Hunting The Snark: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 4) by Mainak Dhar Page A
Authors: Mainak Dhar
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it. She only partially succeeded in
burying some of the missiles in a bunker outside the base in an area overrun by
Biters but barely escaped alive as Zeus closed in on her.’
‘What is this Boojum?’
Vince’s face took on an even more grim expression.
‘The Boojum was an upgraded version of the Snark, much
faster and more accurate. The bad news is that the remaining missiles in the
bunker are all Boojums. With those, the Executive Committee could wipe out
Wonderland, and have enough to spare to destroy the resistance here.’
Konrath stood up.
‘They wouldn’t use nukes on our own soil!’
Vince put a hand on Konrath’s shoulder. ‘General, Bellman
says that the Exec Committee people see some areas as rebel-held areas and will
ask you to surrender otherwise they will nuke them.’
Konrath took a deep breath and slammed his fist on the table
next to him. Alice’s mind was racing. They had very little time, and if they
had any chance to getting there, she would have to take the lead.
‘Vince, can you fly us to this place where the missiles are
kept?’
‘I can get a chopper fueled and ready at one of our
airstrips near Oklahoma City tomorrow, but we won’t have the numbers or
firepower needed to get through.’
‘You’re thinking like a human!’
At that comment, everyone paused to look at Alice, and a
couple of them laughed.
‘That place is full of Biters. Zeus will have to organize a
large force to fight their way through. We don’t need numbers—I can try and
control those Biters and get in there. Zeus will likely show up with a much
larger force than anything we can pull together, but we can move with much
greater speed.’
***
Aaron was sweating despite the chill in the air. This was
the first time in all his years of operating behind enemy lines that he was
going to break the strict operational protocols they had followed so far.
General Konrath knew that the electronic warfare and
communications capabilities of Zeus far surpassed those of the resistance, so
he had insisted on Aaron passing on intelligence the old-fashioned way. Aaron
had begun his career in a CIA that relied heavily, and almost exclusively, on
electronic surveillance and intelligence, but after the attacks of 9/11, a more
concerted approach towards human intelligence had begun, and as someone on the
frontline of fighting Islamist terror as a young officer, Aaron had honed the
skills that he had used so successfully now to pass on intelligence to Konrath.
Every week, he would go to a pre-designated ‘dead drop’,
where he would find a small metal tube with a paper inside containing
instructions and locations of the next drop. He would destroy the paper on
reading it and insert a paper of his own containing whatever information he
wanted relayed back to the resistance. Everything was in code, breakable only
by a cipher that Aaron had in a small diary back in his room. It was all very
low-tech, but he left no electronic signature that could betray him. Today, he
was going to break that rule.
He had done his homework and asked around among his sources
and when he learned the danger Alice was going to be in, he knew he could not
wait for the next designated drop. He logged into a message board that the
resistance used under a fictional ID, and began typing. The message would
likely be traced back to his tablet and he would be compromised, but he could
not wait.
If Aaron had not been so hasty, he would have realized that
he might be compromised not only by his electronic signature, but also the fact
that he had reached out so widely to his informants. He was still typing when
the lights went out. He cursed loudly and got up to check the generator, but
stopped when he heard what sounded like the jingling of jewelry.
What the hell was going on? A guttural voice laughed in the
darkness, and he felt at his belt for his gun. He cursed as he realized that he
had left his gun on the desk. Aaron sensed movement in front
burying some of the missiles in a bunker outside the base in an area overrun by
Biters but barely escaped alive as Zeus closed in on her.’
‘What is this Boojum?’
Vince’s face took on an even more grim expression.
‘The Boojum was an upgraded version of the Snark, much
faster and more accurate. The bad news is that the remaining missiles in the
bunker are all Boojums. With those, the Executive Committee could wipe out
Wonderland, and have enough to spare to destroy the resistance here.’
Konrath stood up.
‘They wouldn’t use nukes on our own soil!’
Vince put a hand on Konrath’s shoulder. ‘General, Bellman
says that the Exec Committee people see some areas as rebel-held areas and will
ask you to surrender otherwise they will nuke them.’
Konrath took a deep breath and slammed his fist on the table
next to him. Alice’s mind was racing. They had very little time, and if they
had any chance to getting there, she would have to take the lead.
‘Vince, can you fly us to this place where the missiles are
kept?’
‘I can get a chopper fueled and ready at one of our
airstrips near Oklahoma City tomorrow, but we won’t have the numbers or
firepower needed to get through.’
‘You’re thinking like a human!’
At that comment, everyone paused to look at Alice, and a
couple of them laughed.
‘That place is full of Biters. Zeus will have to organize a
large force to fight their way through. We don’t need numbers—I can try and
control those Biters and get in there. Zeus will likely show up with a much
larger force than anything we can pull together, but we can move with much
greater speed.’
***
Aaron was sweating despite the chill in the air. This was
the first time in all his years of operating behind enemy lines that he was
going to break the strict operational protocols they had followed so far.
General Konrath knew that the electronic warfare and
communications capabilities of Zeus far surpassed those of the resistance, so
he had insisted on Aaron passing on intelligence the old-fashioned way. Aaron
had begun his career in a CIA that relied heavily, and almost exclusively, on
electronic surveillance and intelligence, but after the attacks of 9/11, a more
concerted approach towards human intelligence had begun, and as someone on the
frontline of fighting Islamist terror as a young officer, Aaron had honed the
skills that he had used so successfully now to pass on intelligence to Konrath.
Every week, he would go to a pre-designated ‘dead drop’,
where he would find a small metal tube with a paper inside containing
instructions and locations of the next drop. He would destroy the paper on
reading it and insert a paper of his own containing whatever information he
wanted relayed back to the resistance. Everything was in code, breakable only
by a cipher that Aaron had in a small diary back in his room. It was all very
low-tech, but he left no electronic signature that could betray him. Today, he
was going to break that rule.
He had done his homework and asked around among his sources
and when he learned the danger Alice was going to be in, he knew he could not
wait for the next designated drop. He logged into a message board that the
resistance used under a fictional ID, and began typing. The message would
likely be traced back to his tablet and he would be compromised, but he could
not wait.
If Aaron had not been so hasty, he would have realized that
he might be compromised not only by his electronic signature, but also the fact
that he had reached out so widely to his informants. He was still typing when
the lights went out. He cursed loudly and got up to check the generator, but
stopped when he heard what sounded like the jingling of jewelry.
What the hell was going on? A guttural voice laughed in the
darkness, and he felt at his belt for his gun. He cursed as he realized that he
had left his gun on the desk. Aaron sensed movement in front
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