Chapter 12

Buck drove the Mustang up to the front gate and stopped. The MP came out of the little shack and approached the vehicle. When he saw Buck, he looked at him strangely.

"Captain Rogers? I thought you just left here an hour ago? What are you doing back? Can't get enough of this place?"
Buck shook his head. "Yeah, right! No, I left something in my locker… a something important for Jennifer!" he said, winking.

The soldier simply nodded. "I gotcha. Whose car is this? This isn't yours?"

"Jennifer got a new car."

"It's got Pennsylvania plates."

Buck nodded. "Yeah, I know. Her dad bought it at an auction up there. He just brought it down yesterday and hasn't got new plates for it, yet. I just wanted to drive it once before I launched. I'm gonna be gone for a few months, and I wanted to get the feel of it before Jennifer got her hands on it, if you know what I mean?"

The soldier nodded knowingly. "A little rough on cars, is she?"

"You know it, Zack. I told you what she did to her Cavalier, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I heard about that." Zack backed up a couple steps, waved to the gate operator. "Don't be in there too long, Captain. I get off in a few minutes. It might just be a race to see who gets to Jennifer's first!"

Buck smiled broadly. "Right! Thanks, Zack. See you!"

The gates pulled back to allow Buck to drive through. Slowly he drove up to the administration building and parked in a solitary space. Carefully he went to the trunk and looked all around the deserted area. Satisfied no one was around, he opened the trunk. Wilma quickly scrambled out.

"The coast is clear," he said softly.

"It's a little tight in there. Won't he come looking for you if you don't leave soon?"

Buck shook his head. "Shift change. He won't be on again until at least tomorrow afternoon. By that time, we'll be in space. Come on, we need to find you a uniform."

He grabbed the small duffle bag from the front seat and headed for the offices. Just before they could enter the building, however, Buck heard his name being called. He turned to see a good-looking older woman staring at him. He closed his eyes for an instant and winced before smiling cordially.

"Colonel Carpenter!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she started walking toward him. "Aren't you supposed to be home getting a good night's rest?"

"Actually, I'm supposed to be out with Jennifer right now."

She gave Wilma a good look-down. "And who is this?"
"This is my sister, Wilma," he lied.

"How did you get her inside the gate? Don't you know this is highly irregular?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I was just going to my locker for a minute and I didn't have the time to drop her off back at my apartment. She's just down for the day to see me off tomorrow."

"That's no excuse to disregard the rules. Come with me to my office. I'm going to write this up and inform General Roberts. Come on, Captain. You too, Wilma. When he finds this out, we may have to scratch you from the launch."

"But it's too late to bring in somebody else," Buck argued.

"You should have thought about that before you broke the rules. Besides, isn't your friend Toby your backup in case you get sick or something? Come along, Captain Rogers. I'm not joking about this."

Buck hung his head in disgust. He looked at Wilma and shrugged.

"Captain!"

"Coming, Ma'am."

Buck and Wilma followed Colonel Carpenter into the administration building and down the halls, corridors, and elevators until they reached her office. Once inside, she went straight for her desk and indicated for Buck and Wilma to have a seat.

"This will only take a couple minutes."

"Colonel, is this really necessary?"

"You have a blatant disregard for the rules and regulations. You feel like you're above most of the other officers here. I, for one, am getting tired of it. Now sit down, Captain Rogers, and that's an order. Sit down before I call security and have you escorted to the lockup."

He lowered his head, noticed his duffle bag. Slowly his right hand reached inside and grasped his pistol. "What would you say if I told you I wasn't Captain Buck Rogers?"

She didn't even look up from her desk. "Don't be stupid, Captain. And don't think for one minute that I am stupid. And I'm not in the mood for one of your lame jokes."

Buck shrugged, shook his head. "Sorry, Colonel. I don't have time to deal with you. Would the Captain Buck Rogers you know be carrying a futuristic laser pistol?"

She looked up with fire in her eyes until she saw the pistol. "What are you-"

Buck fired the gun. The colonel slumped backwards into her chair. Quickly he replaced the gun in the bag. Wilma stared at him with a wide-eyed look.

"You just shot your superior officer!"

"It was on stun! She'll be fine in the morning. Well, Wilma. There's your uniform. It looks like you outrank me again!"

"What about her? Don't we have to hide her or something?"

"Nah, we'll just leave her here. She won't wake up before we launch, and no one ever comes in here willingly."

Wilma looked at him questioningly.

"What? It's true! Nobody likes her! Not even her husband! That's why he left her!"

"Oh, that's terrible!"

"Not from where I'm sitting. Anyway, she's been trying to write me up for months."

"What did you do to her?"
Buck jerked his head to face Wilma. "What are you talking about?"

"What did you do to her to make her hate you?"

"Why does it always be something I did to someone? Can't someone just not like me because that's how they are?"

"Buck, what did you do to her?" Wilma asked again.

"Nothing!" he said innocently. "Really! I have done nothing to her!"

Then he thought for a moment. "Nah, it couldn't have anything to do with the Christmas party last year. What, don't look at me like that! I didn't do anything to her! Toby did! It was actually Toby that took her uniform and dressed it on the reindeer."

"Guilty by association," she said, not really understanding what he was talking about but figuring it wasn't exactly military regulation. "But when she wakes up, she's going to really be mad at you!"

Buck laughed. "That's the beauty of it! Right now the Buck she knows is in the middle of a restaurant having dinner with Jennifer in front of fifty witnesses! And nobody can identify you. When she tells someone that a Buck Rogers look-alike clone shot her with a futuristic stun gun that doesn't exist, nobody's gonna believe her. They'll do an investigation and find absolutely nothing. They might even decommission her. By the time anything happens, we'll be through the stargate and back with proof that we aren't alone in the galaxy."

Wilma shook her head. "I don't know."

"Do you want to take her with us?"

"No."

"Then she stays here." Buck stepped behind the desk and looked up at Wilma. "Come on, help me get her uniform off."

Wilma sighed heavily and shook her head as she stepped behind the desk. "I wonder how many times you've said that line, before?" she smirked.