Chapter 8

Buck opened his eyes to see a bright, smiling face staring back at him. "Morning, Buck, Darling!"

He looked back at her in all seriousness. "How can you be so chipper?"

"Chipper?" she queried.

"We're stranded on an alien planet, every electronic device around us is dead, including our ship, and you've only got 24 hours to get back to Draconia or you'll be forced to abdicate your throne to your sister who will probably blame Earth for your disappearance and bomb it out of existence. So why are you in such a good mood? Chipper?"

She shrugged as she rested a hand on his chest. "Because I'm stranded with you."

Buck had to grin at the beautiful face beside him. "Well at least you're honest. I hope you don't mind if I still try to get you back to Draconia?"

"Not at all, Darling. I'd be disappointed if you didn't try."

"Good. Let's see what we can do about getting out of here. We have to find some way to counteract this EM field."

She frowned. "I've already prepared breakfast."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

She handed him a food disc and smiled. "How's this?"

Buck smiled and shook his head. "I'd rather have some fried eggs and bacon, but I guess this'll have to do."

They gathered up what they could and stuffed them into Buck's overnight bag. After making sure Theo and Twiki were safely secured in the cockpit, Buck and Ardala left the shuttle. When they were clear of the ramp, Buck closed the hatch.

"What if we can't get back in?"

"There's an emergency release that's not electronic."
"Oh, okay. So where do you want to go first?"

Buck pulled out a compass as he looked across the lake. "That appears to be magnetic north. If the EM field is what's causing all the electronic problems, it's originating from that direction."

"How far?"

"Impossible to say. It could be a couple miles or a couple thousand miles. Who knows?"
Ardala frowned as she looked down. "I should have worn better shoes."

Buck grinned. "Yeah, and my white uniform is gonna get filthy. Oh, well. I'll just have to shout it out when I get home."

"What?"

He smiled, shook his head. "Never mind. Come on, let's go."

They walked as quickly as they could to the other side of the lake. When they started through the thick forest, Ardala had a hard time keeping up until Buck took her shoes and broke the heels off. She wanted to complain about losing her best shoes, but she understood what was at stake, so she merely did her best to keep up.

Shortly after leaving the lake, the terrain began to slope steadily upwards. Quietly they trudged up the steepening hill in the direction Buck's compass indicated. By midday the trees gave way to a wide open field of waist-high golden grain swaying in the cool breeze. Shortly after clearing the tree line, they reached the summit of the hill. Ardala opened her mouth to ask if they could take a break, but Buck stopped walking so abruptly that she ran into his back and bounced backward. She lost her footing and fell into the wheat.

"Sorry, Princess," he said with an apologetic grin as he reached down to pick her up.

"Why do you always call me Princess? I do have a first name, you know!"

"Yea, I know. It's just a habit. I'm just so used to calling you princess."

"Are you afraid if you start calling me Ardala that you'll start to fall for my womanly charms?"

He chuckled loudly for a moment. "Yeah, something like that."

She grinned. "Then I order you to start calling me Ardala. Otherwise I'll tell the whole galaxy what your two weaknesses are."

"And what would they be?"

"Stargates… and ME!"

He laughed at her as he helped her back to her feet. "Okay, Princess, er, I mean Ardala."

"Good. Now you can tell me why you stopped so suddenly without warning."

He pointed down the other side of the hill. Her eyes widened at the sight. Safely nestled at the bottom of the wheat field appeared a small village several miles away, complete with houses, windmills, and waterwheels on a rapidly moving river effectively cutting the town in half. Lazily smoke from several chimneys lifted into the air and quickly dissipated on the breeze.

"I think we found civilization," Buck said, trying to sound cheerful.

"If you can call it that," Ardala muttered.

"I didn't say it was an advanced civilization. It does kind of look like an old colonial painting." He looked down at his compass: the arrow pointed directly toward the village. "I don't know if we'll find any answers down there or not, but that's where the needle is pointing. That's where we need to go."

"Maybe I can find some sensible shoes."

Buck grinned. "Maybe, but we have no idea what they use for money. I doubt they'll take an IOU or galactic credit chips. Come on, we're running out of time."

It took them another hour and a half of fast walking to reach the outskirts of town. As they walked through the wide main street, surprisingly no one stared at them, no one gave them any questioning looks, no one seemed overly concerned with the new strangers in their midst, despite the obvious difference in clothing styles. The residents of the town all smiled and greeted them as if Buck and Ardala belonged there. They exchanged puzzled glances as they slowly trudged down the main street.

Occasionally they had to move for a horse and carriage in the road. They were surprised how busy the town appeared to be. Finally a man and a woman stepped up to them to block their passage. They both smiled and extended their hands in a "stop" motion.

"Welcome," they said in unison.

They continued to hold their hands out for a long moment before Buck realized they were waiting for the return greeting. He quickly extended his hand and pressed his palm against the other man's palm. He indicated Ardala to do the same.

"Thank you, and greetings to you," Buck answered.
They all lowered their hands. "I am Brev Nell and this is my wife Gavia. So what brings you to Comvera?"

"Comvera?"

"Our town."

"Ahh," Buck said in realization. "Right. Well, we're just passing through." Buck looked around at the primitive town and then at his compass. "I don't suppose you have anything to counteract an electro-magnetic field, do you?"
Both strangers looked at him with a blank look on their faces. Buck grinned. "I didn't think so. Do you have anything here in town that's electronic?"

Again the same look.

"Right. How about anything strange happening lately? Anything like, say, something falling from the sky and crashing to the ground?"

"Not since about 450 years ago."

Buck and Ardala exchanged glances again. "What happened 450 years ago?" she asked.

"That's when we were sent here by the Goddess."

"Huh?" Buck asked.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, we're from… another town far, far away."

"I see. Are you hungry? Have you eaten lunch? I can tell you all about us after you get some food in your bellies. You look like you haven't eaten in days."

"Actually we're kind of in a hurry. We need to get back to our town before it gets dark."
Just then he felt a hand rest on his shirt sleeve and tug lightly. "Buck," Ardala started hesitantly. I think we should stay and listen to their story."

He looked at her curiously. "We don't have any time to waste. We need to find this EM field."

Her gaze turned down the street to a flag waving atop the tallest building in town. She pointed directly toward the flag. Slowly his head turned to follow her gaze. When he saw the flag, his eyes widened and his heart stopped.

"That's…" he sputtered.

"A Draconian flag!" she confirmed. "Buck, these people are Draconian!"

Buck gave her a look of confusion. "How is that possible, Princess?" he asked in a hushed tone.

She glared at him.

"Sorry, I meant to say Ardala."

Suddenly Brev Nell and Gavia looked at the princess with a shocked, surprised, amazed look on their faces and eyes. "Ardala?" they questioned in unison.

"Yes, that's my name. I am Ardala, first daughter of Draco and heir to the empire of Draconia."

In a flash they were both on their knees in the middle of the street. They bowed their heads in reverence. Buck glanced at the princess and shrugged. "What are they doing?"

"All hail, the prophecies are true," they yelled at the top of their voices. "The Goddess Ardala has returned!"

Buck's eyes nearly exploded open. "Goddess?" He turned slowly to look at Ardala.

He watched as her face turned to one of elation. Her lips turned into a huge smile and her eyes seemed to twinkle in the bright afternoon sun. "Goddess," she muttered almost inaudibly. "Hmmm, I like the sound of that!"