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 16 – THE FINAL ACT OF TREASON

Having only been gone for what seemed like seconds, the two Voyagers arrived back at Independence Hall, on the 4th day of July 1776 to witness the ratification of the Declaration. They fell through the portal and landed upright on the front steps, unnoticed.

Bogg opened the omni and peered curiously at it.

"July 4th 1776 and a green light to boot!" Bogg confirmed. He swiftly closed the omni and clipped it to his belt. "C'mon kid let's go inside."

As the two approached and entered the hall, President Hancock was taking a roll-call vote on the Declaration of Independence.

"Connecticut?" Hancock prompted.

Connecticut's delegate rose from his seat. "Connecticut, says yea"

The Congressional page took a long stick and slid the Connecticut plaque into the yea column on the tally board.

"Delaware?"

"Delaware says yea."

"Georgia?"

"Georgia says yea."

"Massachusetts?"

Mr. Adams slowly rose from his chair. With flair and panache, he began to cast the vote for his colony.

"Mr. President, Massachusetts, the land where it all begun…" Adams said boldly before being interrupted.

At this point, a low rumble came from the delegates.

"Please Mr. Adams. Keep it short and to the point. Yea or Nay?"

With a hint of disgust on his face, Mr. Adams cast his vote. "Oh alright, Massachusetts says YEA!"

As the two Voyagers stood unobtrusively at the back of the room, Bogg, intrigued by this whole process, leaned over and whispered to his partner. "This is really exciting, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Jeff replied.

"You know, to be here to see the votes taken." He explained with excitement. "To actually observe democracy in action."

The roll call vote continued until the final colony's name had been read and their vote tallied. At this point, Mr. Hancock rose from his chair and addressed the delegates.

"My fellow delegates, in light of the votes cast today, I declare this document ratified by the majority and declare this land well on its way to becoming a new nation."

Hancock summoned the congressional page to his side. He ordered the young boy to go to each of the churches of the town and instruct them to ring their bells to signify the ratification of the document.

As the delegates began to celebrate their achievement, Bogg and Jeff turned and quietly made their way outside and began walking down the street.

"This has been quite an adventure, kid." Bogg said wryly.

"Yea Bogg." Jeff agreed. "Almost like a roller-coaster ride."

"A roller-coaster?" Bogg asked innocently.

"It's a carnival ride, Bogg." Jeff replied.

"Oh!" Bogg said indifferently.

"I wonder what our next assignment will be like?" Jeff asked.

"I really don't know, but, it will be interesting." He replied.

Bogg retrieved the omni from his belt, opened it and set the controls. Without warning, the green light on the omni went out for a moment.

"Huh! Now what's wrong with this stupid omni?" Bogg said in disbelief. He started hitting the omni on the side with his hand as if brute force would make it work again.

"What is it now?" Jeff asked.

"The omni just went dead."

"Went dead, let me see."

Just as Jeff looked at the omni, it started to function again.

"It's working now. But…wait a minute! Both lights are flashing." Jeff said excitedly. "Here, take a look."

Bogg looked at the omni as it began to flash both the green and red lights in a pattern that looked vaguely similar to Morse code.

Flash…Flash…Ding! Flash…Flash…Ding! Flash…Flash…Ding!

Bogg stared at the instrument as he attempted to interpret the signal. "Wait a minute, I know this! It's the Voyager recall code!"

"The Voyager recall code? What's that?" Jeff asked.

"It's only used in the gravest of situations to recall all Voyagers back to headquarters. Once this recall circuit has been activated, you have about a minute to grab your omni and your belongings before you are transported automatically back to VHQ."

Bogg's explanation had somewhat unnerved his partner. "Bogg, this doesn't sound good."

"Kid, something really bad must have happened." Bogg said anxiously. "They don't activate the recall circuit for just any ole thing."

Bogg quickly reached over and took hold his partner. "Kid, hold on, we are about to…." Bogg said as both he and his partner vanished.

THE END