Hunting The Snark: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 4) by Mainak Dhar Read Free Book Online

himself a drink. He
waited for the Scotch to work its way down his throat before he faced Hugh
again.
    ‘We had three Predators up over Oregon the moment you got
information on the girl. How could we not spot her?’
    Hugh shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
    ‘Sir, you know that the insurgents have spotters out to look
for our drones, and they’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years. I guess
they ditched the SUV they were reported to be in when our drones were spotted.
If they’re on foot, we can’t hope to spot them from the air. We need boots on
the ground.’
    Sam considered the suggestion. He had lost many men in the
past trying to hunt down insurgents where Alice had last been spotted, and he
himself had recommended to the Baron that they not waste any more lives.
    ‘I’m going to send in a Quick Reaction Force of troopers to
flush them out. Keep working your sources on the ground. We must get this bitch
before she does any real damage.’
    As Hugh left, Sam sat down. He had another call with the
Baron later in the evening, and he knew that news of Alice’s sudden appearance
in the Homeland would be greeted with fury. He slammed his fist on the table in
frustration.
    ‘Stupid, stupid fools!’
    He poured himself another drink, both to dull the rage and
to calm himself so that he could get on with conjuring up a plan before he
spoke to the Baron. He had warned the Baron that they had moved too fast, that
they had no way of delivering on the warning they had served Deadland, but he
had been told to find a way. They had managed to get five rockets ready, and
three had not even been certified for launch. The first that had been fired at
Shanghai had malfunctioned and detonated over the ocean but luckily the next one
had struck home. Now, he had two warheads and a scientist who could ensure the
warheads worked, but no working rocket to carry them. There were two more
rockets somewhere in the Biter-infested forests around Cape Canaveral but he
needed the scientist to lead him to them. He looked at the slim folder on his
desk, and then he called Hugh back to his room.
    ‘I need you to find Bellman for me.’
    ‘Sir, Bellman’s disappeared, and there’s no telling where
she could be. For all we know, she could be dead, or a Biter by now.’
    Sam shouted, ‘Go and find Bellman! I don’t care where you
have to look or what you have to do. Find Bellman or I’ll put you in a bloody
FEMA camp.’
    A plan began to form in his mind. The more he thought of it,
the more he liked the plan. At one stroke, it would reduce discontent in the
Homeland and re-establish the supply of food from the Deadland. To do that, he
needed to get a rocket operational and of course, he needed to find a way of
dealing with Alice.
    As Hugh walked out, Aaron slipped into the room, ostensibly
to ensure that the video link for the call with the Baron was working. Sam paid
him little attention, but as he was sitting at his desk, pouring himself
another drink, Aaron was unable to get a look at what was on his desk. Aaron
was about to leave the room, disappointed that he had not been able to pick up
any useful information, when he heard Sam mumble to himself.
    ‘We’ve got to find Bellman. Without her, the Snarks are no
better than bloody lawn ornaments.’
     
    ***
     
    ‘Any news of the General?’
    Vince shook his head.
    ‘No, Alice. He’s still lying low as Zeus is all over the
area. We have a couple of teams there trying to get him out, but it could be a
day or two before we re-establish contact. The plan is to get him to a
safehouse outside Cincinnati and that’s where we’re headed as well.’
    ‘I really don’t like this place,’ muttered Cynthia as she
kept looking around the dark, wooded area.
    On that, Alice could not disagree. They had ditched their
vehicle after roughly a day of driving when a spotter had called in on the
radio, saying that Zeus drones were in the air. They were now proceeding on
foot to another safehouse