Hi chums! Having been a lax author for the last couple of weeks, I am returning to my schedule of regular Sunday updates. Hopefully. Anyway, on a tangent, I would just like to announce that I was delighted to find that Word recognises the word 'kerfuffle', which was a happy surprise.
Right, now, shout-outs this week go to: a guest, Taboo22, Katyperry22, ArtistsChild93 and another guest (though possibly the same guest). Thank you all for your reviews, I love getting them, I really do. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.
Still escorted by the two little speeders, they swept through yet another bank of clouds when suddenly the city itself came into view. Alice felt her jaw drop. "Wow."
Sarcastic comments aside, Cloud City really was spectacular. The entire city was suspended in the air: a huge, floating, mushroom-shaped metropolis. The flat upper section was decorated with a towering city skyline, and rows and rows of windows along the curved side indicated the presence of hundreds of lower levels. "It's beautiful."
"Sure is," Han agreed distractedly as he guided the Falcon through the maze of skyscrapers, eventually bringing them down on a flat, deserted rooftop.
"Oo-er," Alice said, "it's like a helipad. Fancy. So I guess this Lando of yours is pretty well-off, Han."
"You could say that. Come on." He got up out of his seat and beckoned the others after him. The landing platform, when they stepped on to it, was eerily quiet.
"I don't like this," Leia said, glancing around twitchily.
"Why not?" Alice asked, brightly, skipping over to the edge of the platform to lean over and inspect the view, "Han said he knew this Lando guy. I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Yeah," Han said, looking just as edgy as Leia, "what she said. Trust me."
"That's the last thing I feel like doing," Leia muttered under her breath.
At the far end of the platform, a door suddenly hissed open, very loudly and dramatically. Han looked relieved, but Leia narrowed her eyes, and Alice noticed her hand creeping towards the small blaster holstered at her hip. Han apparently saw it too, and gently pulled Leia's hand away, "See? My friend."
He smiled reassuringly and strode off to meet the approaching party. Alice cocked her head, "Leia, correct me if I'm wrong, but is that man wearing a cape?"
"I believe so."
"Good lord. I observe that he also has a rather…forceful moustache. I wonder how long it takes to cultivate such, ah…magnificent facial hair."
"I really couldn't say. For obvious reasons."
"Touché. Shall we?"
Alice stepped forward to find Han being shouted at by his moustachioed 'friend', but Leia hung back, loitering suspiciously by Chewie. It was obvious that she really didn't like this situation, though Alice couldn't tell why – they hadn't even been shot at yet.
"You've got a lot of guts, coming here. After what you pulled…" Lol. He has a stupid voice, Alice thought, perhaps a little unkindly.
She snorted aloud as Han put on an innocent expression and pointed questioningly at himself. The other man, presumably Lando Cal-whatever-his-name-was smiled a slightly creepy smile, made worse by the moustache, and advanced slowly towards Han. The smuggler tensed up, quite clearly not very certain of his associate's intentions.
Lando raised a hand, and for a moment, Alice genuinely thought he was going to punch Han in the face. Then he threw his arms around Han's shoulders and pulled him into a hug whilst laughing maniacally. Phew. Thank goodness. For a moment there I thought he was some kind of psychopath.
"How're you doing, you old-"
Insert term of manly affection here, Alice thought drily. She glanced over her shoulder at Leia, who still looked reluctant to come forward, "Coming, dear?"
"It looks like we don't have much choice," Leia said, indicating Han, who was already involved in what seemed to be an extremely animated discussion with his old pal.
"Guess not," Alice said, making a face, "but you're not going to make me go and stand with old Monsieur Creepy Moustache on my own, are you?"
Leia smiled reluctantly, "Would I?"
Alice grinned, and together the two of them went to stand by Han's side.
Lando's gaze slid on to them, and he said, "Hello. What do we have here?"
Oozing sleaziness, he stepped forward, "I'm Lando Calrissian-" Calrissian, Alice thought, triumphantly, that was his name. Same difference really.
"I'm the administrator of this facility. And who might you be?"
Alice glanced at Leia, trying to indicate that she should speak. She did this by narrowing her eyes and doing a frantic miniature headshake. Luckily Leia was gracious enough not to attract attention to Alice's very unbecoming expression, and replied smoothly, "I'm Leia. This is Alice."
"Welcome Leia," he said, kissing first Leia's knuckles, then Alice's, "Alice." Oh god, oh god. The moustache touched me. It touched me.
"Alright, alright," Han said, swooping in to save them (Lando was still lingering creepily over Alice's hand). He tugged Alice's hand out of Lando's and took Leia's as well, apparently for good measure, "You old smoothie. Lead on."
Lando eyed him with something not far off resentment, before saying, with forced brightness, "So, what's wrong with the Falcon?"
"Hyperdrive," Han replied, as they walked down the landing platform.
"I'll have my people look into it," Lando said smoothly, "that ship's saved my life quite a few times, you know. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."
Alice raised an eyebrow, "People keep saying that. I'm still not entirely convinced."
"Well sorry kid," Han said to her, "but one day, when she's fully repaired and we're not being chased around the galaxy, I promise, I'll show you what the old girl can do."
"I'll hold you to that," Alice said playfully.
Han pointed at her, sealing the deal. Then he went back to speaking with Lando about mining or some such, the two of them pulling ahead of her and Leia.
"I don't like this," Leia muttered under her breath as they resumed walking, "Han kept trying to reassure us – that's got to be a bad sign."
"You sure? Because thus far, apart from being a bit on the sleazy side, Lando doesn't seem that bad."
Leia looked exasperated, "Alice, you've known him for all of about two minutes!"
"I know," she said, defensively, "that's why I said 'thus far'…"
"Here you are," Lando said, his voice suddenly much closer. Alice glanced up and saw they had stopped in front of a door decorated with pretty swirling patterns. He pressed a switch and it slid back to reveal an elegantly furnished apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the skyline.
"Oh, wow," Alice said, stepping inside and gazing around, delighted, "it's so pretty." On a table in front of her was a lamp hung with delicate, swooping curves of crystals which refracted the sunlight streaming in through the huge windows, sending a dozen rosy shards of light splintering across the table. She ran her finger gently along the row of hanging diamonds, which made a sweet tinkling noise as they brushed against each other.
"I'm glad you like it, my dear," Lando said, coming up behind her like one of those guys you can never quite shake at a party, "this room connects to several others of a similar design – you can rest here while you wait for the Falcon to be fixed up."
"Thanks," Alice said, glancing at Leia and raising her eyebrows.
"I'll let you get settled in," Lando said, giving them all a bow and retreating.
"He's just like Mr Collins from 'Pride and Prejudice'," said Alice, as soon as the door had closed behind him, "only American. You know what, I take it back – Cloud City will no longer be known as Pemberley – from now on, it's Rosings Park."
"Han, are you sure this is a good idea?" Leia asked, frowning around at the beautiful room as if the floor might suddenly turn to magma, "I still don't think we should trust him."
"Would you two relax?" He said, throwing himself out onto one of the posh sofas and tipping his head to one side, "I've got everything under control."
"Really?" Leia looked far from convinced, "In that case, where's Threepio?"
"Huh?"
The princess narrowed her eyes. "I haven't seen him since we left the Falcon. Have you Alice? Chewie?"
"No," Alice said, starting and glancing around guiltily – Leia was right. She should have noticed the lack of complaints. "Where's he gone?"
"I don't know," Leia said, her voice as hard as stone, "but I think someone should try and find out."
"Alright," Han said, wisely taking the hint and getting to his feet, "I'll go and tell Lando to keep an eye out for him, okay?"
"Come back quickly," Alice blurted out, unnerved by the intensity of Leia's suspicion.
"Sure, kid. Back before you know it." He left, leaving an uncomfortable silence echoing in his wake.
Alice let out a breath, and flopped onto the sofa Han had just vacated, "What do you think is going to happen if we stay here?"
"I don't know," said Leia, "but the sooner we leave, the better I'll feel."
"But it's so nice here," she said, "and Han said he knew Lando. Is it really so hard to believe that for once we're not sitting in the middle of a trap?"
Leia shifted restlessly, "I don't know. It would be nice…"
"No rest for the wicked though, huh?" Alice said, folding her arms and closing her eyes, "I get you." She heard her friend sigh and peeked through her eyelashes to see Leia standing by the window, her arms folded, her expression pensive. "Hey," she said, getting to her feet and going to lay a comforting hand on Leia's shoulder, "don't worry. As soon as the hyperdrive's fixed, we'll be out of here, and going to…wherever it was we were originally planning to go before this whole hyperdrive kerfuffle."
"Thanks," Leia said, giving her a grudging smile, "I'm going to see if I can dig up any clean clothes in here. Call me if anything happens."
"Sure," Alice said, taking up the princess's place by the window, "no problem."
Leia disappeared into the next room, and Alice turned her attention to the stunning view out of the huge window. It really was beautiful: huge space ships glided elegantly past like large birds while smaller speeders shot by at their sides, trailing a heat haze that shimmered lazily in the sunlight. The bright light glimmered off every surface, making the whole skyline of the city look like it was burning. But she couldn't really enjoy it – now that Leia mentioned it, something did feel kinda weird about this place. Something that made her skin prickle uncomfortably, like she was being watched.
Alice shivered, then said sternly to herself, "Stop freaking yourself out. Leia's the cautious one, it's her job to worry about these kinds of things. Whereas I'm the…immature, carefree one. Yeah…"
"Hey."
She shook herself out of her warmth-induced stupor and turned to see Han stepping back through the door, "Hey." Raising her voice, she called, "Leia, Han's back."
The princess appeared at once, "So?"
Alice raised her eyebrows – Leia's hair, previously in a practical plaited bun at the back of her head, was now looped into two shining plaits with a neat bun on top.
How does she do that? Special princess hairstyling training? She's probably a master.
"Well, the ship's almost done; two or three more things and we're in great shape."
"And what about Threepio?" Leia strode forward; to Alice's amusement, Han backed up a couple of steps, clearly not wanting to risk an argument, "He's been gone too long to have gotten lost-"
"Relax," Han said, catching her by the shoulders and kissing her on the forehead (Alice quickly averted her eyes), "I've asked Lando about Threepio, he'll let us know if he turns up."
"I don't trust Lando," Leia said, taking a step back from Han and sitting on the edge of the sofa. As Han went to sit next to her, Alice backed up to the window and turned to look at the speeders again, feeling a warm glow of satisfaction, despite the general badness of the situation.
I think they're finally getting this whole relationship thing. Now if only Luke would show up… But she instantly broke off that train of thought, embarrassed and a little surprised. Stupid – why did I think that? Luke's just my friend. My un-dateable friend. I don't even like him like that.
"No good ever comes of deceiving yourself, my girl."
"Shut up, Ben."
"Alice?"
She shook her head to clear it, and glanced over her shoulder, "Yeah?" To her surprise, Chewie had reappeared almost silently on the scene, and he was holding a box that appeared to contain…Threepio. Well – bits of him, anyway.
"What happened to him?" She asked, reaching out to touch the cool gold metal.
Chewie growled, and Han translated, whilst poking through the pile of dissembled droid parts, "He found him in a junk pile."
"What a mess," Leia said, "Chewie, d'you think you can repair him?"
The wookiee shrugged and moaned. "Gonna guess that means no," Alice said.
"Lando's got people who can fix him," Han said, casually.
Chewie yipped indignantly, and Alice raised her eyebrows, "Tell me Han, were you listening at all when Leia told you that she didn't trust Lando?"
Something twitched over Leia's shoulder, catching Alice's eye, and she made a face, "Speak of the devil..."
Lando hovered in the doorway, fully caped and ready for action, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?"
"…and he shall appear," Alice finished, under her breath.
"Not really," Leia said, in a tone cold enough to inflict frostbite.
Lando, who was either bad at reading emotions or very determined to pretend that everything was fine (in which case, Alice was both impressed and suspicious) smiled broadly, and said, "You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds."
Hello, Alice thought grumpily, other woman in the room. Over here. Yeah. That's me.
She glanced at Han and guessed from the expression on his face that this was payback for Han stealing both Leia and herself from Lando earlier.
"Thank you," Leia said, sounding put out rather than flattered.
"Would you care to join me for a little refreshment?" Lando said, holding out his hand to Leia, "Everyone's invited, of course."
Alice felt obliged to resist, for Leia's sake, but her stomach gave her away with a treacherous rumble as she asked, "Is it, like, a compulsory thing?"
Han snorted, but turned the sound into a cough as Lando glanced at him, "Come now, Alice, I really must insist. Cloud City has some of the best restaurants in the entire Outer Rim."
Alice glanced at Leia over Lando's shoulder. The princess shrugged and nodded. Repressing a sigh, she said, "Well, if you put it like that…"
"Excellent," Lando said, offering his arm to Alice this time, "Allow me to escort you."
Embarrassed, Alice put her hand tentatively through his arm, and glared at Han, who was doubled over in silent laughter.
Lando led her out of the room, and Leia and Han followed arm in arm behind them, with Chewie bringing up the rear.
"So, Alice," he said as they walked, "from what Han's told me, I get the idea you're not from around here."
"Uh…no. From…Surrey. It's in the…well, uh, the Solar system."
"Surrey? I've never heard of it."
"Oh, yeah…well, don't feel bad about it, not many people around here have…"
"I assume it comes under the Empire's jurisdiction," he said, a little too casually.
Alice glanced at him, instantly suspicious, "If it does it's too out of the way for them to care much about it. Why?"
"Merely curious," he said, staring at her a little too hard for her liking, "because, you see, Cloud City doesn't."
What's he doing? Why is he looking at me like that?
"So you're part of the mining guild then?" Alice jumped slightly at the sound of Leia's voice. She'd almost forgotten that the other two were with them.
Holding her eyes for a moment longer, Lando turned and glanced at Leia, "No, not actually. We're small enough not to be noticed, which is advantageous for everybody, since our customers are eager to avoid attracting attention to themselves."
"Aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation?" Han asked, "Shut you down?"
They walked down some stairs and paused in front of a door, decorated in a similar style to the apartments they'd just left, "Well, it's always been a threat that's loomed over everything we do here. But recently things have developed that'll ensure our security. I've just made a deal that'll keep the Empire out of here forever." As he said it, he suddenly gripped Alice's hand and squeezed it lightly. She flinched and pulled her hand away from him. Creepy… Lando blinked once at her, then opened the door.
Alice looked up as the two panels slid apart, then jerked backwards with a startled cry as she saw what was inside.
Within an instant, Han had pushed her behind him and was shooting at the black-robed figure of Darth Vader, sitting calmly at the head of the table. Their adversary, however, simply raised one gloved hand, and blocked the laser bursts before they could so much as touch him. Then he beckoned, and Han's blaster tugged itself from his grip and flew towards Vader, landing neatly in his hand.
Oh my god.
Apart from seeing Luke practicing with his lightsabre, Alice had never seen the Force used in this way. It was more than a little scary, seeing something that she had previously thought to be impossible happen right in front of her. Like watching a pig grow wings or something.
As the sizzling sound of laser bursts began to fade, leaving a stunned silence in its wake, Vader calmly set the weapon down on the table top and said, "I would be honoured if you would join us."
Alice shivered at the sound of his voice – it was the same ice-cold tone she'd heard in her head on Hoth. What is this? She thought, desperately. Sam and Frodo never had to actually meet Sauron. Then again, I suppose Darth Vader is more on a par with a Ringwraith, actually…in which case, Frodo was stabbed by one. Uh oh…
There came the sound of footsteps behind them, and Alice turned to see a whole load of storm troopers come running towards them, all holding very large and unfriendly looking blasters.
Lando took a step back, distancing himself from the four of them, "I had no choice. They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."
Han returned his gaze evenly and said, as cool as a cucumber, "I'm sorry too."
Fear clawed at Alice's throat, and she crept a little closer to Chewie, seeking reassurance from his woolly bulk.
"Courage, Alice," Ben's voice murmured out of thin air. Alice was not encouraged by the distinct note of pity in his tone, as if he knew that she would need it.
"Oh boy," she muttered under her breath, as they were pressed forward into the room, and the door slid firmly shut behind them.
Thanks for reading and please review!
