Hunting The Snark: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 4) by Mainak Dhar
Authors: Mainak Dhar
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to look at Aaron, and Aaron found himself looking
away. In his time he had seen all kinds of tough guys, but this man, with his
huge size and with one eye missing, looked like bad news all around. His
companions were similarly dressed, but looked far less intimidating, though
with both of them carrying assault rifles and rocket launchers strapped to
their backs, Aaron quickly gave up any notion of taking them on in a firefight.
What Sam King would want with men like these was beyond him.
After talking to the men for fifteen minutes and handing
over a folder to them, Sam got back in the Humvee. His mood seemed to have
brightened considerably and he was mumbling some nonsense rhyme about a
Jabberwock. Aaron’s curiosity got the better of him and he turned to his boss.
‘Sir, you seem to be in a better mood.’
Sam had poured himself a drink from the small bar in the
back and he began talking.
‘My boy, some things you cannot do within the system, you
need to get your hands a bit dirty. This Biter bitch Alice thinks she can rain
on my parade in my own backyard. Jabber and his men will cut her head off and
stick it on a pole for her supporters to see.’
Aaron didn’t press further, but he knew that Alice was in
danger, and from an unexpected quarter. Whoever these men were, they would not
be riding into battle in Zeus uniforms and helicopters. The General and Alice
had to be warned, and fast.
***
‘So this Snark is a missile?’
Alice had just come out of a debriefing with Bellman, who
was still half delirious and slipping in and out of consciousness, but was at
least able to talk after an IV drip and some antibiotics. The doctor who had
attended to her was not very clear what infection she had picked up, but
malnutrition and torture had not helped. However, what little she had been able
to say had suddenly made things clearer.
Konrath had joined up with Alice and her companions at a
safehouse just outside what remained of the city of Topeka. While Alice had
been fighting her way out of the camp, Konrath had making his own perilous
journey through forests infested with Biters and bandits, with Zeus troopers on
his heels. He had suffered two wounds from bullets and shrapnel, but neither
was life-threatening. However, he looked pale and weak and Bellman’s news had
not helped matters.
Alice sat down next to him. She barely comprehended the
technology behind it all, but knowing that the Executive Committee had more
rockets that could obliterate a large city in one strike terrified her. What
Bellman had told them made it clear that they had a very narrow window of
opportunity, but they risked running out of time.
Vince, with his military background, weighed in.
‘It’s amazing just how much lack of information handicaps
us. Fifteen years ago, we could have gone on the Net and found out a lot more
with far less trouble. Now a simple Google search is replaced by getting into
and fighting our way out of a bloody FEMA camp.’
Alice had no idea who or what Google was, so she just
motioned for Vince to get on with explaining what this Snark was.
‘From what Bellman is able to tell us, the Snark is an old
nuclear missile that the US had used way back in the 1960s. It wasn’t very fast
or accurate, but didn’t use fancy computers or satellites to fly it to its
target, instead using celestial navigation—in other words its path was
calibrated to the stars. In today’s age with limited satellite coverage, it’s
the one weapon they could hope to use to hit targets so far away with a nuclear
payload. They got some working nukes, but they couldn’t use them. However, then
they found Bellman, who was a missile scientist before The Rising. She helped
the Executive Committee work on salvaging a few Snark missiles found at Cape
Canaveral, thinking she was doing it to help fight the Biters. When she
realized that the plan was to use the missile against the heavily populated
city of Shanghai, she tried to sabotage
away. In his time he had seen all kinds of tough guys, but this man, with his
huge size and with one eye missing, looked like bad news all around. His
companions were similarly dressed, but looked far less intimidating, though
with both of them carrying assault rifles and rocket launchers strapped to
their backs, Aaron quickly gave up any notion of taking them on in a firefight.
What Sam King would want with men like these was beyond him.
After talking to the men for fifteen minutes and handing
over a folder to them, Sam got back in the Humvee. His mood seemed to have
brightened considerably and he was mumbling some nonsense rhyme about a
Jabberwock. Aaron’s curiosity got the better of him and he turned to his boss.
‘Sir, you seem to be in a better mood.’
Sam had poured himself a drink from the small bar in the
back and he began talking.
‘My boy, some things you cannot do within the system, you
need to get your hands a bit dirty. This Biter bitch Alice thinks she can rain
on my parade in my own backyard. Jabber and his men will cut her head off and
stick it on a pole for her supporters to see.’
Aaron didn’t press further, but he knew that Alice was in
danger, and from an unexpected quarter. Whoever these men were, they would not
be riding into battle in Zeus uniforms and helicopters. The General and Alice
had to be warned, and fast.
***
‘So this Snark is a missile?’
Alice had just come out of a debriefing with Bellman, who
was still half delirious and slipping in and out of consciousness, but was at
least able to talk after an IV drip and some antibiotics. The doctor who had
attended to her was not very clear what infection she had picked up, but
malnutrition and torture had not helped. However, what little she had been able
to say had suddenly made things clearer.
Konrath had joined up with Alice and her companions at a
safehouse just outside what remained of the city of Topeka. While Alice had
been fighting her way out of the camp, Konrath had making his own perilous
journey through forests infested with Biters and bandits, with Zeus troopers on
his heels. He had suffered two wounds from bullets and shrapnel, but neither
was life-threatening. However, he looked pale and weak and Bellman’s news had
not helped matters.
Alice sat down next to him. She barely comprehended the
technology behind it all, but knowing that the Executive Committee had more
rockets that could obliterate a large city in one strike terrified her. What
Bellman had told them made it clear that they had a very narrow window of
opportunity, but they risked running out of time.
Vince, with his military background, weighed in.
‘It’s amazing just how much lack of information handicaps
us. Fifteen years ago, we could have gone on the Net and found out a lot more
with far less trouble. Now a simple Google search is replaced by getting into
and fighting our way out of a bloody FEMA camp.’
Alice had no idea who or what Google was, so she just
motioned for Vince to get on with explaining what this Snark was.
‘From what Bellman is able to tell us, the Snark is an old
nuclear missile that the US had used way back in the 1960s. It wasn’t very fast
or accurate, but didn’t use fancy computers or satellites to fly it to its
target, instead using celestial navigation—in other words its path was
calibrated to the stars. In today’s age with limited satellite coverage, it’s
the one weapon they could hope to use to hit targets so far away with a nuclear
payload. They got some working nukes, but they couldn’t use them. However, then
they found Bellman, who was a missile scientist before The Rising. She helped
the Executive Committee work on salvaging a few Snark missiles found at Cape
Canaveral, thinking she was doing it to help fight the Biters. When she
realized that the plan was to use the missile against the heavily populated
city of Shanghai, she tried to sabotage
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