"Well," Don said as he dusted off his hands, "that's it. She's as ready as she'll ever be. We can launch in two days."
"Great. Let's go tell the others," John replied.
The Professor gathered the others for a family meeting. Most had guessed what the topic was, but eagerly waited to hear just the same.
"Don and I have just completed the last of the repairs on the ship. All we have to do now is fuel her up and we'll be ready to go. We've set our launch date for two days from now."
Will asked hesitantly, "Where are we headed?"
"The goal of our mission remains Alpha Centauri," the Professor replied.
"John, I know it's a long way, but shouldn't we go back and get Doctor Smith?" Maureen asked.
"Darling, I'm afraid we can't," the Professor replied.
"But dad, we know where the planet is! We can find our way back," Will pleaded.
"Son, it's not a matter of finding the planet."
"What your dad's trying to say, Will," the Major interrupted, "is that it would be a waste of time. Smith couldn't have survived on that planet without the Jupiter 2 for this long. None of us could. In fact, I'm fairly certain that since he knew what Kai was up to, Kai probably... killed him."
"But we don't know that for sure! Maybe he did survive," Will argued.
"He did warn us," Maureen said. "If we had listened to him this once, he would be here with us and we would have left that dreadful Kai behind. I think we owe it to him, to find out for sure."
"Maureen..."
"John, I never felt comfortable leaving him there in the first place," Maureen admitted. "It's clear now that he didn't stay by choice. Do you really want to wonder for the rest of your life if we could have rescued him and didn't? If it were you stranded on that planet, wouldn't you want us to come back for you? Would the thought of eventual rescue keep you going?"
The Professor thought for a moment and then sighed heavily. "Alright. By a show of hands, who wants to go back to look for Doctor Smith?"
Maureen, Penny, Judy, Will, and the Robot cast their votes in favor of the rescue mission instantly. Everyone looked at Major West, awaiting his vote. He grudgingly raised his hand. The Professor looked at everyone in turn and finally raised his hand. "I guess it's unanimous."
The children all let out a cheer while the Major told the Professor he'd get started on plotting a course. There were smiles all around, even though they knew the odds of finding Smith alive weren't great. At least they'd try and that gave them hope.
Smith and Artemis sat together around the fire pit the doctor had built just outside the garden. The two were busy finishing off enormous steaks.
"You know, Artemis, I haven't eaten this well in years. I guess that's the one small blessing in my predicament. Well, that and you, my dear."
Artemis had finished her meal and had risen, following her nose to check out a scent. Some fifty feet away in the bushes, she spotted a dark figure. She didn't have to see it clearly to know it was another of her kind. She could smell it. She knew what it was there for. She glanced back toward Smith dolefully.
Smith was so engrossed with his meal, he hadn't noticed Artemis had left. She was near the outskirts of the homestead before Smith spotted her.
"Artemis? Where are you going, my dear?"
She turned and growled at him. She had to make sure he didn't follow.
Smith's brow furrowed. She'd never growled at him before. He stood and she growled again, in warning. Smith suddenly realized what that growl meant. It wasn't menacing, it simply meant that she didn't want him to follow her. But why?
Before Smith could react, she bounded off into the bushes. He ran after her, but stopped suddenly when he was hit by a strong odor. He puzzled for a moment. Then understanding dawned on him. She was in estrus. Artemis had reached full maturity and was most likely going off to find a mate.
What Smith didn't realize was that Artemis knew full well that she'd attract large males of her species in her current state. A few had already come sniffing around without Smith's knowledge. By instinct, she knew they'd fight any rivals for her. If Smith were to be perceived as a rival or a threat, he wouldn't stand a chance. Instinct and the desire to protect him urged her to leave.
Smith was conflicted. Despite her bond with him and the fact that she seemed domesticated, she was still, at heart, a wild animal, an alien wild animal. She had the instincts, the urges, and the needs of a wild animal. He knew one day he'd have to let her go. He never imagined it would be today. The thought of her starting her own family brought a brief smile to his face. He envisioned what her cubs would look like, which brought him back to their early days together, when she was just a newborn. In one respect, he felt like a proud father, giving his precious girl away. In another respect, he felt abandoned... again. It was this last feeling that was the strongest.
In the days and weeks that followed, he held out hope she'd return to him. He kept his routine, gardening in the morning, gathering wood after that, and hunting in the afternoon. Without her, he began to sustain some injuries, a bruise here, a laceration there, dealing with animals that had better defenses than he had. He kept watch at night like a nervous father waiting up for his daughter to return from her first date. After two weeks, with no sighting of her, he lost hope she'd ever return.
After three weeks, despair had him fully in its grasp. Smith was a survivor, to be sure, but he'd always had a reason to fight, something to live for, even when lost hopelessly in space with the Robinsons. Without Artemis, he had no purpose, no reason, nothing to his existence beyond mere survival. No one knew he was here except the Robinsons and they were most likely long dead at the hands of Kai. No rescue ship was coming for him. He was doomed. This planet would be his final resting place. He began to wonder why he should bother prolonging the inevitable.
At four weeks, his prey got the better of him during the hunt, slashing his leg with its tusks. Somehow, he hobbled back to the cave. He quit working and spent most of his time sleeping. The only work he did was tending to his wound, trying to keep it from becoming infected. There was no point to hunting, Artemis was the real hunter. He had come to rely on her too much. His own skills paled beside hers and the times he tried hunting after she had left resulted in very little to eat. His meager garden wouldn't yield for months yet and most of the surrounding fruit trees and berry bushes were bare. It didn't matter much. He had little appetite anyway. All that was left in his larder were a few pieces of fruit and a little bit of jerky.
At five weeks, he decided to stop fighting and let this alien planet claim him. He stopped eating altogether, which wasn't a difficult decision, as there was little food left. He laid his slim frame down on his bed to await the end.
He drifted in and out of consciousness and while he was asleep, he dreamed of happier days. He dreamed of his early attempts at hunting with Artemis and how she scolded him gently when he'd inadvertently ruined her chances at a kill. He dreamed of her as a young cub, splashing about in the river and chasing anything that moved. He dreamed of her rubbing her face against his, purring softly, and licking his face. The dream felt so real that he wished he could stay there forever, but his eyes fluttered open and the vision was lost. It took his eyes a moment to focus in the dark, but when they did, he saw two shiny orbs reflecting back at him. He felt a rough tongue lick his whiskered cheek.
"Artemis?" Smith asked, voice shaking from the fear he was only hallucinating or delirious from infection.
She purred softly and placed a paw up on the bed. He felt the bed move from her weight.
"Artemis!" Despite his weakened state, Smith used all his remaining strength to push himself up and throw his arms around her neck. He collapsed against her and buried his face into her thick fur. She nuzzled her head against him and purred into his ear.
His exclamations of pure joy at their reunion were muffled by her thick fur. "Artemis! You're back! How I've missed you!" His eyes glistened with the threat of tears as he continued to talk. "Please...don't ever leave again..." his voice cracked.
Artemis gently pushed him back into the bed and he let her, not that he had the strength to resist anyway. He wiped the tears from his eyes and watched her as she walked a few paces away, fumbled with something, and then returned. She carried the canteen, by its strap, in her mouth. With a weak smile, he took it from her, opened it, and upended it slowly, taking only a few sips at a time.
While he was drinking, she walked away again, nosed through Smith's pack, and returned with a piece of fruit impaled on one of her formidable canine teeth. Smith laughed at the sight and wondered if perhaps that was the response she was looking for. He knew full well she had a wicked sense of humor. Smith capped the canteen, set it down, and took the fruit. Before he ate, he ran a hand over her head and scratched behind her ear. Her lips curled up in an approximation of a smile and she moved her head against Smith's hand, making sure he hit all the right spots. She had missed him. After enjoying a few moments of affectionate bliss, she gently chastised him and made sure he started eating the fruit. He obeyed and she went to get another one, this time carried back gently in her mouth.
She watched him as he ate. He imagined what thoughts she had going through her head at the moment. What did you do to yourself while I was gone? I can't leave you alone for a second. What would you do without me to look after you? His guesses wouldn't have been too far off the mark.
A few hours later, with food in his stomach and his body slowly rehydrating, Smith began to feel his strength slowly returning. The canteen empty and his considerable thirst not yet quenched, Smith stood and hobbled his way to the river, Artemis glued to his side for him to lean on. On his way back, Artemis stopped him and begged him to follow, which he did. She led him to a tree on the outskirts of the homestead. She leaped into it and negotiated the slim branches gracefully. Smith saw a dark shape in the fork of one of the branches. She pushed it and it fell to the ground with a thud. Artemis had killed one of the herbivores from the plains, one of the favorites on Smith's menu, and dragged it back to the homestead.
"For me?" Smith asked. "You shouldn't have. I feel silly now. I didn't get you anything."
Artemis jumped from the tree and landed lightly near Smith. She rubbed the length of her body against him, her long tail wrapping around him and caressing him as she moved.
"Ah, it's affection you want. Well, I can certainly give you that." He scratched underneath her chin and a low, contented groan rumbled from her chest.
Smith shifted his focus back to the freshly killed carcass near them. "You know, my dear, now that you're back I feel my appetite returning in earnest. I could go for a nice rare steak. How about you?"
Artemis loosed an enthusiastic roar and he felt her thoughts of affection wash over him.
"I'll take that as a yes," Smith chuckled and went to retrieve his tools.
Not much time later, the two were side by side dining on fresh steak. Smith inquired, "Where were you for all this time?"
Artemis was quiet.
"Mating season, eh?" Smith stated. "If it's a sensitive subject, I understand."
After a few moments of contemplation, she decided to tell him just how much danger he had been in.
"I see," he replied soberly. "You left to protect me."
Artemis nodded. And there's something else... she added.
"Wait... what?" he asked in surprise. "Cubs?! You're expecting?" Smith's eyes lit up with pure joy. "Oh, my dear, you're going to be a mother!" He imagined what it would be like with a whole pack of these wonderful alien felines. "How soon? We have to get the place ready..."
I'm not sure. I've never had cubs before.
Smith approached her. "May I?" he asked, requesting permission to examine her.
Artemis gently laid on her side and allowed the doctor to palpate her abdomen.
"Well, I'm no veterinarian, but given your size when you were born, I think it may only be a matter of weeks. You matured quite quickly compared to Earth cats. I imagine the gestation period for your species is somewhat accelerated as well."
Suddenly, a sobering though occurred to Smith. "The father? Is he going to be coming around?"
No. He did not stay around. I'm positive he didn't follow me back. I would have sensed him.
"That makes sense. I did not see your mother with a male of your species either," Smith replied. "The mother must raise her cubs alone. But, never fear, Smith is here. We'll raise your cubs together." Smith clasped his hands together and gleefully announced, "I'm going to be a grandfather!"
It seemed kind of odd that the two of them were trying to piece together the habits of her species. Artemis' mother was not there to teach her and Smith had not had a chance to observe her species other than the rare and terrifying encounters he'd had. As they had with everything they'd encountered before, they'd figure it out together.
