Snow White and the Seven Dwarf Planets: A Space Age Fairy Tale (Star-Crossed Tales)

by J. M. Page

  "I never said he was, Princess. Just that royalty doesn't normally get down and dirty with the riff raff," Hunter said with a shrug.

  Snow's fist tightened at her side and she gave him a stiff shake of her head. "My father wasn't like that. There's a reason our people loved him so much. He was a wonderful leader," she said, her voice going soft and distant at the end. He was. But not always. Not at the end.

  Snow still wondered if she had what it took to follow in his footsteps. To be a great leader, beloved by her people. It was a tall order, and though she'd been training for it nearly from the moment of her birth, part of Snow just wasn't sure.

  Hunter didn't respond. He seemed to think better of it, turning back to the navigation panel with a furrow in his brow. "So, one forty-two, seven twenty-eight," he said, typing in the numbers, waiting for the third coordinate from her.

  Snow looked at the empty space on the panel, searching her memory for the rest of the rhyme. She remembered her father singing it to her while she bounced on his knee, promising her he'd take her there someday. That they'd have a family getaway without royal pomp and circumstance.

  She swallowed, her throat tight. "But you won't get very far, if you don't remember it's near the Aleri star."

  Hunter pulled up the reference point and tapped the screen, sending the ship hurtling through space.

  Chapter Four

  Hunter

  The Aleri solar system was pretty far away from the rest of the civilized Empire. Far on the outer reaches of the fringe territories, Hunter didn't think the planets in that system housed any life, let alone a secret royal getaway.

  But he took the Princess at her word, hoping that they'd find their mark.

  "So what is it we're looking for when we get there?" he asked, swiveling in his chair as the deep empty blackness of space filled up the windshield in front of him.

  Snow pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes, her arms folded across her chest. She still looked like a wild forest person, with leaves and dirt matted into her hair, but there was something undeniably regal about that unimpressed glare. That was an expression only those of the noblest blood could pull off.

  "We are not looking for anything," she said.

  Hunter's face fell and he stopped his absent swiveling. "Why are you so resistant to me?" he asked, doing his best to project hurt and confusion.

  "Why are you so insistent about helping me?" she countered.

  Her dark eyes bored a hole straight through him, like she was trying to peer into his mind through his pupils, hoping to read his intentions there like a map.

  He shrugged, throwing up his hands, trying a sly grin on for size. "Damsel in distress, I told you."

  He spotted the flush of color high on her cheeks even under the layers of forest grime.

  She stared him down for a long moment and Hunter didn't know if she was trying to come up with an adequate response, or hoping he’d just wither and shrink away from her incendiary glare. He held her gaze the whole time, never wavering or averting his gaze. He'd gotten used to this game with the Queen. He refused to break eye contact with her. That's how people wound up stabbed in the back — literally.

  Finally, Snow seemed to decide. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her head high, her posture positively princess-like despite her current state. She looked down her nose at him — something else that Hunter was used to, only with Snow, instead of impotent anger like with the Queen, it only fueled his curiosity about her. Made him more determined to figure out what was going on in that brain.

  "Luckily for you, once at my mother's cottage, I will no longer be in distress and you can rest easy with the knowledge that you've helped your Princess live to fight another day."

  She said it like it was the highest honor imaginable. Like that simple little action wouldn't come with a death sentence. Like he'd ever be able to rest easy again.

  Of course, she had no way of knowing that Hunter was mostly safe from the Queen's wrath. As far as she knew, he was just some unimportant merchant who would likely die for his efforts helping her.

  And she didn't seem bothered by that idea. Or maybe she didn't realize how dire it was.

  That had to be it. Hunter couldn't — or wouldn't — believe that the Princess would so casually dismiss him knowing death was waiting for him.

  Still, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He knew how to recognize that he'd pushed too far. So Hunter stayed quiet as the ship zoomed off to the distant reaches of the galaxy, a faint speck of blue becoming visible as they progressed.

  Snow seemed to think that their conversation was done. They'd sat in silence for some time, only absently regarding one another without any words. She thought she had won the dispute. He was happy to let her think that for now.

  She stood and headed toward the windshield again, her hands clasped behind her back, the blaster back in its holster at her hip. "Always blue," she murmured, her eyes locked on the spot of light.

  "That's Aleri, isn't it?" she asked him without looking his way.

  Hunter dragged his gaze away from the stiff set of her shoulders back to the navigation panel. "It is," he said with a nod.

  Snow's shoulders sagged a little — was that relief? — and she dropped her clasped hands to her side. "That didn't take long," she said.

  Hunter shook his head even though she still wasn't looking at him. "This ship is built for speed."

  She turned at that, narrowing her eyes and Hunter played over his words, wondering what he'd said to tip her off now. "A merchant ship without a cargo hold, built for speed, eh?" she asked, a gleam of mistrust sparkling in her eyes. "Is that really the story you're going with?"

  Hunter tried his best to mask his laugh with a sudden cough, but he didn't think she was buying it at all. He coughed two more times, then cleared his throat. "It's the truth, Princess."

  The twinkle in her dark eyes faded and her face hardened again. Hunter could almost curse himself for taunting her further. His case was already difficult enough, he didn't need to go making her hate him even more. Not if he wanted to stick to her and find out what she was up to. Not if he wanted to live after his next meeting with the Queen.

  But Snow White was not one to be cowed so easily. She dipped her head, ever so slightly, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "If you say so," she said, her voice practically musical as she spoke.

  It was different enough from her normal demeanor to stop Hunter's thoughts in their tracks. Did she see right through him? Was she toying with him? Was this whole scheme an elaborate ruse to get him far away from back-up where the resistance could torture him for information?

  Hunter dragged his palms down his thighs, drying them on his pants.

  Surely not. Snow seemed clever, but not that clever. He was being paranoid.

  She wasn't even looking at him as the ship grew closer to the blue star Aleri. She didn't look over her shoulder at him again, and her lack of interest made Hunter squirm. Things were not going according to plan.

  ...Or, they wouldn't be if he'd had a plan. If he had a plan, this would not be it.

  The navigation panel chimed, bringing up an article about Aleri. The sound finally attracted Snow's attention and she strode over to Hunter's side, peering over his shoulder.

  "What was that?"

  "Proximity marker. Brings up information about the surrounding area. Looks like Aleri has three planets in orbit. One too close, just liquid rocks at that point. One too far, all gas. It's gotta be this one," he said, tapping on the tiny dot on the screen.

  The panel brought up another article, this one about the annual temperatures and local lifeforms, but there were no pictures. Only a few lines of text where most inhabited planets would have pages of information.

  "I agree," Snow said.

  The frown wrinkling Hunter's forehead faded, dissipating into nothing at those two simple words. He gave a quick nod that he hoped didn't betray the rush of satisfaction he got from her agreement. Wha
t did he care if the Princess thought he was right about something?

  "Looks like we'll just have to find the cottage," he said as he copied the coordinates of the planet into navigation window.

  "Lucky it's a tiny planet," Snow said.

  Hunter was just about to ask her how she knew that, when his question was answered. Coming rapidly into their view was the small orb of Aleri's second planet. From this distance, it looked purely blue, much like the star it orbited, but as they grew nearer, there were spots of yellow and orange, even a bit of red mixed in with the unending shades of blue.

  Snow had already forgotten him and the screen in front of him, going back to the window, eying the planet with some mixture of emotions Hunter couldn't identify.

  He found himself wanting to ask her if she was alright, but then he realized what a ridiculous question it would be. Of course she wasn’t alright. She was on the run from a ruthless queen who'd stolen her Empire. And she was trapped on a ship with the Queen's head huntsman.

  The worst part for Snow was that she didn't even know the danger she was in.

  So no, nothing was alright. It would be foolish to ask.

  Chapter Five

  Snow

  "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Snow said as she descended the stairs to the soft fragrant soil below.

  Hunter made a noise behind her that sounded an awful lot like a snort. "No, we only had to orbit the planet a dozen times before we spotted the clearing."

  That was definitely irritation she heard in his voice, but Snow didn't look over her shoulder to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her. "The important part is that we found it," she said, frowning a little at herself. How did the word 'we' find its way so casually into her sentence?

  She licked her chapped lips and tried to free herself of that question, instead looking ahead to the quaint little cottage that she assumed had once belonged to her mother. Bright blue vines climbed up the walls, their leaves nearly white from all the light that filtered through the atmosphere. The windows were cloudy, covered with an algae-like growth.

  No one had been here in ages, Snow realized, pushing aside the vines that crisscrossed the door. They hadn't been disturbed in years. Decades, probably.

  "Thank you for your assistance. I think I'll be alright from here forward," she said, turning only long enough to make sure he'd heard her. If his black look was any indication, he'd certainly heard her — and disagreed with her. But he didn't argue, so Snow assumed he was going to let her dismissal go without comment. She was the Princess, after all, she could dismiss him if she liked.

  She made quick work of the vines blocking the door, avoiding the tiny red thorns until she had access to her mother's cottage. She took a deep fortifying breath, not sure what to expect beyond the door. It could have been ransacked when the Queen took power, for all she knew.

  Her chest tightened at that thought. What if this place wasn't as safe as she assumed?

  The door squealed on rusty hinges as she opened it, using most of her weight to push through the friction of the neglected workings. She didn't have to look behind her to know that Hunter was right there. Close on her heels, not giving her an inch of breathing room.

  "You're free to go," she said, pursing her lips, one hand perched on the edge of the door, poised to close it on him if necessary.

  But Hunter didn't give her the chance. He barged right on in, disregarding her altogether. "I've told you, Princess, whether you like it or not, we're in this together. I helped you escape and that makes me as much of a wanted person as you are. The scout scanned me. They'll have my chip number, they'll know who I am."

  Snow's brow furrowed at that. "Chip?" Was this some other new technology the Queen had introduced in her absence?

  The interior of the cabin was dark, sparse starlight trying its best to work through the algae-covered windows. Hunter rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, the whites shining in the dimness. "Forget it. Don't worry about it. But I can't leave you alone anyway. How are you going to go anywhere? What's your plan, even?"

  There was that question again. Her plan.

  As much as his persistence irritated her, he had a point. This planet was so remote she didn't know how she'd get off of it without his ship.

  "I don't know," she admitted, surprising herself. "I was hoping there'd be something here. Something that would help..."

  She still stood in the doorway of the cottage as Hunter took a long stride towards her, one brow arched, something sparkling in his topaz gaze. Snow fought the urge to retreat, holding her ground instead of tumbling back outside.

  "Why did you burn down the Summer Palace without a plan? Or is there something you're not telling me, Princess?"

  There are a lot of things I'm not telling you. But she was sure he was keeping just as many things from her.

  Snow swallowed and side-stepped away from him, kicking up dust with every step. The door closed, cloaking them in darkness, only broken up by the faint blue glow that filtered through the grimy windows.

  Hunter was too curious. He was too insistent. What was his angle?

  She tried to ignore the pressing questions of his loyalty as she fumbled around for a light switch. She had to find a way to get rid of him, but she needed to at least be able to see first. Snow took another step forward in the dark, her toe catching on something solid, sending her tumbling to the floor. Her skull erupted in pain, lights dancing in front of her eyes as her head bounced on the dusty planks.

  She cursed, her brain throbbing as something warm trickled down the side of her face. Snow touched her fingers to the tender spot at her hairline and winced when her fingers came back sticky with blood.

  But before she could manage to pick herself up, the thing she'd tripped over in the dark moved. There was the creak of metal first, rusty hinges squealing to life as a strained humming filled the room, like an overloaded rotor trying to get lift. Beeping followed, electronic squeaks and crackles, and then there were flashing lights strobing, enough to make her dizzy as she dropped her head back to her hands, fighting a wave of nausea.

  Her shoulder sagged under a warm solid weight. Snow looked up, meeting Hunter’s gaze. He crouched next to her, one knee on the dusty floor, his eyes soft with worry. "Hey, are you okay? Let me help you up," he said, turning her chin so that the flashing lights illuminated her injury.

  Another light appeared. A single ominous red dot, centered on Hunter's chest.

  Snow swallowed, her skin prickling with adrenaline. Slowly, she gathered her nerve to turn and look over her shoulder.

  "Step away from the Princess," the menacing robotic voice thundered. The android stood tall, towering over them both where they huddled on the floor. Its entire body glowed faint blue, flashing red with a steady rhythm. It was enough light to see the outline of the android, enough to see his arm morph and turn into a deadly-looking weapon with a series of whirs and clicks.

  Snow was suddenly very worried for Hunter's safety.

  Hunter, on the other hand, couldn't seem to care less. He rolled his eyes, ignoring the order. "I'm not trying to hurt her," he said, dabbing his shirt sleeve against the drying blood on her face. "I'm just checking to see if she's okay."

  "Step away from the Princess," the android repeated, this time shuffling closer, clanging and creaking like a sack of scrap with every movement.

  Hunter groaned, shaking his head. "Stupid metal piece of—" a blinding light cut off his muttering, filling the room for a split-second. On the far wall, a clay pot shattered, taking the full brunt of the shot, and the smell of charred foliage erupted in the air.

  Hunter sprang to his feet, jumping back from Snow like she was the one who'd shot at him, cursing the whole time. "What is wrong with you people? You don't just fire at someone because they don't immediately obey you," he growled, his body poised for action.

  Snow tried to blink away the spots left by the bright flash of light, looking from Hunter to the android, hoping there wouldn
't be more confrontation. She still hadn't managed to pull herself off of the floor. But it seemed that the distance between her and Hunter soothed the robot and the android's weaponized arm receded, becoming a normal non-threatening arm once more, dropping to his side.

  She gathered herself and struggled to her feet, still looking around the cottage, but it was much too dark to see anything other than the faint blue glow of the android. The red flashing had stopped at this point, which seemed encouraging. Snow turned to the bot, trying to forget Hunter for a moment and how he could have died just for trying to check on the little bump on her head.

  For some reason, that realization made her feel warmer inside. A tiny bubble of brightness swelled in her chest. But she couldn't think about that right now. There were more pressing matters. Too many questions swirling in her head.

  "Uh... Hello," she said to the android, waving her hand in front of it. It didn't respond, but its eyes glowed brighter, clearly watching her. "I'm Snow White—"

  "Princess Snow White, daughter of Queen Adriana White and King Stuart White the third," the android recited stiffly.

  "Riiiight..." Snow responded, dragging the word out, more than a little apprehensive about this thing knowing so much about her. But, this was her mother's getaway cottage. So it made sense, she supposed. "Who are you?"

  "Artificial Intelligence Unit R0B-685.2," the android answered.

  In the cover of darkness, Snow allowed herself a frown. "That's quite the mouthful."

  The android's head tilted slightly, its eyes pulsing with a welcoming blue. "Your mother called me 'Robbie.'"

  "Much more manageable," Snow said with a nod. "You knew my mother? How?"

  "My prime directive is to protect the royal family."

  Her throat tightened, closing in a painful knot. Did this android have any idea that she was the only royalty left?