by Robert McKay
Alice took that as her cue and bolted for the opening silver doors. A pair of guards stood inside, swords in hand. They bore an eight and a nine on their chests. It seemed as though it no longer mattered that she be taken alive.
Just as well, she didn't intend to show them any mercy either. She studied their stances as she ran full tilt toward them, consulting with Snicker-snack the whole way. The tips of their swords were angled at chest height ready to strike at her torso. She closed the gap to a few meters without slowing her sprint. It was close enough to see their confusion. They had expected her to slow and engage them in a proper fight. She didn't have time for any such thing. After a couple more steps she leaned back and dropped into a slide on the polished concrete floor, gliding right under their guards. Unlike in the movie she'd seen, she didn't slide right past them and into the elevator. She did get close enough to slash their legs out from under them and leave them convulsing on the concrete.
Alice stood and pressed the up button. She stepped onto the empty elevator when the doors opened and selected the fortieth floor, the jail floor.
Alice crouched just before the doors opened. A forest of swords pierced the air above her. She dove forward, leading with her sword, her head down and her shoulder forward. Her weight wasn't enough to force the guards aside, but once they realized they'd already lost control of the situation they parted quickly enough.
Her attack wasn't at all poised or controlled. It amounted to little more than flailing her sword arm in as wide an arc as she could while keeping herself as small a target as possible, but most of the guards were seriously injured. One of the falling men caught her shoulder with a glancing blow, opening her skin with what felt like a blade made entirely of fire. It was very different from the electric pain of the clubs. Those brought a strange prickling sort of agony that erased thought. The sword wound, after the initial shock, was clarifying. It woke her mind from the haze of complacency that wielding such a strong weapon had instilled.
Her next few attacks, while less agile due to her favoring her wounded shoulder, were much less spastic. She had no desire to taste more cold steel. The uninjured soldiers slashed at her and were repelled by Snicker-snack, brushing them just to her sides. She didn't cut through their blades. Instead she used the glancing blows from them to knock the guards off balance and quickly pierce a vital organ before darting back into a guarded stance, her body turned as much to the side as she could in order to present the smallest area of attack.
The last two guards standing tried to take her from either side and attacked at the same time. Rather than engaging them directly, she spun out of their way and then cut them down as they tried to avoid injuring one another with their wild lunges. They dropped to the ground amidst their dying companions. They'd each lost an arm. Snicker-snack urged her to finish them and she complied, piercing their hearts. She had to bring her friends back to the elevator and she couldn't risk them brandishing their swords again. No one else in her group would die today; she swore it.
"Bloody hell," said a grizzled man in the cell closest to the elevator. His plastic cell had given him a front row seat to the skirmish. "You're an absolute menace." His tone was one of utter astonishment mixed with respect.
Alice looked down to the gore at her feet and shuddered. It was hard to believe she was capable of such horrific violence. She was a different person than the one who arrived in Wonderland. That didn't mean this wouldn't haunt her nightmares.
Quickly, she found the control panel and located the buttons that would open Dee and Dum's cells. They were in the hall and trundling down to meet her seconds later. They barely spared a glance for the guards piled around the elevator.
"You're hurt," said Dee. He gently pulled away the flap of her shirt covering the gash. "Just a flesh wound. It's already almost stopped bleeding. I'm just going to put some pressure on it.”
Alice winced at the pain of Dee's touch, surprisingly gentle as it was. "What are Seamus and March's cell numbers?"
Dum walked over and checked. "Two fifteen and sixteen."
Alice pressed the corresponding buttons and soon they were joined by her two other friends.
"It would appear you really do delight in cutting off appendages," said Seamus, a wild light in his dazzling amber eyes. He stared down at the carnage in front of the elevator. "Quite the master at it too."
March tittered and covered his mouth with his hand.
Alice groaned and shook her head. "No time to argue. I'm sure more guards will be pouring in here pretty soon."
Alice looked down row upon row of clear cells from her vantage point in the control room. There was no telling why all of them had been imprisoned or whether they were truly a danger to society. Given the queen's penchant for locking up innocent people like her and all of her friends, there was little choice to be made. "Arm yourselves, everyone. I'm sure those guards won't mind."
Dee had somehow already picked up a pair of swords without letting pressure off her wound. Dum found a sword and a shield, March picked up one of the dreaded clubs, and Seamus picked up both a club and a sword. He pushed the button that powered the club and then pressed his tongue gently to the smooth metal. He jerked back, shaking his head wildly. His hair stuck out in a wild puff where it wasn't covered by his hat. "Now that's the stuff," he said, and turned a beaming smile to Alice. "How is a weed like an overdressed lion?"
"I haven't a clue," said Alice, noting that the madness seemed to have retreated from his eyes. "How?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," he said. "I think that jolt may have knocked the answer right out of my head along with the madness." He turned his gaze down to the hare. "Care for a taste?"
"I think not," said March. "I don't want my fur looking like that mess on your head."
The hatter frowned and looked at his somewhat distorted reflection in the metal doors of the elevator. "Oh, I find it quite fetching, actually."
"All right everyone, get ready to get on the elevator," said Alice. She poised her hand over the button that was labeled emergency release. "I'm opening all the cells and we need to be on the first trip out of here if we're to make our escape."
"I'm not so sure that's a wise decision," said Dum, nodding over toward a man who was painting crude pictures on the clear wall of his cell in his own blood.
"It's the only humane thing to do. We can't play judge and jury to these people the way the queen has. They all deserve another chance."
Dum didn't look convinced.
"Well, at the very least, they'll provide an excellent distraction for the guards," said Dee.
"That they will," agreed Dum. He smiled at his brother, obviously proud of his astute observation. "Carry on then."
Alice shook her head at the brothers and mashed the release button. She was greeted by the hiss of dozens of doors opening and shouts from the prisoners inside the cells.
Alice shrugged Dee off her shoulder and winced. The odd little group piled into the elevator and she tapped the button to return to the dock floor. The elevator closed on a crowd of jubilant prisoners rushing toward them. She silently wished them the best and hoped the few weapons left on the dead guards served them well.
"I'll lead the way to The White Rabbit when we get down there. Stay with me and call out if you're in trouble. I don't want to lose another one of you."
"We saw what happened, Alice," said Seamus. "It's not your fault."
Alice reached up with her free hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not now, Seamus. We can talk about it when we're safely away from here."
"As you will, m'lady."
The elevator doors opened to pure chaos. Guards ran around stabbing at empty air. Others were backed against the walls and shouting at the same. Some fought each other, howling about yellow eyes. Clearly Cheshire had been hard at work while they were away.
A few guards took notice of their arrival and ran toward them with swords raised. Dee and Dum dispatched them without any help from Alice, who s
tepped back into the lead and charged toward the dock that held Rabbit. Somewhere along the way a feline grin joined their group. It turned toward Alice as they ran and above it a pair of vertically slitted yellow eyes appeared. "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all, Cheshire," panted Alice. "Not that we could stop you anyway."
"Just because I can go where I please doesn't mean that I should be rude," he sniffed. He didn't seem to be out of breath at all.
"Well, either way, it would be our pleasure."
"Thank you," said the empty air.
A few seconds later, a guard fell out from behind a ship just in front of them, his throat slashed by obvious claw marks.
"I sure am glad that guy is on our side," said Dee.
"I think you speak for us all," said March. "He trips all of my predator senses and has me ready to bolt for the nearest hole in the ground."
Alice led them through the unoccupied guard station at the cordoned off area of ships. They were only a few rows down when The White Rabbit appeared before them, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. He was conveniently right next to the nearest exit with his doors open.
"All aboard," he called, and Alice was certain that all of her companions could hear him by the way their heads tilted.
"You heard the ship. Let's go!" called Alice, waving them aboard. "I take it we have Cheshire to thank for your being ready and waiting," she said to Rabbit.
"Yes, quite the persuasive fellow, that one," said Rabbit.
"I've no doubt."
“And he was kind enough to remove that pesky tracking device, so I’m truly free,” said Rabbit, as close to elation as she’d ever heard him.
Alice wasn’t sure if it was kindness that had prompted Cheshire to remove the tracker. It was more likely pragmatism, but she didn’t want to ruin Rabbit’s mood. “That’s wonderful.”
“Yes, and my first act as a free person is to hang around here risking my neck so I can rescue you lot,” he said with a sniff. The old Rabbit was back, though she thought she detected a hint of a smile in his tone.
“That’s quite charitable of you,” said Alice.
“I know,” said Rabbit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The ride from Wonderland to open space was a bit bumpy to say the least. Somehow a couple of ships made it out of the docks, despite the mayhem Cheshire had caused. The White Rabbit proved his worth time and time again as he dodged the queens anti-aircraft guns, and their pursuers.
“Hold on, everybody,” said the ship, and then veered wildly to the left. “I don’t have any weapons, so I’m going to have to get creative.”
There wasn’t much need to hold on with the seats the ship had decked itself out with. Each person had a chair that was just the right size for them and fitted with a five point harness. The ship would have had to fall to pieces before any of them would have budged a centimeter.
Rabbit’s front and side windows gave Alice a good view of the artillery exploding around them. At one point he turned completely around and was headed back toward the planet’s surface. “We’re going to crash,” called Alice, gripping her restraint harness tightly.
“Hardly,” retorted The White Rabbit.
The ship zigged and zagged more times than could be counted before a ship loomed large in the front window. It disappeared a half a second later to be replaced with open sky. An explosion shook the ship so hard that Alice’s vision went dark. “Are you all right, Rabbit?” asked Alice.
“Never better. I can’t say the same for the two ships that were following us though. They seem to have had a rather unfortunate collision.” A rumbling sort of chortle echoed through the ship.
“I think I’m going to like this Rabbit,” said March. “He’s sure got some hare legs on him.” He thumped his foot on the floor with a resounding thunk to emphasize his point.
“I’ll thank you very kindly to not thump my deck again, Sir Hare,” said The White Rabbit.
“My apologies, it will take some time to get used to being inside a living creature,” said March.
“It took a couple of decades for me to get used to having living creatures inside of me,” said The White Rabbit. His statement came with a mental shudder. “So, where are we off to?”
“Nedra,” said Seamus before Alice could say anything.
“My apologies, sir, but I was asking Alice.”
Alice went about making introductions to put the topic of their destination aside for the moment. “White Rabbit, I’d like you to meet March, the hare, Seamus, sometimes called the Mad Hatter, and the brothers, Dee and Dum. Loyal friends of mine, each and every one of them.”
“And none of us equal to the lady who couldn’t be here with us,” said Seamus. He took off his hat, exposing even more of his puffy hair, and placed it over his heart. “May she rest in peace.”
“I’m saddened to say that I wasn’t able to retrieve her body so that we could give her a proper burial,” said Alice. Tears flowed freely from her eyes.
“But I was,” said Cheshire. He appeared next to a table that Alice could have sworn wasn’t there just a moment before. In his hand was a white handkerchief with a small lump inside just big enough to be the dormouse.
“Oh, Cheshire,” cried Alice. She clicked out of the harness and threw her arms around his neck. “You certainly are strange and wonderful. We never could have done this without you.”
“High praise from such a strange and wonderful girl,” said Cheshire. “Lyla died valiantly. The least I could do was take her off of that nowhere moon and allow her to be laid to rest in real soil. On Nedra.”
Alice pulled back from the embrace and scowled at Cheshire through her tears. “Not you, too.”
“Yes, I’m afraid I have to be in the majority on this one, as much as I despise it.”
“In the majority?” asked Alice. She turned and found Dee and Dum nodding their agreement.
“I’m the captain, I make the decisions,” said Alice petulantly.
“Aye, that you do, Alice,” agreed Seamus. “We just wanted to make our choice clear so our captain had all the information necessary to make an informed decision.”
Alice thought it through. She’d learned a lot on Wonderland, but she still had unfinished business at home. “Nedra is a good place to lay Lyla to rest,” agreed Alice, not ready to concede anything more than that. “Set a course for Nedra, please, Rabbit.”
“Very well, Captain,” said The White Rabbit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The journey back to Nedra felt much shorter than the trip to Wonderland had been. It was a solemn trip, each of the companions lost in their own thoughts. They all spent a good portion of their time looking at the small white bundle sitting on the table and sighing sadly.
The hatter began to gibber to himself when they went into orbit around Nedra and licked the charged baton again. His hair was wilder than ever, but he calmed down. March, for his part, was mostly quiet in his madness, only occasionally flinching away from something that wasn’t there.
“Shall I land where it was we met, Alice?” asked The White Rabbit.
“It seems as good a place as any,” she said grudgingly.
They landed in the clearing a few moments later. It was night again, with a bright moon lighting their way. The field seemed such a foreign place after her grand adventure on Wonderland. So ordinary. It felt strange to be in a place that wasn’t perpetually lit by a neon glow with danger lurking around every corner. At least the tall trees surrounding them were somewhat foreboding. Or maybe it was just that her house and her parents were just beyond them.
“What a difference a few days makes,” Alice muttered to herself.
“I’m quite sure your parents feel the same way,” said Seamus. He stepped up behind her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. Before she could argue, he continued, “I can’t imagine why you’d trade all this lovely greenery for the asphalt and concrete of Wonderland.”
“I didn’t tra
de all of this for Wonderland. I didn’t even know that I was going to end up in Wonderland when I hopped on board The White Rabbit. I traded all of this boring sameness for the possibility of adventure. And that’s what I found. It wasn’t always great, and it wasn’t always fun, but it was exciting and I made lots of new friends.”
“That sounds like a perfect description of any life lived without fear,” said Seamus.
Alice crossed her arms and scowled up at Seamus and his brilliant amber eyes. “No, it’s not. My life could never be like that here.”
“Why not?”
“Because my parents—”
“Would try to keep you safe?”
“Exactly,” said Alice, feeling distinctly like she was being led into a trap.
“Of course they will, but didn’t Dee, Dum, Lyla, and the rest of us try to do the same thing?”
“Well, yes,” admitted Alice.
“And yet you still had adventures.”
“Because none of you tried to stop me. You just gave me advice.”
Seamus nodded and then gave her a mischievous grin. “Just try to think of your parents’ punishments as advice on how to live your life.”
“But advice doesn’t have to be taken. Their punishments do,” groused Alice.
“Yes, but it’s up to you what lesson you learn from their ‘advice’,” said Seamus. He sighed and turned slowly away. “I can’t keep you from coming with us and I won’t try. I just have one of my special feelings that you should stay here and ripen a bit further before you take on the queen.”
Alice took his arm and turned him gently back toward her. “You really think that some day I’ll defeat the queen and free Wonderland like in your vision?” asked Alice.
“I do.”
“And you think that staying here on Nedra is the best way to achieve that?”
