Chap 2 In Charge
Throughout the evening and into the early hours of the morning, Jeffrey came and went, most of the time bringing water and an odd assortment of food, half a donut, a piece of an apple, a hunk of buttered bread soaked in bacon grease. Phineas ate all of it and drank everything Jeff brought. Finally, Jeffrey stretched out beside him and fell asleep quickly, leaving Phineas to listen and worry, even as he continued to feel better. He heard a siren, first soft, then loud, then soft as he drifted off to sleep.
"Boy!" the shout was accompanied by a loud thud, someone was pounding on the door of the room.
Beside Bogg, Jeff jerked awake, "coming," he called out loudly as he left the closet.
Phineas observed this with a sense of uneasiness. As Jeff left the closet, he sat up slowly, testing out his condition. He felt dizzy at first, but it slowly cleared up. He was definitely better than yesterday, though he felt very weak.
It seemed a long time before Jeff was beside him again, handing him a jug of juice with a few inches of liquid in the bottom and two slices of toast. "After 11 o'clock there'll be more," Jeff whispered.
Phineas drank from the jug and took a bite of the toast, "did you eat?"
Jeff shook his head, "it's more important for you to eat right now, like I said, there'll be more later." He paused, "how do you feel?"
"Like I should be helping you out there, I've got a bad feeling here, tell me what's going on."
"Okay, but you have to promise not to interfere yet, you're too weak." He paused, "I mean it Bogg, they'll kill you without a second thought. They're planning to kill someone else right now, and they aren't kidding."
"I don't like you out there without me."
Jeff put his hand on Bogg's uninjured shoulder and squeezed hard, "you're job is to get better, mine is to bring you food and water, and don't argue with me."
Jeff's strong grip and desperate tone conveyed the message more clearly than words, and suddenly Bogg realized that Jeff understood the seriousness of their situation. He paused and then changed the conversation. "Okay, but tell me what's going on, as best you know."
Jeff relaxed and started to explain in a worried tone of voice. "They're planning to assassinate someone famous. They have pistols and they're loaded, and Bogg, I think it's going to happen soon."
"Were there any famous assassinations in New York in 1929?"
"None I know of."
"So we have to stop it."
"Yeah," Jeff whispered.
Phineas stared at him. He looked serious and determined. "Without getting hurt," he said quietly.
"Yeah," Jeff repeated.
"Do you have any ideas about how to do that?" Bogg's voice gave away his concern.
"Not yet."
"We could omni out..."
"Not with a red light, and not when you're hurt so bad. What if we land hard and you start to bleed again? Or what if we land in a bad place and I can't take care of you."
"What if you get yourself killed?" The words spilled out before Phineas could catch himself.
"It won't come to that," Jeff said decisively.
Phineas reached for the omni on his belt and handed it to Jeff. "You're in charge now, you better keep this. Just promise me you'll use it if you have to, voyager's that stay healthy serve history the best."
Jeff took it solemnly, realizing the great compliment Bogg was giving him. "Okay," he whispered and hooked it on his belt. "I've got some work to do washing their dishes, I'll try to listen to what they're saying to find out what they're planning. Just drink and eat, okay?"
Jeff got up and headed out into the front room of the cafe. There were a few tables scattered around, but only 3 men, one cook behind the counter, and the two heavyset men that Jeff had come to know as Harry and Gil. They were lounging near the front door and Jeff could see the pistols they carried inside their jackets. He swallowed hard and moved toward one of the tables and began picking up the dishes from last night's meal.
Gil stood up and moved toward Jeffrey. "You should've gotten those last night," he said as he swung his hand and missed Jeff's face when he dodged to the side. Unfortunately this only angered the man, who suddenly moved quickly, grabbing Jeff's shirt and pushing him back hard against the wall.
"Here he comes," his partner said, and Gil gave his whole attention to the front of the diner.
ooOoo
Phineas stood up slowly, listening to the conversation the best he could. He opened the door a crack and watched the scene with Jeffrey play out. He felt his heart beat faster when Jeff was slammed against the wall, and suddenly felt that he could fight the men if he had to.
"Churchill's gonna buy it this time," Harry whispered, and Bogg stood quietly, watching the scene, looking for a way to help.
'Churchill' Jeff whispered to himself, getting up quickly and glancing around. He could see across the street as Winston Churchill and several men accompanying him began to walk toward them and the men inside the diner pointed their guns carefully, waiting for point blank range.
Jeff glanced around, his mind a blank, what could he do? On impulse, he picked up a half rotten tomato from one of the plates and threw it hard, over the shoulder of one of the gunman. It sailed out the window and fell onto the pavement in front of the famous man, who was quickly hustled off to the side and away from their view. Jeff's elation at this turn of events was short-lived however, as both gunmen turned and lunged toward him angrily.
"Why you little snake!" he heard as one of them grabbed his neck and squeezed, cutting off his airway and lifting him off the floor. He felt Bogg's shoulder press against him as he began to choke, and then the cosmos engulfed them and seconds later, all three of them landed on a grassy hill and rolled to the bottom.
Phineas pushed his injured shoulder against Jeff's arm and reached for the omni with his good hand. Immediately his shoulder pain was replaced by the comforting feeling of the cosmos surrounding them. No matter what that animal had done to Jeff, he knew that once they saw those lights, Jeff would be able to breathe and right now that was all that mattered.
He landed on his shoulder and rolled down the hill in severe pain. He struggled to see what was happening, and watched as Jeff immediately tackled the huge man, and they disappeared.
Phineas stared where Jeff had been, feeling weak and dizzy and terribly worried. There was nothing he could do, so he lay back on the ground quietly to wait. He hoped that Jeff remembered the emergency reverse function he'd shown him a month ago. If a voyager landed and pushed a reverse button within 4 seconds, the omni would return him to the exact place of departure without needing to be reset. It was used for exactly this reason, if you accidentally picked up a civilian, you could return them immediately.
A whistling sound interrupted his thoughts and he watched Jeff drop above him and roll down the hill, finally coming to rest a few feet away. He watched him slowly sit up, and sighed in relief. He looked a little roughed up, but Bogg could tell it was nothing serious.
"You okay?" Jeff said immediately as he scrambled over to his partner.
"Yeah, you?"
"You can do that reverse thing twice in a row," Jeff said, ignoring the question. Bogg didn't press him to answer, he could tell his injuries were minor and Jeff wanted to focus on the mission. Once again he thought that Jeff was acting like a real voyager, so he smiled and replied, "only hotshots do that."
Jeff unhooked the omni from his belt and opened it, "Branford, Connecticut, June 20, 1954, green light." He smiled at Bogg as he closed the omni, "why don't I scout around and see if there's a place we can stay."
Phineas sat staring at his charge, "you did really good," he said. "Throwing that tomato was a great idea, and you kept your head and used the omni like a pro, you should be real proud."
Jeff felt warm inside as he smiled, "thanks, but now we have to finish taking care of you, so sit tight for awhile."
Jeff jumped to his feet and looked around, the ocean could be seen off to his left, so he moved to the right and before long he spotted a row of small bungalows nestled together on a dirt road. He turned and went back to Bogg.
A half-hour later they entered a small seaside cabin. They had spoken to their neighbors and given the impression that they were the owners, from New York City, and would be spending a vacation on the shore. The cabin was small, but comfortable, and a small store nearby sold food, so within a few hours they were settled in. Jeffrey immediately found some sheets and made up one of the beds so Bogg could rest while he made supper.
"So tell me what happened when you went back?" Bogg finally asked as Jeff stood at the stove scrambling some eggs.
Jeff's expression became serious, "the gun went off when we landed, but it didn't hit anything," he answered.
Bogg's heart sped up, but there was no use in reacting after the fact. Voyaging was dangerous, and they both knew that. He had once been criticized for putting Jeffrey in danger in a gladiator ring in Capua. At the time he'd said that he would never let any harm come to the kid, and he still meant it, but the reality was that he couldn't always be there to save Jeff. Gradually, Bogg had developed a kind of theory about how to best teach Jeff. He called it the two Cs, confidence and competence, though he had never explained it to Jeff. What it meant was that he would always do everything he could to make Jeffrey feel confident in his own abilities and to understand his limits. Voyagers took risks, that was true, but they were always measured ones. Competence with the omni was the other essential, and Phineas was teaching about that device all the time it seemed.
Jeff's education had become very important to Phineas not only because he wanted him to be safe, but because he felt that a great responsibility had been given him. He had been chosen to raise Jeff into adulthood, and he meant to care for him in every way he could. His actions today, though scary, made Bogg feel proud, even as he struggled not to let Jeff see how much he had worried.
That night they both fell into an exhausted sleep.
ooOoo
Jeff opened his eyes when the sun hit his face. It was high in the sky and he knew it was late even without a clock. He glanced across the room and noticed that Bogg was still in bed. This was very unusual, so he got up and walked over to him. Bogg never slept this late, and Jeff's stomach tightened up with worry.
He hesitated for only a second before putting his hand on his forehead, then relaxed as it registered in his mind that Bogg's skin felt warm and dry. He was just sleeping. Even though Bogg was a very light sleeper, he didn't stir at all when Jeff touched him. That served to remind Jeffrey again of just how severe the blood loss had been. Bogg probably would have died if he'd been voyaging alone. He pulled the blanket up over Bogg's shoulders, noticing the bandage on his shoulder. It was almost saturated with blood. He sat down beside the bed and decided that would be the first thing he'd do after Bogg had something to eat and drink.
As Jeffrey sat by the bed he was suddenly struck by how vulnerable a person was when they were asleep. He had seen Bogg sleeping more than once, but he never remembered thinking that he needed protection before. And Bogg had obviously watched him sleep a lot more often than he'd watched Bogg. It seemed odd to think of that, but they had realized early on that kids needed more sleep than adults did. Most nights, Jeff fell asleep first and Bogg often had to wake him up in the morning too. Funny how he'd never thought about that before. Having a kid to watch out for must have taken a lot of getting used to, and Jeff realized now that not every voyager would have taken him in like Bogg did. He thought of some of the other voyagers he had met during their time together, and that none of them gave Jeff the impression that they would want to take care of a kid at all.
Finally he picked up one of the many books piled on top of an end table and started to read to pass the time. It wasn't long until his stomach told him it was time to put a meal together. Bogg would need to eat when he woke up and Jeff was starting to feel hungry as well. So he put the book down and started to work.