Part of the Family
From space, Alpha Centauri looked a lot like Earth.
Actually, scratch that, it looked a lot different Judy reflected. The amount of blue was the same. The amount of green was greater, and the amount of brown was less. Furthermore, unlike Earth, it didn't have a haze of dust in its atmosphere. People tended to call Earth a dying world – it had been dying for centuries, entered its terminal stage in the early 21st century, and the coming of the Christmas Star had been the mercy bullet. A bullet that had missed its target arguably, since it hadn't put Sol III out of its misery, but it would eventually kill the wounded world regardless. The wildfires would continue, the dust would eventually clear, and temperatures would soar. Best thing that came out of the Christmas Star was that it provided the means and final push mankind needed to find a new world. And now, after years of being lost in space, after years of ups and downs, love and loss, highs and lows, the Jupiter 2 had finally made it to the Alpha Centauri star system. Finally, after all these years, the Robinsons had come home. Strange to think, Judy reflected, that Earth was a mere four light years away. With the ship's FTL capabilities, ones that dwarfed even that of the Resolute, they'd be able to jump across the interstellar home and make it to their first home if they so chose.
Still, Judy had no desire to go home. She doubted that any of the Jupiter 2 crew did. So she stood there in the cockpit as the rest of her family did a final systems check. They were going to land at Settlement 24, where the rest of the 24th Alpha Centaury Expedition had set up shop. Radio chatter confirmed that the Resolute was still in orbit, having brought the 25th, 26th, and 27th expedition groups in the intervening years. Right now, it was on the other side of the planet, but it would come round eventually. In which lay the problem.
"Hey kiddo."
Judy winced and smiled at the same time. It was a contortion of her face that she didn't think was possible, but somehow she managed it. If Don West saw it in her reflection via the cockpit's window, he gave no sign.
"All ready to head down?"
The wince ended, and the smile changed to one that carried not amusement, but regret. "Yeah," she murmured. She glanced at Don as he walked up beside her. "Well, ready as I'll ever be."
"So…you're not ready?"
"Past three years I've treated everything from laser burns, to infections, to broken bones, to alien parasites, to…well, stuff that med school didn't exactly have in mind."
"I bet."
"And now I've got to go down there," Judy said, gesturing to the Eden-like planet below. "Like, what am I meant to do there but treat the common cold?"
"Eh, sure you'll have a few broken bones and bruises to treat."
"Don…"
"Trust me, there's always gonna be that stuff, even out here." He nodded to the world below. "Especially down there."
Judy snorted. "Didn't think you'd be getting all philosophical on me."
"Ain't philosophy kid, just the truth." He took a seat in the pilot's chair. "Trust me, you don't work on the Resolute for two years, then the Jupiter 2 for three years, without realizing some truths about the universe."
"Really? What truths?"
"That philosophy's bunk for starters."
"Right…" Judy wondered if she should bring up her sister, who might have a thing or two to say about philosophy being bunk. Or, granted, maybe not, because if nothing else, the last three years would have provided her with plenty of material for that novel she'd always used to go on about. Like, there was the story of bond between man and machine, of husband and wife rediscovering themselves, sisterly bonds, star-crossed lovers…
Oh God.
She wasn't going to cry damn it. Nup. No. Not at all. She looked away from Don and returned her gaze to Alpha Centauri. Safe, boring, Alpha Centauri. Give it a few centuries and maybe humanity would be forced to find a new home after they'd trashed this one, but for now, not only was it Eden, but the apples had yet to fall from the tree.
"So…" Don said.
Judy looked back at him. This was meant to be her opening. She'd been isolated from the rest of mankind for three years, that didn't mean she'd lost all her social skills. Yet no words came out. None except another "so" that was, and not the type that was followed by la, ti, and do."
"So, yeah," Don said. "Guess this is it."
"Guess it is."
He was trying. Bless him, he was really trying. Not that she wasn't trying either, but difference was, that Don West, engineer, crew mate, and all round swell guy (according to him at least), wasn't able to hide that he was trying. Maybe it came down to working with machines, while as a doctor, she'd been trained to keep her emotions around patients in check. Or maybe she was just better at it.
"Been fun," he said.
"Yeah," Judy said. "Like, apart from lasers, and aliens, and June, and that weird space monkey Penny adopted, and-"
"Like I said, fun." Don got to his feet. "Anyway, I should head below. It's going to be the ship's last landing, so hey, don't want any mess ups."
"Yeah," Judy murmured.
"Right, so…yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Don tried to say something, and failed. He took a step toward her, then a step back, then raised his right hand as if to wave at her, but he couldn't even manage that. So with all attempts at communication having been as effective as SETI, he decided to call it quits and began walking out of the cockpit.
Stop him you idiot!
The little voice in her head was back. Penny would call it a muse. Will would call it her conscience. June…she didn't give a rat's arse what June Harris would call it, but whatever the voice was, Judy acted on it.
"It's not fair," she said. She got to her feet, and to her relief, Don stopped in his tracks. He looked back at her, and the look in his eyes told her that he knew it wasn't fair.
"Yeah, well, what ya gonna do?"
"What am I gonna do?" Judy asked. "That it? What am I gonna do?"
"Um…"
"What are you going to do?"
He shrugged. "Just a mechanic sweetheart, ain't got a claim to anything else but the Resolute."
"Don-"
"Families only. That's what they said three years ago, and you remember what Radic said – still only families now."
"Families…" She took a breath, telling herself that no, she wasn't about to cry, and that yes, she was keeping that hidden. "God's sake Don, three years."
"Well, more like two years, eleven months, and six days."
"Three years," Judy repeated. "Three years of…of everything, and…" He was still silent, and to her surprise (as well as his), she punched his chest.
"Ow!"
"Say something!" she yelled.
"Damn girl, you've got a good punch." He rubbed his chest. "Your dad teach you that?"
She punched him again.
"Ow!"
"How can you take this? Three years, and after all that, you're still not allowed on Alpha Centauri. It's…" She began pacing around, rubbing her hands over her eyes, and through her hair. "Like, what, after everything, I…I get to enjoy utopia, and you get to spend your days on the Resolute ferrying more privileged assholes…"
"Language, kiddo."
"…to Alpha Centauri, and then being forced to go back, because someone decided you weren't rich enough, or smart enough, or…or…" She kicked the wall and let out a yell.
"Easy doc, don't want to break a toe."
Judy, hopping around before collapsing back into the pilot's chair, let out a series of expletives that made her glad that Will wasn't here. It wasn't until after she'd finished, when she looked up at Don, that he said "wow."
"Wow?" she snapped, still rubbing her toe.
"Like, knew you had a good tongue, but heh, not that good."
"My tongue is…oh." She looked away, blushing slightly.
"I mean, good hands too. I mean, the physiotherapy-"
"Don, you're my friend, and I love you, but please drop the metaphors." She looked back up at him, and to his credit, the engineer didn't say anything.
"So…you love me," he said.
Correction: Didn't say anything for two seconds before he had to make things even more awkward.
"You're part of the family," Judy said. "I don't care what Radic or Victor or any other bigwig says, you're part of the family."
"That isn't answering the question."
"Okay, first of all, that wasn't a question," Judy snapped. "Second of all, when I say family, I mean, like, you're Don West, not Don Robinson, but, I mean, last names don't change anything and-"
"Think they usually do in most cultures." Don smirked, taking a few steps towards her. "Oh, and while we're on the subject, I might as well say that you've got a pretty good tongue as well."
Judy kicked him. He winced, but still managed to say, "and legs."
She tried to kick him again, but he managed to avoid it this time.
"Y'know, thought doctors were meant to treat patients, not maim them."
"I am treating you dumbass – it' called hard love." Judy blinked. "Like, not love-love, but…gah!" She returned to rubbing her toe, not made any better by her previous kick. Which might have been the reason why Don was able to come closer than he had before and squat down.
"Listen, kid," he said. "I appreciate it. Really. But…" He took a breath. "Look, there's a whole new world for you down there, and there's people you can help. You trained for this, you paid for this, and after three years of crap, you deserve it. So…" He took her hand, and kissed it. "So go get it. Really. Because…" He got to his feet. "Look, I really suck at this stuff okay, so…"
"So?" Judy whispered.
"So it's families only. I mean, you tried, your brother and sister tried, heck, even your parents tried to get the bigwigs to change their mind, but hell, rules are rules. Maybe your sister will be able to write an ending to this that's happy, but till then…" He trailed off. "Well, I'll still be able to visit every time I ferry more colonists from Earth."
Judy couldn't help it – she let out a sob. Not too loud, and not too blatant, but it was there for karma to hear. Three years, she reflected. Three years of banter, looks, coffee, and eventually, stuff involving tongues and one time, legs, and now? Now, in the eyes of the people who called the shots, that meant nothing. So, as she watched Don give her a nod and head out of the cockpit again, as she watched the man she…alright, loved, disappear from her sight, disappear from her life, she-
"What if we married?" she asked.
She actually hadn't expected that to come out of her mouth. So concerned she'd been with one of her tongue's functions, she'd let it run ahead of her.
"Pardon?" Don whispered.
And yet, instead of reigning her tongue in, she let it keep flapping. "Married," she whispered. "As in, you, me…married."
"Um…"
"Think about it," she said. "Like, I marry you, or you marry me. That makes us family. If we're family, then you're part of my family. And if we're family, then you get to live on Alpha Centauri."
"Judy, that's…" Don rubbed the back of his neck. "That's a nice idea, but you really think it's going to fool anyone?"
"Fool who apart from the fools?" Judy frowned. "They want to stick to the letter of the law? Fine. Let them. We get married, and by law, they're forced to let you settle with us. Because they certainly can't make the argument you're not qualified at this point."
"Judy…"
"This could work." She put a hand beneath her chin and began to pace back and forth. "Holy shit, I think this could work."
"Judy…"
"I mean, I'd have to sort it out with mum and dad, but hey, Penny gets her happy ending, and you get your happy ending, and-"
"Judy!"
Her tongue stopped flapping and she looked at Don, who was looking at her in a most awkward fashion.
"Judy," he repeated. "It's a nice idea. Really. But…"
"But?"
"But you don't want to marry me."
"Why?" she asked.
Don clearly hadn't expected that question.
"Why not?" she repeated. "I mean, three years of trying to find our way to Alpha Centauri, figured that…this…would be leading to something."
"Yeah, but…"
"What do you want Don?"
He blinked. "What do I want?"
"What do you want?" Judy asked. "If you could go to Alpha Centauri or Earth, which would you choose?"
"Bearing in mind that the former requires us to stay on the same planet, and the latter means we'd hardly see each other ever again."
"I…" He snorted. "Huh. Can't remember ever being asked what I wanted."
"Come on Don, someone must have asked you."
"Well, not recently. But…" He sighed. "Look, kid, I like you, and, like, I think…pretty sure…that I like-like you. I mean, there's only five years difference between us, and that's felt much smaller at times, and…and I want you to be happy, okay? What would make you happy?"
"For you to be happy."
"Right, so…you want me to be happy, and I want you to be happy."
Judy shrugged. "I think that can be a good foundation for marriage."
"Yeah, but marriage is…"
"Is what?" Judy asked.
Don said nothing.
"Is what?" she repeated.
"Marriage is…"
"Hard?" Judy asked. "Well, guess what – it is. It was hard for my mum in her first marriage, and it's been hard as hell in her second, but she survived that, and three years of deep space travel. But she and John are closer for it, and…" She sighed. "Look, if it doesn't work, we can get divorced."
"Divorced?"
"Yeah. Like, we get married in space, we get down to the planet, and then we divorce. I'm happy that you're happy, you're happy that I'm happy, we don't live together, and therefore we're happier than half the married couples in this galaxy."
"Oh. Okay then," Don said. "Guess that makes sense."
"Guess it does."
"Right so…"
"So?"
"Um…okay." He got down on one knee and Judy's eyes widened.
"Don, you don't have to-"
"Judy Robinson," he said. "In the spirit of mutual happiness, red tape, and happy endings for your sister, will you marry me?"
Judy stared at him.
"Like, I'd have a ring to offer you, but I don't, and…like, this is weird, and…am I overcomplicating things?"
"Yes," Judy whispered.
"Yeah, sorry about that. But I mean-"
"Yes," Judy said again.
"Yes? Yes what?"
"Yes. Yes I will marry you."
"Oh. Okay. Like, didn't think it would go like that but-"
Judy kissed him. And for a full minute, she didn't stop.
As it turned out, even years later, she was still doing it.