Last of the Great American Heroes

Chapter 11

Emergence

Back in the Defence Directorate Head Quarters, Dr Huer made a steeple of his hands, resting his fingertips on his chin while he mused over the latest news. "Well we know one thing for sure, Buck is determined to reach his destination – wherever that may be, without any interference from us." He turned to Wilma "Did you recover the Starfighter?"

"No!" She replied, "but we did immobilise it so if Buck wants to leave..."

"He won't be able to!" Dr Huer's eyes flashed. "You do know this is Buck we are talking about – he's quite resourceful and er, how will he be able to contact us to retrieve him?

Wilma smirked. "Like you said, Dr Huer, he is quite resourceful!"

"I just don't understand what has gotten into him, he's never just taken off like this, he muttered."

"Well apart from the time he went into Anarchia when he first arrived and then the time he went chasing after a girl he thought looked like Jennifer and then..."

"Yes, yes I get the picture, but why would he...?" he looked suddenly thoughtful. "Where did you say the Starfighter was discovered again? Wilma gave him the coordinates and he punched them into his computer then studied the screen. "Oh My! Of course!"

"Dr Huer what is it?" She wondered round to his side of the desk to see what her superior was referring to.

"There have been reports of activity in the area," he replied "Smoke, unusual structures appearing, along with the carcasses of animals."

"Mutants? They don't usually head so far out of the city limits – unless..."Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Unless they are not mutants," he finished. "Do you remember, Colonel Deering when Buck hid that Draconian engineer – er what was his name?"

"Garridon? So you think these people, who or whatever they are, are linked to his past somehow and that is who he has gone to find?"

He nodded, "Indeed I do child, indeed I do!."

"Dr Huer." Wilma became animated. "I need the coordinates of these sightings. I want to take a ground patrol out there."

"I don't know, maybe we should just let him do whatever he has come for and let him return in his own good time."

Wilma's eyes darted from side to side. "And if they are mutants, he could be in danger, and knowing Buck's habit of getting himself into trouble..."

"Very well Colonel but it's not easy terrain to traverse, very overgrown and virtually inaccessible in parts."

Wilma shrugged. "Then I guess we need a pulsar cannon."

-o-o-o-o-

Buck exhaled deeply. He scrubbed his hands over his face, feeling totally wretched. His head was spinning, his mind a maelstrom of thoughts. He had known – or at least thought he knew the effects of dropping a nuclear bomb on a highly populated area. But to have the full horror of it described in detail like that knowing the same fate probably befell everyone he once knew and loved was soul destroying. Caldwell's words echoed in his ears, increasing in volume until he had to forcibly lock it out of his thoughts.

"This is not what I wanted." He whispered. "This is not what I came for." His voice increased in volume. "What's next? The ghost of Christmas Present or the Ghost of Christmas Future? The growling in his empty stomach was the only audible response.

He sat with a heavy heart in silence for what seemed like ages, until he began to grow aware of another presence in the room. - which brought him out of his reverie. He glanced up to see the outline of a tall, broad chested Native American male, standing to his right, arms folded across his chest. Another form took shape next to him, this time it was a large dog – no not a dog, Buck quickly realised, it was a wolf. He sensed that the two belonged together. When did they arrive?

The man beckoned for him to follow and when Buck rose, turned and began walking towards the back of the room till they were outside, greeted by an almost full moon. He glanced around . There was no sign of the village, where had the houses gone? All the others? The man pointed to the distance. Buck frowned. Even in this altered state he knew that something was wrong. The man hadn't said a word to him and his clothing was different from the rest of the tribe. The others were covered from head to foot but this one had areas of his torso and legs exposed. He looked and behaved more like one of the Native American Indians from ancient history. Buck cocked his head and regarded the man curiously.

"Where?" He shrugged, "I don't see anything.

At last the man spoke, "You will see, come!"

Buck hesitated, then the wolf padded towards him. He froze but the animal just nudged his arm and turned its head to the direction the Native American was indicating, then trotted off when Buck began to follow. He took a few tentative footsteps then gasped as another figure emerged from the shadows.

"Dad!"

The late James Rogers, deceased for half a century, stepped forward. "Hello son."

"Dad? What? Am I dead? Is this Heaven?

"No, not exactly, it's more a gateway, if you like, between the spirit world and the physical world. They," he indicated the wolf and the the native, "are here to guide you, to keep you safe." He reached out and clasped his son by the shoulders. "It's good to see you son, to be able to speak with you, though, we don't have very long."

Buck nodded his understanding. "Mom? Is she with you?"

"Not in this place, but she sends her love and she's very proud of you, we both are but she says when are you going to settle down instead of running around with all these space floozies!"

"What? Buck chuckled, "Oh I can just imagine Mom saying that."

His father joined in the laughter for a few seconds then his expression grew serious.

"William, I'm here for a reason."

"You know I don't like being called William, I don't feel like a William, or a Bill for that matter."

James had a twinkle in his eye. "You haven't spoken to your old man in five hundred years and then I get told off!"

Buck looked sheepish. "Sorry Dad, I'm just not used to being called that any more..." he paused. "You said you were here for a reason?"

James squeezed his son's shoulder. "You came here to find out the truth of what happened after you left, and if I know my youngest son, then I know you won't give up until you get it...but I promise you it won't be easy to hear."

Buck nodded, "I know Dad, I know."

The spirit of James Rogers turned and began to walk slowly, with his son as his side as he began to recall the events of his final year on Earth.

"I know what Caldwell told you, but that didn't happen to us. We got into the Alderton's shelter. We all thought he was nuts stockpiling food like that but as it turned out old Tom had the last laugh. When we heard the sirens, he herded us in there, guess since his wife died, he figured he'd be lonely in there." He paused for a moment and turned to look at his son before continuing. "Anyway, we had no radio, for days, no-one knew what was happening in the outside world. Eventually we managed to get a signal and all we heard was, 'Stay indoors!' It began to get very claustrophobic in there not to mention the stench, although you stopped noticing it after a while. Well the food supplies didn't last forever so after about a month or so we had to go outside the shelter and when we did we saw full extent of the damage. The old neighbourhood was barely recognisable. Do you know what your mother said when we first got out? She said 'James, if I'd known this was going to happen I wouldn't have bought those expensive drapes!"

Buck gave a sad smile, "Oh Mom!"

"I guess after you'd gone, she just put all her energy into doing up the house from top to bottom – apart from your room, no-one was allowed to touch that for when you came back. She wouldn't hear any different, but I knew you were lost to us. I guess it was her way of coping. The world mourned for it's last great American Hero. When the bombs fell she was glad you weren't there to see it." The old man looked wistful.

"Anyway I guess once we'd set foot outside, we'd sealed our fate. Your mom was the first to go and I joined her soon afterwards. I guess, there wasn't really much left to go on for anyway. Marilyn was killed by the blast but Frank, well he survived managed to pull together some kind of life for himself and eventually came to find our bodies – what there was left."

Buck winced at hearing all this but reminded himself of his real purpose for coming all this way."Dad, who started it all? The holocaust I mean? Was it the Russian's? The Chinese?"

His father shook his head slowly, "No son, none of those, it was a bunch of crazies hell bent on controlling the population and sealing everyone into those domes you all live in."

"What but that's – why? Why would they do that to our beautiful cities, to our countryside, to the rest of the world?"

"Because they were mad, and hell bent on creating this elitist New Earth Order. It was meant to be a few controlled explosions, but it got out of hand, set of a chain reaction they didn't predict and the whole planet was almost wiped out."

For not the first time that day, Buck's mind was sent reeling as he carefully considered this revelation. "Dad – did you know about the accusations against me?"

His father shook his head. "We were questioned about your whereabouts in the last year by some Air Force Official but they wouldn't say what it was about. You can rest easy on that score son, the world didn't think you were a traitor – quite the opposite."

Buck felt the relief wash over him as the tension of the last few weeks began to dissipate. Finally, he felt peace again for the first time since the trial had begun.

"And Jenny?" Did you ever hear much from her?"

She stayed in touch with your mother after your launch. She was killed in the blast trying to protect the children in her class, managed to get them all into a shelter but went back to check no-one was missing. She was a special girl Will – Buck and I can see why you've been so hung up on her."

"That's my Jenny, always put others before herself."

"She's at peace now, in a place that I couldn't even begin to describe, I guess you'll find out for yourself one day, but not for a long while yet, so you gotta live son, you gotta grasp every opportunity for happiness that comes your way and," he continued softly, "you gotta let her go, move on and take a chance with someone else. Life, it kinda creeps up on you and before you know it you've gotten old and you're left looking back wondering what you missed out on. Plus," he laughed, once, "you never know when your time's up!"

Buck sighed, "Well I don't know where I go from here, I guess I just have to hope the Admiral is understanding and if not, well I always have my undercover work with the Defence Directorate – don't know whether Wilma will still be speaking to me though."

"Son, it's time to rebuild some bridges and time for me to go. I wish I could stay longer but..." He clasped Buck's hand. "Take care son, you know we love you and there aren't enough words to describe how proud we are of you and everything that you have done."

It took a lot of effort for Buck not to plead with his father to stay longer, but he guessed that there was some kind of order to the spirit world, so reluctantly he nodded and then grasped his father in a bear hug. "I love you Dad, I miss you and Mom so much."

His father stepped back. "I know son, but we haven't gone away, we are always with you." The spirit of James Rogers began to fade before his his son's eyes. "Goodbye William."

"Buck's mouth quirked at the corners. "You always had to have the last word didn't you Dad!"

He gazed at the spot where his father had been and then turned to head back to where? He didn't even know how to get back. He looked up to see the Native American and the wolf had re-appeared – or had they ever left?"

"How do I get back?"

The man beckoned, "Come!"

"Man of many words." Buck muttered under his breath. He walked the short distance to where his companions were. He presumed that they would re-enter the sweat lodge but instead he was guided towards a dense thicket. At this point the man turned to Buck and said, "You must make this journey alone."

Buck nodded in acknowledgement then began to walk forward, his footsteps made no sound there was just an eerie silence. At first the thicket was pitch black but then Buck noticed a faint luminescence radiating from deep inside. He began to head towards it but the path ahead was cut off abruptly. He turned back and found another opening which allowed him to penetrate deeper in to the bush. He came upon another dead end upon another, each time having to double back and find a different path until the realisation dawned that he was in some kind of maze. Each time this happened his frustration grew. He felt peaceful,but weary, wishing only for a place to lay his head. Even his hunger had dissipated. Eventually he found the source of the etheric glow – at the centre of the maze. It was a pond reflecting moonlight so brilliantly that it lit the forest. Buck sat down and ran his fingers through the silvery water which shimmered and glistened as he traced the outline of the moon's reflection. He felt calm and he began to relax and feel sleepy.

He woke up and looked around. He could feel the hard ground beneath him and realised that he was back in the lodge and wondered if he had ever left. He rose, stretched and made his way to the door, being careful not to trip over the now cooled stones piled in the middle. Once outside he was greeted by the cool morning air. He shivered and covered himself with the fur blanket which had been placed just outside the hut. He heard a noise and glanced to his left, pleasantly surprised to see the young woman he had met on first entering the village, carrying a pale of water. He raised his hand in acknowledgement.

She smiled shyly. "I shall let the others know that you have returned."

He smiled back, "thanks, I hope there's a spare bed somewhere."

"I'm sure we shall find one. You are tired now?"

"Yes, very, I think I'll sleep for a week."

She hesitated then put down the pale and turned to face him. "It must be very exciting to travel through the stars."

"Well yes it can be." Buck padded over to her and gazed into her large doe eyes. "What say when I've had a nap we meet up later and I'll tell you all about it?"

She blushed slightly, "Thank you I would like that."

Another female voice stopped him in his tracks. "By rights I should have you arrested Captain Rogers!"

Buck's mouth gaped open in shock. "Wilma!"

A/N I'd like to apologise that it has taken me so long to write another chapter. It is long overdue I know. Life, buying a house and a whole heap of other stuff has just got in the way. My muse took a long vacation, I hope she's back to stay. I have actually planned the whole story in my head but just had a hard time getting it down in print. Thank you to those who have added me to their watch list and favourites I hope your patience has been rewarded. I hope to get the next chapter uploaded pretty soon.