Artemis awoke to find Smith and the cubs sound asleep. Deimos was curled up on the doctor's chest, his tiny head nestled underneath Smith's whiskered chin. Aurora and Nyx were each sleeping soundly, one in the crook of each arm. The cubs' sleepy purring mingled with Smith's light snores. Artemis got the impression that all four had simply tired each other out, which was fairly close to the truth.

The cubs stirred as they were awoken by their mother. Gently, she picked each of them up and placed them on the small bed Smith had made for them. She nudged Smith, who slowly opened his eyes. After he regained awareness, he jumped, startled by the fact the cubs were gone.

Relax. They're on their bed.

The tension in Smith's features visibly melted away as he spotted the furry pile a few feet away. The doctor stifled a yawn, stretched, and stood up. Looking after one little cub was a difficult task. Three would be a full time job. He stood there staring, as if wondering what he was going to do.

I wasn't that difficult to look after, was I?

Smith laughed. "Do you really want an honest answer to that?"

The doctor sighed and retrieved his spear that was propped up against the wall.

Hunting?

"Well, someone has to do it if we want to eat. And the little ones need their mother," Smith reasoned. "However, if they grow as fast as you did, in a few short weeks they'll be joining us on the hunt."

Be careful, she cautioned.

"I fully intend to, my dear," Smith said as he left.

Don yawned and gratefully accepted the mug of coffee Judy offered.

"I thought you might need this," she explained.

"Yeah," he yawned again. "Long shift tonight."

"How much longer until we reach the planet?" Judy asked.

"Six, maybe eight, weeks. I'll have to calculate our fuel consumption and adjust our speed accordingly," Don answered.

Judy stared out the window, a finger thoughtfully resting upon her chin.

"What are you thinking about?" Don inquired.

"Just wondering if he's ok," Judy replied.

"If he's survived this long without us, he'll be around when we get back," the Major reassured.

"I hope so. It hasn't been the same without him."

"Well," Don laughed, "there are upsides and downsides to that."

Judy rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," Don apologized. "Old habits die hard."

Judy sat down in the other flight chair. "You know, I was thinking, before Kai forced us to leave, I could have spent some more time on that planet. At first appearance, it seemed like most of the barren planets we've visited, but it had more varied life than we'd seen before."

"Yeah, Will, Penny, and your father would have loved to have done more surveys, that's for sure," Don added. "There's a good chance they'll get their wish, too. We'll need some time to stock up on deutronium and inspect the ship again, make sure our repairs are still holding. We could be there a month or more."

"And to search for Doctor Smith," she reminded.

"That too," Don covered her hand with his to reassure her.

Like their mother before them, the three cubs grew rapidly. As soon as they were weaned off their mother's milk, Smith gladly turned over hunting duties to Artemis as he minded her young. True to their nature, they ran Smith ragged, getting into anything and everything.

"Deimos, I don't think your sister appreciates you nibbling on her ear," Smith attempted to separate the two. "Aurora, no. Stay away from that."

Aurora, like her siblings, was headstrong and curious, not likely to obey Smith's commands. They hadn't yet established the connection their mother had with the doctor and, therefore, didn't exactly understand him. Not that understanding him would've kept them from doing what they wanted.

Smith swept Aurora up just as she was about to tumble into the hot springs, only to see Nyx dash through his legs and plunge into the water.

Smith froze, unsure if he should set Aurora down first or immediately dive in after her sister. In that moment of hesitation, he saw another dark figure cannonball into the water. Deimos and his sister paddled around in the pool as if they were born to it. Aurora squirmed in Smith's arms, wanting to join her siblings. The doctor gently set her in the water and she happily swam out to greet the other cubs, as they swam around triumphantly in circles.

"Well, if I can't beat them, might as well join them," Smith told himself. He stripped off his clothes and lowered himself into the warm waters.

When Artemis returned with her kill for the day, she found the three cubs circling Smith and taking turns going in for the "attack". In response, Smith would splash them in defense and put up a fuss, much like their natural prey would.

Smith turned to see her watching the spectacle and smiled. "This was the easiest way to keep them occupied," he explained.

Deimos, thinking Smith was preoccupied with his mother, went in for the kill, only to be scooped up and perched on Smith's shoulder. He grabbed his sisters, one in each arm and deposited them on land. Deimos leaped off the doctor's shoulder and joined his sisters. The three shook water off themselves vigorously, inadvertently showering the doctor as he attempted to leave the pool.

He could feel Artemis' mental laughter and endured it good-naturedly. Soon, the cubs would be big enough to start learning to hunt and he'd have help minding them.

"The planet should be on long range sensors soon, Don," the Professor commented.

"I'm keeping an eye out," the Major confirmed. "Any time now." He glanced at the older man and could tell he was exhausted. "Why don't you head to bed and I'll wake you if I see anything?"

The Professor yawned. "Normally, I'd fight you on that, but I'm just too exhausted. I'll be back to relieve you in 6 hours."

"Aye, aye, captain," Don grinned.

Don's shift was uneventful for the first few hours. During one of his sensor checks, a blip suddenly appeared that hadn't been there before. He watched it vigilantly, not ready to alert John yet, but ready to do so if needed.

In the next hour, the Major determined the "blip" was changing course periodically. It couldn't be a natural celestial object. It had to be a ship of some kind. He decided John should know about it.

Don went to the lower deck and knocked lightly on the door of the Professor's cabin. A few seconds later, Maureen slid the door open.

"Don? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing... yet. Seems to be a ship out there and I thought I'd better tell John," the Major replied.

"A ship?" Maureen asked. "Are you sure?"

"Reasonably sure," Don confirmed as Maureen woke John.

John threw on a robe and followed Don to the upper deck.

"I don't have it on visual yet, just long range sensors, but it's there. It's made course corrections," Don explained.

John studied the display and agreed with the Major's assessment.

"If we've seen them, they've likely seen us," John stated.

"I think maybe we should give them a wide berth," Don suggested.

"If they'll let us. Looks like they've made another course correction," John pointed at the screen, "and they're headed this way."

"So, the question of the day is... do we wait to see what they'll do or do we get the hell out of here?" Don pondered.

"Judging from the immense speed," the Professor said as his finger traced the path of the alien ship on the console, "I don't think we can outrun them."

"If they have weapons, we're in trouble," Don stated.

The Professor turned on the radio transmitter and grabbed the mic. He hesitated a moment, saying a quick prayer this was the best course of action, and announced, "This is the Jupiter 2. We are from Earth and are on a peaceful mission. Please identify yourself."

The radio crackled and a string of alien sounds came through the speaker. The Professor listened intently for a few moments, then motioned to Don, "Go get the Robot." Without question, Don darted down the ladder to the lower deck to retrieve the Robot.

The Professor kept talking to the aliens, despite not knowing what they were saying. Soon, the Robot and Don arrived on the upper deck, followed by Maureen.

"Robot, can you translate?" the Professor asked.

"Affirmative," Robot replied. "The language is Vilkaian."

"Kai's people?" the Professor asked, as his heart seemed to drop into his stomach.

"Affirmative. They are searching for one of their vessels. This area was one of its last known positions," the Robot explained.

"Must be Kai's ship they're looking for," Don suggested.

"That is a logical assumption," the Robot replied.

"Maybe if we tell them where to find it, we can avoid any hostilities," the Professor thought aloud.

"John, if Smith is still alive, they'd get there long before we could. I don't know if I feel comfortable with that."

The Professor nodded. That was his concern as well.

"Robot, reply to them and tell them we are returning to look for one of our family members and that he is stranded on a planet where we saw a crashed ship," the Professor ordered.

The Robot complied. "They request coordinates to the planet. If they can confirm it is the ship they are looking for, they will assist in finding Doctor Smith."

The Professor released the breath he was holding, relieved by the alien's response. "Don, give Robot the coordinates."

"John, you're the commander of this mission and I will obey your order, but might I remind you that Kai was very cooperative until he had us where he wanted us."

"I know," the Professor replied. He stroked his chin, mulling over the situation as if it was a chess game, plotting his moves against their possible moves. "Robot, ask them for reassurances that our family member won't be harmed if they find him."

The Robot transmitted the Professors request and reported, "They say they will provide sustenance, shelter, and any medical care he may require if they find him. However, they cannot guarantee he is still alive if, indeed, that was their ship on the planet and if there were any survivors of the crash. That ship was full of hardened criminals on their way to a distant Vilkaian penal colony. In addition, recovery of the ship and any prisoners is their first priority."

The Professor and Major stared at each other in shock. "That explains a lot," the Professor said after a few moments. "Robot, tell them we are positive that is their ship. Tell them there was at least one survivor and he attempted to kill us all and steal our ship."

"They are not surprised," the Robot replied. "They send their deepest regrets and wish to compensate us for any damages or hardships we may have experienced at Kai's hands."

"Well, that's encouraging," John said.

"Robot, here are the coordinates," the Major said, as he transmitted them to the Robot from the console.

"Transmit to the Vilkai ship," the Professor ordered.

"Transmission complete. The Vilkaian captain sends his thanks and asks if we would like assistance to reach the planet faster than our technology allows," the Robot relayed.

"How would they do that?" Don asked.

"They have offered to tow us with a tractor beam," the Robot answered.

"That sounds great," Don replied, "but are we sure it won't harm the Jupiter2?"

"They say they have towed more primitive ships than ours with no problem."

"Gee, thanks," Don laughed. "Well, looks like the fastest point between here and finding out Smith's fate is hitching a ride."

"Being towed would save us approximately 2 weeks of travel time," the Robot continued. "We should arrive there in about a month."

"Robot, tell the Vilkai we accept and give them our thanks," the Professor requested.

"Message transmitted."

The cubs grew as quickly as their mother had and, as Smith had predicted, they were soon ready to join them on a hunt.

Artemis was a much better teacher than Smith had been, so he watched as she demonstrated her technique to the young ones. He laughed as Nyx and Aurora chased after the pheasant-like birds, jumping into the air, only to miss their targets, and tumble to the ground. Artemis jumped gracefully into the air and snagged one of the birds in flight. When she landed, the female cubs each tried to get at the bird, but their mother led them on a chase, turning and dodging to keep the bird out of their reach. This helped to hone their hunting instincts and agility. She continued until the cubs seemed to tired and then dropped the kill to let them have a taste.

Meanwhile, Deimos practiced stalking, crawling with his belly close the ground as he approached his prey. When he was close enough, he pounced.

"AHH!" Smith jumped, startled by Deimos' attack. He detached the cub from his leggings and picked him up. "That was an excellent attack, my boy. Howsomever, I am not prey. Follow your mother. She'll show you how it's done." As the doctor set the ambitious cub on the ground, he felt the small tickle of laughter in his mind. "You rowdy rapscallion," he mumbled as he patted the cub's rear to get him going into the tall grass after his mother.

The cubs were quick learners and within a few weeks, they were regularly contributing fresh meat to the family's larder, though Smith often had to wrestle a kill away from the cubs, which wasn't easy given how much they'd grown. He'd slice off generous portions to keep the cubs occupied and store the rest for later.

With the days growing longer, migrating animals returned, providing more prey. During one hunt, Smith and the cats froze as a distant rumbling was heard and felt. It seemed to be traveling towards them. Within a few moments, the elephantine creatures thundered past them, heading toward pastures to graze. The doctor turned to watch the herd pass. Suddenly, he found himself lifted off the ground and held in mid air. The next second he was being placed on the back of one of the alien creatures.

Artemis heard Smith's yelp and approached the pachyderm, growling a warning. The cubs followed their mother's lead. Smith laughed and reassured her he was fine. An old friend. Artemis nodded in understanding and her tensed muscles relaxed.

"My, you've grown," he said as he patted the young pachyderm's head. "It's nice to see you've survived the winter." Smith squirmed on his perch as he looked around, trying to figure out how he was going to get down. "I don't mean to put a damper on our little reunion, but I suffer from acute acrophobia."

As if sensing what the doctor was saying, the young pachyderm kneeled so Smith could easily slide off his back. The doctor eagerly took the opportunity to return to solid ground. After another pat on his hide, the pachyderm trumpeted and wandered off to join his herd in the tall grass.

Did you rescue him too? Artemis asked.

Not exactly. I fed him when he was hungry once. In turn, he rescued me from... Smith paused for a moment, reliving memories that had led to his being stranded and the fate of his family being unknown.

Artemis could sense his sudden change in mood and didn't pry. The cubs did too. Aurora circled him, weaving in and out between his legs. Smith picked her up with a groan. "My dear, soon you and your siblings will be too heavy for my delicate back to handle."

The Vilkaian ship contacted the Jupiter 2 as they approached the planet. "We will be disabling the tractor beam shortly before entering the planet's atmosphere."

"Acknowledged," Don answered.

The Robinsons and Major West felt the ship slow considerably as the tractor beam was disengaged. The Vilkaian ship shot ahead as the planet finally came into view.

After another successful day of hunting, Smith and the cats dined outside around a campfire. With full bellies, Artemis and the cubs napped lazily in the warmth of the fire while Smith, fingers laced behind his head, gazed up at the stars deep in thought. Suddenly, a fireball appeared in the sky. A meteorite, he thought. Then, he saw it change course. Alarmed, he stood up and grabbed his spear, even though a primitive weapon like that would be nothing compared to the technologically advanced weapons with which an invading alien would be armed.

The ship slowed and passed directly overhead as it navigated in the direction of Kai's downed ship. A hollow feeling grew in the pit of Smith's stomach. Instinctively, he knew Kai's people had come looking for him. He awoke the cats and urged them into the cave.

Artemis was confused, but obeyed and rounded up the cubs. In the commotion of retreating into the cave, Smith missed the second fireball signaling the entry of the Jupiter 2, which headed toward its original landing site.