A Little Unease
* * *
Midday passed, the sun hot overhead, shadows sharp and small, extending slowly as afternoon began. A small tremor shook the valley, but Maureen Robinson barely noticed it.
We've been here too long, she thought when she realized this. It's not good to stay on one planet so long. We need to find our way home.
Home.
The sentiment surprised her a bit. It wasn't something she vocalized, but it was there, had been there for a long time now.
How long?
She didn't know. Perhaps it had started slowly, with the little things. Foods from Earth, the smells of familiar food well prepared, the voices of strangers, overheard in the background. Little things.
And not so little.
She wondered if the others felt this way.
Around the Jupiter II there were tasks to be done, repairs and maintenance to be performed. This had long ago become habit for the Robinsons and West; the ship had not been designed for all they asked of it and as systems failed from necessary overuse or misuse they were each called upon to coax just a little more life out of them. Each of the Robinson children had become an engineer, a jack-of-all-trades. Each of them knew how things worked and how they worked together, and each had at one time or another suggested an improvement here, a refinement there. In more than one place a piece of alien technology had been adapted to replace something beyond repair.
The Jupiter II belonged in a museum for more reasons than one.
It was late afternoon when Maureen was finally satisfied with the astrogation system alignment. It wasn't perfect, of course. It never had been; the Robot had seen to that during the first rampage, so long ago now. But it was functional and with it they could direct the ship's course. Will had come up with a clever bypass around one of the ruined systems last year that allowed them to compare their original charts with those they had acquired during their travels; if ever a match came, they would know it.
Soon, she thought as she returned her tool kit to the storage locker on the lower deck. Please, God, make it soon.
She was a perceptive woman, Maureen Robinson was.
Will emerged from the core. He was taller now, slender and sometimes it seemed that he was a bit unfamiliar with his body; this last year had seen the beginnings of an adolescent growth spurt. And he was handsome, too, like his father. She wondered about him sometimes, about how he was always working, always tinkering. Was he lonely?
She smiled at her son.
"Finished?" she asked.
He nodded. "As close as I can get it. I wish I could do more, though."
"You do enough," she told him. "Hungry?"
"Yeah." He was always hungry these days.
The rear stateroom door opened and Dr. Smith stepped out. His hair was just a bit mussed and he yawned.
"Ah, Madame," he said. "Am I to understand that dinner is prepared?"
Maureen stepped to the galley, opened a cabinet, pulled out three wrapped packages. "Basic ration packs," she said. "Straight from the hydroponic garden. Enjoy."
Smith's face fell.
"Oh, Madame, I was so hoping that you might have prepared one of your delicious stews. I'm afraid my stomach has been acting up of late, you know."
Maureen watched him. Will did also.
"I've been busy, Dr. Smith. You know that. And you recall that I offered to teach you the recipes; I'm sure we'd all enjoy it if you would make dinner sometime."
If anything, he looked more bothered than usual as his eyes rolled.
"Oh, I should love to, Madame, but you know it is so hard for me to stand for so long. My back, you know. It's simply a disaster area today, and cooking over a stove would likely finish me! Oh, the pain!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Maureen saw Will smile. Will liked Smith; when you got right down to it, he was probably the only one of them who really did. She had to admit that the doctor could be amusing, though he did little work.
Amusing. That was something, anyway.
She smiled now and pushed the food pack into his hands. "There you are, then. Bon appetit."
Will took two packs, and Maureen took three and stepped to the elevator to find Judy and Penny.
#
Judy had been working outside, on the exterior hull. She came quickly at the call for food, sat with Maureen at the table outside and eagerly consumed the food pack. She had filled out some and her face was radiant, her blonde hair pulled back now. Don was good to her, maybe too good. Attentive and loving and pandering. They spent a lot of nights in the chariot for privacy and Maureen had laughed when John had talked about it with her.
"Remember when we were so worried she would wind up in the back of some boy's car? Now look at her!"
Secretly Maureen wondered, as she looked at her oldest child, when she was going to be a grandmother. Probably only a matter of time now.
Judy smiled. "That was good. Thanks, Mom."
"Don't thank me. Penny prepared these two months ago."
Judy nodded, noted the remaining packet.
"So she's not eating her own cooking?"
Maureen took the packet and stood. "I'll take it to her. What's she working on?"
"I think she was going to remodulate the force field projector."
That would be the top deck, near the astrogator. But Maureen had been up there for the past three hours and hadn't seen or heard her second daughter.
#
The search began casually, intensified.
Who last saw her?
Judy, just after breakfast. She said something about taking a walk.
Alone? If she went alone, she wouldn't have gone far. She knows better than to go too far alone.
The sun was getting lower. Maureen finally turned to Will.
"Get the Robot, and some jackets. Judy, you're with Dr. Smith. I'll take the jet pack. Find her."
* * *
Midday passed, the sun hot overhead, shadows sharp and small, extending slowly as afternoon began. A small tremor shook the valley, but Maureen Robinson barely noticed it.
We've been here too long, she thought when she realized this. It's not good to stay on one planet so long. We need to find our way home.
Home.
The sentiment surprised her a bit. It wasn't something she vocalized, but it was there, had been there for a long time now.
How long?
She didn't know. Perhaps it had started slowly, with the little things. Foods from Earth, the smells of familiar food well prepared, the voices of strangers, overheard in the background. Little things.
And not so little.
She wondered if the others felt this way.
Around the Jupiter II there were tasks to be done, repairs and maintenance to be performed. This had long ago become habit for the Robinsons and West; the ship had not been designed for all they asked of it and as systems failed from necessary overuse or misuse they were each called upon to coax just a little more life out of them. Each of the Robinson children had become an engineer, a jack-of-all-trades. Each of them knew how things worked and how they worked together, and each had at one time or another suggested an improvement here, a refinement there. In more than one place a piece of alien technology had been adapted to replace something beyond repair.
The Jupiter II belonged in a museum for more reasons than one.
It was late afternoon when Maureen was finally satisfied with the astrogation system alignment. It wasn't perfect, of course. It never had been; the Robot had seen to that during the first rampage, so long ago now. But it was functional and with it they could direct the ship's course. Will had come up with a clever bypass around one of the ruined systems last year that allowed them to compare their original charts with those they had acquired during their travels; if ever a match came, they would know it.
Soon, she thought as she returned her tool kit to the storage locker on the lower deck. Please, God, make it soon.
She was a perceptive woman, Maureen Robinson was.
Will emerged from the core. He was taller now, slender and sometimes it seemed that he was a bit unfamiliar with his body; this last year had seen the beginnings of an adolescent growth spurt. And he was handsome, too, like his father. She wondered about him sometimes, about how he was always working, always tinkering. Was he lonely?
She smiled at her son.
"Finished?" she asked.
He nodded. "As close as I can get it. I wish I could do more, though."
"You do enough," she told him. "Hungry?"
"Yeah." He was always hungry these days.
The rear stateroom door opened and Dr. Smith stepped out. His hair was just a bit mussed and he yawned.
"Ah, Madame," he said. "Am I to understand that dinner is prepared?"
Maureen stepped to the galley, opened a cabinet, pulled out three wrapped packages. "Basic ration packs," she said. "Straight from the hydroponic garden. Enjoy."
Smith's face fell.
"Oh, Madame, I was so hoping that you might have prepared one of your delicious stews. I'm afraid my stomach has been acting up of late, you know."
Maureen watched him. Will did also.
"I've been busy, Dr. Smith. You know that. And you recall that I offered to teach you the recipes; I'm sure we'd all enjoy it if you would make dinner sometime."
If anything, he looked more bothered than usual as his eyes rolled.
"Oh, I should love to, Madame, but you know it is so hard for me to stand for so long. My back, you know. It's simply a disaster area today, and cooking over a stove would likely finish me! Oh, the pain!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Maureen saw Will smile. Will liked Smith; when you got right down to it, he was probably the only one of them who really did. She had to admit that the doctor could be amusing, though he did little work.
Amusing. That was something, anyway.
She smiled now and pushed the food pack into his hands. "There you are, then. Bon appetit."
Will took two packs, and Maureen took three and stepped to the elevator to find Judy and Penny.
#
Judy had been working outside, on the exterior hull. She came quickly at the call for food, sat with Maureen at the table outside and eagerly consumed the food pack. She had filled out some and her face was radiant, her blonde hair pulled back now. Don was good to her, maybe too good. Attentive and loving and pandering. They spent a lot of nights in the chariot for privacy and Maureen had laughed when John had talked about it with her.
"Remember when we were so worried she would wind up in the back of some boy's car? Now look at her!"
Secretly Maureen wondered, as she looked at her oldest child, when she was going to be a grandmother. Probably only a matter of time now.
Judy smiled. "That was good. Thanks, Mom."
"Don't thank me. Penny prepared these two months ago."
Judy nodded, noted the remaining packet.
"So she's not eating her own cooking?"
Maureen took the packet and stood. "I'll take it to her. What's she working on?"
"I think she was going to remodulate the force field projector."
That would be the top deck, near the astrogator. But Maureen had been up there for the past three hours and hadn't seen or heard her second daughter.
#
The search began casually, intensified.
Who last saw her?
Judy, just after breakfast. She said something about taking a walk.
Alone? If she went alone, she wouldn't have gone far. She knows better than to go too far alone.
The sun was getting lower. Maureen finally turned to Will.
"Get the Robot, and some jackets. Judy, you're with Dr. Smith. I'll take the jet pack. Find her."