The Battle of Alpha Prime
Chapter 1
I own none of the characters in this story, and nothing affiliated with Lost in Space.
Major Don West emerged from below the Jupiter 2's rear thrusters. His face was covered with grime and sweat. He looked weary, but determined to finish what he had started.
A friendly, familiar face offered him a cold bottle of water.
"Don, what time did you start under there this morning?" Judy Robinson asked.
"5:30, I think," he said. "It was still dark, but the one light was all I needed, and it helped to start that early. It helped me focus. There was nothing else I could see."
Judy tried to peer underneath the Jupiter to see the progress of Don's work, but it was hard to make out what was going on under there. The array of protrusions and gadgets seemed like they would take weeks to put back together. But the Jupiter crew didn't have weeks.
"So you were retrofitting the thrusters in the dark, Don?" Judy said with a playful tone. "Nice plan. The one thing that can get us to Alpha Centauri . . . I hope you could see what you were doing."
Don took a sip from the water bottle.
"Judy, I can do amazing things with my hands in the dark."
Judy stood up and started to trot back toward the ship.
"I'm sure you can, flyboy. I'm sure you can."
Don smiled. His feelings toward Judy had never really been a secret, although he had never communicated them to her with words. With his eyes, sure, hundreds of times – and he felt there was no question she had reciprocated. But to start a relationship, in such tight quarters, in the midst of such a difficult mission – it had never seemed like the right time, the right circumstances. Maybe, if this new initiative worked, and they really made it to Alpha Centauri . . . well, maybe.
He watched as Judy made her way up the ramp and into the ship. Her form, her figure, had come to emblemize an ideal for him. Other than Maureen and Penny, Don hadn't seen another Earth woman in three years, but he was sure that every woman he saw for the rest of his life – assuming he did see any more – would be measured in his mind by the standard personified by Judy Robinson.
But he knew he needed to get his mind back on his task. Retrofitting the thrusters to generate the kind of power the Jupiter would need for this mission allowed for no margin of error. This was going to be a one-shot deal, and without the retrofitted thrusters working perfectly, it had no chance of succeeding.
Don wiped his brow, took a final swig of water and slid back under the ship.
Ten days earlier
It was Will Robinson's idea. Sitting outside the ship one night with Dr. Smith and the Robot, gazing at the stars, he had noticed something about the trajectory of the stars as they moved across the sky.
"Robot," he had asked, "would it be possible for you to burn the positions of these stars into your memory every hour for, say, six or seven nights in a row, and then analyze their motion?"
"Affirmative, Will Robinson," the Robot had replied. "What type of analysis would you be looking for?"
"I have some computer programs that model different points in the galaxy," Will said, "and this looks familiar to me. If this is the spoke in the Milky Way that I think it is, then what the stars do over the next several days will confirm that."
Dr. Smith was finding the conversation boring.
"William," Smith said, "what is the point of this astrological fishing expedition? No matter which stars are up in the sky, it doesn't change the fact that we remain stranded on this miserable planet."
"But it might, Dr. Smith," Will insisted. "If we can determine our location in the galaxy and track the galaxy's motion, we can determine what it would take to make it to Alpha Centauri. I know this is sort of just a hunch, but based on what I've seen on my computer models, and what I'm seeing in the sky right now, we might not be that far away."
Smith rolled his eyes.
"Alpha Centauri indeed! The only destination worth reaching is Earth. Earth!"
The Robot was busy setting up the files and functions he would need to make Will's calculations.
"I have already filed the first scan of the stars' locations and basic direction, Will Robinson," the Robot said. "While navigation based on computer models is a practice that still comes with imperfections, my calculations are that your idea may indeed have merit."
Will looked at Dr. Smith as if to say, "See?"
"Bah!" Smith declared, and laid his head back down on the recliner. Will gazed back up into the stars, his mind going faster than the speed of light, or so it seemed.
After the Robot had spent a week cataloging star movements, Will had uploaded the Robot's data to his laptop and positioned the display side-by-side with his Milky Way navigation model – then sent them to the Jupiter 2's display screen to show to the rest of the family.
"The Robot's analysis confirms my suspicion that we're at this point in the galaxy," Will said, pointing to a spoke toward the interior rotation of the Milky Way. "Alpha Centauri is here, just below our current position, and to the right on the screen."
John Robinson studied the display closely. The rest of the family seemed to be waiting for John to render his initial assessment of Will's analysis.
"Robot," John said, "do you agree with Will's theory about where we are?"
"Affirmative, Professor Robinson," the Robot replied. "The motion of the stars I analyzed over the course of the seven nights occurred exactly in synchronization with Will Robinson's computer models. I have calculated the chances of this happening by coincidence as one in 5,234,423,087,432,008."
"So we know where we are!" Penny exclaimed excitedly. "And we know where Alpha Centauri is."
"And Earth!" Smith intoned.
"You're nothing if not predictable, Smith," Don quickly replied.
"Spare me the poisonous barbs, Major!" Smith demanded. "After three years on this God-forsaken journey – a journey for which I most certainly did not volunteer – I can think of no destination worthy of my enthusiasm other than sweet, wonderful Earth!"
"All right, that's enough, Smith," John said. "For someone who didn't volunteer for the mission, you certainly went to a lot of trouble to be aboard the ship at takeoff, and I've never exactly heard a satisfactory explanation for that – but that's not our concern today. Robot, can you calculate the time that would be required to reach Alpha Centauri using this model?"
"Negative," the Robot said. "We are ahead of Alpha Centauri in the path of the galaxy's rotation, meaning any path we could take to get there would be replete with hazards."
"In other words," Judy said. "We'd be essentially swimming against the tide."
"Correct, Judy Robinson," the Robot said. "Flying across the galaxy opposite the direction of its rotation would present severe danger. Stars, planets, comets, supernovas and unquantifiable volumes of space debris would all be flying at high speeds toward the Jupiter 2. It would be an extremely dangerous journey."
Everyone was quiet. Will looked down. John put a hand on his shoulder.
"It was good thinking, son," John said. "I'm proud of you for taking the initiative. Sure, it didn't work out this time, but that's the kind of ingenuity that will end up taking us where we're trying to go."
Will looked up a little, but still had a look of disappointment on his face.
"Thanks, Dad," he said. "I understand what you're trying to say."
At that, each member of the family began moving away from the gathering – each back to their own individual pursuits. But an interjection from Don brought everyone to a halt.
"Robot," Don said. "Do you think you can use Will's computer data to model the motion of the galaxy as it would project into the future?"
"Affirmative," the Robot said. "But I am not sure I understand what kind of model you are looking for, Major."
"Well maybe it's a long shot," Don said, "but what if there were a moment in time – a moment we could pinpoint – when the movement of items in the galaxy would give us a clear path?"
"In other words," John said, "you're looking to identify a time at which we could take off a travel a specific course, and we could essentially duck the debris."
Don nodded. "Why not take a look at the data and see?"
Maureen stepped forward. "Even if we were to find a point when the model suggests it's possible, we would have to time it perfectly and encounter absolutely no problems along the way. That hasn't exactly been our history."
Dr. Smith tightened up self-consciously.
"Well, if we throw Smith in one of the freezing tubes for the entire trip, we might stand a chance," Don wisecracked.
"You're a cold, cruel man, Major!" Smith howled.
"All right, that's enough," John said. "Robot, can you run that kind of model."
"I believe I can," the Robot said. "Give me a moment to calculate the data."
Without missing a beat, the Robot continued:
"Major West is correct. If the Jupiter 2 were to break the orbit of this planet at exactly 2:47 p.m. and 48 seconds on October 29, 2000, Earth Time, it would have a clear path to the Alpha Centauri system."
Will suddenly looked excited. "That's next Saturday!" he said.
"There is, however, a problem," the Robot said. "Once we break free of this planet's orbit, it would be necessary to maintain a steady speed of 173,342 miles per hour in order to avoid any collisions with objects in space. Any variation in speed would almost certainly cause the Jupiter 2 and all occupants thereof to be destroyed."
John looked at Don.
"I don't see how we can get it up that fast, especially so quickly after leaving the planet's orbit," John said. "And even if we could, what would it do to our fuel supply to fly at that speed? I'm not sure we could even make it to Alpha Centauri."
"Dad," Judy said, "I think I might know how to solve the fuel issue. Remember those reserves of deutronium elements you found in that cave just north of here? Penny and I were exploring in that area one day and we found nine or 10 more caves just like that one. They all had the same soil properties and the same smell. If they all have deutronium reserves, that should be enough to get us to Alpha Centauri."
"OK," John said. "Well we should definitely explore that. Even if we don't do this trip, we will certainly have use for that deutronium, if it's really there. But I still don't see how we're going to get up to that speed. Our thrusters simply weren't designed to generate that kind of surge. As far as I know, no Earth-made vehicle has ever traveled that fast."
Don walked over to the freezing tubes.
"John," Don said. "What if we were to retrofit the thrusters using the power mechanisms from the freezing tubes? These tubes were designed to keep all of us in suspended animation for five years on our maiden voyage. That's an incredible amount of power."
At that, Don briefly looked over at Dr. Smith, whose presence has scuttled the original mission of the Jupiter. Smith returned the glance with eyes of steel, as if to say, "Must we go over that again?" And Don got back on track.
"I think I know how I could add that power to the thrusters," Don said. "We wouldn't be able to use the freezing tubes anymore, but I guess we're sort of beyond that anyway."
John was thinking.
"Robot," John said. "Do you agree that this is feasible?"
"It is feasible, Professor Robinson," the Robot said. "But the retrofitting must be very precise. Any flaw in the installation will render the thrusters incapable of generating the speed the Jupiter will need to complete the mission."
Everyone looked at John.
"OK," he said. "I think it's worth a try. We'll have to leave the planet no later than 2 p.m. on Saturday to break the planet's orbit in time. Don, do you think you can complete the retrofit 24 hours prior to that so we can test it?"
"I do," Don said. "I'll have to get to work on it right away."
"OK, do it," John said.
"And Don can come with me to explore the caves and set up the deutronium drill," Judy said.
"No good," John said. "Don needs to devote all his time to the retrofit. Dr. Smith! You can go and assist Judy with the deutronium exploration."
A horrified look settled over Smith's face.
"Good sir," Smith said. "As you know, my back is very delicate –"
John wasn't about to let Dr. Smith's objections go any farther.
"Dr. Smith, as you know, we have faced many obstacles on our journey because of your deeds, or misdeeds as the case may be," John said. "Now you will assist Judy with the deutronium exploration, and that is an order. Is that understood?"
Smith was furious, but he knew that any further objections would be futile.
"It is understood."
The rest of the family went to work on other preparations. After three years lost in space, Alpha Centauri might finally be within their grasp.