The Chariot returned that night to the Jupiter 2 and the family waiting for them on the bridge. Will was the first to hop out of the Chariot then run on in to the arms of his sisters. Don grinned then noticed the older man was gone as the professor came out of the Chariot with Robot behind him. Robot proceeded to start the unfolding process with the Chariot until it were in the condition that it had been taken out of only hours ago. The professor went up toward the stairway of the Jupiter 2 and stepped aside.

"Where is Smith?" Don asked.

"He decided to stay behind." Will was the first to start.

"Where is Doctor Smith?" Penny asked as she looked on behind them as did her sister. "Did he get into trouble again?"

"Is Doctor Smith okay?" Judy asked, concerned.

The demeanor of the men changed in a moment to grins and the women expected Smith to come running their way shrieking for their help-but, he didn't.

"He is on Earth three years from now enjoying a quiet return after his trouble brought him there." John reported. "And our ship. . . well, it's headed for Alpha Centauri right as we speak." John pointed over his shoulder toward the sky as the family's eyes widened and exchanged glances with the other over the announcement. "The change in history will happen when we are sleeping."

"We are going to be there when we wake up!" Judy said. "We are going to put up telephone poles, stay in one place for more than a day, and plant in the soil!"

"And lose Debbie." Penny said with sorrow.

"We will regain her." John promised. "I will make sure that we will after we make it to the planet."

"The planet is ten thousand light years away from Earth." Will said. "It will take ten years worth of waiting just to start the search and find her."

"Except for the space miner." Judy said. "The planet wouldn't be there."

"Then we will have to live without Debbie." Penny's voice cracked at the mention.

"And me. "

"Robot, you're part of the family." Judy told the machine. "You are going to be with us."

"Professor Robinson, most of the memory tape extension came from Robbie the Robot and most of my equipment comes from other machines." Robot reminded the Robinsons. "Once the chance occurs, I will be back to the settings that I was sent out into space and the basic equipment that was designed for this mission."

"Then, that makes tonight your funeral." Will said.

"Affirmative." Robot confirmed.

"We'll have the best funeral there ever was." Maureen announced with pride and optimism in her voice. "I have made apple-berry cobbler, beans and bacon, and egg salad, and hamburgers for dinner!"

"We can talk about Robot and how we'll miss him before we go to bed, how about that?" Penny suggested.

"That is a wonderful idea, Penny." John said.

"Perhaps, it would be best if we changed into our space suits before we do his funeral." Maureen said.

"That would make it easier for all of us." Judy said. "Easier slipping into the existence of being somewhere we should and not feeling like it is a dream."

"I like the sound of that." John said. "Does everyone agree?"

A unanimous, "I do." came from the family.

"Then let's eat." Maureen said.

The family departed from the doorway as Robot turned on the door and wheeled toward them.

The Robinsons ate their meals with a lone empty chair among them. It was strange to have left over food. It was even stranger having to leave it in the galley for the morning as the family went into their cabins to change into their silver space suits while Maureen and the professor had already changed into the familiar uniforms that felt far familiar to them as their castaway uniforms. Maureen shook her head on the matter of the food.

"Darling, something is bothering you." John came to her side then sat down into the chair. "Talk about it."

"Is it really going to bring us to Gamma?" Maureen asked.

"Chronos said so himself." John replied with a slow nod.

"What if he made a entirely different timeline and we won't be there?" Maureen asked as she folded her arms quite disturbed by her own comment. "What if. . ." she looked aside, unfolding her arms, putting a hand on her lips wincing at her train of thought then shifted toward John. "What if the other us get there, get down to business, and don't even know how lucky they were to reach Alpha Centauri at all? Just taking it all for granted being there."

John cupped the side of her face with a smile once he were face to face with her and after he got back up to his feet.

"He said we will remember it as a dream." John said as he stroked the side of her cheek. "We won't take it for granted."

Maureen placed a hand on his hand as she fell into the loving gesture.

"I can't help but not want to dump the food out." Maureen admitted to her partner. "Not tonight."

"Not tonight." John nodded as his hands moved to her shoulders. "Maureen, it is feels even more weirder that Smith hasn't finished the left overs. It is even weirder that we went through Time and dealt with it." then he puffed a sigh with a smile. "You won't believe how many clocks I saw!"

"Why Professor Robinson, three years in space, I can believe everything you say about what you see!" Maureen exclaimed.

"Except from the children." John said.

"They are very imaginative people." Maureen said. "They get that from their father."

John grinned with a laugh as he looked upon her.

"I feel that they get that from you." John said.

"Your mind is capable of going from Earth to Gamma without having stepped foot on to it." Maureen reminded him. "Your selling line, 'Green pastures far as the eye could see, plenty of space to raise a family, us against the wildlife of the planet, making our own food, and having family time ALL the time'."

John laughed even harder.

"We still got that," John said. "All the time. Right?"

"We do." Maureen said. "As much as we can afford in these circumstances. . . It feels silly leaving left overs in the galley when everything will change while we are sleeping."

"But a precaution is all that is necessary in the face of a promised and drastic change." John said as his words eased her thoughts.

"Yes," Maureen said. "A precaution."

"If it helps you feel better, I wonder to myself, is this another deception? Another trick? A rapture that is going to happen? That Chronos is playing a cruel prank on us all?"

John was visibly deeply troubled by his own thoughts that were irking. He turned away letting go of her shoulders then leaned against the corridor looking toward the doorway of the Jupiter 2 anticipating to see the Jupiter 2 door open and reveal a all too familiar face. Maureen's demeanor became fraught by sympathy for his feelings.

"I expect Smith to come through that doorway and tell us that being lost with us is better than being back on Earth than he originally thought after having restored our timeline." John admitted while lowering his head and his mood shifted from bright to dark. "Being back where we were only a hour ago; lost and away from Alpha Centauri."

Maureen approached the professor as she slipped on her silver gloves then took his hands.

"Professor Robinson, we're still a family and the way I see it? It's all good long as we have each other."

Maureen was the one to started the hug and the professor reciprocated.

"I am scared, too, John." Maureen admitted. "Of losing the children, forever. Of losing the Jupiter 2 and any chances of getting home."

"We won't let that happen." John said. "Over our dead bodies."

Maureen clenched on to the back of his space uniform as she closed her eyes and wept, silently, as did he with the terror they were experiencing.

The family took turns talking about Robot and how he had been their friend in the trying time being lost in space. It was a experience that John didn't think would be so emotional even from a machine that was supposed to be inanimate and boring in all respects but as humans were well known for, they became connected to the machine and welcomed him as one of their own. The children gave nice analogies and Penny hugged Debbie the Bloop the hardest. It was difficult for her to put the monkey into the cubbie one last time then close the curtain and cry in the arms of her older sister.

The professor looked out the window for one last time seeking for the doctor. He wanted to believe that his children weren't going to abandon everything they had known just as they had done three years ago for a world that offered a relief from the one that they had departed from. Penny was sniffling as she went to her shared cabin. John retreated from the doorway as the family went to the upper decks then went into stasis for one last time with Robot up front.

It was nearly one AM. Time was ticking by fast as the family squeezed the other's hand then went to their freezing tubes and stood in the center. It was silently arranged as Judy took Debbie out of her cubbie then let her out into the wild. Debbie the Bloop ran away into the night as Judy smiled then began to tear up. She turned away then returned into the ship. The professor and Maureen went to their respective tubes, grounding themselves to stand still, with Robot's aid in hypnotism them to remain still. Robot withdrew his improvised grandfather's watch.

Robot went to the lower decks of the ship then waited then yanked his power back off resting underneath the robot charger booth. With that last action, a wave of crackling electricity came from the distance headed for the Jupiter 2. Debbie fled into the nearest cave and awaited for the storm to pass.

The Robinsons remained still in their freezing tubes waiting for history to change as it came as a giant wave after their ship. The giant wave crashed upon the Jupiter 2. And the Jupiter 2 vanished as did any signs that it had once been there as everything remained still inside of the Jupiter 2. Then quite abruptly, the galley opened and a hand withdrew a steaming plate.

At the galley table was Smith reading a book wearing glasses intrigue with his meal resting below him on the table and a cup of water beside him.

Smith looked toward the cabins then smiled quite fondly at the closed and quite empty cabins.

Even most importantly at the machine that stood in the center of the residential deck.

"Never fear, Smith is here and Smith eats safely." Smith waved his synthesized napkin at the machine then tucked his napkin along his dickie then grinned looking down upon the meal. "Now, to enjoy one of many 365 days of a decent breakfast."

A/N

Will I stop giving moments for John and Maureen to have affectionate intimate moments with the other in my fanfictions?

No, I don't think so.

ONE MORE CHAPTER to resolve how Smith lives to treat Maureen's heart attack.