Last week, as you recall, the Robinsons were visited by an alien whom Dr. Smith was convinced was the devil himself, but the man was a political prisoner who had taken a shine to Judy, causing problems between her and Don. Professor Robinson and Major West rescued Judy from a lifetime in prison with the alien, and Judy emerged with a new found appreciation for Major West and her entire family. Will and Dr. Smith were about to encounter another alien species that had evil intentions towards Earth…
Wreck of the Robot (Written by Barney Slater)
As John was reluctantly helping Maureen with the laundry, Will and Dr. Smith came running into camp with the Robot and reported their alien encounter while bowling. The Robot informed the Robinsons that the aliens wanted to take possession of him, but he had no idea why they wanted him. He was convinced, however, that their intentions were sinister. The Robot offered to give himself up to the aliens, but Maureen balked at his suggestion. "Oh, you'll do no such thing. Now, you're part of this family. And what happens to you happens to all of us."
The family gathered for dinner and shared their experiences of the day. Dr. Smith could not contain his fear that they were in deadly peril from the aliens that he and Will had encountered. "They said that we could never get away from them and that our fate was already sealed," Will explained.
"What could they mean by that?" Penny asked.
"I hope we never find out," Judy stated.
"Now, we're perfectly safe inside the ship," Maureen said.
"But from now on, we stay armed and travel outside in pairs," John commanded.
"Little good that will do us, professor. We're doomed, I tell you. The Saticons will not leave until they have us under their power," Dr. Smith commented.
"Dr. Smith, as I told you today, we'll be fine. And it's almost time for dessert! How did your student do today, Don?" Maureen asked.
Don stood. "I'll let you judge for yourself." He brought the pie over and let Judy do the honors of passing it out.
John took a bite and told Judy, "This is excellent."
"Well, I had a good teacher," she said.
Don winked at Judy and Penny rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. They made goo-goo eyes at each other the whole time. If I wasn't there to keep them focused, the pie would never have been made."
The children were asleep and Judy was in the shower when Dr. Smith snuck into the galley for what was left of the pie. A whirring noise frightened him and he hurried to Don and John, who were playing a game of chess. "The aliens are attacking!" Dr. Smith cried, but Don explained that the sound was the new oxygen unit he installed on the purification system. John further explained that the sound would decrease with some use.
He reached for a chess piece to make his next move when a voice was heard saying, "Professor Robinson." John looked at his chess piece that seemed to be speaking to him.
"They're here in this room," Smith commented.
"Do not look for us, Professor Robinson," the voice stated.
"Doomed! We're doomed," Smith lamented.
The voice ordered John to come to them so they could speak with him in person. If he refused, the voice stated that they would seek him out and find him. Despite Maureen and Smith's warnings to stay put, he decided to go. He stood and left the table. Don said that John was right and that he would go with him. John brought a laser pistol to Don and they proceeded to corral Dr. Smith into coming with them, since he knew the location of the alien camp.
Judy came out of the lavatory and looked around. "Where is everybody? I thought Dad and Don were playing chess," she asked.
"They've gone off to talk with the Saticons," Maureen explained.
"What! That could be dangerous!"
"I know, and I'm just as worried as you are, but if they didn't go to the aliens, the aliens would have come to us."
"Oh, Mom," Judy said as she sat down. "Did Dr. Smith go with them?"
Maureen nodded.
"Now I'm really worried," Judy commented.
"Don promised they'd be careful. Why don't we continue their chess game until they come back."
It wasn't long before the men returned. "What happened?" Maureen asked.
"They offered to buy the Robot from us," John explained.
"And you should have agreed, Professor," Dr. Smith stated.
"We can't give them the Robot, Dr. Smith," Judy said. "We need him. And besides, he's like part of the family. Why it would be like turning you over to them."
"If they wanted Smith, I would have agreed in a heartbeat," Don said. Judy shot him a warning look, and he threw up his hands. "Just kidding… almost."
Judy was about to admonish him again, but the twinkle in his eye stopped her. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"Stay alert and armed," John said. "We'll do all we can to protect the Robot."
"Dear Joan,
Our Robot has been acting very strangely since these aliens have expressed an interest in him. He is actually showing fear, which I'm sure wasn't programmed into him. It's almost like he's becoming human. Dr. Smith called him a 'quivering quintessence of fear' and wanted to turn him over to the aliens. He's always been mean to the Robot. The rest of us feel that the Robot is part of the family. He's not just a machine anymore.
Don and I have been getting along much better. We've promised to spend more time with each other and I almost feel like we're back to where we were when we were dating. We haven't spoken about the future, though, but we will in time. And, no, we haven't gotten physically closer, at least not yet. That will not be an easy thing to do on this tiny space ship."
There was a knock on her door and Don stood there, with a charming smile. "Want to get away for a little while?" he asked her.
"Sure. What do you have in mind?"
"How about music… me… and a mid-evening snack under the stars?"
"What about the Saticons?"
"I already talked to your Dad about it and we agree that, since they're after the Robot, not us, we should be safe. Besides, I told him that, since the Hades incident, we needed more time alone. He was very supportive, but we have to be back by midnight."
They drove towards the blue mountains that were several miles away from the Jupiter. With the full moon, the mountains cast long shadows that, to Judy, were more ominous than welcoming. After traveling for awhile, Judy asked, "Don, just where are we going?"
"There's a spot just near the first ridge that has great acoustics," he replied.
"Acoustics? What? Are we auditioning for some sort of intergalactic play?"
He laughed, "Oh, no… not with my voice. You, on the other hand…"
"I don't have to go to the mountains to sing, Don."
"Well, you don't do any singing around here, so I thought that you might need a little incentive."
"Nobody wants to hear me sing…"
"I do… in fact… I'm going to be your recording engineer. I borrowed your tape machine and I figured out how to do a two track recording. I asked Penny for a selection from some of your CD's, re-recorded the songs on one of the two tracks, lowered the vocals, and it's ready for you… instant karaoke. Ah, we're here." After unloading the equipment, Don encouraged Judy. "Go ahead, try it out."
She was uncomfortable at first. "All right." She sang a scale and heard it reverberate among the rocks.
"Well? What do you think?"
"Uh, I don't know. I wasn't listening."
"Judy… I'm being serious here… Ok, you listen and I'll sing…" He sang the first few lines of Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." and Judy was impressed.
"Wow! Even you sound good."
"See? Now, how about starting with "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas?"
After several more numbers, Judy's voice was in heavenly condition. "Can we try one more?" she asked. "This time I want you to sing with me."
She started singing Sting's "If Ever I Lose My Faith in You," and Don joined in the chorus. Judy stopped singing at the beginning of the second verse, letting Don take over, "Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world…" She joined in again with, "If I ever lose my faith in you. There'd be nothing left for me to do…"
When they were finished, Judy threw her arms around Don. "You aren't a bad singer, you know that?" she told him.
"Nah, you just made me sound good."
"Wasn't it you who said, 'We make a great team?'"
He held her close. "You know, I think it was." They kissed and he murmured, "Let's get more comfortable."
After laying out the blanket and snacks, they lay down and settled on their elbows, facing each other. "So, what are you going to do with the tape we just made?"
"I'm going to dub it onto a CD and then I'll always have you within ear's length. Who knows, maybe my next job will be as your manager."
"And what's the title of this CD?"
"How about 'Love of My Life?'"
She laughed, "If you're hoping to sell it at our next planetary stop, I think we should call it, 'Love Songs from an Alien World.'"
"We can call it whatever you want, as long as you're still singing it to me…"
Don unwrapped their snack and took out a brownie, holding it out to her. Instead of taking it from him, she leaned closer and bit the edge seductively. It didn't matter that they were only eating brownies and drinking iced tea. Feeding each other had its aphrodisiac effects. Before long, the food was tossed aside and they were in each others' arms. This was the first time they had had the luxury of being truly alone for more than a few minutes since they'd been in space and they took full advantage of it… well, partial advantage… Their hands roamed over and under and around the curves and creases of their clothes. As was their usual routine, Don pulled back first to cool down their ardor. He let out a long breath. "If I had a passion meter on my forehead, the needle would be waving wildly in the red zone."
"I wish you'd get wild more often."
"Ha, that's what you say now, but…" Judy placed her hand in a very sensitive spot and he moaned and he removed her hand.
"Let me, please?" she asked him.
"No."
"Don, it's time we became physically closer."
"I know… You're right, but… I think I'm the one who's not sure this time."
"We love each other, so what are you not sure about?"
"How far to go…"
"How about anything short of blowing the toy trumpet?"
Don didn't need time to consider that suggestion. "Oh, no… I can't promise to control myself if we go that far."
"Ok, so the clothes stay on, but we let our hands roam wherever they want to go."
He took her hand and kissed it. "Feel away, love…"
Some time later, they lay together on the blanket, still clothed, but satisfied. Even back in Galveston, they hadn't been this physically close. Don thought about pulling the edges of the blanket over them, but it was so warm and he felt… happily drained. He kissed her forehead and before long, both were asleep.
The family gathered for breakfast the next day and John noticed that both Judy and Don glowed with the undeniable look of satisfaction. He caught Maureen's eye and raised his eyebrows as if posing a question and Maureen shrugged her shoulders. Before he could ask them about their date, Will ran out of the Jupiter and announced that the Robot was nowhere to be found. "What do you think happened to him?" Penny asked.
"I believe the Saticons took him," John stated.
"You mean they came into the space ship during the night?" Will asked.
Don looked at Judy. If they had returned by midnight, as he had planned, he would have caught them. As it was, they had returned in the early hours of the morning. Neither had noticed that the Robot was missing because they snuck back into their rooms as quickly and quietly as they could.
"How did they do that without waking anyone?" Maureen asked.
"I don't know, Maureen, but Don and I are going to get him back."
"I'll go get our laser guns," Don said, as he and the children left the table. Judy went with him and they both sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness my parents didn't ask us any questions, Don. Do you think we got away with getting in so late?"
"I don't know, but whatever the fallout is… it was worth it," Don replied with a wink.
"Dear Joan,
Our Robot was taken by the Saticons, and Dad and Don went to get him back, but all they could bring back was his head. Penny and Will are so upset. They feel as if their best friend has died. I miss him too and it's so sad to just see his head sitting on the table. Don played a nasty trick on Dr. Smith, but I had to admit that it was funny. He took the head and put it on a rock. We hid behind it and Don talked as if he was the 'spirit of the Robot.' Dr. Smith bought it for a few minutes, but he figured it out. I told him it was a mean thing to do, but I still laughed.
Don and I are finally making some progress, but we've got a long way to go before we blow the toy trumpet. Oh, Joan, I wanted to do more so badly, but we both knew it wasn't the right time yet. Don't ask me why because I'm not sure I could answer that except to say that neither one of us would have been able to face my parents the next day. It would have been written all over our faces. As it was, I saw Mom and Dad exchange a 'look' and I knew they were wondering what had gone on between us, but it really isn't any of their business, now is it?"
The rest of the Robot had been returned in hundreds of pieces. Don and John worked through the night to get it back together. Maureen called them in for breakfast. They needed the break.
"Do you think he'll be the same as before?" Judy asked.
"Are you questioning our mechanical ability?" Don teased.
"No, I'm questioning your ability to follow directions."
"For your information, young lady, I read the manual forwards and backwards before we started," John stated.
"Oh, I'm sure you did Dad, but how many pages did Don read?"
"Hey, I'm a natural!" Don retorted. "That's why we gave the job of finishing up to Will."
"I wish Will would have eaten before working on the Robot," Maureen stated.
"I'll get him to come in, Mom. I'm going to the garden," Judy volunteered.
"I'll come with you. I'm going to work on the Chariot." Don stated.
"Dear Joan,
The Jupiter's machinery seems be turning against us. The drill tried to pierce Dad's neck, the food storage units stopped working, the exercise bike almost gave Dr. Smith a heart attack, the hose compression unit tried to strangle me, the electronic stove and automatic laundry stopped working, Penny received an electrical shock every time she switched on her light and the Chariot ran on its own even after Don disconnected it's battery. Mom said that it seemed like their machinery was being controlled by someone outside the camp, and Dad agreed. It must be the Saticons. I'm afraid that the next thing that will happen is that we're going to lose all of our electrical power, so I thought I'd get my thoughts in to you before that happened.
The Robot is back together, thanks to Dad and Don working on it all night. He is even more human-like than he was before. It's fascinating how he has seemed to gradually acquire human emotion without its being programmed into him.
The Robot reported that the Saticons took him apart to see how Earth machines work. The Robot also said that they plan to rule the Earth by building a device that will control all electronic and mechanical equipment on Earth. We've got to find a way to stop them, Joan."
The family finished a cold dinner, as all of their equipment had stopped working. The sun had set and the Jupiter was now lit with candles. The children finished washing the dishes by hand, a first time experience, and tried to find something to occupy their time that didn't require electricity. Judy and Maureen kept the children occupied with the Galaxy game while Don and John tried everything they could think of to restore power, but nothing worked.
"You know, this is kind of fun," Penny acknowledged. "It's like we're really a frontier family."
"Just like Laura Ingalls," Judy commented and Penny agreed.
"Who's Laura Ingalls?" Will asked.
"Remember the book, Little House on the Prairie?" Penny asked.
"No."
Maureen chuckled as she said, "Judy, I remember rocking you in my arms when I watched the TV show years ago."
John and Don wandered in and Maureen asked them, "Any luck?"
"Nope…" Don replied.
"Oh, my. Well, I think you should start getting ready for bed, children. It'll take a bit longer tonight since we haven't any power."
"Oh, all right," Will grumbled. "You can go first, Penny, I'll clean the game up."
He put the game away and then Maureen sent him to bring Dr. Smith the last cup of coffee, after warming it over a candle. Then she and John retired to their room. Don and Judy were finally alone.
Don put his arms around her and held her close. "Are you really ok after that hose…" he started to ask.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank goodness Dad was nearby. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't come out of the Jupiter."
He kissed her forehead, rubbed her back and then smiled. "Romantic, isn't it?" he asked.
"Not as romantic as a few nights ago," Judy murmured.
He pulled at the ribbon in her hair and unleashed her ponytail. As he caressed the nape of her neck, their lips met and melded together. Judy's hand migrated to his hip and he whispered, "Do you know I love your hair down?" he asked.
"You never told me that. I'll remember that from now on… Do you think we'll get a chance to get away again?" she asked him.
"Sure… once we get this power problem solved…"
Judy left to get ready for bed and Don joined John on the upper deck. He was staring out the viewport window, worrying about their latest predicament. As they reviewed the situation, John stated, "It's gotta be destroyed, Don."
"Yeah, and right away," Don replied. As John retrieved their weapons, Don asked, "John are you gonna tell Maureen that we're going?"
"No, I don't think so. Look, we'll either get back before we're missed or…"
"We won't get back at all."
They had no idea that Maureen had heard their conversation, and Maureen played along with them when she spoke to John. They left thinking that they had protected Maureen from knowing what danger they could be placing themselves into.
Judy came off the elevator immediately after the men left and saw that her mother was troubled. "Mom? What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, Judy."
"Mother, I can see that you're upset. What happened?"
"Oh, it's your father. He and Don have gone off to try to destroy the machine that the Saticons made."
"What? Mother, they have no idea what they're getting into!"
"Oh, I'm sure they do know, Judy. I'm sure they do."
When Don and John returned to camp, along with Will and the Robot, two women awaited them, arms crossed in front of them. The men knew they had been caught. "Maureen, I, uh, I guess you know where we've been."
She nodded, but she wasn't about to make a scene in front of Will. "What happened?"
Don eyed Judy and knew he was in trouble. He explained, "The Robot destroyed the machine."
"They said that it couldn't be destroyed by man or machine," Will explained.
"However, I am neither man nor machine," the Robot explained.
"So you were able to destroy the machine?" Penny asked.
"Affirmative," the Robot replied.
"What happened to the Saticons?"
"They must have been disintegrated when their machines were ruined because all that was left were their hats and their cloaks," Will stated.
Maureen put her arm around Will. "Now you, young man, went against orders… again."
"But Mom, if the Robot and I hadn't gone, we'd still be in trouble!"
"He's right, darling," John stated.
"So I won't get punished?" Will asked.
Maureen and John exchanged looks and John knew that all was forgiven. "Not this time."
The family entered the Jupiter, but Don and Judy remained behind. "So, your mom's forgiven us… how about you?"
Judy was not going to let him off as easily as her mother had. "Don, I can't believe you went off without telling me. What happened to being honest instead of protecting each other?"
Don couldn't look her in the eye as he said, "I wanted to talk with you, Judy, but once your father decided not to tell your mother, I had to follow his lead."
"Did you now? When we were on Earth you had no trouble standing up to him."
He looked up. "Look, I didn't agree with not telling your mother and you, but things happened so quickly, I didn't get a chance to argue the point. The job had to be done."
"Suppose neither one of you had come back?"
"Judy, I don't want to argue about this. We came back and the danger's over. Can't we just leave it at that?"
"All right. We won't argue… but, just so you know, I'm still angry with you." She reentered the ship, leaving him standing alone in the darkness.
The electrical system was powered and running once again, but the temperature shot up the next day. They were in the hot season once again and the air conditioning unit of the Jupiter couldn't handle the strain. The family did what they could to keep cool and conserve their water. They'd been through this before and knew the routine.
Dream Monster (Written by Peter Packer)
Tensions were high at breakfast. Everyone was hot and irritable, except Dr. Smith. He ate quickly and left the table. Don wondered just what he was up to, but he was more concerned about Judy's silence. She had barely spoken to him since the previous night. He knew that she had yet to forgive him for going off to destroy the Saticon's machine without telling him.
Despite the tension, John ventured to speak on a topic he had set aside until the crisis with the Saticon's was over. Will excused himself from the table and went in search of Dr. Smith. Penny decided to take Debbie out for a walk.
"Bring water with you, Penny. You'll need it in this heat," Maureen called after her.
"I will," she replied.
Maureen offered John and Don a second cup of coffee and they accepted.
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you two about your date the other night. How did it go?" John asked.
"Oh, it was wonderful. Don recorded me singing enough music for an entire CD. All he has to do is transfer it from tape to disk," Judy replied.
"You must have been exhausted from all that singing," John replied.
Don could hear the Robot's voice in his head… 'Danger! Danger! Irate father alert!'
"What about you, Don? Was recording tiring?"
"Ok, where are you going with this, John?" Don asked.
"I figured it had to be… exhausting… for you not to have heard the Saticons in the ship."
"Well, you didn't hear them either, so I guess we were both out of it."
"I had a good reason to be, as you said, 'out of it.'"
"What was that?" Don asked.
John stared at him.
"John?"
John continued to just stare.
Don's face reddened. He looked at Judy, who was horrified and looked at her mother. She could see that her mother was as upset as she was. "John, I think that's more than Don and Judy need to know."
"But we're married, Maureen. Married couples make love…"
Don interrupted him, "Look, John, if you're asking how far Judy and I went that night…"
"I know you both weren't on the ship when they broke in," John stated. "You were supposed to have her back by midnight."
"I know, I'm sorry, but, believe it or not, we fell asleep," Don replied.
"That's true, Dad," Judy added.
"Fell asleep…" John placed his cup on the table and folded his hands as he addressed Don. "Look, Don… I consider you my best friend, however, you are also my daughter's suitor and I have to keep her best interests in mind."
Don could feel the heat creep up his neck and it was more than the hot sun causing his discomfort. "Are you saying that you think I would take advantage of her?" he asked. Judy placed a hand over his to calm him down. She could see that he was ready to explode.
"No, of course not..." John replied.
Don interrupted him. "Then what are you saying?"
Maureen shot John a warning look, but he continued. "Look, Don… believe me… I know what it's like to be carried away by passion. I was a victim myself."
Don looked from John to Maureen and couldn't believe what he had just heard. He felt badly that Maureen was there to hear this, but he continued. "Victim? You make it sound like you had no control over what happened."
"That's just it. We didn't." John said.
"Don't give me that crap, John! You chose not to exert control. I've been controlling myself for almost five years now. If you think I'm gonna lose it now… you don't know me very well."
"We know all too well that no one's perfect!"
Maureen decided to intervene before tempers could get any higher. "Don, you know that this is a dangerous place for Judy to become pregnant."
"I'm not perfect, but I would never put Judy in that kind of situation."
"Mother, please! There is no chance that I could be pregnant. And you know what else? Our sex life is really none of your business!"
John was not happy with his daughter's attitude. "As long as I am in command of this mission, the health of my crew is my business."
Judy stood and asked, "Since when is pregnancy an illness?"
Don placed a hand on her forearm. This was of those times when he had to stand up to John. He stared at John, obviously disappointed in his handling of the matter. "I agree with Judy that this is none of your business, but since you are interested, I'll tell you… We kept our clothes on… Now, if there's nothing else?"
John accepted Don's stare and then waved them away. Maureen dropped in the seat beside John and lamented. "I think we owe them an apology, John."
"I guess you're right. What do we do, Maureen? You know how hard it was when we were young and in love."
"We can't do anything, John. Their situation is so different from ours. They know how hard life is right now. Maybe that's enough to discourage them from…"
He nodded. "All right. I'll talk to Don and you talk to Judy."
Maureen found Judy in her room, taking out her tape player. "Judy? May I speak with you?"
Judy sighed in exasperation. "All right, come in."
"Judy you know your father and I love both you and Don and want to see you happy."
"Mom, you don't have to explain. I'm confused myself about what to do…"
"What does Don say?"
"That he's waiting for me to decide."
"It's not very fair of him to put this decision on your shoulders."
"I know… but, I am the one who's holding back."
"What's stopping you?"
"I wish I knew… "
John found Don looking at the air conditioning unit. He approached him and said, "Let me give you a hand with that."
Don was silent, but accepted his help. They took the unit out of the console and placed it on the floor. John tried to apologize. "I'm sorry I have to stick my nose into your private life, Don. If we were on Earth…"
"If we were on Earth, we would have been married by now, but we aren't… so we're not."
"You can change that, you know."
"You'll have to talk to Judy about that. You know I'm ready whenever she is," Don replied.
"I will. Let's get this on the table." Both men took a hold of the unit and John gave the word, "All right."
They place it on the table and Don commented, "Boy, what a time for the air unit to go out."
"Yeah, someone sure overloaded it," John replied.
"You know, you said that as though you think I did it."
"That wasn't my meaning. You're being a little hypersensitive, Don."
"Hypersensitive? Oh, now, look…"
Maureen stepped off the elevator and asked if either one of them had seen Penny. John offered to look for her, but Maureen told them to go on with their work. Don glanced at John and they continued to work in silence.
The air unit was fixed and air started to blow out of the vents. They placed the unit back into its compartment. Judy, Dr. Smith, Will and Penny gathered under a vent. Dr. Smith complained that he wanted more air and he turned the knob until the unit once again… died. John and Don jumped down the ladder and approached them.
"Who's been fooling with that air conditioning unit?" John asked.
Judy answered, "Oh, Dr. Smith tried to…"
Don was incensed. It had been a rough morning and his patience had hit its limit. Dr. Smith was simply the one who had sent him over the edge. "John, I've had him up to here." He waved his hand across his neck. "I can't take any more. Now, either he goes or I do!"
Maureen berated him for feeling the way he did, and Dr. Smith graciously volunteered to be the one to leave. No one replied.
"Isn't anyone going to stop me?" Smith asked.
"Well, you did volunteer to leave, didn't you?" John said.
"Yes, I did. But a few more protestations on your part would not have been amiss."
"Well, in a few days when we're all feeling a little less irritable, maybe things will change."
"Not for me, they won't," Don stated.
"Bah! Major. Oh, the pain, the pain," Smith replied. "Adieu."
"Dear Joan,
Don and I are fighting again. It seems that as soon as our relationship takes one step forward, something happens to set us two steps back. It's about the same old thing. Me, him, our parents' interference… and then he takes it out on poor Dr. Smith…
Don gave Dad an ultimatum. If Dr. Smith didn't leave camp, he would. How could he do that to him, Joan? I have half a mind to tell Don that he should be the one to leave. It's unbearably hot out there. Dr. Smith could die from heat stroke…"
Don knocked on her door before going back to the upper deck with John to repeat the job they had just completed on the air conditioning unit. "Judy, it's me. Can I talk with you?" Don asked.
"That depends… Have you calmed down?"
"Look, I'm sorry. All right? I know I've been in a rotten mood today, but…"
The intercom crackled to life. "Don? Are you coming up?" John's voice asked.
Don shook his head and turned to go back to the ladder.
Judy picked up her microphone again and continued to dictation to her cousin. "Don just stopped by to apologize. I'll accept his apology… in good time.
Oh, I meant to tell you that Penny has started up with her wild stories again. She claims to have run into a scientist named Sesmar who's built a man-like creature he named 'Raddion.' Mom thinks that her imagination ran wild because of the heat. She'll be all right once we get the air conditioning going… again."
Dr. Smith had returned to the ship after encountering Sesmar. He had manipulated his way out of being a subject for Sesmar's experiment by offering the Robinsons in his place. Sesmar agreed, but only if Smith would cooperate with him. He gave Smith the task of capturing the image of each crew member on a transpiration film so that he could place their human qualities into Raddion.
Smith succeeded and Sesmar placed the small plastic disks of each family member's transpiration plate into Sesmar. Don's was the only plate he tossed aside. The plates, however, did not have the desired effect. Sesmar theorized that human contact was needed to make the transpiration happen.
Sesmar first ran into Penny, who was glad to introduce him to the family so that they would know that she hadn't imagined him. Penny introduced him to John and Don who were still working on the unit, and then the rest of the family joined them. He took a look at the unit and diagnosed the problem. He waved a small machine, which he called a molecular replicator, over the broken part and it was magically fixed. He then gave them a transponder-interrogator that could be used in their communication system and then handed them a digitizer that would increase the efficiency of the Robot. His last gift to them was an impact predictor that would detect meteor storms.
Don was suspicious of him from the moment he walked onto the ship. "Just why are you giving us all these things?" he asked. Sesmar honestly replied that they were in payment for the transpirator images Dr. Smith had made of them. Don complained that the pictures were taken without their consent.
"Only because transpiration is more effective when the subject is unaware of its purpose," Sesmar explained.
"What purpose is that?" John asked.
"The transpiration of all your fine human qualities into Raddion," Sesmar stated and added that Raddion would like to thank them all in person. Everyone's curiosity was aroused, except for Don's. He still didn't trust Sesmar and insisted that they travel in the Chariot so that they would have its firepower at their disposal.
Once inside Sesmar's laboratory, Sesmar had Raddion shake each of the Robinson's hand and thank them for their human qualities. Raddion shook Will's hand first. Don wanted to shout at them not to touch Sesmar, but he kept quiet as Sesmar shook Will's, Judy's and then Penny's hand. When it was Maureen's turn, he tried to get her to wait, but John said that it was just a formality, and so Maureen continued. Don was angry with the whole family. He told John to meet him at the drill site and then left.
After spending hours drilling alone, Don returned to camp to find the Robot taking meteorological data, Penny and Will cutting out paper figures, and John daydreaming with his feet up and all instrumentation in the 'off' position. Don was ticked… He admonished John for no longer being the leader he once was and then left to search out Judy.
He found Judy and Maureen lounging in the lower deck couches making idle conversation. "I guess you both are on strike too?"
"What do you mean?" Maureen asked.
"No lunch?" Don asked.
"You know where the food is… make it yourself," Judy replied.
Don grabbed Judy's hand and pulled her out of the couch. "Come with me, I want to talk with you."
She followed him to the galley and he turned and asked, "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me."
"Look, Judy, I don't mind making my own meals or even doing my own laundry, but I can't stand what you and your family have become."
"What have we become? We're perfectly happy,"
"Are you? You seem like a bunch of empty shells."
"That's not true."
"Oh, yeah? Then let me see you react to this." He pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth and she barely responded. "Well?"
She shrugged, "So you kissed me…"
He let her go. "And you couldn't care less, could you?"
She shrugged again. "It doesn't matter."
He reminded himself that this wasn't 'his' Judy and stomped out of the ship. Walking away, he kicked at the sand in anger. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he had to do something to get the Robinsons back. Before he could react, Sesmar's two assistants shot a beam at him that rendered him helpless, and then led him to the laboratory.
He should have known… there was Smith with Sesmar. He started arguing with Smith and Sesmar took their transpirations, and then forced each of them to shake Raddion's hand. Sesmar realized that, in addition to the 'good' human qualities, Raddion would need the 'negative' qualities as well if he was to survive in the real universe.
Sesmar chained Don and Smith together until he could think of a use for them. Don, however, realized that the transpiration had not 'finalized' so to speak. He was just as angry as ever and Smith hadn't changed at all. Working together they were able to escape back to the Jupiter and were followed by Raddion. The Robot disabled the android and Don took the disks out of Raddion's transpiration machine and stomped on them. One by one the Robinsons came back to themselves.
Maureen walked up to her husband and commented, "I feel like I've been on a vacation from the living and have only just returned."
"So do I," John replied.
"I feel the same way," Will replied.
"Me too," Penny stated.
"Don," Judy said, "I feel as if I've hurt you in some way. Is that true?"
Don smiled and shook his head. Sesmar came to retrieve his android and said he'd have to go back to the drawing board. John called a family meeting to discuss how feelings could not be bought, sold or traded away. The meeting was held after dinner, which was hungrily gulped down as lunch had never been served. "This meeting is called to order," John stated. "It seems that all of us have been acting out of sorts lately."
"I know," Don replied, "including me. I apologize to all of you, even you, Dr. Smith, for my irritable behavior. And, uh, Smith?"
"Yes, Major," Smith replied.
"Thanks for the help in getting us out of there."
"There are times when one must put aside one's differences, and today was one of those times…"
Judy's eyes opened wide. "You and Dr. Smith worked together?"
"Well it's not like we had much of a choice," Don replied. "We were chained together, but it did take some teamwork."
"What were we like, Don?" Judy asked.
"You were all like… I don't know," Don replied, "… people without feelings like you didn't care about anything…" He looked down at his cup, "or anybody."
Judy could feel her face heat up when she caught his eye. She had hurt him. She stood and asked, "Mom, Dad, would you mind if Don and I went for a stroll?"
"Go right ahead," Maureen answered.
And John added, "I get the feeling that you two have a lot to talk about."
As they strolled to their rock, Judy asked, "What did I do, Don?"
He sat down and she nestled in front of him as always. "It wasn't what you did. It was what you didn't do. I kissed you long and hard and it was as if I was kissing a… a mannequin."
"I'm sorry, Don. How can I make it up to you?"
He grinned. "Kiss me?"
She turned and knelt in front of him and took his face in both her hands, bringing his lips towards hers. They kissed… a long, sweet kiss. And she asked, "How's that?"
"It's a start." Then he leaned forward and kissed her again. "You know your Dad and Will and I are going on an expedition tomorrow. I'll need at least one more to tide me over until we get back."
She kissed him again. "Not only that, but how about a little… touching… to keep me in your thoughts while you're away."
"Hm… where would you like me to touch you?"
"Oh, I was thinking more along the lines of me touching you…" She gently rubbed his rear and started to move around to hips. He took her wrist, brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. "I won't need any more than that to keep you with me, Judy. If I let you keep going, I'll be leaving a little bit of myself with you."
"And what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, as far as I'm concerned, but, uh, your parents' radar alarms are bound to go off."
As predicted, John had sent the Robot to find them. He wanted Don to help him pack up the Chariot so they could get an early start in the morning. Judy grumbled her displeasure, and Don added, "I told you so…" He gave her a final hungry kiss and grinned. "I'll be looking forward to our reunion when we get back."
The Golden Man (Written by Barney Slater)
The Chariot had pulled up and the women ran out to greet the returning expedition. Will hopped out and immediately started regaling Penny with descriptions of what they had seen in their travels. "Anything exciting happen around here?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Penny replied. "We just had a war."
"A war?" John exclaimed as Don and Will looked at Penny in surprise.
"Oh, it was nothing important, dear. It was just a small war," Maureen explained.
"Hardly anything," Judy added.
Before anyone else could comment Dr. Smith marched into camp training the Robot, their first line of defense should they be attacked again.
"Well, thank goodness you all survived," John stated.
"The worst thing was getting caught in the minefield," Judy said. Don's head snapped up at that comment. "But Mr. Keema carried me out."
Don jumped out of the Chariot. "Who is Mr. Keema?"
"He was the handsome golden man," Judy said.
"He wasn't handsome at all, Judy. He just made himself look that way to fool us," Penny replied.
"That's true," Judy added. "He's the one who planted the mine field, so of course he knew how to get me out."
"Now wait a minute," Don said. "A handsome golden man planted a mine field and carried you out of it, but he wasn't handsome at all?"
"No, he was an ugly alien. Not that looks matter much," Penny said.
"We were all taken in by him, except Penny. She kept a good head on her shoulders. I almost gave him all of our weapons!" Maureen stated.
"You did what?" John exclaimed.
"Well, I changed my mind, but then Dr. Smith brought them to him," Maureen said.
"Smith!" Don took a step towards him.
"Oh, but Dr. Smith saved us all, Don," Penny said. "As my little frog alien said, most people are taken in by surface looks and flattery."
"Frog alien?" Will asked.
"He was the one Mr. Keema was having a war with. He seemed mean and nasty at first, but he was really quite nice," Penny explained.
"And how did Smith save you all?" Don asked.
"Well, I ran off to warn my little alien friend about Mr. Keema having our weapons, and I brought Dr. Smith along with me," Penny stated.
"Now, now, my dear, don't embellish. You know that I am the one who insisted on warning the little frog. And after the bomb was thrown towards our alien friend, I threw caution aside, picked it up and threw it right back at Mr. Keema, and he was disintegrated."
"I don't believe it," Don stated. He looked at Penny. "Is that true?"
"Well, almost," Penny stated. "The important thing is that Mr. Keema is gone and our alien friend was able to safely return home."
"John, I have a request," Don said. "The next time you want to go on an expedition, take Smith with you. I'm staying put with the women."
Judy wanted to take Don star gazing to help celebrate their reunion, but when they reached the telescope, Dr. Smith and Will were already there. Rather than engage either one of them in conversation, Don and Judy did an 'about face' and started walking back to their 'usual' spot. "I was hoping to do something a little different with you tonight, Don. I guess I should have arranged telescope time with Will before venturing out here," Judy said.
"The only star I want to gaze at tonight is right here beside me," Don replied.
Judy curtsied and replied in a Southern accent, "Oh, my, I am charmed, sir. Whatever can I do to repay such kindness?"
"Greet your number one fan with a kiss befitting my long absence."
"I would be much obliged to do so, sir."
They stopped where they were on the path to her favorite spot. She threw her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to reach his lips. She took him by surprise, but he recovered quickly. His hands went around her waist and he drew her into his body, his arms sliding around her back to hold her close. When they pulled apart, he whistled between his teeth and then said, "So, you really missed me?"
She nodded "Even though we women were perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves."
"Except for getting out of minefields…"
"Well, yes, that, and being sure we don't succumb to the charms of other handsome men…"
"Just how 'charmed' were you with this Keema guy?"
"Oh, he had quite a way with words. He called us beautiful and gave us perfume…"
"All right, all right. And what do I have to do to help you forget about this man and his charms?"
"Take me to our favorite spot," she kissed his lips. "And let's just… explore each other."
"Ground rules?"
"Hm… anything… short of… blowing the toy trumpet"
He stared at her. "Wow, that's quite a change from the last time we were alone"
"I want to feel every inch of you, Major West, and not your clothes…"
"Hm…" He kissed her again. "So what are we waiting for?" They separated and he took her hand, but when they arrived at their private 'spot,' it was already occupied… by John and Maureen! Not wanting to disturb them, they quietly backed away and hoped that they weren't noticed. Once they were out of ear-shot, Judy started laughing and Don joined in.
"Oh, Don… I don't believe my parents… were necking at our spot!"
"Frisky, aren't they?" Don added.
Before they had fully recovered from their laughter, John and Maureen were making their way down the path. The two couples met and Don and Judy tried to recover their composure. "Don. Judy. Where are you off to?" John asked.
Don and Judy glanced at each other and tried not to start giggling again. "Well, uh, we were just going off for a walk."
"There's a beautiful spot behind a boulder about ten yards down this path," Maureen stated.
"Really?" Don feigned ignorance.
"Don…" Judy said to silence him. "We know, mom… it's kind of become our place."
Maureen was awfully embarrassed, "Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea… Well, go on, don't let us bother you."
But the two couples were forced to return to the Jupiter when a violent solar wind kicked up…
To be continued…
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