It had been five days since Will had died.

The large, giant spaceship metal creaked and groaned as it flew back into space. The landing gear withdrawing back into the belly of the spaceship. Smith was resting against his ledge in contemplation. Contemplating the past in a sad manner. The humming of the spaceship was music to his ears. Including the silence that he had personally created by sabotaging any relationship with Will. Not replying, not moving a piece from the chess in the last few days, or talking to Penelope. She left behind the mystery bars for him. Her consideration for his well being was greatly appreciated. He knew what they were considering just to make him eat. And force feeding wasn't going to be in the cards. He would eat, just not right now. He was saving them for a much more useful purpose as his rations. He had a small collection of food gathered in his pocket that had a unique smell. The sonic laundry had done wonders to his Jupiter 2 outfit making it seem warm and new. And fuzzy.

He had the mystery bars wrapped up in the napkins. He had them all slid into his pockets. He waited until he heard the other Robinsons call to each other "Good night" just as they had in the last few nights that he had been aboard their ship. A lovely family fit for a dark universe like this that had its bright moments at times. They were going to die in the coldness of space if they kept this up without the Robot to save them. It was where he belonged. He quietly strolled down the corridors then came to a large doorway. He pressed on a console then put in a number, coldly and causally. The door opened to reveal where the dark gray space pods were resting in neatly made lines. There were hundreds of them that looked different from the one that he was familiar to. His eyes were large and curiosity was perked. They were rounded with four legs on each end that had deactivated light fixtures. They were far from the planet by several hours. He held the rounded disk in his hand playing with it carefully in between his fingers.

Smith strolled his way to the hangar bay then climbed up the familiar three steps up to the top. He turned the hatch door then lifted it open. At least that wasn't too different. The hatch door opened before him to reveal a familiar entrance. It was more updated and dark compared to space pod that he knew full well that had seats across from the main console. He went to the front of the machine then slid in the disk into one of the slots. The interior of the dark room glowed bright blue before his light gray eyes. He flipped the dark gray switches above his head one by one activating the legs. The legs hummed to life. He looked down toward the familiar big, fat button on the console. It had to be red. It was the last time he had pressed it and sent him, the robot, and Will down toward a planet of illusions. That was his fault. Smith accepted that it was his fault for Will's fate, too. He pressed on the button, gently. The space pod gently lifted up from the ground.

He pressed the dark buttons at random trying to figure out a way to steer it. The space pod floated down and up repeatedly going in different directions as he acquainted himself to what each function of the button door to the space pod slammed shut as it floated above the space pods that made him jump. Smith shook his head, muttering "Good heavens, Zachary. . ." then recomposed himself. He scanned the buttons with a rough idea of how they operated. He pressed a series of lighter numbered buttons across activating a sequence. The hangar bay very slowly lifted down to reveal the vastness of space. A map appeared alongside the center of the view screen that had a glowing red dot and a blue floating round of text that read 'Destination'. He flew the space pod above the doubles making minor adjustments to the course heading in the direction of the hangar door. It came out of the spaceship. Smith flipped the switches one by one rewinding the sequence. The door closed behind the space pod.

"Let's see how fast you can go, dear," Smith said, then pressed on a recently installed button.

Stars became long, thin bolts in the view screen. Smith's eyes darted to the map displaying the space pod moving faster than the speed of light. They were using more advanced technology for the space pod in this universe or it was just a test subject. The mere suggestion that the Robinsons had made a clear break through that could bring them to Alpha Centauri was very shocking for the least. He was in disbelief about the subject, entirely. His family wouldn't have made this quite of a leap years into the mission. He took out a warm, smelly mystery bar from his pocket then quietly unfolded it until it's dull, colorless theme stared back at him. He took a bite out of it. It tasted sour then eventually sweet and then it tasted like chicken. Smith's eyes wondered in contemplation over the subject. It was a very compelling, intriguing subject. He found himself missing his family. Less advanced, more homely, and more bright. He took another bite from the mystery bar.

"ETA is one day and thirty-five minutes," came a woman's voice from around him.

Smith looked up.

"And without this. . . warp drive?" Smith asked.

"One week," came the reply.

"A interactive AI," Smith said, in awe. "This is not earthling technology."

"Bloop," came a familiar noise.

Smith's look of awe faded until it became a irritable, annoyed expression. Smith slowly turned in the direction of the source. He faced the dark wall. One part of the wall looked fine except for the shape of two figures that were equally different and the other looked wrinkly, crinkled as though it were a blanket being used. It almost tricked him had it been something wasn't a blanket such as a cover. He folded his arms, then shook his head in disappointment. His plans were always foiled by Will going along and sometimes the Robot was dragged in. If he were right, Penelope had come along for the ride.

"Drop your masks," Smith said. "I am not going back to drop you off."

The blanket was slid off and the two figures that had blended into the wall became more apparent to his eyes as though their real colors had become more pronounced. They were still black and white to his vision. How could he have not noticed this distortion in the first place? He was in the moment and very focused on his task, that could be the best logical. Or that they were not there in the first place. They had sneaked in after he had, quietly. He placed his hands on his hips glaring at the siblings.

"We want to help you," Penelope said.

"It is too dangerous," Smith said.

"You are going after the Robot," Will said.

"Like you thought no one would expect that?" Penelope asked.

"And stealing a space pod?" Will asked

"Bloop," Debbie said.

"You always pick the ones at the front to make your escape," Penelope said. "You always use this one."

"You always use your disk to turn it on," Will said.

"Which slips in a bad virus that cuts it off from the Jupiter 2 so it wouldn't be manually sent back while you were doing something shady," Penelope said. "Where you are going you need help to successfully pull off the rescue mission."

"We know the insides of it and you don't," Will said.

"And they don't allow the help of a little ol' earthling?" Smith asked. "They don't need doctors? You don't expect doctors to be spies or saboteurs."

"So that is your game plan," Will said.

"They never met Doctor Smith," Smith said. "It's bullet proof."

"They have Robots that are capable of scanning your mind and finding your intentions," Will said. "It's a long story how we ended up in there."

"You were searching for supplies and you wandered in with the Robot," Smith said. "Penelope followed along because she feels responsible over you. The two of you were captured. The Robot lead a brave effort to set you free and there was a big risk that whoever you were dealing with could go to your family and kill them. The Robot was taken as collateral for breaking in to the facility and helping the two of you escape. Am I missing anything?"

"No," Will said. "you got it."

"It does seem I need help that won't be spotted," Smith said, then he knelt down to the siblings and placed his hands on their shoulders. "Let's start from the beginning of this plan . . . What direction did the security come pouring out?"