by Dhar, Mainak
When Konrath reached the screen, he saw Alice at the other end of the video link. He had met her only once before, when he had flown to Wonderland six months ago, and he had secretly chided himself for having flinched at her appearance. What should have been a healthy, blonde sixteen-year old girl now had the dull, dead eyes and the yellowing skin of a Biter. But he knew that what made Alice special was much more than her unique status as a half-Biter—a living symbol of how humans and Biters could co-exist. Her remarkable story and sacrifice had been at the cornerstone of how a small band of people in the Deadland had fought to gain their freedom from the Central Committee. If the Executive Committee had its symbols that helped it retain control over the people of the Homeland, then Alice was the most powerful symbol to rally the resistance around.
While Alice’s eyes no longer betrayed any emotion, Arjun was behind her, and he looked to be on the verge of panic.
‘Alice, what’s wrong?’
‘General, Shanghai is gone! We just sent you some of the photos that Danish copied from the camera feed before we lost it.’
One of Konrath’s men came up to him with a printout, and when he saw the photo it took him a second to realize that he was looking at what remained of a once-bustling city.
‘What the hell happened?’
The man who had handed Konrath the sheet had served in the US Air Force and he looked at the paper and said, disbelief clear in his voice, ‘Looks like someone nuked Shanghai.’
The words sent a shiver down Konrath’s spine. They could fight against Zeus’ troopers and even its helicopters, but what hope did they have against an enemy that had somehow managed to get an operational nuclear weapon, and hadn’t hesitated to wipe out millions of lives?
***
TWO
Alice did not need sleep—something she had finally managed to reconcile herself to months after she had been turned into her current self. She spent most nights sitting in her room, closing her eyes and thinking of her family and pretending she was having a dream. It was the only way to cling to the family she had lost.
Tonight, however, she was out in the streets of Wonderland, fully armed. Seeing the destruction of Shanghai had rattled everyone in Wonderland, and for Alice it had brought home the realization that their enemies were not yet totally defeated. A couple of the older people had seen the footage from Shanghai and said that such devastation could only be the result of nuclear weapons. That in itself had created a ripple of panic—they had fought for years against the Central Committee and its mercenaries, but against nuclear weapons, there was no defense.
Alice sought out Satish, relieved to see that he too was awake. Satish had been a young officer in the Indian Army at the time of The Rising, and Alice hoped that he would have some answers. She realized he was in shock.
‘What I can’t figure out is how this could have happened.’
Alice laid her rifle on the ground beside her. Carrying a rifle might have seemed superfluous under a nuclear threat, but it reassured Alice. ‘The old countries had these nuclear weapons. Maybe someone just got one of the bombs.’
Satish shook his head.
‘It isn’t that simple. The nuclear stockpiles that were not very secure were in places like the Middle East, Pakistan or North Korea. All those regions were destroyed in the nuclear wars that accompanied The Rising. In the other major powers, places like the US, Russia or China, nuclear weapons were heavily secured and their release required codes and authorization from the very top ranks in the governments. General Chen told me many of the weapons were knowingly sabotaged when it became clear that Zeus and its masters were serving their own agenda.’
Surely some of those weapons survived, and someone could have got hold of them?’
‘Yes, but someone did not just get a nuclear bomb, they put it on a long-range missile and fired it into Shanghai. The Marines guarding the airport at Kolkata saw the missile on their radar, and it seemed to have been fired from the East. You remember Chen telling us about how all the American Zeus men were leaving?’
Alice nodded.
‘My guess is that they were pulled back to the United States, and clearly they have been using the last few months preparing.’
‘If they have more nuclear weapons, then we have no way of defending ourselves, do we?’
‘I doubt they will nuke us. After all, they went through so much trouble to keep the farms working here. They need the food to feed their people, and the Indian heartland was one of the few wheat and rice-producing areas left in the world. That was why they were so desperate to keep us under their control.’
‘So, why did they attack Shanghai?’
To that question, Satish had no satisfactory reply, but they did not have to wait too long before they got their answer.
Early the next morning, Danish called them to the Looking Glass over the handheld radios they carried. Arjun, Satish and Alice were there within minutes. Danish didn’t say anything but just pointed to the screen in front of him. It showed a letter adorned by a familiar symbol—an eagle Alice knew had once been the official seal of the government of the United States—a government her father had served for many years as a diplomat. For the first time, the Executive Committee had reached out directly to Wonderland.
The letter was as brief as it was chilling. It asked the people of Wonderland to reach an accommodation with the Executive Committee and once again restore the supply of food and labor to its camps. Otherwise, it reminded, Wonderland could easily share the fate that had befallen the ‘terrorists’ in Shanghai.
Thousands of kilometers away, Konrath watched the TV set in front of him. The Executive Committee had allowed only one channel to function and it was full of inane entertainment—old soap operas and cartoons. Watching The Bold and the Beautiful at a time when tens of thousands of people were living as slaves in FEMA camps seemed perverse, but it was yet another way in which they tried to portray a semblance of normalcy.
The news came on and the newscaster, a pretty blonde, was reading from a piece of paper in front of her.
‘The Executive Committee launched a pre-emptive strike earlier this week when it was clear that terrorists who had removed the legitimate government of the Chinese Mainland were about to gain control of Weapons of Mass Destruction to use against the Homeland. The Chairman of the Executive Committee reassures the people of the Homeland that this should serve as warning to all the terrorists and anarchists who hate us for our way of life. In other news, the Executive Committee has unanimously passed a resolution condemning the rulers of the so-called Wonderland for their continued suppression of human rights and for colluding with Biters.’
Konrath was old enough to have lived through many of the wars waged in the name of freedom and democracy before The Rising, and some things had not changed. As the news cut away to a ‘documentary’ about how humans in the Indian Deadland were being tortured and suppressed by their rulers and the demonic Biters, he realized that the sudden focus on Wonderland could not be without a reason. He needed to talk to Alice and warn her—but before he could do that, his communications officer was at the door, telling him that Alice was on the video link and she had important news to share.
***
Aaron Campbell tried to suppress his excitement from his co-workers, but despite all his training, he was afraid he would give himself away. The message from General Konrath had come in like a bolt from the blue, and finally, after years of lying low, he had a chance to contribute to the war effort.
Aaron had spent more than a dozen years in the CIA as a Field Officer before The Rising, and was in Mexico chasing down intelligence of linkages between Al-Qaeda affiliates and drug cartels when reports first came in of the outbreak and the Biters. His training had helped him get back home to New Jersey, but the journey took him ten days. By that time, the whole world had changed. Nuclear exchanges, marauding Biters and looting had destroyed millions of lives and in the place of the old world he knew, a dangerous new w
orld was emerging.
The Biters were bad enough, but what really surprised Aaron was how quickly the old government was cast away, and a new Executive Committee claimed power in its place, its writ enforced by the mercenary army of Zeus. Many soldiers and airmen died trying to preserve the United States they had served, trying to fight this new tyranny, but the Executive Committee was so all-pervasive and so all-powerful that resistance seemed futile.
Aaron and his family were herded into a FEMA camp, where he saw his son die of disease. His wife committed suicide soon after, and Aaron vowed vengeance upon the evil men who had done this to so many Americans.
He got his chance when he escaped and joined up with a small band of resistance fighters led by Konrath. When Konrath heard of Aaron’s background, he had an idea—using his skills and experience for more than firefights with Zeus. Aaron signed up for the Zeus army and soon, with his credentials and experience, he caught the eyes of his superiors. Over the years, he rose in the Zeus hierarchy, but kept alive his role as a double agent, sending intelligence to General Konrath when he could. Over the course of the past month, he had moved to a new role, as part of the security detail for the President of Homeland Operations, and now Konrath had given him a mission that would fully take advantage of this.
Sam King took a quick drink from the glass of Scotch on his table as he prepared for the videoconference with the Executive Committee. Sam was the President of Homeland Operations, and had the unenviable task of managing security, food and resources throughout the US Homeland across the three dozen FEMA camps he oversaw, in addition to coordinating counter-insurgency efforts with Zeus. He had been a senior executive at a large bank before The Rising, and one of his mentors, a CEO at an investment bank, had introduced him to the Executive Committee. Sam had been thrilled at rubbing shoulders with the world’s richest and most powerful men—bankers, royalty and media moguls who shared a vision—to depopulate the world based on their projections that the planet’s resources of oil and food would never sustain the growing population. They believed the optimum population was no more than five hundred million.
Sam took another drink, reflecting on how that plan, like most plans, hadn’t quite worked out the way it should have. Instead of ‘depopulation’, vast numbers of people had turned into Biters as the virus the Executive Committee had unleashed mutated, and the resulting nightmare was something they were still trying to manage. Sam’s employers hadn’t quite given up—and they had announced a new twenty-year plan to kill off or contain the Biters and get the remaining human population under control. Sam had been through too much and seen too much to have a sudden attack of conscience, but at times he wondered if they had gone too far. It was late for him to turn back now, not just for himself, but for his family, who were fortunate enough to live in the estate near the Cheyenne Mountains where the Executive Committee’s members and key shareholders lived in luxury—people who had paid up to a billion dollars each to be a part of this new world order.
The screen in front of him came to life, and the former billionaire banker who wanted to be known only as the Baron addressed him.
‘Sam, you saw my note. Congratulations on your promotion and taking on International Operations as well.’
Sam smiled, but he knew that the golden goblet he had been handed was a poisoned chalice. The President of International Operations was now rotting at a FEMA camp with his family after both the Indian Deadland and the Mainland had been lost on his watch. His employers could lavish praise and gifts when he delivered, but failure met with instant and brutal punishment.
‘Baron, as you outlined, we have our plan in place to restore food supplies from the Deadland. The message to their leaders has gone out and I expect compliance after Shanghai.’
The old man on the screen smiled. ‘The shareholders are getting restive. The Sauds in particular are having another of their royal fits. Our food stocks are down to three months, as you well know, and with the insurgency in the Homeland still active and the Biters not yet contained, what scarce farmland we have here is still insecure. The Deadland fed us for years and we will need to re-establish control over the farms there. I do hope you remember that the shareholders will vote on our top management positions next month in time for your appraisal. It would be good to have some concrete progress till then.’
As the line was disconnected, Sam poured himself another drink and closed his eyes. He needed to show some progress and while the Baron had issued the threat to the freak girl running the Deadland, it was up to Sam to back up that threat. He jotted on his pad for a few minutes and then went to the restroom.
Aaron came into the room a minute later and, as was his daily duty, gathered up Sam’s things for the ride back home. He took a quick glance at the notepad, committing to memory all he saw there to pass on to General Konrath.
***
‘Who or what the hell is a Snark?’
Arjun’s question was one to which nobody at the Looking Glass had an answer. Earlier in the day, Konrath had got back with information about the Executive Committee’s plan, but it was so cryptic that there was no clarity as to what it actually meant. What Aaron had seen was little more than scribbles: the words ‘Deadland bastards’, ‘Send Snark’ and ‘Cape Canaveral’.
‘What we do know is Cape Canaveral, and if the key to the threat to us lies there, then we are in deep trouble.’
Danish had been poring over a mail that had come from Konrath’s people and as Alice asked him what it meant, he replied with his voice betraying the helplessness he felt.
‘Cape Canaveral is located on an island off Florida. It was a big Air Force station and also used to launch rockets into space. Konrath’s spies tell him that the Executive Committee has secured the air base there, and it may well be that they launched the rocket at Shanghai from there.’
‘So why doesn’t Konrath attack there? They have a few planes operational, right?’
‘At last count they had four or five small planes that they were using to roll bombs onto Zeus positions. Konrath sent one of them to overfly Cape Canaveral and it was shot down by a missile before it got anywhere near the base. So they just don’t have the resources to attack the place from the air.’
‘Just go in and take them out. For God’s sake, Konrath has got hundreds of experienced and well-armed fighters.’
Arjun’s impatience was showing and Alice could understand why. They had all given so much and fought so hard to create their little piece of home called Wonderland. While they had faced threats before, all had been from enemies they could contend with on the field of battle. To be threatened with obliteration from thousands of kilometers away was infuriating.
‘The General’s online now. Ask him yourself.’
Konrath’s face came on the screen, and Alice could see from his expression that he had no good news to offer. Still, they needed answers.
‘General, why don’t your people try and attack this base at Cape Canaveral?’
She knew she was asking Konrath to sacrifice his men and women to help save Wonderland, but he owed her and the people of Wonderland a lot. Her blood samples had led to the vaccine now helping survivors in the Homeland. Konrath looked almost apologetic as he replied.
‘If we could, we would have already attacked. But we just cannot.’
‘Why?’
Konrath shifted in his seat.
‘The area around the base is full of thousands of Biters. Our plane spotted them before it was shot down. The Executive Committee has kept a buffer zone around the base with electrified fences and automated gun turrets to keep them out, but the area outside that is wild—there are Biters everywhere, and there is no way my folks could get anywhere close to the base.’
‘There must be a way…’
No sooner had the words left Alice’s mouth that she knew what she had to do.
‘General, you’ve been asking me to come to the Homeland. Maybe it’s time I did so.’
Konrath nodd
ed, but Arjun protested. ‘You’ll be going into the heart of our enemy. The Executive Committee will do anything to destroy you once it knows you’re there, and you won’t have all of us with you there.’
Alice touched Arjun’s hand, a very human gesture despite her cold, clammy touch. ‘You know that I can control the Biters. We’ve managed to stop the bloodshed between humans and Biters here in Wonderland. Maybe it is time I tried that in the Homeland—and if I succeed, we can remove this threat to our home once and for all.’
‘But what will you do there?’
Alice answered with her usual disarming honesty.
‘I don’t really know how to do it, but I need to find out who this Snark is and kill him or her.’
He looked at Konrath, and to his surprise, the old writer looked almost forlorn.
‘I know the terrible danger you would be putting yourself in, but there may be no other way. With the destruction of Shanghai, the Zeus forces there are all back here, and we are struggling to fight them. If they do indeed have more nuclear weapons, I doubt they will destroy you since they need your land for food, but is that a chance you would be willing to take? I know you have given a lot and lost a lot, but one more time, you may need to put yourself in harm’s way.’
Alice stood up and looked at her friends around her.
‘Send a message to the Executive Committee that we will accept their proposal, but need a few weeks to organize people and reclaim farmland from the Biters. Buy us some time while I get to the Homeland.’
Satish smiled, and replied that it was a good plan, but that there was no way he was going to let Alice go alone.
‘Arjun’s needed here—after you, he’s the closest thing to a leader here. As for me, all I know how to do is fight, and I reckon there’ll be a lot of fighting needed where you’re headed. I’m coming with you.’