Lost in Space: An Up2U Action Adventure - Up2U Adventures Set 3 Read online

  the rock against the trunk again.

  All around the clearing, the trees began to

  moan and sway. The ants froze. With alarmed

  chittering sounds, they stopped fighting. They

  scampered to the center of the clearing, as far

  from the trees as possible. It wasn’t far enough.

  The largest of the fluff trees bent double. It

  swatted one of the ant creatures directly on the

  back. The tree snapped back up, and the ant went

  with it. But a giant ant weighed a lot more than

  Nick. When the tree stopped moving, the ant

  didn’t. It ripped free of the fluff and flew through

  the air. Nick didn’t see it after that.

  The other ant panicked. It raced across the

  clearing to get away. Several trees swatted at it.

  One even managed to brush the ant’s rump. Still

  each time the trees snapped back, they failed to

  drag the ant with them.

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  The giant ant pushed through the trees at the edge of the clearing. The second the ant was gone,

  Nick raced toward his mom. One of the smaller

  trees swatted at him. But it missed.

  As soon as he reached the boulder, Nick flung

  himself into his mom’s arms. “I found you.”

  His mom hugged him. Then she held him out

  at arm’s length. “Nick, what are you doing out

  here?”

  “It’s a long story,” Nick said. “It started with a

  birthday present.”

  His mom gave him another hug. “That’s right.

  Happy Birthday, darling.”

  “I’m having a great birthday now,” Nick said.

  “But why didn’t you all come home? Everyone is

  so worried.”

  His mom stepped out of the safety of the rock.

  “I promise to tell you everything. But we need to

  get going. If this spot is on the regular ant travel

  routes, we could end up right back in trouble.”

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  6767

  Nick opened his mouth to agree. His stomach gave a huge growl. His mom gave him a look, and

  Nick grinned. “Sorry. I missed lunch. I’ve had a

  really busy day.”

  A scientist wished Nick a happy birthday and

  gave him an energy bar. Nick had never tasted

  any birthday treat as good as that bar.

  As they walked through the woods, his mom

  explained that one of their team members was

  carried off by a giant bee creature.

  “I know what that’s like,” Nick said.

  His mom gave him an alarmed look. Then she

  went on with her story. The team tried to find the

  missing man, but they lost sight of the bee. They

  continued on, following the bee’s flight direction.

  “Of course, that’s assuming the bee flew

  straight.” Nick’s mom sighed. “We certainly never

  found him.”

  “Instead we found the world’s biggest ant

  battle,” one of the scientists said.

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  “I just wish we knew where the bees took him,” Mom said.

  Nick grinned at her. “I know exactly where

  the bees took him. I was just there.”

  His mom stared at him in shock. “It sounds

  like you really have had quite an adventure.”

  “You too, Mom. Now, don’t you think we

  better go get your teammate?”

  His mom agreed. The rest of the team cheered.

  With Nick in the lead, they headed for the hive.

  He snuck a look up at his mom. Nick thought his

  birthday had turned out okay after all.

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  Ending

  3

  Anything to Survive

  Nick stared at the hive for a moment and

  shuddered. He didn’t know if his mom was in

  there. But he did know the hive was full of scary

  bees.

  He looked back in the direction of the fluff

  woods. He didn’t know if the colony was back

  that way. He thought it was. But he could just get

  more and more lost.

  He remembered something he’d read once.

  When Earth kids are lost, they’re told to sit

  down. They had to wait to be found. Anything

  else would just make you more lost.

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  Nick didn’t need to be more lost. He found a dry rock and scrambled up on it. It gave him

  a decent view of the area. He laid down on the

  rock so the sun could dry his clothes. Soon he fell

  asleep.

  He dreamed of scary bees and water bugs with

  snapping jaws. One of the dream bugs poked him

  with a long leg. Then it poked him again. “Nick!”

  the bug said.

  That’s when Nick woke up to see Bob bent

  over him. Bob poked his shoulder with one of its

  long fingers. “You found me,” Nick said happily.

  “I did,” Bob said. “I followed the bee’s course

  through the trees. When I saw the hive, I expected

  you to be inside.”

  “I almost was,” Nick said. “Instead I ended up

  in the lake.”

  The robot looked back toward the dark lake.

  “I am not designed for interacting with liquids. I

  am glad you are not in the water now.”

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  “Me too,” Nick said.

  A long shadow lay over the rock. Nick could

  see the sun was close to setting. “We better hurry

  or we’ll be walking home in the dark. I don’t

  suppose you have lights? We might need some

  before we get back.”

  Bob didn’t speak for a moment. The robot

  continued to loom over Nick. A faint hum came

  from inside it. “Nick,” the robot said finally. “I

  have very bad news.”

  “What bad news?”

  “When I returned to the colony to get help for

  you, I found it torn apart.”

  “Torn apart?” Nick whispered.

  “Giant bee creatures. They ripped through

  the housing and carried off all the people. None

  of the colony buildings were spared. There is no

  home.”

  Nick looked back toward the hive. He could

  barely see it in the falling darkness. “Then we

  72

  should go in the hive and look for them. Maybe we can rescue them.”

  “That is one way,” Bob said. “But perhaps we

  should find your mother and her team. They

  could help us save the colonists.”

  Nick put his hands on his hips. “But how are

  we going to find Mom? And how do we know

  she’s not in the hive already?”

  “Coming here, I saw signs of their passage. I

  believe I can track them.”

  Nick thought about it for a moment. He

  looked toward the hulking shadow of the hive.

  How could one kid save everyone from those

  giant bees? Bob was right. They needed his

  mom. And maybe his mom needed them.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  For days, they wandered through the woods

  and over hills. They finally wandered onto a

  wide plain. It was covered with pale violet stalks

  of something a little like grass. The stalks held

  73

  white flowers with sharp petals. They could cut right through Nick’s pants. He had to be careful

 
; where he walked.

  “Are you sure Mom came this way?” Nick

  asked.

  “I am certain,” Bob said. “And up ahead

  I can detect water. We will fill my storage

  compartment.”

  Nick knew he was lucky to have Bob. The

  robot purified all the water they found. And Bob

  tested new plants to find things Nick could eat.

  They weren’t always tasty things, but at least he

  wasn’t starving.

  Still, Nick was getting more and more

  worried. Would they ever find his mom? Maybe

  he should have gone to the hive right away. What

  if he could have saved his dad?

  As he shuffled along, Nick could hear the

  whirr of Bob’s insides and the rustle of the

  grasses in the breeze. Then he realized he was

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  hearing something else. A buzzing sound that grew louder and louder.

  “The bees!” Nick yelled.

  He took off running with Bob right beside

  him. The sharp flower petals slashed at his pants.

  Nick didn’t dare slow down. The buzzing grew

  louder and louder.

  Nick looked back over his shoulder. He could

  see a cluster of bees flying toward them. He

  ran faster. But they couldn’t outrun the flying

  creatures.

  The bees got closer. Nick looked back at them

  again. What he saw shocked him so much that

  he stumbled and fell. He rolled through the tall

  stalks.

  Bob didn’t stop. The robot kept running.

  “Bob, wait,” Nick yelled. He pointed back

  toward the bees.

  Now he could see them clearly. On the back

  of each of the bees sat one of the colony scientists

  75

  and his mom. They were riding the bees like

  horses!

  The bees landed, and the scientists hopped

  off their backs. They patted the bees and walked

  over to Nick.

  His mom turned to one of the other scientists.

  “Go and get the robot.”

  When she reached Nick, she held out a hand.

  “Are you all right? You scared me half to death.

  We’ve been looking for you for days.”

  76

  Nick took her hand. “I don’t understand. How

  come the bees don’t carry you away?”

  His mom hauled him to his feet and smiled.

  “We learned how to tame them after we rescued

  one of our team members. He’d been carried off

  to a giant hive. Apparently, the creatures thought

  he was a baby bee.” She laughed and the rest of

  the team joined in.

  Nick was still confused. “Did you find Dad at

  the hive?”

  77

  “No, of course not,” his mom said. “Your dad doesn’t go on expeditions. He’s back at the

  colony. And very worried about you.”

  Nick turned to Bob as the scientist marched

  the robot back to them. “Why did you lie to me

  about the colony?”

  Bob bowed its head. “I can’t go back to the

  colony. They’ll take me apart.” The robot pulled

  free of the scientist and ran. The scientist pointed

  a device at it. Bob shook all over before falling to

  the ground.

  “Hey,” Nick said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  He ran over to Bob. The robot’s soft whirring

  sounded more like a sick rattle. “Are you all

  right?”

  “I am sorry,” Bob said. “I should not have lied

  to you. I did not want you to go to the colony. I

  did not want to be all alone.”

  “I wouldn’t have left you alone,” Nick said.

  “Friends don’t do that.”

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  Bob rattled louder. “Are we friends?”

  “Of course.”

  “Friends,” Bob echoed, then it shut down. The

  rattling stopped.

  Nick turned back to his mom. “You aren’t

  really going to take Bob apart, are you?”

  “No, of course not,” his mom said. “We just

  couldn’t let it run off. The robot has so much

  valuable data. But we won’t take it apart. We

  don’t destroy something for making a mistake.

  Besides Bob kept you alive all this time. I guess

  we owe it one.”

  Then she pointed at Nick. “But I will tell you

  this. No more field trips for you two. Not without

  permission.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Nick said. “Let’s go

  home.”

  And so they did.

  79

  Write Your Own Ending

  There were three endings to choose from in

  Lost in Space. Did you find the ending you wanted from the story? Or did you want something

  different to happen? Now it is your turn! Write

  the ending you would like to see. Be creative!

  80

  FiFeilds

  UP2U

  && VV

  A d v e n t u r e s

  ida

  A C T I O N

  l

  With his mom overdue from an expedition,

  Nick doesn’t expect much for his birthday.

  Ad U

  Then his dad surprises him with a robot, Bob.

  ve P2n

  Nick and Bob venture outside, but they are

  tu Ur

  separated and get lost in the forbidden world.

  es

  Wil Nick discover what happened to his mom,

  or wil he be lost forever? The ending is Up2U!

  Lost in S

  BOOKS IN THIS SET:

  pace

  Backcourt Battle

  The Creepy Doll

  Lost in Space

  The Starving Ghost

  I S B N 978-1-5321-3030-4

  9 0 0 0 0

  9 7 8 1 5 3 2 1 3 0 3 0 4

  Document Outline

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Happy Birthday, I Think

  Chapter 2: Forbidden Field Trip

  Chapter 3: Catch or Caught?

  Chapter 4: Guess Who Is for Supper

  Chapter 5: With the Greatest of Ease

  Chapter 6: Don’t Help Me So Much

  Chapter 7: In the Deep Dark

  Ending 1: Into the Hive

  Ending 2: A Battle of Giants

  Ending 3: Anything to Survive

  Write Your Own Ending

  Back Cover