Chapter 5: Buzz's First Big Mission

Two months passed after Buzz was restored to his rank as Captain, now in the Galactic Protection Unit. When on duty, he wore a uniform in his preferred color; red with white boots and gloves, and he wore chest armor sporting the insignia of his rank. Not only was Buzz imposing in his looks, but he was already making a name for himself in the business of keeping space safe. He had done a brilliant job of keeping space pirates and smugglers from profiting off stolen goods, working to resolve disputes between peoples and worlds peacefully, and bringing interplanetary criminals to justice so that he earned a handful of commendations from the leaders of the Federation. Buzz also made friends with his fellow officers from Earth and from other worlds and he quickly became popular at Fort Apollo.

That day, while relaxing in his new private quarters, Buzz heard a message come in on his comlink and activated it to find Commander McRadion on the other end.

"Captain Rogers, I want to see you at my office immediately," the Commander said in a no-nonsense voice. "We have a Level 2 emergency."

"I'm on my way, sir," Buzz replied. He got into his suit and immediately headed through the base to Commander McRadion's office. Buzz saluted his commanding officer, and then McRadion explained the situation.

"I've sent for you, Captain, because the Federation has received distressing news concerning interplanetary travel," the Commander explained. "Several starships have gone missing in a number of sectors in frontier space, which has raised concern that space travel in Federation territory might be too dangerous at this time. The Grand Council has determined that the majority of these disappearances have occurred in the Virgo star system. With this in mind, there may be new civilizations there that may be in danger from whatever's causing this."

"And you want me to find the cause of this disturbance and stop it. Is that it?" finished Buzz.

"Can you do it, Rogers?" Commander McRadion asked in a serious tone.

"Absolutely, sir," the young astronaut replied. "'Cause no intergalactic menace would expect a monkey wrench in their plans from… Buzz Rogers in the Mid-25th Century!"*

With that, Buzz saluted Commander McRadion and prepared to depart for the constellation of Virgo. But he wouldn't do it alone. First, Buzz called Luna Silverstar and Dr. Metropolis as they would be going with him on his first interstellar mission. However, Buzz couldn't help feeling a little doubtful as he and his new friends rallied their crew of human and alien officers, engineers, mechanics, and medics.

…

At precisely 10:15, Buzz, Luna, and Dr. Metropolis were at the Fort Apollo Starship Base awaiting the final preparations for their selected starship's takeoff. Among the many starships of the Federation Fleet, the Earth-class starship Excalibur was a worthy vessel for space flight. It was twenty-five stories long, its hull made of a titanium-steel alloy enhanced with a futuristic variant of Mylar for greater stability, and the bridge was a thirty-yard dome with six viewports standing between the bow and midship. The ship sported four main rocket engines and two external boosters on the stern for speed as well as a pair each of curved wings and tail fins. Its defense systems included turbolaser cannons on the lower bow, neutron missile launchers on the upper stern, space mine launchers on the lower stern, and a deflector shield designed to repel space junk and enemy fire. Lastly, in case the ship was damaged beyond repair, the third deck was lined with escape pods on both sides.

In forty minutes, the Excalibur was fully supplied, checked from bow to stern, and all systems were operational. With that, Buzz and the others stepped on a mobile ramp and entered the starship through the second deck. Buzz was amazed when he saw the interior, for it was equally impressive as the starship's outward appearance. The metallic walls and doors were covered with a plastoid covering which served better than wall paint. The halls were lit with solar lamps, the air was immensely clean, and there were mobile platforms and elevators to save the crew time moving between decks. Though it was all nice to look at, everything about this ship and the mission somehow made Buzz feel less confident in himself, that he wasn't the captain the Federation needed him to be.

Perhaps, he thought, I just wanted to impress everyone, and this whole thing about me helping people was a lie. Luna will probably hate me, but she's the real space pilot. Not me. She's the one who should lead on this mission.

…

On the bridge of the Excalibur, a handful of human officers and some alien officers were at their posts and awaiting permission to launch. Luna stood beside the captain's chair as bold as a brass statue and said, "All systems go, Captain Rogers. We're ready for launch."

But to her surprise, Buzz replied, "Right behind you, Lieutenant."

Luna turned and found that Buzz was sitting at a lookout's post and giving her a smile that showed he was going to follow, not lead. Luna walked over to him and said, "Buzz, you're supposed to be in the central seat. You're the captain of this ship."

"Don't be silly, Lieutenant Silverstar. I can't possibly command this cruiser," he said.

Luna and the other officers were confused. What was Buzz talking about?

"You were an astronaut back in your day," insisted Luna. "You started out in the old Air Force before your first mission in space when you had your accident."

"Yep. And I kept training myself in the simulator to the point where I wasn't allowed to fly for two years," answered Buzz. "NASA gave me my big break, and I lost it forever when that comet iced me. Now I'm here in the future with nothing to show for myself."

Luna's bright blue eyes widened at that, and she asked, "You mean you never actually got to fly?"

"Of course not, Luna!" Buzz cried in frustration. "They called me a ground-loving coward to my face because I felt the need to train myself in that simulator! I'm a failure in the past just like I am here!"

Buzz hung his head, not wanting to say anything more. He waited for the crew to start ranting at him for admitting that he had tried to be someone he wasn't. But instead, he heard Luna say, "Buzz, you have to lead this mission. They said you wanted to serve the public in your day. Well, you can do that here!"

Then Buzz felt Luna's hand on his shoulder and looked up to see her smiling at him. Luna said, "You can do it, Buzzy."

Buzz considered Luna's words for a moment, and then made up his mind. He wasn't going to disappoint Commander McRadion, Grand President Talbotinne, or anyone else in the Federation. Not when he had new friends who believed in him. He stood up, walked over to the captain's chair, then saluted Luna and declared, "Captain Buzz Rogers of the Galactic Federation reporting for duty."*

Everyone on the bridge cheered for him as Luna returned his salute with a warm smile. Then Buzz sat in his chair and said through his intercom-link, "Captain Rogers here. All hands to stations!"

Then at Buzz's request, Luna ordered the engine room on Deck 4 to prepare for takeoff. When the engine room replied, "Retro rockets engaged, Captain. Artificial gravity activated."

Then Buzz said to helmsman Samal Drox; a Saturnian being with four tentacles for arms, six tentacles for legs, and a finned head like a fish, "Mr. Drox, set course for east-northeast at heading 3031."

"Aye, Captain. Heading 3031," Drox replied.

Then when the ship was fifty feet above the lunar surface, Buzz gave Luna the order for takeoff. "Full speed, Lieutenant, if you please."

"Take 'er away!" Luna declared.

The ship's pilot; Ensign Grigor Markovich from Vladivostok, pushed the power switch forward. The main rockets and side boosters roared to life, and with a gut-wrenching lurch, the great starship departed the Moon and sped off into space. Buzz was all the more impressed at the speed of futuristic spaceships, for the Excalibur went from the moon and past Mars in less than a minute.

As the Excalibur soared into Outer Planet territory, Buzz looked out the viewports and noticed several other ships passing between the planets and traveling from one end of the solar system to the other. Buzz liked what he saw, but then he turned his attention to the next part of the journey. According to Federation travel regulations, all ships leaving Earth Space had to be within range of the Kuiper Belt before going to lightspeed. In another half-hour, the Excalibur was nearly in Pluto's orbit, and Buzz said to Luna, "Ready to make a big jump, Luna?"

"You bet, Buzz," she replied.

Then Buzz said to Samal Drox, "Mr. Drox, set hyperspace coordinates for the constellation of Virgo, northwest quadrant."

Mr. Drox did so, and then Buzz said to Ensign Markovich, "Are we clear to launch into hyperspace?"

"All clear, Captain," Markovich replied.

Buzz grinned widely and said, "Then let's make trails with… Buzz Rogers in the Mid-25th Century!"

With an amused grin, Ensign Markovich typed in the command and pulled another lever. Then Buzz felt Luna grip the side of his chair as the Excalibur let out a whirring, whooshing roar and shot off into the starry vastness faster than Buzz's superiors from Cape Canaveral had ever thought possible for any spacecraft.

…

The Excalibur raced through an incredible warp of light at speeds that would tear an old space shuttle apart if it tried to reach them. Through the viewports of the bridge, Buzz watched as the stars streaked past like a thousand meteor showers while colored beams of light flashed in between like a rainbow in space. He wished he could capture it on camera and send it to the scientists at Cape Canaveral, if only he were in his own time.

Then Buzz heard Luna say, "Hey. You awake?"

"Yeah. I'm just feeling a little nostalgic," admitted Buzz. "Wish I could still be back in 1988."

"You had a life there, huh?" his friend wondered.

"Yep," Buzz replied. "My friends from school, the NASA guys who encouraged me to fly, all my loved ones. Now I'm here in the future thawed out from a space capsule. I'm protecting the whole galaxy, but I'm still on my own."

Luna felt all the more sorry for Buzz. It was truly awful to be alone in the world, and she had heard stories from the past which told of this kind of pain. She wanted to cheer Buzz up, so she gave him a one-armed hug and said, "I can't change what happened to you on your first mission, Buzz. But I'll be there to help you live in this new present."

Buzz smiled at her, truly believing that he had a friend to lean on in the GPU. He had Dr. Simonex and Dr. Miles for advice, he had Dr. Metropolis for a friend, and he had Luna's support just the same. Life in the future may not be so bad after all, he thought.

Then he heard Ensign Markovich say, "Captain, we're approaching the northwest quadrant of constellation Virgo."

"Bring the ship out of lightspeed," Buzz ordered.

Markovich did so, and the Excalibur came out of lightspeed in a distant solar system that looked like home to Buzz and Luna and their human crew members. The star of this system was almost entirely like the sun, and there were twelve planets orbiting it, some closer than others. When Luna checked the readouts, she reported that the third and fourth planets of this star system were habitable. Buzz determined that they would have to set the Excalibur in orbit and send a few probes to search the system for any sign of the missing spaceships and what caused their disappearance.

The starship took its position over the fourth planet, and Buzz selected a handful of crew members and a few robots to scout out the planet. Then he, Luna, and Dr. Metropolis headed to the transporter room on Deck 6. In a few moments, Buzz and his twenty crew members were instantaneously transported to the planet's surface with supplies for their survival and weapons to defend themselves with. It was time to search for answers.

A/N: In keeping with the Buck Rogers parody, I had Alvin as Buck take a spin on Daffy Duck announcing "Duck Dodgers in the 24th-and-a-half Century!", which came from the episode of the same name. Also, the scene of Buzz agreeing to lead the mission and the launch of the Excalibur is reminiscent to similar scenes from Chicken Run and Treasure Planet. I own nothing of the source material, only the plot of this story.

Hope you all liked this chapter, and have fun reading.