Disclaimer: The usual; we all know what it says by now

Disclaimer: The usual; we all know what it says by now.

Acknowledgements:They say it takes two to tango; well, this time, DaynaWayna and Mrs. Phineas Bogg share the blame. Between The Women of Phineas Bogg and the comment by Lilly at the end of Asylum that Bogg’s “Voyager spirit” speech was quoted at the Academy, another plot bunny was born.

Thanks go to Mrs. PB for allowing the reference to Lilly. And, as always, thanks to Jordre for the beta-read.

Revenge is Ours

by

Jake Crepeau

“Mind if I join you?”

Susan and Olivia looked up. “Have a seat,” Olivia said, after a glance toward Susan to confirm her agreement.

Tim Shelby set down his tray, on which a textbook shared space with his lunch.

“What’s the book?” Olivia wanted to know.

“It’s the new introductory textbook,” Tim said, picking it up and passing it to her.

The Voyager Spirit: Getting the Job Done, the title read; she opened it and began to read the quote on the title page: “A Voyager’s got to have spirit, so when...”

Susan joined in, finishing the quote with her, without looking at the book.

Olivia looked at her. “You’ve heard it before,” she commented.

“I certainly have. I was there when Phinn said it. He’s either going to be flattered to hear what a hero he’s become around here, or acutely embarrassed.”

This elicited a snort from the former aviatrix. “The Phineas I knew would get such a swelled head, he’d be completely intolerable. He must have changed more than I thought, if ‘embarrassed’ is even a remote possibility.”

“Fatherhood does that to a man,” Susan said with a soft smile, remembering Phineas’ outraged protest that he loved Jeffrey like a son and would never do anything to hurt him.

The memory washed over Olivia of a man just short of tearing his hair out with worry, and she nodded. “I guess you’re right. The Phineas I knew also wouldn’t have been so worried about a kid bitten by a rabid dog. He’d’ve cared, but it would’ve been all in a day’s work.”

“How’s the new class doing, anyway?” Susan asked, changing the subject.

“Not too bad, all things considered,” Tim replied, his voice a little flat.

The women exchanged a knowing glance. “What’s wrong?” Olivia prodded.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong; it’s just that I think this is the single largest class Voyager Academy has ever had. The Acclimatization Department had its hands full getting them all ready to start class, let me tell you. It’s also the most unique class I’ve ever seen. Fifty students, and all but five of them are women!”

Olivia and Susan looked at each other again and burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Did you know Phinn is here?” Olivia asked.

Tim’s eyes went wide in a face gone suddenly pallid. “Oh. My. God.”

“Oh, come on, Tim,” Susan soothed. “It’s not that bad. Sure, their paths are bound to cross in the next couple of weeks, but I’ve never known Phineas to be anything but a gentleman.”

“Me, either,” Olivia agreed.

“You didn’t know him when he first got here,” Tim shot back, grinning now. “Once he was acclimated enough to be allowed out of isolation...well, let’s just say he got caught ‘wenching.’”

Susan giggled. “How many times did he get his face slapped?”

“I don’t know, but the situation got bad enough that I had to get Chancellor Garth to help out...he was just Professor Garth then. I don’t know just what he had to say, but I’m pretty sure he tore him a new one; he had Phinn in his office for a good twenty minutes. It wasn’t until after that, that he started behaving more like the guy we know now.”

“So why the worry?” Olivia wanted to know.

Tim lowered his voice. “Every one of those women had one experience that the memory scan couldn’t touch,” he said. “And in every case, the same person was involved: Phineas Bogg. Do you have any idea what’s going to happen if they see him?”

Olivia laughed until the tears came. “Forty-five women, every one of them thinking she has a claim on him!” she gasped. “Oh, that’s priceless!”

Susan was in similar shape. “Oh, to be a fly on the wall!” she managed.

“...the confidence to take that one extra chance,” Shelby finished reading the quote, and was astounded by the uproar it caused as the students read the name following the words in their own books.

“Phineas Bogg? I know that...that...rounder!” one young lady spat.

“You, too? How?”

“My time was earlier than yours; I’ve got first claim!”

“...like to wring his neck!”

“Ladies, please!” Shelby called in an attempt to restore order. “You can resolve your differences after class; we have work to do here.”

Slowly, silence descended over the classroom, and Shelby resumed his lecture.

“Aww, come on!” Jeffrey complained when he saw the wheelchair. “They let me walk around in here!”

“You’re not ready for any longer walks yet,” Bogg told him. He grinned. “You know the Code: No disobeying doctor’s orders.”

Jeffrey made a face at him. “There’s no such Code.”

“There should be.”

The boy opened his mouth to protest, then stopped as he recognized his own words. “Smart Voyagers give me a pain,” he muttered, grinning himself as he tossed a variation of Bogg’s usual complaint back at him.

Bogg burst out laughing. “Gotcha! Now sit.”

“Woof!” Jeffrey barked as he settled himself in the wheelchair.

“Just remember, you can’t run away now,” Bogg teased him as he pushed the chair out of the small room and down the hall.

Jeffrey tossed a piece of bread into the pond and watched one of the ducks eat it. “So when’re you going to go find Lilly?” he asked.

“I was thinking about leaving in the morning, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“I am old enough to understand, you know.”

“I know. It’s just that you’ve been through so much...”

“And so have you. Look, I know we’re PB ‘n’ J, but sometimes honey’s good, too...or molasses,” he added with a wicked grin.

“I’ll deal with that smart mouth of yours later,” Bogg chuckled, ruffling his hair.

“There! It’s him!” a female voice cried, and the pair turned to the source.

Bogg’s jaw dropped. “Rita?” he said incredulously.

Jeffrey began to laugh. “And Mary, and...”

The color drained from the older Voyager’s face as he saw the veritable mob of women running in his direction, every face familiar, and every one looking like she wanted to scratch his eyes out.

“ Uh-oh, you’re in trouble, ” Jeffrey sang, laughing helplessly as his partner leapt to his feet and took off at a run.

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