Buck Rogers
by AJ Marks
Part 14
Buck landed the Thunderfighter back onto the runway once again back in the NAA after quite the ordeal in the UEA. He shut down the fighter after rolling it to its spot and jumped out as the maintenance crew made their way over and begin looking it over and servicing it.
“Welcome back Buck,” one said taking the helmet from him.
“Thanks,” Buck replied watching as another fighter rolled in and stopped.
“Heard you had quite the adventure over there,” the head crew chief said.
“Almost blown up and got kidnapped, not sure that’s an adventure or not,” Buck replied.
“Compared to what happens around here, that’s an adventure,” the man replied back.
“Yeah, not something I want to do again though,” Buck said, and it wasn’t. He had been through a bomb and an attack and really wanted something a bit more peaceful right now after all of that. The crew chief would have said more but another man approached.
“Captain Rogers, you’re wanted for a briefing,” the man said, and Buck recognized the uniform as a man in the military with the rank of Lieutenant. He felt grateful they had not eliminated, or changed too much, the ranks of the old US military.
“Lead on,” Buck said, wondering who would be at this meeting, but had a feeling he knew what it was going to be over. It was something he had been mentally preparing for since being rescued, or perhaps even before, when he was captured.
He followed the man into the building slightly surprised when they didn’t leave and entered a larger meeting room, inside were a few familiar faces, and some he did not recognize.
“Welcome back captain,” Jack Thomson said.
“Its nice to be back,” Buck replied walking over to have a seat as Wilma walked in next and sat down as well.
“Now, you’re not one to beat the asteroid with so we’ll get right to the point,” Jack said. “What happened?”
“Well, there was the attack at the dinner, which you all probably know about,” Buck said.
“Yes, the bombing attack which the group Urals took responsibility for, not surprising at all,” Jack said. “We didn’t think they would dare attack so openly, or so our intel led us to believe, if so we’d have warned you and sent additional guards.”
“Well, the attack itself seemed pointed at the President, not me,” Buck replied recalling the events and how it went off just before he had sat down. “Made me miss supper.”
“It’s actually the events after that which we’re really interested in Captain Rogers,” Doctor Theopolis said from where he was hanging around Twiki’s neck.
“Well, that one started off normally, heading to one of the other cities when the transport stopped, that’s when they attacked,” Buck said. “Caught everyone inside off guard and according to the people I was with they didn’t seem to think I would be targeted either.”
“Yes, that one was a surprise to us as well,” Jack replied.
“They rushed in shooting and quickly bound and dragged me out, placed mask over my eyes and drove off in some car,” Buck said. “After a drive over some rough terrain, they don’t know how to drive, we finally stopped in a compound of some sort. Was able to see it had several buildings, a main road leading in and out and there were several people, all of whom I’d never seen before.”
“Did you talk with anyone?” Theopolis asked.
“One guy, think he was the leader of the group there,” Buck said. “Said I was supporting the current administration which they couldn’t allow, thought I’d be sympathetic to their cause due to the history they learned of the twenty-first century.”
“In what way?” Wilma asked.
“Thought I was supportive of the whole money and power thing, the history of that wasn’t kind to the poor as the people rebelling thought,” Buck said. “Also, he mentioned that the bombing wasn’t done under his orders, had the impression some people under him did it on their own.”
“Interesting,” Theopolis answered. “Please go on.”
“When it became clear I wasn’t on their side as much as they expected his attitude changed, not more hostile, but almost more of a regret,” Buck said trying to recall the encounter. “It was almost as if he never thought I would consider not working with him.”
“Anything else?” Jack asked.
“There was one thing,” Buck said, hesitant to say it but they might know something he didn’t. “When they locked me up, I had a view out of a window, not sure they realized that or not. Looking out I saw the compound and a car drove up, a man got out and exchanged words with the rebel leader. I had the feeling that whoever the man was held a lot of power.”
“The real leader?” Wilma asked.
“Or someone who knew the leader, but he seemed a bit familiar to me, not sure where,” Buck said.
“You’ve given us more information than we expected,” Jack said. “We expected you to know nothing, going from one holding spot to another. We wanted to try a rescue while you were moving, figured there would be fewer guards.”
Buck figured that made sense, especially if the rescue group was small.
“There is one other matter,” Theopolis stated.
“Yes,” Jack said, almost a bit reluctantly. “We have received an answer from the Draconian Empire as to who ordered the attack.”
“Oh?” Buck said, shifting in his chair to hear what they had to say.
“They claim princess Ardala ordered the attack.”
“What?” Buck said in shock. “That’s total BS, I can’t see her doing such a thing.”
“Yes, I see we’re on the wavelength here, neither do we. I consider it a false excuse, a ruse,” Jack said.
“We know Ardala is a brat, but doing something so bold, not her style,” Wilma said. “And she’s usually thinking more about other things.”
Buck knew what she meant by other things. Ardala thought more about her own pleasure than anything else and that seemed to dictate everything she did. Planning such an attack was not in her character at all.
“Now, we have a dilemma as well over this, publically we’ve accepted this ‘explanation’ but secretly we’ve informed the Draconian Empire that we do not think their explanation is adequate,” Theopolis said.
Buck gave that some thought, not sure why they were really telling him about all of this until Theopolis asked his next question.
“Do you think either of the other two, Harold or Victor, could have been behind this?”
Buck thought about it for several seconds before giving his answer. “Yeah, probably, they both seemed to have their father’s thirst for power,” Buck said recalling what was said during the dinner. “Victor was very insistent over football, but I think it was Harold who I would say would do something like this.”
“Really?” Jack asked, now sitting up as well.
“He seemed to have something to prove, like he wanted his father to see how well he could run things after all, Victor is the heir to the throne, a bit of a power play to show who was better. Victor seemed more preoccupied with football and other things as Harold wanted to do something,” Buck replied back.
“An interesting theory,” Theopolis replied. “But why tell us Ardala was behind it?”
“Probably because she was the most convenient, nothing will happen to her, she won’t even care unless it affects her ability to bed someone, and it might only help her within the empire,” Buck said. “Is she being punished in any way?”
“We do not have that information,” Theopolis replied.
“So we’re relying on someone else for information about this,” Buck said.
“As we’ve said before, getting spies into the Draconian Empire has not been easy, especially getting close to the royal family,’ Theopolis stated.
Buck recalled that Ardala stated such spies were easy to capture. He wondered what they were doing to give themselves away but returned to the information at hand.
“Thank you captain,” Jack said, effectively dismissing him.
Buck stood and walked out of the room, wondering what he might do next when another man approached him.
“Captain, the chancellor has asked for you,” he said.
“Lead on,” Buck said, wondering if he was going to repeat all of this once more and why the Chancellor wasn’t at this meeting.
*****
Buck didn’t have to wait to meet the Chancellor, almost as if he was waiting for him and walked in seeing a couple of senators sitting in the room as well, including Mark Gonzalez. Buck smiled as he made his way over already feeling on guard due to the fact Mark was here.
“Captain, glad you could make it. I take it you had no problems with your other debriefing?” the Chancellor asked.
“Nope, routine stuff,” Buck replied looking over at the other senator who he knew was familiar but couldn’t recall her name.
“They made sure I was kept up to date, and they were really insistent to carry out the rescue operations,” the Chancellor replied. “But, I want to thank you for doing such a good job in representing the NAA, even though you are not an actual citizen.”
“Well, I wasn’t about to try and start a war, I only acted natural,” Buck replied wondering how he could have made things worse, or even embarrassed the government of the NAA.
“You were in an interesting group once more captain,” Mark said from where he sat.
“Things got a bit tense diplomatically,” the chancellor said making Buck wonder how much pressure the government had to put on the UEA to carry out the rescue.
“Putting it mildly,” Mark said. “I’m beginning to wonder what side you’re on, things seem to happen ever since you arrived.”
“I have no idea,” Buck replied back to him unsure if any answer he gave would appease him.
“I will get to the truth,” Mark told him.
“Good, then you’ll know I had nothing to do with any of this,” Buck replied back to him, he was done backing down to the man.
“We’ll see,” Mark replied back to him.
“Oh, honestly, you’re as bad as a Draconian,” the woman said chiding Mark before turning to Buck. “Captain, I take it you’ve heard the latest news regarding who was responsible for the attack on Earth by the Draconians?”
Buck nodded.
“Good, and I take it you don’t agree with that official statement?” she asked.
Again Buck nodded.
“Neither do we,” she said confirming what the admiral had told him only minutes ago in the last meeting.
“The problem is we can’t just come out publically without any real proof,” the Chancellor said. “Privately we’ve already told them we don’t accept their official statement.”
“Blaming Princess Ardala doesn’t sound right,” Buck said.
“She had visited us the most,” Mark said.
“Yeah, and she’s more interested in other things than leading. She likes power, but doesn’t want to actually lead. She uses the power for her own pleasure, anything outside of that she doesn’t care about,” Buck told them recalling everything he knew about her.
“Yes, from what we know it doesn’t fit her personality,” the Chancellor replied back to him.
“Anyone you think might have done it?” the woman asked.
“Well, I’d lean more towards Harold instead, he seems to have a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove something to his father,” Buck told them.
“Really, we don’t know much about him,” the woman said giving it some thought. “You really think so?”
“Of the people I met, yes. Of course it very well could be someone else but I think they would have turned them over if it had been. With Harold, the king might have felt reluctant to say anything, and blaming Ardala would seem to be a perfect alibi and he wouldn’t have to really punish her,” Buck told them, having given it some more thought on the way over.
“Thank you for your insight captain, I’m sure you’re tired after your trip,” the Chancellor said.
“Yeah, it was a long trip, not every day I’m around for a bombing and a kidnapping,” Buck said before rising and leaving the room. Now to head back to his apartment and consider what he would do next.
End part 14