Voyagers! Revisited Part 2: No Small
Thing
by Kathleen Y. Bergeron, ©2001
"But why, Jeff? It isn't fair!" Crystal
Bogg stared at her partner/guardian, one Jeffrey Jones. "It isn't that late
and I'm not a baby." She was being led into a plain, but clean, room, and
was doing everything short of digging her heels into the floor.
Jeffrey tried hard not to grin. "I don't care. Crys, what have I told you
again and again about fairness?" He raised his eyebrows.
The 14-year-old sighed, replying in a tone that was too high pitched to be
anything but mocking, "That life isn't fair and whoever told me it was had
to be lying."
"That's right. Look, you're still growing, you know. They tell me kids do
most of that when they're asleep and you wouldn't want to be a runt forever,
now would you?" Jeff looked hard at the girl standing next to him. Yes,
she WAS still a girl, he told himself, but she won't be one for long. I'm
going to be beating the boys away from her pretty quickly. Geez, I hope I'm
up to it. He sighed inwardly. Phineas, you would have done this so
much better. Aloud he continued, "Now go to bed." He pulled a blinking
metallic object from his pocket. "Tomorrow we'll see what we can do about
that red light. It shouldn't be that hard to make sure Napoleon ends up with
Josephine. I don't think one more day-or one decent night's sleep-will make
any difference."
"Yeah, they did seem stuck on each other when we saw them before. But why
don't we get started tonight?"
"I just told you. It's late. I'm tired and my French is a little too rusty
to say anything that makes any sense when I'm not focusing. Goodnight, Crystal.
"
Just as the 32-year-old Voyager began to turn, he heard the unmistakable
whoosh he recognized immediately as the arrival of another like himself.
Before he could fully process that information, though, he found himself
on the floor, Omni and pocket change scattered in all directions and he himself
beneath a very attractive woman.
"What are you doing here, Jeffrey?" The woman asked in an irritated tone,
picking herself up off the floor. Her clothing and possessions were also
in disarray.
"Yeah Jeff, get a room!" Crystal Bogg was laughing out loud, her earlier
anger evaporating as she took in the picture of Jeff. He looked so completely
embarrassed she almost felt sorry for him . . . almost, but not quite.
"Cynthia?! What do you mean, what am I doing here? This is our assignment
but for once I thought maybe the kid and I could get a little sleep before
jumping in half prepared . . . that is, if it is okay with miss
"I-graduated-first-in-my-class-at-Voyager-school-and-nobody-will-ever-forget-it"
"Jealousy doesn't look real good on you. Anyway, why would we end up in the
same place?"
"We were here first so you've made a mistake. That much is pretty clear.
Now why don't you find your broom, hop on it and get the hell out of here
so the kid and I can get some rest? "
"God Jones, you have ALWAYS been so damn arrogant. Tell me, were you born
that way or were you just overexposed to Phineas Bogg?"
"Hey, wait a minute," Crystal's laughter ceased abruptly at the negative
mention of her late father and Jeff's former partner. "My father was the
best Voyager there ever was and you've got no right to . . ." Her anger was
back, and she made a lunge in the general direction of the arrogant blonde.
Forgetting his own anger, Jeff caught her almost in midair, scooped up the
Omni on the floor, and hitting the random selection button, disappeared with
the teenager in the space of a single exhaled breath.
~*~
Jeff and Crystal found themselves face down in a particularly filthy mud
puddle. "Oh great job, Jones!" Crystal said, standing up and trying in vain
to clean some of the muck and mud off the front of her blouse, succeeding
only in smearing it further. "Why'd you have to stop me from smashing her
face in anyhow? It's not like you can stand her."
Chuckling as he, too, stood up and shook himself off. "That's beside the
point. I know there has to be some regulation in the Code about mutilating
another Voyager, no matter how obnoxious he or she might be."
"Lucky for her."
"Besides, we both know she's an idiot, so why should you care about her opinion?"
"Where are we anyway?" Crystal pointed to the Omni, still in Jeff's hand.
He glanced down, noticing the unusual green light.
"1764, Boston"
"How come we're here if it's green?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. I just hit the 'let's get the hell outa here'
button, Crystal, so maybe we're just getting a much deserved rest stop."
"Maybe. I'd like to get out of these clothes."
"Me, too."
The two walked on for a short time, meeting no one. It was just dusk, but
the road seemed oddly deserted to Jeff. He was too tired to take much notice
of anything besides his own desire to find clean clothes and somewhere for
his charge and for himself to rest. All at once they noticed a campfire and
without speaking, they made for it, both exhausted beyond conversation. Around
the fire were four people of varying ages, all lying prone and shivering
even more than Crystal and Jeffrey in their wet and muddy clothes.
"They look terrible, Jeff," Crystal frowned as she kneeled down by the first
one she came across, a woman of perhaps 20. She touched the woman's forehead.
"And she's burning up, too." The woman coughed as Crystal leaned over her.
"Oh Jeff, she's really sick."
"Yeah. Do they have any water or anything? Maybe we can help." Like Crystal,
Jeff had forgotten all about his own fatigue. " I wonder what they're doing
out here all alone with nobody to take care of them?"
"No idea. What year did you say it was?"
"1764. Doesn't ring any special bells with me. You?"
"Hey, before my time, remember? Maybe we should have taken that Guidebook
when they offered it to us."
Jeff laughed, "And break with tradition? Uh uh. Bogg and I never needed one
and we did fine. Here, let's see what we can do to help."
~*~
For the next ten or twelve days, neither Voyager caught up on any rest. They
found clothing that fit well enough and food to keep them going, but both
were intent on caring for what they eventually concluded was a family. The
sickness had progressed from a fever into an odd red rash and that, in turn,
became blisters all over their bodies. Of the group, only the two adults
seemed to be improving. Crystal cried when the two children, a girl around
her own age, and a small boy, died in her arms several days after she and
Jeff arrived. That evening Crystal was sitting by the fire.
"Crystal, you did everything you could." Jeff had just returned from a quick
look in the surrounding countryside, where he'd managed to find a few wild
berries that looked edible.
"I know, but . . . "
"Sometimes history is cruel, you know. I had to learn that there were always
things I couldn't change. Remember we had a green light and we still do,
so all of this is supposed to happen for some reason. Why don't you go and
get some rest yourself? You look dead."
"Sure. What about you?"
"Definitely, and we need to think about getting back to work, don't you think?"
"I suppose," she stretched out, "I ache all over." She closed her eyes, "Hey
Jones, you sure know how to plan a vacation."
Jeff grinned, "Yeah, yeah-now go to sleep runt."
~*~
Jeff slept, but it was not a peaceful sleep. He seldom had dreams or at least,
he almost never remembered them when he had them. Now his mind was filled
with images. He saw himself as he was now, but oddly, his late friend and
Crystal's father, Phineas Bogg, was standing several feet in front of him.
As happens all too often in dreams, the harder he tried to run towards his
friend, the slower his progress seemed to become. At last he stood within
reach of the man who had been such a major part of his life for so long and
whose influence was still with him.
"Bogg, what . . .?"
"Jeff, listen to me. You have to take care of that girl."
"I'm trying Bogg. I am."
Bogg frowned, "No. Now. You have to wake up and take care of her right now.
Now!"
Jeff startled awake, opening his eyes. Standing up, he walked the two or
three feet over to where Crystal was sleeping, and kneeling down he reached
over to shake her awake. Even through the rough material, he could feel the
heat coming from her skin and a pang of fear hit him hard. "Crystal. Hey
kiddo. What's up?"
"She's got it." The man they had nursed for days spoke quietly. "The pox"
"The what? What are you talking about?" The pang of fear had now become a
wave of panic.
"Smallpox. That's what they call it. I thought you knew."
"No. It's not possible "
"I don't know why you don't have it too. I've never known anybody around
it not to catch it." The effort at talking seemed to have exhausted the man
and he closed his eyes. "It's too bad. She's a kind soul."
OhmyGod. Smallpox? But it doesn't exist anymore.
Jeff started to speak aloud but the man had already dropped off to sleep.
Still unwilling to believe it, he kneeled down next to Crystal and tried
again to wake her. Nothing roused the feverish girl. A voice behind him was
all too familiar.
"Jones! Here you are. I've been looking all over for you."
"What? Cynthia, what are you doing here? Go away."
"No listen, you don't understand. You have my Omni."
"Your what?" He turned towards the woman suddenly standing behind him.
"O-M-N-I - you remember. The handy dandy item we use to travel from then
to now?"
Jeff pulled the Omni out of his pocket, distracted and still focused on Crystal.
"Oh yeah. This isn't mine." He kneeled down beside Crystal.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you. " She glanced down at the girl, as Crystal
stirred restlessly. "She doesn't look too well."
"I know. I have to Omni her out of here and see about getting her medicine.
I think she has smallpox."
"Smallpox? Jones, there's no cure for that."
"What do you mean no cure? Nobody has it in my time. "
"That's because they have a vaccine for it. It's a virus, Jones. That means
you can prevent it but even in our present, nobody can cure a virus. Every
Voyager gets vaccinated against everything they can think of when they graduate.
Wait a minute . . . you never went to Voyager school, so how come you don't
have it?"
"Bogg dragged me to Voyager headquarters after I got bitten by a rabid dog
when I was a kid. They gave me every shot for everything they could think
of. I couldn't lift my arms for a week." He grimaced at the memory, and staring
at Crystal, continued, "Oh God. This can't be happening. Not to her."
Cynthia kneeled down beside the young man. "I'm sorry, Jeff. There's nothing
you can do but make her comfortable. It looks she's getting the rash."
Jeff stared at the woman beside him, suddenly angry. "Make her comfortable?!
You're telling me that I'm going to lose this child and you want me to make
her comfortable? Your concern just warms my heart. Why don't you get
the hell out of here?"
Cynthia popped open the Omni in her hand. "Your Omni is red and mine is green.
Interesting." They made the exchange.
"What does that mean?"
"Offhand I'd say that your Omni 'knows' she was not supposed to be here,
but mine is not concerned with the life of one little girl."
Jeff grabbed the woman by her jacket, and then shoved her away roughly. "Get
out of here, Cynthia. I don't give a damn what your Omni says. "
Cynthia pulled away, standing up. Without a word, she set the dial, pushed
a button and was gone.
~*~
Two days passed and Jeff neither ate nor slept but could do nothing to change
Crystal's worsening condition. The couple he and the girl had nursed back
to health were recovering and both did what they could. When the end was
near, they moved away to offer Jeff the only kindness they had left; privacy.
Crystal had spoken nothing coherent since that first morning and, as Jeff
held her with tears brimming, she opened her eyes just for a moment. They
spoke more than words to the man who came closest to being family to her
before they closed for the last time.
~*~
He buried her beside the two children she had tried so hard to save and seemed
unable to respond when the couple bade him goodbye. He stared towards the
sunset without seeing it. Why did I let myself care? Haven't I learned
by now that loving anyone is the quickest way to pain? It isn't fair, Crys
and no matter what I told you, sometimes life SHOULD be. Why did I end up
with you if I was going to cause your death? It makes no sense at all.
All at once, Cynthia came up behind him. "Jeff? They're looking for you.
I figured I'd find you here."
Jeff said nothing for a few moments. "What is it now, Cynthia?"
"The elders would like to see you. Come on."
Jeff stood up, dusted himself off and turned to the woman, "Yeah, I'm on
my way." He pulled out the Omni, which had once belonged to Crystal's father,
and looked at it with distaste. "They can have this thing back for good.
I'm done. This is why she's dead and I think most of me died with it. It's
time to . . ." He stopped, staring now at the metallic object shining in
the last sun of the day. "Time . . .?"
Cynthia looked at him with a frightened expression on her face. "Jones, what
are you thinking?" Jeff didn't answer. "Talk to me, Jeff."
Suddenly, the man began to smile, as though realizing a truth never considered
before.
"You're thinking of doubling back." It wasn't a question.
"Don't you see? If we hadn't switched Omnis, Crystal and I would never have
been here and she'd be alive. It was all a mistake. That's why my Omni is
red." He grabbed the woman laughing out loud. "That's it! I can stop this.
I can!"
"You can't do that, Jeff. It's the first rule of the Code. You can't use
the Omni for personal gain."
Jeff grinned ear to ear. "Ask me if I care!" He kissed Cynthia full on the
mouth, stepped back and setting the dial on his Omni to the exact moment
in time, he was gone.
~*~
". . . Goodnight Crystal". Suddenly Jeff was back in the Paris hotel room,
Crystal in front of him. He stopped and shook his head, shuddering from the
sudden time shift.
"Jeff? What's the matter? You look like you just . . . Omnied in? That's
stupid." She looked confused. "We've been here for awhile, haven't we? But
I just got the funniest feeling . . . " She was staring at him when he stepped
back sharply, just avoiding the arrival of another Voyager. Crystal looked
from Jeff to the woman who had just appeared. "How'd you know she was coming?
What's going on?"
Jeff smiled, and stepping forward again, hugged the puzzled teenager. "Just
a lucky guess, kid." He turned to the woman, "Cynthia, you need to go back
where you came from. Goodbye, adios, arrevaderchi, shalom, aloha!" She started
to speak but he reached for the Omni still in her hand and hit the return
button, letting go just in time to avoid going with her.
"What is this all about, Jeff?" Crystal was staring at her mentor intently,
deep in thought. She looked at him with suspicion, "You doubled back, didn't
you? Why would you do that? I thought it was against the Code."
"Since when did I give a damn about the Code?"
"Most of the time, actually. You wouldn't violate it deliberately unless
. . ." She frowned. "I didn't get that dizzy feeling like I'd traveled anywhere,
so I didn't come with you and I wouldn't be away from you. I'd have to be
. . . "
"Go to sleep, Crys. It's late and I'm tired. BOY am I tired." He sighed
"Jeff . . . "
"Later Crystal." He turned to leave the room. "I'm next door if you need
me. It's nothing for you to worry about. No biggie." He left, closing the
door.
Crystal laid back down, Doubling back isn't done. Something is going to
happen to him because of this. I know it. Doubling back isn't a 'small thing'
at all . . . But she was asleep before the thought was complete.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .