Chapter 10 A Safe Place to Sleep

Jeffrey slept late the next morning and after he was fitted with a sling, was allowed to leave the Medical Center later in the afternoon. They went together to see Phil about the evaluation.

"But I thought Bogg brought us here this time" Jeff said to Phil when they met again and he heard the speech anew, this time understanding it. Bogg had been asked to wait outside, so Jeff and Phil were alone.

"Yes, but now that you're here, we do need to evaluate you. After all, you've been illegally Voyaging for over a year. We do need to have some control over our Field Workers you know."

"Illegally? But what if I don't pass? I mean my wrist still hurts, and I can't really use it. What do I have to do to pass? You wouldn't separate me and Bogg, would you?"

Phil looked at him, suddenly realizing he was talking to a 12-year old who didn't have a clue what was happening. This situation was very unusual and he had no experience in dealing with kids, in fact, virtually no one at headquarters did. He smiled, "don't worry, this is just a temperament test for our records. You have to understand, this has never happened before."

"What hasn't happened before?"

"That one of our Field Workers just picked up a civilian and started voyaging with him. Not only that, but a kid. We had no information on you at all. Well, except for what's in our history logs about your past life."

There was silence. Jeff was trying to understand it all.

"So, can we get started?" Phil asked.

Jeff nodded.

Thirty minutes later, Jeff finished the written portion of the evaluation. He and Phil both looked up when there was a knock at the door. Bogg opened it and stuck his head in. "You almost done?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when we're done," Phil said, annoyance in his tone.

Bogg looked at Jeff, "you okay?"

Jeff nodded.

"I have more medicine if you need it," he told him.

Jeff's wrist was starting to hurt him again, "I can go a little longer," he said, glad that Bogg was close by. He knew how bad the pain could get and it was comforting to know that somebody was close who could help him if it got worse.

Phil apparently hadn't thought about Jeff being in pain, because his response changed immediately after their exchange.

"Actually, this is a good place to stop, we can continue tomorrow," he said quickly, and got up to leave. "Come to my office in the morning."

Bogg entered and watched him leave. "Why don't we get something to eat and then I'll show you where we're gonna sleep."

They had a good supper in the cafeteria and Jeff enjoyed watching all the various people who were coming and going. Each was wearing a unique outfit. "Do they all dress like they did in their past lives, like you do?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah," Phineas answered. "Usually people feel more comfortable in the clothing they were wearing when they were plucked."

"Plucked?"

"Yeah, Voyagers are plucked out of time and trained to help history along. I'm pretty sure I told you that," Bogg joked as he reached in his pocket for the pain medicine and handed it to Jeff. "Best to take it on a full stomach, so take it now and we'll call it an early night."

Jeff took the pill without comment, confirming what Bogg had already guessed, that he was pretty uncomfortable.

They walked downstairs into a dark hallway and entered a room.

"This doesn't look like a place to sleep," Jeff said as they entered, noticing the many desks lined up. "It looks like a classroom."

"Look over there," Bogg said and pointed to the corner, where a mattress and 2 pillows and blankets lay.

"Don't they have bedrooms at headquarters?"

"We couldn't get one together, so I sort of adapted," Bogg said as Jeff sat down on the mattress and yawned.

"Well, I don't care where I sleep as long as I can lay down," Jeff said trying to stifle a second yawn. Bogg helped him get settled with the pillow under his arm. When he was settled, he looked around, "where are you gonna sleep?"

"I'll be right here," Bogg said stretching out on the floor beside him. He spread a blanket over Jeff and then himself.

"You don't even have a pillow," Jeff said sleepily.

"Close your eyes," and Bogg lay quietly beside Jeff. When he was sure Jeff was asleep, he sat up. It was still early and Bogg wouldn't be going to sleep for awhile yet. He reached inside his vest and pulled out an apartment request form and read through it before beginning to fill it out. He'd submit it in the morning even though he'd been told that they had no apartments available. Headquarters was definitely not set up for families. He was willing to stay with Jeff in a closet if he had to, in order for them to stay together and he was planning on writing that on this form. Anybody should be able to put two beds in an empty closet, he reasoned.

He'd stopped by their assigned rooms this afternoon while Jeff was meeting with Phil, and talked to the other voyagers who would be their roommates. None of them was willing to switch out so he and Jeff could be together, and worse than that, the only bunks available were the top ones. Phineas didn't want Jeffrey taking pain medication and then having to sleep on a top bunk. He'd seen how confused Jeff had been early this morning when he'd first woken up. It had taken a good 5 minutes for him to get his bearings. He was likely to fall out of a top bunk and re-injure his wrist. That's when Bogg had decided to find another place, any place to sleep for the night. He'd taken the mattress and pillows when the others were out of the room. Then he'd found a maintenance closet to store them in during the day and brought them to this classroom later on. It was a crazy way to live, but Jeff was safe and that was all that mattered. He knew that headquarters wasn't set up for children, but this was a bit ridiculous. Being a Field Worker was an advantage in this situation, he had long ago learned to cope with problems as they came up.