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Carnival In Space - rewritten as The Great Vegetable Rebellion
Carnival In Space was written by Peter Packer and later re-written into " The Great Vegetable Rebellion".
An inland sea typhoon is rocking the Chariot as it crosses the raging waters. Inside are John, Maureen, and Penny, who being flung about and blinded by the waves. The Chariot becomes caught in a whirlpool and is swept down... At the last second it breaks lose and pulls out, reaching calmer water. Penny tells her parents that she will never again suggest taking a short cut to the radar site. Reaching land, the Chariot moves on across desolate, barren land, while not far away two aliens, Tybo and Branka are watching the movements of the Robinson vehicle.
Branka, a kindly old botanist, congratulates young assistant Tybo as their underground hothouse has finally germinated anew plant. Tybo examines the plant in question. but is not enthusiastic. His wanderings from planet to planet to fmd alien plants that might provide food for the hungry masses of his home world have left him worn out and tired. After Tybo has seen the Robinsons, he begins to think that perhaps experimenting with them might produce something that will allow them to leave the planet early and return home. While the people of his home world have no emotion, the feelings of the Earth beings might be used to modify their experimental plants.
Branka is against the idea as they have been ordered not to interfere with animal life, and
when he refuses to co-operate with Tybo his assistant pulls out a emoti weapon that freezes him in place. With Branka out of the way, Tybo turns his attentions on the Robinsons. He then uses a similar weapon to stop the Chariot. and freeze all three Robinsons. Taking them to his hot house, the Robinsons are awakened and Tybo greats them. John immediately demands to know what is happening, but Tybo refuses to explain. The elder Robinson finds his laser gun useless as Tybo begins taking electronic readings of all three of the Robinsons
emotions.
Tybo finally explains he plans to use their emotions to influence other life forms he is working with, and while John cannot believe that such a thing is possible, he realizes the alien is dangerous and they must get away. Leaping at Tybo John is knocked back by an invisible force field, and the alien's only reaction is to state his plans to capture re the rest of the family.
At the Jupiter 2 camp, a binhday party has begun for the Robot, but no one is very enthusiastic about the situation because John, Maureen, and Penny are all overdue to return. Smith thinks the party se is ridiculous anyway, since the Robot was manufactured, not born. Don arrives and explains that he cannot raise the Chariot, and assumes the missing crew members will not return until the next day. Tybo watches on a viewing screen as the party continues, and just as Judy brings out the birthday cake Tybo fires a beam that transports Don, Judy, Will, and Smith to his hot house. The Robot, not knowing where his family has gone, launches in the Space Pod to search for them.
Back at Tybo's hot house, everyone refuses to display emotion or co-operate. Tybo counters the move by making Penny and Maureen disappear. causing John to be angry. A machine hooked up to John is activated and begins to absorb his feelings of anger. Tybo then goes to Smith to drain him as well, even if the only emotion is fear. What he really wants is treachery, so he releases Smith and sends him down a trail that leads out of the cave holding the hot house. After Smith leaves, the Space Pod nears the Chariot, and the Robot lands when he senses the presence of Tybo. Reaching the cave, the Robot and the alien have a confrontation, but Tybo has no use for the mechanical man and returns to awaken Don, Judy, and Will to drain them as well.
Tybo reveals that he may get all the emotions he needs if John and Don will fight each other .They agree only after Judy and Will are released with orders from John to find the missing Maureen and Penny. Don and John realize they could never hann each other, so Tybo transforms two trees into monsters that begin an onslaught against the men. Realizing they must fight for all they are worth or be killed, a vicious battle begins and lasts for several minutes until John and Don defeat the tree-monsters by the narrowest of margins. Both men are put back behind the force field as Tybo exarriines what he has gained from their expending of emotion during the fight. He makes it clear to the Robinsons that he is far from fmished with them.
Elsewhere, Smith finds Maureen and Penny, who have been trying to make it back to the Jupiter 2 camp. Both the mother and daughter have been lost for hours, but Smith assures him he knows the way back by taking a short cut through a bog. They are unsure of Smith but follow him, only to come face-to-face with a monster that rises out of the swamp. Rather than being terrified, Smith's only interest is for the women to be afraid, which will give Tybo the emotions he wants. When Penny and Maureen begin throwing deadwood at the creature it retreats, much to the unhappiness of the strangely-behaving Smith.
Seeing an electrode on Smith's head, Maureen realizes the doctor is being controlled. He admits that Tybo threatened a slow death unless Smith found the botanist a "carnival of emotions". Back where the Chariot is stranded, the Robot has been modifying himself so he can free the Robinsons. As he finishes Judy and Will arrive and explain everything. Afterwards, they leave for the hot house to try to free the family. On the way there, they find the frozen figure of Branka, and eventually realize Tybo was his assistant. Having no way to bring him out of his suspended animation, they leave the alien behind and proceed to find a way into the underground hothouse.
Tybo has already brought a new plant to life with the Robinsons' emotions, and is happy with his efforts. But he still will not free the men, so John throws a fruit given to him by Tybo into the botanist's experiment, and the alien does not see their sabotage of his equipment. Tybo takes the men outside, where he believes they will produce more emotion. Meanwhile, Will is found by Tybo and captured as is the Robot and Judy. Will pretends to want to give himself up in exchange for freedom for the rest of the family, but his offer is only a diversion for the Robot to open fire. Only then does the Robot realize he deactivated his lasers when modifying himself. Judy and Will are once again locked up.
While Smith and the women are trying to get home, John and Don are looking for the rest of the family, and Don nearly sinks over his head in quicksand. As John tries to free him, the swamp monster returns with a blood-curdling scream. As John is finally reaching and pulling Don out the creature nearly reaches him -until it is driven off by rocks thrown by Penny and Maureen. Smith joins them as well, and he is left behind as a guard to the entrance of the bog while everyone searches for Will and Judy. Back at the lab, Tybo's hothouse is overflowing with plant life of all kinds. Yet he still refuses to leave the brother and sister, so will calls the Robot on his radio in hops of telling him how to reconnect his lasers. Once this is accomplished, the Robot first tries to awaken Branka fIrst before launching an attack. On the way to the frozen botanist the Robot encounters the Robinsons. After explanations are given, they accompany the Robot to revive Branka.
Back at the lab, the experiment John sabotaged has resulted in a huge living and moving creature that attacks Tybo until he opens fire then turns on Judy and Will. Just as it nearly reaches them a ray from the Robot hits and kills the plant creature. Tybo turns to fire on the Robot but is frozen by Branka, who has been returned to normal. Branka offers his apologies and the family heads home in the repaired Chariot while Smith and the Robot return to the birthday party in the Space Pod.
Ray say: This script is very intriguing and would have made a pretty good third season episode.
