Last week as you recall - The crew of the Deep Thrust Cruiser Orion while travelling the space void has made a startling discovery - the First Family of Space, The Robinsons…………….

Standing aboard the flight deck of the Jupiter Two, Conway felt as if history had swallowed him whole. This was the find of the year, if not the decade. This was the Jupiter Two! These were the Robinsons, the first family of space. And he, Captain Steven Conway of the Deep Thrust Cruiser Orion had found them. It was the greatest thrill of his life and was marred only by the fact that it had been made in the middle of the largest void ever known.

It was the discovery that all explorers dreamed of and he knew that the excitement of the last two days would be hard to beat. All around him lights blinked and computers whirred revealing that there was still life in the old Jupiter. He looked through the view screen at the activity below in the Settlement. Major West had explained that the occupants of the Settlement were from a race known as Tauron. Behind him Conway could hear the soft hum of the lift which ran between the ship’s two decks. This is amazing, he thought, this ship is over thirty years old and is still operational! The Orion was not quite as old but was showing it’s age. He looked up towards the heavens and thought that somewhere aboard the Orion a maintenance crew would be hard at work repairing the simplest of systems. The old saying of "they don’t make ‘em like the used to" applied to the Jupiter Two.

West appeared at his side carrying two cups of steaming brown liquid. He handed one to Conway saying, "It’s not quite Coffee but the taste is similar. The Taurons drink it by the gallon," he paused and sipped at his own, "I could kill for some real Coffee."

Conway smiled, "I’ll have two kilo’s sent down for you," he said, "We grow it aboard The Orion."

West smiled, "Real Coffee? All right!" he said as he and Conway sat down in the two chairs that were used during flight, "I keep everything in running order," he added as he motioned about the flight deck, "The Taurons helped with parts though. We’d be dead without them."

Conway nodded towards the Settlement, "I’ve read about

the Taurons," he said, "Mainly through the Logs that Professor Robinson left at Space Lightship F - 12. What are they like?"

The Major frowned, "They’re a lot like us," he said softly, "In too many ways," he paused and both men stood as Maureen Robinson appeared at the lift. She was carrying a large wooden box that she handed to Conway.

"These are the last Logs that John wrote," she said, "They’re very old so please be careful with them." Maureen Robinson was a proud strong woman and these traits echoed through her voice. Her statement was not so much a request as it was an order. "John kept the Logs right till the end," she added, her eyes falling briefly upon the Major as she spoke, "He was determined to see that the logs were maintained for future generations."

Conway had noted that no one mentioned the commander of the mission. In fact a serious attempt to change the subject was made when ever it seemed that the question of his whereabouts might arise. "I hope you’ll forgive me," he said, "But I’m an Australian and we aren’t known for being tactful," he paused as he saw West draw a deep breath, "I must ask, what happened to Professor Robinson?"

West went to answer but Maureen stopped him with the delicate wave of her hand, "My husband is dead. It happened a long time ago and we don’t mention it now," she looked over at West, her eyes cold at the thought of some long ago memory. She looked back at Conway, "I hope that you and your crew will stay for dinner?" she asked.

"We will. Thank you," he replied. He took a mental note, subject changed again, "If there is anything that you need I can have it shipped down from the Orion."

A smile broke across West’s face, "Maureen," he said jovially, "They grow their own coffee."

Maureen smiled, "Ah coffee. John loved coffee,." she said, "That would be nice." With that she turned and walked away.

When she had gone West frowned and said, "That was a bit rough."

Conway shrugged, "No disrespect was intended," he said almost apologetically, then, "My mission is Historical," he added, "To locate and record things that are lost then found," he paused and reassessed his thoughts, "We’re taught to be inquisitive. It can be a problem," he paused again and pointed

outside, "We were talking about the Taurons." My turn, he thought, to change the subject.

West shrugged away the old memories and looked out upon the Settlement. "As I said, they’re a lot like us," he paused and faced Conway, "You said that you are Australian, right?" he asked.

Conway smiled, "The Republic of Tasmania still has close ties to the mainland Commonwealth and we tend to think of ourselves as Australian," he said, then, "Is it important?"

"If I remember history correctly Australia began as a convict colony. Right?" West asked.

Conway replied with mock pride, "Convicts and proud of it," then, more seriously, "Tasmania was the site of some of the harshest of penal colonies in the country."

Don pointed out to the Settlement, "To many of them," he replied, "That’s what Trimea is," he paused and sipped from his coffee, "To the Taurons here it’s a Penal Colony," he paused again and smiled, "But I’ll let them explain."

*

Will slammed down the cover to the tool box and strapped it tightly to the Chariot’s luggage racks. He had tied his hair back into a ponytail and was watching the horizon when his wife, Lenore, appeared at the rear of the Chariot. She was three years his junior and possessed a keen love of life. For a Tauron she was fit, healthy and tall. All Taurons were tall, not giants, just tall and there was very little difference in their height. Even those that were capable of both telepathy and speech were tall. Like their son Lenore possessed telepathic abilities but unlike her father Defore, she did not possess the power of speech. Like most telepathic Taurons Lenore was susceptible to simple diseases like Colds and Flu. Matthew, on the other hand, had inherited his father human resilience to most diseases. Will often fretted about his wife and the arrival of an Earth Crew bothered him.

When they had first encountered the Taurons on Priplanus so many years before, Will had been suffering from a cold. The small Tauron boy who had befriended Will had caught the cold and suffered badly from it. It had only been through quick thinking on the behalf of his father that an incident had been avoided. With the help of the Robot, John Robinson was able to access the Tauron computer and discover their weakness.

Having been on Trimea all these years without contact with other races meant that the settlement may be susceptible to any illness that the Orion crew may be carrying.

Matthew told me about the Visitors, she thought to Will, And Defore says that they are a rescue team. Do you need rescuing?" she thought coyly.

Will laughed, "Only from you," he said as he jumped off the roof of the Chariot and landed beside her, "Your fatherdidn’t say much about their mission except that they’ve come to take us home."

And will you go home? She thought.

He smiled, "I want to hear the whole story before I make any decisions."

*

It was late in the afternoon when the Shuttle from the Orion returned to Trimea carrying extra crewmen, some supplies and two kilos of freshly ground coffee. Despite the fact that the members of the Robinson Crew appeared healthy Dr. Taylor had demanded upon treating them to a complete physical. They had been out in space longer than any other person in Earth History. The extra personnel formed part of a survey team who’s main interest was upon the Taurons Settlement. The team wanted to catalogue all types of vegetation and livestock that the Settlement possessed as well as locate a suitable location for the erection of a camp for the Orion Crew.

West and Conway had left the Jupiter and were now seated in a long narrow building that served as the Settlements Council building. The buildings exterior was plain and stark looking more like a warehouse than seat of power. The interior was decorated with paintings of an alien world that Conway gathered was Tauron.. In the center of the room was a deep pit marked with dark black smears. There were two chairs situated on their side of the pit so the two men sat down. Two young men entered the room and placed several lengths of wood into the pit and then left. The lighting was dim and subdued creating a calming atmosphere.

West said softly, "Dealing with the Taurons takes a bit of getting used to. They like to dim the lights and then light a fire," he pointed at the pit, "The idea is that they want to make you feel comfortable while discussing important matters. Then they will study you," he paused and motioned for Conway to lean closer to him, "Not all Taurons are telepathic," he said, "And not all can speak. Some can do both. Remember that." He paused and sat back. "I am not telepathic," he said, "But over the years you get to know how to let them know what you are thinking," he said, then, "Providing that they will listen. And believe me, they all hear very well." West thought for a moment then continued, "When dealing with the Taurons, especially the telepathic ones, you tend to forget that they can hear. Some of them are very good at ignoring anything said to them so you have to try be forceful."

Conway nodded. After sometime a brilliant shaft of pure white light illuminated the room. When the light dimmed four tall men had entered the room and sat down opposite them. Masers, Conway remembered, the Taurons had developed a matter transfer system. West sat upright and studied the men closely then sat back. He was tense and Conway could feel it. These men made no greeting that Conway could understand although he was aware by West’s reaction to them that they obviously held great power in the Tauron community. Two attendants entered the room and lit the wood in the pit by raising their hands. Conway gasped at the sight.

"Yes Captain Conway," said a voice, "It is amazing. Such abilities are rare amongst us."

Conway turned to see where the voice had come from. Two dark Taurons had entered the room and had taken up positions to the left of them. Up till now the Taurons that Conway had seen had been of Caucasian appearance. These two were ebony black.

"I believe on your world we would be called Negroes," The taller of the two men said, "Amongst other less palatable things," he added sarcastically, then, "Is that a problem. I understand that on your Earth there is some concern over the colour of a persons skin."

Conway replied flatly, "I treat all people the same." the Taurons’ words were like a knife. Whatever else he may have been, Steve Conway was not a Bigot and the history of his own country was not something to be proud of

"Good, good," the Tall man replied.

"Words are easy," came a call from the far side of the room, "Are your thoughts pure?"

Don West replied gruffly, "Don’t condemn us by the actions of others." There was a silent exchange between the Earthman and the Tauron, the intent of which was obvious from their cold harsh glances.

Conway stood, "I can see that there is a problem here," he said. He pointed lazily at the roof, "I’ve a crew up there that haven’t set foot upon soil in a long time. I’d like to bring them down as soon as I can so tell me what the problem is."

Typical, came the thought, He has to hear the words so that he can understand. This thought reached Conway directly as did the comments from others.

Captain Conway, came another thought, We Taurons do not trust those with basic abilities. Our History has shown that such people are dangerous.

" Dangerous and numerous," added the Tall Black Tauron, "On Tauron there a three castes. The first and most numerous are like yourself. They possess only the ability of speech. The second possess both speech and Telepathy. The third and smallest are the Telepaths."

We are persecuted for our abilities, came a thought from the far side of the room, Our presence here on this planet is as a direct result of our abilities. We are exiles. Our presence on Tauron was not deemed desirable .

One of the taller Taurons raised his hand and stood, "You see Captain Conway, Tauron Telepaths were used for exploration missions. The group that the Robinson met up with many years ago were explorers. Telepathic Taurons were considered expendable. Over the years Telepaths were seen as criminals. Eventually this supposed criminality spread out to the families of Telepaths."

Another Tauron replied, via thought, On Tauron there exists only the Pure, those untainted with the scourge of telepathy. The disgust and sarcasm in his mental tone was evident. The way he thought Pure was drenched in distaste. We are criminals only because of our abilities, he thought, the same way that on your planet some were deemed criminal due to the colour of their skin.

We were herded together, the dark Tauron thought, and sent here so that we could not contaminate the Pure. Telepath, Basic and Shared. Forced to come to this planet because the Pure could not accept our presence.

The first Tauron said, "The Robinson Family are here because they were lost. What ever else we Taurons maybe we are not animals. We allowed them to stay here because they did not disturb the balance here."

Your crew, though, changes everything, the dark Tauron thought. There are factions here that do not like their exile and want to return to Tauron to create a new world order there. There are others here who believe that the Telepaths hold too great sway over the council, others who possess no telepathic abilities. Even in exile together there exists some form of bigotry.

This puzzled Conway. Although he did not agree with the concept Conway could understand Discrimination. He could understand Racism. He could even understand xenophobia.. Not agree with or condone but understand the misplaced reasoning behind them This was the way you defeated an enemy. You understood but did not agree. He did not see the Taurons as enemies but he needed to understand them.

Conway interrupted, "We are not here to take part in any political struggle. Nor are we here to aid rebels in world domination or power struggles," he paused and looked at West, "Our mission is essentially data retrieval and cataloguing." He stood and slowly approached the soft burning fire, "We have found one of the most famous, if not the most famous family, in all human history. We have answered one of the most asked questions on our planet:-,where went the Robinsons? We merely wish to take them home. That is our ultimate aim. Till then we wish only to stretch our legs and get to know your culture."

There was a sudden silence as the Taurons, Telepathic and otherwise studied each other and nodded their heads. How annoying, Conway thought, just like talking about you behind your back.

The tall Tauron smiled as if he had heard Conway’s thoughts. "You will have our answer soon," he said. Suddenly the light from the fire died and the hall was plunged into darkness. A shaft of light entered the room blinding them momentarily. Dust and smoke particles swirled about the room and a light breeze met them. Then the dull glow of the setting sun entered the room and only West and Conway remained. The Taurons were gone as if they had never really been there..

"Meetings over," West said, "Let’s go back to the Jupiter."

Conway nodded.

*

Maureen Robinson was in her element and obviously enjoying herself. She had laid out an expansive table with the delicacies of Trimea and some good old fashion earth cooking mixed together. A steaming hot stew she called Space Chowder sat in the center of the table filling the immediate area with a sweet aroma. The table was covered in a silk cloth made by the Taurons. On one side of the table sat West, Conway and Dr Taylor. Opposite them sat Judy Robinson and another woman.. He had seen many photos and videos on Judy Robinson and to be now seated with her made him smile. She was possibly the one person on the mission who did not have a scientific field. She was the one he considered most out of place. Out in the vastness of Judy was truly lost. And yet her eyes and manner told the story of a woman who had taken the cards that she had been dealt and rearranged them to her own liking.

Next to Judy sat a Tauron woman who had been introduced as ‘Tish’. Judy had bought Tish back from the Settlement earlier that at the request of the Tauron Council. She was their Liaison. When a decision on the Orion Crew was made she would be contacted. For the time being Conway and the Doctor were the only visitors allowed to enter the Settlement.

Maureen was laughing, "Back in the early days," she said happily as she carved breast meat from a small well cooked bird, "I spent a lot of time preparing dinners. Dinners and playing mother," she paused, "I sometimes miss those days. We don’t entertain that much."

Judy added, "But when she does it usually turns into a feast."

Tish smiled and said, "Taurons love a festival and Maureen’s ideas on meals and preparation have greatly enhanced our celebrations."

Conway smiled back. Here in the greatest void that any space farer had encountered Conway found himself seated at a table eating fine food and surround by stunning women. He had

found Tish very pretty and wondered about her ability to read minds. As if in answer she smiled back at him. Then came the answer.

Yes captain I can read minds.

Conway looked up at Maureen in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. "So just you, Judy and the Major live at the ship," he said, "Where are the other children?" He caught himself but showed nothing, noting mentally to take a course in tact when he returned home.

Maureen laughed, "They are hardly children, anymore!" she said, then, "Penny lives in the Settlement. The only one of us who does. She works with animals, both indigenous and Tauron. She was taught basic Tauron Veterinarian practices by Tish’s father. Will lives outside of the Settlement. He has a small farm about five kilometres to the north."

Judy interrupted, "He doesn’t visit often."

As if sensing Conway’s question, West said, "We had a slight disagreement some years ago."

Conway and the Doctor exchanged quick glances. Both men knew that there was another equally important question as what had happened to Professor Robinson. A question that there was truly no easy way of asking except asking directly.

Dr Taylor asked, "And the Saboteur?"

The table fell silent as if Taylor’s words were spoken in another completely alien language. Tish did not react but lightly swept Conway’s mind looking for the unstated part of the Doctor’s question. She found it and looked up at Maureen. She did not search the other woman’s mind just looked there to see if Maureen did in fact know of what they were asking. In the years of contact Tish had found that humans, even good ones like the Robinsons, could be evasive.

The Robinson’s looked at each other in confused amusement.

Maureen looked quizzically back at him. "Saboteur?"

Conway was stunned. How could she have possibly forgotten the one person who had made them lost in space? He replied, "Dr Zachary Smith?"

Before anyone could answer Tish spoke up. "The Council has decided. Your crew may land here but there are a few small conditions." She rose and bowed slightly to Maureen, "The

Council would like to see us now," she said pausing, "They send

their apologies but ask for you to be present."

Maureen frowned, "Well, we better go and see what they have decided."

Judy watched them leave and then frowned as she set about clearing away the remains of the meal. Then she smiled, "Just like old times," she said to herself.