Chapter 20 The Price of Brilliance
Early that evening, Counselors Garth and Kane appeared at the door of their hospital room.
Jeff looked up as they knocked, then went over to stand next to Phineas, who was sitting in a chair.
"So what's the verdict?" Bogg asked, without any preliminary small talk. He didn't stand up to greet them.
"You're cleared of all charges," Kane began, "I'm sorry for the stress all this may have caused you."
"Hmm," Phineas grunted under his breath.
"But there was an upside to all this," Kane continued.
"What was that?"
"We now recognize Jeffrey's legal genius."
Jeff's head snapped up, "me?" he asked.
"Yes, you," Kane answered. "We were very impressed with your defense of Voyager Bogg and wanted to offer you an opportunity to begin your law education now."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Thanks!" Jeff felt flattered. Here was a grown man, an elder, who acknowledged his work and had the power and authority to open doors for him. His future as a Voyager could depend on this. "But, what would that mean, exactly?"
"It would mean that you could stay on here now, and take classes toward a Counselor Degree."
"Really?"
"It's your decision of course. I can show you around the law building now so you can see for yourself all the opportunities here," Kane said.
Jeff turned to Bogg, "can I go?" he asked eagerly.
Phineas' heart was racing. Once again, he felt driven to prevent what he saw as a threat, but he didn't know how. This threat wasn't as straightforward as others he'd dealt with. Still, threat or not, how could he say no? He nodded, "sure."
Jeff smiled and before he knew it, Phineas was alone with Garth, staring at the empty doorway.
"Whose idiot idea was this?" Phineas asked the older man.
"Kane's."
Bogg lapsed into silence.
"Phineas, isn't it possible that you might not realize this could be good for Jeffrey?"
"No. This means we'll be separated. It can't be good for him."
"We'll recall you if he ever needs you."
"Follow-thru on something like that could be pretty weak, and you know it. He wouldn't have anyone to talk to, to turn to."
"An adult would be assigned to him…"
"He needs me! He needs protection!" The tone Phineas took with his former teacher was stern, as if their roles were reversed and he was admonishing a misbehaving student.
"You've had him with you for 2 years. We never found out from the records how long he was supposed to stay with you. Maybe he's supposed to stay here now," Garth argued.
"Maybe he's not."
"Phineas…"
"You can stand here as long as you want and you'll never convince me that we should be separated, so why don't you give up trying."
"He's brilliant Phineas!"
"He's a kid who needs a family!"
"You aren't a family!" Even as the words came out, Garth knew he was wrong.
"What would you know about it?"
"I'm sorry."
"Brindle hates him."
Silence.
"We can always recall you if something big happens… which it won't," Garth hurried through the last part.
"It's not only the big things," Bogg's voice became soft and Garth leaned forward to hear him finish. "Who will he talk to when he remembers his parent and feels sad? And what if he wakes up in the middle of the night?"
Garth stared at his former student in awe. He'd known that Phineas had traveled with Jeffrey as a partner for the past 2 years, but that knowledge was factual. Now he was learning something that he hadn't appreciated before. Bogg was devoted to Jeffrey. Somehow, he had been transformed from a great voyager, to a great voyager who was raising a child… the next generation. He seemed just as driven to prevent this move to headquarters as he had seemed in his quest to expose the boy to cowpox.
"Will you at least think about it?" Garth continued, finally giving up.
"I won't stop thinking about it."
As Professor Garth left the room, Phineas sat up on the edge of the bed. His heart was pounding and his mind racing. He knew he had to think of reasons to tell Jeff, to convince him to turn down this seemingly wonderful opportunity. He knew the kid too well, and felt he would have trouble turning this offer down.
The knock on the door startled him, and he looked up to see a woman's silhouette.
"Can I come in?"
Phineas motioned her through the doorway, and smiled as he took her outstretched hand.
"Hi, Voyager Bogg."
"Phineas please," he answered immediately.
"Phineas then," she paused and he admired her long dark hair as it drifted around her ear and curled under her chin. "My name is Katie Williamson, I'm one of the Omni Trackers in Mission Control."
Bogg nodded. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She glanced around, "I was hoping to meet Jeffrey too, is he here?"
"He's busy, getting the royal tour of the law building," Phineas said with an edge to his voice. "They want him to stay and take classes instead of going back into the field.
"I heard about how he defended you," Katie replied, "he really impressed Trevor. You should've heard him talking about it when he got back to Control."
Bogg smiled, "sometimes Jeff's too smart for his own good."
"He belongs with you," Katie blurted out suddenly.
Phineas narrowed his eyes, "what do you know about us? Why are you here?"
She hesitated, then continued. "I know Rick Wilson. He told me about you…and Jeff."
"You didn't answer my question."
"I had to come to ask you, well, it's kind of strange, but, I know he did wrong, but, I can't seem to get him out of my mind."
Phineas smiled, finally understanding. "Well, he sure can use a friend about now. Have you seen him? How is he? He's the one who saved me and Jeff."
She nodded and spoke quietly. "Tell me what happened, please. I've only heard rumors and I want to know the truth."
So Phineas explained everything that had happened, including Rick's visit with Skylar.
Katie nodded slowly when he finished. "Thank you," she whispered, then stood up, I really mean it."
"No problem."
She paused at the door, "why don't you just tell Jeff he can't stay?" she offered.
"I don't think that would go over too well," Phineas answered. "I tried forcing my decision on him once and he swore he'd never speak to me again." The memory of Jeff's reaction to the cowpox exposure briefly crossed Bogg's mind. "A logical argument would be a lot nicer to have, but so far I don't have one."
"But he did talk to you again."
"I can't do that to him again, but thanks for the advice."
Once again he found himself staring at an empty doorway, his mind still in turmoil about what he could say to Jeff to convince him not to stay at headquarters. He stood up and began to pace back and forth, wracking his brain, trying to think of a logical argument he could use to show Jeff that this offer wasn't in his best interests. He knew he'd have to burst the kids bubble when he finally got back from such an exciting tour, and he hated to do that, but he didn't have a choice, did he?
Out of fairness to Garth, he forced himself to consider that it might be the right thing for Jeff and wondered if he was putting his own wishes first. He hoped not, but his feelings were so strong about this that it was possible he was doing just that. He suddenly felt weak and sat down on the edge of the bed again and put his head in his hands. "I can't think any more and I still don't know what to do," he said aloud to the empty room.