Kir Bulychev - Alice - The Girl From Earth

“Prepare the ship for departure!” Poloskov gave the order. “Zeleny, to the engine room. Get ready with the antigravs.”

I sent over to the port to take a last look at a planet rendered lifeless and empty by a race of industrious robots who never thought about what they were doing; then I noticed the robot dispatcher was running toward the Pegasus across the dusty field. He was carrying something in his hands.

I went down the gang plank to meet him.

“Take these animals.” He said. “All you need do is change their machine oil; at the moment they’re all paralyzed.”

He pushed a pile of metallic objects into my arms.

“Farewell.” He said as I pulled up the gangplank. “If you should ever find that fiend in a hat and not know what to do with him, bring him to us. We have tons of ruined lubricants to smear him with!” The robot started to laugh and headed off into the dust.

While the ship accelerated for our hyperspace jump I changed the lubricating oil on the metallic animals. I really did want to get a look at the type of animals robots might come up with for their world. And when Zeleny looked into the lab two hours later he almost collapsed from shock. On the floor of the lab he saw little robot animals on wheels chasing after each other. As animals they were terrible, but they more or less resembled mice and cats. Evidently, when the robots built them, they still had memories of real cats and mice.

I placed the robot animals in a steel cage, but sometimes they slip out and go chasing after the diamond backed turtle.

The Medusa system is located at the very furthest reaches of our Galaxy. It consists of three planets orbiting a large sun from which protuberances like long hairs flow out into the darkness of space. The first world, the world closest in to the star, is so baked by the heat that it was instantly clear that we would find nothing there.

We flew on to the second world.

The planet was empty, a gloomy desert. The rays of the sun beat back from shining grey rocks, from a lake of asphalt, from a few naked trees. An eternal wind howled over this world.

“Well, is it?” I asked the Blabberyap bird. “Is this the planet or not?”

The Blabberyap leaned its head to one side and gave me no answer.

“Pa,” Alice said, walking to the port hole in the crew’s lounge, “that’s no way to talk to him. He’s afraid of you?”

“But he’s not afraid of you?”

“None of the animals are afraid of me.” Alice said. She was holding one of the robot cats in her arms; it kept licking Alice on the nose with its cold, rubbery tongue. “Blabberyap dear, tell us, did you have to leave your master on this planet?”

The Blabberyap listened to Alice’s words and answered in the voice of the Second Captain:

“‘Beware of the mirages. Do not trust them. Do not get lost in them.’“

“Alas, I think the bird is rather stupid.” I said sincerely. “Is she talking about the planet or about mirages?”

“We’ll see.” Alice answered.

Rain was trickling down the ports; the rain itself was light but the wind blew it in streams that ran over and flowed down the Pegasus’ hull. Even looking out onto this planet was uncomfortable. A long, very boring, night had fallen.

“Oh well,” Poloskov said, “It’s too late to do anything outside today. I suggest we have supper and get some sleep.”

After supper Alice locked the metal cat in its cage, picked up a book and sat down on the small couch in the Crew’s Lounge. I set about searching for the runaway Diamond Backed Turtle, to make certain it did not get into trouble. Poloskov and Zeleny also had things of their own to do.

Two or three hours passed. I returned to the Crew’s Lounge. Alice was still reading. The lounge was comfortable and warm and especially pleasant now that, although the wind still howled beyond the port, the rain at least had stopped.

I walked over to the port and looked out into the half darkness. The plain was a barren waste people were slowly walking toward our ship across down the valley. They were Earth humans or very close, without space suits and helmets, in very strange clothing. They were carrying on a conversation among themselves and, it seems, had not at all noticed the ship. I whispered:

“Alice, take a look.”

Alice threw her book down on the couch and ran to my side.

The people came closer and closer and we could make out that they were dressed in camisoles, with enormously broad brimmed hats on their heads, and on top of the camisoles they had short capes. Four of them were men. Behind the men came a woman, slowly as if she were unwilling, with her hair done in an elaborate style on the top of her head and wearing a wide dress that went down to the ground. The men were arguing heatedly, the woman was silent.

“Alice, could this be a hallucination?” I asked, not believing my own eyes.

“No.” Alice answered. “Don’t frighten them off. I know them.”

“Seleznev!” The loudspeaker barked. “Seleznev, are you sleeping?”

I recognized Poloskov’s voice.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“On the bridge. Take a look out the port. Do you understand what’s going on.”

“I’m looking now.” I answered. “And I don’t understand anything at all. Where could people have come from out here?”

“But I understand it.” Alice said. “I know who these people are.”

I turned toward Alice.

“How come you don’t know them, Papa?” Alice sounded astonished. “Okay, maybe you’d forget the woman, but the second man from the right you have to know!”

“No I do not!” I answered. “Stop fooling around and tell me!”

“The second from the right, that’s Porthos.” Alice said. “Look, see how he’s bending down to d’Artangnan, listening to him. They must have decided to execute Milady de Winter after all.”

“What are you talking about, Milady de Winter?” I started to shout. “I must have gone mad. Where would Porthos have come from out here?”

“I don’t know.” Alice said. “But that’s them. The Musketeers of the King. If they had been the Cardinal’s guards we’d have known right away.”

“Poloskov, are you listening to this?”

“Of course I am.” Poloskov said calmly. “I’d say that Alice is completely correct. You could tell the Cardinal’s guards apart from the Musketeers right away.”

While we were speaking the four Musketeers had walked right up to our ship. I pressed my nose to the port to see what they would do next. The Musketeers stopped, and one of them I would guess it was Aramis, the handsome man with the thin moustache, waved his hand in an elegant bow to ask Milady to go forward.

“All very interesting.” Alice said, standing on tiptoe to get a better look down. “Are they going to execute her or not? What do you think, Papa.”

“I’m not yet thinking anything at all.” I answered. “Poloskov, can the steps be lowered?”

And suddenly the Musketeers walked further, right into the wall of the ship and vanished.

“They’re walking right through the wall.” I heard Poloskov’s excited voice.

Astonishing Captain Poloskov is difficult. He’s seen things ten times larger, ten times more amazing, ten times more mysterious than the ordinary man. Neither the Dragonelle Minor, Iely Jellybladders from Iely, nor space pirates frighten him. But Musketeers of the King, taking a stroll through the very walls of the Pegasus, are something he’s never seen before.

“Maybe they’re time travelers too, like the Sheshinerians?” I asked.

Alice ran over to the other side of the Crew’s Lounge and looked out the portal opposite.