by Ray O'Ryan
During recess that afternoon, Sara followed Zack outside into the play zone.
“Sara, you can stay here while I play,” Zack instructed the robot. “Okay, who wants to play pulse-ball?” Zack shouted.
Teams were then chosen. Drake was on Zack’s team. Seth was on the other. The game began.
Drake took control of the glowing ball. He threw a pass to Zack. But Seth stepped up to steal the pulse-ball.
From out of nowhere, Sara sped onto the court and blocked Seth’s shot. Zack retrieved the ball and tossed it through a floating hoop.
“Hey, no fair!” Seth yelled. “That robot can’t help you win!”
“Sara, I told you to stay on the side!” Zack shouted.
“I tried to. But I missed you, Zacky,” Sara said.
Zack blushed with embarrassment.
“Why don’t you tell your girlfriend to go play somewhere else!” snarled Seth.
“My girlfriend?” Zack repeated in alarm. Oh no. Is this possible? Could Sara have a crush on me?
Chapter 7
Ira’s Answer
Sara continued to annoy Zack for the rest of the school day. She insisted on sitting next to him on the speedybus ride home. She even tried to hold his hand.
When they stepped off the bus, Zack raced into the house.
“Where’s Sara?” asked Mom. “I need her help sorting through some new boxes.”
“Great!” Zack shouted.
Sara stepped through the door.
“Oh, there you are, Sara,” said Mom. “Could you please help me with these boxes?”
Sara hesitated. She looked at Mom, then back at Zack, then over to Mom again.
“Certainly, Mrs. Nelson,” Sara said.
Zack breathed a sigh of relief. With Sara helping Mom, he would have a few minutes to himself. He hurried up to his room and flopped down onto his bed. Luna jumped up beside him and started licking his face.
Zack scratched Luna’s head.
“What am I going to do, girl?” he moaned. “Sara is acting so weird, like she has some kind of crush on me. She calls me all these creepy pet names. Yuck! And she never lets me out of her sight! Something is definitely wrong with her.”
Luna groaned and rolled over. Zack rubbed her belly.
“I don’t want to tell Dad, though,” Zack continued. “If he thinks there’s something wrong with Sara, he’ll have to take her back to Nebulonics. Then I won’t get to go to Onyo.”
“Ahem,” said Ira, sounding like he was clearing his throat. “I believe I can help you, Master Just Zack. If that is what you want, of course.”
“Yes, please!” said Zack.
“Sara’s main programming instruction is to learn as much as she can about how people behave,” Ira explained. “I believe that she picked up the behavior of the main character in the movie you all watched last night.”
Zack slapped his forehead in disbelief.
“You’re right! She was flirting with me just like the character in the movie. But how can I stop her?”
“I took the liberty of downloading Sara’s mechanical designs from Nebulonics,” said Ira. “You need to get her bow and plug it into one of my house inputs. Then I can erase what she learned from the movie. When you put the bow back, she should stop behaving like she did today.”
“That’s brilliant, Ira,” Zack said. “Thank you! Now all I need is a plan to sneak that bow off of Sara’s head!”
Chapter 8
Zack’s Plan
Zack paced back and forth across his room. Then he suddenly got an idea. He went to his desk drawer and pulled out Luna’s favorite toy. It was a rubber ball that jingled and flashed as it rolled. Luna jumped off the bed and stood up on her hind legs.
Yip! Yip! she barked excitedly.
“Sorry, girl,” said Zack. “But I need to put this where you can’t get it.”
Yip! Yip! Luna barked again.
Zack rolled the ball under his dresser. Luna dashed across the room. She sniffed around the bottom of the dresser and then started whining.
“This is all part of my plan,” said Zack. “Let’s see if it works. . . . Sara!” Zack called out. “I need your help!”
Sara zoomed into Zack’s room.
“What can I do for you, Zacky?” she asked.
“Luna’s toy just rolled under my dresser,” Zack explained.
Luna whined again.
“I can’t reach it,” Zack continued. “Dad told me you were very strong. Could you lift the dresser and get the toy?”
“Certainly, sweetie!” said Sara.
She rolled over to the dresser. As she bent down to grab the bottom of it, Zack tiptoed up next to her.
Sara lifted the dresser with one hand. Her other arm telescoped out and grabbed the ball. “Got it!” she said.
Zack made his move. Sara’s head was right near the floor. He reached over her shoulder. He was just about to snatch the bow, when Sara put the dresser down and stood up quickly.
Zack fell back and landed on the floor on his butt.
Sara tossed the ball toward Luna, then turned to Zack.
“Do you need anything else, Zacky?” Sara cooed.
Zack sighed. “No. Please go back to helping Mom.”
Sara stared at Zack for a moment. Then she turned and rolled out of the room.
“Oh, Luna, that didn’t work,” Zack moaned. “What am I going to do?”
Luna happily chewed on her toy.
“What are you going to do about what?” Dad asked, stepping into the room.
Zack realized that he would have to tell Dad about his problem, even if it meant not going to Onyo.
“I was trying to get ahold of Sara’s bow,” Zack admitted.
“Why?” asked Dad. “You know better than to mess around with any of my inventions.”
“Dad, there’s something wrong with Sara. She’s been acting really weird, like she has a crush on me or something.”
“A crush?” Dad asked, scratching his head. “Well, how did that happen? I certainly didn’t program that kind of behavior into Sara.”
Zack filled Dad in on Ira’s theory.
“Aha!” said Dad. “That makes sense. I guess I didn’t account for the difference between movies and real life.”
“What are we going to do, Dad? I can’t have Sara calling me ‘Zacky’ and ‘sweetie’!”
Dad giggled. “No, you certainly can’t. Come with me.”
Chapter 9
Dad’s Plan
Zack and Dad headed downstairs. Sara, Cathy, and Charlotte were helping Mom sort through boxes of jewelry in the kitchen.
When Sara spotted Zack, she immediately stopped what she was doing.
“Do you need me to move any more furniture, sweetie?” she asked.
“Zack, why is Sara calling you ‘sweetie’?” Mom asked.
“I’ll explain later,” said Dad. “But right now . . . Sara.”
Sara looked away from Zack and turned to Dad.
“Please put yourself into pause mode,” Dad said.
“Yes, Mr. Nelson,” said Sara.
Sara’s arms and legs pulled into her body. The light in her eyes went dim. She stood perfectly still.
“I didn’t know you put an off switch into Sara,” Zack said. “That was easy.”
“I programmed a pause mode into Sara so we could shut her down for repairs and new programming,” Dad explained. He reached over and twisted Sara’s bow. It popped right off.
“Hey—that looks like an ultra-net connector on the bow,” Zack said. “Like the kind I use to download stuff from the ultra-web.”
“It’s very similar,” said Dad. “Ira, ultra-net port, please.”
“Certainly, Mr. Nelson,” said Ira.
A panel on the side of the kitchen counter slid open. Dad plugged Sara’s bow into a slot.
“I will now erase the memory files of that movie from Sara’s memory chips,” Ira said. “Then I will set up new limits to her functions. And I will includ
e a section on the difference between movies and real life.”
A low whirring sound filled the kitchen as Ira reprogramed Sara’s memory chip. A few minutes later, the sound stopped.
“Reprograming complete, Mr. Nelson,” Ira announced.
Dad unplugged Sara’s bow and placed it back on her head.
“Sara, resume normal function,” Dad said.
Sara’s eyes lit up, and her arms and legs extended from her body.
“Do you require more assistance, Mrs. Nelson?” she asked. “Zack, do you need help with your science homework? Cathy, Charlotte, would you like to hear some music?”
“Wow, Dad!” said Zack. “It looks like Sara is fixed!”
“I think she’s working better than ever,” said Dad. “So, Zack, would you like to go with Sara and me to Onyo tomorrow?”
“I sure would! Yippee wah-wah! I’m going to Onyo!”
Chapter 10
Visit to Onyo
The next morning, Zack, Sara, and Dad boarded a space cruiser for Onyo. The cruiser dropped down into Onyo’s atmosphere. Zack was amazed by the shiny glass-and-steel buildings that covered the entire surface of the planet.
But Onyo wasn’t just buildings. Tall trees and flowers floated in the air on anti-grav platforms.
When the cruiser landed, the trio stepped onto a moving sidewalk. Wherever he looked, Zack saw tall buildings and brightly colored flowers. Their sweet scent filled the air. Zack looked up.
“That’s incredible!” he said. “The buildings are so tall they disappear right into the clouds!”
Zack passed people from all over the galaxy. The moving sidewalk brought them to the Onyo Robotics building.
“This is it,” said Dad. “Okay, Sara, time to show off your stuff.”
As he walked through the hallway toward the auditorium, Zack passed several labs. In each one, scientists and engineers were working on robots.
A scientist from the planet Xednot used each of his seven hands to assemble a robot. The robot had two hands. It began building another robot even faster than its maker.
Another scientist, from the planet Halconn, stuck to the ceiling of a lab with the use of “sticky feet” shoes. She was working on an anti-grav robot that could fly super-fast.
“Wow!” Zack said. “This is like peeking into the future!”
When they reached the auditorium, Zack took a seat near the front.
“Good luck, Dad,” he said. “I know you’ll be great, Sara.”
“Thank you, Zack,” said Sara.
Zack was very relieved that Sara no longer called him by any cute nicknames.
The auditorium filled up, and Dad began his presentation.
“The Super Advanced Robotic Assistant is programmed to learn how to help us,” he said. “In less than a week, she has learned to speak smoothly, help my son with his homework, play songs on instruments for my daughters, and assist my wife with organizing her business. Sara, as we call her, will be a huge value to any household.”
Dad went on to demonstrate Sara’s other abilities.
“She’s as strong as a giant roton beast,” he said.
Sara lifted a two-ton space shuttle engine.
“And she’s as fast as a Torkus Magnus bike.”
Sara raced from one side of the stage to the other in less than three seconds.
When the presentation ended, everyone in the auditorium stood and applauded.
The president of the Onyo Robotics Council came onstage and shook Dad’s hand.
“Great job, Mr. Nelson!” said the president. “I’d like you to leave Sara here for further study. But I think that the council will be giving Nebulonics a contract to start mass producing Saras!”
“Thanks!” said Dad. “That’s great news!” He turned to Sara. “Well, Sara, you were a hit!”
“Thank you, Mr. Nelson,” Sara said. “Good-bye, Zack.”
“Bye, Sara,” said Zack. “It was fun having you around. Mostly.”
Dad laughed. Then he and Zack headed to the spaceport.
During the trip back to Nebulon, Dad and Zack chatted about their time with Sara.
“Maybe one day we can get a Sara for our home,” Dad suggested.
“I don’t know, Dad,” said Zack. “Sara is great and all, but we already have Ira. And, you know, Ira isn’t just part of our house . . . he’s part of our family.”
“Right you are, Captain,” said Dad, smiling.
Then they settled in for the journey back to Nebulon.
CHECK OUT THE NEXT
ADVENTURE!
HERE’S A SNEAK PEEK!
Zack Nelson sat at the kitchen table. His dog, Luna, stretched out on the floor beside him. A holographic, 3-D image of stars in space floated above the table.
“This planet-collector is so grape!” said Zack. He added a few more planets he had visited since he and his family moved to Nebulon.
The door to the kitchen elevator slid open. In walked Otto Nelson, Zack’s Dad. He was returning from his job at Nebulonics.
“Hey, Captain, that looks great!” said Dad.
“Those are all of the planets I’ve been to,” Zack said proudly.
“I think you’re missing one,” said Dad. “Nebulonics is actually sending me on a business trip to that special planet. I think you’d really enjoy coming along. My boss, Fred Stevens, is going. He’s bringing his son, Seth. We thought maybe you could keep Seth company and show him around.”
When Zack had first arrived on Nebulon, he and Seth got off to a rough start. The two had since become friends. Although Seth could still be a little tough to get along with sometimes.
“So, it’s a planet I’ve been to?” Zack asked.
“Yup,” said Dad. A big smile spread across his face. “It’s a planet called . . . Earth!”
RAY O’RYAN has loved space stories ever since he watched the very first episode of Star Trek. He loves to imagine what traveling across the galaxy might be like, and is a bit jealous of Galaxy Zack in this regard. Ray lives in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of upstate New York with his wife and two lovable, zany cats named Stitch and The Way.
JASON KRAFT grew up with a passion for drawing. He has developed that passion into a humble career that has allowed him to work in all facets of the entertainment field all over the globe—from toy design to feature animation. He has now settled in Ottawa, Ontario, with his wife, Christina.
GalaxyZackBooks.com
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Little Simon
Simon & Schuster
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Ryan, Ray.
The annoying crush / by Ray O’Ryan ; illustrated by Jason Kraft. — First edition.
pages cm. — (Galaxy Zack ; 9)
Summary: Zack is happy to test a new android his father helped develop for Nebulonics before she goes into production, but her ability to learn causes problems when she develops a crush on Zack after watching a romantic movie.
ISBN 978-1-4424-9363-6 (pbk : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-9364-3 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-9365-0 (ebook) [1. Science fiction. 2. Robots—Fiction. 3. Infatuation—Fiction. 4. Outer space—Fiction.] I. Kraft, Jason, illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.O7843Ann 2014
[Fic]—dc23
2013039361