by Jan Fields
UP2U
A d v e n t u r e s
A C T I O N
Los
Lo t in
i Sp
S acaec
by Jan Fields illustrated by Oriol Vidal
Lost in Space
An U p2 U Ac t ion Adve n t ur e
by Jan Fields
illustrated by Oriol Vidal
An Imprint of 1
Magic Wagon
abdopublishing.com
For Col in, who knows how to make every day an adventure. —JF
To my family, the best ones. —OV
abdopublishing.com
Published by Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2018 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc.
International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Calico™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon.
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota.
052017
092017
Written by Jan Fields
Illustrated by Oriol Vidal
Edited by Bridget O’Brien
Design Contributors: Christina Doffing and Laura Mitchell Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fields, Jan, author. | Vidal, Oriol, illustrator.
Title: Lost in space: an Up2U action adventure / by Jan Fields ; illustrated by Oriol Vidal.
Other titles: An Up2U action adventure
Description: Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2018. | Series: Up2U adventures Summary: Nick is the only kid on the first planet-based space colony, so when he receives a robot for his birthday, the duo sets out to explore the outside world, but they get lost along the way and it’s up to the reader to help them find their way.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017930886 | ISBN 9781532130304 (lib. bdg.) |
ISBN 9781614798675 (ebook) | ISBN 9781614798729 (Read-to-me ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Plot-your-own stories. | Birthdays--Juvenile fiction. | Robots--
Juvenile fiction.
Classification: DDC [Fic]--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2017930886
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Happy Birthday, I Think ...................................................4
Forbidden Field Trip ............................................................12
Catch or Caught? ..................................................................19
Guess Who Is for Supper........................................24
With the Greatest of Ease ......................................29
Don’t Help Me So Much ................................................34
In the Deep Dark ................................................................. 40
Ending 1: Into the Hive .....................................................48
Ending 2: A Battle of Giants .................................59
Ending 3: Anything to Survive ...............................70
Write Your Own Ending ................................................80
Chapter
1
Happy Birthday, I Think
Nick began drawing a venus flytrap next to
a pitcher plant and a sundew on his computer
table. He imagined the plant’s special leaves
snapping shut to catch bugs. He knew he’d never
really see any of the cool, different Earth plants
that ate bugs.
The colony gardeners mainly grew beans and
lettuce. They also grew a few other things to
eat. Of course, even if the gardeners would let
Nick grow venus flytraps or any of the other bug-
eating plants, he wouldn’t have any flies to feed
them.
4
Nick spun in his chair. He looked out the one round window in his room. His mom once told
him there were always bugs buzzing around you
when you went outside on Earth.
Nick didn’t get outside much here on Colony
Alpha. But when he did, he’d never seen any
bugs.
Through the window, he saw blue-green moss
carpeting the ground around the colony and the
shadowy edge of the fluff tree woods. Moss and
fluff trees were boring. Nick was pretty sure the
first Earth colony was on the most boring planet
in the universe.
Nick sighed. He wouldn’t be so bored if his
mom were home. She’d be making a birthday
cake and telling him Earth stories. She’d have
some great present hidden.
But his mom was overdue from a mission with
five other scientists. No one knew where they
were.
5
Nick pressed his nose against the window. I miss you, Mom.
Before they left, Nick begged to go along. If
they had let him go, he might have found some
cool plants and animals. And he would know
exactly where his mom was. He never got to go on
any of the missions. He barely got to go outside.
Nick’s dad said it wasn’t safe outside of the
colony. He said Nick was special. But Nick didn’t
feel special. As the only kid on Colony Alpha, he
was miserable, lonely, and bored.
There was a sharp knock on the door. Nick
spun around in his chair. His dad stuck his head
through the doorway. He looked tired. He had
looked tired ever since Mom left on the mission.
Now he hardly ever came back to their quarters.
Dad’s hair stuck up in spots from running his
fingers through it. Mom called it Dad’s puff. Nick
could hear her saying, “You can always tell how
hard your dad is working by the size of his puff.”
6
Dad tapped Nick on the head. “Happy
Birthday! I bet you thought I forgot! Come with
me to the lab. I have a present for you.”
Nick hopped up and followed his dad out of
their quarters. He really was surprised his dad
remembered his birthday.
It was always his mom who planned birthdays.
She found fun things for Nick to do, while Dad
disappeared into the lab. This year, Nick hadn’t
thought anyone would celebrate his birthday.
With the shushing sound of an air lock seal,
the lab door opened. Nick’s dad pointed to a
robot standing in the middle of the room.
“This is the project I’ve been working on for
the past month. The first one is just for you.” He
tapped the robot on a shiny shoulder. “Say hello
to Nick.”
Lights winked on in the robot’s face. It turned
to look at Nick with bulging camera eyes. “Hello,
Nick.”
7
8
“A robot,” Nick mumbled. “Thanks, Dad.”
The colony was full of robots already. Some
were small and scrambled around on multiple
spikey legs. Some were bigger than a person and
rolled along on thick treads. Some never moved,
staying rooted in one spot to do their job. They
had robots
to collect samples and robots to build
things. They had robots to grow food. They even
had robot doctors.
Why would his dad think Nick needed another
robot around? “What am I supposed to do with
it?” Nick asked.
The robot spoke in a flat voice. “We can play
games and have lots of fun together, Nick. I have
a full encyclopedia of jokes and riddles, Nick.
Why did the feathered farm creature cross the
road, Nick?”
“Feathered farm creature?” Nick said, looking
at his dad.
“A chicken.”
9
Nick turned back to the robot. “I don’t know.
I’ve never seen a real chicken. Or a road.”
“Input accepted. Updating joke file.” The
robot whirred softly for a moment. “Why did the
colonist cross the corridor, Nick?”
“I still don’t know.”
“To get to the other side, Nick.” The robot’s
whirring grew louder and it made an odd
wheezing noise. Was it supposed to be laughing?
Nick rolled his eyes and turned to his dad.
“Can you make him stop doing that?”
His dad looked confused. “Doing what?
Telling jokes?”
“Well, yes, that too. But can you make him
quit saying my name at the end of every sentence?
It’s creepy.”
“I can stop saying your name at the end of
every sentence,” the robot offered in its flat voice.
“But I really like telling jokes. I like to have fun,
Nick.”
10
At that, his dad clapped his hands. “See? You two will have a great time.”
Nick looked at his dad’s happy grin. Then
he looked to the robot’s fixed stare. An icy chill
slipped down his back. Why do I have the feeling
this is the worst present ever?
11
Chapter
2
Forbidden Field Trip
Nick saw his dad’s smile fade. He really was
trying. “I’m sure I can do lots of stuff with a robot
like this,” Nick said, trying to sound excited.
His dad smiled again. “You can. This is a totally
new design in biomechanical original building. I
wanted to make a robot who could think for itself.
If robots can think, they can deal with changing
situations and unexpected problems. Then they
can be sent alone on missions. This is the first
robot from my new design.”
Nick felt a rush of anger. If his dad had made
the robot sooner, it could have gone on the
12
mission. Then his mom could have stayed in the colony where she was safe. But he knew there
was no point saying that to his dad. “That’s really
interesting,” he said instead.
“The robot will learn problem solving and
decision-making from you. You’ll be its teacher,”
his dad said. “Plus, it is connected to the colony
data cloud. It can help you with your homework.
That means it’ll be like a teacher for you too.”
“Sounds great,” Nick said. A teacher is the
perfect birthday present to go with his rotten life.
His dad shook his finger. “Keep in mind, it
won’t do your homework for you. No cheating.”
“I don’t cheat, Dad,” Nick said.
“No.” His dad laughed nervously. “Of course
you don’t. That was a joke. A bad joke, but a joke.”
Fits right in with the robot’s jokes. Nick peered up at the robot’s face. “So what do I call it?”
“Whatever you want. Why don’t you guys
play catch in the gym? It would be good for you
13
to get more exercise, Nick.” His dad flapped his hands at them. “You don’t want to start looking
like your old dad.”
Nick rolled his eyes as he trudged to the door.
The gym was turned into a hydro-garden months
ago. His mom would have known that. “Sure,
Dad,” he said. “Come on, Bob.”
“Bob?” the robot echoed as it clumped after
him. “Is that my designation, Nick?”
“I meant it more as a nickname. Dad said
you’re a biomechanical original build, so I’ll call
you Bob. If that’s okay with you.”
The robot turned its blank stare to Nick. “Bob
is an excellent choice. According to the colony
files, no other robot has a nickname. Only people.
I like having a nickname. Thank you, Nick.”
When they reached the hall, Nick put his
hands on his hips. “So what do I do with you?”
“We could play catch, Nick,” Bob said.
“I thought you were going to stop that.”
14
The robot whirred softly. “Stop what, Nick?”
“Stop saying my name after every sentence.”
“I did stop. I instituted a new pattern where
I only say your name at the end of each block
of conversation. The blocks may contain several
sentences, Nick.”
“It still sounds creepy. How about you cut
back to only saying my name when you need to
get my attention for something, okay?”
“That is acceptable. Do you want to go play
catch now?”
“We can’t. The gym is gone.”
“I am aware of all changes in the colony map.
We cannot play catch in the gym,” the robot said.
“We can play catch outside. It will offer more
space for physical activity. And it will allow me
to interact with unplanned situations. That will
be helpful to my programming.”
“I’m not allowed outside alone,” Nick said.
“You would not be alone. I will be with you.”
15
“I’m not sure.”
The robot’s insides whirred. “Maybe you
would like to hear another riddle. Why did the
colonist throw a digital timekeeping device out
the colony doors?”
“I don’t know.”
“He wanted to see time fly,” Bob wheezed.
Nick couldn’t imagine listening to Bob’s jokes
all day. “Enough jokes. Let’s go outside.”
The robot easily opened the code-locked outer
colony doors. Nick peeked out at the clearing and
17
fuzzy, blue-green moss. His mom had gone out that door and never come back.
Nick stared across the clearing and wished
his mom would appear. She would step from
between the tall, skinny trees and wave.
Bob reached out and gave Nick a push. “Come
on. Unless you are a feathered farm creature.”
“I’m no chicken,” Nick snapped. Then he
stepped through the door into the forbidden
world beyond.
18
Chapter
3
Catch or Caught?
The thick moss in the clearing was softer
than the floors in the colony. Nick felt like he
was walking on soft springs. He wondered if he
could jump higher outside. Maybe he would have
the robot measure it sometime.
If his mom came home soon, maybe she could
help. She always helped Nick find answers. He
looked at the robot�
�s blank face. Bob stopped in
the middle of the clearing. Getting answers from
the robot would not be the same.
“This will be a good place to play catch, Nick.”
A small compartment slid open in Bob’s chest.
19
The robot reached in to pull out a ball. Nick laughed as Bob threw a smooth pitch. The ball
smacked into Nick’s hands. Having a robot might
be fun after all.
They tossed the ball back and forth. But
Nick kept an eye on the colony doors. Even
though coming outside was Bob’s idea, Nick
knew which one of them would get yelled at by
his dad. Nick’s mom liked exploring, but his dad
liked safety.
Now and then, the doors slid open and one
of the colony robots rolled out. The robots didn’t
pay any attention to Bob or Nick. They rolled
through the clearing and into the trees. When
the robots passed, Bob stopped playing and
watched them.
At one point, Bob stepped in front of one of
the robots. “Hello! My nickname is Bob.”
The robot simply changed direction and rolled
around Bob.
20
Bob turned its blank face toward Nick. “These other robots are different from me.”
“That’s for sure,” Nick agreed.
“I would like to follow one and see how it
carries out its mission.”
Nick shrugged. “Sure, that might be fun.”
He really thought it sounded boring. The colony
robots never did anything interesting. But Bob
had played catch with him. They could do
something Bob liked now.
They followed a small, four-legged robot. The
scientists often used them to gather samples.
As with the other robots, it marched across
the clearing without seeming to notice Bob or
Nick.
The robot walked down a narrow, worn path
into the woods. Nick knew the colony woods
were different from the ones on Earth. The
colony trees were thin, smooth cylinders with
balls of fluff on top.
21
The small robot marched through the quiet cluster of trees. It stopped when it came to
one tree that looked different from the others.
The other trees had smooth, silver trunks that
shone in the shadowy light. The strange tree had
a gray-green trunk with ragged gouges that leaked