Phantoms of the North: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 6) by Mainak Dhar Page A
Authors: Mainak Dhar
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of
agriculture, grinding poverty, high crime, fundamentalist groups running rampant—but
the two things it was rich in were drugs and advanced weapons, coming in
through Afghanistan and various hellholes in the Middle East to arm the Taliban
affiliates there. The Khan had taken the RPGs from a group he had killed early
on, and he had insisted his men keep them in working order with constant
cleaning and maintenance. He knew he would need to use them one day, and that
day was now.
He had left three men and a
spotter outside the farm with eight rockets between them to attack the farm
from long range while he and the rest of his men went deeper inside the
so-called Wonderland. The bandits had served them well, and he and his men had
an intimate knowledge of the wastelands outside Wonderland and how to approach
it without being tracked. They had made full use of it, and the fact that so
many of the people of Wonderland were busy at the farm meant that they did not
have too many patrols out.
Disrupting command and control.
That had been another catchphrase of his earlier employers, and it had been put
to very good use in numerous conflicts. The Khan had every intention of doing
the same now. The intelligence from his scouts and from bandits had been clear
about where Alice and her people had their communications nerve center. The
brutes he employed certainly had not expressed it in so many words, but he had
told them what to look for, a building that had antennae on top or perhaps even
a satellite dish, and they had not disappointed him.
The Khan saw the glass-domed
building ahead in the fading light, and the three antennae and the mess of
cables outside. So, this was the Looking Glass, the nerve center through which
Alice and her people coordinated their activities across Wonderland and stayed
in touch with the outside world. The Khan had heard tales of how the country he
had once called home, a country he had shed his blood for, the United States of
America, was once more a free country. However, he felt nothing but hatred for
them. They had abandoned him, leaving him for dead. They had used him to carry
out their dirty work, and then when it was inconvenient to risk being exposed,
strung him out to dry. Their involvement only made his hatred for Wonderland
sharper.
‘Fall in and stay close. This is
not the time to go on a bloody solo charge for glory and Allah.’
The Khan imagined his words would
raise hackles, but he didn’t care. If any of his men still retained enough
allegiance to their gods of yore to challenge him, he welcomed the opportunity
to remind their beheaded corpses that in this new world they inhabited, he
stood above any tattered old holy books or imaginary gods.
As they rode closer to the
building, he spotted a group of a half dozen Biters. They shuffled into view
and one of them looked at him and bared his teeth.
The Khan rode towards the Biter in
silence and beheaded him with one sweep of the sword.
‘No shooting till we get closer.’
He struck out with his sword,
slicing another Biter’s face down the middle, and then kicked another Biter
down to have her head trampled under the horse’s hooves. Rashid was right
behind him and cut down another Biter with his machete.
‘My Khan, look ahead.’
The Khan’s teeth showed through
the slit in his mask. He had hoped to take out their communication center and
paralyze their reaction to their attack. Taking out a few of Alice’s friends
was an unexpected but welcome bonus. He increased speed and rode up to the
Looking Glass as two young men looked on in horror at the horsemen approaching
them.
Danish had stepped out for a walk
to stretch his legs before he fetched his bike. He had been called to the party
at the farm and was planning to ride his bicycle over, but first he had had a
request from two kids in Wonderland who had said they wanted to learn more
about how the Looking Glass worked. Danish had been happy to share his love of
computers
agriculture, grinding poverty, high crime, fundamentalist groups running rampant—but
the two things it was rich in were drugs and advanced weapons, coming in
through Afghanistan and various hellholes in the Middle East to arm the Taliban
affiliates there. The Khan had taken the RPGs from a group he had killed early
on, and he had insisted his men keep them in working order with constant
cleaning and maintenance. He knew he would need to use them one day, and that
day was now.
He had left three men and a
spotter outside the farm with eight rockets between them to attack the farm
from long range while he and the rest of his men went deeper inside the
so-called Wonderland. The bandits had served them well, and he and his men had
an intimate knowledge of the wastelands outside Wonderland and how to approach
it without being tracked. They had made full use of it, and the fact that so
many of the people of Wonderland were busy at the farm meant that they did not
have too many patrols out.
Disrupting command and control.
That had been another catchphrase of his earlier employers, and it had been put
to very good use in numerous conflicts. The Khan had every intention of doing
the same now. The intelligence from his scouts and from bandits had been clear
about where Alice and her people had their communications nerve center. The
brutes he employed certainly had not expressed it in so many words, but he had
told them what to look for, a building that had antennae on top or perhaps even
a satellite dish, and they had not disappointed him.
The Khan saw the glass-domed
building ahead in the fading light, and the three antennae and the mess of
cables outside. So, this was the Looking Glass, the nerve center through which
Alice and her people coordinated their activities across Wonderland and stayed
in touch with the outside world. The Khan had heard tales of how the country he
had once called home, a country he had shed his blood for, the United States of
America, was once more a free country. However, he felt nothing but hatred for
them. They had abandoned him, leaving him for dead. They had used him to carry
out their dirty work, and then when it was inconvenient to risk being exposed,
strung him out to dry. Their involvement only made his hatred for Wonderland
sharper.
‘Fall in and stay close. This is
not the time to go on a bloody solo charge for glory and Allah.’
The Khan imagined his words would
raise hackles, but he didn’t care. If any of his men still retained enough
allegiance to their gods of yore to challenge him, he welcomed the opportunity
to remind their beheaded corpses that in this new world they inhabited, he
stood above any tattered old holy books or imaginary gods.
As they rode closer to the
building, he spotted a group of a half dozen Biters. They shuffled into view
and one of them looked at him and bared his teeth.
The Khan rode towards the Biter in
silence and beheaded him with one sweep of the sword.
‘No shooting till we get closer.’
He struck out with his sword,
slicing another Biter’s face down the middle, and then kicked another Biter
down to have her head trampled under the horse’s hooves. Rashid was right
behind him and cut down another Biter with his machete.
‘My Khan, look ahead.’
The Khan’s teeth showed through
the slit in his mask. He had hoped to take out their communication center and
paralyze their reaction to their attack. Taking out a few of Alice’s friends
was an unexpected but welcome bonus. He increased speed and rode up to the
Looking Glass as two young men looked on in horror at the horsemen approaching
them.
Danish had stepped out for a walk
to stretch his legs before he fetched his bike. He had been called to the party
at the farm and was planning to ride his bicycle over, but first he had had a
request from two kids in Wonderland who had said they wanted to learn more
about how the Looking Glass worked. Danish had been happy to share his love of
computers
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