Ch 4 The Reunion

They landed in a special site that was set up for the reunion, a soft padded spot that absorbed the force of the fall.

"Wow, this was a great landing!" Jeff exclaimed as he got up.

"Yeah," Bogg agreed, and in the same instant they heard a high-pitched whistling and Bogg quickly hustled Jeff off the pad. They watched as another voyager landed on the pad.

"Phineas?"

"Hi Stan, remember Jeff?"

Stan Fuller stood up and moved off the pad before he spoke, "sure, how ya doin kid?"

"Good."

They walked toward a sign that read "Intake" and found themselves walking into the Medical Center. Two hours later, Jeffrey walked back into the waiting room and looked around. Bogg wasn't there, so he went to the desk and asked the pretty receptionist about him.

"He's almost done, just have a seat," she said with a smile. Jeff couldn't believe all the tests and exams the doctors had given him, so he wasn't surprised that Bogg's exam was so lengthy. After all, he'd been voyaging for a longer time than Jeff so there was probably more to check.

ooOoo

"So, what do you think?" Phineas asked Dr. Bradshaw as he reached for his shirt. He'd just had several images taken of his shoulder, and Bradshaw had examined it extensively.

"I'll need to develop these and study them, maybe have a specialist look them over before I'll be able to tell how serious it is."

"What do you think right now?"

"There's a possibility you'll need surgery to get back to normal," Bradshaw answered honestly.

Phineas sighed, that was just what he didn't want to hear. "Okay, let me know," he said in a subdued voice. As he walked out, he tried to smile, there was no sense in alarming Jeff with this news yet. After all, he might not even need the surgery. And Jeff probably wouldn't be worried anyway, he didn't seem to think an operation was a big deal at all.

ooOoo

They left the Intake Area and headed to the cafeteria. As they helped themselves to a good lunch, Phineas watched Jeff in amusement. The kid was trying to look at everything and everyone, and there was a lot to see.

"There's Olivia," Jeff said raising his arm to get her attention.

She joined them at the table. "Hi guys, it's been a long time," she began, "you must've grown 6 inches," she said to Jeff.

He shrugged awkwardly, "how're you?"

"Great," she answered and sighed as she stared at Phineas Bogg. She felt such an attraction to him, but they always seemed to argue when they were together. Romance between them just didn't seem to be in the cards.

"Hi," Stan Fuller's voice suddenly interrupted them as he sat down beside Olivia.

"Hi," she answered, moving an inch away from him, he had seated himself very close to her.

"So when and where is the first Social?" Stan asked, glancing over at Olivia.

"After supper, main lodge living room," Olivia told him.

"What happens then?" Jeff asked.

"It's just a gathering so we can catch up a bit before the official activities start," Olivia answered. "Are you staying in the Main Lodge too?"

Phineas reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper, "yeah, second floor, 201."

They passed the meal in friendly conversation, until Jeff and Phineas became aware that Olivia and Stan were talking exclusively to each other. "Time to go," Bogg whispered to Jeff and they stood up together and made their way across the wide expanse of lawn, to the Main Lodge. As they walked, Phineas glanced at Jeff and thought back to Olivia's first greeting, 'you must've grown 6 inches'. It suddenly hit him that it was true, Jeff had grown a lot recently. The top of his head was even with Bogg's shoulder. It had happened so slowly that he'd barely noticed.

"It's so big," Jeff observed as they walked.

"This is nothing, wait til you see the lake. There's a baseball diamond on the other side of the lodge too, and a racetrack, wilderness trails, stables, we'll take a grand tour tomorrow. Let's find our rooms and get cleaned up. I have an errand to run before the Social so you'll have some time to explore.

"I wonder who'll be at the Social tonight?" Jeff thought.

ooOoo

A half-hour later, Phineas left their room and walked quickly out the rear exit of the building. He crossed another smaller expanse of lawn and entered the side door of the Voyager Library.