Series End Challenge

Forces of Nature

Part 2

The chess pieces lay scattered about the floor. "You do not know the first thing about playing chess," Dr. Smith told Will.

"Dr. Smith, you're the one who's playing wrong. This is not checkers. You can't jump!"

"Humph! I am going to bed!" Dr. Smith announced.

"Good! Do me a favor and stay there!" Will shouted at him.

Don heard the commotion and walked out of the lower control room. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"Dr. Smith thinks chess is played like checkers; that's what the problem is."

"Maybe we can show him how to play? Smith, come here. I'll help you."

"Help me? I don't need any help. I was the state chesskers champion when I was twelve years old," Dr. Smith told Don.

"Just watch me, then," Don said as he set-up his chess pieces.

"What are you doing, Don? You don't really want to play chess, do you?" Will asked him.

Don shrugged. "A good game might calm you down." He tilted his head towards Smith and added, "And maybe trigger some memories…" He caught Dr. Smith's eye and emphasized, "… of what you did to that navigator unit when you sabotaged the ship so we can fix it and get back on track!"

Dr. Smith sniffed and pointed his nose in the air, but then a look of confusion crossed his face. He looked at Don and Will as if they were strangers, but then he pulled up a chair and said, "Proceed."

As the game progressed, Don announced his every move, as did Will. Dr. Smith's eyes followed the game and he, mercifully, remained silent. There was no other conversation, until half-way through the match when Dr. Smith stood and walked to his cabin without a word.

Will looked at Don after watching Dr. Smith leave and asked, "Want to keep playing?"

"Sure, why not? It's giving me something else to think about."

"You mean something else, as in other than my sister?"

Don had his fingers on his queen and didn't move the piece. He pulled his hand back and rethought his strategy. After moving his bishop instead, he said, "Not much to think about there, Will. I failed her… and you and Penny and your parents…"

"It wasn't your fault, Don. We're not lost because of anything you did."

"More like something I didn't do. The thing is… I feel like we're close… damn close, but I can't get the navigator to confirm that."

Will moved his knight and said, "Checkmate."

Don's eyes opened wide; he didn't expect to lose so quickly. "Good game," he told Will. He checked his watch. "Go on to bed, Will. I'll start my Smith watch early."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I won't sleep anyway."

Will stood. "Don, for what it's worth, I hope you and Judy get back together."

Don picked up his queen and squeezed it in the palm of his hand. "Yeah, me too, Will."

Don went back to the lower control room to watch the stars. He had done his best not to think about Judy since they had stopped being a couple. He wasn't even sure how it had happened. One moment they were arguing about Smith, and the next he was walking away from her. She didn't stop him and he didn't turn back.

He closed his eyes and thought back to what it was like to hold her in his arms, run his fingers through her hair, and feel her lips against his. He drifted into a dream. The Jupiter had landed on Alpha Centauri. Before they left the ship, Judy threw her arms around Don and exclaimed, "I knew you'd get us here!" and she planted a deep kiss on his lips in front of her entire family.

The Jupiter jerked violently and Don was thrown out of his chair. "What the…" Don said as he opened his eyes; then he scampered to his feet and climbed up the ladder. Dr. Smith stood in front of the navigator unit; a panel underneath was open. "Smith!" Don shouted as he stepped off the ladder. "What did you do?" he asked.

"As you said earlier, Major, I tampered with the navigation unit before lift-off. I thought it only fitting that I should return the unit to its original settings," Dr. Smith replied.

John and the rest of the family soon joined them on the upper deck. As Don inspected the wiring hanging from the open panel, John told his son, "Will! I thought you were supposed to be watching Smith!"

"Don took over," Will explained.

John turned his eye onto Don, who was now furiously scribbling figures on a clipboard. "Well?" he asked Don.

A broad smile crept up Don's face. "I was right! We are close!"

"Explain!" John barked at him.

"We're within range of Alpha Centauri."

"That's impossible! How could things change overnight?"

"Smith sabotaged the astrogator, and he fixed it tonight. I knew we were close… I knew it in my gut, and with the new settings, my calculations confirm it. We'll be there in two days." The family was speechless. Don narrowed his eyes. He couldn't resist making a remark to Judy. "I guess being obsessed paid off."

Judy turned to her father. "Could this be true, Dad?"

"I won't know until I check Don's calculations," her father replied. Don handed him his clipboard.

Maureen was incredulous. "But, how did Dr. Smith remember?"

"The chess game, Mom," Will told her. He then turned to Don and added, "You were right. It must have triggered his memories."

John finished checking Don's calculations. "Well, Don, looks like you're on target."

"So, we're not lost anymore?" Penny asked.

A huge grin crept up Don's face as he responded, "Nope."

Penny jumped into Don's arms and threw her arms around his neck. "I knew you'd get us there!" she exclaimed.

Don flushed a deep red and self-consciously hugged Penny back; then he put his hands around her waist and pulled her away from him. He appreciated the hug, but it was from the wrong sister.

Judy turned away from them. Don had come through for them. She wanted to be the one throwing her arms around him, but Penny beat her to it. After the awful things she had said to him, though, she believed Don wanted nothing to do with her.