3 KRUZZZAAAAAAH!

Chapter 3 KRUZZZAAAAAAH! "He's gone!" cried Judy. meep… "Look!" said Thudd, pointing to a bright dot streaking through the night sky. Judy squinted to see it. "A shooting star!" she said. "We should make a wish," said Andrew. bong… "We should wish to be somewhere else," said the Time-A-Tron. "That is no shooting star. That is the planet that will smash into Earth and create the moon!" "Uh-oh," said Andrew. "What can we do?" asked Judy.

bong… "Nothing," said the Time-A-Tron. "Unless the Fast-Forward button begins to work very soon." Judy grabbed her slipper and slammed the button. Flack! Flack! Flack! Nothing happened. The sky was turning red. The tiny dot was growing into a globe of orange light. Glowing chunks were falling away from it. Tails of fire streaked across the sky as it sped closer.

"What will happen to us?" asked Judy. bong… "That depends on how strong Strongium is," said the Time-A-Tron. Strongium was what the Time-A-Tron was made of. meep… "Purple button blinking!" said Thudd. Thudd's purple button popped open and a purple beam zoomed out. But there was no one at the end of it. Tick… tock… tick… tock… "It's Doctor Kron-Tox again!" said Judy.

A whispery voice began to speak: My oh my oh my oh my! What's that coming from the sky? Is it huge and dark and lumpy? Does it make you awfully jumpy? What will happen when it crashes? Will the Dubbles turn to ashes? What is to become of you? What you don't know, I surely do! "HA! HA! HA!" Tick… tock… tick… tock… The fiery planet was so close that it filled the whole sky. The sea of molten rock churned and turned into waves. bong… "Put in your earplugs, little Dubbles," said the Time-A-Tron.

Two pairs of earplugs dangled from a door in the control panel. Andrew and Judy stuck them in their ears. Then Andrew squeezed his eyes shut and waited. KRUZZZAAAAAAAAAAH! A humongous crash shook every bone in Andrew's body. His stomach fluttered up as the crash blasted them down and down. When Andrew opened his eyes, flaming rock was zooming by the dome of the Time-A-Tron. Andrew pulled out his earplugs. So did Judy. "We must be miles deep inside the Earth!" said Judy. Ahead of the Time-A-Tron was a glow as bright and yellow as the sun. meep… "Core of Earth," said Thudd. "Like core of apple. Earth core is big lump of iron. Earth core hot, hot, hot! Seven thousand degrees! Surface of sun only five thousand degrees!"

bong… "Do not look, little Dubbles," said the Time-A-Tron. "The brightness will hurt your eyes." Andrew and Judy turned away. It was getting awfully hot and sweaty inside the Time-A-Tron. Judy fanned herself with her hand. Andrew wiped his face with his pajama sleeve. bong… "We are almost past the core of the Earth now," said the Time-A-Tron. "We are slowing down." "We're buried so deep," said Judy. "How are we going to get out of here?" bong… "Ah," sighed the Time-A-Tron. "All we can do is follow the atoms of Montana. Perhaps the atoms will move up, but it could take millions of years." Hooo… hooo… hooo… Judy looked at Andrew. "What's that?" she asked. "It's coming from below," said Andrew. "We'd better go down and see."