Acts of Courage:
As soon as John had left, Maureen gathered the children on the upper deck and explained the situation to them. She and her husband had decided that Will and Penny were both old enough to no longer be sheltered from the dangers that they may face. As John had put it, their very survival may depend on them knowing the truth.
Her children were no longer children, they were young adults and Maureen found the notion of letting them go a difficult pill to swallow. But several months earlier, Will had, almost single-handedly, saved all of their lives when a group of aliens had captured the Jupiter 2. Doctor Smith had been with him, but it was Will's technical knowledge of the ship that allowed him to return and rescue his family.
"I knew I didn't like him for some reason," Penny said. "When he left the ship, I had the feeling that Colonel Tyler was thinking about something he had to do, but…it's gone now. But I can't shake the feeling that we are all in danger."
"We already know that Tyler planted a device somewhere nearby," said Will.
"I know that, but this is different. Do you remember how you used to feel when you would walk into a dark cave?"
"Come on, Penny, you don't really think…"
"Now just wait a minute, Will," interjected Maureen. "You know that your sister has gifted intuition. I think we should listen to her."
"Excuse me, Mrs. Robinson," said T'lan. "Penny has had precognitive thoughts before?"
"Yes, she has, T'lan, several times before," said Maureen.
"This is considered a great gift by my people," T'lan began. "The minds of all sentient beings emanate mental energy. This is how we are able to perform the joining of minds through physical contact. Every so often, one of us is born with the ability to sense beyond our physical world and touch another. Ages ago, our scientists also experimented with the travel to other ages. One of our greatest philosophers, Delvar the Wise, postulated an idea that all of time, past, present, and future are somehow intertwined and exist, simultaneously in the same space."
"He's describing one aspect of inter-dimensional theory," said Will.
"All right, how does all of this help us with our current situation?" asked Maureen.
"Forgive me, Mrs. Robinson, I'll explain. Penny, through no fault of her own, lacks the mental discipline to harness the gift that she has been blessed with. Without the mental control learned by mastering the art of touch telepathy, she is unable to focus her mind on the doorway that she has been given."
"T'lan is right," Penny suddenly said."It's like hearing voices through a closed door. You can make out bits and pieces, but you can never hear the entire conversation."
Maureen knew right away where T'lan was going with this.
"T'lan, as I understand your customs, it is taboo, for you to join minds with a woman, outside the bonds of marriage. Can Brina join with Penny?"
"I truly wish she could, Mrs. Robinson, but Brina has just begun to develop, and her telepathic abilities have not yet reached their full potential. In addition, she has yet to complete the training required to discipline her mind."
As they discussed the problem, Penny was being assailed by a foreboding feeling of dread.
"Mom, if T'lan can help us find this device by touching my mind, we don't have a choice. The lives of everyone outside the ship might just depend on this."
Maureen was torn, knowing full well that if this strain of virus were released, it would cause the death of everyone in the valley. While the Jupiter 2 would protect them from the initial outbreak, there was no guarantee that the strain would be destroyed by the lack of living hosts. As a biochemist she was well aware of the dangers associated with weaponized biotoxins.
As a mother, she was also divided. The possibility of saving husband and family outside was tempered by the desire to keep her daughter innocent for as long as possible. She also felt responsible for T'lan. The solution he proposed would dishonor him and his family.
"Is there no other way, T'lan?" she asked.
"I fear not, Mrs. Robinson. I have no concern for myself, but for your daughter."
"T'lan, I'm not afraid," said Penny.
"Penny, you must be sure that you understand the magnitude of the decision that you make today," began T'lan. "Once done, it is done. You and I will be as one heart and one mind. This is not a step to be taken lightly."
Maureen had already decided that she liked and trusted T'lan. His genuine concern for Penny's well being convinced her that he would be as true to her as Don was to Judy.
"Penny, my dear," Maureen said, tears streaming down her cheek. "You are old enough to understand the ramifications. This decision is yours and T'lan's."
...
The cave was one of several which were carved into the wall of the sheer cliff and Judy forced herself to study her surroundings, a trait she had learned from Don. At one time, an underground river must have carved its way out of the rock face as there was evidence of the ancient riverbed leading down into the valley. Dad would love to study this.
As Tyler forced her along, behind the others, and as she considered the fate that was about to befall her, and her fiancé, her thoughts drifted to her childhood.
Judy had resented the fact that her parents had seemed too busy for her when she was born, and she had found herself jealous when her mother decided to stay home to care for Penny upon her birth. Why didn't she stay home with me? Judy had pondered that very question as a young child.
In time, she grew to understand that her parent's actions were out of necessity and by the time Will came along, she had adjusted to her new life. As with most young girls, she saw her father as the greatest man alive and she had formed a special connection with him.
Entering adolescence, she found herself comparing her potential suitors to her father. Not that she had all that many, thanks to her mother's strict oversight. With only one exception, none of them measured up to the man her mother had married. That all changed, the day she met a dark haired, hazel eyed, Air Force Captain, named Donald West.
Almost five years her senior, her parents had done everything to discourage the relationship from blossoming, but the chemistry between her and Don was simply too strong to ignore. A few months after they met, and the day she turned seventeen, Judy informed her parents that she and Don were going to start seeing each other. Her mother and father had considered forbidding them to date, but knew that there would be little they could do to stop them. They instead, chose to allow them to see each other under certain restrictions, which they hoped the older West would soon grow tired of and move on.
The plan backfired. Her parents had grossly underestimated his commitment and love for their daughter. In addition, Don had been a hit with the other two Robinson children, being one of the very few pilots who took an interest in the younger siblings. Those factors, along with West's stellar performance in the training aspect of the mission, eventually led to Captain West being chosen as the Jupiter 2 pilot.
By the time she had turned nineteen, roughly six months before the Jupiter 2 left Earth, John and Maureen had begun to warm up to West, who was now a major. But the training and launch preparation, as well as a credible security threat, allowed her and Don very little time away from the base. A week before the launch, they seriously discussed marriage. While they joked about eloping, they never really considered it, as Judy wanted her family present at her wedding.
Judy was long over the notion that she had been a disappointment to parents, but she wanted and needed their approval of the man she had chosen to be her husband. She and Don decided to wait until they landed on Alpha Prime to ask her father to marry them. Neither of them had foreseen the trials and difficulties that they would face over the next three years.
We were so close, Judy thought. It suddenly hit her that they were both really going to die, and she found herself wishing that they had eloped, or at least made love. Silently her tears burst forth. She closed her eyes tightly and the image of her and Don, gazing into each other's eyes, burned itself into her conscious. The woman in the picture, her future self, had become everything that she had ever wanted to be and her image held an air of poise and confidence that Judy had never known. Reaching deep within her soul she found the inner strength that had been inside all along and she made peace with what was to come. This is the woman I want my husband to remember.
...
Doctor Smith noticed the evidence of residual spider web on the walls of the cave. Knowing that some species of arachnid were known to nest in ground borrows, did not sit well with him. From the size of the strands, he knew that these spiders would not be the typical garden variety found back home. I don't like this one bit.
Smith knew that he was no kind of hero. Even the stern hand of his Aunt Maude, had done little to instill pride into his psyche. All his life, he had looked for the easy way out. As Zachary Smith proceeded towards what he knew would be his doom, he considered how his selfishness and affinity for vanity had cost so many others. Was he afraid? Oh, yes, he was terrified. But his fear was being tempered by the anger and rage he was feeling towards the man who was hurting someone he truly cared about.
All three of the Robinson children had at one time or another defended him, often when he didn't deserve it. They had openly accepted him into their family and shown him more kindness than he had even known. Judy, as the oldest, had often been the most vocal of the three, at times risking her relationship with the volatile Major West. Even Major West, who Smith considered an adversary at times, had pulled him back into the ship when a green skinned Lorelei lured him out of his bed and into the blackness of space.
No, Smith wasn't a hero, but he was not going to allow this sadistic excuse for a man to harm those he truly cared about. Smith glanced over at Major West, noting, with some satisfaction, that he too was enraged. Good, this might work to our advantage.
...
John circled the crash site of the Jupiter 6. The hatch was still open so the Professor set down to take a quick look inside.
"Don! Judy!" he called as he rushed up the ramp and into the control room.
Very quickly, he searched the interior and was soon, back in the air. The tracks of the chariot were heading in the direction of the cliff formation north of the crash site. It would take him another ten minutes to reach them.
...
The tunnel opened into a small chamber with a light shaft shining down from the ceiling. The room had been formed eons ago by water that had eroded the softer stone eventually forming the tunnel and the river bed outside. In one corner of the room attached to the cave wall, were what appeared to be spider egg sacks. But they were much larger than Judy had ever seen.
Without warning, her abductor pushed her away and she fell to the ground a few feet ahead of him.
"Get up," he spat. "Stand over there with the others."
Tyler had drawn a combat stance, two handing the weapon, holding Smith and West at bay.
Judy stood and quickly rushed into Don's arms.
"Are you all right?"
She pulled back so she could face him.
"I'm okay, Don," she said, an air of assurance in her voice.
She could see that he didn't expect her reaction and couldn't keep herself from smiling. Surprised, Don?
...
West glanced briefly at Smith, who was standing several feet away. He was stone faced, as he glared at their captor. Looking back into his fiancée's eyes, he saw a self-confidence that he had only seen in their picture from the future. At least I lived long enough to see you come into your own.
"All right, Colonel Tyler," Smith bellowed. "What is the meaning of all this? Explain yourself."
Don could hardly believe his ears. Normally by now, Smith would be begging for mercy, or conniving to save his own skin.
"Well Zachary, you finally decided to grow a pair, eh?" asked Tyler, very smugly.
"Indeed, I can see that you still cling to your crass behavior. You would have thought that in ten years you might have matured a tad," Smith countered.
Tyler stepped back a step.
"Don't think for a moment, that I won't kill all three of you where you stand, if you try anything. Now, walk over to the webbing near the egg sack."
Don wasn't sure why he had released Judy, not that he minded, but Tyler had given up his hole card. Without a gun to his fiancée's head, West had no intention of doing what he was ordered to.
"Now why would I do that," Don said, in his most abrasive tone.
"It's clearly obvious that you intend to kill us all," said Smith. "Why would you think that we would assist you?"
Don could see sweat on Tyler's brow and his hands were not steady on the weapon. Both he and Smith had managed to separate enough where Tyler could not cover them both with his weapon. A trickle of blood appeared below his nose.
"He's infected," said Smith. "Tyler brought a supply of weaponized Ebola from Earth. He had a vial on his person. It must have been damaged."
Colonel Tyler wiped the blood from his nose in disgust.
"Say goodbye to your wife, West," he said, shifting his aim towards Judy.