"Mom, they're not back yet. Should we go out and look for them?"

"No Penny, I want to give them a little while longer before we send anyone else out there."

"Well how's Dad then?"

"He's still unconscious, the fever is slowly fading but Judy says it will be another few days before he is well again."

Penny turned away from her mother, who was seated next to her father on the bed in their bedroom. Slowly Penny walked to the doorway and then turned back to look at her father. John was lying perfectly still, with perspiration running freely down his forehead onto the wet cloth her mother was slowly mopping his brow with.

Penny could see that her mother was more worried than she was indicating, but Penny believed he would be alright, he just had to get better.

Not wanting to look at her father in this condition any longer she left the room and made her way back to the control deck.

Will had taken the watch duties for this evening and was seated in Don's pilot's chair idly watching the display panels in front of him.

Since her father had been struck down with this weird kind of flu the entire crew had had their minds on other things. Perhaps they were not as invulnerable as they had come to believe or perhaps they were starting to realize they might not ever see home again. Penny and Will were no different.

Will suddenly snapped around in surprise as he heard Penny drop down into her chair and sigh mournfully to herself.

"Penny! Don't sneak up on me."

"You're supposed to be on watch, I shouldn't be able to sneak up on you, squirt."

"I was just thinking about what's happened to them."

"Hmm, perhaps you should send the Robot out to find them."

"I've been thinking about doing that. I'll ask Mom first," he said reaching down to activate the internal comm system.

"Mom, can we send the Robot out to find Don and Dr Smith?"

"I suppose they've been gone for too long now, alright send him out after them."

With a clunk that shattered the silence in the Jupiter 2, the Robot emerged back into the ship from outside. He quickly made his way to the medical bay, dragging the lifeless forms of Don and Dr Smith behind him.

"Don! Robot what happened to them?" yelled Judy as she leapt off the bench she had been perched on, and ran over to the lifeless green bodies lying on the floor behind the Robot.

"I found them lying outside some sort of abandoned structure," said the Robot.

"Help me get them up on the beds," instructed Judy as she began to struggle with the dead weight that Don's limp body had become.

With no effort at all the Robot grabbed Don and placed him on one bed, and shortly after that Dr Smith joined him on the other.

Instantly the medical scanners kicked in and began to analyze the two unconscious men. Judy watched the displays with a desperate eye and quickly absorbed the information as it appeared.

"I don't know what the hell's happening to them, but I think I can revive them," said Judy as she gave Don and then Dr Smith an injection of some orange fluid.

Immediately both men began to cough and convulse, before they were held immobile by the equipment in the medical beds. Slowly the convulsions stopped and much to Judy's relief Don began to open his eyes.

"Don, are you alright?"

"What happened?" Don finally managed to utter through very parched lips.

"We found you nearly dead outside of the structure in the village."

"We had just escaped the cave in and some kind of ray hit us, and that's all I remember."

"Well let's try and find out why your skin is green," said Judy as she turned back to the medical controls, to find Smith already standing, deeply involved in the readings flashing before his eyes.

"It would appear that we have been contaminated by some kind of mutagen," said Smith in a very grim tone of voice.

"What the hell does that mean?" grumbled Don.

"It means that we've been exposed to something which is changing our bodies,"

"Changing them into what?" asked Judy, pushing Smith out of the way so that she could see the readouts.

"I wouldn't like to guess, but I'd say some kind of... plant life."

"Plants! We're turning into plants?" yelled Don as he sat up on the bed and looked over to Judy for an answer.

"I'd say he's right Don," said Judy.

"Well of course I'm right my dear, after all I am the doctor here."

"Well that's great Smith, how do we fix it?"

"I don't know that we can, Major."

"Maybe those books can tell us something," suggested Don.

"Good idea Major. Where are the books and crystals we had child?" asked Smith as he turned to face Judy.

"There was nothing with you when you came back, you must have left them behind somewhere."

"Well we'll just have to go and get them back," said Smith as he slowly moved forwards and then slumped down against the bed.

"You two are in no shape to go anywhere," said an anxious Judy. As she watched the readings in front of her the rate of normal bodily functions in the two men was slowing. "You'll both have to stay here and stop moving around, it seems to be accelerating the change."

"Mom you can't do anything for Dad here, but you can help me save Don and Smith," protested Judy to her mother.

Maureen glared at her daughter for a moment and then finally her stern look faded and she looked down at her husband.

"I don't want to leave him, I'm afraid I won't see him again."

"I understand that Mom, I don't want to leave Dad or Don either. We have to go and help Don and Smith though, and I can't take the kids. The Robot can look after them all efficiently enough but it doesn't have the intuition to judge what it is that we're looking for to save Don."

"I don't like leaving the kids on their own, let me think about it."

"We don't have time! Don and Smith are mutating into plants as we speak."

"We'll be alright Mom," chorused Penny and Will, who were both hiding just out of sight behind the doorframe.

Penny stepped into the room and walked over to her mother. Reaching down she took the wet cloth out of her hand and stood on the other side of the bed and began to mop her father's brow.

"Don't worry Mom, I won't let anything happen to Dad. Go and save Don," said Penny.

"I'll help the Robot look after Don and Dr Smith," said Will from just inside the doorway.

Maureen sat silently looking at her children around her, and then took a long lingering look at her prone husband.

"Alright let's go before I change my mind," said Maureen standing and walking out of the room without looking back.

"Alright Kids be careful and we'll be back soon," said Maureen as she bent forwards to kiss each of them on the cheek.

"Don't worry Mom, we'll take great care of them," said Penny with a confident smile.

"I know you will honey," said Maureen as she finished fastening the environment suit over the top of her clothing.

"Bye," yelled Judy back over her shoulder as she followed her mother down the ramp and out into the night.

Penny and Will stood staring out into the night after them. They heard someone press the button outside on the control panel, and the ramp quickly retracted into the ship and then with a final resounding clang the hatch closed and the Jupiter 2 was bathed in a deathly silence.

Maureen and Judy quickly made their way up to the large structure and as they approached it they could see the collapsed doorway through their helmets.

Judy snapped on her torch attachments and immediately the area was bathed in light. She began to look around the area, while Maureen covered the other side of the garden.

"I've found a box of some kind of crystals," yelled Judy.

"I've got the books Don wanted," said Maureen, who then turned to look at the crystals Judy had recovered.

Judy held a single pink crystal in between her thumb and forefinger, and held it up to the flashlight.

"It's strange, there appears to be more facets inside the crystal itself. See how it catches the light and distributes it evenly throughout the entire area," said Judy.

"Yes Judy I can see," said Maureen moving around to one side, and as her light caught the crystal further facets were revealed even more deeply inside the crystal. "There's more when I light it from this angle."

As they looked at the crystal they failed to notice the light exiting the crystal was diminishing. Finally the crystal was absorbing all light entering it and the garden was plunged into darkness once more. Before the women could react the crystal pulsed a burst of pink plasma out to bathe their heads in energy.

The two of them slowly slid backwards onto the ground, and as they lay there, the energy surrounding their heads pulsed in time with the crystal, which was hovering in mid air.

Inside the energy field the two women were overcome by panic as their senses were totally cut off from the outside world and they were immersed in the pink energy. Slowly images began to form in their minds, and then after a few moments the image began to move and a story began to be played out in their minds.

"This is the tale of my people, and of the great wrong that was perpetuated by us, upon our brothers in this city," said a deep, warm, male voice. An image of the city around them, at the height of it's glory appeared, and the garden they lay in was draped in color. The flowers were all in bloom and the warm sunlight shone down through the overhead vines to the lush plant life below.

"As our civilization grew, so did our foolish differences. Our people grew apart and two cities were formed. As the years went by our differences led us to compete with each other for everything, including our planet's resources. This would be our downfall," and images of the planet spinning quietly in space appeared. It didn't look too different to the way it had looked when they had approached it in the Jupiter 2. The picture closed in and moved from this city to another like it several kilometers away, and it too appeared to be at the peak of it's grandeur.

"Our struggles became more heated, and as we are a peaceful people, destruction does not come easily to us. We decided a more reasonable solution was in order, and we developed a solution which would destroy nothing, but would leave us free to use the planet as we chose. This is our eternal shame," as the image returned to this city they saw the city flooded with some sort of green ray, which was followed by a kind of commando raid where several devices were affixed above doorways. As the people of this city fled the building, their chubby bodies were bathed in the green light from the devices and they suddenly began to mutate into plant life. The people slowly became green, and their skin developed a life like cover similar to a bird's feathers. Then one by one, each person began to melt and then stretch out like toffee. Finally the ray stopped and what had once been people were now small shrubs and trees. The two women realized the large plants growing in the garden around them were actually the people they had seen fleeing the building all those years ago.

"We were victorious and the planet was now ours, or so we believed. Our horrendous decision would return to haunt us. As our brothers flowered, their pollen was blown far and wide. When it came into contact with us, we too began to mutate into plants. We had doomed ourselves and had no option but to leave the planet behind. We had won the planet and in doing so had banished ourselves from it. Perhaps it was retribution for our actions. We can only hope that the scientists who remain are able to reverse our mistake and allow us to return to our world, and restore our brethren to life." The scientists working in a lab could be seen and as the image pulled away from them, back through the walls of the city the location of their laboratory was revealed.

"We leave this as a warning to any who come to this world. It is a warning against arrogance as well as contamination. If it is too late for you, perhaps our scientists can help you as well, I pray you do not need it," and with a final image of the people/plants in the garden the image faded, and the crystal stopped glowing and dropped to the ground.

Maureen and Judy had been gone for several hours and Don and the Doctor had started to develop a serious fever. Penny had realized that they were more serious than her father so she had taken over and let Will and the Robot babysit her dad.

Don and Smith both lay back on their beds and Penny found herself running between the two of them trying to keep up with their requests.

"Penelope dear, could I have some water," moaned Doctor Smith from his bed.

"Don't call me that," grunted Penny as she handed him a container of drinking water.

She heard movement heading towards her from down the corridor, and she wondered who it was. Will and the Robot were both up in the crew quarters, so it had to be someone else. Penny spun around and moved back from the door.

"I just want you to know that I'm armed," said Penny with more bravado than she was feeling. "I just want you to know that, so when I shoot you, you won't be surprised."

Suddenly a whirl of color burst through the door and flung itself in the direction of Penny. Before she had a chance to fire off a shot the Blawp had landed on her shoulder and was panting happily at her.

"It's you!" said Penny in relief. "Where have you been hiding for the last few months?"

"I have been thinking about that my dear," said the muffled voice of Smith from his bed. "I believe your pet may have been in some kind of hibernation. You'll probably find that it is now hungry."

"Is he right, do you want something to eat?" asked Penny, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small snack ration.

Before Penny had completed the movement of removing the food from her pocket, the Blawp surged forwards and ravenously devoured the food. It happily rubbed it's belly in satisfaction, and then turned back and looked at her, expectantly waiting for the next morsel of food.

"Sorry Blawp, I don't have anything else on me. Go and see Will, he'll feed you."

The Blawp jumped down and scampered off to find Will, leaving Penny alone with the two mutating men.

Penny suddenly realized that during the entire exchange with the Blawp there had been no response from Don. Quickly she moved to his side and checked his readouts. His fever had become more severe and he had passed out, but he was no worse for the moment.

Penny knew she could not help them any further, and hoped her mother and Judy would return soon.

Judy and Maureen sat up slowly and looked around the grove, to see no evidence of the pink crystal or it's story.

"Did you get all that Mom?"

"Yes, it was like the story was being projected directly into my mind. His words were not so much a language but the actual ideas and memories behind the events."

"So why didn't we set off the ray?"

"I'd say it's motion sensors are set to allow people in, but to stop anyone leaving. That would explain why Don and Smith were able to get inside unaffected," said Maureen as she turned back to the entrance and burned the device off the stone with her pistol. She watched the blackened lump of twisted metal fall to the ground with a grim look, and then turned back to Judy.

"We'd better get moving then, if we want to get to that city," said Judy.

"We can't hike off across the continent and leave the kids here!"

"Well we can't move the ship, no-one except Don is really qualified to pilot it inside an atmosphere."

"What about the Robot?" asked Maureen with a sudden flash of inspiration. "He could link up to the ship's autopilot and move the ship to where we want to be."

"I guess we could try it," said Judy in an uncertain tone.

Maureen reached up to her helmet and pressed the comm button on the side.

"Robot, please respond,"

After a moment the receiver in the helmet crackled into life.

"Yes Maureen Robinson, I am here. How can I be of service?"

"Judy and I are coming back to the ship. Get everyone prepared for take off, and I want a word with you when I return to the ship."

Slowly the Jupiter 2 lurched up into the air and began to move forwards towards the ruined city before them. It rumbled over the wreckage of the buildings and rotated in mid-air to lock on to the other settlement before starting to head off in the new direction. Judy was looking out of the viewport down at the scene below them. The true impact of the weapon then began to sink in as they saw hundreds of the plants which had once been living beings.

"Do you think we could speed it up a bit Robot?" asked Judy. The sight of the all the plants below her had heightened her sense of dread for Don, and like some sort of backseat driver she was perched at the Robot's shoulder as he piloted the craft remotely from the computer interface.

"I will attempt to increase speed Judy Robinson, however I am uncertain as to my piloting abilities. I do not wish to crash the vessel."

"Well that's probably not a good idea either. How about I go over here and leave you alone," said Judy moving back to Don's pilot seat. Slowly she lowered herself into the chair and sat watching the landscape begin to speed past as they rocketed towards the other city. She wriggled slightly, feeling uncomfortable in the chair for the first time since she had boarded the completed vessel. She realized that she felt connected to Don when she sat in this chair. She could feel the familiar shape of his body which his chair had molded into after all the time he has spent sitting in it. The chair also had his pleasant masculine scent which reminded her of her friend. Judy realized she missed Don and instinctively knew that the loss of Don and Smith would be the final straw that would break the spirits of an already emotionally drained crew.

As Judy sat in the chair staring out at the world, Maureen had moved into the room and made her way forwards. She looked down at her eldest daughter and could see the familiar signs of worry on her face. Briefly Maureen smiled to herself knowing the feelings that were racing through her daughter, there was nothing she could say to comfort her so she chose to say nothing. She reached down and placed her hand on Judy's shoulder, and together they waited for the ship to reach their new destination.

The Jupiter 2 had come to rest on a hilltop overlooking the ruins of the second city, which was nestled around the base of the hill. After making some sweeps of the area with their sensors the Robot had declared the area to be safe and had disentangled himself from the computer and returned to sick bay.

Maureen found both Don and Smith had begun to develop a kind of moss like covering on their skin, which had appeared since her last visit.

"I'm afraid I will have to place them into cryogenic suspension Maureen Robinson," stated the Robot as he made his was around and prepared the two men.

"Hopefully Judy and I will be back with something to reverse the process before it gets any further. It appears that somehow the natives of this world have devised something that can rewrite the DNA structure of a living being. It's quite an achievement to be able to produce such fast results, if only it wasn't used for such a tragic purpose."

"I do not know if they will be able to bear the strain of a second genetic change after such a short period of time."

"Well we can't give them too much time to rest Robot, otherwise they'll be plants and we may not be able to change them back."

"Agreed, it would appear that retrieval of the device is of the utmost priority."

"Alright I take the hint, Judy and I are leaving now. Let us know if there is any change, or if John comes around."

Judy and Maureen had now been walking through the deserted streets of the dead city for several minutes. The buildings were overgrown with masses of vinelike plants, and the ground which had once been something like concrete was now a carpet of grass like vegetation.

"There it is again!" yelled Judy as she snapped her head around to stare behind her. Her intent gaze examined the street behind her and when she had again found no evidence of something following them she turned back to look at her mother. "I'm sure there's something following us. I keep glimpsing it out of the corner of my eye, and then it is gone again."

"Well let's hope it's not hostile. Come on let's keep moving," instructed Maureen as she began to move towards the end of the street. The buildings around her were like towering rectangles of plant life, and the actual structures underneath was impossible to discern through the leaves. The buildings here appeared to be smaller in scale but more densely packed than their cousins in the first city, and this increased the claustrophobic feeling of the city.

"The lab should be up here through this arcade," said Maureen pointing at a long outdoor shopping market, beyond an elaborate leafy archway which went off on a right angle to the street they were walking down.

They quickly began to head towards the archway when they were both thrown backwards by the force of something warm and furry hitting them from above. Before either of them had time to react to the attack their attention was instantly grabbed by the grating rumbling sound of the footpath in front of them dropping down into the ground to leave a deep pit in front of the archway.

The attack had not continued and once Judy had managed to get out from under their attacker she realized why. With a groan she rolled onto her back and began gasping to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her.

"It's nice to see you too Blawp, but you didn't have to jump on us," panted Judy, trying to breathe properly.

"Perhaps it was trying to stop us from walking into that," said Maureen pointing at the large hole before them.

Judy dragged herself up into a sitting position and looked down into the pit. Many meters below them was the bottom of the pit, covered with spikes, and overgrown with plant life.

"The place is booby trapped," said Judy in horror. "We would have walked straight into that, my god. What else is waiting for us in here?"

"We'll just have to be more careful. I seem to remember that one of the lecturers at university mentioned something about an old archaeologist professor who used to lecture at the uni, and who specialized in these sorts of daredevil expeditions. I think he said the old guy had said that as long as you observe properly there is always a clue as to where the next offence will come from," said Maureen trying to rack her memory for any other details.

"Was there anything else?"

"Yes, he also said that you should treat everything as suspicious, if you think it's too easy then it is, and that's how you get killed. I think we're going to have to take this a lot slower than we can afford to. We better get going," and Maureen stood and grabbed Judy's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Great Mom, just great."

Maureen and Judy stepped around the pit and after examining the archway and the ground on the other side they decided it seemed safe to proceed through. The two of them gingerly stepped through, half expecting the arch to come crashing down as the ground fell away to the deathtrap below, but nothing happened.

Ahead of them was an empty arcade where market stalls would have once been set up, and beyond that they could see the building they were after.

Maureen and Judy began to slowly move forwards and after a second they realized that the Blawp wasn't with them. Turning around they saw the Blawp still standing on the grass on the other side of the archway.

"Come on Blawp, we don't have time to wait," yelled Judy at the small creature staring fearfully back at her. After a second the creature began to shake visibly and then move slowly back away from the archway.

"We don't have time to wait Judy," yelled Maureen back at her from a few paces ahead. Maureen turned and took another step and then froze. As she had stepped forwards she had heard a definite click from the ground below her. She looked quickly from side to side at the buildings around them and then she noticed the new noise in the background. It was the hum of a generator starting up. Maureen realized she only had a few seconds before something happened and she turned and ran back towards the arch where Judy was trying to coax the Blawp forwards. Without warning she flung herself forwards catching Judy in the stomach, and carried them both through the air, through the archway onto the grass next to the pit. Maureen managed to stop in time, and she then had to haul Judy back up as she began to slide into the pit. Behind them they heard the snap click of an energy grid starting up, and they both turned to look at the market behind them. The entire area was now crisscrossed with a series of energy beams which covered the length of the arcade.

"Thanks Mom," groaned Judy as she lay on the grass trying to massage her bruised ribs and breathe normally.

"Well I'd say that's probably lethal too," muttered Maureen to herself. She stepped forwards and picked up a piece of the broken footpath and threw it into the middle of the energy net. In a puff of dust it was instantly vaporized.

"Woah!" exclaimed Judy as she watched the little cloud of dust waft away.

"Well there's no way through that, there must be another street somewhere." Maureen was worried as this was the only street they had found so far which crossed the other streets and wasn't full of rubble and plants. Looking further along the main street they had been on she could see nothing useful ahead of them, but surely there had to be something.

Excitedly the Blawp began to jump up and down, before leaping up into Maureen's arms.

A startled Maureen looked down at the excited little creature in her arms and looked over at the building it was pointing at. She could not see what the creature was so excited about, but she moved over to investigate. As soon as she was within arms reach of the building the Blawp leap from her arms and began to scale the building, using the vines like a giant rope netting over the building. Maureen reached up and tested the strength of the vines, and was surprised to find them quite strong despite their fragile appearance. Maureen quickly began to climb hand over hand like a ladder, and soon found herself standing on the top of the building. Shortly after she was joined by Judy who had followed her up, and they now saw that the plant life formed a giant canopy over the buildings. Together they began to move forwards and after testing the plant bridge between the roof and the next building they realized they would be able to proceed along the length of the street, staying above the lethal traps below. Each building was higher than the next, leading up to the building they were after, which was almost like an old earth style skyscraper.

They began to cautiously move across the plants, expecting to fall through to the street below at any moment. The Blawp had happily raced ahead of them and was now impatiently waiting for them on the roof of the building ahead of them. This continued for the length of the street until they reached the building they were after, high above the street below them.

Groggily John Robinson rolled over onto his stomach and managed to pry his eyes open, expecting to be hit with the full lighting of the day cycle he was squinting, and was surprised to find the room in near darkness. Next to him sitting on a chair was his son Will, sleeping soundly. John staggered out of bed and after stretching and moving around to get his body going again, he scooped up his son and gently carried him back to his own bedroom. After tucking Will into his bed, he made his way up to the control deck expecting to find someone on watch. Instead he found the room deserted, and to his surprise he also found Don and Smith, both in suspended animation, and both appeared to be green.

What the hell was going on, and where was everyone else, thought John as he began to methodically search the ship to find the missing crew members.

Eventually John found his youngest daughter and the robot in the medical lab. He walked into the room behind them as they were bustling about the room deeply involved in whatever it was they were doing, they didn't notice him.

"Would you like to tell me what is going on please?"

Maureen, Judy and the Blawp stood on top of the building they were looking for and began to search for a way down. Judy began to try and thrash her way through the vegetation to find the rooftop door, while Maureen scaled up and down the outside of the building trying to find a spot where they could get in through a window or balcony. The Blawp was content to race back and forth between the two of them, generally hindering both of them.

Maureen found a balcony which was not too overgrown and after a few moments of tearing away the vines she was able to climb onto the balcony. She made her way forwards across the thick carpet of plant life and leaf litter, and reached the door. Rubbing her hand across the grimy window pane she could just manage to peer inside the building, and it appeared that the plants were on the outside only.

"Judy, come down and help me open this door. I think I've found a way in," yelled Maureen back through the vines.

She was quickly joined by her daughter and the two of them quickly set about pushing against the door to open it. Their efforts were not meeting any success and after a few moments they stopped to consider their next course of action. The Blawp had been agitatedly hopping up and down behind them while they had been pressing against the door and now that they had stopped it was still. As soon as they moved back away from the door it launched itself at the window and went smashing right through the glasslike substance into the room beyond. The Blawp lay somewhat dazed on the floor before it suddenly sprang back to it's feet and stood waiting for them to join it.

The pane ran the length of the door and if they turned side on they could fit through the new hole to join the Blawp inside.

They began to move slowly forwards looking around the room for any further deathtraps.

Judy motioned back towards the door, "It was locked," she said pointing at the bolt which was still holding the doorframe closed.

Maureen shrugged her shoulders and they moved further inside the building. They were walking down a central corridor, totally made of a gray metal, with the occasional locked door to break the endless metal surfaces.

The building became very dark quite rapidly, and Maureen and Judy were forced to turn their suit lights on so they could see where they were going.

"I think it was down in the basement," said Maureen trying to remember where the room was in the brief layout of the building they had witnessed.

"Hmmm, I haven't seen any stairs though," said Judy slowly turning her head from side to side, allowing the light to pan back and forth across the corridor.

The Blawp squealed and ran off ahead of them, quickly disappearing into the shadows before them.

"Blawp, come back here," yelled Judy.

"This is not good, we don't have time to waste searching for Penny's pet. Don and Smith are going to be plants before we get back," said a very frustrated Maureen.

"It's okay Mom," yelled Judy from a little way up ahead. "The Blawp is right here."

Maureen moved further forwards and the light from her suit pinpointed Judy standing up ahead of her. Standing next to her was the Blawp, and alongside it was a large hole in the floor.

Maureen quickly moved forwards and realized that the Blawp was warning them about the hole which, from a distance, blended in perfectly with the surrounding walls and floor. Looking down into the hole , it appeared to go down through several floors before she was unable to see any further.

"Perhaps they use this to move between floors," suggested Judy

"Or it could be another deathtrap, after all we don't know what's at the bottom," said Maureen

"Hmmm, well you could lower me down on the rope as far as it reaches and that way I can have a look around the other floors."

"Alright then, we'd better fix up your harness."

"So Maureen and Judy are off crawling around a deserted overgrown city somewhere?" asked John becoming slightly worked up.

"That is correct, John Robinson," stated the Robot as he swiveled his head around to face John who was seated on the end of one of the beds in the sick bay. The Robot was reviewing some information about the condition of the two men in stasis, and he continued to click away at the interface panel while talking.

Penny had gone to her bedroom to sleep, John had insisted after her third yawning fit, promising to collect her if anything interesting happened.

"Why the hell did you let them go alone?"

"I must remain here to watch over the other crew members. Maureen and Judy Robinson are capable of protecting themselves, the younger Robinsons and the injured are not. Therefore it was my duty to protect those unable to protect themselves."

John sat there glaring at the Robot for a few more seconds and finally he let his head drop. He was still exhausted from fighting the infection which had been ravaging his body, and this new stress was tiring him even more.

"You're correct Robot, you've acted properly. I just don't like the idea of any of my family being out there by themselves. I'm going to go back up to the controls and see if I can detect them anywhere, maybe we can at least follow their movements."

John slipped awkwardly off the end of the bed, landing jarringly on the floor before starting off towards the door. He made only a couple of steps before he slouched to the floor.

"Do not despair John Robinson, I will carry you to the pilot's chair, where you can rest and scan for the crew."

"Thank you Robot," said John as he felt the Robot's metallic appendages grasp him firmly, yet gently and lift him to it's chest height.

"It's pretty dark down here Mom," yelled Judy back up to the floor above. Looking around the floor below, as she dangled in the open shaft, she allowed her torchlight to play across the room around her. "There's more plant life down here and not a lot else, everything else seems to have been smashed or has decayed. Can you lower me any further?"

"There's a little bit more rope, you should make it to the next floor down," came Maureen's reply from above.

Judy looked up and could see her mother looking down at her from the hole in the ceiling above her. Giving her mother the thumbs up sign to indicate she was ready she prepared to resume her descent.

With a sudden yell from above the rope she was holding in her hands, her lifeline, suddenly went slack and then she saw the end of the rope hurtle down past her into the blackness below.

Realizing she was going to fall to her death unless she could find a way out she began frantically searching the area below her for something to grab onto as she passed the floor. It was then that she finally realized she hadn't actually begun to fall yet. She was simply floating in mid-air, trailing the rope below her like some giant tail. She spun around in disbelief, searching for the object she must have snagged onto, but there was nothing.

"My God, Judy!" came the stunned exclamation from Maureen above her.

Judy looked up and saw her mother's shocked look, a mixture of disbelief and relief that her daughter was safe.

Judy wanted to go back up and instantly without a second thought she began to slowly move upwards, until she passed through the hole and was hanging in mid-air, above her mother.

"I think it might be some kind of elevator, it seems to work on mental commands," said Judy.

"I was so worried. I thought you'd been killed," mumbled Maureen, who was still trying to get over the shock of sending her daughter plummeting to her death.

"What happened Mom?"

"I started to feed out the rope, and then just as I was about to tie it off again, the Blawp jumped on me and the rope pulled out of my hands. Thank God you're alright," said Maureen as she reached up and yanked her daughter out of midair, and began hugging her.

"It's okay Mom, I'm fine. Where's that damn Blawp gone now?" said Judy as she looked around, wanting to have a few words with the hyper-active little animal.

Maureen let go of her daughter and looked around, to see the Blawp jump into midair above the hole, and hang there the same way Judy had been doing.

"Oh well, we may as well continue on down," said Judy as she also stepped out into the hole.

She slowly turned back to face her mother who was still standing safely on the floor alongside them.

"Come on in Mom, we've got to hurry."

Maureen nodded and stepped out, alongside Judy. She engaged her protective suit and it quickly covered her up again. "You'd better put your suit back on Judy, we don't know what might be in that atmosphere down there."

"Okay Mom," she said as she took a moment to engage her suit. Then with a thought the three of them began to slowly descend through the floor. "Going down, 1st floor mad scientists lair, today's special, a cure for the ultimate weapon," mumbled Judy quietly as she watched floor after floor rush away above them.

John sat in Don's chair, frantically scanning the display in front of him, desperately willing the machine to find the slightest little clue. Suddenly, with a loud beep, a green light began to flash on the topographical map in front of him. Then a second and a third smaller light also appeared alongside the first. They were moving downwards through a large structure towards some kind of large underground area.

"I have located them Robot, they seem to be going ahead with their plan to find the lab. Come up here and help me prep the ship for take off. I want to be ready in case we have to pull them out of there in a hurry."

Coming to rest at the bottom of the shaft, Judy and Maureen could not see more than a meter or so in front of them. The area they stood in now was littered with all sort of debris from the floors above which had fallen through the hole, but there was no evidence of any plant life.

"I wonder where the lab would be?" asked Judy as she looked around trying to find anything in the gloom, only to see her light being swallowed up by the darkness.

The Blawp on her shoulder chittered nervously, and crouched down close to her body in fear.

"The Blawp doesn't seem too happy down here," said Maureen as she looked around also trying to find anything in the gloom.

With a sudden cry the two of them threw their hands to their heads in agony and then collapsed to the floor, and as the Blawp began to run off screaming, it too was quickly brought down into unconsciousness.

Emerging around them from out of the darkness came seven wizened old beings in some kind of protective suits. Standing around the lifeless beings on the floor they chattered to each other in their own highly developed language, and then as a group they hauled the three bodies across the floor back into the darkness.

The control panel began beeping frantically, one after another more lights began to appear on the display until a total of seven new life readings appeared.

"What the hell!"

"It appears to be further life readings John Robinson."

"I can see that, but where the hell did they come from all of a sudden?"

Then before them one by one, all ten of the lights on the screen disappeared.

Slowly Maureen could feel consciousness returning and she really wished it hadn't. Her head was pounding as though someone had hit her with something extremely heavy.

"Judy..."

"I'm here Mom, are you okay?"

"I feel like I've been run over by a star cruiser, but aside from that I'm fine."

"Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. The Blawp appears to be okay too."

"What's that you're holding?"

Judy looked down at the small red box clutched tightly in her hand, and shook her head.

"I have no idea. The last thing I remember is moving over there and then feeling my head explode."

"I think it must have been some kind of psychic defense, we must be close to the lab."

Judy held the box up into her torchlight and examined it closely. It was only about ten centimeters long and had a clip at one side. It didn't appear to be a weapon, so she opened the clip and opened the box.

Maureen looked over and briefly they saw a flash of red crystal, before they were suddenly hit with another psychic message.

"Not again," grumbled Judy.

In their minds they saw themselves step out of the elevator and walk towards whatever was recording this image. Suddenly they grabbed their heads and fell to the floor, and then they were surrounded by this creature and six others.

Calming thoughts came through the message, indicating they were not hostile, but had been unable to switch off the antiquated defense systems in time.

Judy and Maureen watched as they were taken back inside the camouflaged lab, which was surrounded with an energy field which swallowed light and any other energy it came into contact with. The old scientists removed their suits and revealed themselves to be just like the people they had seen in the original recording. Placing their hands on Judy and Maureen's temples they appeared to be trying to communicate, and then when that failed they placed some kind of helmet on their heads. On a nearby viewscreen they could see the events of the last few hours playing themselves out, ending with their capture here.

"We understand your circumstances, and you are fortunate. We are able to assist you. This vial contains a diluted form of defoliant which when combined with their white blood cells should remove the plant DNA from their systems and allow their own DNA to reassert itself. Unfortunately this will not cure our people who are now totally plants, so we must continue working to save them as well."

They placed a small red box in Judy's hand, and placed them all back outside near the elevator shaft.

"We are unable to stop our defense systems, and we feel that we should warn you the next level of the system will start up a few minutes after you return to the room, and it is much nastier than the first. I suggest that you remove yourselves with all haste, farewell and good journey."

The vision ended and Judy and Maureen quickly sat up. Jumping to their feet and grabbing the box they headed for the elevator. Judy quickly reached down and grabbed the Blawp before it could run off and cause more trouble, and with an earth shattering screech from behind, they all jumped into the elevator.

Willing themselves back up the shaft began to carry them upwards as they saw a pair of blazing red eyes emerging out of the darkness towards them.

"It's some sort of creature, perhaps some kind of mutated dog?" speculated Judy.

The creature saw them moving up and using the rippling muscles with stood out across it's shoulders, it flung itself forward in one giant leap. It shot through the area of the shaft where they had been moments before, and continued on into the far wall.

Looking down at the floor below, Judy saw it hurtle past, it looked as big as a Lion, and even more ferocious.

"Hopefully that's the end of that," said Judy.

With an enraged roar, the beast jumped into the elevator shaft and began to spring up from floor to floor, diagonally back and forth across the shaft.

"My God! It's going to catch us in seconds if we don't hurry," gasped Maureen

"Think fast thoughts Mom," yelled Judy.

They could now feel themselves slowly speeding up but they realized that it was too little too late, as the beast had almost caught them.

Judy quickly hauled off her pack and with all of her effort she hurled it at the beast as it leapt up at them from the floor below.

The heavy pack connected with it's snout and it fell onto it's back on the floor below. Instantly it jumped back to it's feet and with a snort of disgust it grabbed the pack lying nearby and bit it in half, before swallowing the whole thing down in one gulp.

Looking up at them it seemed to be seemed to be enjoying itself. Then it waited allowing them to get a few floors above it again before it renewed it's hunt.

Maureen saw that Judy's pack had given them a few precious floors, so she too removed her pack and readied herself for the forthcoming lunge from the creature. She hoped her aim was as good as her daughter's.

Out of the darkness below them came a low, rumbling growl, slowly getting closer and closer.

"Here it comes again Mom, get ready."

Now they could see the red eyes only meters below them and with a triumphant roar it sprang at them again, rows of teeth sparkled in their torchlight, reaching towards their defenseless legs. Maureen threw her pack at it, but the creature was ready for that, and with it's giant front paw it batted the pack out of the air and flung it back at her.

The pack connected sharply with Maureen's mid section knocking the wind out of her, and possibly breaking a couple of her ribs as well. All she knew was that she was in absolute agony.

As she was doubled over in pain she could see that the beast hadn't even been paused by this and was preparing to leap at them again.

From the very depths of her being, the pain, the terror, her survival and maternal instincts mixed together and were let loose in one defiant cry.

"NO!" she yelled, pointing at the beast. At the same time she put all of her concentration and emotions into willing them upwards.

Like a rocket the elevator took off upwards slamming them all back from the force. The elevator shot upwards gaining speed, leaving the beast futilely leaping up after them. It became smaller and smaller as they sped away from it.

Judy could see the roof bearing down upon them as they continued to speed up the shaft.

"Mom! The roof!"

Maureen looked up in horror and desperately tried to stop the lift, but to no avail. They were going so fast that there was no way they would be able to stop in time.

"This is going to hurt," said Judy.

John had positioned the Jupiter 2 so that it was hovering alongside the roof of the building they were last in, while he decided what he was going to do next.

With a sudden explosion, the roof of the building disintegrated and from amid the rubble his family and the Blawp were shot up into the air.

He quickly maneuvered the ship underneath them so that they only fell a short distance, and landed safely on top of the ship.

Looking back at the chaos they had just emerged from he saw a large black doglike creature emerge from the hole. He could see it's muscles, like coiled steel, rippling and bulging underneath it's skin, black as the void of space. It turned and seemed to be looking straight at him, with the eyes of a demon. It threw it's head back and with a joyful scream it launched itself at the top of the ship.

John instantly lashed out at the fire control and the ship's energy shot out and vaporized the creature before it was able to make contact with the ship.

"I'll be damned if you're going anywhere near my family!" yelled John at the smoke cloud which had been the beast.

Maureen and Judy were slumped in a weary heap on top of the ship, happily hugging each other. They were safe. The topside entranceway opened up nearby and they could hear the external speakers crackle into life.

"If you two have finished bonding, would you like to come inside and save the rest of the crew?"

"Dad!" yelled Judy in surprise.