Hello dear readers! I apologize for my long leave of absence. Earlier this year, my husband and I purchased our first house together and between work, renovations, packing and unpacking I have had precious few moments to sit down and write. Hence the long wait for an update. Now I am happy to say that we are all settled in and doing well. I have started back into my normal routine which includes working on this story. So hopefully updates will happen more quickly. Anyhow without further ado here is the next chapter to "Beyond the Stars". I hope that you enjoy it and that the wait will be worth the read.
Chapter 5
Bethany strained her eyes against the dark as she attempted to track Will to the Chariot. She gave a small sigh as she tried to remember where it was located. Finally after about thirty minutes of searching, she decided to give up and return to the ship. It was no use. Will had probably already fixed the Chariot by now and was most likely driving it back to the ship. Shewould head back too.
She turned around to start retracing her steps when she suddenly realized to her horror that she could not remember the direction from which she had come. She looked around frantically, but it was pointless. There was nothing around that could give her a clue as to which direction she should travel. Bethany's heart began to beat faster, and tears sprang into her eyes as she started to panic.
"WILL!!!" she screamed. "WHERE ARE YOU!!!"
Silence.
"UNCLE DON!!! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! HELP!!!" she began to cry hysterically. She didn't care who found her now or if she would be punished, just as long as she could get back home. How she wished that she had obeyed and stayed inside the ship with the others!
Suddenly, through her tears she could make out several small blinking lights moving towards her. As they got closer, she could just make out the frame of the robot as it rolled forward with its arms extended out.
"Robot!" she gave a joyful cry and ran over to the machine. She didn't care if it couldn't respond to her voice, she was just glad to not be alone any more. Her joy was short lived however, as the robot's next actions struck terror into her heart.
"Phase one. When unessential personnel are found alone, destroy," it said, and the next moment, a current of electricity shot out from its clawed hands. The girl gasped as it narrowly missed her and instead hit a small dried up shrub causing it to explode into flames.
"Destroy!" said the robot as he again discharged another current of electricity. This time he hit Bethany in the ankle. Searing pain shot up the little girl's leg as she collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. She looked down at her foot. She did not need to be a doctor to know that she was seriously injured. The burnt flesh and excruciating pain she was experiencing could tell her that much.
She turned her attention back to the robot. It now held a giant boulder in its arms and was slowly approaching her as if to crush.
"NO! NO! NO!" she screamed, momentarily forgetting about the pain in her ankle.
She sprang to her feet and fled in terror. She paid no mind to the burning feeling in her ankle, so great was her fear of the imminent danger. Behind she heard a crash and the next moment, she saw the boulder the robot was holding go rolling past; just barely missing her. She continued running for several minutes with the robot in pursuit. At length her legs began to grow sore and threatened to give out under her, but then suddenly, to her shock, she saw up ahead the Chariot still disabled. Inside there was a small light and Bethany could just make out the lone figure of Will working on the controls.
"Will!" She screamed.
She could see the boy start and look up.
"Will! Help me!"
The door to the Chariot was thrown open and the boy jumped out. Bethany ran straight into his arms.
"The-the robot," she said in between breaths.
Will looked and saw the machine rolling towards them.
"Destroy!" It said as it shot two electric bolts at them.
Will knew there was no time to waste. He quickly grabbed Bethany by the waist and hoisted her up top to the roof of the Chariot. He then climbed up himself using a small ladder attached to the side. The robot was almost upon them now with its arms stretched out threateningly.
"Keep away from us," Will ordered.
The robot ignored him and continued forward, still shooting electricity out of his claws.
"What do we do?" Bethany clung to him, trembling.
The boy looked hard at the attacking machine. Suddenly he called out in his best Dr Smith voice, "Stop my mechanical friend! Before you continue, my metallic cohort, I must put you through a routine check."
"Temporary delay allowed. Circuit open for routine check."
Will turned to Bethany and handed her a small radio. "Call the ship," he instructed, "Tell them what is going on."
Bethany nodded and took the radio from him. "Jupiter 2? Come in, Jupiter 2!"
"Bethany, is that you?" she heard John's voice over the radio. "Is Will with you?"
"Yes. He and I are at the Chariot. Please come and help! The robot is attacking us!"
"On our way!"
"Let's hope they get here fast enough," Will muttered.
00oo00oo
John set the intercom down and turned to the others. "Don break out the lasers. Smith, where are you going?" he said as he caught the doctor slinking away from the table.
Smith turned and gave the professor a sheepish smile, "Err… just on my way to prepare a little after dinner surprise," he said. "You may not be aware of it but I happen to be-"
John cut him off. "You may not be aware of what's going to happen to you if your friend the robot causes any more trouble."
Smith gulped, but before he could respond, Don had returned with two laser rifles, gaining John's attention for the moment.
"Ready John?" He asked.
"Yes."
"I'm coming too," said Maureen.
"Perfect! I will stay here and guard the ship!" Smith volunteered.
"I'm warning you Smith, don't think that you're going to weasel your way out of this," John told him, "When we get back you're going to have a lot to answer for.
The doctor's eyes widened in fright, and he scampered off to his quarters.
John turned back to Don and Maureen, "Let's go," he said.
They hurried as quickly as they could as they attempted to navigate the planet's landscape after dark. It was much more difficult than expected and twice they nearly lost their way.
"What were they thinking, coming out here by themselves?" Maureen wondered out loud as they ran.
"I don't know," her husband replied, "but one thing's certain. Smith's not the only one who will be in trouble. Will has got to learn to follow orders; especially when we are on an alien planet that we know nothing about."
"The same goes for Bethany," Don added, "I know she's young but I really expected her to know better."
It was not long after that when they found the Chariot. Bethany was still on top of the vehicle, but Will was on the ground now standing in front of the robot talking with him. Apparently they were playing an imaginary game of chess with Will calling out moves and the robot countering them.
"King's Pawn to King's five," said Will.
"Queen's Knight to King's Bishop two," the Robot replied.
"Queen's Bishop to King's Knight four," Will answered back.
"Will!" Maureen shrieked. She would have been at his side in a moment had John not stopped her.
"Don't distract him. He knows what he's doing," he told her, recognizing that any move they made could potentially be fatal to their son. He turned to Don. "Get Smith," he said,"Tell him you'll put him back in that deep freeze if he doesn't get out here and stop this."
Don nodded, turned and rushed back to the Jupiter. When he arrived, he found the doctor in the galley, evidently making some sort of edible concoction. At the sound of his footsteps, Smith turned to face him and gave him a calm smile.
"Ah, Major West!" he exclaimed in a most welcoming voice, "Just in time to test a culinary marvel. A crepe suzette Henri Carpentier de Paris, which I learned at the feet of the master."
Don clenched his fists and said in a low angry voice, "Get outside and stop that tin monster, or I'll wring your neck."
"Threaten violence, will you?" Smith retorted.
At this Don started forward towards him and Smith raised the ladle he was holding in his defense.
"Stand back, sir," he warned, "Or I'll drum on your noggin until it rings like the Canterbury chimes."
His word didn't deter Don who had raised his hand to strike him.
"I surrender," the doctor said quickly.
"Alright," and Don lowered his hand, "Now get out and make the robot stop."
"Of course my dear fellow! Of course!"
"One false move and…" The Major left the threat unspoken and slid his index finger across his throat.
Smith said nothing but winced as he followed the Major back to the Chariot.
When they arrived, Will was still there with the robot playing the imaginary game of chess; only now the boy didn't seem to be doing so well as before.
"Knight to Queen's Bishop three," said Will.
"It does not compute."
"Cancel. Knight to King three."
"Why, how very clever," Smith remarked when he saw what the boy was doing, "Using a chess game to check his circuits. Congratulations sir," he said to John, "you've spawned a brilliant little tyke."
"You get that power pack out right now," John replied, ignoring the doctor's flattery.
"Dr. Smith to the rescue," said Smith as he made his way towards the robot. The machine's top half spun around to face him with his arms outstretched ready to fire on him at any given moment.
"Cease and desist," Smith ordered sternly. He then quickly grasped the power pack at the robot's side pulling it out, and the robot immediately went limp.
Will breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"There, there, my brave boy," Smith went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "it's all over now."
"You take your hands off him!" Maureen nearly shouted as she went over and yanked her son away from the man's grasp.
"My dear madam-"
"Don't you "Dear madam" me!" she clapped back, "Turning that thing loose on him!"
"But I had nothing to do with it. I give you my word."
"Well then why was it attacking the children?" John asked.
"My dear Dr. Robinson, I was here alone, a puny mortal facing heaven knows what perils in a strange world. I was entitled to some protection, wasn't I? Naturally, I never dreamed that he would attack the children. By the way, dear lady," he turned to Maureen, "where do you keep orange bitters? Crepe suzette is sublime with orange bitters and a disaster without it."
"Oh for Pete's sake!" John rolled his eyes. He took his wife and son by the hand and led them back to the ship, leaving Dr. Smith with just Don who was busy helping Bethany off the Chariot.
Once Don had the girl in his arms, he went over to where Dr Smith stood. Right now he wanted more than anything else in the world to land a couple of punches on the doctor and knock that calm cool expression right off his face. Then he remembered that such a scene would not be appropriate for his little niece to watch. He sighed, shook his head and hurried off to catch up with the others.
Now Smith was truly alone in the dead of night on an alien planet with only the powerless robot for company. The realization of this kicked in after a moment.
"Wait for me!" he cried as he ran after them.
Later that night, John called everyone down to the lower deck for a meeting.
"It's been quite a day, hasn't it?" he remarked as they all took their seats. "In less than three days, we have found ourselves lost in space and shipwrecked on this unfamiliar planet. Now we know nothing of whatever life forms may exist on this planet. We only know that we must depend on ourselves for survival. So starting tomorrow, we're going to turn this immediate area into a self-sufficient community, and that means everyone is going to have his job to do. And that means everyone," he was particularly looking at Smith when he said this. "Do you understand, Dr. Smith?"
"I pledge you my utmost cooperation, sir," the doctor answered before raising the cup of coffee he was drinking to his lips.
"What about the robot?" Bethany asked. "He's a member of the community, isn't he?"
"Oh we'll bring him in," John assured her, "but for the time being he'll remain deactivated."
"But Dad-" Will was about to protest but the professor held up his hand silencing him.
"That's another one of those orders son," he said.
"Yes sir." The boy hung his head.
The meeting continued on with Don going over the damage to the ship and what would need to be repaired to make it ready for liftoff once more. Then, they put together a list of the order in which these things would need to be accomplished. The meeting was then adjourned.
"I suggest we turn in," said John. "We're going to have a busy day tomorrow."
"I agree," said Maureen, "Penny, Will, you heard your father. Now off to bed with you both."
"Yes ma'am."
"That includes you too Bethany," Don told his niece.
Bethany turned away with a pout. Nevertheless she hurried off to her quarters that she shared with Judy and Penny without a word.
The adults stayed up a few minutes longer drinking their coffee and talking about the plans for the next day. Then they too retired to their beds and all was quiet on the ship for the night.
Maureen was the first one up the next morning. She quickly got dressed and went into the galley being careful not to awaken John. She then got started making breakfast.
She was not up for very long when Judy emerged from the girls' room. "Good morning mother," she said with a yawn and a stretch.
"Good morning dear," Maureen smiled at her daughter as she began to mix the ingredients for the pancake batter together.
"What can I help you with?" Judy asked, hurrying over to her side.
"Well for starters you can start cutting up and frying the bacon," Maureen answered, handing her a large kitchen knife. "And then, when you're finished with that, you can pour your dad some coffee. You know how he gets when he doesn't get his caffeine for the day." She and Judy both giggled at this and then set to work. By the time they had a heaping platter full of pancakes and bacon, John and Don were awake.
"Why look at you two ladies already up and hard at work for the day, putting Don and me to shame," John remarked with a smile as he went over to his wife. "Good morning, Darling."
Maureen turned away from the eggs she was scrambling and gave him a quick kiss. "Good morning John."
Don meanwhile had approached Judy. "Hey good lookin' what you got cookin'?" he said in a playful tone of voice.
"Pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs," she answered with a sweet smile.
"Mmm mmm! Sounds delicious!" the Major exclaimed,"What can John and I do to help?"
"Well first off you and Dad can go and sit at the table while I get both of you your coffee," she replied.
"I hear and obey," said Don and he and John made their way over to the dining room table.
Judy brought them their coffee. They were in the process of finishing their first cups when the children awoke.
"Penny, Will, Bethany, you three are just in time to help set the table," Maureen told them. "Hurry now so that we can eat."
"Yes ma'am." The three children quickly set to work. Soon the entire family was seated around the table being served breakfast. Smith was up now too although he did not look as rested as the others. He claimed that he had been up for most of the night in pain from an old back injury he had sustained in his mid twenties.
"Nevertheless," he said, "I will do my best to try and keep up with the responsibilities given to me."
"Well we appreciate your efforts Dr. Smith," John told him. He then began laying out everyone's tasks for the day. "Don and I are going to be working on getting the forcefield set up. Judy, Penny and Smith, you will be working on the hydroponic garden. Will," he handed his son a piece of paper, "Here is a list of equipment around the ship that was damaged during the crash landing. I'm putting you in charge of making the repairs on all those items over the next few days. Think you can handle it, son?"
"Sure thing Dad!" Will squared his shoulders importantly.
"Good boy."
"What about me? What will I be doing?" Bethany asked.
"You will be working with me, dear," Maureen gave the little girl's hand a squeeze. "We're going to be scrubbing this ship from top to bottom getting rid of the nasty smoke smell in here."
"Professor Robinson," Dr. Smith spoke up, "if I may interject for a moment. It certainly is not my intention to appear lazy, however I am afraid that working out of doors early in the morning when the dew is still fresh on the ground will wreak havoc on my asthma. Therefore I must request that I be allowed to stay indoors for the morning and join the ladies in the garden at a later time. Say around noon?"
"Alright Dr Smith," John answered unexpectedly, "you may have your morning inside."
"Thank you kindly my dear sir," said Dr. Smith with a smug grin on his face which disappeared moments later when John added "You will be the perfect person to do the breakfast dishes."
"Oh, err umm. Yes of course," Smith replied, frowning. Everyone at the table struggled to keep their laughter in check at the sight of the doctor's glum face.
Once everyone had excused themselves, Smith began to gather up all the dishes to clean and put away.
"So many wretched people to wash up after," he complained as he cleared the table. "Why didn't the crash landing kill a few of them off so at least there would be less dishes?"
The dishes didn't take that long. For a dishwasher the Robinsons had a small metallic box that opened up at the top. Inside the box it was hollow and all one had to do was place the dirty dishes inside, and close up the top. Then all that was left was to turn the machine on. Within seconds, a small drawer would pop out from the side of the box with the freshly cleaned dishes. However, because it was such a small machine one usually had to do multiple loads of dishes to get everything cleaned.
Once Dr Smith had finished the dishes and put them away he looked around. The lower deck was completely empty with the other members either being upstairs or outside. This would be the perfect time for him to sneak in a little nap, he decided. He hurried off to his quarters and locked himself in.
"Just forty winks," he said to himself as he lay down and closed his eyes, "and then I will go and help Miss Judy and Miss Penny in the garden."
A few hours later he finally awoke and looked at his watch. He gasped when he saw the time. It was now one o'clock. He should have been outside helping Judy and Penny over an hour ago! Sheepishly, he got up and poked his head out of his quarters. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the lower deck was still empty. Quickly, he made his way upstairs where Maureen, Will, and Bethany were. They were too engrossed in their work to notice him and so he easily slipped past them and exited the ship.
Outside, John and Don had finished assembling the forcefield generator and were now trying to maneuver it into a place that would allow it to protect the entire area around the ship. It was difficult work because the rough terrain didn't allow for easy mobility.
"Ah, excellent work gentlemen! Excellent!" Smith cried out when he saw them.
"You don't suppose you could give us a hand with this heavy gear, do you?" Don asked, "We'd like to get this forcefield set up before nightfall."
"So sorry old man, but remember that I am helping Judy and Penny with the hydroponic garden today," he replied, "however, please carry on." and he left them to their work.
When he came upon Judy and Penny, he found that they had already set up all the tables, and were now in the process of laying out the seeds in the hydroponic fertilizer.
"Well now, how are we coming along?" he asked as he approached them.
"Where have you been?" Judy said with an irritated sigh.
"Helping your father and Major West set up the forcefield," he lied without missing a beat. "Very important work my dear, they required my advice on a technical problem; but it looks as if you've almost finished! What a shame! I didn't even get a chance to help!."
"There's still the peas to do," Judy pointed to the table right next to him. On it lay the bag of seeds.
"Ah yes, so there is," He went over to the table and picked up the seeds. As he did this, he could not help but wonder why they just didn't try planting them in the planet's soil. He eyed the ground. It seemed safe enough to plant in. Forgetting about the task at hand, he stooped down and scooped up a handful of earth, letting it run through his fingers.
"Incredible," he said to no one in particular.
"What is it?" asked Judy.
"This native soil has all the richness of the Mississippi delta," he replied, "a fine heavy loam."
Judy just shook her head. "Looks like sand to me," she said.
"Nonsense," Smith scoffed. He stood and grabbed a handful of seeds from his bag and a small shovel. He then went a little ways from the garden and began to dig a small hole in the ground to plant the seeds in.
"Don said it wasn't safe to use any of the native soil," Judy protested, as she came up behind him.
"Ridiculous," he told her as he finished planting. "However if the major is so concerned about it, I will take a little sample of this to the lab for a soil analysis," as he spoke, he scooped up a little bit of earth in his trowel and deposited it into an empty seed bag. "Meanwhile my dear, you carry on with your planting. By the way, what are you setting out?"
Judy sighed and began naming the list of everything they had planted, "Potatoes, peas, carrots, tomatoes, squash and corn."
"And little green onions my dear?" Smith reminded her, "Oh yes indeed, plenty of little green onions." He turned and began heading back to the spaceship. "Carry on with your work, dear ladies." He told the girls.
Judy rolled her eyes as he walked off, "Soil analysis," she sneered to Penny as they began finishing the green beans.
"Well anyway, he's a good cook," Penny offered thinking about the Crepe Suzette he had made last night.
"Sure he is," Judy answered sarcastically, causing them both to giggle.
When Dr Smith entered the ship he saw that Maureen and Bethany had gone below. However Will was still there working on a piece of equipment.
"Well," said Dr Smith as he approached the boy, "what is our young scientist working on today?"
"Visual scanner," Will replied, never even looking up from his work, "I figured I could repair the one that got ruined in the wreck. It won't work as good as new, but it ought to show us what's going on within a radius of a few miles." As he was explaining to Smith, the screwdriver he was using slipped from his hand and onto the floor. "Darn," he muttered as he stooped to pick it up. He looked over at Dr Smith, "Can you lend me a hand for a few minutes?" he asked.
"My dear boy, I would be doing you a disservice if I offered assistance," Smith told him, "little setbacks are good for the young. They build character. Besides, I have an important experiment in the laboratory."
He continued on to the elevator and back down to the lower deck. As soon as he was below, he hurried over to the galley. After quickly glancing this way and that to make sure no one was watching, he chucked the bag of soil he had brought with him into the trash bin. He sighed and wiped his hands and went over to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug of steaming coffee.
"Dr. Smith!"
Smith nearly dropped the mug as he whirled around to face a stern Maureen.
"What are you doing here?" She asked suspiciously.
"My dear madam, there are limits to the endurance of mere bone and sinew," he replied, "I have been going at top speed all day and I have reached the point of exhaustion. However, I am happy to say that not only have I solved our hydroponic farming problems, but also we shall shortly be enjoying the fruits of my labors behind an impregnable force field to which I also contributed."
At Maureen's incredulous look, Dr. Smith smiled sheepishly and then excused himself to his quarters. As soon as he shut himself inside, Maureen sighed and shook her head.
"Come on, Bethany," she said, "let's go back up top and finish cleaning." She would have to remember to talk to John about Smith's laziness later.
That night, they all gathered outside to test the newly built force field generator. As John was preparing to activate it, Don moved just outside the perimeter of the ship that the force field would cover.
"Alright Don, it's activated, go ahead and test it," John called to him.
The major nodded and, stooping down, he picked up a good sized rock. With all his might, hurled it towards the ship. It only went a couple of feet before exploding midair. Picking up another one, he tried once more, resulting in the same outcome.
"Okay, now try the laser," said John.
Don unholstered his pistol and fired at the ship; but again the shield stopped the laser beam before it could reach it. Don then turned to where Maureen and the children stood watching and aimed his weapon at them and fired. It was like watching rain hit a window. Ten feet before it could hit them, the force field intercepted its target.
John was all smiles as he turned off the generator. "It works!"
"That forcefield would stop a rocket barrage," Don declared as he hurried over to join him.
"I think so," John agreed.
Once John had reactivated the generator for the night, Don asked, "So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we'll fix the Chariot and bring it in. We're going to need transportation. We'll start in the morning."
"Bethany and I managed to get the upper deck cleaned today," said Maureen, "but the lower level still needs some work. Since Judy and Penny have finished with the hydroponic garden, they can help us with that tomorrow. I'll also enlist Smith's help, and this time I'll make sure he doesn't do any slacking."
"That's my girl," the professor praised, giving his wife a quick peck on the forehead. He turned to Will. "And what do you have planned for tomorrow?"
"I still need to work on the visual scanner. It's really giving me trouble."
"Let me know if you need help with it. Alright gang, I say we go to bed."
"Second the motion," said Don as he picked up his niece. "We've got another big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Early the next morning, John and Don started back off for the Chariot.
"Good-bye darling," John told his wife as she, Penny, and Bethany finished up the breakfast dishes in the little outdoor kitchenette that they had set up.
"Bye dear," said Maureen. Setting down the dish she was drying, she gave her husband a kiss. "When will you be back?"
"Well it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to fix the Chariot and be back." He turned to his son who was also outside working on the scanner. "Will, you're in charge and I want you to take good care of everyone while Don and I are away."
"Yes sir," he answered, "Hey Dad, about the robot I was thinking-"
"And I want you to leave that robot alone" John cut him off before he could finish. "That's an order. Understand?"
"But Dad!"
"That's it William!"
"Yes sir." He sighed and turned back to the scanner.
After they had gone, Penny went over to sit by her brother. "You didn't offer much of an argument did you?" she remarked.
"You heard what Dad called me didn't you," Will replied. "When Dad calls me 'William' in that tone of voice. It's no use in arguing."
Penny was about to say something more when the frightened cry of Judy was heard as she came running from the garden where she and Smith had been.
"Mother! Mother!"
"Judy dear, what's wrong?" Maureen asked anxiously.
"Come with me quickly," Judy told her, "Something terrible is happening in the garden!"
At these words Maureen dropped her dish towel and hurried off after her daughter. Penny and Bethany were also intrigued and followed suit. Will watched them as they ran off. As soon as they disappeared from sight, he dropped the scanner he was working on and hurried inside the ship.
When they got to the garden, they were surprised to see that one of the pea plants that Dr Smith planted in the alien soil the day before, had not only sprouted, but had also grown to gigantic proportions, wrapping itself around one of the large boulders nearby. As if that were not enough, there were already seed pods on it that were almost six feet in length; and they were so big around, that even Maureen's arms encircling it would not span its circumference.
"Oh my!" was all Maureen could say when she saw it.
"It's almost like Jack and the beanstalk," Bethany remarked to Penny.
Penny just nodded as she stared at the plant in amazement.
"Dr. Smith planted the seeds just yesterday," Judy explained, "and we found them like that this morning."
Maureen turned to Dr. Smith, "Well Doctor, what do you make of it?"
"Just a small offering on my part, toward the welfare of this brave company," he said. "Only one pod from this stalk should provide us with days of nutritious eating."
As he spoke, he took out a small pen knife from his pocket and went over to the lowest hanging pod. He sunk the blade into the green skin and brought it forward lengthwise until he had sliced the entire pod open. As soon as he did that however, three long tentacles emerged from the shell and tried to grab hold of the doctor. Smith gave a frightened gasp and jumped back before they could reach him. Before Maureen or the girls could react, a green smoke rose up from out of the pod which simultaneously began to make them all feel lightheaded. They were all coughing and sputtering when suddenly, a beam of light touched the pod with a loud explosion and the plant burst into flames. Simultaneously the three tentacles that had grown up from the pod, fell over limp to the ground. From behind the boulder, Will emerged with a laser gun in hand.
"Oh Will!" Maureen breathed a sigh of relief, as he drew near.
"Ah, good lad," Dr. Smith praised, "Excellent shooting, my boy! Here give me the gun now and I will take over for you."
Instead of relinquishing his weapon, Will gave him a hostile look and asked, "What were you doing when my mother and sisters needed you?"
"I was about to run for a weapon, of course. Prepared to sell my life dearly in mortal combat to defend your relatives."
"Oh, I'll bet you were!" Will bit back savagely.
"There there now, that's enough of that Will," Maureen scolded him gently, "Come on everyone, let's get back to the ship. The men will be back home soon and I want us all safely inside until then."
"With pleasure madam," Smith replied, leading the way.
After Don and John had returned with a working Chariot in tow, they learned of the morning's events in the garden.
"We'll Doctor, that just goes to show you why we don't go planting seeds in this planet's native soil," John told Smith sternly, "That sample you say you analyzed in the lab, where is it?"
"I threw it away," Smith answered, "after analyzing it I concluded that it was just like the earth's soil and that there was no cause for concern."
"I don't agree," John stated flatly.
After retrieving the sample from the waste basket, he began the arduous process of analyzing all of its properties. Finding nothing out of the ordinary there, he then put it under a microscope for further examination. What he saw fascinated him. Stopping his work in the lab, he hurried out to the garden where the remains of the giant pea plant were. He removed a tiny sample piece from one of the tentacles and returned to the lab to prepare a glass slide with the piece he had removed. Once he was ready, he put the slide under the microscope for examination.
"Incredible," was all he could say when he saw it.
Behind him Don asked, "How's it going." He along with Dr Smith had come to check on John's progress.
John raided his head up. "Take a look for yourself," he said, allowing Don space so that he could see.
Don bent over and looked into the small black eyepiece of the microscope. After a few seconds, he looked back up at John with a curious expression on his face.
"What is that?" he asked.
"They are living cells, neither animal nor vegetable, but combining characteristics of each," John answered.
Don looked puzzled. "But what does it mean?"
"Those cells that you are looking at came from tissue obtained from that thing that incubated from that garden pea," John explained, "Here, look at these." He switched out the slide with a different one.
Again, Don looked through the microscope. After a few seconds he glanced back up at John and shrugged, "They're the same as the previous slide," he said.
"Exactly," said John,"and that slide contains a sample of native soil from this planet."
A look of understanding came into Don's eyes. "Then that means that the soil of this planet must contain a parasite acquiring another life form in order to reach maturity."
"That's right, " John nodded, "Either that or metamorphosis."
"Meaning?"
"A constantly changing sequence of life forms, starting from some insignificant life cell in the soil and ending with who knows where…"
Dr. Smith chimed in: "Perhaps I should mention that the garden pea, which served as host to this particular specimen, was six feet long. I suggest, gentlemen, that we remain constantly on guard. Vegetation-wise at least, we are on a most hostile planet."
"I agree," said John, " there is one other factor that concerns me too."
"And what is that?" Don inquired.
"Well it's just a theory, but if cells from the soil can morph into a vegetable from the garden, what's to prevent them from doing it to one of us?"
There was a long silence.
"What do you suggest we do?" Don finally asked.
"At the moment, nothing," said John, "As I said, it's just a theory and no matter how terrifying the scenario is, we should never act on a theory without evidence. I will however make a deeper study of this from the life forms on this planet, I can assure you."
"I suppose you're right," Don sighed, "Do you plan to tell the others?"
"Not yet. There is no reason to alarm them. For the time being I would like to leave this between you, the Doctor, and myself."
Don looked uncertain, "If you say so John."
00oo00oo
Will tossed and turned in his bed that night. It was no use. He wasn't getting to sleep so easily tonight; not with all that was on his mind. He sighed and sat up. He had been so excited when Dad and Don had brought in the robot along with the Chariot yesterday.
"When can we start working on the robot, Dad?" he had asked.
"Not for a few more days yet at least, son," John had told him, "There is still a lot we don't know about this machine and I need to make a full study of it before I even attempt to reprogram it."
Will gave a disappointed sigh. "Yes sir."
He had known better than to argue.
The more Will thought about the powerless robot outside the ship, the more he wanted to throw caution to the wind and try and repair that machine himself. But he couldn't, not after Dad had given him strict orders not to touch it. He scowled. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't he at least make an attempt? It wasn't as if he had no experience with complex machinery. Besides, Dad probably had other things he would like to devote his time to rather than repairing a rogue robot. Wouldn't it be something if he could repair it so that Dad wouldn't have to?
By this time, the battle in Will's mind was already lost and he was up out of bed changing into his clothes. He grabbed the robot's powerpack from where it was lying on his bookshelf.
"Well, here goes nothing," he said as he quietly slid open the door to his room and snuck out.
Everyone on board was asleep now, so it was no big deal to sneak outside the ship. Once he had set up a small workstation around the robot, he began the complicated task of reprogramming it. It took over an hour, but at last, the robot was ready to be activated.
"Now if only I figured it right," he said as he took up the robot's powerpack, ready to plug it in, "but then again, suppose I did it wrong. Now I know how that old Dr. Frankenstein must have felt."
As he spoke, he carefully plugged in the powerpack. Immediately the machine sprang to life. Thankfully his reprogramming appeared to be successful as the robot did not immediately attack him. However, it was acting strange. Will watched in confusion as the robot spun its top half from left, then to the right again. It continued to do this until Will grew exasperated.
"Stop that! You look silly!" he told the machine.
"Silly… it does not compute."
"Never mind that," Will sighed, "How do you feel?"
"The word 'feel' has no relation. It does not compute," said the robot, still spinning its top half from side to side.
Will was about to reply when suddenly an unearthly growl that made Will's blood run cold was heard beyond the perimeter of the ship. Will strained his eyes to see if he could discover what had made the sound, but he saw only darkness.
"What was that!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.
"A sound," the robot replied, stopping its spinning.
Will rolled his eyes. "I know that, Dopey, but I want to know what kind of sound."
The robot began to roll forward.
"Hey wait! Where are you going?" Will asked.
"Unidentified sounds require investigation."
"Come back here, Robot! I didn't mean that you had to go find out."
The robot didn't listen. He just continued to move away from the ship. He only made it about a hundred feet when the ship's force field stopped him.
"Force field operative. Must deactivate." It turned back towards the ship. When it reached the generator it clumsily flipped a few switches with its claw pincers successfully turning the machine off. It then resumed its rolling forward.
"Come back here!" Will began to call after it, "Robot, you come back here!"
It was no use. The robot ignored the boy's orders and continued on. Will watched helplessly as it disappeared into the night.
From inside the ship, a light was turned on, and the next minute John Robinson hurried out. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Will.
"Will! What are you doing out here?" he asked sharply. He noticed the force field was deactivated. "And who turned off that force field?"
"The robot did," Will stammered nervously.
"I thought I told you to stay away from the robot," John was very angry now.
"Yes sir, but I thought if I could-"
"Don't you realize he might have turned on you again? That he might have tried to destroy us all?"
"Yes sir! But I thought if I could reprogram him, he would-"
"Now what do you know about reprogramming a complicated-" John stopped mid sentence and sighed. It would do no good scolding the boy in the middle of the night. That would be saved for the morning. He glanced around for the robot. "Where is it now?"
"We heard a noise and the robot went after it," Will explained, "I'm sorry Dad. I'll go get him if you want me to."
"No. You go to bed. I'll talk to you in the morning." John ordered sternly.
"Yes sir." Will meekly trotted off to his quarters.
John watched as he hurried inside. Then he turned back to the generator and reactivated it. He was about to turn in himself when the mysterious growl was heard once again. John started and peered out into the darkness. Nothing was visible, and he didn't dare go beyond the perimeter of the ship to investigate. Taking a deep breath, John went inside the ship and closed the hatch. He was glad that they had a good force field to protect them.
Next morning when he got up, he was met by Don.
"Hey what's the matter with Will this morning? He looked a little out of sorts when I said hi to him."
"I'm not surprised," said John. He then told him what had happened.
Don's eyes widened, "I had no idea," he said, "Well as much as I hate to admit it, maybe he did us a favor by letting the robot loose. After all, that machine has been nothing but trouble this entire time. Good riddance, I say."
"Now that's no way to talk, Don," John reprimanded. "It was only causing trouble because Smith programmed it to sabotage the ship. You know that as well as I do."
Don just shrugged. "All the same, I am glad it's gone."
John sighed, "Well you won't be so glad about this." He told him about the mysterious noise he had heard last night.
Don gasped, "What did it sound like?"
"Like nothing I had ever heard of, even in a nightmare," John said. "I'm telling you this to remind you that we are on an alien planet, and there are creatures out there that could do who knows what to us. We need to be very cautious when exploring around here. As Smith said, "we are on a hostile planet."
Don sighed, "Well he got that right at least."
John nodded in agreement. Then he asked, "Do you know where Will might be? I told him I would talk to him this morning."
"Last I saw him, he was outside by the ship," Don answered. "Say John, don't be too tough on him. After all, he's just a boy."
"Don't worry. I'm not as angry as I was last night. However, even a boy should learn that he is not above taking orders."
"I suppose so." Don gave John a friendly smile and said "Good luck."
"Thank you." John smiled back at the Major. He then went up top. Through the front windshield, he could see Will sitting on a large rock, waiting for the inevitable meeting that would take place. John went outside to join him.
When Will saw him coming he started and looked up nervously. Without a word, John took a seat beside him on the rock.
"I want to talk to you about last night," he said after a long moment of silence.
"I thought for sure he'd be back by now," Will said quietly.
John turned to face his son. "Will," he began, "you happen to be a very bright and a very talented boy. But you're still a boy; and there are some things that even the brightest, most talented boys should leave to older hands. Now with a little patience and a little time, we could have reprogrammed that robot to do its job. But because you acted without thought or permission, we lost a piece of valuable equipment that we needed very badly." He paused and let what he had said sink in for a moment. "And that's all I'm going to say to you about the robot."
"Yes sir," Will nodded. "Dad?"
"What is it, son?"
"I'm sorry about disobeying you."
John gave him a smile. "You're already forgiven."
All day the family waited to see if their robot would return. Just before the sun set, John and Don went out to see if they could find him. They found no trace of the robot.
"It's no use," John sighed as he told the family over dinner that night, "Who knows what happened to him out there."
Everyone went to bed in a sober mood that night; especially Will, who knew his disobedience had caused this. Even though he had been forgiven, that still did not erase the consequences of his actions. He hoped that someday he could make it up to his father.
A good night's sleep usually cures a multitude of ills and the family awoke in much better spirits the next morning. Bethany was the first one to rise. Springing out of bed, she quickly dressed and rushed up to the top deck to see what kind of day they would have. As she looked out the window, the sight that met her eyes caused her to gasp.
"Everyone! Everyone!" she cried. "He's back! The robot's back!"
A commotion was heard downstairs and a few minutes later, John, Don, and Will were rushing up top. A quick glance out the front window proved that Bethany was right. There was the robot, stopped about a hundred feet away from the ship. The activated force field prevented him from coming any closer.
"Well what do you know! He's finally decided to come back," said John. He hurried out to turn off the force field; the others followed him. As soon as the generator had been deactivated, the robot rolled into camp.
"Data inaccurate," it said. "Does not compute. Does not compute. Does not compute."
"What in the world is he talking about?" said John as he cautiously approached it.
"Humanoid, not sixteen meters high," the robot continued. "Data inaccurate."
Don snorted. "He's flipped. If you ask me, I think the thing's had a nervous breakdown."
"Does not compute," the robot began again. Will, having heard all that he wanted to hear, pulled out its power pack.
"I guess he needs a rest," he said. "It's probably been a big last couple of days for him." He handed the power pack to his father.
"I wonder what he saw?" said Don.
"I don't know," said John, examining the power pack. "Whatever it was, it was too much for his memory banks. Let's go inside, we'll work it out in the lab."
Over the next couple of days, John, Don, and Will attempted to learn what the robot had seen. This proved to be futile however, and the only information they were able to glean was that it was humanoid and that it was about fifty feet in height.
Don's eyes bulged when he learned this. "Impossible!" was all he could say.
"Who says it's impossible, Don?" John questioned, "After all, we are on an alien planet."
"I wish his memory banks contained more of what it looked like," said Will.
"As do I," John nodded, "but from now on we won't take any chances. We travel in groups outside the ship."
They reactivated the robot a few days later. He seemed to be working just fine so they let him do simple chores around the camp, though Don and John constantly kept a watchful eye on him.
Days turned into weeks and before long, a full month had passed since their crash landing. During that time, they had learned how to grow their plants safely in the soil. They had also domesticated several strange creatures which provided them a good supply of meat. Things were starting to settle down in a predictable pattern for the castaways. However, over the next couple of weeks, this new way of living would be disrupted by a new threat.
00oo00oo
It all began one crisp cool morning just after breakfast. John was working on one of the instrument panels on the top deck when he heard his wife calling him from outside the ship.
"John, can you come here for a moment and look at this?"
John laid down the tools that he was using. "Be right out!" he called.
He found Maureen kneeling beside one of the plants in the garden. "What seems to be the trouble?" he asked.
Maureen looked up from the plant she had been examining, "This entire section of the garden is dying."
John saw that she was correct. He knelt down beside her to investigate.
"Why do you think this would all die overnight?" Maureen asked.
"I don't know," John admitted, "perhaps the cold? Though it's been colder than this before and it's never killed the plants."
"Perhaps it is a night frost," Maureen suggested.
"If it were that, I think our weather station would have warned us in time to save the plants, and besides, wouldn't we have felt the cold ourselves?"
"Inside the ship with the automatic heat? Why, it could fall to below zero late at night and we'd never notice it."
John nodded. "Maybe Don and I had better check that weather station," he decided.
Later that day, he and Don set out on foot to their weather post.
The station was located in a nearby valley on one of the cliffs. After a considerable amount of climbing, they had finally reached it. It was considerably colder at this height and there was a strong biting wind that they had to deal with. The men were glad that they had brought their winter coats, though that barely kept them warm against the chilling wind.
"I hope the instruments are okay," John said to Don as he approached the station, "This wind might have smashed them."
"The wind is stronger up here," Don admitted.
"Yes and it's definitely getting cold."
They began to examine the instruments.
"Why look at these readings!" John exclaimed, "they are predicting a blizzard tomorrow and by the day after tomorrow, the temperature will drop to a hundred and fifty below zero!"
Don gasped. "Well what do we do?"
"We're going to have to head south fast."
"Abandon the space ship?" Asked Don, "But what if it's finally spotted by some passing rocket?"
"They'll televise a picture back to earth," John replied.
"Oh yeah that's great," Don bit out sarcastically, "a picture showing no signs of life, no survivors."
"Well Don, I'd rather not be found at all than to have to be picked up by a pair of ice tongs."
Don nodded but he still looked uncertain. "You don't suppose we could just button down the hatches and stick it out inside the spaceship, do you?"
"We'd freeze to death!" John cried. "Take my word for it, even if we could insulate, well enough, the solar batteries would never stand the strain. It's moving day, Major West. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Wait a minute," said Don, "there's one gauge I think we ought to check just to see how much time we do have. It's over this way." He led the way down a small path to another instrument panel.
"It's just over here some-" he stopped suddenly as his foot caught on a rock and he nearly stumbled. Looking down, he saw that it wasn't a rock. It was a piece of the instrument panel - or what was left of it. The remains were a few feet ahead, crushed to bits.
"Oh no," he moaned, kneeling to examine the pieces.
John knelt down too but for a different reason.
"Look," he pointed.
Encircling the smashed equipment, was the outline of a large footprint the length of a man. Further on, there were several more similar footprints, each about twelve feet apart.
Don's eyes widened. "Whatever made these must be what the robot saw when he disappeared. No wonder the poor clunker had a nervous breakdown!" He turned back to John, "That couldn't be…" He could not finish his sentence.
John nodded, "It is."
"A footprint!," Don finally exclaimed. "Not of a man?"
"Of a something that walks on two feet," John replied, "only it's five times as big as anything we ever thought of as human."
"Giants?" Don said in disbelief. "Really John?"
John didn't answer. "Let's go," he said. "I don't want to leave the family alone a second longer than necessary."
They had just turned around when they came face to face with the alien that had made the footprints. They looked up in horror at the biggest creature they had ever seen in their life.
A giant.
It was humanoid in that it had two arms and legs but that is where the resemblance ended. It was covered from head to toe in mangy brown fur. Its hands were like human hands except that there were large blunt claws at the tip of the fingers. The feet had more of a triangular shape being wider at the toes and then gradually getting more narrow at the heel. The toes also possessed the same claws that the fingers had. The most unnerving thing about it though, was the face. Instead of having two eyes this creature just had a single one right in the middle of its forehead. The ears were long and pointed like a goblin's and all around its head was a mane of thick dark hair.
It stared at them for a moment then growled menacingly. The two men could only gaze at it in pure shock. Then as the giant suddenly reached for them with one of his large hands, they fled and crouched down behind one of the numerous boulders on the mountain in order to keep out of sight..
"I don't believe it," Don panted.
"Neither do I," John replied, "but let's get out of here."
They found a man-sized cleft in the mountain to take refuge in and darted inside. The giant had lost sight of them now and was looking around in confusion.
The cleft only went about fifteen feet back. After that, it was a dead end.
"We're trapped," Don sighed in defeat.
"I'll go outside and see if it has gone," John said after a few minutes.
Cautiously, he made his way out of the cave's entrance. He could still see the giant searching for them. John hoped that it would give up soon and go away, allowing them to escape. He cursed himself for forgetting to bring a laser gun with him. He ought to have known better.
A sudden noise from behind caused him to whirl around. There stood Don, carrying a lit flare. He raised his hand as if to throw it at the giant, but John grabbed his arm stopping him.
"No wait!"
"Wait for what? To be stomped to death?" Don protested.
"We're safe in here! If we get him mad he'll tear this mountain apart!"
Don just shrugged. "Sorry John." He hurled the flare with all his might towards the giant.
The flare landed a few feet away from the target. The giant looked down at it curiously. Then, it raised its foot and brought it down upon the flare to crush it. There was silence for a moment, then all of a sudden the giant let out a deafening roar of pain and yanked his foot off the extinguished flame.
"Guess I didn't help matters much, did I," Don admitted sheepishly.
"At least we know he can feel pain," John replied.
Suddenly, the giant spotted them at the entrance of their hiding place and began lumbering toward them. The two men scurried back inside all the way to the very back.
"Well, now he knows we're hiding in here," said Don quietly.
The sunlight coming into the cave became eclipsed by the giant's head. At the entrance, Don and John could see the creature's one eye as it peeked in to catch sight of the two men.
"Look out!" John cried.
The giant had reached inside with his hand in an attempt to grab one of them. He didn't make it very far though. His arm was too big for the opening, so he could not quite get to the back where the men were hiding.
"That was close," Don said, breathing a sigh of relief.
The giant made a few more attempts to reach them but finally gave up with a growl of frustration and disappeared from the entrance of the cave. Seconds later, the two men heard what sounded like something being ripped up from the ground. The giant soon returned with a good sized tree in tow which he had pulled up, roots and all.
"He's going to ram us to bits with that tree!" Don exclaimed.
"If those roots don't impale us first," John added.
The giant shoved the tree into the entrance of the cave. The men ducked out of the way, and were just barely able to escape getting crushed by the trunk before the giant pulled it out.
"Look out! Here it comes again!" Don cried.
Once more, they were able to escape the incoming tree and its roots.
"How long do you think it's going to keep this up?" Don asked as the tree was drawn out.
John just shook his head. It was all he could do before the log was shoved inside for a third time, and he and Don were forced to take cover.
00oo00oo
Maureen made her way to the elevator with a basket of dirty laundry underneath her arm which she was taking outside to clean. Some things never changed whether on earth or in space. There was still laundry to wash, meals to prepare, dishes to scrub, and a home to keep tidy. Not that she minded, it gave her great joy to tend to the things which ensured that everything on the ship was running smoothly.
As she reached the top deck, she saw that Will was at the control panel next to the hatch working on the radiotelescope. With a smile of pride at her hardworking boy, she stepped out of the elevator, and hurried over to him.
"How's it coming?" she inquired.
"Pretty good," he replied before pulling his face shield down and picking up a small blowtorch.
Maureen gave her son a small pat on the arm and continued on outside to her washing machine. John and Don had installed it outdoors at her request as it gave her more time to breathe in the fresh air. She waved at the girls who were working in the garden and lifted the lid. Once she had dumped all the clothes inside, she closed the lid and pushed a few buttons on its control panel. A humming sound was heard as the machine began to work. After about ten seconds, it stopped. Once again, Maureen opened the lid and took out the clothes; only now they had been cleaned, pressed, folded, and sorted into color coated plastic bags according to the individual they belonged to. She sighed in contentment as she placed each of the bags into her basket.
"Hey Mom! I got it working!" she heard Will exclaim.
Maureen dropped what she was doing and hurried inside along with Judy, Penny, and Bethany to see Will's accomplishment.
"Did you locate Dad?" Maureen asked.
"I'm not sure," Will answered, adjusting the focus on the lense a little.
"Well can we use the radio?"
"Not yet. I've got a picture but no sound. Here, I've adjusted the focus so it's not as blurry. Have a look."
Maureen nodded and put her eye against the telescope lens. She scanned around the area that her husband and Don would be in. What she saw very nearly made her heart stop beating.
"Oh!" she gasped and pulled away from the telescope.
"What is it? What do you see?" Will asked.
Maureen didn't answer. She just leaned against the wall taking deep breaths.
Will grabbed hold of the lense and looked. He adjusted the focus a little bit more, and then he too saw what had made his mom so upset. Up on the mountain, right where the weather station should have been located, stood a giant.
"Holy cow!" he exclaimed.
"Let me have another look," said Maureen, taking the lense from him. "Did either of them take a gun with them?"
"I don't think so." Will shook his head.
The girls came in through the hatch. "What's wrong?" asked Judy. "What do you see?"
"I don't know yet," Maureen breathed out shakily.
"Well then why are you talking about guns?"
Maureen could only wordlessly point to the telescope. Judy put her eye up to the lense to have a look. She gasped when she saw the giant and immediately turned to Maureen.
"Mom, we've got to do something. They'll be killed if we don't!" she cried.
"Now Judy, just calm down," Maureen told her firmly. "There really is nothing we can do."
"Oh yes there is," said Will. He ran to the gun rack where he grabbed a laser pistol, and then out the hatchway ignoring the calls of his mother to return.
"Hey wait for me!" Bethany called. She would have run after him, but Maureen put a firm hand on her arm preventing her from doing so.
"Oh no you don't, young lady," she admonished sternly.
"But…"
"I don't want to hear one word of it. I'm not going to let you risk your life in such a foolhardy attempt. Do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Bethany said with a pout.
"I just hope for all our sakes, Will's rescue attempt isn't foolhardy," Judy sighed anxiously.
00oo00oo
Will ran as fast as he could to Don and John's location, hoping and praying he wasn't too late. He knew the pathway well since he had been there when the weather station was installed. It took about thirty minutes to reach the mountain and then another twenty to ascend it. The climb was fairly hazardous as there was not a clear path up to the station. Will had to tread carefully in order to avoid slipping and falling to his death. He was about a mile from the station when he heard the giant's roar. This only propelled him to run faster. Not five minutes later, he rounded a corner and suddenly found himself face to face with the monstrous creature. The giant saw him immediately. Forgetting about the men in the cave, it turned its full attention to the boy as it regarded him quietly for a moment. Heart pounding within his chest, Will slowly raised his laser gun and took aim. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the trigger and fired.
It was a direct hit in the chest. As soon as his laser beam hit, the giant clutched its chest and gave one final deafening roar of pain and then fell over backwards dead. The impact of its fall caused a small earth tremor which nearly knocked the boy off his feet. As soon as he had regained his balance he began looking for his dad and Don.
"Dad, where are you!" he called, hoping desperately he had not been too late.
"Will!"
He heard his father's voice calling back to him. From up ahead in a nearby cave, two men stumbled out into the light. Their clothes were torn and dirtied and their faces sported several cuts and bruises. Will recognized them immediately.
"Dad!" He cried and ran into his father's arms. "I did it! I did it! I killed the giant!"
"You sure did," John replied as he embraced his son.
"Good job Will!" said Don, ruffling the boy's hair. He took the gun from the boy's hand, and went over to examine the dead giant.
Once he had gone, John looked at his son sternly. "Will, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I saw you in trouble over the scope, so I-"
"So you thought you'd come and save us," John interrupted, "and you did save us. Now I want you to promise me something on your word of honor. When I tell you to stay and protect the family, don't you ever leave your post again. Understand?"
Will nodded sheepishly.
"If we're going to survive in this place, we must follow orders," John continued, "and that goes for all of us. There may be other giants around."
"Yes sir," Will said, shivering. The adrenaline he had received from the situation was dying down making him aware of other things; like how cold it was on the mountain and the biting wind his long sleeve shirt offered him little protection from.
John noticed his son's predicament and decided to remedy it. He took off his coat and gave it to him. "Here, put this on."
Will slipped on his father's large, heavy coat. It went all the way down to his knees, making him look like he had on a dress. The sleeves also had to be rolled up quite a bit before his hands would show. Will didn't care though. He was warm and comfortable. John smiled as he zipped it up for him and fastened the buttons.
"There," he said as he finished the last one. "Not as big as you thought you were."
Will just smiled and shook his head, glad for the warmth.
Don returned a few moments later with his report. "The giant must be dead; it is completely unresponsive."
"That's good." John sighed in relief. "Let's hurry now and get back to the ship."
There was a joyful reception waiting for them when they arrived back at the Jupiter 2. The girls were all clamoring to hear what had happened. John told their tale, highlighting Will's heroic deed. Then, he reported what he and Don learned at the weather station.
"We have only one real choice," he said. "By tomorrow afternoon we must all be packed up and ready to leave the spaceship. We'll move south for a time until it's safe to come back here."
Everyone thought that this would be agreeable with one exception.
"Leave the ship," Dr Smith said in disbelief. "Are you out of your collective minds? Here we have simple comforts, a more than adequate cuisine, ample protection from the perils of the planet, and you want me to leave?"
"It's either that or freeze to death," John replied.
"My dear sir, Zachary Smith would rather freeze to death intact, than provide a few morsels for some carnivorous giant. No, no, you do as you please. I shall stay here."
"It's your funeral, Smith," Don said.
"Just leave me a few necessities. I feel confident that I shall survive."
"We'll leave you all we can spare," John told him. "Good luck Smith. You'll need it. As for everyone else, let's see about getting underway."
The family worked all day and well into the night loading up the Chariot, only stopping for a few hours of sleep. The next morning they got up early and continued to pack. A few hours later, they were ready to leave.
"I guess this is goodbye, robot," Will said, going up to the machine and taking hold of one of its pincers to shake it.
"Goodbye: a sentimental phrase to indicate the separation or parting of emotional beings," the robot said.
"Never mind that," Will sighed in frustration. "It means that I won't be seeing you for a while."
"Derived from an early English expression-"
"That's enough!" Will cut him off, "And the least you can do is try a little decent sentiment. We won't be together anymore."
"That does not compute."
"Oh," Will growled and he reached over and pulled out the machine's power pack. "Maybe that will teach you something about sentiment," and he walked away.
The family had finished packing the last of their gear. John turned to Maureen and Don. "Let's go," he said. "I want us to get out of here as quickly as we can."
Maureen nodded. She began calling the children to come and get into the Chariot. They all came except one.
"Bethany, where's Penny?" she asked.
"She was riding on the turtle with Debbie, then all of a sudden she was gone," said Bethany pointing in the direction she had last seen her.
"Well, where did she go?"
"I don't know. I turned around and she wasn't there anymore."
"Oh no," Maureen turned to her husband anxiously.
"Don't worry. I'll find her," he said. "Don, get me the jet pack."
Don nodded and hurried into the ship. Meanwhile, Maureen had started searching the perimeter for Penny. When Don returned with the rocket pack he began to help John strap it on. Meanwhile John gave him instructions.
"When that blizzard hits, which may be sooner than we expect, the temperature's going to drop about sixty degrees in less than half an hour. Now the moment it hits ten below, I want you to get out of here immediately."
"Now John I'm not going to take off without you," Don protested.
"Whether I get back here or not you leave," John said sternly. "Go by way of the inland sea."
"Wouldn't we be better off going by land?" Don inquired.
"We'd have to go through the giant's valley, and that's too risky, especially after that close call we had yesterday."
"Whatever you say, John."
John nodded and took hold of both the thruster controls sticking out on either side of him on the pack. He activated it and then gave a long thrust of rocket fuel which propelled him up into the air slowly. As soon as he was a good hundred feet up, he began flying over the area in a scanning pattern searching for his daughter. He flew directly over Maureen who, upon hearing the noise of the rockets, looked up and waved.
"Get back to the Chariot!" John called down to her. "Don't worry! I'll find her!"
She nodded and, after one final wave, turned to head back while he continued on.
00oo00oo
Penny shivered with cold and fear as her pet turtle carried her further and further away from the ship. It was just like a turtle from earth except for a few differences. Instead of a smooth shell it had large spikes that ran down the center of it. It was also quite a bit faster than a normal earth turtle and could reach up to speeds about 20 miles per hour if it wanted to. Normally that wasn't a problem unless it got spooked.
That was what had happened today. Penny and Debbie had been taking one last ride on their beloved playmate when it must have heard a sound or smelled something off. All of a sudden it began to pick up speed. Penny had no way of making it stop or slow down. All she could do was grip one of the spikes on the shell and hold on for dear life. It ran like that for several minutes, finally taking cover in a wooded area that Penny did not recognize. She shivered as it came to a stop.
"I'm cold," she said, "If I catch pneumonia from this, they're never ever going to let me play with either of you again."
"Bloop!" was all that Debbie could say.
Penny just shook her head. She looked down at the cause of all her trouble. "I knew turtles were stubborn but I thought you'd have more sense than to run away."
Debbie had meanwhile dismounted and had begun to wander off as she explored her new surroundings.
"Hey come back here!" Penny called after it, "We'd better stick together or none of us will get home."
Debbie paused at Penny's call. Slowly she turned around and went back to her caretaker.
Penny picked up the chimp and held her closely. "Don't worry Debbie," she said. "Dad will find us. I'm sure of it."
"Bloop!" Debbie replied.
00oo00oo
John was searching frantically now for his daughter. Although he wasn't sure exactly how much, he could tell that the temperature had dropped significantly since he had started looking. Don and the others might have already left by now. Should that be true, there was little hope that he and Penny would be able to catch up with them. He tried not to think of the consequences if that were the case. They would cross that bridge when they came to it.
Presently he began flying over a more wooded area. It was difficult to see the ground and he was wondering whether or not he should land and search this area on foot. As he was considering this, he came upon a small clearing. There, sitting on the turtle with Debbie in her arms, was Penny.
At the sound of his jets the girl looked up.
"Oh Daddy!" she cried out for joy. "You found me!"
John smiled at her and landed. Immediately Penny dismounted and rushed into his arms.
"Oh Daddy I was so frightened," she whispered.
John pulled his daughter close, "It's alright, there's nothing to be frightened of. I've got you now."
Penny shivered a little. "I'm cold!" she said.
"I'll bet you are," John replied. He looked at his thermostat. "Why, it's nine below now!" he cried out in surprise. "One more degree and the others will leave without us! Come on now, you can ride piggyback."
There was a small seat attached to the back of the jetpack for Penny to sit. She quickly climbed on.
"Come on Debbie!" she called.
Debbie waddled over and climbed up just behind her.
"All set?" John asked.
"Yes." Penny nodded, grabbing ahold of her father's shoulders and holding on tightly.
John fired the rockets and they all began to lift in the air. He knew would have to hurry if he wanted to make it back to the Chariot on time.
00oo00oo
"Will!"
The boy looked up at the sound of his mother's voice calling him to the Chariot.
"Coming!" he answered.
He ran over to join the others inside the big vehicle. As soon as he closed the door, Don sighed and shook his head.
"It's ten below," he told them. "We need to go now."
"Wait!" Judy cried. "We can't leave without Daddy and Penny; we just can't!"
"We have to. We'll all die if we don't."
"Don please," Maureen begged, "just a few more minutes."
"Do you think I like to leave without them?" Don snapped. "When Dr. Robinson said ten below zero, he didn't just pick a number out of a hat. That's the deadline with emphasis on 'dead' if we don't stick to it."
"No, no! I'm not leaving without them!" Judy protested. "Don't start the motor, Don. I'm warning you! We're not going without them!"
Before Don could reply, Bethany suddenly pointed out the window. "Look! There they are!"
Everyone looked in the direction Bethany was pointing. Sure enough there was John flying back with Penny and Debbie in tow.
"Thank God!" Maureen breathed a sigh of relief. "They made it."
A few minutes later, John had landed, and after storing the jet pack back in the ship they were finally on their way.
"Our little delay cost us valuable time," John said as they drove along, "we're going to have to cut through the giants' valley if we wish to escape the cold."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Don . "After what happened yesterday?"
"We don't have a choice now." John steered the vehicle towards the ominous peaks.
After about thirty minutes they had reached the valley. As they began to drive slowly through it, John turned to West.
"Don, take the gun hatch just in case."
Don nodded and grabbed a laser rifle. He took his position at the bubble hatchway on the roof of the vehicle with his rifle poised and ready for any creature that would attempt to cause them harm. They had almost made it out of the valley when all of a sudden, they rounded a corner and Maureen gave a gasp.
"Look!" She pointed ahead.
Standing about fifty feet away from them blocking their path was another one of the giants. In its hands was a large boulder about half the size of the Chariot. At the sight of them, it gave a loud roar and raised the boulder high above its head. With all its might it hurled it right at the Chariot. The girls all screamed in terror as the rock land just inches away from them. Before anyone could react, the giant had another boulder in its hands and sent it flying towards them. This time the boulder actually clipped them on their right side. Causing everyone to be jolted forward in their seats. As the giant was stooping to pick up another one, Don saw his chance. He opened the gun hatch and took aim with his rifle. Just as the creature was about to hurl another boulder at them, he fired, sending a laser bolt directly to its chest. It gave a loud roar in pain before it finally succumbed to its injuries and fell to the ground, dead.
"Well that takes care of him," Don said as he set down his rifle and returned to his seat.
They did not have any more incidents in the giants' valley, and about thirty minutes later they had finally made it out. They continued on for several more hours wanting to get as far south as they possibly could. It was nearly twilight and Don was driving when he suddenly let out a groan.
"Oh no," he said.
"What's the matter?" John asked.
"Well those big boulders didn't do the power unit any good," he told John.
"How long will it take to fix?"
"A couple of hours at least."
John sighed. "I don't know how safe it is, but we'd better camp around here for the night." he told the rest of the family.
They found a small outcropping of large rocks which they pulled up beside. A comfortable camp was set up and Maureen fixed a delicious dinner. After they had finished eating they all began to individually occupy themselves with various activities around the campsite. Bethany had a small little sketch pad and was trying to draw the giant that they had seen that day. Will had taken out his guitar and after strumming a few random chords, began to serenade the family with the tune of "Greensleeves". Penny meanwhile, had undertaken the task of trying to dress Debbie up in doll clothes, something that the primate seemed to greatly dislike.
"Oh Debbie," the young girl sighed as she attempted once again to put the discarded hat on her pet's head and fasten it down. "How are you ever going to look like a lady if you don't hold still!"
"Bloop!" the ape replied, snatching the hat from Penny and throwing it to the ground. Penny groaned in frustration.
"Oh I give up," she said, picking up the hat and dusting it off. As she was doing this, she caught sight of Don and Judy together. Don was underneath the Chariot fixing the power unit. Judy sat beside him on the ground, handing him the instruments he needed. They were talking and laughing pleasantly and Penny listened in to hear what they were saying.
"I'm glad Dad decided to camp here," Judy was telling Don.
"Yeah," Don chuckled, "All the comforts of home. Say, hand me the monkey wrench would you?"
"Of course, dear."
"Thank you."
Judy smiled and attempted to withdraw her hand but the young man kept a fast grip on it. Then slowly, he brought it to his lips and planted a gentle but firm kiss on the knuckles before silently releasing her to continue with his work.
Penny's young eyes widened as she saw the exchange between her sister and Major West. She looked up at her sister to see her reaction. Far from being upset, Judy actually seemed quite pleased as evidenced by her bright smile and a tiny blush creeping up over her cheeks.
The couple, thinking no one had seen them, worked on, oblivious to the mischievous grin that Penny had on her face. She watched them for several more moments but nothing else passed between them. Finally, growing bored, Penny raced off to look for her mom and dad. She found them on the other end of camp doing the dinner dishes and talking quietly.
"Mom, Dad, bet you don't know what I saw," she said excitedly.
"What dear?" Maureen asked.
"Judy and Don, he was kissing her on the hand like this," Penny gave a dramatic demonstration of Don's actions then rolled her eyes, "I bet he picked up a million germs."
Maureen gave John a knowing smile before turning to address her daughter. "Well Penny dear," she began, "the young people sometimes have ways of doing things that to wiser heads such as you and I, may seem a little strange."
"In other words, should I mind my own business?" Penny asked.
Maureen laughed, "That would be another way of putting it. Yes."
"I thought so," Penny sighed, and she trudged back off to Debbie.
John and Maureen looked on from the sight of their younger daughter playing with her pet, to Don and Judy working together underneath the Chariot. They were not ignorant of the fact that Judy and Don had feelings for one another. Although the young couple had taken care not to reveal anything, they could not keep it hidden from John and Maureen long. Secretly, Maureen was pleased that her daughter would be interested in such a fine man as Major West; and if the Major were to ever ask her and John for Judy's hand in marriage, she knew they would speedily give it. On the other hand, it saddened her to think of giving their daughter up to the care of another man to be his wife and have his children. It seemed that it was only the other day that she had held her as a newborn for the first time at the hospital. She blinked back tears at this memory and turned to her husband.
"I do find it hard to think of Judy as anything but a child," she admitted to him, her voice full of emotion.
John smiled at his wife, "Well considering the population implosion up here, we can't very well ask her to play the field now, can we?"
"No," Maureen laughed, "I'm afraid not."
John laughed along with her before suddenly growing quiet and reflective.
"Now I know the one scientific specialty we didn't bring from earth," he finally spoke up.
"What's that?"
"A marriage counselor."
"For them?"
"Who else?" As he said this he leaned over and placed a passionate kiss against his wife's lips which she reciprocated. After a long moment they finally pulled away.
"I love you," John said, bringing up a hand covered in soap suds to stroke her cheek.
Maureen did not need to respond. Her smile said it all.
An hour later the power unit had been repaired and it was time for bed. They decided to sleep outside as it would be cramped and uncomfortable to spend the night in the Chariot. John and Don built a roaring fire while the others arranged the sleeping bags around it. Finally, everyone was tucked in and sound asleep except John. He had lookout duty for the first part of the night. Don would relieve him in a few hours so that he could get some much needed rest before daybreak. As he watched the group of slumbering travelers, he couldn't help but smile at how peaceful they all looked. Turning slowly away from them, he went and poured himself another cup of steaming coffee. He sat back against one of the large boulders and began planning for the next day of travel.
