7 Zeke’s Workshop

Seven zeek's workshop THAT EVENING, ZEKE SAT IN A corner of the garage attached to his house. He stared at a pile of alien machinery that his parents had brought with them from Tragas. Xad had shown Zeke what a lot of this equipment could do, and Zeke enjoyed tinkering with it.

那天晚上，齐克坐在他家车库的一个角落里。 他盯着一堆他父母从特拉加斯带来的外星机器。 Xad向齐克展示了很多设备的功能，齐克很喜欢摆弄它。

Time to get busy, Zeke thought. He lined up a bunch of circuits, dials, and knobs on a workbench. Using some of the Tragas tools, Zeke constructed a metal frame in the shape of a box. He then took a sheet of Trass—super-thin Tragas glass—and made panels on all sides of the box.

齐克想，该忙起来了。 他在工作台上排列了一堆电路、刻度盘和旋钮。 使用Tragas的一些工具，Zeke建造了一个盒子形状的金属框架。 然后，他拿了一张特拉斯（trass）超薄玻璃，在盒子的四面都做了镶板。

Zeke began setting up a complicated contraption. Using his alien power of moving objects with his mind, he moved a series of arms, levers, and steel balls into the box. Xad stepped into the garage. "What's that supposed to be?" he asked. "It's a cosmic clock," Zeke explained. "As the arms rotate, they drop these little steel balls into grooved wooden tracks that spin around. When the balls stop moving, they land in these holes.

齐克开始安装一个复杂的装置。 他利用自己的异于常人的意念移动物体的能力，把一系列的手臂、杠杆和钢球搬进了盒子里。 萨德走进车库。 “那是什么？”他问。 “这是一个宇宙时钟，”齐克解释说。 “随着机械臂的旋转，它们会把这些小钢球扔进带槽的木制轨道中，这些轨道会旋转。 当球停止运动时，它们就会落在这些洞里。

"Using this, you can not only tell what time it is on Earth, but also on any other planet in this solar system. And you can also predict when there is going to be an eclipse or shooting stars." "Very well done, Zeke," said Xad. "Right now I'm just making it move using my mind abilities," Zeke explained. "What I need to find now is a power source."

“利用这个，你不仅可以知道地球上的时间，还可以知道太阳系中任何其他行星的时间。 你还可以预测什么时候会有日食或流星。” “干得好，齐克，”萨德说。 “现在我只是用我的思维能力让它动起来，”齐克解释说。 “我现在需要的是一种能量来源。”

Xad pressed his fingers on either sides of his head. Using his own mind powers, he made a large silver box float down from a high shelf. Zeke looked into the box and saw what looked like a bunch of glowing purple buttons. "Wow!" said Zeke. "What are those?" "Barzium crystals," Xad explained. "They are mined on Tragas. These crystals can provide power to big machines. One should be more than enough to power your cosmic clock."

萨德用手指按在头的两边。 他用自己的意念让一个大银盒子从高高的架子上飘下来。 齐克朝盒子里看了看，看到了一堆发光的紫色纽扣。 “哇！”齐克说。“那是什么？”“钡晶体，”萨德解释道。 “他们在特拉加斯埋有地雷。 这些晶体可以为大型机器提供动力。 一个应该足以为你的宇宙时钟提供能量。”

Zeke stopped using his powers and the cosmic clock stopped moving. Then he slipped one of the Barzium crystals into the clock. The arms started rotating again, and the steel balls spun around the track. "Thanks, Xad!" Zeke said. "This is going to be a perfect Valentine's gift. And Debbie will never have to change its batteries!"

齐克不再使用他的超能力，宇宙之钟也停止了运转。 然后他把一颗钡晶体塞进钟里。 机械臂又开始转动，钢球绕着轨道旋转。 “谢谢,Xad !”齐克说。“这将是一份完美的情人节礼物。 而且黛比再也不用换电池了！”