Free Through the Killing Glass by Mainak Dhar Page A

ago.'
    Satish exploded
at that.
    'Those are my
men! You cannot order them back. Without them out there, we will get no early
warning about what's going on outside.'
    'Satish, you no
longer command anyone,’ Arun replied. The civility had vanished from his voice.
‘You ceased to have that privilege and trust when you helped a fugitive escape.
All your trigger-happy antics achieve is to provoke the Red Guards – even more
so on this latest fugitive rescue mission of yours. The last thing I want is to
have your fugitives inside Wonderland and risk retaliation by the Red Guards.
The bottom line is that we have known months of peace, and I do not want to
risk that.'
    Alice said,
'Arun, please listen to me. You spend so much time in the Looking Glass
yourself. You know as well as any of us that the world outside that we see
through the Looking Glass is far from being at peace. Please give us a chance.'
    'The only thing
we need to talk about is you standing trial for complicity in the murder of so
many innocents.' And with those final words, Arun ended the transmission.
     
    ***
     
    'Comrade
General, meet Lieutenant Li.'
    Chen took in
the neatly pressed Red Guard uniform, the shoulder labels of a lieutenant, the
thin and wiry frame, and then last of all, the face that stared back at him.
The face of a young woman with yellowed skin, red eyes and a wound on her left
cheek that had left a large chunk of her skin hanging loose. She snapped to
attention and saluted.
    'Comrade
General Chen. It is my pleasure to be working under your command.'
    When she
extended her hand, Chen took it without thinking and then felt a stab of panic
as he realized she was as cold as a corpse. He stepped back.
    'Comrade
Commissar, who is she? What is going on?'
    Hu now had a
smug look on his face, as Chen began to realize that he had been totally
oblivious to some of the moves occurring on this chessboard of war.
    Li answered,
'Comrade General, I lost my brother and my father in the war against the
terrorists in the Deadland. My brother was killed in battle against this
so-called Queen, this witch that the terrorists follow. I was in our Special
Forces, and wanted to strike back against the enemy who had caused me so much
pain. But as you well know, our tactics were of little use, and when the
Central Committee asked for volunteers for a special experiment to help us strike
back, I raised my hand.'
    Chen studied
Li, seeing not the half-Biter monster that the scientists had somehow produced
at the bidding of the Central Committee, but a young woman who had lost her
family to a war based on lies. A woman who had been a good comrade, a good
soldier who had never questioned the story sold to her. Was this the future?
Did human salvation really lie in making monsters of us all? Was that the
solution the Central Committee had to all their problems? It would surely be
expedient; Biters would not ask questions and if they followed this so-called
Red Queen like they followed the young girl called Alice; they would go to
their deaths without any objections. It would mean not struggling for
conscripts and the war could be waged in the dark, while the masses in the
Mainland once again hid behind the facade of security and stability. But how
would they win the war? What could one hybrid like this and a bunch of Biters
really achieve?
    Hu must have
sensed the emotions on his face.
    'Comrade General,
any chess player will tell you that one piece or one move cannot be decisive.
Our Red Queen has already made a couple of important moves, but we also have
other pieces in play who will come into their own when the time comes. But now,
Comrade General, let me tell you of what you need to do. So far we have made a
few small forays but for bigger operations we will need your men to work
together with Lieutenant Li and her forces, to co-ordinate our actions. Come
back to your office and I will brief you on what needs to happen next.'
    Thirty minutes
later, Chen was back in his