Part Two:

Last time, as you recall:

While experimenting with anti-matter, Will accidentally set off a blast that engulfed Judy, Major West and Dr. Smith. When the three of them awoke, they found themselves facing a duplicate Robinson family inside the cyro-tubes. To Professor Robinson, however, they appeared to have been incinerated in the blast . . .

John stood, gripping the flat rim of the astrogator. He couldn’t accept what he had just witnessed. Judy, Don and Dr. Smith had all been vaporized by Will’s experiment. In all their years in space, he had never felt so devastated or helpless. As John struggled to control his emotions, he heard the elevator behind him arrive on the main deck.

"John," Maureen said as she ran to his side. "Is everything all right? What’s happened?"

He turned and faced his wife. "Listen to me darling," he said softly. "There’s been some kind of accident." Maureen saw the charred outlines of Judy, Don and Smith on the radio panel and gasped.

"Oh John!" she cried out, bringing a hand to her mouth. "What happened to them?"

Penny and Will had now come on deck and they too saw the horrifying marks on the panel. Penny shrieked and pointed. "Daddy! What happened?" she screamed. Will just stood still, his eyes wide open with shock.

"Listen all of you," John said, taking Penny in his arm. His voice was low, but unsteady despite his efforts. "I’m not sure of just what’s happened here, but whatever it is, I’ll find out. Now darling, I need you to go below with your mother while I investigate this. We can’t let our fear cloud our judgment."

Maureen looked at her husband. She had always been astonished at his ability to push aside his emotions. Once, she had even suggested that his heart hadn’t quite thawed out from their time in the freezing tubes. Looking at John now, she knew that wasn’t true at all. Here was a man who was clearly fighting to maintain control of his reason in the face of disaster. She realized his scientific objectivity was their only hope of saving the others. If they could be saved at all.

"Oh John," she said as she embraced him. "Please tell me they’re going to be all right." Fearing the worst, she closed her eyes and tried to keep control herself.

"I don’t know," John said. "Now please take Penny below. I’ve got to get started."

Penny wiped her tears. "But daddy, I want to stay and help you!"

"Come on, dear," Maureen gently said. "Your father needs us downstairs." She led Penny back into the elevator and pressed the controls.

John watched them descend. Once they were below, he turned to Will and with a face of stone said, "Get the robot up here."

* * *

Dr. Smith backed against the radio panel in horror. "What kind of ghastly place is this," he cried. He couldn’t take his eyes off the terrifying sight before him. Across the control deck, he saw what appeared to be the Robinson family inside the freezing tubes.

The sight frightened Don too, but he knew he’d better calm Smith before something else happened. "Settle down! I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for this." He approached the freezing tubes and looked at the figures inside.

"Yes I know," Smith screamed. "We’re all dead! That’s it, isn’t it?"

Judy grabbed Smith’s arms. "Dr. Smith, please calm down! We have to find out what’s going on." She was grateful for the chance to look away from the freezing tubes. The sight of herself in suspended animation made her want to scream.

"Oh dear girl," Smith cried sadly. "Don’t you see? We’re ghosts, doomed to walk the decks of this dreadful spaceship for all eternity!"

"That’s just nonsense. We’re not ghosts," Judy insisted. "Now try to relax. Take some deep breaths." Smith shook his head. "Come on," she coaxed, inhaling deeply. "In and out."

Dr. Smith breathed deeply, but was so scared, he couldn’t release his breath. Finally, he collapsed into one of the pilot chairs. "Oh dear, whatever will become of us?"

"That’s what I’m trying to find out," Don called. He was looking at the cyro-tubes when something to his left caught his eye. "Holy smokes! Judy, come here and look at this!"

She left Smith and crossed over to Don, making sure she kept away from the freezing tubes. "What is it?"

Don cocked his head toward her. "You tell me. What’s wrong with this picture?" He pointed to the rear of the control deck. She looked and nearly jumped. The ladder and the elevator leading to the lower deck were missing. In their place was a wide computer data storage unit.

"The elevator’s gone! I don’t understand this! What’s happened to the ship?"

"I don’t know, but I’ve got a funny feeling about this," Don said as he opened the door to the space pod’s launch bay. Inside was just a storage room. The space pod was not only gone, but it looked like it had never been there at all.

Don was stunned, but he nodded his head. "I think whatever that blast was, it may have brought us into another dimension. One thing’s for sure, this is not the Jupiter 2 we were on a few minutes ago," he said.

"I can’t believe it," Judy gasped. She started to feel sick to her stomach. Her entire world had just slipped out from under her. "If that’s true, how do we get back?"

"Good question." Don moved to the main controls. Smith had fallen asleep in the pilot’s chair, but Don just ignored him. "Look at these controls! They’re not even labeled for the Jupiter."

"What?" Judy went to his side, still avoiding the freezing tubes. Things were getting stranger by the minute and she didn’t know how much more she could take.

Don straightened up and looked at her. "This ship is the Gemini 12," he said.

* * *

Will Robinson watched his father work in silence. The man jumped from one control to the other, virtually ignoring him. Will couldn’t have felt more alone. He knew he was responsible for the accident and he wanted to help. If only there was some way to make up for what he had done, he thought. Anything at all. As bad as he felt, seeing his father like this made him feel even worse.

John suddenly stood still and raked his hands through his graying hair. "Before you say anything, I want you to know our job right now is to find out just what happened," John said. He kept his voice stern and emotionless.

"But Dad, I . . ." Will started. John wouldn’t let him finish.

"Later, son!" Robinson spun around and faced him. Will thought he was imagining things, but his father suddenly seemed much older to him. His face looked weary, almost hopeless.

"Yes, sir," Will said.

The robot arrived on the lift and rolled to Professor Robinson’s side. John looked at it. "Robot, can you tell me what happened?"

Silent until now, the robot raised its bubble. "Affirmative. The anti-matter used in Will Robinson’s experiment caused a temporary interdimensional opening. Dr. Smith, Judy Robinson and Major West were pulled through this opening."

John looked relieved, but just a little. "Then you think they’re alive?" he asked.

"There is insufficient data to answer," the robot said. "However, my sensors indicate they were in good health when they crossed into the alternate universe. It is possible they were not harmed."

Will spoke up. "Maybe if we repeat the experiment, it will bring them back!" he exclaimed.

John flashed Will a harsh look and said, "Nobody’s doing anything until we know exactly how this happened! Now, is that understood son?"

Will quietly nodded his head. "Yes sir."

John heaved a sigh. "I want you to tell me the exact steps you were taking in the lab when this happened," he said. "Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out."

* * *

Judy looked at Don. She was puzzled. "Gemini 12? Isn’t that . . ."

"Yeah," Don said. "The Gemini ships were the prototypes for the Jupiter. I was a test pilot on the Gemini 10 mission. I guess in this universe, the changes they made to the Jupiter, like adding the lower deck, never happened. Apparently, they didn’t change the name of the project either. And I don’t see any sign of the robot."

She shook her head. "It’s all so hard to believe," she said, shaking her head.

"Well they’ve got one thing in their favor," Don said. "They don’t have Smith around, fouling things up." He laughed and looked at Dr. Smith, who was quietly sitting, wide awake. "Well Dr. Smith, good of you to join us. I hope you feel better now. You were really quaking in your boots there."

Smith showed no sign of his earlier hysteria. In fact, he leisurely smiled at them. "My dear sir," he said. "One cannot fear what simply is not real. I have come to the conclusion that all of this is merely a dream."

"A dream?" Judy said.

"Now you’ve really flipped," Don snapped. "First you think we’re dead; now it’s all a dream! What’s next, pink elephants?"

"Spare me your caustic remarks Major! It is obvious that I am experiencing the effects of some undigested morsel consumed in tonight’s excellent dinner. However, it seems that even in my dreams you remain a dunce!" Smith waved a hand toward Don. "Now away with you!"

"Dr. Smith!" Judy exclaimed. "You can’t talk to people like that!"

Don turned to the control panel and started pushing buttons. "Forget it Judy. Talking to him is like talking to a brick wall!"

Judy looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"I’m waking up Professor Robinson. He might be able to help us get back where we belong," Don said. He turned and looked at the still frozen figure of John Robinson inside the tube. "If anybody can."