THE RETURN OF THE ROCKETEER
Based on the movie "The Rocketeer"

Chapter One

The Nazi officers jumped when Commander Strum banged his fist on the meeting table.

"I cannot believe this!" he screamed. "How can one man bring down months and months of planning?"

He began to pace the room, enraged as the others looked nervously at each other. It had been two days since the Luxemborg had gone up in flames. The propaganda office had had their hands full trying to keep the news of their defeat away from the general population. And on top of the of the loss of one of their best airships and some of the finest pilots and officers in Germany, they had also lost their highest contact within the Hollywood community.

Strum shook his head. Neville Sinclair had been a fool. He had allowed his feelings for Secord's girlfriend to interfere with his mission. Because of him, they had lost the rocket pack. The most essential part of their plans for the takeover of the world had gone up in a fireball above Los Angeles along with Sinclair. Strum pursed his lips. Neville probably would have welcomed death anyway after the Fuhrer had gotten done with him. He pictured him strapped to a table in Mengele's laboratory.

"Sir?"

Strum snapped out of his thoughts as one of the officers cleared his throat.

"Yes, captain. What is it?" he said angrily.

"Didn't Sinclair indicate that the girl had taken back the diagram of the rocket pack that Peabody made when she was at his mansion?" he asked hesitantly.

Strum nodded

"What if she still has it with her, Sir? Couldn't we contact some of our other operatives working around Los Angeles and have them bring her here to Germany? With her here, Secord and Peabody would be forced to cooperate with us or his girlfriend would suffer the consequences."

Strum stood pondering this for a moment, slowly a smile spread across his face and he nodded to the captain.

"Very well, get word that we wish to make Secord's girl the Fuhrer's guest!"

Cliff yawned and sat up. He winced when he felt a flash of pain from his cracked ribs. He had been suffering the past two days, but it was worth it to have Jenny safe again. He looked around and noticed that Peevy was still asleep. Millie had been kind enough to make room for them in the loft of the Bulldog Cafe while their house at Palm Terrace was being repaired from the firefight with the FBI. Taking care not to wake his friend, he put on his boots and leather aviator jacket buttoning it up in the usual way leaving just a flap of the leather front lying back over his chest. Opening the trapdoor, he descended the ladder into the cafe.

"Mornin' Cliff!"

Cliff grinned over at Millie who was cooking breakfast. At the bar, Goose and Malcolm nodded as they drank their coffee.

"Can I get ya something to eat?" Millie asked

"Yeah, some bacon and eggs, Millie. Sunny-side up. And some orange juice," Cliff said as he slid into a booth.

Millie nodded and motioned her daughter, Patsy to go get the eggs for her.

Cliff watched as Patsy reluctantly laid the bucket that served as her Rocketeer helmet on the counter and run back into the kitchen to fetch the eggs. He smiled at the sight knowing that the Rocketeer was all Patsy would play when she was outside with her friends. He looked up and grinned as Millie sat a large glass of orange juice in front of him and tousled his hair affectionately.

Malcolm spun around on the barstool.

"Ribs okay, Cliff?" he asked with concern.

Cliff nodded.

"They're still tender, but I think they're healing up," he said.

Malcolm smiled and turned back around. He thought of Cliff like a son. He also owed Cliff his life for saving him at the air show. He had been thrilled when Peevy had revealed to everyone at the airfield that he was the Rocketeer. Malcolm couldn't think of anyone more deserving. Peevy and Goose had been constructing a new rocket pack from the schematic that Peevy had from studying the first one. They hoped that they could earn enough from Cliff's appearances as the Rocketeer to take his new Gee Bee that Howard Hughes had given him on an air show tour and perhaps buy a backup in case it broke down or crashed. For the moment though, Goose and Peevy were still working out the design flaws in the rocket pack and the Gee Bee sat locked up in Cliff and Peevy's hanger while they found someone to replace Bigalow. Malcolm frowned. No one had liked Bigalow much, but he still didn't deserve to die the way he did. Folded in half on his floor. He sipped his coffee and sighed. So much had happened in the past few days, it was hard to process it all at once. He watched as Millie fried the bacon and eggs and Patsy grabbed her Rocketeer helmet. They had decided not to tell either one of them of Cliff's secret identity. They didn't want to endanger Patsy or Millie if anyone else came looking for the rocket pack and they knew that Millie would only worry about Cliff's safety anyway.

As Millie sat the bacon and eggs down in front of Cliff, they heard a small screech as the bus pulled up to the stop outside. Cliff looked back and smiled when he saw Jenny stepped down off the bus. Millie noticed Cliff's loving expression and chuckled to herself. She walked back behind the counter waving at Jenny as she stepped through the door.

"Mornin', hon," she said happily.

"Morning, Millie. Can I have a glass of milk please?"

"Comin' right up!"

Jenny looked around and her eyes saw Cliff. She smiled warmly as he slid himself and his food over and allowed her to slide in next to him. Millie sat the milk down in front of Jenny and inched away when they shared a good morning kiss.

"How ya doin?" Jenny said affectionately

Cliff grinned as he rubbed his ribs.

"Other than these hurting like hell I guess I'm okay!"

Jenny laid her head on his shoulder

"Well...I guess it could have been a lot worse for us. We could have been burned to a crisp along with Lothar."

Cliff grimaced

"Ugh…Don't remind me of that human gorilla. He's part of the reason I have the cracked ribs," he sighed. "And the other reason is the fact that bastard Sinclair knocked me around that zeppelin."

He looked down and frowned when she heard Jenny draw in her breath.

"And I'm the reason all of that happened to you too," she said softly.

Cliff's heart began to ache when he saw the pain and guilt in her eyes. He pulled her closer.

"Ah, Jen, don't do this to yourself. You didn't know he was a Nazi agent. Hell, I didn't know either until Hughes started talking about someone who was working for the Nazi's and then I put that together with the fact that Sinclair was ordering Eddie Valentine's men around at the South Seas Club that night and realized it was him. How could you have known, hon?"

Jenny shook her head.

"I know...I know. I just feel so responsible for everything. You almost ended up dead because of me!"

Cliff kissed her forehead.

"But I didn't die, Jen. We're both safe now. Sinclair is dead and so is Lothar. Valentine is behind bars and his gang has been rounded up. There is no one to harm us now. So I want you to quit feeling guilty, okay. If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't have changed a thing. If anything, this has brought us closer together and I'm glad of that. You mean more to me than anything, Jenny. I would have faced a hundred Sinclairs just to make sure you were safe!"

Jenny smiled as she kissed Cliff.

"My hero," she whispered in his ear.

They looked around when Peevy descended the ladder. He smiled at Cliff and Jenny and sat down at the counter. As Millie poured him a cup of coffee, He began to talk to Goose and Malcolm.

Jenny stared over at them for a moment before turning back to Cliff.

"Is he really going to rebuild the rocket pack?" she asked him.

Cliff laughed

"I think so. He's been telling me all these ideas he has for improvements to it and my helmet. You know how he gets with stuff like that. He always wants to tinker with things, refine them, and make them work better. I think he lives for it. He and Goose are working on it secretly back at the hanger and then they are going to have me make public appearances as the Rocketeer when they are done so we can have some cash coming in again. I hate to have Millie cooking our meals for us free of charge, you know. She has to earn a living too."

Jenny grabbed Cliff's arm.

"But Cliff, What if the Nazi's come looking for you and the rocket pack after it's rebuilt?" she asked worriedly.

Cliff squeezed her hand.

"I don't think they'd try. Not after the other day. Besides, the FBI are wise to them now. They'll be on the lookout for anybody suspicious around here."

"I hope you're right, Cliff," Jenny sighed.

Suddenly the cafe door swung open and a man in a three-piece suit and a fedora walked inside. He smiled at everyone and tipped his hat.

"Haven't seen you before, friend," Peevy said.

The man shook his head.

"No, I'm new in town. The name’s John Peterson. I'm the new replacement for Otis Bigalow."

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