VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
DISCOVERIES - BOOK 1
(The First New Adventure)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
October 2006 (Revised 05/2009)
Previous disclaimers apply

Chapter 10 - AFTERMATH

It was the dawning of a new day in Palos. The sun had been up for a couple of hours and a cool breeze was now tickling the waters of the ocean. Bogg and Jeff, well rested after their night of extreme excitement, arrived at the Santa Maria. Columbus was standing on deck talking with Carlos when the two came walking up the gangplank.

"Good morning, Gentlemen." Columbus said.

"Good morning, Chris" The two replied in unison.

As Bogg walked up and stood beside them, Carlos immediately noticed the bruises on Bogg's face and jaw.

"What in blazes happened to you?" Carlos asked.

"Oh my!" Columbus exclaimed as he clutched his chin, "Mr. Bogg, what happened to you?"

"It's a long story, but, our uninvited guest paid us another visit last night." He explained.

Jeff smiled as he was extremely proud of his partner's efforts. "Yea. Bogg almost captured him, but the guy managed to get away."

"Looks like he came back last night to continue his fit of destruction." Bogg said wryly. "Once he came aboard, we watched as he walked around obviously searching for the target of his next bit of sabotage. However, he didn't count on the two of us being there to catch him in the act."

"How were you able to subdue this intruder?" Columbus asked.

"The two of us came up with a plan. I crouched behind those crates over there and Jeff here, hid inside your quarters. Once he was aboard, Jeff created a little diversion, by slamming the door to your quarters. This allowed me to jump him from behind and bring him down. At that point, I struggled with him for several minutes and then he took a swing at me. We continued to struggle for a while longer until he finally broke loose and dove off the ship."

"Did you get a good look at him?" Columbus asked his friend.

"It was quite dark at the time and he was dressed in dark clothing, so I could not see much of him. Before he dove off the ship, I did manage to catch a glimpse of his face in the moonlight."

"Was he familiar to you?" Carlos asked.

Carlos' question had triggered the one unsettling image that had haunted Bogg throughout the night. It was an image burned into his mind and now matter how hard he tried, he could not rid himself of it. He paused for a moment, in a trance-like state as his mind attempted to solve the riddle. He couldn't help but feel that he had met this person before. Was he a member of the crew? Alas, no! He had met all of Columbus' crew. But, who was he? After a few moments, Bogg was brought back to reality.

Jeff walked up grabbed hold of Bogg's arm. "Bogg! Are you ok?"

Stunned by Jeff's grip on him, Bogg jerked suddenly and replied, "Oh! Sorry about that. I'm ok. I was just thinking again about last night."

"Carlos, if you mean was he a member of the crew, the answer is no!" Bogg said staunchly. "Matter of fact, I really do not know who he was."

Columbus put his hand on Bogg's shoulder. "That's ok Mr. Bogg. You did your best, and most importantly you stopped him from doing any more harm."

Bogg took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank you Chris."

"Besides, his nights of sneaking aboard ship and doing damage, are for the most part, over." Columbus said boldly. "Carlos and I have instituted a round the clock guard on all three ships beginning tonight. It will be very difficult for him to come aboard now."

Bogg thought to himself, "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Carlos!" Columbus barked.

"Yes, sir!"

"Let's go over to the Pinta and survey the supplies in the cargo hold." Columbus said.

"Gentlemen, if you will excuse us."

Carlos and Columbus turned away and began their walk over to the Pinta leaving Bogg and Jeff behind on the deck. Without saying a word, Bogg walked over to a crate that was sitting near the deck railing and sat down. He sat there for a moment staring out into the distance before Jeff made his way over to him.

"Bogg. What's wrong?" he asked. "You have been acting strange all morning."

"I've had a lot on my mind since last night." He confessed.

Jeff sensed something was troubling Bogg. He knew after listening to his partner's conversation with Columbus and Carlos, Bogg was holding back some piece of information.

"I know you didn't sleep too well last night." Jeff said softly with some concern. "You tossed and turned all night long."

"I know." Bogg replied in a sullen tone.

Jeff tried to lift his partner's spirits by injecting some humor into the conversation.

"And then there was your loud snoring…" Jeff said with a chuckle. "At one point, I thought you were going to wake everyone in the inn."

His partner did not respond. He continued to sit there staring off into the distance. Once again, he was deep in thought and unaware of what Jeff had just said.

Jeff shook Bogg's arm. "Bogg! What's wrong?" He exclaimed. "C'mon, talk to me!"

"Okay, kid. I didn't mean to upset you." Bogg said as he reached over and put his arm around his partner.

"Talk to me Bogg." Jeff repeated with a little less bravado. "I know you are holding back something about last night."

"Kid, remember when I told you I got a glimpse of the saboteur's face?" He asked.

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, the image of that man's face has been on my mind all night long. That face…I have seen it before, but I cannot remember where."

Bogg, grabbed the omni from his belt, opened it and held it up in front of his partner. "If I could identify that man…we would be one step closer to changing this light to green."

"Quit being so hard on yourself." Jeff admonished. "We will find out who this guy is eventually. He's bound to slip up sometime. You remember when you were in Voyager school?"

"Yea, kid. What's that got to do with this?" Bogg replied sarcastically.

"Hear me out, Bogg." Jeff said sternly. "Remember when you had to take a test and you got to that one question that you just couldn't remember the answer to?"

"Yea, I remember."

"And what did you do?" Jeff asked.

"Well, I would think about it a while and if I couldn't figure out the answer, I would skip it and come back to it later."

"When you eventually came back to it, what happened?" Jeff asked pointedly.

"I remembered the answer. "

"Bingo!" Jeff exclaimed. "This situation is like that test question. You need to stop thinking about this man's face for a while, let your brain rest and then come back to it later."

"So in other words, you think I should just let it go for a while." Bogg said.

"Yea, Bogg. Just let it go." Jeff urged. "The answer will come to you, but in its own time."

Bogg looked at his partner and smiled. "Kid…you're the greatest, no matter what anyone else says."

"I know." Jeff agreed as he put on a cheesy grin.

"Kid, I guess we need to get to work if we are ever going to finish this mission. Why don't you go inside and see what you can do for Chris. In the meantime, I'll go search for the rest of the crew and continue with the work here on deck. Whatever you do…keep your eyes peeled! I'll see you later this afternoon. Ok."

"Catch y'a later, Bogg!!"

The two Voyagers stood up and went their separate ways. Jeff made his way over to the admiral's quarters while Bogg started looking for the crewmen he had been working with the day before.

As the day passed, Bogg and the crew continued with their tasks, while Jeff and Columbus worked out the details of the voyage in the admiral's quarters. At this point, the embarkation was now less than a week away. There was still much to do as well as many repairs that remained unfinished on each of the three ships. Of all the tasks that needed to be completed, there was still a very important one that remained for Bogg and Jeff. They had to find and put a stop to the saboteur. Little did the two realize at the time, they were about to come face to face with their foe.

Out on the dock, unknown to anyone aboard ship at the time, the saboteur was now observing them and making preparations for his next move. He was determined to stop this voyage, one way or another and since the ships were now being guarded at night, he knew a new plan of attack was in order.

Dressed as one of the crew and carrying a small crate on his shoulder, he made his way aboard the Santa Maria. After strolling around on deck for a while, he put down his crate and made his way over and joined a group of crewmen who were making repairs to the ship.