Chapter 7: Assignment: Classified
"All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned."
The Blue Box had finally arrived at the scheduled time and place, giving the three Elements a feeling of immediate relief. A tall, grey-haired man stepped out of the Blue Box, and said, "Your lot doesn't usually want anything to do with me. So this must be very unofficial, or very important, or both."
"Both." The compact blond man replied with a quick nod.
"This goes beyond the normal – or what passes for normal - for all of us," said the attractive blonde woman. "Did you bring something to keep it in, Doctor?"
"Yes, of course." The Doctor produced a small box. "This is linked to the TARDIS' power-source, and will provide complete temporal containment and stasis."
Steel nodded. "Lead?" The black giant beside him opened his cupped hands to reveal a small globe of bright white light. "I froze it as best I could," Steel went on, "but as soon as Lead stops insulating it, it will start to thaw. We have to be quick!"
The Doctor proffered the box, Lead gently placed the globe within and The Doctor snapped it shut. "Done!" He said. "A whole section of Time sealed away. Did you clear up after yourselves?"
Sapphire said, "After Steel removed the unstable segment, I pulled the ends together and Radium sealed it. Only one of us Elements or one of you Time Lords would be aware of the join. The only other person who will know is this witch Cora."
"Don't worry about Cora," said The Doctor grimly. "She and I had a bit of a chat just before I came here."
"How did that go?" said Steel raising an eyebrow.
"Interesting, to say the very least," replied The Doctor. "I landed the TARDIS in her throne room in Wonderland. The moment I stepped out, she apparated straight over to me in a puff of purple smoke, and then she plunged her hand into my chest and tried to take my heart – one of them, anyway.
"But when she felt a second heart beating against the back of the hand she had in my chest, I cautioned her that unless she is able to rip-out both hearts with one hand, that she would be on the receiving end of my Sonic Sunglasses. She then decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and she told me everything . . . ."
"What did she say, then?" said Sapphire.
The Doctor shrugged. "Only that she had been paid a visit by an emissary of an individual or organisation that wanted her to assist them, and in return, that she would have a new daughter to replace the one that she lost. At first, she had thought that she had succeeded. But then the Robinsons decided at the last minute to use the magic beans to travel to their original destination instead of using them for rescuing their daughter, Penny. That threw a mild spanner into the works, to say the least.
"Cora tried to take Maureen Robinson's heart to use in a spell that would have ensured Penny's cooperation. But the moment she took her eyes off of the girl, Penny attacked her from behind with a candlestick, rendering her unconscious.
"And that is when our mysterious emissary appeared again, and revived Cora; ostensibly to assist her in stopping the Robinsons from leaving Wonderland with "her" daughter. Cora then apparated onto the sky island where the Robinsons had landed just as their ship was leaving Wonderland. Cora tried to stop them with magic. But when the force-fields on the Jupiter 2 proved effective against her magic, Cora then tried to cast a dream-spell on the portal the Robinsons had made in the sky using a rocket-launched magic bean; a spell that would give Penny endless, reoccurring nightmares of never finding love.
"But the force fields of the Jupiter 2 also prevented that spell from reaching Penny. What actually happened is that our Mysterious Players rerouted the Robinson family on a little side trip to Storybrooke, Maine, circa 2014; where Penny Robinson would meet her Fairy Tale Prince, Henry Mills. But because her family would not be able to remain in Storybrooke, Henry would experience his Lost, First Love before he was supposed to."
Steel said, "Magic isn't my field of expertise. But it is my understanding that once the destination of a magic bean portal has been fixed, no magic can change it."
"Quite so," said The Doctor. "No magic can change it. But our Mysterious Players did not use magic; they used highly advanced teleportation technology. The Robinsons actually did get to their universe's version of Alpha Centauri for a moment. But then they went through another portal just behind it that took them straight to Storybrooke."
The Doctor then looked at the small screen on the temporal containment unit, where a boy and a girl in their early teens were sharing a strawberry milkshake with two straws at a table in an old-fashioned diner, lost in each other's eyes. "It's too bad. Prince Henry Mills and Penny Robinson do make a very cute couple.
"But then, Henry would not have been usable as a source of the all-important Tears of a Lost, First Love, when he and his family journey to Camelot a few months from now. And Merlin would have remained trapped in tree-form, unable to fulfill the role he must if time is to continue on its correct path."
"Which only begs the question," said Sapphire thoughtfully. "Who would have wanted Merlin to remain trapped and unable to participate in the events-to-come?"
"Nimue, perhaps?" offered The Doctor. "Whatever else one may say about her; she did, and probably still does love Merlin on some level. Maybe she wanted to keep him safe?"
Sapphire shook her head. "The Dark Ones are not known for being subtle. "Maybe your old friend, The Master?"
"He's not exactly subtle, either," said The Doctor, shaking his head. "The, ahem, "Ladies" of the Bene Gesserit, maybe? After all, subtlety is their middle name."
Steel said, "They would be more likely to send one of their own to seduce Prince Henry Mills, thus ruining him for Violet, daughter of Sir Morgan, when he finally meets her in Camelot."
"Possibly . . . ," allowed The Doctor. "But Fairy Tale boys – even as horny teenagers – are more interested in finding True Love than simply "getting laid." For them, sex without True Love is an empty thing."
"And they are the only teenage boys in the entire Multiverse who may make that claim," said Sapphire dryly. "But if not the Dark Ones, or The Master, or the Bene Gesserit; then who . . . ?"
Steel shook his head. "Dormammu, perhaps? Or the Vorlons, or the Ori, or possibly even the Suliban?"
"For that matter," added Sapphire. "How may we be certain that keeping Merlin confined was their ultimate goal? The young werewolf was not supposed to be in Storybrooke by the time the Robinsons first arrived. This would suggest that our Mysterious Players began their meddling earlier than we may imagine. Perhaps keeping Merlin confined was not their actual objective?"
Steel said, "You know, we may not know their ultimate motive until our Mysterious Players actually choose to reveal themselves."
"Let's hope," said The Doctor. "That by then, it won't be too late . . . ."
Henry Mills did not remember how he ended up in the large, luxurious mansion that had come to Storybrooke as part of the most recent curse. But as he explored it, room by room, he could find no clue as to who it might belong to. Not that he was actually looking for any clues as to whom the mansion might belong to. He was mostly trying to figure out how to help his moms – especially Regina – find their Happy Ending.
Then, at the end of a long corridor, Henry Mills noticed a flaw in the otherwise pristine house. A light sconce seemed to be hanging loose. And when Henry tried to see if he could put it back in place, the wall opened up to a room full of books . . . .
The End . . . ?
Author's Afterthoughts
Spoiler Alert: This section mentions plot elements revealed in OUAT Season 5. If you have not seen OUAT Season 5 yet, you may want to skip this part.
This story almost did not get finished. Or, rather, it ran a very real risk of being consigned to the "Alternate Universe" sub-category of Fan Fiction. Please let me explain.
When I started this "Once Upon A Time" / "Lost in Space" crossover project, I immediately knew that I wanted it to be a Two-Parter. Part One would be with "Once Upon A Time in Wonderland," where the Robinson family would have a run-in with Cora, the Queen of Hearts. Part Two would be a crossover with "Once Upon A Time," and would be set in Storybrooke.
For Part Two, I wanted four things. First, I wanted to treat the different genres of Fairy Tales and Science Fiction as though they were different ethnicities. Second, I wanted a scheme between Dr. Smith and Mr. Gold. Third, I wanted Judy to get some competition for Don from the sassy Ruby Lucas. And lastly, I wanted to "ship" Henry Mills with Penny Robinson, as it was about time for Henry (and Penny, too, for that matter,) to have a "love interest."
I also had details that I wanted to include for comic relief. I knew that I wanted to have Henry get Will to watch "Interstellar," and later, to play "Candy Crush," to distract him as Henry and Penny spent some time together. I wanted Henry and Penny to share a milkshake with two straws like a young couple in an old movie. I wanted John and Maureen to have some time to themselves. And I wanted Penny and Judy to become big fans of Taylor Swift.
But over everything else was an unspoken, fourth requirement that I apply to all of my Fan Fiction projects: that my story would be able to fit within the established canon of BOTH main storyverses without interfering with either.
When I started this project, "Once Upon A Time" Season 4 was almost half way over. I decided to set the story within a slightly modified Chapter 4, Episode 14; between the time that Elsa, Anna and Kristoff left for Arendelle, and the time when Belle drove Rumple over the town line. When finished, OUAT would continue without my story having any impact on its canon, both established and yet-to-be established. Then Season 5 of OUAT started, and that is where my problems REALLY began.
First, Henry got a girlfriend in Season 5.
No problem, I thought. In fact, I had expected it to happen sooner rather than later. But when I began my plot layout, I could not have foreseen just how important it would be for the OUAT plot for Henry's in-canon girlfriend, Violet, to be his "Lost, First Love." So, if it was Violet, it could not have been Penny Robinson. But I had already posted Part One, "Penny in Wonderland," in its entirety, and the first chapter of "When Henry Met Penny." Because of this, I got "Jossed" even before I could post Chapter 2, which had to be extensively modified to take details revealed in Season 5 into account.
And just when I thought that it was safe to return to the keyboard, I find out that Ruby Lucas was not even supposed to be in Storybrooke in Season 4; not just that she had no on-screen time. And I did not want to leave the confrontation between Judy and Ruby out of my story. "Jossed" again.
I am deeply indebted to two fellow hobbyists on this site, Argonaut 57 and horacethepig, without whose help I could not have finished this story.
The first half of Chapter 7 was Argonaut57's idea to save my story and keep it within established canon. It honestly did not occur to me to bring in a third and fourth franchise ("Dr. Who" and "Sapphire and Steel,") to help out without resorting to going A/U or using a timeworn trope such as, "It was all a dream . . . ."
And horacethepig helped me by giving me numerous suggestions. The part where Dr. Whale initially befriends Dr. Smith as a fellow expatriate from a "more civilized realm" of fiction than the medieval residents from Fairy Tale Land, was his suggestion, as was the Robinson's reaction to Dr. Whale's comments in re Henry and Penny.
I cannot thank Argonaut57 and horacethepig enough for their assistance. If you have yet to read any of their works, please do so ASAP. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
Naturally, I had to use the Original TV Series to write this story. The less I say about the 1998 movie version of "Lost in Space," the better. Though I did use Major West's famous line, "And the monkey flips the switch," in Part 1, "Penny in Wonderland," because I thought that it fit perfectly. But that was about all that I could use. Also, I wanted the original Will and Penny because I thought the contrast between 2014 Storybrooke and the 1997 as envisioned in 1965 would make for a lot of humor. Besides, if I had attempted to use the movie cast, I think that Lacey Chabert's Penny Robinson would have eaten Jared Gilmore's Henry Mills ALIVE!
Finally, I hope that I had depicted Will only as an overprotective younger brother from a family show of the early 1960's. But because I was doing some experimental, post-modern writing with this story by treating genre as ethnicity, I am afraid that I may have inadvertently had Will Robinson come off as something of a bigot. That was not my intention. I hope that I was able to convey that much by showing Will's inner thoughts. But if you think that I went too far, please let me know.
Well, there it is. I finally wrote a "Lost in Space" story. I hope that everyone likes it. And if not, I hope that they will at least take the time to leave me with some constructive criticism.
In any event, thank you for reading.