Chapter 25

The small monitor flashed to life. "Earthling!" Captain Arnogg screamed. "What have you done?"

Buck pointed toward the planet. "There's Earth," he breathed softly. "If you want it, go get it."

"You've ruined everything! You've poisoned your own world! Do you realize how many people you just killed? Your own people!"

"He knows," Wilma screamed. "But you would have killed more, isn't that right, Captain Ahab? Earth belongs to US! Not to you!"

"Hmmmph. Fine, you can have your blasted Earth. It means nothing to us now. I hope you're happy. Helm; take us back to the stargate. I believe we're done here. And just for the record, it's Captain Arnogg."

The screen went blank. Wilma followed the progress of the ship on her radar until it simply disappeared. "They're gone."

"Back to Gauss, I suppose."

Wilma nodded. "Buck, we're running low on power."

He shrugged, sighed. Reluctantly he sat up in the seat. "Fine. I've had enough of this view anyway."

He eased the scout ship out of orbit and headed for the moon. He moved the scout ship into a crater and let it come to rest. Slowly he began switching off the ship's systems. Finally he let his head fall into the chair one last time.

"Why did you park in a crater on the Lunar South Pole?"

"So I didn't have to look at Earth any more."

She nodded in understanding. "So what do we do now?"

"We sit here until we run out of oxygen. Then we go to sleep. Kind of fitting, don't you think? The people who start the holocaust… die peacefully…in a crater on the moon."

Wilma paused for the longest moment before finally saying softly, "We saved Earth."

Buck showed no sign of movement with the possible exception of an ever so slight facial twitch. "Who's going to save us?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. The cockpit fell silent.

Bright light suddenly flooded the cockpit. Buck blinked several times until he at last recognized where he was. Frantically he looked around him as if he'd never seen the inside of a starfighter before. When he looked to his left, he was surprised to see a familiar face also dazedly looking around.

"Wilma?"

"Buck? What happened? Where are we?"
"We are currently flying over what used to be the Atlantic Ocean," came a mechanical voice from behind them.

They both jerked their heads around to see Twiki and Doctor Theopolis exactly where they were supposed to be. Unsurely, they looked at each other and cocked their heads to the side, coincidentally the same side.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Beep-be-de-de-beep: Beep-be-de-de-beep."

"You are correct, Twiki. It appears that both Captain Rogers and Colonel Deering are suffering from some side effects of the experiment."

"Side effects?" Wilma asked. "Well, yeah! The last thing I remember, Buck and I were on the moon."

"The moon?" Theo asked.

"Beep-be-de-de-beep: how romantic!"

"No! We had just started the-"

"Wilma!" Buck said excitedly. "Check this out!"

She jerked around to face Buck. "What?"

He carefully made a throat slashing gesture with his right hand, making sure that Twiki and Theo couldn't see. Then he pointed out the view screen. "What do you make of that?"

She waved her hand nonchalantly. "It's nothing."

Buck nodded. "I could have sworn it was the Flying Dutchman."

She turned to face Doctor Theopolis. "So how did the experiment go?"
"Splendid!" Doctor Avery's voice sounded over the radio. "It was an unmitigated success! Of course, we still have some work to do, but everything is performing exactly as expected and hoped!"

"Uh, Great. So how long did the experiment last?" she wondered.

"We were invisible for thirty three point eight three two seconds," Theo replied.

Buck jerked his head around. "Huh? Thirty-three seconds? Is that all?"

"Thirty-three point eight three two," Theo corrected.

"How did we stop? I don't remember disengaging the device!"

"Beep-be-de-de-beep: I turned it off."

"Yes, I had Twiki disengage the device. You and Captain Rogers appeared to be in a trance-like state. You were unresponsive throughout the experiment."

Suddenly an alarm sounded throughout the cockpit. Buck grabbed the controls tightly as the ship began to vibrate and then rotate.

"What's happening?" Avery asked.

"There's a problem with stabilizer number two," Buck said sharply. "I'm having a tough time holding it together!"

The starfighter rotated again and again. Finally Buck shouted, "I've lost control! We have to eject!"

"Again?" Wilma asked.

Buck popped the canopy. As the parachutes deployed, he watched the starfighter slam and explode into what used to be the French Alps.

The rescue shuttle rolled to a stop in the center of the hangar. Even before the shuttle was stopped, Doctor Avery was rushing to where he calculated the exit ramp would stop. He was close. The ramp opened and Buck, Wilma, and Twiki with Doctor Theopolis still strapped to his neck began to walk down toward the hangar floor. Doctor Huer quickly moved across the hangar to stand beside Avery.

"Captain Rogers!" Avery shouted above the sound of the shuttle's engines, which hadn't completely shut off yet. "I demand to know what happened!"

"Do you, now?" he said glibly.

"What happened?"

"We crashed into the side of a mountain, just barely escaping with our lives!" Buck snapped. "That's what happened!"

"B-But, do you know how long it took us to get a working prototype of this scale? Years! Years! And you destroy it on the first flight! Do you know how long it will take to make another one?"

Buck stopped and glared at Doctor Avery. "I don't give a damn," he said through clenched teeth.

"Captain Rogers! I demand an explanation!"

Buck threw his arm up, sending Avery's clipboard flying fifteen feet into the air. He then grabbed Avery by the lab coat and held him three inches off the hangar floor.

"Back off, Doctor," he said through still-clenched teeth. "It's been a long day."

Buck let go of the doctor and headed toward the hangar exit. Avery turned to Doctor Huer.

"Did you see that? Your pilot assaulted me! Arrest this man immediately for assault! Court-martial him for insubordination! He deliberately flew my prototype into that mountain to ruin my experiment!"

Wilma stepped softly to stand in front of the older man. "Doctor Avery, have you ever flown a starfighter before?"

"Well, no," he said after a moment's hesitation.

She nodded. "Then good luck proving that accusation in court."

She began to follow Buck. Avery turned to Huer again.

"Arrest her too! She's in collusion with the captain! They are both conspiring against me!"

Wilma stopped and whirled on her heels. "Doctor Avery, I suggest you drop it before I drop you. Do I make myself clear?"
"What? Are you making a threat?"

She sighed heavily. "I'm with Buck. It's been a long day."

"But Colonel," Huer started. "It's only noon."

She shook her head and turned around. "To you, maybe. To Buck and me: it's been a long day. A very long day."

"Colonel Deering?" Doctor Huer called.

She stopped and turned.

"I want you and Buck to go to the medical facilities to get checked out. Just routine, you understand."

She simply nodded, turned and rushed to catch up with Buck.