When I was young (or, more properly, "Ven I vas yung!") I always enjoyed watching good old Lost in Space. I knew even then what I know now; namely that the show, as drama or even an adventure series, was a disaster that rivaled, at times, even the legendary Ed Wood (not that this is necessarily a bad thing, mind you). But there has always been a certain magic about Lost in Space, something that draws people in, even today. Much of this lies in the chemistry that grew between Will, Dr. Smith and the Robot, whose adventures, however ridiculous (or perhaps because they were ridiculous), were always entertaining. And in part I think it is the chemistry that existed among the Robinsons themselves, who despite giant talking carrots and space Vikings and androids that recited "Crush! Kill! Destroy!" endlessly, still managed to be a family, a good family whose members stood together in the face of awful scripts and bad sets and space monsters and villains of the most appalling kind, and because they still managed to be characters that we cared about from one week to the next, with a degree of sympathy that is often not present in many modern television shows. There was a sense of the frontier to Lost in Space, and an always unanswered hope that the Robinsons would get home safely, that we the audience would be allowed to welcome them back.
The scripts were, for the most part, pretty awful (Oh, the pain!), and I remember thinking even as a star-struck lad that there was so much more that could be done with the show, that serious stories of real human growth and drama could be written about the Robinsons, Major West, Dr. Smith and the Robot. I was of course too young in those days to write such stories myself, but since I still enjoy the show so much I thought it would be nice to pay homage to it with a bit of fan fiction to show what I think it could have been.
I of course do not own the rights to these characters; presumably they are held by some Hollywood bigwigs. The title will hopefully make sense by the end of the story, and to be true to the original series, I will post this in sections, complete with cliffhangers.
A Mountain
* * *
Even on quiet days, the earth would rumble.
There were reasons for this, of course. The planet had not one moon but two, and these moons were large and orbited close, pulling constantly at the thin crust of their mother with immense tidal power, splitting it in places to evoke massive volcanoes whose magma flowed red hot into the seas, burning the water into steam that could cloud the sky for days. Faults cut across the crust, shifting by their own motion and the unending tug of the moons, and as they did the earthquakes came again and again.
It could be a violent, uncertain place.
This was disconcerting at first. The seven who had come here, their single ship limping from star system to star system, were accustomed to a quieter world, a gentler world, and even after years away they all still measured each new planet by the standards of home, even if they were not aware that they did.
Many things were measured that way, and it could be hard sometimes.
For each of them, and for all.
Home. Blue and white and green, beckoning to them from far away.
#
Dr. Zachery Smith made his way carefully through the boulder field. It was a hot day, the sun beating down hard, the ground itself reflecting the heat back up at him. The valley below had shaken this morning, back near the Jupiter II, snapping him awake from a night of well earned rest. The others, of course, had gone back to sleep, but this was always difficult for him and so he had simply lain in bed, wondering when one of the planet's fault lines was going to open up beneath the ship and swallow them whole.
He had mentioned this to Dr. Robinson soon after they had arrived, but his complaints and fears had been dismissed.
What a fool Robinson was. There was danger everywhere and he always chose to ignore it. Had he learned nothing from all these years in space?
The others were no better. Fools. And he, Dr. Zachery Smith, was forced to endure their constant clattering cacophony as they worked on the ship or the chariot, always expecting him to do more chores than any ten men were able, always expecting him to submit to their incessant demands and petty little needs.
Bah! Fools, all of them.
Well, perhaps not all. There had been a time when William had been a good boy, had been easy to manipulate, and had been clever enough to help him figure ways out of some dangerous snarls. And it was impossible not to simply adore little Penny, so sweet and innocent. But they were the only ones of the whole Robinson clan who were worth the time of day, and even now, as they grew older, Zachery Smith was discovering that it was harder to get them to do what he wanted; and the older Robinsons and that absolutely brash and callous barbarian Major West were simply too much to be tolerated sometimes.
Oh, the pain of it!
The boulder field ended as the terrain grew steeper, and Smith took a moment to rest. They would miss him soon, and being the nosy, irritating little people they were they would probably come looking for him, with that bubble-headed booby of a robot sniffing him out with its environmental sensors or some such rubbish. Better move on before that happened.
He rose, his legs and back sore from walking, and continued.
#
Smith knew the cave would be here somewhere. The Gaklak had assured him of it, and Gaklaks never lied. They never told the truth, either, or so it was said, but you could always get most of the truth out of them with a hefty bribe. In this case the bribe had been three of the Jupiter II's plasma convectors, which the Robinsons had yet to miss. They would soon enough, of course, as soon as Dr. Robinson and Major West did the six month maintenance check.
But by that time, if all went well, it wouldn't matter. He, Dr. Zachery Smith, would be on his way back to Earth.
Back to home.
The scripts were, for the most part, pretty awful (Oh, the pain!), and I remember thinking even as a star-struck lad that there was so much more that could be done with the show, that serious stories of real human growth and drama could be written about the Robinsons, Major West, Dr. Smith and the Robot. I was of course too young in those days to write such stories myself, but since I still enjoy the show so much I thought it would be nice to pay homage to it with a bit of fan fiction to show what I think it could have been.
I of course do not own the rights to these characters; presumably they are held by some Hollywood bigwigs. The title will hopefully make sense by the end of the story, and to be true to the original series, I will post this in sections, complete with cliffhangers.
A Mountain
* * *
Even on quiet days, the earth would rumble.
There were reasons for this, of course. The planet had not one moon but two, and these moons were large and orbited close, pulling constantly at the thin crust of their mother with immense tidal power, splitting it in places to evoke massive volcanoes whose magma flowed red hot into the seas, burning the water into steam that could cloud the sky for days. Faults cut across the crust, shifting by their own motion and the unending tug of the moons, and as they did the earthquakes came again and again.
It could be a violent, uncertain place.
This was disconcerting at first. The seven who had come here, their single ship limping from star system to star system, were accustomed to a quieter world, a gentler world, and even after years away they all still measured each new planet by the standards of home, even if they were not aware that they did.
Many things were measured that way, and it could be hard sometimes.
For each of them, and for all.
Home. Blue and white and green, beckoning to them from far away.
#
Dr. Zachery Smith made his way carefully through the boulder field. It was a hot day, the sun beating down hard, the ground itself reflecting the heat back up at him. The valley below had shaken this morning, back near the Jupiter II, snapping him awake from a night of well earned rest. The others, of course, had gone back to sleep, but this was always difficult for him and so he had simply lain in bed, wondering when one of the planet's fault lines was going to open up beneath the ship and swallow them whole.
He had mentioned this to Dr. Robinson soon after they had arrived, but his complaints and fears had been dismissed.
What a fool Robinson was. There was danger everywhere and he always chose to ignore it. Had he learned nothing from all these years in space?
The others were no better. Fools. And he, Dr. Zachery Smith, was forced to endure their constant clattering cacophony as they worked on the ship or the chariot, always expecting him to do more chores than any ten men were able, always expecting him to submit to their incessant demands and petty little needs.
Bah! Fools, all of them.
Well, perhaps not all. There had been a time when William had been a good boy, had been easy to manipulate, and had been clever enough to help him figure ways out of some dangerous snarls. And it was impossible not to simply adore little Penny, so sweet and innocent. But they were the only ones of the whole Robinson clan who were worth the time of day, and even now, as they grew older, Zachery Smith was discovering that it was harder to get them to do what he wanted; and the older Robinsons and that absolutely brash and callous barbarian Major West were simply too much to be tolerated sometimes.
Oh, the pain of it!
The boulder field ended as the terrain grew steeper, and Smith took a moment to rest. They would miss him soon, and being the nosy, irritating little people they were they would probably come looking for him, with that bubble-headed booby of a robot sniffing him out with its environmental sensors or some such rubbish. Better move on before that happened.
He rose, his legs and back sore from walking, and continued.
#
Smith knew the cave would be here somewhere. The Gaklak had assured him of it, and Gaklaks never lied. They never told the truth, either, or so it was said, but you could always get most of the truth out of them with a hefty bribe. In this case the bribe had been three of the Jupiter II's plasma convectors, which the Robinsons had yet to miss. They would soon enough, of course, as soon as Dr. Robinson and Major West did the six month maintenance check.
But by that time, if all went well, it wouldn't matter. He, Dr. Zachery Smith, would be on his way back to Earth.
Back to home.