The Voyager's Aide: The Disappearance

Story II

Chapter 4: Speaking of a Paradox

Paradox Center Of Operations

Dwight Roache twiddled his thumbs and pulled at his greasy blonde hair. His brilliant eyes darted in every direction as he waited for Lorna. He felt very proud of himself, having accomplished what Drake only dreamed of. Killing Phineas Bogg in his own time line was so easy he wondered why no one thought of it earlier. The black door opened and he peeked inside. Lorna called out to him with a sardonic grin.

"Get in here, Dwight and shut the door behind you."

Dwight entered the imposing room and shivered from the cold blast of the air conditioner. Lorna's taste in furniture was sparse, but highly stylized. Silver and black were the dominant colors of the décor and they only added to her iron-like leadership and tough as nails demeanor. She swiveled around in her leather chair and popped open a bottle of champagne, pouring them both a tall glass.

"You are to be commended, Dwight! Drink up! I wasn't sure if you could pull it off, considering your last futile attempt on the Brooklyn Bridge." She popped a shrimp cocktail in her mouth.

Dwight defended himself in his mind, but remained silent. He didn't remember her sticking around to help at that time or watch Drake go down either. However, when Lorna spoke you didn't answer unless she posed a direct question to you.

"They'll never track us." She continued in a dark tone. "Billy disengaged Drake's useless and redundant code locks and designed new ones. You look like something is on your mind, you may speak."

Dwight sat himself down in a small silver chair that was hardly designed for comfort. "Lorna, what about the time flux? I heard some V-Techs talking about it and that they are going to try and reverse what's been done. How can they do that? I don't really know all this technical stuff."

Lorna gulped the last of her wine and poured herself more. "It's alarmingly simple, but don't worry your Irish head about it. I have my own agenda. I want you and a few others to hit the time zones where Pioneer members are. Here, look at this."

She picked up a black remote and pointed it to the wall across from her desk. A Dali painting with melted clocks, fittingly called 'The moment of explosion', rose up to reveal a silver screen. She pushed a red button and the screen was illuminated with a time line, it was a small version of the Omnibus in the Control Center.

"Billy designated this Omnibus to read the locations of all the Pioneer members. I'm sending Paradox out in order to divert them and bring them here. I am putting you in charge of that Dwight; all contact pertaining to Pioneer and its members will be directed to you, but I have another assignment for you in the meantime. Try not to screw it up, remember what I said about Medieval times!"

She pressed a buzzer under her desk and another wall slid open to reveal a few more members of Paradox. They barely moved a muscle, standing tall with their hands folded in front of them. In the middle of them was Voyager Drake, he stepped out next to Lorna with a wicked smile.

"Now that Bogg is out of the way and everything is askew, we can continue our original plan of domination. Since changes were made in Bogg's worthless life, it resulted in an alternate time line. We have to eliminate the links in the alternate one to be ultimately successful. Jeffrey Jones, Kayla Sheppard, and Jeremy Saunders must be obliterated or else they will somehow lead Pioneer back into Bogg's original history."

Lorna pinched his cheek. "That's right my dear, we can't have that nasty little time flux interfering with our plans. Dwight, you and Billy Ryan are assigned to Jones, he is the first one they'll try and bring back. Drake and I are going to handle things here at the OCC. The rest of you know where you have to go and who you have to deal with, now get a move on!"

The Voyagers set their omnis for their missions and took off, Dwight lingered confused until Lorna glared harshly at him. Voyager Billy Ryan tapped him on the shoulder and he turned startled.

"Let's go man, time to hit the Big Apple." Billy winked at Lorna and then they were gone.

Lorna moved seductively toward her old leader and ran her fingers through his black hair. "Its good to have you back with us, Drake…working for me of course." She whispered snidely in his ear.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Drake replied. But inside he wanted to kill her. He had a complete migraine; he still couldn't understand why he wasn't in charge of operations since Bogg was out of the way. Before the trial, Drake was on top of the world as a VHQ lawyer. Lorna must have sabotaged him the way Bogg had. He leered at Lorna and took her arm.

"After you my dear, the OCC awaits!

Omni Control Center

"Are you clear with what you have to do, mate? How bout' you Sheila?" Bobby asked the two Voyagers in his office.

John Henry stopped pacing and held his hips frustrated. He went behind Regina and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. Bobby and Joseph had just explained to the Voyagers that they needed to travel back to Jeffrey's time zone and get him to Headquarters to avoid any more complications. Joseph informed them that it was currently hard to pinpoint where Kayla and Jeremy would be located in this alternate universe, though New York City remained the best guess.

Joseph rifled through the current reports from OCC and they were very bleak.

"The actions Bogg's killer has taken caused an immediate and noticeable effect on our universe and the future of his own. However, being in Voyager Headquarters can be somewhat of a safe haven. Bobby spoke to the council and they told us that we all would retain the memories of the original time line. However, the time flux is limited to outsiders, which is why this mission is so important. The only outsiders with any knowledge of Bogg would be Kayla, Jones and Saunders. Archibald Houlihan would have been the next best person to visit but since Bogg never did meet his original Voyager Aide, Archie has no knowledge of him. The new records show that Houlihan left his Brownstone sometime in the early nineteen forties and the place remained abandoned until the nineteen seventies housing boom. Regina, you suggested voyaging to 1983 because Jeffrey would be a year past the date that Bogg originally took him, right?"

"I'm only making an assumption that at some point in that year, Jeffrey's memories of his voyages with Bogg and the last thing they did before Bogg disappeared would be complete. But that's taking a big risk, considering its all a series of dreams to him." She answered with a worried glance at John Henry.

"Heck, I don't care where we have to go, I just want to get this whole thing sorted out. My cousin Kayla would also still have Charles' omni on her, but being on her own she wouldn't know how to make heads or tails of it. It would be so dang easier if we can just go back to Bogg's time and save him before this piece of horse shi…uh…manure gets to him!"

Joseph put an arm around his friend to calm him down. He was just as anxious as John Henry. He would never forget the expression on Olivia's face as she begged for help and disappeared. Joseph had his Archivists looking through the books for any trace of Phineas Bogg's existence and they had yet to come up with his genealogy.

"If it was only so simple, John! Whoever messed with the Omnibus has totally erased the red light in Bogg's time line. We wouldn't know where to begin to look for this disturbance, it's like his entire history is off the map and out of the books. We'll keep working on that, there has to be something."

"I dang well know who messed things up, starts with a P and ends with an X, they are really asking for it now! I'm gonna find their little hidey-hole if I have to tear this whole Academy apart!"

Regina stood up and stroked his face. "John, its no use to get worked up now. We need to keep our minds clear and focus on the assignment they're giving us, okay, baby?"

He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head. "I got ya sweetheart, Jeffrey Jones. New York City."

Regina opened her omni to set the dial and a muted beeping sounded from the two-way communicator on Bobby's desk. Tina came into view on the screen, her face in a panic.

"Bobby, we have a major problem out here, its Lorna and Drake they've taken the entire control room hostage!"

"What! Tina, where are you? I can barely see you."

"I'm under a desk in the back of the room and I have be extra quiet, they've got weapons, Bobby!" She sniffled.

"Okay, sweetheart, just stay calm, I'm coming out."

Joseph looked hopeful at John Henry and Regina and slipped them a scribbled note.

"Your omnis were the first to be locked with the coders, PX found a way to trace our team, alerts sent. You are untraceable for now – Be careful, counting on you both!"

John Henry crumpled the note and pumped his fist in the air. He grabbed Regina and they disappeared into the cosmos.

-O-

Joseph and Bobby walked out of the office with their hands up high and moved toward the Omnibus. Lorna turned on them with a weapon that resembled a gun, but it was an adjustable laser that could slice through solid steel five feet thick.

"Well, well, well, the 2nd class leader and the big Aussie show their faces. Get on the damn floor! Now!"

Lorna took a shot and the laser whizzed over Joseph's head, striking the lighting fixtures. He and Bobby ducked, then laid flat on their stomachs. They noticed that the entire crew was face down on the floor. Joseph peeked at the screen, the red lights from Bogg, Jones, and Olivia's missions were all replaced with green ones. Drake crouched beside them and seized their omnis.

"Don't even think about trying to escape gentlemen, your omnis are currently disabled." He rose up and made an announcement.

"As are all the omnis on the premises! Anyone who attempts to leave Headquarters will be dealt with, and the results will be permanent!"