Lost in Space: In the Shadow of Stars

Epilogue

It was Friday morning at eight-thirty and Alpha Centauri was waking up to another summer day. Because the Discovery Day holiday falls on a Monday, this should be a long weekend and most of the residents were looking forward to this last day of work. It is important to say most, however, because unlike those who saw today as the last day of work and looked forward to the days ahead, the few people on this planet felt differently.

It had been eleven hours since the Robinsons had landed on the planet. Eleven hours in which nothing had happened to indicate that their arrival had been detected. The plateau that John and Maureen had chosen earlier, and on which the two ships had landed, was more than twenty miles from the city and thus far enough away from any trade or cargo routes.

But despite all this, none of the Robinsons were feeling good. A strange feeling in the pit of their stomachs, combined with nervousness, caused none of them to get much sleep even in such a quiet place.

And this time it wasn't because of Don's snoring or any danger behind the corner. There were no killer robots or their heartless masters anywhere around. They were safe. And maybe that was the problem. Safe meant they were home. Home meant Alpha Centauri. And that meant only one thing. It was time to say goodbye.

***********

"Did anyone sleep?" asked Judy while watching Artesian speaking to the dragoness at his ship. She knew the answer, but the silence before the inevitable goodbye was grating on her nerves.

"We didn't get much sleep, no," John replied, trying not to show his bad mood. Maureen just stared silently at the ground.

"For this night being the first at home, it was the worst night in days. I think we can all agree on that," Will spoke, sighing loudly. It was hard not to succumb to the feeling of emptiness that was just around the corner and would soon fill him and his big friend. He was going to miss Starpelt, and Will knew there would come a time when he would remember all the things she had done for them and miss her again.

Even Robot had no idea that this goodbye would be so hard for him. He hadn't been able to make any kind of diagnostics since last night, and his processes were all out of whack with all the emotions and the impending goodbye. Starpelt had tried to calm his mind through the bond, but it had rather the opposite effect.

"Not want goodbye... goodbye is sad..."

Will put his hand on the big man's shoulder. That was about all he could do at the moment. No matter how much he thought he'd be okay with the departure of their two friends, it was too hard to have the strength to comfort anyone else.

"Don West, take one last look at your hero," Don uttered, sighing as well. "Take one last look at the robodragon."

"Are you talking about yourself in the third person again?" Penny tried to joke.

The others looked at her. Not because of the joke she'd told, but because of their lack of understanding where this young redhead was getting the strength to do something like that. Penny avoided their gaze, preferring to focus it on another person.

Starpelt finished her conversation and slowly walked over to the group of six humans and one robot.

"I hope you get home soon Starpelt. Do you know how yet?" Starpelt looked at Maureen and shook her head at her question.

"Not yet. Argelo probably has a plan. I think it has something to do with finding those lost Artesian ships."

"Well... hopefully it will be soon," Will uttered sadly.

"Please don't be sad," Starpelt uttered with a visibly suppressed shake in her voice. "Let's think about what John had said. We should see it all in a positive light."