abstract
| - Dr. Smith goes out collecting rubies but is driven off by a ruby-eating creature. He, Will and the Robot walk around in hopes of finding more, encounter an android instead. Android IDAK Alpha 12 is on a mission to track down and destroy a renegade android that has escaped a mandatory disassembly order. IDAK Alpha 12 has been damaged, and Dr. Smith has the Robot repair it in return for a later favour. Meanwhile, Judy and Penny are out picking flowers and encounter their friend, the android Verda. Verda’s appearance has changed and she has taken on more human qualities, but she is as kind and sweet as she was before. Verda is hurt and tells them she is running for her life. She does not want to endanger the Robinsons with her presence, but Judy and Penny take her back to the Jupiter 2 to recuperate. Verda explains that she was ordered to report for disassembly, but, with her new human sensibility, wanted to keep on living and the Robinsons promise to protect her While Dr. Smith is helping IDAK Alpha 12 regain his strength, the android senses Verda’s presence and moves implacably toward the Jupiter 2. Penny runs away with Verda while Will tries to convince IDAK Alpha 12 that there are no androids on board. Later, when Verda does meet him face to face, she is able to convince him that she is human, despite what his sensors indicate. Verda even offers to help IDAK Alpha 12 after the damage he has suffered, and the two begin to develop a bond of affection. When the authorities who sent IDAK Alpha 12 realize he is unable to carry out his mission, the despatch another android, IDAK Omega 17, bigger and stronger, to destroy both him and Verda. When he arrives at the Jupiter 2, John and Don are forced to fight, but the new android is almost indestructible. The damaged IDAK Alpha 12 joins the battle in a futile attempt to subdue the new android. On the verge of losing, though, a reclamation machine sent by the Celestial Department Store arrives and IDAK Omega 17 is taken by it in mistake. Before it can take IDAK Alpha 12 and Verda, John is able to destroy the machine with a disintegrator capsule. Although Verda and IDAK Alpha 12 are apparently safe, she realizes that they will soon be pursued again and refuses to put the Robinsons at further risk. Instead, the two androids will settle on a remote world, a veritable Eden, where they will never be found.
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