by Jan Fields
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.”
66
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
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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
74
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