhythmic mechanical vibrations unlike steam pistons.
He felt something unfamiliar.
Not fear.
Forewarning.
He turned to his subordinate.
"Discreet infiltration," he ordered. "Find out what powers that light."
The subordinate hesitated.
"And if it is nothing?"
Harrington's jaw tightened.
"It is never nothing."
The Map Evolves
Back inside, Arjun updated his master map.
He added new markings:
-Potential iron ore sources.
-River transport optimization points.
-Locations ideal for future foundries.
-Regions suitable for higher education institutes.
He paused at one empty section of the map.
Western India.
Ports.
Shipyards.
A future naval power.
He traced a finger along the coastline.
"If we control the seas," he whispered,
"no one controls us."
He rolled up the parchment.
The internal combustion prototype thumped steadily in the background.
Outside, British officers drank under chandelier light, confident in centuries of dominance.
Inside a modest Calcutta workshop—
The timeline had begun to bend.
And empires rarely notice the moment they start to fall.
End of Chapter 4