Buck Rogers
by AJ Marks
Part 5
“Welcome back, we’re with Captain William Roger, the latest sensation from the past,” the woman said turning to Buck. “So, what’s is like going into the future?”
“Thanks for having me here,” Buck said. “I’m fine with Buck, it’s what everyone called me. As for going to the future, it takes some getting used to.”
“What’s the one thing that surprises you the most so far?” the man asked.
“How tall the buildings are,” Buck replied still unsure about it all, but the view he had this morning getting up and enjoying breakfast was very nice. “I grew up with urban sprawl, not tall half a mile high buildings which housed almost everyone in the city, and how you can live entirely in the building.”
“Did people of your time really deny climate change?” the other woman asked quickly.
“Um, well, I think many never denied it, that was a misnomer, I mean the climate is always changing, I know I questioned the data and theories because I wanted the right information put out, not some half-baked theory like so many things,” Buck said shifting a bit uncomfortably in his seat. “But a lot of people believed in it, and it looks like we finally are, at last, living in peace with nature.”
“It’s been historically factual that your era was one of the most wasteful, do you agree?” the woman asked again.
“I have no idea, it’s possible, but I don’t know all of human history either,” Buck replied, starting to feel like his entire life was being judged based on what someone learned in history.
“So, what’s it like being the first person in history to survive a test flight of a Thu’lue FTL drive,” the man asked changing the subject much to Buck’s relief.
“Honestly, I don’t remember much of the flight, for me it all happened in less than an hour,” Buck said. “I was busy working, and there was a power surge which I was working on and then tried to abort, that might have been what stopped the drive from continuing on forever.”
“And the fact you ended up in the Rizonian Empire,” the other woman said. “It must have been dreadful.”
“Well, I had little experience with aliens, especially considering it was my first encounter with an alien,” Buck replied back to them. “I had no idea what to do, and they were telling me to surrender, I’m glad they didn’t say prepare to be boarded,” he chuckled at that. “There was no place for them to board, it was a one man craft.”
“That would have been interesting,” the man said. “We know they are not known for their manners either, were you treated all right?”
“I have nothing to compare it to, but they were a bit rude, they barely spoke so I had no idea what was going on, was even more surprised when some humans showed up to talk to them and I was accused of being a spy,” Buck replied honestly. “I tried to stay quiet and not say or do anything which they might take as offensive and kill me.”
“I bet it was a shock to see humans, especially considering what you were expecting,” the other woman said. “I’ve heard some from your time might freak out.”
“Yeah, they probably would, a lot of people thought aliens were some fabrication of people’s imaginations, and could not possibly be visiting Earth, and many of them were top scientists of the day,” Buck said.
“Hard to imagine,” the man said.
“Have you had time to explore the city?” the first woman said.
“Not really, went to bed early last night, had a long day, and then woke up early this morning, I’m glad you still have coffee,” Buck said, as they all chuckled at that.
“Some things are worth keeping,” the man said. “I wish you well in whatever path you take.”
“Thank you,” Buck said as the producer counted down.
“Up next, the Draconian Ambassador stops by to inform us why she is here,” he said to the camera.
“And we’re clear,” the producer said walking up to them.
Buck was moved off the set and headed towards the spot where Wilma was waiting for him. He paused as another person approached.
“So, you’re the one who disrupted the Rizonians so much,” a woman said to him looking him over for a few seconds. Buck noticed she had black hair and a nice figure.
“I guess, didn’t know I was even doing anything,” Buck said unsure what to say next as Wilma approached.
“Buck, this is the ambassador from the Draconian Empire, Princess Ardala,” Wilma said.
“Ah, didn’t know you’d look, well, so human,” Buck said to her.
“There are many things you don’t know Captain Rogers,” Ardala said, moving slightly closer to Buck. “And you have quite the physique for an Earthling.”
“Don’t you have to get ready, the commercial isn’t going to last that long,” Wilma said looking at the set where people were waiting.
“You’re always a downer colonel, loosen up, you might get a man, or woman if you wish,” Ardala said brushing by Buck before heading off to the set leaving them alone again.
“The Draconian Empire is human?” Buck asked as he headed to remove the make-up which had been put on.
“It’s a complex issue, and technically they are human, but different,” Wilma said. “I don’t know all the history.”
“Well, perhaps you can tell me what you know,” Buck said, washing his face, wiping dry and looking over at Wilma who seemed to be considering it.
“Come on, we’ll grab something to eat before you’re next public appearance,” Wilma said headed out of the office and towards the transportation floor.
Buck followed wondering if he would ever get the story on what the deal was with the Draconian Empire and why there were humans in it. His imagination went wild, another war, a group of humans who separated from Earth years ago, a rebellious colony? Everything seemed likely.
Settling into a transport he looked back over at her.
“The Draconian Empire is ruled by the Draconia family,” Wilma said.
“Sounds like Dracula, some sort of Prince Vlad thing going on?” Buck said trying to inject humor.
“Not sure about this Dracula?” Wilma said.
“You don’t know who Dracula is? So much history has been lost,” Buck said with a sigh. “Go on.”
“They rose to prominence in the early twenty-fourth century after the last of the world wars,” Wilma said. “They went out and said space was for Earth to conqueror, and proceeded to do so with a loyal following. Before Earth and an alliance could be formed they had conquered a small empire, ruling it as a dictator and denounced all relations with Earth.”
Buck gave that some thought wondering if they were still as bad as people thought.
“They now have official relations with us, but we’re still wary of them, they act unpredictable at the best of times,” Wilma said. “We’ve had several wars against them, the last one occurred only twenty years ago, we beat them back but each time they come back stronger.”
“Sounds like they are learning and you’re not,” Buck said logically watching as Wilma seemed offended by the thought.
“We are highly advanced,” Wilma said.
“Yeah, but if you limit your military actions and tie them down with useless rules of engagement against an enemy who had no rules, you’re fighting with one hand behind your back,” Buck said, recalling his own history he had learned, a professor said the same thing about several wars in the latter part of the twentieth century.
“Well, we try to maintain peaceful relations, not war with our neighbors,” Wilma said.
Buck said nothing but had a feeling it was that very appearance which gave the Draconian Empire the illusion the Earth Alliance was ready to be invaded, and if Earth was fractured, once the more advanced nations were defeated the rests would fall. It seemed like a very logical solution to him, and he wondered if the logical advice of the robots like Doctor Theopolis took that into consideration, after all, it was illogical thinking, or was it illogical human thinking?
For now he would look into himself and figure out what happened.
*****
Buck looked around taking it all in and beside him Wilma chuckled at his actions.
“Haven’t seen you this excited, ever,” Wilma said to him.
“Well, I’ve been reading up on your fighters, they look and sound wonderful, to actually see one up close, and they can travel long distances, power supply for twenty-four hours, it’s an amazing piece of technology,” Buck said talking about the Thunderfighter, the most advanced fighter Earth ever designed or built.
“We are proud of it,” Wilma said. “We have ten squadrons operational at all times.”
“The Draconians would need a large force to challenge that,” Buck said.
“Yeah, which is why we maintain constant patrols of their boarder with us,” Wilma said.
Buck had done some research on the subject, the two groups had gone to war six separate times already and it appeared the problems between the two had never been resolved at all. Now he was at the military base outside the city, it housed one of the squadrons of Thunderfighters. Bases were scattered all over the continent to prevent one strike from crippling the defenses of the NAA, and he was being given a tour.
“Colonel,” a man said walking up to them.
“Yeah,” Wilma said, turning to the man.
“Wanted to let you know, here are the results of your fighter’s tests,” the man said handing her a tablet computer, she looked it over and did something before handing it back.
“Looks good,” she said.
Buck noticed the man glanced at him for several seconds before finally heading off, something he was slowly getting used to. People recognized him all over, some would want to talk, others just stared and still others, completely ignored him.
He watched as a fighter rolled out of the hangar and into the sunlight towards the runway to head off on a patrol. He continued on with Wilma until they reached a Thunderfighter and she went around checking things out.
“About to head out?” he asked.
“No, just checking to make sure everything’s ready in case I do need to head out,” Wilma said. “Though I do need to do some training,” she looked over at him. “What to help out?”
“Why not,” Buck said, wondering what she had in mind.
“Come on,” she said, heading off to another part of the building. Buck noticed they passed several closed doors labeled one through six and wondered what they were for before reaching the one marked control.
Wilma entered without even knocking and he followed.
“Ah, colonel,” one of the men said looking at her and then Buck. “We weren’t expecting you.”
“Yeah, I needed some practice, and, I think we can include the captain here,” Wilma said.
“Are you sure?”
Buck’s eyebrows rose at the statement and he had a feeling it meant that she wanted him to be included.
“Yeah, give him a quick rundown,” Wilma said.
“Sure,” he said, motioning for Buck to follow him.
“See you in the simulator,” Wilma said.
“Yeah,” Buck said going with the man who led him back outside and down the hallways to a room labeled two. Entering it he had a feeling that it looked very much like the old simulators that he used for training in the air force and when he trained for the Enterprise.
The guy quickly gave him a rundown on the controls, thrusters, and such including weapons before Buck strapped in having a feeling he knew what was going to happen. Handing him a helmet and strapping in buck gave him a thumbs up, which the guy shrugged on before heading back out after telling him good luck.
“Well Buck, let’s see how much things have changed in four hundred years,” he said to himself as the screen suddenly came to life.
“Ready,” he heard the same guy say who had helped him.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Buck replied, still trying to remember where everything was.
“You’ll do fine,” he heard Wilma’s voice say as the illumination of thrusters in front of him appeared.
“Are we fighting each other?” he asked.
“Nope, you’re my wingmate, going against some drones,” Wilma replied. “You mentioned you were a fighter pilot, let’s see how good you are.”
Buck took the controls, testing out the feel of the fighter for several seconds while feeling the sensation of the movement of the fighter in the simulation. It took several tries before coming to an understanding what did what.
“Ready?” Wilma said.
“Yeah,” Buck said, still unsure but ready to do, treating it like a video game at the moment.
His screens came to life, information displayed all over where ever he looked and took it to be some sort of information, like a HUD of the fighters of old. He noticed new spots, indicating incoming ships, under each dot was additional data, two different numbers.
“Four on two, not too bad,” Wilma said. “Try and keep up.”
End part 5