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

Chapter 13 - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

The next day, Columbus and his crew found themselves in the middle of a treacherous storm at sea. The skies were dark and ominous almost as if it were dusk. The winds were now blowing wildly as the surging ocean waves tossed the three ships to and fro. Streaks of lightning illuminated the skies, which along with the loud claps of thunder made it look and feel much like a 4th of July fireworks show. In the midst of this natural chaos, the crews of all three ships were busy attempting to keep themselves afloat and on course. The combination of the wind and the waves had rocked the Santa Maria to such an extreme that it had thrown the still sleeping Bogg and Jeff out onto the floor.

"Ouch!" Jeff exclaimed. "What's goin' on here! Bogg…where are you?"

"Jeff, I'm over here. Are you ok, kid?" Bogg yelled over the sounds of the howling winds.

"Yea, I guess. What's going on with the ship?"

"I don't know. It feels like we are in the middle of a storm." Bogg replied. "How's the mal-de-mer this morning? Are you feeling better?"

"Yea, much better. I'm not nauseous anymore." Jeff said. "Wow, Bogg, that rum really does work."

"Sure does kid, every time…It's an old remedy."

"I sure could use something to eat right now. You have any more of that beef jerky?"

"Yea, here." Bogg reached in his pocket, grabbed a piece of jerky and tossed it to his partner. "What's up with the jerky? You've really changed your opinion about it since yesterday."

"At this point, Bogg, I'm hungry and I would eat just about anything."

Bogg chuckled as his young friend began to chew on the jerky. He picked himself up off the floor and pulled on his boots. While he attempted to do so, the ship suddenly pitched to one side, throwing him against the wall."

"Oh, that didn't feel so good!" Bogg mumbled as he peeled himself off of the wall and attempted to regain his balance.

"It must be a pretty bad storm out there. Kid, I think I'll go up top to see if the crew needs some help. Why don't you stay here, where it's safe."

"Oh no, Bogg, I'm coming with you."

"Kid, you heard me. Stay here!" Bogg said sternly.

"No Bogg, you're not going to leave me here this time." Jeff yelled. He ran over to the door and leaned against it in a defiant sort of pose. He then pointed at his partner and said with a look of sheer satisfaction on his face. "If I don't leave, you don't leave!"

"Ok Jeff. You win! Come on." Bogg said as he resigned himself to the situation. "Smart kids give me such a pain" He muttered as he and Jeff walked out the door.

As they came upon the door to the main deck, they heard the howling of the winds outside. Bogg opened the door and within seconds, the wind and the rain from the storm completely engulfed the two of them. They fought their way through the incoming torrent out on to the deck. Jeff locked his arms around his partner to keep from losing his balance.

"Kid! " Bogg yelled at his partner through the noise of the storm.

"Yea, Bogg!"

"I can't risk you being swept overboard in this storm. Do you think you can make it over to the Admirals' quarters?" Bogg asked.

"I don't think so Bogg." Jeff replied.

"C'mon, kid, we'll go together."

The two voyagers began to slowly and carefully make their way across the deck to the Admiral's quarters. After a few moments, they reached the door and went inside.

"Jeff, you stay here until this storm settles down. You'll be safe here and I will know where you are." Bogg urged. He kneeled down in front of his partner and pointed his finger at him. "Whatever you do don't go outside. I mean it Jeff! Stay here!"

"I will Bogg, honest, I will." Jeff agreed. Bogg rose, walked over to the door and opened it slightly.

"Bogg?"

Bogg turned and looked back at his partner. "Yea, kid."

"Be careful!"

"You betcha kid." Bogg paused for a moment as he grabbed his omni from his belt.

"Here kid, hold on to this for me." Bogg said as he tossed the omni to his partner. "If anything happens, you take this and get out of here."

"But Bogg! I can't leave you here." Jeff whined.

"No buts! At the slightest sign of danger, you set the omni and get out!"

"Ok, Bogg." Jeff said as he bowed his head.

Bogg slowly walked through the door out into the storm and closed it behind him. Jeff went over the window and with the omni clutched tightly in his hand, began to watch the events unfolding out on deck.

As Bogg made his way across the deck through the fierce wind and rain, he looked around and saw Columbus and his crew on the starboard side of the ship. His first mate, Carlos was at the helm struggling to keep the ship on course. All were hard at work trying to keep the Santa Maria afloat.

"Chris!" Bogg yelled. "Need some help?"

"Yes, Mr. Bogg. We could use a hand with these ropes here." Columbus yelled.

Bogg walked over to help the crew with their tasks. While he and several of the crew were tightening the sails, he couldn't help but notice a stray member of the crew who was at this moment, high up in the rigging. Something about this seemed very odd to the seafaring Bogg. He knew all too well in a storm like this, the last place you wanted to be was high up in the rigging. As he stood there holding onto the rope, he continued to observe the crewman and his actions.

"Chris! " Bogg yelled.

"Yes Mr. Bogg." Columbus replied. Even in this fierce storm, Columbus continued to keep his cool and show his manners.

"What's that crewman doing up there in the rigging?" asked Bogg.

"I don't know." Columbus yelled. "I didn't send him up there. There's really no reason for him to be there."

Suddenly, Bogg looked up and saw the crewman pull a knife from his pocket and begin to cut the rigging ropes.

"Look Chris, he's cutting the rigging!" Bogg yelled.

"I see it, Mr. Bogg."

Bogg yelled up at the crewman. "Hey you! What are you doing?"

The crewman continued with his task, undaunted by Bogg's question. Once he had cut through one rope, he began to slash one of the sails.

"Chris, it's the saboteur! I'm going after him!" He yelled.

Bogg made his way carefully over to the main mast and began to climb up to where the crewman was now located. About halfway up, a gust of wind caught him and knocked him off balance. Luckily, he saw a rope nearby and quickly grabbed hold of it. He paused for a moment to try and regain his footing on the mast and continued his climb upward.

While observing the events unfolding out on deck, Jeff had become greatly concerned for Bogg's safety. He wanted so much to go out and help his partner, but he knew it was just too dangerous for him to be out on deck.

Bogg continued to climb the mast. Once he reached the crewman, he attempted to grab hold of him, but he was too far out of reach. In a daring move, he began to traverse the rigging in hopes of getting closer to him, however, the crewman, had begun his retreat and was still too far away to be captured. This pursuit continued and at one point, Bogg again lost his footing on the ropes and almost fell to the deck below.

As the crewman continued his descent, Bogg was in fact now gaining on him. Suddenly, a gust of wind hit them both; the crewman slipped and got himself tangled in the ropes in a rather undignified position. He was now hanging upside down by one leg struggling with all his might to get free. Unfortunately for the crewman, this was the one mistake that Bogg had been waiting for. This gave Bogg time to catch up with him.

After a few moments, the crewman freed himself from his embarrassing predicament and pulled himself up to an upright position. However, with Bogg now upon him, there was nowhere left to escape. Bogg reached over and put a headlock on the crewman.

"What are you doing!" Bogg yelled at the crewman. "Are you crazy? You're trying to get us all killed here!"

The two continued their struggle until suddenly the crewman pulled the knife from his belt and thrust it at Bogg, slashing his arm. Bogg grabbed his arm, which was now bleeding profusely. The crewman continued his climb down from the rigging. Quickly, Bogg tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied it around his arm like a tourniquet and began to climb down in pursuit.

As the crewman reached the deck, in a gallant attempt to capture him, Bogg jumped from the rigging and tackled him. At this point a slugfest ensued, with Bogg and the crewman swapping punches blow for blow. They continued to thrash and slide about on deck as Bogg tried with all his might to subdue him.

Eventually, both managed to get back to their feet to continue their struggle. After a few more moments of punishment, the crewmen pushed Bogg over against the deck rail and tried to dump him overboard. In a desperate attempt to keep from being thrown overboard, Bogg put a boot to the crewman's chest and pushed him down onto the deck. He quickly leaped on top of him and landed a blow to the back of his neck, rendering him almost unconscious. Dazed, from Bogg's obvious karate chop, the crewman had now been subdued. Bogg turned him onto his back and continued to hold him down until help arrived. As the crewman continued to move about, attempting to get free, a shiny metal object fell from his pocket and slid down beside him. Bogg gazed in disbelief at the object before reaching over to pick it up.

Shocked by what he had just found, Bogg looked at the crewman and asked, "Oh and what do we have here?" He recognized the large V carved into the top of the object.

"It's an omni and not just any old omni, it's a silver one…and now I know exactly who you are!" Bogg yelled.

Drake looked up at his fellow voyager and in a condescending tone replied. "So you finally figured it out. I was wondering how long it would take you to put the pieces together. Even in Voyager school, you always were a little slow."

"Why Drake? Why are you doing this?" Bogg asked.

Columbus and several of the crew had now arrived at Bogg's side. "Restrain him." Columbus ordered. The crew lifted Drake from the deck and bound him with rope.

Bogg grabbed Drake by the collar and pulled him in close. "You still haven't answered my question! Why are you doing this?"

"If it hadn't been for you, Susan and that little brat you have as a partner, my plot to take over Voyager Headquarters would have been a success. I will never forget what you three did to discredit me. I will have my revenge on the three of you. Just wait and see." Drake spewed.

"Mr. Bogg. Do you know this person?" Columbus asked.

"Yes, unfortunately, I do. He's an old rival of mine, you remember, the one we were talking about several weeks ago."

"Take him below deck and keep a continuous guard on him." Columbus ordered. "We'll figure out what to do with him later."

The crew led their captive down below deck.

Columbus turned to Bogg. "Mr. Bogg, you have captured the saboteur. Looks like our voyage should proceed normally from this point forward."

"Well, Chris. As long as Drake is on board, we are all in great danger. I'll feel more comfortable when we reach land."

"I think I will go below deck with the crew and check on our captive. I want to make sure he cannot escape." Columbus said. "And you my friend need to go below and take care of that arm.

By this point, the storm had begun to subside and Jeff, anxious to get back to his partner, left the Admiral's quarters and ran over to Bogg.

"Wow Bogg, you caught the saboteur." Jeff said with a note of excitement in his voice. "I saw the whole thing through the window. And what a flying tackle you made on him."

"Yea, kid, we've caught him. You won't believe who he is."

"C'mon, don't keep me in suspense, who is he?" Jeff asked.

Bogg reached into his pocket and pulled out Drake's silver omni and held it up to Jeff. "Does this look familiar?" He asked.

"That's Drake's omni!" Jeff exclaimed. "How did he get that?"

"I'll tell you how. The saboteur was none other than old Drake himself."

"You've captured Drake?"

"Yep. He's, how should I put it. On ice, kid. Down below." Bogg replied with a mobster voice.

Jeff laughed at his partner's musings. He retrieved the omni from his pocket and handed it back to Bogg. "Here, you can have this back now. You might want to take a peek and see if everything is ok."

"Thanks." Bogg opened the omni and much to his surprise, there was a green light."

"Green light, kid!" Bogg exclaimed.

"Great! Now Columbus will finally discover America. So what do we do now? There are several more weeks until we land." Jeff asked.

"We can't just leave Columbus now. It would raise some rather awkward questions. With Drake onboard, there's already enough questions." Bogg replied. "Are you up to a few more weeks of sailing, kid?"

"I guess." Jeff said as he resigned himself to his fate. "We've come this far, so we might as well see it through to the end."

"C'mon, let's go below and get cleaned up. I need you to help me fix up this arm. Besides, I'm beginning to feel like a pirate again. Now where's that parrot when you need him." Bogg said with a smile on his face.

"Bogg! I thought you said you never had a parrot?" Jeff asked, somewhat confused. Bogg put his arm around his partner and they both began to chuckle as they went below deck.