Guest(1): Thank you. I hope you will keep reading.
Guest(2): Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it.
You both are very kind.
"First things first," Judy decided as she returned to her bedroom, kneeling down by her bed and searching for a diary or a tape recorder. She needed to know how much this world deviated from her world. Although she wasn't a writer like Penny, she had recorded her thoughts and feelings almost every day.
She pulled out a medium sized wooden box, opened the lid, and smiled when she saw two piles of notebooks. "Bingo." She shuffled through them until she found the year 1995.
"Uh, Judy." Joan entered the room, sitting down on the desk chair. "So what exactly are you saying is happening? I mean I don't feel like a figment of your imagination."
Judy wasn't sure if her cousin was actually asking or humoring her. She answered anyway, "I don't know. But I know this isn't a dream. It is too detailed." She began to flip through her journal, searching for any discrepancies during her time in Huston.
"Isn't possible that you're having some sort of psychotic break?" Joan suggested. When her cousin shot her an affronted look, she hurried on, "I don't mean it like that. Maybe you felt so guilty that you somehow rewrote your memories."
Judy blinked, her expression pensive. "I would say that would be impossible but considering half the things I've been through…" She shrugged and returned to reading. "Joan, I can prove that I'm telling the truth. But right now, I want to know why I didn't go with my family on the Jupiter."
"You wanted to stay here and pursue your dream," Joan told her matter of factly.
Something told Judy her cousin had not completely ruled out rewriting her memories. "I am aware of that. But I know that I eventually chose to go with them." Although she would not deny that meeting Don had made up her mind, she had qualms about never seeing her parents and her siblings again.
I didn't think it was worth it without them, she recalled as she studied her words. Her entries were short, revealing her frustration and annoyance at how even after the sabotage of Jupiter 1. It all seemed very familiar and not just because she had lived it before.
There was something about the way she wrote about life in space would be drab and dreary. That she feared she would never achieve true happiness. How she felt she had no choice. All of this gnawed at her for a reason she couldn't put her finger on.
"I gotta ask what proof do you think you have that will convince me?" Joan wondered, turning so she could look at the website, Judy had been viewing.
"I told you: a boy named Davy Simms met Will a few years ago," Judy informed her. It was only then did a horrible thought occur to her.
Will had once explained the butterfly effect to her. How a small change could lead to big consequences. What if her absence meant that Will never visited Earth or worse they had never landed on Priplanus. What if her not being on the Jupiter caused something to happen and they died.
"That might not be as convincing as you think it will be," Joan noted as she clicked on the search bar. "It took me a minute to remember but he contacted you two years ago on this site to tell you that he had met Will. Let me just-found it!"
Judy jumped up and rushed over to the screen. She didn't care if it meant her proof was ruined. She just wanted confirmation that her family was alive and well. She skimmed the message, barely taking in the contents.
It confirmed that Davey had met Will and it had happened much like Will had told them. Only one difference: Will had tried to call her. Her baby brother, had tried to reach out to her. Unfortunately, he was cut off by Davy's Aunt Clara who didn't believe Will was telling the truth. According to Davy, before he had left, Will had asked that he tell her that they were okay and that they missed her and loved her.
Judy couldn't help the sob escape her lips. She pressed her hand to her mouth as her eyes welled with tears. She could just imagine his desperation to talk to her, to hear her voice.
Joan got up and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I know how hard it has been. But you know they wouldn't want you obsessing over this. They would want you to focus on yourself."
The blonde took a step back, taking a steading breath. So many thoughts ran through her mind. Was it possible that her cousin was right. That her life on the Jupiter had been nothing more then a dream.
Listening to Penny and Will as they talked about some oddity they found. Helping her mother in the kitchen. Watching Don and her father save their lives. Laughing as Doctor-DOCTOR SMITH!
"Joan, do you know a Dr. Smith?" Judy's expression changed from heartbroken to determined. She could buy dreaming of her family. She could even buy conjuring up her budding romance with Don. But she could not believe that she could ever imagine Doctor Smith and all the things she knew about him.
"Isn't that your therapist? No, that's Dr. Harris," Joan corrected herself. She then thought about it for a few seconds. "I don't think so."
"Can you look him up on the internet?" she inquired hopefully. "Doctor Zachary Smith."
Her cousin nodded and returned to the monitor, bringing up goggle and typing in the name. "Too many results. Can you narrow it down?"
"He's a colonel with the United States Space Corps," Judy explained. She began reciting facts that she remembered the good doctor telling her about his life. "He grew up in Lower Manhattan until his parents died in a boating accident. Afterwards, he was raised by his Great-Aunt Maude and his Great-Uncle Thaddus in Marietta, Georgia. He studied in Oxford University before getting his doctorate in Havard."
It took Joan several minutes to get that information as she could only find it using very specific words. "All correct. Who is this guy?"
"A stowaway and saboteur," Judy replied, almost fondly. "And yet somehow, a member of the family."
The other woman let out a breath. "Okay, I admit that it is pretty odd that you know specific information about a man you should have never met. But if this is true, what does it mean and how are you going to fix it?"
"I don't know," Judy admitted. "I don't know how this all happened. The last thing I remember…" She trailed off as she tried to recollect her last moments at the Jupiter. All she could recall was exchanging a few tense words with her father and then hearing… music? That couldn't be right.
"Look, I'm still having a hard time understanding," Joan began, turning around to face her. "But whatever you need, I'm here for you. Within reason."
Judy smiled, taking her cousin's hand in hers. "I promise I'm not doing anything crazy like trying to steal a spaceship to find them."
"It does not comfort me that was your first thought," remarked Joan, squeezing her hand.
The oldest Robinson daughter chuckled before her expression sobered. "We need to talk to Jeb and Tam. They're Don's friends and fellow pilots." They hopefully could tell her if the Jupiter was heard from.
Something flashed across Joan's face and suddenly she grabbed Judy's arm, turning it over to inspect her wrist. "Whoa, you really aren't my Judy."
Judy's stomach turned, suspecting she knew what she had been looking for. "What do you mean?"
Her cousin let go, averting her gaze. "I mean if you were her, you would have known I already know Jeb. I'll call him right now." With that, she leapt from her seat and dashed out of the room, leaving Judy to contemplate the implications alone.
In hindsight, it would have been better to combine this chapter with the first one, but I wanted to set it up a bit more.
