"Really?" said Delta hopefully. "Tell us, John, tell us!"

Hermes groaned. "This should be entertaining and disappointing."

Zoidberg rose out of his scuttling position and struck a dramatic pose. "Raven," he said to the ship's computer, "what will happen to us if we continue at our present course and speed?"

Raven answered with, "Our fuel supply will exhaust itself in approximately fifty-three minutes, and life support will fail roughly three hours and twenty-eight minutes later, resulting in the death of all organic and robotic life on board."

"I'm organic!" exclaimed Amy, and she burst into tears.

"Raven," Zoidberg continued, "who gave you the command to set a course for Nubia Upsilon B?"

"Captain Turanga Leela," said the computer flatly.

"Next question," said Zoidberg. "Under what conditions can a crew member other than Captain Turanga Leela order you to change your course?"

"There are three conditions," replied Raven. "One, Captain Leela explicitly delegates command authority to another crew member. Two, another crew member provides the correct command authorization codes. Three, Captain Leela is shown to be physically or mentally unfit for command."

"Then I posit to you," said Zoidberg triumphantly, "that Captain Leela is unfit for command, on the basis that her order to set course for Nubia Upsilon B will inevitably lead to the deaths of all aboard."

Hermes, Amy, and Leela held their breaths, terrified of what Raven might say next.

"Yes," uttered the computer voice. "Yes, you're right. It's perfectly obvious, now that you mention it."

"Good," said Zoidberg. "In light of this fact, I hereby exercise my authority as chief medical officer and assume control of the ship, until such time as a new captain shall be appointed."

Jaws could be heard dropping all across the bridge.

"I await your order, Acting Captain Zoidberg," said Raven.

"Drop out of hyperspace and commence scan for habitable planets," was Zoidberg's order.

Delta cheered so enthusiastically that her arms stretched halfway to the ceiling. "You did it, John! I knew you could!"

Hermes, Amy, and Leela gleefully commended each other on their good fortune. "We're saved, mon!" "We're gonna live!" "All we need now is to wait for Kiffy to rescue us!" "Now LaBarbara won't have to resurrect me as a zombie!"

Zoidberg glared menacingly at them and waved his stumps. "Never forget it was Zoidberg who saved you! ZOIDBERG!"

"Oh, great," moaned Leela. "Now we have to apologize."

Amy sniffled a bit, stepped forward, and threw her arms around the lobster. "I'll never be mean to you again," she vowed. "Thanks for saving our lives."

"I'll forgive you later," said Zoidberg. "Right now I'm enjoying myself too much."

"This calls for a celebration," Hermes enthused. "I'll jerk some TVP."

As he was on his way to the kitchen, Raven's voice interrupted their joyful exclamations. "Habitable planet detected," she stated. "Atmosphere, 78 nitrogen, 21 oxygen. Mass, 98.3 that of Earth's. Distance, 771 light years."

"Hooray!" said Zoidberg. "Set a course!"

The sleek black ship rotated a few degrees, then shot into hyperspace, speeding directly toward the uncharted planet.


To be continued