From the hall came a din of raised voices:

“Wait, ladies and sirs! Please, I must announce you first!” “Out of our way, blubber face, we can announce ourselves!”

Into the briefing room marched the Lord and Lady of Clubs and the Lord and Lady of Spades, the walrus flapping worriedly after them.

“Ooh hoo, I’m sorry, my most respected queen, but they-” “It’s all right, walrus,” Alyss soothed.

“Does our queen think it proper to unnecessarily risk the lives of the highest-ranking families in Wonderland?” spewed the Lord of Clubs. “Does it amuse her to order them from the safety of their walled and gated mansions so that they can traverse dangerous streets, especially when she could have easily conversed with them via holo-screens? Didn’t Bibwit announce that, while the nation is under attack, citizens should remain indoors for their continued health and well-being?”

“We demand extra crystal payments for the needless danger to which we’ve been subjected!” demanded the Lord of Spades.

Incivility I wouldn’t show to the least-ranking citizen.

“As members of my cabinet,” Alyss calmly explained, “you share in the responsibility of ensuring a safe future for Wonderland. I’m sure the four of you will agree that we’re in a crisis and that trying times bring out the best in you. What queen wouldn’t want such helpful cabinet members by her side in an hour of need? Forgive me for calling you here. I was thinking only of myself and others when I did it. But for the love of your rank if nothing else, advise me. How do you think we should counter this invasion?”

“Uh,” said the Lady of Clubs.

“I know exactly how we should counter it!” said her husband. “First and foremost, a decree must be at once…decreed! All ranking families are to remain indoors and well-protected until it can be guaranteed that every threat of violence is past! It’s imperative that nothing inconvenient happen to us, for the populace would then have no one to look up to!”

“Speaking of exemplars of society,” said Alyss, “where are Lord and Lady Diamond?”

The walrus’s whiskers trembled. “Not at home or anywhere else I could find, my queen. I have left

messages for them.”

Too coincidental to be a coincidence. Their absence is no accident.

The truth was, Alyss had never expected any flashes of brilliance or military insight to come from the ranking families. She had called them to the palace in order to observe them, to learn from their behavior if they knew anything of the attacks. They would swear their support to Redd or Arch or anyone else if they believed they could gain from it.

“By your sagacious advice, you’ve proved my wisdom in sending for you,” she said to the Lord of Clubs. “I want the four of you to remain in the palace until I say otherwise. You’ll be well-guarded so that no harm can come to you. Walrus, please show them to their quarters.”

The walrus enlisted the help of six palace guardsmen to coax the complaining nobles out into the hall. General Doppelganger stepped over to the room’s crystal control panel, which had begun to demand attention.

“We’re receiving a communication from King Arch,” the general said. “He would like to speak with you, Alyss, and he claims it’s urgent.”

“Then I suppose we’d better hear what he has to say.”

The general pressed a button on the control panel and Boarderland’s king, in his official robe and mantle, appeared on a holographic screen.

“Sovereign Heart,” Arch intoned with a slight bow of the head, “I wish the reason for this communication was more pleasant, but I fear I’m to blame for the trouble your nation is presently facing.”

“Nice of you to admit it,” said Alyss.

“I assume you’ve discovered that Homburg Molly’s been kidnapped by the Ganmede Independence

Front and is being held as a political prisoner?”

He paused, letting this news take its full effect. Alyss tried to keep her ignorance from showing; as stiff-backed as Hatter, she merely nodded. But the others grumbled and shifted in their seats.

“Believing me to be a disinterested party,” Arch went on, “the Ganmedes have asked that I serve as their liaison. I’ve agreed to do this only so that I can be of service to you. I don’t fully understand what they want-something to do with munitions and their attempt to secede from Unterlan-but to prove they

have no desire to hurt Homburg Molly, and that they will negotiate for her release in good faith, they have passed along this.”

He showed her the diary given to him by his ministers. He laid it flat in his left palm and pressed its sides with the thumb and middle finger of his right hand. Its cover popped open and a 3-D image of Molly materialized, facing Alyss.

“Dear Queen Alyss,” the girl’s image said, “I’m recording this to let you know I’m all right and you don’t have to worry about me anymore. I tried my best, but…I guess I don’t deserve to be your bodyguard.

‘Cause what happened to the Crystal Continuum is my fault. The Lady of Diamonds, she gave me this little wooden box I was supposed to deliver to you, saying she’d gotten it from Queen Genevieve. I figured she was lying, but instead of telling you or anyone else like I probably should’ve done, I tried to expose the lady’s plot myself. I was mad at you and I wanted to prove…No, forget it. Who cares what I wanted to prove? I was inside the continuum when I opened the box and it exploded. So I guess the Wonderlanders who say halfers can’t be trusted are right. I hope no one was too badly injured. I’m

sorry. I never wanted to let you down.” Molly’s image crackled to nothing.

“And this is where I too am at fault,” Arch said, snapping shut the diary. “I have unknowingly allowed the Diamonds to indulge their machinations against you by providing them the space and secrecy to carry them out. The Lord of Diamonds recently paid for two lunar cycles’ worth of servants and a convoy of tents. As I’d been informed that his encampment was one big party, and I don’t care for his brand of frivolity, I chose not to visit him. But I see now that my ministers were being fed misinformation and that Lord Diamond and his wife were not hosting a celebratory affair but working to dethrone and even murder you. Lady Diamond has gone into hiding at one of our retreats.”

“No harm had better come to Molly,” Alyss said.

“I agree,” said the king. “We must prevent a tragedy at all costs, which is why I suggest you do as the

Ganmedes request.” “And that is?”

“Send Hatter Madigan to the Sin Bin Gaming Club in Boarderton, a city they view as neutral territory. Grant him the authority to negotiate on your behalf for Homburg Molly’s release.”

“Why Hatter?”

“As talented as he is in combat, they believe that he’s the least likely to risk Molly’s life in a rescue attempt. As to why they believe this, I think Hatter himself can best answer that question.”