Voyagers!

Kaputt

"I got him!"

Jeffrey's words played over in his mind as he tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. After fixing a major historical faux-paux with cannons in 1066, they'd managed to find a cave within Mount Gilboa, neighboring the plain of Ain Jalut in Israel. On July 26th, 1260, it became the site of a monumental battle with Genghis Kahn. Phineas took Jeffrey there to ensure him that history was on the right course. It was in 1260 A.D. that primitive cannons were put to use, not during the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. With Gilboa and the hills of Galilee cleared of fighting, they'd found respite before their next assignment. Phineas was exhausted and they both agreed to take a full night's sleep with no disagreements.

In his nightmare, just as on the real voyage helping Mary Murphy and Eddie Rickenbacker, the plane descended rapidly. It spiraled through a haze of black smoke and fumes threatening to choke the life out of them before they even hit the ground. They didn't make it, and the plane crashed in a fiery explosion.

It'd only been two days since that flight in 1918. Terrible thoughts weighed heavily on his mind, but he couldn't bring it up to Phineas until he sorted them out. Tonight, the answer finally struck him as Phineas's commands rang in his ears.

"Shoot him! Shoot him!"

"I am!"

"Then hit him!"

Jeffrey's eyes sprung open. "I hit him, Bogg! I killed him! I killed him!"

Phineas awoke fast and nearly smashed his head on the cave ceiling. His pleasant visions of Mary faded and he saw Jeffrey's huddled outline through the faint glow of moonlight and heard him sobbing.

"Poor kid, he must be thinking of his parents again. I knew all these voyages in a row were too much for him." Phineas thought and rubbed his bleary eyes.

He crawled over and carefully put his arm around the boy's shoulders. He didn't want to frighten him or give him the wrong idea about his intentions.

"Jeffrey, hey, it's okay. Just relax, nobody's gonna hurt you, I'm right here."

Seeing the boy in this emotional state made him wonder about the last time he had a good cry. It'd surely been years. He rubbed Jeffrey's shoulder until his tears subsided and he was able to speak. Jeffrey raised his bloodshot eyes to Phineas.

"I killed him, Bogg. I killed the Red Baron!"

Phineas looked at him confused. "Killed him? What are you talking about?"

"There was so much going on, I wasn't…I wasn't thinking about the date, just…just what we had to do. We had to save ourselves, and Eddie and Mary!"

Jeffrey wasn't making much sense, but Phineas already felt as dumb as a brick next to the boy's historical smarts. His Voyager pride had long since shattered after their first voyage with baby Moses in Egypt.

"Sure! We needed to get out fast and had to fire back or else he would've turned us into Swiss cheese. Remember?" Phineas said cautiously. "What makes you think we killed him?"

"Not we, Bogg, me! April 21st, 1918. I'm pretty sure that Manfred Von Richthofen died that day in a Dog fight."

Phineas shrugged. "Oh, yeah? That's…too bad." Phineas didn't want to show the boy his concern. He was used to dealing with death on voyages, but Jeffrey wasn't, and knowing they had a time machine would make it even worse.

"Hey, ya know, it was probably later in the day. **Maybe it wasn't the 21st, I forgot the date."

Jeffrey glared critically at the man who was supposed to police the stream of time and historical events. Didn't he know anything about history? Couldn't he put two and two together and understand what he tried to tell him? Jeffrey held back his impatience and a biting remark. Phineas Bogg may not have been very bright, but he was the only friend and guardian he had left in the world. Phineas tried very hard to endear himself to Jeffrey after their bitter-sweet confrontation on the beach in Kitty Hawk.

Jeffrey shook his head and paced the length of the small cave. He was short enough to stand up straight.

"Bogg, don't you get it? History says that the Red Baron was killed on that day, around eleven in the morning while flying over the Somme River. He was…shot in the chest with a .303 bullet, but he still landed his plane, and his last words were…Kaputt."

"Broken?"

"Yeah. The crazy thing is, nobody ever found out who killed him. He was shot with an AA machine gun rifle, just like the one on Eddie's plane. The entry wound of the bullet was facing up. I was aiming up at him!"

Phineas hung his head. "Jeff, don't do this…"

Jeffrey swung around, tears clouded his eyes. "Bogg, I'm a murderer!"

Phineas was not expecting this history lesson or confession from Jeffrey. He calmly leaned against the rocky wall and ran a hand through his hair. There was a possibility he was wrong, but the boy hadn't failed him yet in his knowledge of history. Phineas wanted to jump up and shake him to his senses, but he had to tread lightly. Jeffrey was extremely sensitive.

He held out his hand. "Come here, Jeff, sit down."

Jeffrey obeyed, but he couldn't look Phineas in the eye. He picked at the short threads on the red checks of his sneakers. He needed anything to distract him from facing the Voyager and his shame.

"Jeffrey, I can't talk unless you look at me. That's not how I hold a conversation. It's okay, I'm not gonna condemn or accuse you. I wouldn't do that."

Jeffrey felt an ounce of relief and met Phineas' gaze. To his surprise, the Voyager gently smiled.

"Jeffrey, I admit, I didn't even know who Richthofen was, or his place in history, so it's not for me to say that he deserved what was coming to him. Just because he was German and fought on the other side, didn't make him evil. It was a war-time, the First World War, and everyone involved had never seen the likes of it before. That I do know. It threw the world for a loop. A lot of crazy and violent things can and do happen in any war, believe me. I mean things that never even get reported in the history books. If we weren't up in that plane, it would've been Eddie and Mary, right?"

"Yeah. They would've crashed and died. Eddie's shoulder was wounded, he almost fainted, and Mary…well…she was an actress, not a pilot."

"Exactly. You know Eddie Rickenbacker's history better than I do, what became of him afterward?"

Jeffrey didn't have to think too hard. It wasn't long before Phineas came that he'd learned about World War I in school. "Eddie flew three hundred combat hours during the war, more than any other U.S pilot. He did tours, wrote a book. He got married and adopted two kids. He developed the concept of four-wheel brakes on cars, he went into the airline business, and helped develop new airplane designs and set up air mail routes for the Government. He survived other plane crashes, and rescued soldiers during World War II. Eddie had successful businesses…wow, he really did a lot, Bogg."

Phineas was impressed with Eddie's legacy. "And what happened to Richthofen?"

"He…he died in 1918 at twenty-six years old, at the height of his fame." Jeffrey remembered from the short bio in his text book.

"It's sad to die so young, but he was also a war pilot, he knew the danger. He seemed a little reckless, like a show-off. I remember my lessons in Voyager school, and aerial dog fights weren't friendly. Someone usually got killed. Besides, that guy acted crazy!"

Anger knitted his brow. "He tried to blow us right off the haystack, and he didn't even stop shooting! We were civilians! You're just a child! That wasn't fair play at all."

The point Phineas tried to make wasn't lost on Jeffrey, but it still didn't console his guilt. "Bogg, I get what you're saying, but I still pulled that trigger too."

Phineas took his arm. "Jeffrey, this might sound harsh, but if you're gonna keep doing this job then it's a vital truth you need to know. What you did was something that a Voyager faces on every mission. They make split decisions so history stays on track, whether it's good, bad. We had to hold Richthofen off until Eddie and Mary made it out safely. And in the process, possibly…we had to make sure that…he went down. But that's only if we were the ones responsible for his death."

Phineas sighed. "It's wrong, I know. But if it happened, we can't change it again."

"I wish…I wish I could change it. I feel like I killed three people!" Jeffrey cried softly.

"Three people? How?"

"My parents. I told you about the crash. I couldn't get them out of the trailer and I ran away like a coward!"

Phineas gripped Jeffrey in a hug. "Jeffrey, stop it! You can't beat yourself up anymore. Do you think they wanted you to stay and get killed too? They loved you. They wanted you to save yourself and you did try and save them. But there was no one on the road. It was never your fault. Aww, kid, maybe one day you'll believe that."

Jeffrey felt a deep comfort. No one but Phineas had ever known the real pain he felt over his parents' death. It'd hurt too much to share, but now he felt as if a giant burden lifted off him. Phineas Bogg understood his emotions and he seemed the type to try and remain positive in the face of tragedies. Jeffrey admired that about the Voyager.

Phineas patted Jeffrey's back and pulled away. "I'm sorry. I really am. Ya know, I still wish you hadn't come up flying with me. I know you had the gun and I yelled for you to shoot, but I still was scared for you. It's not easy being responsible for another human life."

"Bogg, you needed me! You didn't even know what the throttle was."

Phineas blushed. "I guess not. But not only that, you forced me to accept that we're partners, and partners always stick together."

Jeffrey nodded slowly. Up until this moment, Phineas had never said they were partners, only Voyagers. It added a new dimension to their relationship and the word sparked his courage and desire to continue fixing history in whatever way he could.

He smiled. "Thanks, Bogg. I feel a little better."

"Good. Listen, if you ever need to talk about anything or share your concerns, don't hold back. If something's bothering you, kid, I need to know."

Jeffrey made himself as comfortable as he could again on the ground, balling up the gray jacket he'd acquired in Dayton for a pillow.

"Okay, I promise, and that goes for you too, Bogg. I may not be a grown up, but I'm a good listener."

Phineas laughed and mussed his curls. He maneuvered himself over to his side of the cave.

"Thanks, Jeff. I'll remember that."

As Jeffrey nodded off, Phineas put his hands behind his head and gazed out the cave opening at the bright moon. Having a partner would be a challenge, but he'd never backed down from one yet. As much as Phineas had tried to fight it, every inclination in his heart told him that guidebook or no guidebook, he needed Jeffrey. He couldn't do it alone anymore. He rolled on his side and stared at the boy protectively.

"Don't worry, kid." He thought. "One day, you'll be a fine Voyager, and your heart will no longer be…Kaputt."