Chapter 10

Buck and Wilma spent nearly the next whole day in the Mustang traveling south on Interstate 95. Wilma was intent upon trying to see everything. Somewhere in South Carolina it began to sprinkle and then to rain heavily. Wilma's eyes were opened wide as her head jerked from side to side in reaction to the windshield wipers of the Mustang. Buck almost laughed at her.

"You look funny."

Her eyes continued to follow the wipers. "Why?"

"Haven't you ever seen rain before?"

"Of course I have. Just not on Earth. I'm just amazed at the inefficiency of these anti-precipitation devices."

Buck began to laugh. "What? The windshield wipers? These are the top of the line wiper blades you're looking at."

"Wiper blades?"

"Roll your window down."

She looked at him blankly. Buck grasped the handle on his side, indicated the similar handle on Wilma's side. Then he began to crank the handle to lower the window. Wilma followed, then smiled in amazement as the rain began to enter the window. Her hair blew back in the wind and the rain pelted her bare arm. Buck rested his arm on top of the car door, looked over at Wilma who quickly did the same. The two of them laughed together as they drove through the rainstorm.

By the time they reached Titusville, Florida, it was dark and both were exhausted from driving. They found a small motel on the outskirts of town and quickly turned in for the night.

The next day Buck was already dressed and ready to go before Wilma even woke up. She suggested that Buck call some of his friends while she took a shower. He simply shook his head.

"That might not be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"What if I get talking to Toby or Jim and then they see the other Buck later before my flight takes off? They might ask him about something I said and the other Buck would have no idea what they were talking about."

She nodded. "Good point. Speaking of the other Buck, have you decided what you're going to do about him?"

"Sleeping gas."

"Huh?"

"We're going to sneak aboard the shuttle tonight. When he comes in tomorrow morning, the first thing he's going to do is tie into the shuttle's interior atmosphere. I'm going to install a tank of sleeping gas into the shuttle's environmental control and he's going to fall asleep. Then we can move him into another seat. I figure he should be out cold at least until we can find the stargate."

She grinned slightly. "It's going to be strange seeing another you around."

"Tell me about it. I've been thinking about that all night."

She started to enter the bathroom but suddenly stopped cold. She slowly turned to face Buck.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just thought of something. I'm going to be stuck in a small space ship… with two Buck Rogers!"

Buck barely showed a grin out of the corner of his mouth. "Well aren't you the lucky one?"

She shrugged. "I don't know if 'luck' is the word I would've used!"

He waved her into the bathroom. "Just go take your shower and shut up!"

When the bathroom door closed, he could still hear her giggling.

When Wilma was ready, they both left the motel and got into the Mustang. Buck fired up the car and headed across town.

"Where are we going first?"

"My old apartment.'

"Is that a good idea?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's about ten on Friday morning. I'd already be on base, getting last minute preparations for my launch tomorrow. And my roommate Toby will be on base too. This is the perfect time to go."

"Why do you have to go to your apartment?"

"I need to steal one of my uniforms so I can get onto the base this afternoon."

"What about me?"

"I'm gonna smuggle you in. We'll find you a uniform once we get on base."

Buck turned onto Indian River Avenue and drove for a few minutes. Finally they pulled up to a small apartment complex. They got out of the car and started for the building. Buck tapped Wilma on the shoulder.

"If anybody asks who you are, you're my sister."

She merely nodded. He pointed across the parking lot. "I loved this apartment. See that beach? I spent a lot of nights laying on the sand there. A lot different from Chicago nights."

He stopped to take a long look at the crowd already forming on the beach and the waves gently lapping the shore.

"You want to go down for a couple minutes?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. We've got a job to do."

He led her up the exterior stairs to his second floor apartment. He reached into a nearby hanging flower pot and pulled out a key. He glanced at Wilma and grinned.

"For emergencies."

He opened the door and quietly replaced the key. They stepped into the apartment. Buck immediately went into the bedroom to pick out a uniform. In the meantime Wilma simply walked around the living room of the apartment. There were many pictures of Buck and a beautiful woman throughout the room. Wilma stepped closer to one and picked it up. She recognized the picture of Jennifer that Buck had shown her a long time ago. She replaced the picture back on the mantel and moved on to the next one. Several minutes passed before Buck came out of the bedroom. Her eyes widened as she turned to look.

"How do I look?" he asked.

Wilma stared at him for a moment. He was dressed in Air Force dress uniform. She blinked a couple times, then cleared her throat. "Uh, great! You look… great!"

Buck noticed that Wilma was holding a picture. He stepped up to her and looked down at the frame. He smiled and nodded.

"That was taken at Homecoming last year. I took her to my old college. They had a fair going on, we rode some rides, ate some cotton candy. This was right after I won her that giant Pooh bear in her arms." He paused, closed his eyes. In his mind he could still see that night unfold as if it had happened last night. At last he opened his eyes, shook his head. He sighed heavily. "I'm done here. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded as she replaced the picture. She rested her hands on Buck's arm. "It has to be hard on you, being here."

"In this apartment or back in 1987?"

"Both."

He stared deeply into Wilma's eyes for a long minute. A muscle in his right cheek twitched. He looked away and went to the picture window. He looked down at the beach and ocean. Softly Wilma stepped beside him.

He shook his head. "This is the life I knew. The life I had. It's hard to see it all over again. It's like a dream. I don't know if it's real or if we're just in some fantasy. What if we're still inside that starfighter and this is all just a dream?"

"Does it feel like a dream?"

He shook his head again. "No. It feels real."

"If it were all a dream, then we're having the same one. And I've never been here before. So it can't be a dream."

He chuckled wanly. "You know, I've never understood time travel. I never understood Terminator, Star Trek IV, Voyagers, Doctor Who… Time travel is…out there. If this all is real, then I'm… out there too. How do I cope with the idea of time travel back to my own time? How do I cope with the fact that there are two Buck Rogers on Cape Canaveral?"

Wilma softly stroked the side of Buck's cheek. "We focus on the mission."

He nodded after a moment's hesitation. "You're right." He took a deep breath and stood a little taller. "Let's go catch the space shuttle. We've got a holocaust to stop."