Chapter 14 Sartre
The stop at Headquarters was just for two days, but Jeff could tell that Bogg was back to his normal self when they finally left. They had a lot of down time and Jeff had spent many hours in the library, looking up philosophers and reading something about each one. He hadn't talked to his partner about anything he'd read because he didn't think Bogg would be able to shed light on any of the writings. Mostly, Bogg had relaxed, taking a daily swim in the lake and enjoying the readily available food and the peace. Jeff was glad when it was time to leave though, because he felt more confused than ever about philosophy.
They landed rather softly, on a bed of thick grass in the middle of a town square. There were a few people around, and they scrambled to their feet, afraid they'd been noticed, but it became obvious that everyone present was focused on one man who was tacking up a piece of paper on some kind of community bulletin board.
"Where are we?" Jeff asked, crossing his arms in front of him as a strong gust of wind gave him a chill. He watched as Bogg opened the omni.
"May 11th, 1938, Le Havre, France, red light," Phineas paused and looked around the flower-lined square, "it's a pretty place," he remarked.
"Yeah, too bad the war will destroy it in a few years," Jeff said.
As Bogg put the omni back on his belt, he noticed a girl walk away from the crowd. His eyes followed her and he smiled.
Jeff glanced between the two, and normally would have rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, but Bogg's mother's death was still fresh in his mind and he realized that he liked seeing his partner looking so much like his normal self.
"I've always loved France," Phineas said wistfully, oblivious to the cold wind, as the girl went inside a nearby house. He turned back to Jeffrey, "any idea why we're here?"
"Well, the Germans won't invade until 1940, so not really."
"Right, the Civil War."
"Bogg," Jeff said sternly.
"Not the Civil War?"
"The Second World War," Jeff said slowly, pausing between each word for emphasis. As he did, he had a flashback to when he'd first met Bogg. It was during the First World War, and he remembered saying the name of the war the exact same way. Bogg looked at him and smiled, and Jeff knew he was thinking of the same thing.
"Some things never change, eh?" Bogg kidded him with a smile.
Jeffrey laughed, and before he knew it he was giving Bogg a quick hug. "Let's go read what he tacked up," Jeff said as he let go of his friend and they walked toward the board, Bogg's arm draped over Jeff's shoulder.
The wind was ruffling the paper and threatening to tear it as Jeff approached and read aloud, "it's just an advertisement for a substitute teacher at the Lycee of Le Havre, that's a school."
"Does it mention anyone famous?" Bogg asked and Jeff read the fine print.
"I don't believe this," Jeff whispered.
"What?"
"Jean-Paul Sartre's name is at the bottom, he's listed as the person to respond to. I was just reading about him."
"He one of the Philosophers you've been trying to make sense of?"
"How did you know I've been reading up on Philosophers?"
"I know more than you think," Bogg answered seriously.
"Well, he's one I don't really understand... yet."
"If you spend too much time thinking about philosophy, you'll get really messed up." Bogg held up his hand when it looked like Jeff was going to argue. "Just my opinion, that's all," he finished.
"Well, I guess we should find him," Jeff said, looking around. Years of voyaging had taught him that the omni usually put them down very close to where the trouble was.
Right on cue, they saw a man exit the house that Bogg had watched the girl enter. He walked toward them, a stack of papers in his hands, and his focus on the board.
"Are you Mr. Sartre?" Jeff asked, taking a stab in the dark.
The man's gaze left the papers he carried and he glanced up and addressed them. "I am, who are you?"
"Jeffrey Jones," and he motioned to his partner, "and this is my friend, Phineas Bogg."
"You two must be new in town, I don't remember seeing you before."
"We just got in," Jeff paused, "is that a book you're writing?" Phineas refrained from speaking, as he usually did in order to let Jeffrey get more experience.
"Trying to write is more like it, I'm giving up."
"What's wrong?" Jeff asked, "maybe we can help."
Sartre glanced back at the house and shook his head. "Not unless you can give me advice about women."
Jeff looked at Bogg and backed out of the way. Without exchanging any words, they switched roles.
"What's the problem?" Bogg asked.
"She has another man inside," Sartre said.
Bogg stared at the man. "What's your relationship?"
"We are living together."
"So you aren't married?" Bogg asked.
"We don't believe in marriage, it's just an artificial social construct." He paused and Bogg stared at him. "There is nothing inherently right about marriage," Sartre continued, as though to convince Bogg.
"So you live together, but aren't married, and you can see other people?" Bogg asked cautiously, half afraid he would give a strange idea to a philosopher and cause a rift in the time stream that would be too intricate for them to unravel without help. He knew from experience that philosophers could be troublesome.
Here Sartre shrugged, "well, this is the first time she's had someone else come over," he finished lamely.
Bogg looked at Jeff and raised his eyebrows, "well, if you want to object, I suggest you better get in there and do it before something happens."
"I can't object," Sartre said miserably and suddenly threw his manuscript to the ground in anger. Immediately the pages began to blow away, caught by the gusty wind.
Jeffrey scrambled to chase them as they flew in all directions.
"Sure you can, anybody would," Bogg continued. "Who is he anyway?"
"Just one of the waiters at the Regency House," he said, motioning to a large building up the street.
"Why don't you tell her how upset you are?" Bogg suggested as Jeff returned with a large stack of papers. "Women love to hear that the men in their lives really care about them."
"You don't understand," he explained, "this is what I... what we believe. I guess I just have to get used to it."
"What about him? Does he think that way too?" and Bogg motioned toward the house.
"I don't know, I barely know him," he replied in a miserable tone.
"I think I got them all," Jeff announced as he returned. Phineas turned quickly and checked the omni, showing the red light to Jeff.
"Thank you, but, it doesn't matter, I can't finish this now. I never should've started it in the first place."
Jeff pulled Bogg off to the side, "Sartre published a famous book in 1938, he has to finish it."
"You sure?"
"Sure I'm sure, I just read about it at headquarters."
"Think you can convince him to finish it?"
Jeff immediately turned back to the philosopher. "I read a little of what you wrote as I was picking up the pages. It looked pretty important," he began.
Sartre shook his head.
Jeff continued undeterred, "so can you explain it to me?"
Sartre sighed and pulled his coat closed, "you two aren't dressed for this weather, come inside." To Jeff's surprise, he headed back to the house, motioning for the two of them to follow. Bogg shrugged and followed along.
An hour later, as they sat around a kitchen table, Sartre finished a long diatribe with "so since inanimate objects are indifferent to my existence, it follows that all meanings they appear to have, come from me." He sat back, satisfied with himself and took a sip of tea.
"Thanks for explaining that, now do you see why you should finish that book?" Jeffrey said even though he himself didn't really see that.
"Yes, I guess I will finish this book after all, thank you," Sartre said.
Jeff glanced at Bogg, who had turned away and was opening the omni. He heard the green light before he saw it and immediately stood up. "We really should be going, thanks for everything," he said, reaching out his hand to shake.
Sartre smiled, "I don't shake hands," he said.
Jeff nodded, "artificial rule?"
"Artificial social construct, though in some situations one would want to know if the other person was holding a weapon."
"Well, nice to meet you, good luck with the book," Bogg said hastily and they exited the building.
As they walked away, Phineas looked down at his partner, "so what did you think of him?"
Jeff stopped walking, looked up at Bogg and shook his head. "I'm exhausted from just listening. I have no idea," he said seriously, and Phineas smiled. "Can we see how Steve Martin turned out?"
Phineas took the omni off his belt and twirled the dials, as Jeffrey took hold of is arm firmly, then they disappeared.