VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
TASTES OF FREEDOM - BOOK 2
(Sequel to Discoveries)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
March 2007 (Revised 05/2009)
Previous disclaimers apply

Chapter 5 – THE LANDING AT PLYMOUTH

It was a blustery cold day on the shores of Plymouth Rock. A bit of sun could be seen peaking through on the morning horizon. The skies were mostly filled with bloated, gray snow clouds, which looked as if they were preparing to drop their contents over the surrounding area. At the moment, however, there was a just hint of selfishness in the air as only a few flakes were being given up. A cold breeze, somewhat gentle in nature was blowing in from offshore and was kissing the tops of the nearby trees.

Unlike the sound made by the wind as it gently passed through the trees, an all too familiar whistling sound could now be heard growing louder and louder in the area. Without warning, the two Voyagers arrived at this most revered place to begin the next phase of their assignment. In the midst of a large, barren oak tree, the two ended their journey.

"OWWW!" Jeff exclaimed. He slowly rubbed the back of his neck and raised his head. As he looked around, he realized he was halfway up a tree and his partner was nowhere in sight. Concerned at this point, his only thought was "Where is Bogg?" After a time he started yelling for his partner.

"Bogg! Hey! Where are you?"

"Calm down Jeff. Look up!" Bogg said anxiously.

Jeff, startled by Bogg's response, grasped his chest and attempted to breathe once again. As he looked up, he saw Bogg a short distance away, clinging for dear life to a large branch.

"What are you trying to do Bogg, scare me to death?" Jeff yelled.

"No, not really. I just wanted you to know where I am."

"You could have accomplished the same thing without scaring me."

"Yea, right. Sorry kid. Next time I'll just hang here and drop acorns on your head." Bogg said with his usual bit of wit. "Besides, if I wanted to scare you, all I have to do is say the word 'Siberia.' That'll do the trick."

"Ok. I got the picture." Jeff conceded. "Now, enough of the funny business, I'm coming up there to give you a hand."

"No kid! Stay there! You might fall. I'll manage." Bogg replied hastily. With extreme patience and caution, he began to traverse the branch until he had reached the main trunk of the tree. Once there, he threw one of his long legs over on the trunk to establish a foothold and then swung the rest of his body into position.

"Whew! That's more like it." Bogg said in a state of relief.

Jeff again looked up at his partner and with a sense of innocence, stated. "You must have been an acrobat in a prior life."

"A what?"

"An acrobat. Haven't you ever been to a circus?" Jeff asked curiously.

"What's a circus?"

Jeff nodded his head and let out a deep sigh. "Never mind Bogg… Never mind."

Bogg shimmied down the trunk of the tree to the area where his partner was and sat down in a fork.

"C'mon kid. That's not fair." Bogg said emphatically. "There are many things in your world that I have yet to experience. How will I know what I'm missing if you refuse to tell me? So now, tell me, what is an acrobat and what is this thing you call a circus?"

"Ok Bogg, keep your pants on and I'll tell you!" Jeff quipped as he smiled at his partner.

Bogg looked down at his pants as a look of confusion came over him.

"My pants are on!" Bogg exclaimed. "Why on Earth would I want to take them off, especially as cold as it is here?"

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Bogg, it's just an expression. Wait! I know exactly what you are going to ask next. What does it mean? Well it means, just wait a minute and I'll tell you."

Bogg was now even more confused. With a blank look on his face, he sat there for a time, stunned by it all. Suddenly, it finally hit him that another opportunity to tease his partner had boldly presented itself. Once again the little devil inside of him took control and started to work his mischief through him. He put his hand up to his mouth, turned aside and coughed in an attempt to hold back his laughter. Upon regaining his composure, he turned to Jeff and began to speak.

"Why should I wait a minute for you to tell me what the expression means?" He asked naively. "I want to know right now!"

Jeff, a bit perplexed by his partner's question, asked, "WHAT?"

Bogg repeated the question. "I said. Why should I wait a minute for you to tell me what the expression means? I want to know now!"

"I didn't mean I wanted you to wait a minute before I'd tell you what it meant." Jeff bellowed, being somewhat annoyed.

"That's what you said!" Bogg argued.

"I know that's what I said, but that's not what I meant."

"Well, what did you mean then?" Bogg asked

Jeff had quickly reached the breaking point. "BOGG!!!!" He exclaimed.

Bogg burst into laughter. "I know what you meant kid. I'm sorry, but you presented that opportunity to me on a silver platter and I just couldn't resist." He said as he tried to regain his composure.

"Funny Bogg, very funny. How many is that now? A hundred or maybe two hundred? I'm really surprised you aren't keeping score.

"I've never kept score, kid." Bogg said boldly. "Maybe I should start, though."

"You just remember… you've got it coming to you, especially when you least expect it." Jeff warned as he donned a mischievous smile.

Bogg playfully punched his partner on the arm in retaliation. "Ok Jeff, for the hundredth or could it be… two hundredth time, I'm sorry. Now go ahead with your explanation."

"Ok. A circus is a form of entertainment where animals perform and show off the tricks they have learned. Also, there are people involved and they perform stunts with the animals and on their own. Some of these people are called acrobats, since they swing from ropes high in the air and do flips and catch each other."

"Sounds like a lot of fun." Bogg said with a sense of wonder in his voice. "I think I'd like to try some of those 'acrobat stunts'"

"Maybe we can go see one sometime." Jeff said.

"That sounds like a great idea. But first, the pilgrims and Philadelphia!"

As they sat there, a cold arctic wind began to blow past them, chilling Jeff to the bone.

"Bogg, it's soooooooo cold here." Jeff said as he began to shiver.

Bogg took off his dublet and wrapped it around his companion. "Here, this should keep you warm."

"But what about you?" Jeff asked. "You'll freeze to death without a coat on."

"Kid, I've been in colder spots than this…I'm used to it."

Bogg pulled out the omni, opened it and saw a green light.

"Well, we have a green light." Bogg said matter-of-factly. "I guess it's just as well...because… Look! Over there! A ship!" Bogg pointed out to sea. "And it's coming this way."

"It's the Mayflower, Bogg! They made it!" Jeff yelled excitedly.

As the ship made its way closer to shore, Bogg decided to climb down and observe the event from behind a bush.

"You stay put, ok. I'm going down there to get a better look."

Bogg climbed down from the tree and quickly hid behind some nearby bushes. As he peered from behind his cover, he watched the ship make its way ever closer to shore until it finally dropped anchor a few hundred yards away. As the two continued to observe from their unique vantage points, a small boat with several passengers aboard was launched.

"Hey look! They are coming ashore!" Jeff yelled.

Startled by Jeff's yelling, Bogg glanced up at this partner out the corner of his eye and whispered, "Yea I see it kid. Shhhh! Keep your voice down. We don't want them to know we are here, ok?"

Minutes later after the craft had come ashore; the passengers disembarked and made their way onto dry land.

As the two continued to observe the events unfolding on the beach in front of them, the Pilgrims had begun to spread out and explore the territory. Upon making their way closer to them, Bogg and Jeff were now able hear their conversations quite clearly. At this point, Bogg looked up at his partner, motioned to him once again to keep silent and then turned his attention back to the pilgrims as they drew ever closer to their location.

Unbeknownst to Bogg, Jeff's view of the Pilgrims had become obscured. Not wanting to miss out on anything, he decided to find another vantage point from which to view the events. As he looked around the immediate area where he was perched, he spotted a branch not too far below him with an unobstructed view. Not wasting any time, he climbed down the trunk and came to a shaky stop upon it. After pausing for a moment to regain his balance and catch his breath, he sat down and began to slowly slide out onto it. Inching his way further and further out onto the branch, little did he realize it had begun to weaken due to the ever-increasing weight he was now placing upon it.

Suddenly, the loud sounds of wood splitting broke the silence of the area. Bogg, startled by the noise, turned away from the events to investigate. He looked at the tree and noticed his partner was currently sitting halfway out on a branch. As the sound continued and increased in intensity, he knew his partner was in big trouble. He began to wave his hands in the air in an attempt to get Jeff's attention.

After noticing his partner's incessant waving, Jeff looked at Bogg and whispered, "What?"

Bogg waved at his partner and whispered, "Go Back! Kid! GO BACK!"

Unfortunately for Bogg, all of his efforts to help Jeff were pointless as it was already too late to save his young partner from his fate. As he continued to watch the event unfold, he put his hand over his mouth and began to shake his head in disbelief. Just as he had expected, the branch finally collapsed. Bogg closed his eyes and winced as both it and Jeff fell to the ground.

After a few moments, Bogg again opened his eyes. Upon seeing his partner peering out from a large clump of bushes, he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized no harm had come to him.

"Are you ok?" Bogg whispered.

"Yea, nothing's broken." Jeff responded in a whisper.

Bogg turned to look at the pilgrims on the shore. One of them had heard all the noise and decided to walk over and investigate.

"Jeff, be very quiet and don't move! Someone's coming!" Bogg whispered.

"I thought I heard some noise over here." The first pilgrim said in a curious manner.

"It was probably just an animal." The second pilgrim explained.

The first pilgrim turned away from his colleague. "I think I'll walk over and investigate."

The pilgrim walked over to edge of the woods where Bogg and Jeff were in hiding. He commenced to examine the area with a fine-toothed comb, hoping to discover what had created the noise. After a while, he came upon the mound of brush where Jeff had fallen. Even though he couldn't see the young voyager, he was able to spot the broken limb lying on the ground. Finding nothing else out of the ordinary and his curiosity now satisfied, he turned and walked back to his comrades.

"Did you find anything?" The second pilgrim asked.

"Only a large limb, obviously broken off from the force of the wind" The first pilgrim stated. He continued to walk back to the area where the remainder of the group stood.

Once the coast was clear, Bogg stood up, walked over to Jeff and lifted him gently off the ground.

"You are ok, aren't you?" Bogg asked as he was still concerned about his partner's fall.

"I'm ok. Just a few bumps and bruises."

"Luckily for you there were some bushes under that limb to help break your fall." He said. "Are you able to walk?"

"Yea, but you'll need to put me down first." Jeff replied as he smiled at his partner.

"I know your ok now." Bogg teased. "Your sense of humor is back."

Bogg put his partner down onto his feet, kneeled in front of him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Jeff, if you had gotten hurt, I just don't know what I would have done." Bogg said with a concerned tone.

"Bogg, I'm ok, really."

After a moment's embrace, Bogg put both hands on Jeff's shoulders and pushed him away to a point where they were now face to face. Bogg's disposition had suddenly changed from that of a concerned partner to an angry parent. He raised his hand and pointed to Jeff

"Kid, what do you think you were you doing?" Bogg asked sternly.

"I was just trying to get a better view."

"Didn't I tell you to stay put?" Bogg asked.

"Yea, but…"

"No buts. I told you to stay put." Bogg yelled in a whisper. "A little bit more and you could have been seriously hurt or even killed."

"But Bogg…"

"I told you, kid. NO BUTS! I want YOU…to listen…TO ME…for once."

"Kid, when I tell you to do something, I expect for you to do it. You may think I'm being difficult or even hard on you, but I assure you, that is far from the truth."

"I know Bogg…" Jeff replied with a look of remorse in his eyes.

"Kid, is any of this sinking in? When I tell you to stay put, or to stop, or to do something else, I'm doing so with your best interest in mind. When you ignore me and do things on your own, you are putting yourself in harm's way. The only thing I care about is you and your safety. Besides, I would never forgive myself if you got hurt."

Bogg continued his lecture with full force. "You know, based on this and other similar occurrences, it seems as though you are not willing to listen to me or to abide by my rules. If that is the case, it's a sure sign I won't be able to count on you when I need you most."

"Bogg you can always count on me." Jeff quipped. "I would never do anything to intentionally mess things up or to jeopardize the mission."

"You have to realize our partnership is built on trust." Bogg said pointedly. "If you won't trust my judgment in matters such as these, then I truly cannot count on you. And if I can't count on you, then I don't need you as a partner!"

Bogg paused a moment to catch his breath and then continued. "Maybe it's time to start flying solo. I can just as easily go back to VHQ, borrow an omni and return you back to 1982."

Jeff stood there almost in tears as his partner continued to administer his 'tongue-lashing'.

"No…Bogg! Please!" Jeff whined. "Don't say that!"

"And why shouldn't I?" Bogg quipped.

Jeff attempted to find a suitable excuse for his actions; however, Bogg wasn't buying it. "Bogg…It was an accident and accidents do happen." Jeff explained.

"I didn't imply for one moment that it was anything else. But, did you ever stop to think that maybe that branch wasn't strong enough to carry your weight…BE…FORE you decided to slide out onto it?"

"No Bogg, I guess I didn't." Jeff said in a downtrodden tone.

"No Jeff, you didn't! Just like you didn't think to listen to me when I told you to stay put."

"Kid. We've been together for what…some 2 years now. We have been on lots of missions and have fixed many problems with history. After all this, I'd have thought by now you would have realized the consequences of our actions, both good and bad. It only takes one bad decision to really mess things up, possibly for good."

"Bogg. I'm really, truly sorry." Jeff said humbly.

"You had better be!" Bogg warned.

Jeff stood there silent and still; his eyes wide open and fixed upon his partner. His expression could best be described as that of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

Jeff bowed his head. He now felt this one incident has sealed his fate. "You are not going to take me back, are you?" He asked nervously.

Bogg, shaken up by Jeff's accident and exhausted from his long oratorio wanted to put an end to this situation once and for all. He knew he needed to drive this point home to his young companion. While Jeff stood there, awaiting a response from his partner, a somewhat indecisive look came over Bogg's face. Without saying a word, he quickly pulled the omni from his belt, flipped it open and began to turn the dials.

Jeff swallowed hard and with a trembling hand, reached over and closed the lid on the omni.

"Please Bogg, don't do it!" Jeff exclaimed. "Please don't take me back! I promise I'll never do it again."

Bogg continued his period of silence. He knew Jeff had got the message. He clipped the omni back onto his belt, looked up at his partner and began to smile. At this point, he broke his long period of silence and replied. "Take you back? I really don't think so kid. Besides, flying solo is no fun."

Jeff let out a huge sigh of relief and smiled as he put his arms around Bogg. Likewise, Bogg did the same.

"Ok…kid…ok." Bogg reassured. "But you remember this. If you EV-ER do something to scare me like that again…I'll…I'll…Well, I don't know what I'll do, but I assure you, it won't be pretty."

"I won't Bogg, honest, I won't." Jeff assured his partner.

"Kid, I believe you have learned your lesson. I hope you never put me in a position where I have to do that again."

Jeff realized that he had just been given a good loving dose of discipline from his partner. He could tell by the expression on Bogg's face how hard it was to take him to task. With his chin on Bogg's shoulder, he whispered in his partner's ear. "I have Bogg. I guess I've had that coming for a while now."

Bogg released his grip on him, looked him square in the eye and said in a reassuring tone. "Just remember, I will always love you and be there for you no matter what." Now come on, let's get behind some cover and plan our next move." He stood up, put his arm around his partner and the two slowly and silently walked over and sat down behind some bushes.

Bogg opened the omni again, reset the dials and noticed the green light was still flashing.

"Well looks like the pilgrims made it here. So, what do we do now?" Bogg asked.

"You know, maybe the problem lies further into the future." Jeff said pointedly. "As I recall from history, the pilgrims barely survived through the rough winter months after they landed, but they did survive. The next ground-breaking event that occurred was their first encounter with a native of the new world. As I recall his name was Samoset."

"Samoset?" Bogg asked. "I hope he was civilized, unlike the one we encountered on the beach during our last mission."

"Yes. Samoset was different. After Columbus discovered the new world, there were many others who came to explore this area. Samoset met many of these Englishmen and learned much from them as well as the ability to speak their language. It is a common fact that he could speak pretty good English."

"According to history, while the Pilgrims completed the building of their settlement here, Samoset was sent by the leader of the Wampanoag tribe to make first contact with the Pilgrims. It was Samoset, who, after making first contact, brought another native, Squanto into the settlement and introduced him to the Pilgrims. Squanto helped the Pilgrims by teaching them how to plant their crops so they would do well in the foreign soil. He also taught them fishing and hunting techniques and showed their children which nuts and berries they could gather to eat."

Once again amazed by his partner's knowledge, he whispered to him, "Wow kid! Is there anything you left out?"

"No, that's pretty much a summary of what happened." Jeff replied.

"That sounded pretty detailed to me."

"You know Bogg, I wonder if something happened during their first contact."

"You may be right kid, why don't we go and as you would say 'check it out'"

"Ok, I'm ready." Jeff said exuberantly as took hold of Bogg's arm and held it tightly.

Bogg sat there with a puzzled look on his face, with the omni still open in his hand. "Uh…have you forgotten something?" He quipped.

"What?" Jeff asked innocently.

"How 'bout a place and a date?" Bogg replied.

"I thought you just might know this one." Jeff teased.

"You're a barrel of laughs, kid." Bogg said. He looked at his partner with a raised brow and spoke in a serious tone. "Enough of the funny business, kid. I need a place and a date."

"The place is still Plymouth, Massachusetts, but the date is…umm…March 17, 1621."

Bogg set the omni and pushed the button.