Lost in Space Australia Fan Club

Dr. Smith’s head ached.

“Why is it so dark?” he thought to himself. Then he realized his eyes were shut. As he opened them and looked up from where he lay, he was greeted by a small group of expressions ranging the gamut from concern to disgust.

“Dr. Smith, can you hear me?” questioned a concerned Maureen Robinson.

The Robinson's and Major West had heard the doctor’s scream from the upper flight deck a few moments prior. Rushing to the lower level, they discovered Smith’s prone figure lying on the galley floor, with Debbie the Bloop perched atop his chest – posing as if she were the victor in some type of galactic contest.

“He can hear you, Maureen – can’t you Smith!” snapped Don. “What’s all the screaming about? I’ll bet you a can of deutronium it’s a scheme to get out of watch duty,” the pilot growled. “Well it’s not gonna work this time Smith!”

“Spare me the barbaric temper tantrum, Major,” replied Smith rising from the floor.

“Let me help you Dr. Smith,” Judy offered, grasping the doctor’s arm and helping him to his feet.

“Thank you dear girl,” replied Smith. “It’s gratifying to note that good manners are not completely lost on your generation,” he continued with a cold stare directed at Don.

“Doctor, what’s this all about?” questioned Professor John Robinson. “We heard you call out, but when we arrived, there appeared to be no danger.”

“No danger, indeed, my good professor!” quipped Smith. “That vile creature over there attacked me without provocation!”

Smith was pointing at Debbie, who was now cradled in Penny’s arms.

“Debbie attacked you, Dr. Smith?” asked Maureen. “Oh, are you certain?”

“The Bloop has never shown signs of aggressive behaviour before, Smith,” added John.

“Perhaps not,” answered Smith. “But there’s always a first time for everything. And I’m telling you, that creature is vicious. I’m certain it tried to bite me after it violently ambushed me from the rafters.”

Turning to Penny, Dr. Smith addressed her in a scolding fashion, index finger sharply pointed, “You keep that sadistic simian away from me, young lady, or I will speak to your parents about casting it adrift upon the very next barren asteroid we pass by…”

As if the creature understood the doctor’s remarks, the Bloop jumped from Penny’s arms and scurried to the ladder that led to the upper deck, quickly disappearing to the deck above, but not before pausing to stick its tongue out at Smith and shoot him a raspberry.

“Indeed!” retorted Smith.

“Debbie wouldn’t bite anyone, Dr. Smith!” chided Penny. “You’re just angry because she interrupted you from trying to steal a piece of the chocolate cake mom made for dessert…”

“What?” questioned Maureen as all eyes turned suspiciously toward Smith.

“Really, my dear! Of all the nerve,” Smith bellowed indignantly, trying to recover his composure. “Zachary Smith a thief? You cut me to the quick. And here I thought we were friends, you and me.” Turning to the others, Smith continued, “The child is clearly trying to divert your attention from the real issue here…”

“I’m not your friend, Dr. Smith,” interrupted Penny sharply. “You’re mean! And Debbie wasn’t the only one who was watching you! I saw what you were doing. And he was trying to take the cake! Ooooh! You make me so mad, Dr. Smith… I could bite you myself!”

Totally exasperated, the young girl turned and ran to the ladder the Bloop had just ascended, and quickly climbed the rungs, disappearing to the control room above before anyone could recover enough to say anything, save Smith who merely muttered under his breath, “Tattletale.”

“Debbie? Where are you?” called Penny as she began looking around the Jupiter 2’s upper deck control room. Noticing one of the hatch doors open, Penny quickly headed that direction.

“You better not be in there,” she scolded through the open doorway. “You know that area’s off limits. You’re going to get us in even bigger trouble, young lady.”

“Debbie?”

Taking a quick glance about her to make certain no one was around, Penny braced herself and entered the forbidden chamber. She didn’t like deliberately disobeying her father’s orders, but justified it in her mind as being a selflessly heroic gesture to save a poor defenceless creature. So she entered the airlock.

For several months prior to their lift-off and escape from the planet they’d been marooned on for nearly a year, Penny’s father and Don West been working on converting an upper deck cargo bay into an airlock that would house a landing craft they’d decided to call the “Space Pod.”

She’d never been inside that part of the ship since the renovation project had begun. It was off limits to everyone until her father deemed it completely space-worthy and safe for use. Now inside the bay though, her curiosity got the better of her and Penny paused to look over the strange vehicle, thinking it looked more like an orange bug than a spaceship.

“I wonder what it looks like inside,” she thought to herself.

“I’d better look. Maybe Debbie got in there somehow,” Penny reasoned, knowing in the back of her head that this was certainly not possible.

So she approached the hatch to enter the strange looking vessel. Some of the parts and features looked vaguely familiar, others quite foreign, as her father and Major West had fabricated the vehicle by modifying the Jupiter 2’s own reactor chamber (as they’d tried once before as a space raft) with parts and materials secured from abandoned alien space wrecks they’d happened upon while living on Priplanus.

As she knew it would be, the Pod’s door had been secured with an electronic security bolt. Penny wasn’t even supposed to know the access code to unlock it – but having been around Dr. Smith for several months – well, she’d picked up a few unsavoury tricks of her own.

The lock disarmed as Penny entered the ill-gotten access code, and the hatch door opened. She quickly entered the small space vehicle and, gaping around in wonder, muttered a half-hearted, obligatory summoning call to her missing pet – just in case Debbie was inside, of course.

Not waiting for a “bloop” reply, Penny moved forward in wonder, running her fingers lightly across a bank of brightly flashing coloured lights and approached the piloting area of the ship.

“Why, it’s almost like a bicycle,” she marvelled at the duel piloting control arms. “I bet even I could drive this!”

However, before she could continue her thought, she was interrupted by the blaring wail of the Jupiter 2’s General Alarm, followed almost immediately by the familiar electronic cry, “Warning! Warning!” from the Robot.

Something exploded outside the Pod’s bay in the adjacent control room, and the mighty ship lunged and bolted as its computerized internal stabilizers attempted auto-calibrations to control the ship’s violent rocking and shaking.

Penny lost her grip and started to fall backwards. Desperately, she floundered for something to grasp hold of, but her hand slipped again and slapped sharply against a panel of buttons and touch sensors. As if mimicking the condition of its mother ship, the tiny Space Pod seemed to come to life – vibrating and shaking violently.

Out of the corner of her eye, Penny caught sight of the outer airlock and hatch door closing simultaneously. Trying to rise, the Pod jolted again, causing Penny to hit her head on one of its titanium bulwarks, and lapsing her into a state of dizzying unconsciousness.

* * * * * * * * *

Back to the present…

“We’re really gonna get it now,” Penny repeated herself as her mind and senses whirled, trying to make sense of what must have happened.

“How in the world did we get here?” questioned the child aloud.

As if answering the girl’s query, the Bloop clucked a hearty, “Bloop!”

“Oh, honestly Debbie! Do you expect me to believe that you landed the Pod here while I was unconscious?” asked Penny.

Debbie the Bloop clapped her hands together, as if applauding.

“That’s ridiculous!” chided Penny to her companion.

“Dahts reedeeklaws!”

Penny’s words seemed to echo strangely over and over across the rocky clearing where the Space Pod had landed.

“Who’s there?” questioned the girl suspiciously, pulling Debbie into her arms.

“Huzdare!”

Again, Penny’s words echoed strangely, almost tauntingly around her.

Penny scanned over the area surrounding her. For the most part, the planet scape resembled the alien planet the Robinson's had left not so long ago. Lots of rocks, sandy soil, desert-like vegetation. But there was something different. The rocks were definitely orange – the exact colour of her own clothes, as she looked at her tunic to compare the colour.

But something was wrong.

“Oh! What…how…?” was all she could manage to mutter, as she noted that her uniform had changed colour. Instead of her normal orange uniform, she found herself wearing the stupid-looking yellow version of the same style that she *thought* she’d gotten rid of.

You see, when Maureen Robinson designed their new clothing, she thought it would be nice for her daughters to have similar looking outfits – so she programmed the computer to replicate both Judy’s and Penny’s outfits in yellow – Judy’s favourite colour.

Penny hated yellow, and protested so much that her mother finally gave in and reprogrammed the computer to redo the outfit. Penny had to concede to the yellow trim (as well as having to match Will’s colour scheme), but at least she didn’t have to look silly and prissy like her older sister.

“Something’s really odd about this place, Debbie,” she said, shaking her head.

“Bloop,” responded the animal.

“Boop!”

The Bloop’s cry was mimicked throughout the clearing, followed by an odd electronic sound that resembled giggling.

“What?!?! You don’t like yellow, little girl?” came a voice from behind her.

Whirling around, Penny found herself face-to-face, – well, rather, Penny found herself waist-to-face with a short figure who looked vaguely familiar.

“Wait a minute,” said Penny. “Don’t I know you?”

“Have you ever been here before, dear girl?” answered the man.

“Well… I don’t see how that would be possible,” responded the girl.

“Then, I don’t see how it’s possible you know me then,” replied the man.

“I know! You look a whole lot like the Space Trader,” she said looking downward at the approximately 3-foot tall man, “Only a lot, um… shorter.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my height, you ill-mannered child!” shot back the galactic merchant look-alike. “You’re the one who’s the giant here! You and your giant flying bug swoop out of the sky, disrupting our day, and you have the nerve to call me ‘short?’”

“I’m sorry,” replied Penny. “I really didn’t mean – hey! You just said ‘our’ – so there are others like you around here spying on us and playing echo word games, right?”

Once again the air filled with the strange electronic sounding laughter.

“Oh, the others aren’t like me,” replied the man. “They’re like your friend.”

“My friend?” quizzed Penny. “You mean Debbie?”

“Well, that may be what you call the inhabitants of Drothkia – by the way, how did you come by this Drothkian anyway?”

“Drothkians?” questioned Penny. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr….?”

“Ka-pop!” exclaimed the alien.

“I beg your pardon?” asked Penny.

“Ka-pop! My name you silly girl,” replied the little man.

“Your name’s… Kuhpop?” quizzed Penny.

“No! That’s not what I said!” answered the man.

“Well then, what did you say?” asked Penny.

“Is there something wrong with your audio sensory organs, young lady?” snapped the alien. “I said, ‘Ka-pop!’”

“No, there’s nothing wrong with my hearing, Mr. Ka-pop,” replied Penny. “And there’s really no reason to be rude. It’s just that I’ve never come across someone with such an unusual sounding name before.”

“Oh! And I suppose you think that Penny Robinson is not unusual sounding?” questioned Ka-pop.

“Hey, I never told you my name!” replied Penny suspiciously.

“Then how would I know it?” answered the alien matter-of-factly. “And you never answered my question – how did you come by this Drothkian you call ‘Dibbi?’ No Drothkians have been off Drothkia for hundreds of solar cycles. Why, you must be a space pirate or black market privateer, you space-napper!”

“I most certainly am not!” answered Penny indignantly. “We found Debbie,” Penny corrected Ka-pop’s pronunciation, “on a planet where my family and I were marooned for long time. We don’t know how she got there, because there were no others of her species to be found anywhere.”

“Mmm-hmm,” replied the alien sarcastically. “So, that’s your story and your sticking to it, right?”

“Why shouldn’t I,” said Penny. “It’s the truth, and – hey! Are you telling me that this is where she’s originally from?”

“As if you didn’t know,” replied Ka-pop. “Come back to take a few more Drothkians?”

“No!” answered Penny. “Debbie and I are here… by accident. You see, we really shouldn’t be here at all. The Space Pod accidentally launched when the Jupiter 2 – that’s our spaceship – when the Jupiter 2, well, that is – I don’t exactly know what happened, but here was this big explosion and…”

“Can you speed this up?” yawned Ka-pop, interrupting Penny. “I’m terribly concerned I won’t be able to feign interest much longer.”

“Oh never mind,” replied Penny. “How we got here isn’t important anyway. I’ve got figure out a way to get back.”

“Get back?” asked Ka-pop. “Get back where, my dear?”

“Well, home of course,” replied Penny. “Maybe the Jupiter 2 is still within range of the Pod’s radio transmitter!”

Penny dashed back into the Pod, followed closely by Debbie and Ka-pop.

“I don’t see the radio anywhere,” said Penny, scratching her head.

“What kind of a space privateer are you anyway?” asked Ka-pop. “You don’t even have a radio in your space-napping getaway ship?”

“I already told you, Mr. Ka-pop – we’re not space pirates!” retorted Penny. “And I bet the reason we can’t find the radio is that Dad and Don haven’t installed one yet.”

“Anyone ever tell you your grammar is terrible, kid? And who’s Daddin Dawn?” questioned the small alien.

“You know, you’re really not helping matters with all of your silly questions,” replied Penny. “You could try to help me out.”

“Humph! Such an attitude,” countered Ka-pop. “And I was just about to, anyway. Here, I bet this is your radio… right here!”

The alien flip a switch on the wall panel. However, instead of turning on the radio, the panel exploded, sending sparks flying and smoke billowing. Penny grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and doused the flames while Debbie and Ka-pop made a hasty exit outside.

Upon exiting herself, Penny found Ka-pop and Debbie surrounded by dozens of Bloops, of all different shapes and sizes.

“Oh there you are!” called Ka-pop. “They don’t know this one,” he continued, motioning to Debbie. “In fact, they think she’s a half-wit, or Imposter – she doesn’t even speak their language!”

“Language? You mean they talk?” asked Penny.

“Well, they can mimic sounds, as you heard a few moment ago – that was them repeating your words. But no, amongst themselves and higher life-forms like me, they communicate differently,” replied Ka-pop. “You see, they’re telepaths. That means…”

“I know what that means, Mr. Ka-pop,” interrupted Penny.

“Well, Miss Smarty-pants, I bet you didn’t know that they’ve just proclaimed you their national heroine,” replied the alien.

“Me? A Heroine?” asked Penny. “Why?”

“It seems you’ve fulfilled an ancient prophesy,” answered Ka-pop. “According to the ‘Book of Drothesy,’ a giant orange insect would one day descend from the heavens and free the Drothkians from oppression.”

“Well, okay – I can see where the Pod looks like a big bug,” reasoned Penny. But what about the ‘oppression’ part?”

“Take a look over there,” Ka-pop said, motioning to the front side of the Space Pod.

Penny walked around to the front of the vehicle. Crushed under the weight of the Pod was a mass of twisted metal that was once, apparently, some kind of alien machinery.

“Oh dear!” exclaimed Penny. “I’m terribly sorry, the Space Pod seems to have crushed this machinery. Can you tell the Drothkians that I’m sorry, Mr. Ka-pop – that I didn’t mean to do it,?”

“My dear,” explained the alien. “This is the oppressor from which you have freed the Drothkians! This device was placed here years ago by a race of evil off-worlders. Impenetrable and impervious to Drothkian technology, it controlled a series of force fields that imprisoned the Drothkians on their world. Not even the mighty Popak has been able to thwart this technology – try as he might. But you, Penny Robinson – you have set them free!”

TO BE CONTINUED…