Wonderland (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 1) (9 page)

“Please, call me Laxana,” she said. She stared into the distance for so long that Alice decided she was going to ignore the rest of her question. Finally she said wistfully, “You remind me of myself.”

Alice couldn’t imagine how, but she wasn’t about to contradict her. The sword agreed, so Alice simply smiled and said, “Thank you.” She could feel eyes boring into her, and glanced up in time to see the walrus flick his gaze from her to Laxana. “What do these other people want with me then?”

Laxana followed Alice’s gaze to the walrus. “Let’s just hope that you never have to learn the horrible things that are on their minds. Regardless of their ways of doing it, they all enjoy hurting people, and they love their trophies most of all.” Just then a woman walked by and Laxana pointed to the necklace she wore. It was a gold chain with human teeth dangling from it like disgusting charms.

Alice shuddered and stepped closer to Laxana, grateful for the protection her company offered.

CHAPTER TEN

The two hours the queen had promised for eating and chatting turned into at least four. Laxana eventually coaxed her into eating some more and asked her about her life. There wasn’t much to tell, so mostly she ended up telling stories about her adventures with her cat, Dinah. Laxana seemed to genuinely enjoy them, smiling, laughing, and gasping in all the right places. The longer Alice was with her, the younger the duchess seemed, young enough to be a friend, except when she looked her directly in the eyes. Then she seemed older than even her mother.

Whenever Alice tried to turn a question Laxana asked back on her, the duchess simply shook her head and said, “I doubt you would find my life very interesting.”

The sword was strangely silent while in the presence of the duchess, only singing of the joy of fighting and offering little insight into Laxana’s words. It left her longing to put the sword to the test.

Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, the queen stepped back up to the stage and took the microphone. The chatter in the room came to an immediate halt. “Now everyone, it is the moment you’ve been waiting for. It is finally time for a rousing round of croquet.”

The crowd cheered wildly, as if they were being treated to a finals game of football. Croquet was fun to play, but it wasn’t exactly the most exciting spectator sport.

“I urge you all to adjourn to the roof,” continued the queen, “where you’ll be able to view the game on the Globe, the most spectacular screen ever invented. Tonight, in addition to myself, you’ll have the pleasure of watching the duchess Laxana compete.”

Another cheer erupted from the crowd. The duchess waved demurely and curtsied.

“And, young Alice,” said the queen, waving a hand grandly toward Alice and the crowd went wild.

Alice copied the duchess as well as she could, though her wave was a bit awkward, and her curtsy was far from graceful. Her cheeks turned as red as a beet, but the crowd turned away and immediately began to chatter amongst themselves as they made their way toward one corner of the room. Laxana stayed behind, so Alice stayed with her. “Why will they be watching the game on a screen?” she asked.

“Oh that’s right, you’ve never been here before,” said Laxana, tilting her head back and shaking it at her own forgetfulness. “The croquet field isn’t exactly standard. Also, it’s in space.”

“What?” asked Alice, entirely certain that she hadn’t heard her correctly. “The croquet field is where?”

“In space,” repeated Laxana, a smile tugging at her pouty lips. “The queen doesn’t do anything by half measures. It’s not just a croquet field. It’s a giant sphere floating out in space that can generate a realistic, touchable holographic image of just about anything you can imagine. If it were just boring old croquet on a lawn on the roof, I wouldn’t waste my time, and neither would the rest of this lot.”

“That sounds an awful lot like science fiction,” hedged Alice, not wanting to seem like a gullible child when the duchess told her she was joking, but still getting excited at the idea of playing croquet in space.

“It
was
science fiction until the queen told someone to build it under penalty of losing their head. You’d be surprised what that kind of motivation can do to the right kind of person.” The smile drained from Laxana’s face and she turned to walk toward the elevator, beckoning Alice to follow.

They rode the elevator in silence, back down to the dock level. Alice kept glancing up to look at the duchess’ face to get a read on what she was thinking, but it was a mask of bland disinterest. Her eyes, however, didn’t reflect what Alice had expected. Gone was the solemn sadness of a few moments ago, replaced by a burning hatred that made her green eyes gleam. The sword suddenly gave her a flash of insight. “Did she hurt you?” asked Alice, keeping the question vague, like the vorpal sword had recommended.

“That’s all she knows how to do,” said Laxana, reaching up to wipe away a single tear. “You’d do well to remember that.” She pointed up to a tiny camera, barely visible in the corner.

The elevator opened to the docks and Laxana summoned a smile and stepped off, her heeled boots clicking on the cement floor. Alice longed to hear the story she knew the duchess had to tell. If the queen had hurt her, why was she attending her parties and pretending to be her best friend? Adults didn’t make a lot of sense sometimes.

She followed the duchess around the garage for a while, and then passed the guards at the gate. One of them was the guard who had beheaded his companion in front of her. He didn’t look at her twice as she walked by with the duchess. There wasn’t even the slightest trace of sadness on his face. That, for some reason, chilled Alice’s blood worse than anything. The guard that died had been cruel to her and still, she felt sad that a life had been worth so little. The one who had taken his life probably hadn’t even gotten a break after cleaning up his body.

By the time Alice realized the section of the docks she was walking to was familiar, she was standing in front of The White Rabbit again. His hatch was already open, and a small set of steps was placed in front of it to allow easier access, though it wasn’t really needed. Even at her height, Alice could easily step inside without stairs. The duchess walked right up and into the ship, past the guards that flanked the hatch.

Alice followed, wanting badly to take out her sword, force everyone off except Laxana, and speed off into the night. Instead, she settled for a muttered, “Hello, Rabbit,” and then followed Laxana up to the front of the ship.

“Oh, Alice, it’s so good to see you with your head still attached. I thought for sure you would be on the chopping block tomorrow after the way the queen’s nasty guards hauled you away,” said Rabbit, not even bothering to whisper. Alice could plainly see the queen sitting in the front of the ship.

“What was that, dear?” asked Laxana, seemingly oblivious to what Rabbit had said. She gestured for Alice to take a seat next to her on a comfortable looking pink bench seat that rather resembled a couch. It was definitely a new addition to the ship, though it looked like it was made of the same soft spongy material as the rest of the ship’s interior.

“Nothing, just saying hello to the ship,” said Alice, her brows pinching together as she looked up toward the point she always thought of as the ship’s nose.

“Well, don’t expect an answer,” replied the duchess, buckling herself into the seat. “We know it can talk, but its never said a word. And don’t forget to buckle up. This thing bounces around like a bucking bronco. It must be the worst ship in existence, but the queen loves it because its alive and that makes it rare.”

“And thus, better,” replied the queen with a sniff, obviously miffed at their lack of greeting. “Welcome aboard, ladies.” She sat in a single chair facing the front of the ship. She turned her head just enough to be able to see them out of the corner of her eye. “Pilot, take us up to the Imagisphere.”

“Ugh, now I have to pretend to let this dope fly me,” groaned Rabbit.

That’s when Alice noticed there was a man seated in the seat to the queen’s left and in front of him was a console and flight controls, much like she’d seen in pictures from other ships back on Nedra. None of it had been there during her flight to Wonderland. The ship lifted up a few feet and then slowly made its way toward the large doors that exited the building. Immediately after they left the building, the ship began to climb at a steep angle, headed for space. It was a perfectly smooth ride.

“Well done, pilot,” said the queen, favoring him with a smile. His brow was dripping with sweat and he let out a large sigh of relief. “I think I shall have you fly me next time as well. None of your predecessors ever managed to take off so smoothly.”

“That’s because none of them were ever flying in the first place and I shake and shudder just to mess up your hair. I give myself bonus points if I can shake your crown loose, you wicked old bag.” While there was no face to accompany the words, Alice was certain Rabbit would look smug if she could see him.

Nobody reacted at all to Rabbit’s harsh words, except for Alice who had to cover a giggle with a cough. Once he’d spoken enough, it was clear that his words weren’t out loud. They were going directly into Alice’s mind.

Can you hear my thoughts too?
thought Alice.

“Only if you want me to,” answered Rabbit. It still sounded like he was talking out loud and standing just a few feet away.

Well, I just want to apologize for treating you like my property. It was cruel. I’ve gotten just a little taste of it from the queen and I don’t like it at all.

“Thank you. Apology accepted.” There was a hint of a smile in the words.

I would like to be your friend, if you would have me,
thought Alice.

“I would like that very much, young Alice. I’ve never had a friend before,” said Rabbit, bright cheer evident in his voice.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

They arrived at the Imagisphere without a single bump. The pilot seemed torn between being pleased with himself and scared that he would have to fly again and risk his head.

The Imagisphere was massive and pastel green in color from a distance, growing more translucent as they approached. “Wow, it’s not a moon at all,” said Alice, her mind reeling.

“No,” said the queen, grinning, “Wonderland only has one moon, and it’s a boring hunk of rock. The Imagisphere is so much more, and just a bit larger as well.”

The duchess rolled her eyes and then jolted upright, looking startled. She watched the queen for a few moments and then seemed to relax again.

“Give me a good old-fashioned hunk of rock any day,” said Rabbit. “Landing on ground that I know really isn’t there makes my skin crawl. And passing through that horrid bubble of an atmosphere? Blech.”

They approached the massive green sphere at a sharp angle. It looked as solid as glass, but The White Rabbit didn’t slow down. When the collision was imminent, Alice closed her eyes and gripped her seat belt, certain they were all about to die. Instead, a strange tingle washed over her body, causing all of the hairs on her arms to stand on end. It was strange and not entirely unpleasant.

That wasn’t so bad,
thought Alice.

“Not for you, there on the inside. Out here it’s a very different experience. Think of a normal atmosphere as a pool of clear water. When you dive in you pass through it cleanly and come up refreshed. This fake atmosphere is like diving into a fetid swamp with a thick layer of green slime over the top of the water. Disgusting.” The ship shuddered.

The queen gave a sharp glance at the pilot and he cringed, gripping the wheel tightly. “Just a bit of an air pocket, Your Majesty. I doubt it will happen again.”

“You’d better see that it doesn’t,” she hissed.

It didn’t. Once the ship had passed through the green bubble of the atmosphere, a lush green expanse of rolling hills and valleys spread out before them. For all intents and purposes it looked like a planet of nothing but grass covered hills.

The White Rabbit set them down, or as close as he ever came to touching the ground anyway, next to what appeared to be a small house completely covered in red hearts. Even the shingles on the roof were shaped that way.

They disembarked and the queen led them over to the little house. One of the card guards opened the door to let them in. Inside was an array of racks with clothes and shoes on one wall and mallets and croquet balls on the other.

Alice found a rack full of clothes her size and selected a nice pair of dark blue pants, a light blue t-shirt, and a fitted gray cardigan. Once she’d selected them, a guard showed her to a dressing room. The queen and duchess were nowhere to be found, probably changing themselves.

A few minutes later they all stepped outside in their new clothes. Alice wondered briefly how the queen could have possibly gotten clothes in her size and stocked the house with them already. Then she remembered that they were in the Imagisphere and that everything in it was probably completely fake. Her face suddenly went ashen. “Laxana, are the clothes we’re wearing made by this place?”

The duchess looked down at her, her brow pinched in confusion. “I don’t think so, why?”

“Well, if they are and something goes wrong, won’t we be…”