Chapter 9: Driven

As soon as Jeff seemed able to stand, Phineas had them move into the woods. He'd tried to carry Jeff, but the kid would have none of that. As they sat and talked, Phineas kept one hand on the kid, more to reassure himself than to help Jeff. The boy seemed to have recovered, though the back of his shoulder was very swollen and quickly turning black and blue.

"I don't think this was an accident Bogg, I mean, how often would a hook like that come loose? Whoever was the last one to work on that crane would've had to secure it. I think someone unlatched it and then got out of there fast, as in omnied out. This is Drake's work."

They had been talking for the past 15 minutes and had pieced together this theory, which seemed the most plausible.

"I think he's trying to kill you, Bogg," Jeff continued and Bogg felt him shaking underneath his hand. "We know he hates you."

"Come here," Phineas said and gently pulled Jeff into a hug.

Jeffrey let himself be pulled in and settled into Bogg's chest and they sat together in silence.

"You saved my life," Bogg finally said and Jeff smiled, enjoying the warmth. "We have to decide what to do now."

"He's controlling the omni," Jeff said.

"You're right."

"He sent us into that epidemic too."

"Yeah. Apparently he can send us where he wants, and he wants us in danger."

"Do you think headquarters is looking for us?"

"Absolutely."

"What should we do?" Jeff asked.

"Something he doesn't expect," was Bogg's immediate answer.

"But what?" Jeff asked.

Phineas put his hand on Jeff's uninjured shoulder and squeezed, "well, we can't depend on the omni any more, so we'll just have to depend on each other."

"But, what do we do?" Jeff asked again.

"We let him send the omni on its way and we find someplace safe."

"But he'll know we stayed here as soon as the omni lands, you know he'll be there, wherever he sends it," then his voice changed to a whisper, "ready to ambush us."

Phineas slowly took off his belt, deep in thought. Jeff watched him wrap it tightly around the omni as he hinged up a small panel in the back. He caught the belt under the edge of the panel, holding it open a crack and wrapped the rest of the belt tightly around the device, to hold the panel in place.

"What's that about?" Jeff asked once the knot was secured.

"It's an offset, the omni will land a quarter mile west of where he sends it. I hope it'll surprise him and give us some time," Phineas answered and placed the omni on the ground, then backed away from it. "Let's get moving."

"Do we really want to leave the omni?" Jeff asked as Phineas hurried him through the woods.

"You said it yourself, somehow, he's controlling it. And until we've got control back, I don't want anything to do with it. We'll head towards some kind of shelter and get lost there until Headquarters finds us. Remember the voyager locator Susan found us with after the trial?" As Bogg said this, he scanned the area, and began moving quickly, deeper into the woods.

Jeff's jaw dropped open, "yeah, okay," he managed to say. He moved quickly to keep up, thinking that once again his partner seemed driven. Until they'd landed in the smallpox epidemic, he'd never seen Bogg like this. Usually, he was lighthearted, no matter what happened to them. But now, he seemed just as driven as he had when he made Jeff go to the farm.

Jeff rubbed his arm, where the knife had scratched him and thought about how Bogg had given him the cowpox. At the time he'd thought he could never forgive him, but now, things seemed different. Now he was worried about Bogg's safety. If Drake was really out to kill him, someone had to watch his back. Jeff vowed to himself to keep his eyes open and do just that, because at the moment his partner seemed distracted and focused on only one thing, getting them away from here and he was not interested in discussion. Jeff glanced around as he followed, but the area seemed safe, at least for the time being.

He followed Bogg until they came to a river, then watched with astonishment as Bogg stepped into it and began walking downstream.

"Why are you walking in the river?" Jeff asked and Phineas finally stopped and stared at him.

"How's your shoulder?" he asked.

"It hurts, not bad."

"Can you breath okay? Is it hard to keep up?"

"I'm fine, it's fine."

Phineas finally smiled as he looked at Jeff. "Good, we'll be harder to track if we walk in the river. Come on," and he started downstream.

They kept a steady pace as they walked along the river, each lost in thought.

Bogg continued to move quickly. He was keenly aware that Drake would be tracking them, and it was obvious his intent was deadly. He wasn't only trying to kill Phineas, he had sent them into that epidemic to kill Jeffrey. And that crane hook might have been aiming for him, but Jeff had been the one injured. When that happened, Phineas had had an epiphany. He wasn't about to let Jeffrey get hurt, or worse. In his life as a Voyager, this was as serious as it had ever been. They were being hunted, and Drake was trying to kill them.

After a half-hour, they came to a cluster of houses, and Bogg moved to the side of the river to watch the area. There didn't seem to be many people around. As he watched, he saw a man wearing jeans and a flannel shirt exit one of the homes. He walked to a pickup truck and drove away.

"Come on," Bogg whispered as he climbed out of the river and led the way around the back of the house to the rear door. Jeff watched in surprise as his partner picked the lock and entered. "Wait here," he whispered to Jeff.

"Bogg, since when do we break into peoples homes?" Jeff asked as he watched Bogg cross the living room and pick the lock on a gun cabinet.

Jeffrey's eyes narrowed, this didn't make sense. He watched as Bogg selected a rifle and put a few bullets into his pocket. Then he walked into the kitchen, emptied a backpack that sat on a chair, and filled it with food from the refrigerator. As Bogg left the building, Jeff put his hand on his arm. "Do you really want a gun?" he asked seriously.

"Come on," was Bogg's only response as he led they way into the forest. Once they were deep enough in the woods so they couldn't be seen, Phineas turned to Jeff. "No, I don't want a gun."

"But," Jeff paused, "this isn't like you."

"Things have changed now."

"How? Why?" Jeff asked, trying to understand.

"Drake almost killed you... twice, and I'm not gonna let that happen... ever. If he tries again, I want to be able to defend us."

Jeff froze, suddenly realizing that Bogg was trying to protect him. "Okay," he whispered, and in spite of the situation, he felt safe.

Bogg smiled at Jeff, and put his hand out to touch his arm. "The worst thing about guns is that if someone takes your gun, they can kill you with it. That's why I only took 2 bullets."

"Why not just one?"

"One spare if I miss."

Jeff paused, Bogg was talking as though he might actually kill Drake.

"If we're lucky, this'll just be like a camping trip, and Drake will never find us." Bogg didn't really believe it, but he wanted to ease Jeff's fears.