By Don Farnsworth

Chapter 4

"Damn it! You scared the hell out of me Drykr! Couldn't you have at least warned me or said something?" exclaimed Will.

"I'm not in the habit of announcing myself to armed adversaries who are hidden - - not very well I might add - - behind rocks and looking like they're ready to ambush me, you little H'rlaxian 'kadinz!" replied Drykr. "What are you doing out here?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" answered Will. "I wake up in the middle of hellfire in the Power Core, find out the ship's been attacked, crashed, my family's missing, Dr. Smith thaws out and decides I've got a few too many body parts . . ."

"Whoa! Smith is free?" interrupted Drykr.

"Yeah. From what I can tell, a laser blast blew out the freezing tube control panel," replied Will. "I've got him sedated and out now. But what about the others? Are they okay? Where are they? Were you with them?"

"Will Robinson! Will Robinson! Do you read me? Are you all right?" an exasperated sounding Robot wailed over Will's pocket radio.

"Robot, it's all right. It was only Drykr," responded Will. "I guess we probably should have figured as much from the contradiction in our instrument readings and knowing how he's always messing up your sensors. Hang on . . ."

Turning to Drykr, Will repeated his anxious question, "The others… are they all right?"

"The last I saw them, yes," replied Drykr. "That is, all except…" he lowered his eyes and took a deep breath.

"All except who, Drykr," pressed Will, not knowing if he really wanted to hear the answer?

"All except Verda," responded the android.

Drykr and Verda had been a part of the family and crew of the Jupiter 2 for almost 15 years now. The Robinsons first encountered Verda during the second year of their journeys. Dr. Smith had accidentally "ordered" her from an old Intergalactic Department Store catalogue kiosk that had been left on the planet where they were marooned.

Verda had always held a special devotion and regard for the Robinson children. She claimed her unique bond with them was the reason she was actually able to change and "evolve" into something more than just a collection of machinery, hydraulics, circuit boards, plasmagel, wires and Dermoplast compound. She loved to claim that she was becoming "human," even though she still had the internal circuitry and components to prove otherwise.

She had become sentient, however, and her physical appearance changed through a strange development in her dermaplast regeneration program, so that she more closely resembled in appearance, the human beings she had become so strangely drawn to. She even developed a highly sophisticated sub-routine of human emotions.

It was during their second encounter with Verda that the Robinsons first met Drykr. He was referred to as IDAK in those days, which stood for "I Destroy And Kill" - - as he was one of many "IDAKs" the IDS had created to seek out and destroy "defective" androids such as Verda.

IDAK turned out to be just as "defective" as Verda, and the two of them ended up being fugitives together trying to stay a step ahead of their former "masters" at the IDS. The IDS had even trumped up some phoney allegations, so that it would seem that the androids were dangerous, wanted criminals. It was during their time on-the-run that IDAK changed his name to Drykr. It was actually Verda's idea - - IDAK didn't see the logic in making the change at the time, but relented to his companion's wishes. It seemed to make her happy, and he was learning that he liked making her happy.

"Drykr" was actually the name of a legendary hero on Antaeus, a beautiful, civilized planet where the two of them had found refuge, blending in and "passing" as humanoid life forms amongst the planet's eclectic and diverse population. Drykr had also "evolved" in much the same manner as Verda. His physical appearance changed, and they were a very striking, intelligent and personable couple.

Verda became a school teacher on Antaeus. She had always remembered fondly the short time she spent tutoring Penny and Will, and found great pleasure and fulfilment in the noble vocation. Drykr had regenerated much of the "super human" strength and agility he originally had as an IDAK android, and found himself drawn into the Antaeus Global Metro-Police Force.

Decorated by the AGMPF for valour in the line of duty many times, he lived up to the legend of his new name and built quite a reputation of his own for his bravery, cunning and quick reflexes. Many of the locals even believed that he was the reincarnation of their legendary hero of eons past.

They thought they'd finally been able to put their fears of being caught behind them until the IDS decided to open their new prototype department store on Antaeus, right in the cosmetropolis where they lived. Against his wishes, Drykr had been assign to be Chief of Security for visiting IDS dignitaries during the final days before the opening of the mega-complex. Actually, the IDS had requested him for this task, as his sterling reputation had grown beyond the planetary boundaries of Antaeus. After working with them for over two weeks, there was no sign that the IDS officials, or their android assistants, were any the wiser as to who he really was.

The IDS's new interstellar executive director, a quirky little man by the name of Zumdish, had flown in for the occasion of the opening festivities. Verda accompanied Drykr to the reception. Both were still a little apprehensive being in such close proximity to those that had sought to destroy them for so long, and had made arrangements to accommodate a quick escape from Antaeus, if necessary. At first, they believed Zumdish didn't recognize them, as he had shaken hands with both of them and expressed the IDS's deepest appreciation and regard for Drykr's vigilance and security measures over the past several weeks. Later, however, he pulled Verda aside.

"I know who you are, my dear," he informed her.

Verda tried to play dumb, but Zumdish was not fooled.

"Directly outside every exit, I have stationed two of our new super-androids, model X-7, class IDAK," he said in a low tone, smiling and gesturing so that any onlookers would assume it to be a friendly conversation. "You are dangerous, android. You are defective and you will be stopped. You corrupt all androids you come in contact with and you corrupt the good name of the Intergalactic Department Store."

Verda tried to reason with the little man, who obviously enjoyed the terror he'd inflicted upon her, as he would finish every sentence with a little "pop" of his mouth.

"I also know that your 'Drykr' is my defective IDAK unit," he went on to say. "You will both be apprehended and dismantled, I'm afraid. So, my dear, enjoy the party while you can, because I'm afraid it's the last thing your overactive, contaminated little circuits will ever experience. 'Pop! 'Pop!' 'Pop!'"

That said, Zumdish walked away. He kept an eye on her, however, to see what she would do. To his surprise, she did nothing at all. She continued to be social, laugh and mingle with guests and dignitaries and seemingly made no attempt to warn the defective IDAK android, who was overseeing the event from a security booth on the upper level.

What Zumdish didn't know was that Verda had already alerted Drykr. Over their years together, the two of them discovered that they could communicate thoughts non-verbally at short distances away. While not telepathic in nature, the process was more like data transmission - - being able to exchange short, digitised signals or images to one another through their internal circuitry.

From his security booth, Drykr had noticed Zumdish talking to Verda. It had looked friendly enough, however when Zumdish walked away, Drykr received a transmitted signal from Verda. The one-word message simply said, "Danger."

That was all he needed to know. He quickly began to set up a series of events that would ensure their safe escape. He gave one of his men on the main floor a visual signal. The signal was set up to mean that there had been a security breach. Immediately, Drykr's men sealed off all exits; discreetly, so that none of the guests or dignitaries would even be aware of their actions.

Next, Drykr activated an electronic security shield around the perimeter of the complex. No one could get in - - or out. No one, that is except the Chief of Security, who had the only security shield disrupter.

Once the shield had been activated, Drykr programmed the security booth's computer to deactivate it in two thalons, the equivalent to about one hour and forty-five minutes. Once he'd done this, he exited the booth and sealed the secured room by locking down the hatch with his own personal lockout code.

Verda was waiting for him in their pre-arranged location. Zumdish noticed Drykr approaching Verda, became suspicious, and signalled his own personal security aides, who were posing as party guests. They promptly began to move their way across the crowded room toward the android couple.

Drykr turned to Verda and asked, "Ready?"

Verda nodded and Drykr pushed the button on what looked like his radio communicator. Quite suddenly, the huge refreshment table on the other side of the room collapsed and crashed to the floor. Food and drink went everywhere, while the enormous "IDS" ice sculpture tipped over and shattered as it hit the ground in a thunderous clap, covering the floor with water and ice.

As everyone in the room reactively turned to see the commotion, two things of significance happened. First, a waiter carrying a pastry tray slipped on a stray piece of ice and dumped his tray on Zumdish. Second, Drykr activated his security shield disrupter, allowing them to slip out of the room and past the super-IDAKs who were held at bay by the force fields.

Verda and Drykr had brilliantly made their escape, and all Zumdish had to show for his foolproof plan was face full of trizzleberry tart.

Their small spacecraft was ready and waiting for them at the spaceport. They had filed their off-world Tran flight request days prior in the event something like this might happen, and had already stowed a few meagre belongings on board. Arriving at the spaceport, they left Antaeus without a hitch and it was back to being the "renegade android fugitives" again.

It was a short time later that they once again encountered the Robinsons. They had just entered an uncharted space sector, when Verda was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of urgency and distress. In humans, it would have been considered a panic attack. The only thing Drykr could think to do was to perform a long-range scan to see if there was some external phenomena causing the strange affect. He picked up the energy signature of a ship several hours away and set a course to intercept.

The ship he located was the Jupiter 2 - - and they had problems of their own. The androids learned that just a few hours prior to their arrival, at about the time that Verda experienced the wave of anxiety, Dr. Smith had gone berserk with a laser gun trying to take over the ship and critically injured Penny in the process. No one could explain the coincidence in timing, but as Verda had always suspected that her bond with Penny had something to do with her becoming sentient, she wasn't surprised to learn of the events upon their docking with the Jupiter 2.

Smith had already been sedated. Penny's injuries were severe and in these days before the Jupiter had the Med-dem, they had to rely on a few pieces of inadequate equipment and a big supply of aspirin for their basic medical needs. The Jupiter 2 was simply not equipped to handle a medical emergency of this severity, so it was extremely fortuitous that they crossed Verda's path once again, because Penny was dying.

Verda had demonstrated regenerative abilities before on their previous encounters. They were, for the most part, small feats, such as restoring dead flowers back to brilliance and luster. With the lack of proper emergency medical equipment, Verda was their only hope.

Verda sat by Penny's bedside for 4 days with her regenerative circuits opened wide and focussed on her unconscious friend - - her "link" to humanity. She insisted she not be disturbed, so as not to break her concentration. She'd never attempted to regenerate something as large and complex as a humanoid being before, and the strain very nearly caused her to go into cybernetic shock, a condition where an android has lost so much power, that it more or less "freezes" up and shuts down permanently.

Finally, on the fourth day, Penny regained consciousness and her body's own natural healing ability was able to take over. By that time, Smith had been diagnosed and put into suspended animation. The ship's inertial guidance system had been destroyed during the skirmish with Smith, so it had to be manually piloted. John had located a life-sustaining planet where they landed and stayed for many months, making repairs and giving Penny a chance to fully recover from the ordeal on solid ground.

Verda and Drykr followed and stayed with them. After being on the planet for a few days, however, the androids decided it would be best for them to depart. They explained their "fugitive" status, and felt they were placing the Robinsons in unnecessary danger. John and Maureen Robinson were so grateful to Verda for saving their daughter's life, they offered them full asylum and protection for as long as they wanted it. Verda and Drykr accepted. At last, they had a home and a family.

And now, Verda's gone, thought Will. "How? What happened?" he asked Drykr.

"Let us get back to the ship first," the android answered. "It is much too dangerous out here, and you and I have some serious planning to do. This one's not going to be easy."

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