[Season 1 Finale]
An alarm blares as we roll through the orbit of the planet in a corner piece of the Jupiter Four.
"That's the low oxygen warning." Don comments.
"Yeah." I respond.
"So, we've only got two hours of air left." Don says.
"That's right." I sigh.
"Great." Don says. "How'd we all get caught up in the idea that launching into space like the most primitive astronauts in history was somehow genius?"
"Are we doing this again?" I ask.
"If only you'd gone left." Don says.
"Maureen didn't answer, which isn't like her."
"Left or right. It's a fifty fifty shot. In my world, those are great odds."
"A fifty percent chance of dying are terrible odds."
"You never eject a man into outer space without his permission. It's common courtesy."
I sigh. "We still have a couple of hours."
Don sighs. "We had a fifty fifty shot."
...
A little bit later, I try to contact Will again once we're in range. He starts sending a series of beeps.
"It's Morse code." I say as I listen.
"What's he spelling?" Don asks from behind me.
"F."
"Okay."
"U." I furrow my brows.
"'FU'? That's his message? 'FU'? This is how your nephew talks?"
Will beeps again. "E."
"Oh, okay. That changes everything."
"L."
"Fuel! They have fuel!" Don chuckles as I smile.
"They got fuel!" I say as we laugh.
"Yeah! Yeah... so, if we'd just waited a couple of hours we wouldn't be here. Great."
I continue to beep Will, sending him a message of an idea I have.
M-U-G-U
They'll figure it out.
...
Don has a panel open and our plan is to make a signal fire. I don't exactly know how we are gonna do it, but it's our only idea right now.
"So what exactly is the plan to make this signal fire?" I ask.
"Still got time fuel oxidizer in the lines. I can rig it to blow a stream if burning gas." Don replies.
"You think it'll be enough for the Jupiter's thermal sensors to pick up?" I ask.
"Ow! Ow!" Don cries out as he flinches back.
"Woah, woah, woah. You okay?" I ask as I hold him in place.
"Agh! There's something in my eyes. Stings like hell."
"Okay, let me see." I put my hands on either side of his helmet and hold him still. I look and spot something. "Oh, yeah. Some of the anti-fogging agent must have dried up and flaked off."
"Yeah, well, I can't see. I'll just have to feel around and wing it." Don turns around and accidentally knocks the switchblade knife away.
"Woah!" I reach out and grab it before it floats out of reach. "Hey, you can't do this blind." I float back and move him out of the way.
"Then who's gonna do it. You?"
"Yeap."
"Then I assume you're comfortable identifying compression-loaded orthogrid cylinders."
"Hey, I'm not the sharpest tool around when it comes to this stuff so you're just gonna have to talk me through it. Okay? How hard can it be?"
Don sighs. "There are four hexagonal bolts. Start unscrewing. You do know what a hexagon is, right?"
"Yes. I know what a hexagon is."
...
"We're almost there. Find the green wire?" Don asks.
"There is no green wire." I say.
"Okay, find the black wire."
"There's no black wire."
"What do you see?"
"A whole bunch of wires, none of which are green or black."
"Whoever installed this must've swapped out this unit with another controller to cut corners. It was probably that Williamson, that cheap son of a bitch-"
"Okay, so what do I do here?"
"Well, there are a thousand possible scenarios to choose from, only one of which would work. I'd know if I saw it."
"Okay. Okay. You're just gonna have to see it. As it happens, our eyes have the ability to generate liquid. They're called tears."
"You want me to cry?"
"Yeah."
"Well, how?"
"Well, I don't know, I mean, I... think of something sad. That seems to work for most people."
"I can't just cry out of nowhere."
"Okay, okay." I sigh. "Picture all your family and friends that you left behind on Earth that you may never see again."
"There's no one I really care about back home. Otherwise, I wouldn't have left. I've been in my own ever since I could tie my shoelaces. Which I taught myself."
"I've seen a lot of orphans."
"Who says I'm an orphan? My parents are alive and well. Somewhere I guess."
"I'm sorry they ditched you. Must be tough knowing that they never loved you. That they thought you were a worthless piece of-"
"Hey, what the hell? Why do you- oh, I see what you're doing. Trying to make me cry. You have to do better than that."
"You know what? I tried. Forget about it. I'll do it myself and... quite possibly blow us up." I pat his shoulder.
...
"If you make yourself throw up, you're gonna have a bigger problem than blindness." I say, referring to the way Don is shaking his head to get the flakes out of his eyes.
"It's not working anyway." He responds.
An alarm starts blaring.
"So let me guess, we're down to what? One hour of air?" Don asks.
I sigh. "There's not enough time for me to try every combination of wires. I need your eyes, Don." I drop the wires and float over to him. "Hey, seriously though, the thought of dying doesn't make you feel sad? Don't you have any regrets?"
"I don't believe in looking back. That's how you crash into things." Don responds.
"There was a time all I ever thought about was the things I never did. Birthday card I forgot to mail. Birthday card I forgot to buy. Birthdays... just came and went." I float back to the wires. "But then, I came to realize it was all the days in between I was really missing out on. Breakfast before school, driving carpool to soccer practice, skinned knees I was never there to help put Band-Aids on... Regular days. Yeah, that's what really mattered."
"My brother had three great kids that I might just lose forever. But you know, crashing on this planet is the best thing that ever happened to me because it helped me make up for the time I lost. Hell, for the time my brother lost too. His case is worse."
"I love Penny because she is literally my clone when it comes to lip. But she tries harder than anyone will ever give her credit for. I love Will 'cause he sees things that nobody else can see. Anyway, he's smarter than I am. I love Judy 'cause even though John's not her biological dad, she's exactly like him. I mean, she's strong, fearless. Ah. I wish I was more like her."
Don floats over to me. I look at him and it looks like that worked somehow. Don's crying. He can see again.
"Awe. C'mere you big crybaby." I say as I hug him the best I can. He hugs back. "Okay, now get to work." I let go. He laughs and does just that.
He looks at the wires.
"What the hell did you do here?" He asks.
"Yeah, sorry about that." I respond.
"Give me a minute." He grabs two wires. "Hang on to something."
"Why?" I ask as I grab the railing on the wall.
"We might blow up."
He touches the wires together and something propels us forward. Looks like it worked.
"Hey. Nice hydrazine fire you've got there." Maureen speaks through the radio after a moment.
"Hey! I knew you'd find us!" I call out with joy as we turn to see the Jupiter coming towards us.
"It was a group effort. Say hi to the group." Maureen says.
"Hi!" I call out and wave.
"Auntie?" Judy comes through.
"Hey, Auntie Y/n." Will says.
"Auntie! Hi, Auntie!" Judy exclaims.
"Hey, you're not allowed to do that to us again, okay?" Penny says.
"Hey, Y/n." John calls out.
I can basically feel their smiles.
"Um... hey, everybody." Don sniffles.
"Are you... were you crying?" Judy asks.
"No. Maybe. I mean-" Don says.
"He totally is." I respond.
"Hey!" Don swipes my shoulder and I laugh. He grabs my hand and smiles at me. I smile back.
"So, what happened?" I ask after a moment.
"Where to begin?" Maureen says. "Let's just get you out of the cold."
"Yes, please." I say.
After a bit they shoot a harpoon at us, but it doesn't reach us.
"It doesn't reach." Don says.
"Hey, Maureen!" I call. "You missed!"
She doesn't respond.
"Maybe I can jump for it." Don suggests.
"No, wait! Look." I point out how it's being pulled back in.
"What the hell is that?" Don asks as a shadow looms over us. I look up to see a giant alien ship headed towards the Jupiter.
"Holy shit." I mumble.
It passes and the harpoon comes flying back at us, this time it reaches. I grab onto it and tie it around my waist before I face my back towards Don.
"Hold on tight." I tell him.
He hugs my waist from behind and the harpoon pulls us back in. Don grabs the ladder next to the gun, but I see Will outside of the Jupiter, floating out to space.
"Will!" I call and jump.
Don calls after me, but I don't listen. I used my legs to propel my body forward, past the Jupiter, and towards Will. I catch him just as the harpoon line ends.
"Aunt Y/n!" He exclaims as he holds on.
"I gotcha. Whew." I say as I hold him tighter. "Come on. Let's go home."
The bounce from the harpoon line sends us back towards the ladder Will was on and we climb into the Jupiter safely.
...
Will is getting his blast mark tended to as Don and I eat.
"I think it's kind of cool." Penny says as she walks into the hub and sits down next to us.
"I have a scar too, buddy. Wraps all the way from my waist to-" Don explains.
"Alright. No. Uh-uh." Penny interrupts.
"No!" Judy says at the same time as Penny.
"Seventeen stitches." Don whispers. "Used my best bottle of whiskey to clean it up. I was passed out."
"Okay, story time is over now." Judy says.
"Blood everywhere. No, listen to me." Don continues.
I laugh.
"Why are you laughing?" Judy asks with a smile.
I shake my head with an amused smile and pop the last bit of bread in my mouth.
...
"It's the Resolute!" John calls from the cockpit.
We all stand up and head to him to see the Resolute in the distance.
"Robinsons, Jupiter two, you are clear to dock." Victor says over the radio.
"You waited for us." John says on the radio.
"John, I represent every member of this colonist group, even you." Victor states.
Maureen laughs.
"Victor... thank you." John says.
"You're welcome." Victor replies.
"Do you still want me to tell Victor what you told me to tell him?" Maureen asks me.
"Nope." I laugh.
"Quickly, please, Robinsons. We've stayed here longer than we should." Victor advises.
"Actually, we're out of fuel." John replies.
"Hold tight. We'll come to you." Victor responds.
We watch as the Resolute comes to pick us up and take us to our new home.
Suddenly the lights start flickering and some kind of pulsating screeching comes from everywhere.
"It's the noise the robot's ship was making." Will points out.
"So why is our ship making it?" Penny asks.
Suddenly our ship starts turning by itself.
"What's going on? Why are we turning around?" I ask.
"Jupiter two, is everything okay?" Victor asks.
"I don't know. It's like we lost control of the ship." Maureen responds.
She looks at the ship layout on the computer, but it starts glitching.
Suddenly we see some kind of wormhole come into existence in a blast of color to the left of our ship.
"Ah!" We all gasp and shield our eyes from the light.
Our ship gets sucked into the wormhole.
We open our eyes and take a look outside. We're in some kind of solar system with five planets, but that's not what's amazing about it. In the middle are two giant suns, one orange, the other blue, connected.
"Wait, where are we now?" John asks.
"I have no idea." Maureen answers.
Will seems to recognize it.
"I do." He says.
He swipes through pictures on his tablet and shows us a dirt drawing of two intertwined circles with five dots. "I think we're here."
"Where's, 'here'?" I ask.
He turns around, back to the window, slowly.
"Danger."
*1980 words.
[EDITED] 2150 words.