Chapter 4

"Captain's Log, Stardate 8621.8: We have completed initial repairs to the mystery saucer ship which was being attacked by one of the Orion Cartels. The saucer's hull has been repaired, the atmosphere restored, and power has been restored to the cold-sleep capsules using one of the Enterprise's emergency generators. Mr. Spock has nearly completed his investigation of the mystery ship's computer, databases, and he is investigating the ship's log. I hope the information he finds will tell us about these people before we wake them up as I don't want a repeat of the Kahn Noonien Singh fiasco. I want to recommend Lieutenant Windy Freeman for a commendation for the extremely skillful manner in which she, and her damage control team, completed the repairs to this ship's hull. They exceeded my expectations using a minimum of materials and time."

"Captain? I have finished my review of this ship's computer systems," Spock said as he approached Kirk.

"Good to hear, Mr. Spock. What have you learned?" Kirk was anxious to learn more about these people and how they came to be in this sector of space.

"This ship is, indeed, from Earth. It was launched on October 16, 1997—old Earth calendar—with a crew of six. The stated goal of their mission was to colonize the Alpha Centauri system. The crew is actually a family who was selected from among applicants from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and several other countries. Their names are the 'Robinsons' and the leader of the expedition was Professor John Robinson." As Spock briefed his captain he showed him the photographs of the crew that his tricorder had obtained from the mystery ship's computer records.

"Professor Robinson has twin doctorates in astrophysics and applied planetary geology. His wife, Maureen, is a doctor of biochemistry and the expedition physician. Their oldest daughter, Judy, has a doctorate in music theory. Their middle child, Penny, served as the expedition xenobiologist under Maureen and is apparently self-trained from materials included in the ship's records. Their youngest child, a male named William—who apparently goes by 'Will'—is the primary engineer for the mission and is also self-taught from other learning materials in the computer. The databanks contain a very complete encyclopedia of all the fields of study known to Earth science at the time of their launch." Spock paused in his recitation of his findings.

"Go on, Mr. Spock; you've told me about five of them. What about the sixth member of the crew—the other male?" Kirk prompted Spock to continue.

"He is listed as Major Donald West and serves as the primary pilot for the ship. The name of this ship, by the way, is the 'Jupiter Two'. The Jupiter Two mission was launched in secret—supposedly—by the western governments of Earth…"

"What do you mean 'supposedly' secret, Mr. Spock," Kirk interrupted. "Secret from whom?"

"Based on background information of the political climate, and my own knowledge of your Earth's history, it is my opinion they were trying to keep the mission a secret from Kahn. There are several references to the 'Eastern Powers' and Emperor Singh. As you know, Kahn came to power at that point in your history."

"Another Kahn connection, Spock?" Kirk's mind immediately shifted into 'problem' mode as he remembered all the grief and death Kahn had caused. Chief among the casualties was Scotty's nephew, Peter.

"Apparently so, Jim. However, according to their records, these people are what you would refer to as the 'good guys'." Spock spoke to reassure his captain.

"Alright, Spock, go on. What else have you discovered?"

"The seventh member of this crew—the male you located in the acceleration couch—is named Smith. He was the medical doctor in charge of preparing the crew for their mission and their journey to Alpha Centauri. He was not supposed to be included in the mission, and based on log entries by Professor Robinson, I believe Smith was, in fact, a paid agent for Kahn. Apparently Smith snuck aboard the Jupiter Two just prior to launch and reprogrammed the robot we encountered earlier to destroy this ship and the Robinsons. Based on information in Starfleet records, and our own personal knowledge of Kahn, it was his intention to arrive at Alpha Centauri before the 'Western Governments' in order to build an empire with which he could dominate this section of the galaxy."

"Yes, but we know he failed in that intention, don't we?"

"Yes, sir, we do. Doctor Smith, however, did partially succeed in the mission he was paid to destroy. The robot did attempt to destroy the Jupiter Two; he was stopped by the combined actions of Doctor Smith and Professor Robinson. During the robot's attack on the ship and her crew, the astrographics computer was damaged and several key locator points in the database were lost. The robot—Professor Robinson continually refers to it as a 'he'—also damaged several other systems on the Jupiter Two. Among those systems the ship's warp drive unit was damaged and the fuel jettison systems were damaged. The warp drive unit shorted out and the Jupiter Two exceeded Warp 10 before it essentially ran out of fuel. Incidentally, Captain, their warp drive system is similar to Zefram Cochrane's early efforts; however, it is not as efficient. By the time the warp drive unit shut down the Robinson's found themselves in what we now refer to as the Beta Quadrant approximately 984.3869 light years from Earth. With the astrometrics data available to them at that time they were effectively lost in space."

"984 light years would effectively put them out past Rigel and the Orion colonies. How have they managed to come this far back and—apparently—on a direct course for Earth?" Kirk was surprised and slightly suspicious of this seeming miracle of interstellar navigation by a people who were new to warp travel.

"A later entry in their ship's log explains that they ran into a more advanced race of people. I am unsure of the race to which these alien people belong, but they were able to assist the Robinsons in their search for a return route to Earth. The meeting between the Robinsons and the advanced aliens took place 25 months after their initial launch from Earth. They were unable to provide the Robinsons with fuel for their warp drive unit nor could they provide the Robinsons with a different and more efficient drive. According to Professor Robinson's log entry, these aliens had their own version of our Prime Directive. They did help the Robinsons repair their cold sleep capsules and construct an additional unit for Doctor Smith. After they departed from the alien's home world and reached their maximum available sub-light cruising speed, they all entered cold sleep. Professor Robinson's final note in his log states he was supposed to be awakened by the Jupiter Two's computer every 12 months to check the ship and their course and speed."

"So, what happened to them, Spock? We know they launched in 1997 and that was 300 years ago; where have they been all this time? They should have reached Earth by now."

"According to data I found in the Jupiter Two's sensor logs, the ship hit a severe ion storm 10 months after they started their return to Earth." Spock was calm and matter of fact in his tone as he provided this information to Captain Kirk. "That ion storm—we long-range sensor recordings on that storm—was severe enough that a 'rip' formed in real space as well as in subspace. This rip actually propelled the Jupiter Two 450.87932 light years and 290.69078 years into the future… into our present time, Jim."

"That's undoubtedly the reason all of their fuel supplies were exhausted and the Robinsons were very nearly killed in their 'sleep'," Kirk supplied this information from his own knowledge of ion storms and unshielded starships that encountered them. "What do you estimate the chances are of us helping them return to their own time period, Spock?"

Spock's eyes took on a far-away look as he performed hundreds of mathematical and warp physics calculations in his head. "Much less than 1, Jim; in point of fact, and after calculating all variables in this problem, I would estimate their chances of successfully returning to their own time period to be approximately 0.003251 percent."

"Why can't you just say the word 'impossible', you green-blooded, hob-goblin, adding machine?" McCoy's voice sounded right behind Kirk's left side. Kirk had been son engrossed in Spock's findings, he hadn't even heard the doctor approach.

"Because, Doctor McCoy, it is not 'impossible' as you put it. There is a very small, very real chance they could actually succeed in the attempt. However, that chance of success is very miniscule, indeed," Spock informed the doctor with no change in his tone. Spock was used to the doctor's acidic wit as well as his brief flashes of temper.

"Bones, that's enough. So, in that case Mr. Spock, I suppose you could say that the Robinsons aren't 'lost in space' any longer." Kirk was satisfied with the explanations given him by his first officer.

"Now, Bones, what do you have to tell me? Are you ready to wake up the Robinsons? Or at least Professor Robinson?" Kirk was anxious to get the process of waking these people started.

"Yeah, Jim," McCoy began, "Christine and I are all set. We know definitely which cold-sleep capsule contains Professor Robinson and I've studied the reanimation sequences on my tricorder. I could wake these folks up in my sleep, Jim."

Kirk held his hand up with the palm facing Spock in the ages-old gesture of "not now" before Spock could begin his assault on the doctor's logic and phrasing. "Hold that thought for later, Mr. Spock. Doctor McCoy? Shall we get this show on the road? I'd also very much appreciate it if you could do this in a waking state." Even though he stopped Spock from saying something similar to his teasing comment to McCoy, he still couldn't resist saying something anyway.

Thank you for reading my first story. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read and I hope you will continue to enjoy the coming chapters. I write in my spare time—What? Spare time? What the heck is that?—so be patient and trust that I'm getting this story out there as fast as I can. Please let me know what you think about it.