VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
DISCOVERIES - BOOK 1
(The First New Adventure)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
October 2006 (Revised 05/2009)
Previous disclaimers apply
Chapter 8 - PREPARATIONS, PREPARATIONS!
Palos, a Spanish seaport located near the border of Spain and Portugal was for many years a quiet little fishing community. However, with the arrival of Columbus, this was soon about to change. With the town now becoming the staging point for Columbus' great expedition, there was a heightened sense of interest as well as pride and excitement in the air.
Within two weeks, the crazy explorer would complete the preparations for his journey and set sail for the New World. Unlike those weeks of preparations for his past voyages, these two weeks would be far from routine as he had come to expect. At this juncture, there were sinister forces at work both behind the scenes and in the shadows as he would soon realize. His voyage was being undermined, piece by piece and there was nothing he could do to stop it. That was until help finally arrived. With a green light on their omni, Bogg and Jeff left the confines of the Royal Court and arrived several months later in Palos. They came to a hard landing in a field on the outskirts of town.
Jeff stood up and extended a hand to Bogg. "I believe the omni has it in for us." Jeff said with a pained look.
"You know, it could have been worse. We could have landed in a river or for that matter on a big cactus." Bogg teased. "Or worse still, there's always that one pointy rock. I've landed on a few of those in my time as a Voyager. Are you ok?"
"Yea, nothing's broken." Jeff replied.
Bogg pulled out the omni. "Palos, July 20, 1492, and a red light! What gives here kid? He's got the funding for his voyage. History should be back on track."
"What…lemme see!" Jeff exclaimed as he pulled his partner's hand toward him. Another red light? At this rate, Columbus is never going to make it to discover the new world!"
"Don't give up kid! Lots of times I've had to jump around and fix multiple problems that were related a particular event in history."
"If you say so, Bogg."
"Yes, I say so, Jeff." Bogg mocked. "C'mon, we need to get going if we expect to find Chris before dark."
The two voyagers set off walking across the field. After a time, they came upon a narrow dirt road. Not knowing which way to turn, the two paused for a time, scratching their heads.
"So, where to now?" Jeff asked.
Bogg raised his hand, shading his eyes from the bright afternoon sun. As he peered off in one direction, he quickly noticed an old man on a wagon, headed down the road in the distance.
Bogg nudged his partner. "Hey, let's follow him."
The two Voyagers walked down the road following the old man on his wagon. After thirty minutes or so, they arrived inside the city. Confused as to which direction to go next, they again stopped for a moment to get their bearings.
"This is a pretty big city." Jeff said pointedly. "Which direction do we go to get to the docks?"
"I really don't know kid. " Bogg replied. "I guess we'll just have to ask someone to give us directions. Let's go this way."
The two continued their journey until they came upon a young man who was pruning a tree in front of his home.
"Excuse me sir." Bogg prompted.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" The young man replied as he turned to face them.
"We are trying to reach the seaport of Palos and seem to be lost at the moment. Could you tell us how to get to there from here?" Bogg asked.
"Of course sir, I would be happy to give you directions." He replied.
"If you continue walking up this street, you will come to a crossroads. There, you will turn left and continue walking for several minutes until you reach another street with a small market on the left corner. Turn left at that market and continue walking. This will take you directly to the docks."
"Thank you sir." Bogg said humbly. "May I ask you one more question?"
"Sure. " He said.
"We are looking for a man by the name of Columbus. Have you heard of him?" Bogg asked.
"Admiral Columbus! Yes sir, the whole city has heard of him!" The young man exclaimed. "Are you friends of his?"
"Yes." Bogg replied.
"He's the man who's preparing for a voyage to the other side of the world. He's been recruiting sailors from far and wide to work on those three ships he has at the docks."
"Well, we've come to help him prepare for the voyage." Bogg said. "Isn't that right, kiddo?"
Jeff nodded in agreement.
"Could I ask one favor of you both?" The young man asked.
"Sure." Bogg replied.
"When you see him, please give him my wishes for a safe journey."
"We will make sure he gets your message." Bogg replied. "Thanks again for your help."
Bogg and Jeff left the young man to tend to his pruning and continued walking toward the seaport. After a time, they finally reached the waterfront. The two stopped and surveyed the area to see if they could locate any signs of Columbus or his ships.
"Look, Bogg! Over there!" Jeff exclaimed as he pointed off in the distance to the largest of Columbus's three ships. "That must be the Santa Maria."
"Yea and those must be his other two ships over there to the right." Bogg said. "Where do you suppose Columbus will be?"
"My guess is he's on the Santa Maria. That was his flagship." Jeff replied.
"C'mon let's see if we can find him."
The two strolled along the long wooden dock until they reached the gangplank of the Santa Maria. Columbus was now standing on the main deck, supervising the loading of provisions and shouting out orders to his men.
Jeff pointed up to where Columbus now stood. "Bogg, there he is… It's Chris!"
"Yea, I see him kid."
Bogg yelled up to the crazy explorer. "Are you the captain of this ship sir?" He asked somewhat comically.
"No, sir, I am Admiral Columbus and just who might you…" Columbus stopped suddenly once he had recognized his two friends. "Why, it's Mr. Bogg and Mr. Jones!"
"Permission to come aboard, Admiral, sir?" Bogg asked as he saluted.
"Get up here the pair of you." Columbus yelled as he waived his arm. "We have much catching up to do."
The two sauntered up the gangplank to the deck of the Santa Maria. Columbus, who was once again pleased to see his two friends, made his way over and embraced the two of them.
"I am delighted the two of you have returned. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be back in time to see us set sail."
"Chris, we're sorry, but our trip took a little bit longer than we expected." Bogg said apologetically. "The important thing is that we are here now and ready to lend a hand. So…tell us…What has happened since we left you at the Royal Court?"
"Well, after we parted company at the Royal Court, I set off to the Rabida Monastery here in Palos to see some old friends and ask for their help to plan this voyage. I remained here until just before April 14th. At that time, Her Majesty summoned me back to the Royal Court to sign the official papers and collect the funds I needed. After that, I returned here to continue with the preparations."
"You've been busy since we left." Jeff said in a state of awe.
"You are correct my young friend" Columbus said. "Up until about a month ago, we have been gathering provisions and recruiting sailors for the voyage. Once the three ships arrived, we have spent the remainder of our time loading those provisions and making repairs."
"Chris, these are some good looking ships you have." Bogg said.
"Yes, they are good ships, but they have taken a pounding. They were used during the war, and thus is the reason for their state of disrepair. Since their arrival, we have spent much time working on them to make them seaworthy and we are nowhere near finished yet."
Jeff cast an eye over the ship. "Looks like you've done a great job so far."
"Thank you my young friend." Columbus replied.
"One question…Chris. When did you get promoted to Admiral?" Bogg asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
"That's a long story, Mr. Bogg, but I'll make it brief. Her Majesty made me an Admiral not too long after I signed the official papers. She wanted me to be in full command of the voyage as well as all three ships.
Quickly, Columbus' demeanor changed as he took a step closer to his friends.
"Gentlemen, I hate to cut short this joyous occasion, but I have a rather important matter I feel I must discuss with you." Columbus whispered.
"Sure Chris… Go ahead… We're listening." Bogg replied.
"Mr. Bogg, Mr. Jones. This is a matter which must be spoken about in private. Would you come with me to my quarters?" Columbus asked.
"Sure Chris." Bogg replied as he turned to his partner, with a bewildered look upon his face.
"I wonder what this is all about?" Bogg whispered.
"I don't know. Whatever it is, it sounds pretty serious." Jeff whispered.
The three followed Columbus to the door to his quarters and went inside.
"Please my friends do sit down and make yourselves comfortable. Would you gentlemen care for some refreshment?" Columbus asked graciously.
"Water would be fine." Bogg replied.
Columbus went over to a small wooden cabinet and retrieved three goblets and two large decanters. He filled two of the goblets with water from one of the decanters and handed them to Bogg and Jeff. The last goblet he filled with rum for himself. Picking up the goblet, he walked over to his chair and sat down.
Columbus took a sip from his goblet and breathed deeply before he began to speak.
"Gentlemen, I believe I have a problem. " Columbus said, somewhat unnerved by the thought. "Let's see now, where should I begin…"
Bogg interrupted. "At the beginning…that's always a good place to start."
"Mr. Bogg, you are as always correct. Well, it started not too long after the ships arrived here at the dock. As we began our work to make them seaworthy, strange things began to occur."
"What do you mean by strange?" Jeff asked.
"I can't quite put my finger on it." Columbus replied to his young friend. "It just seemed that things were being, shall we say, undone."
"Undone?" Bogg asked as he craned his neck. "What was being undone?"
"Well, we would work diligently on the three ships to make repairs to them and a week or so after the repairs were finished, we would have to make the same repairs again. For example, the rudder of this ship had partly broken off by the time it made it to the dock. A week or so after it arrived, I supervised a group of men who took the broken rudder off, repaired it and then reinstalled it. It was working perfectly after the repairs, then several days later, it was broken again."
"Hmmm… Maybe, the repairs just didn't hold." Bogg said as he attempted to come up with an explanation.
"My dear friends, one might come to that conclusion, if I hadn't seen the work for with mine own eyes. However, I stood and watched as this rudder was removed, repaired and then reinstalled. The repairs were done correctly and it was in perfect condition when the men finished reinstalling it."
"So you think it was sabotage?" Bogg asked.
"At the time, no, I really didn't think so. However, the number of these incidents hasm continued to increase. At first, they only occurred on this ship, but after a time, bizarre things started happening on the Nina and Pinta as well."
"Sounds to me like you have a saboteur aboard." Bogg said as he rubbed his chin. "Do you know who would want to sabotage your voyage, Chris?"
"No, Mr. Bogg, I don't. I have only been in this country for a year or so. I have made no enemies here that I am aware of."
"What about the crew?" Bogg asked. "Have you checked out their credentials?"
"Yes, my first officer, Carlos has checked and verified the credentials of all the crew we have recruited to date. They all checked out ok."
Columbus sighed as he leaned forward in his chair. "I am at the end of my rope here gentlemen. I cannot understand who would want to stop me from making this voyage. The problem is, I cannot determine who is doing it. You both know, I can't afford to set sail and run the risk of failure due to the actions of some scoundrel."
"Don't upset yourself Chris." Bogg said reassuringly. "The way I see it, you need two new crewmembers to come aboard not only to help you finish the preparations, but to get close enough to find out who is working against you."
"But, who could I trust with such an undertaking?" Columbus asked as the edges of his lips curled upward.
"You're looking at them. Jeff and I will do it. We came back to help you and that's what we are going to do." Bogg said boldly.
"Mr. Bogg, I have to say you have come up with an excellent idea."
Bogg began to toot his own horn. "Fortunately for you, when it comes to ships, I'm an old hand at it. Believe it or not, I was a sailor myself for many, many years."
Upon hearing his partner's last statements, Jeff cleared his throat as he rolled his eyes and took a sip of water from his glass. He knew Bogg had purposely left out a few small details about his years of being a so-called sailor. In response to his partner's subtle hint, he turned to Jeff and winked at him to play along.
"You were?" Columbus asked, now taken aback by Bogg's boasting. "You never told me this."
"Well, I don't really like to talk about those days. " Bogg replied.
Jeff glanced at his partner. "Uhh… Bogg…Have you forgotten something? How is a thirteen year old kid going to help with the preparations?"
"The boy has a point, Mr. Bogg." Columbus concurred. "He's a little bit young to be lifting crates and hoisting sails."
"Hmmmm…" Bogg paused in thought… "I've got it! The commander of a ship normally has a cabin boy to attend to his needs. Well, Jeff can be your cabin boy!"
"You are just full of ideas today, Mr. Bogg. While you are keeping an eye on the crew out on deck, he can do the same below deck as well and no one will be the wiser." Columbus replied.
"That's great! Just great!" Jeff ranted with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I'm a voyager one minute and a cabin boy the next. What a demotion!"
Bogg, after hearing this was now a little disappointed with his young partner. He pushed himself back from the table and stood up.
"Chris, would you excuse us for a moment. I need to have a little talk with my young companion here. C'mon kid." Bogg grabbed Jeff by the nape of the neck and took him over to the opposite side of the room and got down on one knee in front of him.
"Kid, what's the problem?" Bogg whispered. "I thought you wanted to see this mission through."
"I do Bogg, really, I do." he said. "It's just… well…"
Bogg reminded his partner of their little chat they had had earlier in their mission.
"C'mon Jeff, remember what we talked about previously. We are supposed to be open and honest with each other."
"It's just…I'm scared Bogg!" Jeff confessed.
"What's there to be scared of?" Bogg whispered as he over emphasized his words.
"Bogg, we are going undercover." Jeff replied, stating the obvious. "Do you not realize how dangerous this could be? I'm afraid something bad will happen to you."
"Jeff, you know we have to do this. Otherwise, Chris may never make his voyage."
Bogg put his hand on the kid's shoulder as he attempted to dissuade his fears. "Don't worry about me, kid. I will be ok. You just remember. I will always be there for you any time you need me. You and me, we are stuck together like glue. We're Voyagers and there's no separating us, ok?"
"Ok, Bogg." Jeff agreed reluctantly.
Bogg stood up with his partner and they walked back over to where Columbus was sitting.
"Jeff, you stay here with Columbus and do what you can to help him. Keep an eye on things, especially anything that looks odd or strange. I will go out on deck and help with the preparations. I'll be back for you later."
"Bogg, whatever you do, be careful." Jeff urged with a concerned tone.
"Don't worry kid!" He reassured. "Remember, I'm an old hand at this."
Bogg left the admiral's quarters and began to stroll around the deck, observing the actions of the crew. After a time, he met up with two members of the crew who were loading crates of supplies into the hold of the ship. With such a horde of supplies awaiting their eventual stowage into the hold, he rolled up his sleeves and began to assist them in their endeavors. Blending in with the rest of the crew, this was a perfect opportunity to observe their behavior and actions, hoping for some clue to surface which would lead him to the saboteur. After several hours of hard labor, shifting what seemed like an unending plethora of supply crates, Bogg decided to sit down on one and rest.
As he sat there he began to ponder the current dilemma that faced them all. He knew he and Jeff had to find the person responsible for undermining this mission. "But how?" he thought to himself. "Who could this person be? What was his motive? Obviously this rotten scoundrel had something against Columbus. But why was he here now? What did he hope to accomplish?" The questions kept on coming but the answers were nowhere to be found.
For a moment, he set aside these questions and began to look to his past for some answers. He recalled with vivid clarity from his days as a pirate the numerous methods employed to disrupt the operations of a ship. In every case, the person responsible was always one who hid in the shadows and had complete access to all areas of the ship. He now realized in order to solve this mystery he would have to go beyond just mere observation. Some investigative work was now in order.
Bogg jumped to his feet. He decided to begin his investigation by inspecting several key areas he had thought about. First on his list was the ship's main rigging. After walking over to the main mast, he began the long climb to the top. During his ascent, he paused at various points to more closely inspect the various ropes and pulleys which normally supported the mass of the sails.
After some time he had finally reached the top of the mast. With his inspection finished and nothing found to be out of the ordinary, he proceeded back down onto the deck.
Next his investigation would lead him to the sail lockers to examine the condition of the ship's sails. He made his way over to the first locker and slowly lifted its lid. After examining its contents and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he closed the lid and proceeded to the next one. Arriving at the next locker, he couldn't help but notice the word "Mainsel," carved rather haphazardly on the top of the lid. It was the locker where the ship's main sail was stored. Bogg, with a smile on his face at this point, nodded and then slowly lifted the lid to take a peek inside. Much to his surprise, what he saw next left him at the very least, taken aback if not completely shocked. The sail which in most cases would be neatly folded and stowed away had been slashed to shreds. For all intents and purposes it was ruined. He closed this locker and continued to examine the remaining ones. Oddly enough, the remaining lockers had not been disturbed.
Bogg continued to snoop about the ship, looking for any other signs of unusual activity. As he did so, several hours passed and before he realized, nightfall was fast approaching. Feeling great fatigue from all his efforts, Bogg decided it was time to find Jeff and get something to eat. First on his list was the Admiral's quarters. He quickly walked over to the door and went inside. Upon entering the room, he found Jeff and Columbus sitting at a table going over some supply lists.
"Bogg!" Jeff exclaimed as he looked up and noticed his partner.
"Kid. How's it going here?" Bogg asked.
Columbus put down his quill and raised his head. "Mr. Bogg? Are you ok? I pray that you have not overtaxed yourself today."
"I'm ok Chris." Bogg replied. "A bit tired, but nonetheless ok. A little hard work never hurt anyone."
"Mr. Bogg, I agree." Columbus said with a hint of humor in his voice. "A little hard work from time to time can do any one a great deal of good, but, you must not over do it. That's what the crew is for. As the Commander of this expedition, please do not put me in a position to have to again remind you of that fact."
Bogg looked at the crazy explorer, almost dumbfounded by his statements.
"Chris…umm, I mean sir…" Bogg uttered as he attempted to respond. "I understand sir."
"Good!" Columbus acknowledged. "Mr. Bogg, your partner and I have just been going over the supply manifests for the three ships to see if there is anything we have omitted. It looks as if we have everything we will need for this voyage."
"That's good news Chris, but, unfortunately I've got some equally bad news." Bogg said with some disappointment. "I have kept an eye out for anything unusual all afternoon, and had not found anything out of the ordinary, until, well…"
"What did you find, Mr. Bogg?" Columbus asked.
"About an hour ago, I decided to have a look around the ship. In doing so, I examined the contents of the sail lockers. All was ok until I opened the second locker where the main sail is stored. When I opened it, I found the sail had been slashed to pieces with a knife."
"The main sail destroyed?" Columbus asked in disbelief. "But who?"
"Chris, I don't know who did it." Bogg explained. "What's so odd about this is, I've seen no one near those lockers all afternoon."
Columbus took a sip from his goblet. "You see what I mean. I just can't understand who could be doing this. I will have the first mate check that sail and have it replaced in the morning. Mr. Bogg and Mr. Jones, I really do appreciate the work you have done for me today. You both look exhausted, so why don't you go have something to eat and get a good night's rest?"
"Thanks Chris. That's an excellent idea." Bogg acknowledged as he got to his feet. "C'mon Jeff, let's get something to eat. Chris, we will be back in the morning. Good evening to you."
"Good evening to the both of you."
Columbus continued working for a while longer and then just before sunset, decided to call it a day. He put away his work and left the Santa Maria for his apartment. Not too far away, Bogg and Jeff had found a little inn where they ate dinner and turned in for the night.
As midnight approached, almost everyone in the small town of Palos, including Columbus, Bogg and Jeff were resting comfortably in their beds. The only exception was a tall man with wisps of long hair, who was dressed in dark clothing and presently lurking around the docks. Unobserved by anyone at the time, this mysterious person crept up to the Santa Maria, keeping himself in the shadows and slowly made his way up the gangplank.
In the darkness, with only the light of the moon to guide him, he began to wander around on deck, obviously searching for something. He continued to do this for a time, and then suddenly stopped as he reached the main mast of the ship. After looking around to see if he was being observed, he slowly began to climb up the mast. Halfway up, he paused to pull out a large knife he had stashed down the back of his pants and started sawing into several of the huge, tar encrusted ropes which held up the main rigging. While he continued to cut into the ropes, he let out an evil laugh.
"Hee,hee,hee,hee. This crazy explorer won't be going anywhere, anytime soon. Nor will he have the chance to discover the New World. Hee,hee,hee,hee. I will see to that!"
Once he had left only a small portion of each of the ropes still intact, he quickly climbed back down onto the deck. For a moment, he paused, again checking to make sure he was not being watched. At that point, he ran toward the bow of the ship and dove off into the water.