Last week, as you recall, Dr. Smith was visited by Athena, the girl from the green dimension who was once again after, not only Dr. Smith, but deutronium as well. Her suitor, however, reclaimed her heart and she left. Will was then enchanted by a knight who was chasing a beast, whom Penny befriended. Will soon became cynical, however, when he realized that the knight had been exaggerating his conquests. All was back to normal, however, when the knight and beast decided to continue their game of quest and run. Dr. Smith then found a department store machine that housed an old toymaker. Professor Robinson was able to negotiate a deal with the department store to re-employ rather than retire the toymaker. Now, in a foolhardy attempt to make rain, Dr. Smith unleashed a missile that was on course to destroy the Jupiter…

Mutiny in Space (Written by Peter Packer)

John, Don and the women ran out of the ship and hid behind a rock. The missile missed the Jupiter, but hit the weather station that was outside the ship. John was not happy with Smith and asked Will to bring him back to the Jupiter so he could give him a piece of his mind.

Dr. Smith tried his best to make up with Professor Robinson and the rest of the crew, but John had declared Dr. Smith 'off-limits' and no one was to speak with him. Dr. Smith was so overwrought, he begged 'the major' to cast derogatory remarks upon him. Not one unkind remark left Don's lips. Even Judy remained silent. Dr. Smith rambled on about some ship that had landed and would take him into oblivion. He asked to borrow a repair kit and Don handed it to him without a word. Judy almost forgot herself and said, "Dr. Smith, are you—" but stopped herself from continuing. Dr. Smith left them all with a mournful, "Adieu."

Only Judy felt sorry for him. John didn't want to hear one bit of sympathy for the man. Even if Smith had found a vehicle, John surmised that he would not be capable of repairing it. John reiterated his rule – "Until further notice, Dr. Smith is off-limits." Don pointedly stared at Judy as he echoed John's sentiments.

As they ate dinner, Judy was especially quiet and couldn't look at her parents or Don because they had refused to forgive Dr. Smith for his latest fiasco. Don glanced at John and Maureen and they appeared to be unconcerned, but Don was still upset about his and Judy's last conversation. His worst fear was that he and Judy would drift apart. He couldn't let that happen. "Hey, Judy, you look like you could use some air. How about a walk after dinner?" he asked her.

"No, thank you, Don," she responded.

She was polite, but distant. Don couldn't stand it. "Is that a 'No, thank you, I'm tired,' or a 'No, thank you, I'm angry' response?"

She remained cool and calm. "That is a 'No, thank you, I'm busy response. I promised to help Penny with her hair tonight."

"It's all right, Judy," Penny interjected. "Mom can help me."

"No, Penny. I promised," Judy repeated.

"Don't worry about it, Penny, I'll catch her when you're done," Don stated. He wasn't about to let Judy use Penny as an excuse to stay away from him. He'd get to her sooner or later.

____________________________________

Little did they know that the owner of the alien ship Dr. Smith had encountered was more than capable of repairing it himself, but he welcomed any deck hand that he could mold into a subordinate, especially children. Will met the owner of the ship as he was looking for Dr. Smith. When Will returned to camp, he unfolded a tale of an Admiral Zahrk of the Imperial Cassiopeian navy who proclaimed to be the captain of the alien ship. Will went on to say that the captain attempted to force him into stewardship, but he escaped.

John and Maureen didn't believe him, but Don thought his story was wild enough to be almost true. Nonetheless, John decided to investigate the next day. He and Don did indeed find an alien ship. They realized that both Will and Smith had been telling the truth – at least about the ship. There was no sign of a crew, however, and Don wasn't sure if the ship would function or not.

"Dear Joan,

Dr. Smith has gotten himself in trouble again. He accidentally destroyed our weather station and said that he would leave us since Dad ordered all of us not to speak with him. He said that he would take off in an alien space ship he had found. Don decided to call his bluff and left a propulsion unit outside the alien ship to see if he would install it and leave.

I was angry at Don, Mom and Dad for giving Dr. Smith the silent treatment. I followed Dad's orders, but I didn't feel good about it. Dr. Smith doesn't ever think anything is his fault, so he doesn't respond to punishment. My feelings always were that we will get further with Dr. Smith with kindness rather than nastiness… but now that I think about it, Dr. Smith doesn't seem to respond to anything except what Dr. Smith wants.

Will, the Robot and Dr. Smith ended up taking off in that alien space ship. It turns out that the admiral Will had talked about was real. Penny and Dad found the ship's log and it explained that there had been a mutiny on the alien ship led by a Mr. Kidnoh, who set Admiral Zahrk adrift in that rickety old space ship.

The propulsion unit Don had left for them to install on the ship had a magnetic drive unit in it, and Dad built some sort of machine that used a negative magnetic drive to attract it back to the planet. I guess it was sort of like magnets, only on a much stronger scale. I mean it wasn't like magnets, it really was magnets. Well anyway, either Dad is a genius, or the luckiest man in the universe.

The ship fired at us, but missed several times. Admiral Zahrk landed the ship and dropped off Will and Dr. Smith and then took off again to find his Mr. Kidnoh. I'm glad that little adventure is over."

Don encouraged Judy to sneak out of the Jupiter for a walk while Will, Penny and Dr. Smith were pretending to be thespians. Don had respected her feelings and tried his best to treat her as 'unromantically' as possible, but he found that his resolve was weakening. "So, how do you think I've done with my treating you like a sister?" Don asked.

"You seem to have adapted well," she said.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"You've barely touched my elbow, let alone looked at me," Judy responded.

"Well, it was what you wanted to protect Penny. Do you think it helped any?"

"Her mood has been better, Don. I know we can't keep this up forever, but I think it's helping her right now not to have romance staring her in the face."

"It hasn't done much for my mood."

"You haven't seemed to be angry or frustrated."

Don sighed. "No, I've just let go of all expectations when it comes to us."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not expecting anything more from us. We've had our past and this is where we're at – maybe forever."

"Oh, Don, don't say that!"

"Then give me some hope."

"I still want to marry you."

"Do you?"

She nodded and approached him. "I can show you, if you want me to…"

"Reallk?" He crossed his arms. "All right. Show me…"

She swayed her hips as she approached him and curled her arms around his neck. Then she gave him a brief kiss on the lips, and another and another… each one with a little bit more pressure. She finally wore him down. He uncrossed his arms and brought her closer to him and she kissed him as lovingly as she had ever done before.

"Hm… ok… I believe you… Are you ready to give up the idea that we have to 'cool it' in front of Penny?"

"Not yet, Don. Can't we just sneak a moment here and there?"

He rolled his eyes. "All right, Judy, but I still think it's a bad idea…"

_______________________________________

As Will, Penny and Dr. Smith practiced a play he had written about Odin, the Nordic mythical god of Valhalla, a storm brewed and large silver gloves descended and placed themselves on Dr. Smith's hands!

The Space Vikings (Written by Margaret Brookman Hill)

As Penny and Will ran back to the ship, a golden hammer landed in Dr. Smith's hands. He spoke to it and decided that it was useless and threw it away. It landed near the Jupiter and exploded, but despite being rained upon with rocks, no one was hurt. When Penny and Will saw their father, they recounted their story.

As the family had lunch, they discussed what had caused the explosion, but no one was aware that Dr. Smith had been responsible. Smith returned to eat and made no mention of the articles he had found or the explosion, and his appetite was a strong as ever. John decided to scout the entire perimeter around the Jupiter and Dr. Smith eagerly took his food and left with the Robot to survey his assigned area.

Don shook his head. "Something is up with him."

"Don, you always think badly of him," Judy replied.

"Come on, Judy, when was the last time you saw Smith jump up so fast to do a job?"

She shrugged. "I guess you're right."

Don turned to Maureen and John and said, "I think she's beginning to see the light!"

"Dear Joan,

Will told us a wild tale about Dr. Smith getting involved with a Viking warrior and riding a winged horse. None of us believed him until Dad actually saw him disappear on that horse! Will and Dr. Smith returned, though, safe and sound. I don't know. I almost feel like I'm living in a fairytale land. It's been one unbelievable story after another lately.

As Penny, Will, the Robot and Dr. Smith played softball, another magical, unbelievable tale was about to unfold. After Penny swung the bat and hit the ball, Dr. Smith backed up and was ready to catch it when a wizard appeared and caught the ball for him. He changed it into an egg and then back into a ball, and then the wizard disappeared. Neither of the children saw the wizard, which upset Dr. Smith to no end. He was sitting right beside him, and even the Robot did not see him. The three of them took Dr. Smith back to the spaceship and he continued to question his sanity.

Rocket to Earth (Written by Barney Slater)

"Dear Joan,

Dr. Smith saw a man that no one else saw. It turns out that now Will has seen him too. He's a Mr. Zalto and he's some sort of magician. He's supposedly taken Dr. Smith on as his apprentice. He has a space ship and he wants Dr. Smith to pilot it to a deserted asteroid for some reason. Well, Dr. Smith has just told us that he intends to take the ship back to Earth. Dad and Don are upset with him because he's stealing the ship. Dad said that we all want to go back to Earth, but we don't like his methods. He's come back to pack and expects to leave tomorrow. Will is going to be the one who's the most upset. He's adopted Dr. Smith almost like a playmate – or maybe I should say that Dr. Smith is like a little brother to Will. Well, I should go and tell him good-bye."

"Dr. Smith?" Judy found him leaving his room.

"My dear, sweet, Judith. Have you come to bid me adieu?" Dr. Smith asked.

"Yes, Dr., Smith. Please take care of yourself."

"Oh, you shall miss me, shan't you?"

She nodded and gave him a hug.

"Oh, I shall miss you dearly. You were always ready to come to my assistance when that malicious major would malign me. Thank you, dear girl."

"Talking about me, Smith?" Don asked as he came up behind Judy.

"You are the only one I shall be happy to leave behind, Major," Smith stated.

"Ah, come on, Smith…" Don stuck his hand out. "No hard feelings?"

Smith turned his head away from him and sniffed as he walked away.

"Dear Joan,

Dr. Smith took off in Zalto's ship and Will was with him! They came within site of Earth and tried to reach Alpha Control, but apparently no one heard their call. They were able to receive communication, but not send it. They were warned by something called the United Defense Command Headquarters that they would be obliterated if they didn't respond. Somehow, they were able to turn the ship around and return to us.

It would have been a possible rescue for us, Joan, but I'm glad they're both safe. Who knows what would have happened to them if they had landed. Dr. Smith might have been thrown in jail and Will might have been put with a foster family if he couldn't remember how to contact you or our grandparents.

Actually, Joan, we are ready for another flight in the Jupiter. Dad and Don are checking the systems now. Don told me that there is an open flight corridor for Alpha Centauri at eight a.m. tomorrow morning. We have to hit it exactly. If there are no complications, we should be back on track to fulfill our mission and once we land, Don and I can get back to taking our relationship off its holding pattern. Thank goodness. I don't think I could stand another minute on this planet!"

As Judy spoke those words, Dr. Smith was searching for rocks with Will and hit a gaseous vein that exploded, knocking him to the ground…

The Cave of the Wizards (Written by Peter Packer)

After he picked himself off the ground, Dr. Smith was no longer… Dr. Smith… Actually, he had no idea who he was. The Robot diagnosed him with amnesia and left to find Will.

Dr. Smith entered a cave in which an alien force took control of him. When Will and the Robot found Smith, he had no intention of returning to the Jupiter 2 due to his amnesia, so the Robot smacked Dr. Smith in the head with a rock and his amnesia was gone. Then they left to find the Jupiter 2.

The crew had just received their final briefing from John, and Maureen had prepared a wonderful meal for their final night on the planet. Dr. Smith had intended on returning to the cave using the excuse that he had left his tape recorder at the ore site, but he remained for dinner, delaying his trip to the cave.

"Madam, you have outdone yourself," Dr. Smith stated as he helped himself to a second serving of dessert.

"It hasn't been so bad, Mom," Will stated. "I found lots of interesting rock formations."

"And that was all this planet had," Judy stated. "If it weren't for the hydroponic garden, we would have starved. Nothing could grow in this rocky soil."

"I agree with Will," Penny added. "We had lots of adventures here. Remember the knight and the beast?"

"And the space circus?" Will added. "And Mr. Zumdish and the toymaker?"

Penny sighed, "And Verda? I really miss her. I wonder how she is?"

"I'm sure she's fine, Penny," Judy stated.

"Well, I'm ready to get out of here," Don stated. "We finally have a shot to reach Alpha Centauri and complete this mission."

"Complete the mission? And once we reach Alpha Centauri – what then, Major? Do we build log cabins and plant corn like our ancestors?" Dr. Smith asked.

"That would be a start, Smith." He glanced at Judy. He wanted to say more, perhaps announce his hope of starting a family with Judy, but he held back still working under Judy's rules to 'cool' their relationships when Penny was near.

"Humph! Earth is where we should be going!" Dr. Smith complained.

"Dr. Smith, I admire your persistence," John stated, "but you know that returning to Earth is no longer an option. Since your last attempt to return resulted in you and Will almost being blown out of the sky, I would have thought that you had finally accepted that your fate is tied to ours."

"As if I had a choice," Smith stated.

"Oh, you have a choice, Smith. You can choose to stay here," Don tossed out.

Smith stood and threw his nose in the air. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you," he snarled. "I do not need to take such abuse. I am leaving to retrieve my tape recorder."

"Just be back before lift-off, Smith, or it's 'So long, nice knowin' you,'" Don retorted as he saluted him.

As Dr. Smith stomped off, Judy reprimanded Don. "Don, that was mean…"

"Mean? It's the truth, Judy. If he's not harnessed in before lift-off, we're leaving without him."

"Dear Joan,

We've lost our best attempt to get to Alpha Centauri. And, yes, it was Dr. Smith's fault again. He went off to some cave that had an alien force inside a computer. He put on an amulet and crown, which was really a red cap, of an alien society called the Draconians. He thought it would give him omnipotent powers. He was supposed to restore the society to its former glory.

Will tried to get Dr. Smith to come back before we had to leave, but Dr. Smith was transforming into something else. Will said that his ears and eyebrows pointed straight up, just like that character in that old science fiction TV show. What was his name? Spock? Yes, Spock from Star Trek. Dr. Smith refused to return to the Jupiter. Will talked Dad and Don into trying to bring him back, and Don was furious because they had to stop the count down, but Dr. Smith was lost to the alien force. Then Will snuck out of the ship and tried to talk Dr. Smith into coming back himself. Will came back in time, but without Dr. Smith. If Dad hadn't seen Dr. Smith and the Robot on the radar, we would have taken off without them. Once he saw that they were trying to come back, though, he ordered Don to stop the countdown. Now we have to wait for God knows how long until we find another open vector to Alpha Centauri. It's back to the drudgery."

Dr. Smith was teaching Penny and Will the 'gentlemen's game' of roulette when they found a gold coin lying on the ground. In searching for more, Penny found a round handle. Dr. Smith pulled the handle and descended into the ground…

To be continued…

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