Buck Rogers
by AJ Marks
Part 6
Buck watched as she turned her fighter which he had work to keep up with, adjusting his heading and then speed to match hers as he had to recall which what controlled his speed.
Suddenly he watched as ‘lasers’ streaked back and forth between Wilma’s fighter and the oncoming fighters. She quickly banked which he followed, staying on her wing. He noticed a small explosion occurred and one of the dots winked out leaving three as he looked on before realizing one was angling around behind them.
“We have one coming around,” Buck said to her.
“Stay with it, lining up the next one,” she said, and Buck saw the flash of lasers again and another dot winked out once more. He looked on seeing Wilma was heading towards the last one, but the other one was about to get in behind them. Taking and the lead he swung around seeing the targeting crosshairs appear. It quickly lined up the target before opening fire.
The lasers went straight and true, and for a second Buck thought he missed, instead they hit the dodging enemy ship and within seconds it exploded. He looked down seeing that Wilma had dispatched the last drone before the simulator ended and the screen went blank.
“Well, seems like you have some skills, perhaps we should up the numbers of enemies,” Wilma said. “John.”
“Yes colonel,” the voice replied.
“Give us a wave of Draconian Vultures,” Wilma said.
“You got it,” John’s voice said. “Good luck you two.”
Buck had a feeling things were about to get hectic in the simulator. The screen came to life again and he found himself in a similar position, Wilma ahead of him and this time, several more targets appeared, closer to a dozen or so.
“Are you usually outnumbered in combat?” Buck asked as he followed Wilma to engage the first group.
“Not always, sometimes, it’s good to know what you can go up against,” Wilma replied.
Buck wasn’t so sure about that, but followed anyways as hey engaged the first couple of targets. It was going to be a long day in the simulator, and he still had yet to fully understand the controls to the fighter, but at least the basic controls were simple enough to understand and not much different than other fighters he had flown.
*****
Buck sat back in the chair, resting his feet on the table waiting for Wilma to enter the room. They had gone through several missions in the simulator, each time he learned a bit more about the Thunderfighter and what it was capable of. It was highly maneuverable, good rate of firepower, and had several weapons, including a laser of sorts and a few missiles which would have been helpful to know in one simulation.
He had died twice, but felt it was more due to not knowing how to handle the fighter than anything else. It also stirred some passion to perhaps joining the defense force in the future, something he could do.
Wilma walked in along with another man and sat down at the table. Buck straightened up and waited to see how they performed.
“I’ll admit colonel, I was skeptical when you wanted Captain Rogers to participate, but his scores were very good,” the man said, and Buck recognized the voice as John. “He defiantly knows how to handle a fighter in space.”
“Well, I had to learn a lot in mid-flight, wasn’t easy most of the time, and I had very little knowledge of what I was doing,” Buck said.
“Still only a basic rundown of how the Thunderfighter works and you did this well, I wish our recruits understood half of what you did,” John said.
“I had a feeling you’d do well,” Wilma said.
“Not anywhere near as you,” Buck said. “And I have had some training in fighters before in the air force. Not all tactics go from atmosphere to space, but the basic outline of the cockpit seems to have remained the same.”
“Still, you did better than some of our regular pilots, few can keep up with her,” John said.
“Have you given thought to what you’re going to do after everything dies down about you being from the past?” Wilma asked. “You could join?”
“It’s, tempting,” Buck finally replied. It was something he would give a lot of thought to for sure.
He was about to say more when a beep interrupted them and Wilma looked down at her communicator.
“Well, it appears the Chancellor wants to speak with you,” Wilma said.
“When?”
“Right now,” Wilma said.
Buck thought it was a bit odd as he had nothing planned for the weekend and was scheduled to appear on another talk show on Monday, but nothing for the next couple of days. He had been on one talk show after another for the past couple of days, each one about the same, how was he adjusting, and what did he think of the future type thing.
He had not seen the Chancellor since the first day he returned back to Earth and had his little visit with the Rizonian Empire. That meeting with the council members had been, tense, at best. He could not recall doing anything which might have endangered the government so they let heading to the transports and the government building to figure out what the problem was.
*****
Buck walked right into the Chancellor’s office, a stark contrast to most areas he was at. This office was full of papers and such, a lot of mess he thought and wondered how he got anything done it also seemed unprofessional.
“Ah, Captain Rogers, excuse the mess, been doing some research which wasn’t put onto a computer,” the Chancellor said.
“Just thinking it reminded me of my time,” Buck said heading in as the Chancellor indicated for him to have a seat. The Chancellor went over and sat down behind his desk as well and looked at Buck for a few seconds.
“I have, well, an unusual request come to my office regarding you,” he said to Buck, who had no idea what that request might be. “It seems that the Dracionian princess has requested that you visit their empire with her.”
“Well, they are human as well, it might only be natural to celebrate some of our human history with them,” Buck said.
“Yes, that thought had occurred to me as well,” he replied back to Buck. “However, our relationship with them is, how do I put this, tolerant at best.”
“I gathered that when looking though the history that I missed,” Buck said.
“I also have requests from other countries here on Earth,” the Chancellor said.
“Ah, I can’t be in two places at once,” Buck answered seeing a problem.
“Exactly, and while we don’t own you, nor are you even a citizen of the NAA, we think of you as one,” the Chancellor said.
That made Buck realize he wasn’t a citizen, the last nation he was a member of no longer existed anymore. It made natural sense the other nations would want him to visit as well.
“Is there a reason why I shouldn’t visit the Draconian Empire?” Buck asked, wondering if the chancellor was trying to figure out a way to politely decline the invite.
“Um, actually, we’re hoping you would accept it,” the reply came back surprising Buck. “You see, we have little information about them, this would allow someone to bring back some info for us. We currently have peaceful relations with them, but understanding them would help for the future and to, perhaps, deter any future conflict.”
“So you want me to spy on them?” Buck asked.
“Yes and no, just observe them,” he replied back to Buck. “You have a position few of us ever would have. I won’t push you.”
“What about the rest of my schedule?” Buck asked.
“I think we can come up with an appropriate excuse,” he answered.
“Well, I always wanted to see the stars and other worlds,” Buck said. “Sign me up.”
“Excellent, you’ll be going by yourself this time, under the escort of the princess herself, they don’t trust anyone else going,” the chancellor said.
That made Buck pause, but he thought why not. It wasn’t like he had a job waiting for him. He still accepted knowing that things might not work out, and he would not have Wilma by his side, who he actually had gotten used to having around.
“Well, I guess I can take care of myself,” Buck said.
“Good, you’ll leave in the morning, I’ll let the princess know and Wilma,” he said. “And captain, good luck and be careful.”
“I will,” Buck said, walking out of the room and heading out of the office area to the waiting room where Wilma was waiting. She immediately stood and walked over to him.
“I hope you said no,” she said to him, and he knew she had been told why he the Chancellor wanted to see him.
“Actually I said yes,” Buck said seeing her frown.
“You really are a cave man,” she said to him, using the term she had for him, at first he wasn’t sure about it, now he figured she used it whenever she thought he did something dumb.
“Actually Wilma, it gives us a perfect opportunity to spy on them,” another voice said, causing them to turn to see Theopolis and Twiki standing there.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it, it’s a dumb move,” she replied back.
“Does this mean you care for me?” Buck asked, seeing her hesitate even more.
“Well of course, you’re a citizen of the NAA,” she replied back, something Buck had a feeling was an automatic response. “And you’re somewhat of a celebrity, if they manage to kidnap you it will be a public fiasco for us.”
“I don’t have any intention of being kidnapped, as you say, by the Draconians,” Buck replied back to her. “But I am curious to what they are like, having been separated from Earth now for a couple of hundred years, there’s bound to be some difference in culture by now.”
“A science experiment to you then?” Wilma asked.
“Buck is perfect person to undertake this, and we have received no indication that they are deceiving us this time,” Theopolis stated.
“Biggy, biggy, but be careful Buck,” Twiki said giving his input.
“I’m just getting used to everything here, and Earth is my home, not someplace out there in space,” Buck said back to them.
“Still don’t like it,” Wilma said crossing her arms.
“Still going,” Buck said, though he did wonder what type of trip this would be and he hoped he would return quickly.
end part 6