Buck Rogers
by AJ Marks
Part 10
Buck watched as Twiki settled in the passenger seat across from him as the transport took off towards his apartment building.
“You actually think I’m innocent?” Buck asked, wondering if the logical mind of the robot actually thought that way, or was saying something to be sounding logical.
“Of course, the odds of it occurring any other way are too great, and it would indicate that the Rizonians are also in on what is going on, which is, at best, far-fetched,” Theopolis said. “For them to be operating with another race would be against everything they stand for, and if they really wanted such things, there are other, better races to work with.”
Buck had forgotten there were other races out there, many of which he had never even met, or heard of yet.
“I guess you’re right,” Buck finally said. “I never imagined I’d be drawn into such a political mess over all of this.”
“I feared this would have happened regardless of you being here or not, but it probably provided a perfect opportunity for them to strike,” Theopolis said. “The timing of it all is rather too convenient for you to have been a part of it.”
“Thanks, so, do you sleep, or rest?” Buck asked as he noticed the transport approaching his building.
“I do have a period where I recharge, and then there is the updates, and servicing which is required,” Theopolis replied.
“How does one service you?” Buck asked, wondering if it was typical plug in and update, or more.
“It is a process, the servicemen are not allowed to be alone with me at any time, Twiki and two others are present at the same time to provide security for my program,” Theopolis answered.
“Yeah, I guess when the council is dependent on your advice they must ensure that no one tampers with you or your programming,” Buck said giving it some thought as they arrived in the building and exited.
“They managed to secure a nice place for you,” Theopolis said as they walked towards the elevators, a few people stopped to stare at both of them and Buck had the feeling Twiki didn’t get out around here much.
“I guess, not sure, nothing to compare it to,” Buck finally replied back. “I still have to figure out what I’m going to do, can’t mooch off the government forever.”
“Glad to hear that,” Theopolis said, as they arrived at the elevators and went inside, along with two women, who looked at him in silence for a few seconds before one spoke up.
“You’re the one from the past, aren’t you?” she said, her eyes never leaving Buck.
“That’s me,” Buck replied wondering what type of fans they were, or questions they might have.
“That’s so rad, can’t imagine being hurled into the future like that,” she said looking over at her friend.
“So, you live in the building?” her friend asked.
“For now, yeah,” Buck answered not sure where this conversation was going, and hoping it wasn’t where he thought it was.
“Rad, no one of importance lives here,” the first girl said as the elevator stopped. “Well, this is our stop, maybe we’ll see you around again.”
“Perhaps,” Buck said giving them both a smile as they took one last look at Buck, then Twiki before heading out of the elevator, and it continued on up to the eightieth floor.
“How are you handling fame?” Theopolis asked.
“Something I expected before all of this, just not in this way,” Buck finally answered. He already knew there were celebrities like in his time from the TV and movies and internet. Some were better than others just like back home.
The elevator stopped and he headed out to another elevator and went up the rest of the way before heading to his apartment in silence with the two robots.
“So, Twiki, you just move him around?” Buck asked as they entered his apartment.
“Biggy, biggy, that’s part of the job Buck,” Twiki replied back to him.
“Twiki is a special series, he looks completely harmless, but has security protocols built in, and can be a regular combat droid,” Theopolis said. “He only looks like a clumsy robot, part of his programming.”
Buck went to say more when something on Twiki interrupted them. He watched as Twiki pulled out what looked like a smartphone, looked at it before speaking up again.
“They’ve called an emergency council meeting,” Twiki said.
“I expected something like this,” Theopolis replied. “We’re going to have to run, but if you need anything let us know. Twiki, reply that we’re on our way.”
“Biggy, biggy, no problem, see you Buck,” Twiki said, before finishing up on the phone, putting it away and heading out the door.
Buck was left alone again, and hoped people didn’t somehow thing he was actually involved in spying against the NAA for the Draconian Empire. He never expected this when he climbed into the cockpit of the Enterprise to test the FTL drive and be put into the history books.
He gave a small snort, he was in the history books, but not the way he hope. Of course that part was already being rewritten and it appeared he was already being dragged into a conspiracy.
*****
He woke to a knock on the door, frowning he looked over the clock which read 21:19, and wondered who was knocking at this time of night. Walking over to the door, he activated the screen, only to see Wilma standing there in the hallway waiting for him.
“Just a moment,” he said, splashing some water on his face, drying it and heading to the door to open it for her.
“You know you could have unlocked it and allowed me in without actually coming to the door?” she said with a bit of smile on her face.
“Ah, yeah, force of habit,” Buck replied, knowing that the screen in his bedroom had the ability to open, close, lock and unlock the door. “It’s a relief to see you survived.”
“Yeah, we lost too many in the battle,” Wilma said, confusing Buck.
“Thought the losses were light?” Buck replied. “Or at least that’s what Theopolils said.”
“Even one loss is too many for me,” Wilma said, and Buck saw a quick mask of pain at those she had lost.
“You must make a great commander,” Buck finally said.
“Why?”
“Because you care about all of them,” Buck said. “I’ve seen too many who don’t care, they’ll toss away the lives of those below them as if they were nothing.”
“Can’t imagine doing that to them,” Wilma replied.
“So, anything you can tell me, or is it all top secret stuff?” Buck asked, wondering if he would be any information at all of what happened.
“Not much to tell in a fight, they appeared, it was actually a smaller force than I thought,” Wilma said. “That’s what is so confusing about it all. Then you have King William denying he ever made such an order.”
“Well, he might not have,” Buck said after a few seconds of thinking about it.
“What do you mean?” Wilma asked, sounding a bit confused by the turn in the conversation. “The king rules absolutely, there is no sharing of power there, no voting by the people, you obey or die.”
Buck wondered if that was really the case, but from what he saw things were slightly different. “I’ll admit, the king holds a lot of power, but like anything there are power factions within the power structure, each one vying for top slot.”
“Are you saying someone is trying to overthrow him by attacking us?” Wilma replied. “Sorry, that sounds extremely unlikely at best.”
“No,” Buck said now pacing around as he thought about it. “His kids each seemed to be very different. Take the princess, she seems to want no power, but loves to use that power for her own personal gain. No, she wouldn’t do this, but the middle kid, what was his name? Harry, no Harold, he seemed, nervous, and angry. Perhaps this was to impress his father, or embarrass his brother.”
“Still doesn’t make any sense,” Wilma replied.
“What did King William say?” Buck asked, wondering what excuse the man would use on this.
“Said he was not responsible, but he would find out and punish the man responsible for sure,” Wilma said.
“I guess you wait to see what he uncovers,” Buck said, not really sure about that bit of advice.
“I don’t know, its up to the council to figure that out,” Wilma said. “I know I have to reorganize the fighter squadrons a bit, bring up some reserves, activate new people and start a new training program.”
“I might join,” Buck said finally, after giving it some thought.
“Are you sure?” Wilma said.
“Yeah, I was a pilot before, still enjoy being a pilot,” Buck said. “Though some in the council might not like me being part of the defense force.”
“Well, if you continue to fly like you did, I’ll accept you,” Wilma said. “As for the council, I heard about that.”
“And you don’t think it’s suspicious?” Buck asked her wondering what she thought.
“At first, yeah I did, then gave it some thought, and realized you hardly asked about the defenses, or rotations or anything else which might help an attack like the one which was sent, you were interested in the Thunderfighter,” Wilma said sitting down on the sofa. “And anyone would know such a small force would be defeated.”
“A feint?” Buck asked.
“Thought about that as well, but what would the objective really be?” Wilma asked.
“I have no idea, not enough information to figure that out,” Buck replied. “Anything important going on politically, an event or something?”
“Not for us, everything had been normal with our neighboring races, except for the disturbance you created, intelligence has picked up nothing,” Wilma said. “But its something I can bring up in the next meeting in the morning, see if anyone else knows something I don’t.”
“Thought you were the head of the defense?” Buck said.
“Yeah, the Thunderfighter squadrons, there are some others, we have a few warships, most are in orbit around the moon,” Wilma replied back to him, surprising him. “But with the capabilities of the Thunderfighter, we rarely need them.”
“Wasn’t aware of those,” Buck said.
“Another reason why I don’t think you were a spy, they could have been rushed to defend in minutes if a larger force arrived, and they were on alert, and again, anyone would know about that by looking on the internet,” Wilma said. “Admiral Thomson will be here to be part of the meeting in the morning, he’s the fleet commander.”
“Too many different position to figure out,” Buck said.
“In a way, the Chancellor is the overall head of the military,” Wilma said. “I command all the Thunderstar fighter squadrons on Earth, Thomson commands our military in space.”
“Oh, okay, two different systems, a bit like the Navy, Army and Air Force,” Buck said, each was separate yet were all part of the military of the USA. Looking at it like that it made more sense to him and he could actually understand it.
“I guess,” Wilma said.
They were quiet for several minutes as Buck went over everything in the conversation. It seemed unusual to him, but he was missing pieces of the puzzle, a mystery he wanted to solve. Then there was the invite to the fighter squadrons, something he had been excited about from the moment he actually sat in the simulator.
He turned to Wilma and stopped, she had fallen asleep. Deciding not to wake her, he went over and picked out a blanket, covered her and went back to his own bed, wondering what would happen tomorrow.
End part 10