AUTHORS NOTE: Many many thanks go to my LIS Fanfic cohort in crime and co-conspirator who actually managed to drag my muse out of his nearly comatose state, a herculean feat if I do say so myself. I may have written this but not without her constant encouragement.

This is part 1 of the Ark series. Part 2, Redemption, was written over 2 decades ago.

"What the hell is that?" Major Don West said pointing at what appeared to be a gray cloud in the distance, approaching from the north, but not much more than a huge wave of 'something' way off.

"Volcano cloud?" the beautiful young woman to his left supplied, her full lips pursed in thought. Judy Robinson, the eldest daughter of the Robinson clan crossed her arms and then worried a corner of her mouth with her teeth.

The leader of their sojourn into space, Professor John Robinson, went to stand beside the Jupiter 2's pilot. "Looks like a cloud alright but too regular. Usually when they blow there are varying shades of black, slate and lighter gray. Pretty universal from what we've seen. They all seem to reveal themselves in the same way."

"You can always take the Pod up and examine it from a closer proximity."

Don turned to look the one man who was never meant to be a partner in this exploration endeavor. In fact, that man was never supposed to be onboard at all, although after the events of three years together he'd discovered that Dr. Zachary Smith's presence and additional body weight was the only thing that had kept them all alive, twice. The mere thought made him mentally laugh. Oh the irony, that this pest of a human being would turn out to be their savior.

"You know what? I believe that's an exceptional idea, Doctor. It's rare, I know, but I think this time I'll do just that. So get ready because we're going up in ten."

Smith's naturally arching eyebrows took flight. "Me? I think one person's observations should be sufficient for this, don't you think?"

"Absolutely, but I'd prefer to have some company."

"Your nose is growing longer, Major. You prefer no such thing and I am well aware of it." The quaver in his voice let everyone know he was anxious about the whole ordeal and they hadn't even begun yet. In reality, he allowed it to ramp up a bit just to keep from having to do something he had no interest in. Observing cloud formations, even odd ones, wasn't of the slightest interest to him at that moment.

Don glared. "Get going, Smith!"

"You can't order me, Major. I outrank you!" Smith growled back.

West leaned closer. "Not out here, you don't, Colonel. And since when did you start playing that game," he inquired, curiosity getting the better of him. Despite Smith outranking him for real, he'd never resorted to that ruse in all the time they'd been lost in space.

Deflating slightly, Smith shrugged ruefully. "Thought I'd give it a try. From the look on your face, it was obviously unsuccessful."

A higher pitched voice sounded from behind them. "Can I go instead Dad? Don? I would love to get a look around this place. I mean, we haven't been here long but it sure is pretty with all the vegetation and rivers and geological formations." Will Robinson tried to paste the most pleading expression on his face that he could possibly muster. "Please?"

"Well, he's right about all the interesting things to see around here. The animals are unique too," Penny Robinson chimed in. She was gently cradling a furry little thing that Smith referred to as 'that clingy critter' but which the rest called a Mogwai because it resembled one from the movies. It had the long ears and large eyes, albeit ruby colored in this case, of the animal in the Gremlins movie.

"I'm sorry, Will, but this is a job for the Major. We need to set up the force field generator, now that I finally repaired it. And I'll need your help."

Frowning slightly, Will almost blurt out that his mother or sisters were already adept at doing that task but thought better of it. He also almost said Dr. Smith had done it successfully when fully motivated, but the look in his Dad's eyes said, Forget it. You're staying here. The only thing left for him to say we, "Okay, Dad, whatever you want," as he tried to hide his disappointment.

Don turned in the direction of the Space Pod, which sat about 50 feet away, in the open clearing where the Jupiter 2 had settled. Their landing had been smooth and without issues, so John had made sure the Pod had been removed from the body of the saucer while out in space and landed close enough to be of use. With all the heavily forested lands, it made sense that the vehicle would be more useful for exploring than the Chariot would. At least until they managed to clear away brush for roads or found natural paths.

"Smith, now!"

The deep lines on Smith's brow smoothed out as his eyelids lowered into a glare. "Very well, I'm coming, although under protest. I still don't see what use I can be to—"

Don cut him off. "Can it. If I can't find anything for you to do physically on the ride over, I'll figure something out when we get there. If nothing else, an extra pair of eyes is always useful."

"But the Robot will—" Smith caught the expression on Don's face and he exhaled heavily. "Fine, allow me to retrieve a pair of binoculars."

Trudging heavily through the mossy grass, Smith headed for the ship while Don did a preflight check on the Pod. That didn't take long but interestingly neither did Smith retrieving the binoculars. Don would have bet cold hard cash that the doctor would have avoided this as long as possible. Which made him pause for a moment. If Smith was hesitating about this do-nothing trip, was his unusually keen sense of approaching danger triggering, or was he simply being his usual lazy self?

The two men were airborne in a matter of minutes and the gray lump on the horizon was just a tiny bit bigger.

"Boy this thing is a way off."

"And still enormous. I don't like the feeling I'm experience."

"The usual impending doom?" Don said with a snicker.

Smith didn't mince words. "Precisely! And mark my words; you should not make fun because I'm rarely wrong."

"That's because the disasters are usually premeditated, and you know exactly what's going to happen next."

"Major, you cut me to the quick. I can't be held responsible for things that happen by accident."

"Accidents you usually cause."

There was next to no room inside the cockpit of the Pod and Smith, standing just off Don's right shoulder murmured somewhat sadly, "When was the last time that happened? I've tried to do better. You know I have."

"Only because we watch over everything you do so carefully."

At that comment, Smith looked genuinely crestfallen and repentantly chastened. And he sighed yet again. "Damned if I do and damned if I don't," he replied mournfully.

What else could Don do? Snipe some more? Don knew Smith was right. He had tried to contribute more. Paid attention more often. True he balked, loudly and vociferously at times, but lately he did more than just lay around all day, unlike the 'good old days' of two and three years ago. Heck, Smith had even saved his life on more than one occasion which would never have happened in the beginning, and he acknowledged it.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay." He glanced sideways at the doctor. "I'm on edge and that always happens on a new planet when we don't know what's waiting for us. But I want you to know I'm not asking you to do this to be irritating. I really do need the extra set of eyes and a quick-thinking mind to deal with what we find."

Smith straightened a bit with a touch of pride, noting the compliment, as backhanded as it was. "Then I shall endeavor to assist you in any way I can. Provided you don't put us in a position where some vicious monstrosity can bite our heads off, I mean."

Typical Smith, Don smirked. He patted Smith's shoulder. "We're not even sure it's animal, geological or atmospheric in nature. So let's get closer and make a more informed evaluation."

"Major, you're starting to sound like me, and I'm not sure that's a good thing,"

At that, Don laughed aloud.

Instead of going high and then coming down over the approaching cloud formation, Don gave the controls over to Smith. At first Smith put up a weak argument against it but that was a failure. West didn't know he possessed a pilot's license back on Earth. But they all knew full well that he could pilot the Pod, drive the Chariot, and even take the helm of the Jupiter 2 in an emergency. So, Smith relented and took the controls in both hands.

"What would you have me do?" he inquired as he got familiarized with the feel of flying it. Because he been responsible for landing the Pod after the Jupiter 2 had settled down not more than a few days ago, he regained the feel of it almost instantly.

"Just don't crash."

Smith clutched his chest with his right hand. "Stabbed in the heart by your rapier wit!" Then he quickly repositioned it on the joystick.

Satisfied that no disaster was forthcoming, the Major took some readings and checked his gauges and meters and the radar as well. "Wow, I don't think this is a cloud after all," he observed with no small measure of awe. "Too dense. Too regular in shape on the radar. I'd make a guess and say whatever it is, it's solid."

"A building? A city?"

"The latter maybe. Vedania had some enormous cities, no doubt about it." He rechecked his readings. "I'm not so sure though. Whatever this is, it's moving. Not fast and not far but definitely not stationary."

Smith tried to peer into the distance at the gray mass, which by then was sizably bigger. They had looked at the terrain as they traveled and there had been no indication of settlements or intelligent life. That had been one of Don's plans for having Smith as a spectator while he piloted. Going too high up would have obscured those signs. Although West didn't notice it, the doctor had periodically scanned the readouts himself as they traversed the airspace above the landscape. But at the moment, Smith focused his concentration on the sole task of keeping them aloft, steady and on course.

"Analysis?"

"Nothing concrete," West mumbled.

"Any closer and we'll be able to land on it," Smith said in an almost joking tone. Little did he know then that some things shouldn't be joked about. Ever.

"Here, let me take over."

Only too glad to let his companion resume piloting, Smith slid aside as soon as the Major's hand settled onto the twin joysticks. They had gone over 30 miles by the time they got close enough to see what was before them. Or to at least get a vague notion of what was down there. What they first noticed was the steady rise and fall of the near end of it. The head, for lack of a better word, had gargantuan slabs of slate gray in front. As that end rose up, there was a pause and then the gray slabs smashed into the surface of the planet, crushing trees, rocks, animals and everything else beneath its titanic bulk. As the 'head' slammed downward, the ridged rough incisors dug in and pulled the thing forward, it's quivering mass gelatinously undulating along behind it in slow motion. Nothing about the creature implied speed. Only death, destruction, and devouring. A long path of devastation was left in its wake, an enormous brown rut devoid of anything remotely resembling life stretching off toward the horizon.

"Boy have we got troubles," West observed.

"That Major, is the biggest understatement of the century."

"I—I mean, it's as big as the Titanic."

"Bigger."

Don side-eyed him. "The Empire State Building, parallel to the ground."

"Bigger."

"Two Empire State Buildings."

"Getting warmer."

"Well, if you compare it to something what would you say?"

"I'll see your two parallel Empire State Buildings and raise you two Queen Marys stacked on top of each other."

"Okay, I'd agree with you there. Let's get a little closer."

"I think you are more than close enough as it is."

Unconsciously gripping the joysticks tighter, Don moved the Pod alongside the head which had dug in but not released yet. The body continued to ripple forward.

"No eyes," Smith observed. "Not that I can observe, anyway. However, it doesn't appear to notice us." He craned his neck toward the viewport for a better look. "No ears either although that means nothing. It might still hear us although it doesn't appear to. To test that, we'd have to create enough noise to draw its attention and I'd prefer not to do that at the moment."

"Agreed," nodded Don.

"Fur, if that is fur, resembles gigantic tubular spires closely spaced together. I can't tell how rigid they are from here. But again, I'd rather not find out the hard way." He turned back to his task. "Certainly moving slowly. If this is its maximum speed, it would cover about two miles per day, I'm guessing."

Maneuvering the Pod up and over it, he flew back toward the head. "Problem is if this doesn't veer much it could be headed right for the forested area by the Jupiter 2."

Smith unconsciously pulled at his thin lower lip, deep in thought. "If that's the case, then the solution is obvious. We have to make it turn."

"Brilliant, Smith. And how do you propose to turn something twice the length of the Empire State Building?"

That one stumped the doctor. Puzzlement was etched on his face. And a jaw muscle worked as if he were slowly and unconsciously chewing something. "Maybe we should report back to the Professor and relay what we've discovered. Then put our heads together, so to speak, and see if any sound solutions present themselves."

Five minutes later, Don had given his report over the radio and by the sound of John's voice, he was as concerned as Smith had been earlier.

"Come on back and we'll talk about it," John replied after a while. "We still have some time to deal with it…I hope…and worst-case scenario is we vacate this area, finish our repairs elsewhere, and lift off again."

"Provided we get out of there in time and provided there are no more of these…well, Smith has taken to calling it a Leviathan…so hoping there are no more of them in the vicinity."