Last week, as you recall, the Robinsons attempted their best rescue effort to date, only to have the mission fail due to the inability of the S.S. Space Raft to get enough lift to break free of the planet's orbit. The men then loaded up the chariot and were off to establish a relay station, leaving Maureen in charge of the camp. Soon after the chariot left camp, a meteor storm hit in the very area in which they were traveling…
One of Our Dogs is Missing (Written by William Welch)
"Dear Joan,
Dad, Don and Will left for a few days to set-up some relay stations. Dr. Smith assured Dad that he would take care of us, and Don said, "Do us a favor, Smith and don't do us any favors." I still can't understand why he is so mean to Dr. Smith. I know he causes trouble, but, he is a human being.
Shortly after they left, our radar showed a meteor storm right in the area where the Chariot was. We couldn't raise Dad and Don by radio. Dr. Smith insisted that it wasn't a meteor storm at all, but an invasion. I must admit, Joan, even I lost my patience with him. The next day Mom, Penny, Dr. Smith and I walked over to the place where the meteor storm was and checked the craters. Dr. Smith insisted that the craters were shell holes.
Not only did we find craters, we also found a small space ship that had recently crashed, but the ship was empty. Dr. Smith insisted that it was the first of an invading force. When we returned to the space ship, we found several of our food cans opened by brute strength. Something or someone was in our ship and raided our galley. It's an awful feeling to know that your home was invaded. Mom and I just finished setting up the force field, so we'll be well protected tonight.
The ship was shut tight for the night when a horrendous howling invaded their sleep. Penny and Judy opened the door to their cabin, as did Maureen. Dr. Smith exited his cabin with two guns strapped to his waist. Dr. Smith proclaimed that he would protect the women to the end, but ducked back into his cabin when the howling turned into a menacing growl.
The next morning, Judy and Maureen explored the area where they thought the sounds were coming from and found a large piece of fur. "Could Dr. Smith be right? Are we being invaded?" Judy asked.
"I don't know. I wish I could reach your dad," Maureen answered. She stood straighter and squared her jaw. "Now look, we're not going to start behaving like helpless females. There's a logical explanation to all of this. Let's take it back to the ship and we'll take a small piece of it and test it."
"Dear Joan,
Mom and I went out to investigate the sounds we heard and found, you won't believe this, but we found a dog. It's a cute little beagle. Penny loves it and of course wants to keep it. I think the dog came from the space capsule. Mom doesn't think it could have because it would be close to fifty years old. Dr. Smith thinks the dog is an alien invader in disguise.
We also found fur on a tree branch that couldn't belong to the dog. We searched through Dad's notes about species we might encounter, and Dad said that there were mutants on this planet that morph into other creatures, like the Cyclops. He wrote that his greatest fear was that one of them might absorb one of us in their process of metamorphosis. That is a scary thought. I don't understand why he didn't tell us about it."
"Dear Joan,
We are now defenseless. I somehow lost my gun. Penny thinks the dog took it and buried it, like a bone. I don't know what possessed Dr. Smith, but he took all of our guns apart to supposedly clean them. Mom went in and found them in a heap of pieces. Then he took Mom's gun and proceeded to take that apart! There is some kind of creature out there, and we have no way to ward it off. The force field isn't even working right now because we need to recharge it. As much as I hate to admit it, we need our men back."
The communicator beeped as John called his wife. They barely had enough power to call home. "Now, if you can stand a little good news, I think this relay idea is going to work, but it's going to be a tough job. We're going to have to be busy every minute. I'm certainly glad I married a girl like you. At least I don't have to worry about what's happening on the home front."
"Uh… how long will the job take?" Maureen asked.
"Well, if we don't have any more interruptions, I think we'll find the site soon. Darling, are you sure everything's all right back there?"
"Oh, yes, yes, it's just that we all miss you."
"We miss you too. We'll be back soon. Oh, Maureen… I'm proud of you… the way you've handled everything."
"Well, thank you, dear. Um, we'll be waiting. Just finish your work and hurry home, will you?"
"All right, darling. Bye for now."
"Bye."
Judy approached her mother. "You didn't tell him."
Maureen shook her head. Judy wondered why her mother had held back. Her parents had been married for so long, Judy didn't think there was anything that they couldn't talk to each other about.
"Mother, why didn't you?"
"Oh, Judy. I guess I didn't want him to think that we couldn't take care of ourselves."
"We'd be doing fine if Dr. Smith hadn't messed with the guns."
"You're starting to sound like Don."
"Well, it's true, Mother. If he hadn't taken them all apart, we'd have something to defend ourselves with."
"I suppose you're right. Well, the force field will be working tonight. We'll just stay within its bounds and we'll be fine.
John reflected on his conversation with Maureen while Don drove the Chariot. Don noticed John's pensive expression and asked, "Is something bothering you?"
"I just didn't like the sound of Maureen's voice," John replied.
"She would have said something if anything were wrong," Don stated.
"I don't think so. She knows how important this project is to us. I think she'd do anything to keep me from worrying."
"Oh, I'm sure everything's okay."
"Turn around. We're going back."
"Now?"
"Now!"
Don shrugged and wondered what it was about the older generation that stopped them from being open and honest with each other. They had a penchant for keeping a brave front. He made a mental note to himself to talk with Judy about always being honest with each other. He didn't want to have to guess what was going on in her mind. At the same time he also wondered if he and Judy would ever have the same sixth sense that Maureen and John seemed to have about each other and their family. He supposed that any couple that had been together twenty years would.
"Dear Joan,
That cute little dog is gone. It helped Don and Dad save my life. I wish it would come back to us. I was almost captured by the creature that was making that horrible howling sound. I went out to look for the dog because Penny was so upset that it had gone off. This big, furry, horned creature came out of nowhere and started chasing me. Joan, I was so scared. I climbed up onto a rocky hill and used the only weapons around… rocks. It kept coming closer and all I could do was throw these big rocks at it. It was like tossing popcorn at a movie screen.
Dad and Don found me just in time, but the monster attacked Dad and he hit his head when he was pushed down. Don climbed up and carried me off the rocks, but we fell off a small cliff. The animal followed us, but luckily Dad woke up and used his laser pistol and the animal fell off too… right next to me. Ugh!
I was never so happy to see Dad and Don in my life. Dad wanted to go back to camp, but I wanted to look for the dog just a little longer. We ran into Will and Dr. Smith, together, of course, and the creature jumped out from behind a rock. Don pushed me down and the creature attacked Dad. Don jumped on top of the creature, but it threw him off. Both Dad and Don were knocked unconscious, but the dog brought Will's laser pistol to him and Will shot at it, but the creature fell behind the rock I was next too and it kept crawling around the rock towards me. Don helped me up and got me away from it. Will nudged Dad awake and gave him the pistol. Dad kept shooting at it and then in climbed into this pit and disappeared under the sand."
Dinner was done. Maureen and the children had gone inside to finish the dishes and Dr. Smith had retired for the evening. The night sky was beautiful and the moon shone bright and full, casting a glow between the shadows.
"I'm going to find your mother. Don't stay out too long," John suggested.
"We won't," Judy said as she rose and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. "And thank you for saving me today."
"That's what fathers…" he gestured towards Don, "and boyfriends are for. Good-night, Judy… Don."
"Night," Don replied.
After John entered the ship, Don asked Judy, "Did you hear what he called me?"
She nodded and smiled. She hadn't told him about her conversation with her father when he commented that he'd be happy to make Don an official part of the family. "Don? Remember the day Will was missing?"
"How could I forget?"
"I was talking with Dad that day before we knew Will was gone. We were talking about us."
"As in you and me?"
"Yes. He said…" For some reason she stopped talking and looked down at the ground, almost afraid to say it.
"Well, what did he say?"
"He said that, whenever we're ready, he would be happy to make you an official part of the family."
Don grinned. "Which means that it's just a matter of time…" She didn't give him the reaction he was hoping for, so he asked, "Judy, is there something else you're not telling me?"
"No!"
"It seems like you're holding something back."
"I'm not… I'm just… pensive."
"Pensive… Well then, before we go any further there is one thing I'd like to talk to you about… Promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"That you will always be honest with me about how you're feeling."
"Do you think I've lied to you?"
"It's not about lying, Judy. It's about not being afraid to tell me how you feel or what you're thinking. My parents were always open and honest with each other. They weren't afraid to fight because they trusted each other to always be there... no matter what."
"I've been honest with you, Don. I don't know why you're bringing this up."
"Because sometimes your parents don't tell each other things when they don't want the other to be scared or upset or whatever. I don't ever want to have to guess if something is bothering you."
"My parents do that to protect each other. I think that's noble of them!"
"It may be noble, but it's not the way a relationship should work in my book."
"Oh, and you're the expert? What about the strength it takes to protect each other?"
"I think true strength lies in trusting that the other person can handle things."
"What about caring for the other person's feelings?"
"I'll take honesty over politeness anytime."
"Donald West, I can't believe you're criticizing my parents."
"Why not? No relationship is perfect, including your parents' relationship!"
"You have no right to judge my parents… or anyone else for that matter!"
"Are you talking about how I treat Smith?"
"That and a lot of other things."
"Talk about being critical…"
"So you want me to be honest except when it comes to you. Is that it?"
"No, but I wouldn't mind having some support from you when it comes to Smith! You're always defending him."
"Only because you're always threatening him."
"He deserves it!"
"No one deserves to live in fear!"
"Oh, give me a break! If he's afraid of me, I'd have a lot more control over him."
"That's what you're after, isn't it… control. That's why you want me to tell you everything, so you can control me!"
"Now you're being down right ridiculous!"
"I am not ridiculous. Maybe it's a good thing that we never eloped before we lifted off!"
He stared at her. That one hurt. "We wouldn't want to make any mistakes now, would we?"
"Don that's not what I meant."
"Isn't it? We're not the perfect couple you think your parents are… or maybe I'm the problem. I'm the one who's not perfect for your perfect little world. Let me know when you're ready to grow up and face the real world. Good-night." He strode into the ship without looking back.
'Grow up?' she fumed and paced outside of the ship and then sat back down for a long time. She wondered how their conversation had deteriorated into an argument so quickly. Hadn't it started with her father inviting him into the family? The next thing she knew, he was talking about not being perfect enough for them. She didn't think she could live with someone who became angry so quickly.
"Dear Joan,
Don and I had a big argument last night. We were talking about both our parents' relationships, which led to a major disagreement. He said that his parents were always honest and weren't afraid to say what was on their minds. He thinks my parents are just too polite and try to put up a good front when they're upset for fear of worrying the other.
I think it's admirable that my parents want to protect each other. It takes a strong person to sacrifice their feelings for their partner. Don said it takes a lot more strength to admit those feelings and that true strength is in being able to hear things that you'd rather not deal with. I don't know, Joan. It makes me wonder now if we have what it takes to be a couple forever. We've each adopted our parents' coping styles. I try to be strong and keep my feelings to myself and his are right out there for everyone to see, whether we like it or not. We're both stubborn and won't be changing anytime soon.
In the meantime life goes on… We're trying to replenish our fuel supply and Dad, Don, Dr. Smith and I are working on refining atomic ore for our fuel. Well, I can't say that Dr. Smith is really working. I'm on my way back to camp to get lunch for all of us…"
To be continued…
NEXT WEEK!
SAME TIME…
SAME WEBSITE…
