VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
REBELLION - BOOK 7
(Sequel to Old Friends, New Beginnings)
By DA Daugherty(VoyagersFan)
December 2011
Previous disclaimers apply
Chapter 2 – TIME'S THREADS UNRAVELLED
It was a typical Saturday morning in June and the beginning of a warm, slightly breezy day in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. The Adirondack region of the state, well known for its untouched forests, pristine lakes, breathtaking scenery and crisp, clean air, was a place of wonder and great inspiration to all who frequented there. An area chocked full of hiking trails, campgrounds and quaint little hamlets, there was something of interest for everyone regardless of their interests. It was an inviting retreat, where one could easily cast aside the stresses of daily living for a brief time, reconnect with nature and take in all the beauty of the area. For those who had experienced it first hand, it was one of God's perfect creations and the next best thing to Heaven on Earth.
On this day, the Jones family had risen early to get a jumpstart on the day. Today marked the continuation of a family tradition, the annual Jones family outing. Each year at this time, they would load up their station wagon, hitch up their camper and make their way north to their usual campground in the Adirondacks. With Bill behind the wheel, Kathy by his side and their young son in the camper catching up on the latest issue of his favorite comic book, the three set out at daybreak on their trek. A few hours later, they found themselves travelling up a long, winding road which they knew from their previous trips was the last leg of their journey.
With his omni in hand, Jeff's future self arrived at the exact location where his parent's accident had originally taken place. With a bit of trepidation, he picked himself up off the ground and surveyed the area.
"Looks like I'm here." He said to himself. "But where is mom and dad?"
He flipped open the lid of his omni and peered at the controls.
"It's the correct date and place. So what gives here?"
In an instant, Bogg fell through the time portal and landed on his haunches several yards away. After shaking off the effects of his rather hard landing, he stood up and looked around in search of his young partner.
"Ahh…there you are you little pain." He whispered to himself in a devious tone. "So you thought you could outsmart dear ol' dad, huh? Well we're gonna put a stop to your little plans, toot suite."
"Jeffrey!" He yelled in his deep baritone voice before sprinting off toward his son. "Don't do it!"
At that moment, the Jones' station wagon came speeding down the road, headed for the curve where the accident originally occurred. As it flew past Bogg, it left a thick cloud of dust in its wake that totally engulfed him.
"This is it." Jeff thought to himself. "But how do I stop them?"
He stood for a moment before an idea came to his mind.
"I got it." He announced.
Quickly he turned one of the dials of his omni and pushed the button. In a flash, he had taken the omni for a short hop from the side of the road to the front seat of the Jones' oncoming car. Arriving inside mere seconds after Bill Jones had fallen asleep; Jeff grabbed the steering wheel and guided the vehicle safely around the curve. He then put on the brakes and brought it to a stop on the side of the road.
Minutes later, Bogg had managed to find his way out of the massive cloud of dust. As he emerged, he was bent over with his hands on his thighs, coughing wildly and gasping for air. Once he had recovered, he stood up and looked off in the distance for any sign of his partner. Much to his surprise, he noticed the Jones' car and camper pulled over to the side of the road.
"Bats Breath!" He muttered. "He's gone and done it now."
With little effort he again took off in a wind sprint, running toward the vehicle to see what had happened. However, before he could reach it, the vehicle mysteriously… vanished. Bogg stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded by the sight as he scratched his head and tried to make sense of it all.
"What the…?" He mumbled.
As he peered off into the distance, he couldn't help but notice a small, shiny object lying in the middle of the road. He made his way over to it, bent down and picked it up.
"It's the kid's omni." He thought as he wiped the device on his sleeve and put it in the pocket of his jerkin. "But where's Jeff?"
Bogg stood up and cast his eyes over the area in an attempt to locate his son.
"Jeffrey!" He yelled. "Jeff-rey!"
There was no answer.
Jeff's unabashed tinkering with time had caused more damage than either he or his partner could have realized. As if Bogg didn't have enough problems to deal with at the moment, unexpectedly, the situation took a turn for the worse. All around him, things had started to change. Hearing the roar of jet engines overhead, Bogg looked up and watched as a large passenger airliner was making tracks across the sky. He continued to observe it for a time and then it slowly began to fade from existence. Within seconds it had totally vanished from the sky.
Thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him, he rubbed them gently on his sleeve. At that moment he heard a strange rumbling noise coming from behind him. As he turned to see what was there, he stood in shock as the dirt road he was standing on gradually faded away and transformed into a field of tall grass. Before he could take another step, he was startled by a large oak tree which suddenly appeared just inches from his side.
"Oh… this is not good." He muttered as the reality of what had occurred finally set in.
"I've got to fix this, but how?" Bogg asked himself as he pondered the predicament he found himself in. It was now apparent that Jeff's actions had changed history for the worse. But little did he realize just how broad and encompassing the effects were. Before he could set his omni to go back and attempt to repair the damage, the unthinkable occurred. As he stood in the midst of the tall grass, a peculiar feeling suddenly came over him. He felt lightheaded as the world all around him began to spin. Quickly, he leaned up against the tree and put his head down for a moment. After a few minutes, the dizziness subsided and he was again back to what he thought was his old self. He raised his head and looked around the area, only to discover he didn't know where he was.
"Where am I?" He asked himself. "Wait a minute! I was on my way to see Columbus, but how did I get here? The omni must be stuck in the automatic mode again. I better quit fooling around here and get back to work; otherwise I'll lose my job."
Bogg grabbed the omni from his belt, flipped open the lid and set the dials for his next destination. He pressed the button and nothing happened.
"Bats Breath!" He yelled. Impatiently, he continued to press the button in the hope that the unruly machine would miraculously begin working again.
"I knew I should've taken you in for your million mile tune-up." He said while holding the omni in front of his face. "Ok, you win… I guess we'll be going back to Voyager Headquarters after all."
He reset the dials for Voyager Headquarters and closed the lid.
"Let's hope you still remember where Voyager Headquarters is. Otherwise who knows where I could end up."
With his fingers crossed, he pushed the button and vanished.
It was mid morning on Planet Voyager. The skies were overcast and filled with dark, ominous looking clouds. It was raining fiercely and had been doing so off and on throughout the whole of the morning. Inside Voyager Headquarters, the day was proceeding as normal.
Surprised and somewhat relieved, Bogg arrived at the front entrance of the building, unscathed. He opened the door, stepped inside and made his way down the long corridor to the main elevator. Before the doors opened, an all too familiar voice greeted him from behind.
"Phineas? What are you doing here?"
"Susan?" He replied as he turned to face his colleague standing behind him. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing great. How about you?"
Bogg smiled warmly at his former love as he attempted to respond.
"Oh, uh… I'm ok, I guess."
"What brings you here?" She asked curiously. "Have you been recalled?"
"Nope. Nothing that drastic. I'm just here to get the boys upstairs to look at my omni. It's being tempermental again."
"That's odd, Phineas. Isn't that a new omni?"
"No, it's the same old tempermental omni I've always had."
With this Susan's expression could only be described as a look of sheer confusion. In her mind, she recalled the fact that Voyager Technical had upgraded Bogg to the newest available omni not too long ago. Not knowing exactly what was up; she sloughed off his answer as if she hadn't even heard it.
At that moment, the doors to the elevator opened and the two Voyagers stepped inside. Susan waited for the doors to close before she asked the obvious question.
"Phineas, where's Jeffrey?"
Bogg turned to her with a puzzled expression. "Jeffrey?" He asked innocently. "Who's Jeffrey?"
Susan nodded her head, thinking this was yet another of Bogg's ingenious pranks.
"Ok, enough of the jokes… I'm serious. Where's Jeffrey?"
He stood for a moment with a blank look on his face before repeating his answer.
"This is no joke. I don't know who this Jeffrey is, but if I did I'd be the first one to tell you where he is."
Susan was speechless. Every fiber of her being was telling her that something was amiss here. Was Bogg sick? Had he somehow gotten hurt and lost his memory? There were many questions going through her mind at this point, but so far, very few answers.
"Phineas, are you feeling ok?"
"I'm feeling great! Couldn't be better. Why?"
"And you don't remember Jeffrey?"
"Nope… As a matter of fact, I don't know a Jeffrey." Bogg replied staunchly. "Susan, what's this all about? And just who is this Jeffrey person I'm supposed to know, huh?"
"He's your son. Why can't you remember him?"
At that time, the doors of the elevator opened and the two stepped out into the hallway.
"C'mon. Who is pulling whose leg now? If I had a kid, especially one named Jeffrey; I think I'd remember that."
"It's true, Phineas! You do have a kid." Susan said somewhat impatiently. "Don't you remember, you adopted him a year or so ago."
Bogg stood in the hallway, his mouth agape and his chin almost on the floor. A faint, yet distant memory of Jeff's adoption flashed briefly in the forefront of his mind.
"I… actually… have a son?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Not only that, he's a Voyager and your partner as well."
"You are sure, right?"
"This is your long time friend here." She said pointedly. "Would I ever lie to you?"
The shock of this revelation was more than Bogg could handle. He began to stagger as his legs started to buckle underneath him. Susan quickly grabbed his arm and led him over to a bench and sat him down. For a time, he sat there staring at the opposite wall with a look of sheer disbelief on his face. His only words were "I have a kid," which he repeated over and over.
Susan knew she had her work cut out for her. Something unusual had occurred to cause her colleague's obvious loss of memory and she had to get to the bottom of it and fast. Using a bit of tough love, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him aggressively.
"Phineas! Come on now! Get a grip on yourself! We've got to find out what happened to Jeffrey."
Bogg sat there mumbling to himself and repeating Jeff's name. "Jeffrey… Jeffrey…Jeff…rey…"
"Yes… Jeffrey." She reassured. "You have a son… his name is Jeffrey. Do you know where he is?"
"Jeff…rey… Jeff…Jeffrey!" Bogg repeated. "I have a son…I…I remember now… Jeff."
"Yes, you have a son. Can you describe him?"
"Jeff… He wears a striped shirt."
"What else can you tell me about him?"
"It's a red and white striped shirt."
"Go on…tell me more." Susan urged. "What else do you remember about Jeffrey?"
"Jeffrey… he wears funny looking shoes. Suuuhhhh… sneakers…"
"What else Phineas… C'mon…think back…You can do it!"
"He has curly hair."
"Yes, he does have curly hair." She acknowledged.
At this point, Susan rose from her seat and stood directly in front of him.
"Phineas can you stand?" She asked.
Bogg slowly got to his feet and stood next to her.
"I think we need to get you over to Voyager Medical and have them check you out."
"But…but… I don't like doctors." Bogg whined. "They poke you and prod you and then they stick you with these big ol' needles that look like harpoons. Besides, I'm not a whale you know."
"No buts…Phineas Bogg! You are going whether you want to or not!" Susan commanded in a stern voice. "C'mon… big, strong, macho Phineas Bogg isn't afraid of a little ol' needle, are you?"
"Yes, you could say that." He replied with a hint of apprehension in his tone.
"You'll be just fine." She reassured. "I'll be sure and tell them you are not a whale, ok?"
"Ok." He replied.
"Now let's get going." Susan ordered with a sense of urgency in her tone. "Besides we need to get there before the best rooms are taken. You know…those with the oceanfront view."
Upon hearing this, Bogg stopped in his tracks and turned to his love with a puzzled look.
"Since when do they have rooms with an oceanfront view at Voyager Medical? The place is nowhere near the ocean."
"That's right." She replied. "I was just testing you to see if you'd catch on to that one."
