1 Going Batty

Chapter 1 GOING BATTY "Yaaaaargh!" hollered Andrew Dubble. He was the size of a beetle and clinging to the back of a bat. The bat zigged and zagged through the night sky. It was searching for its dinner of bugs. The wind stung Andrew's eyes. Every zig and zag made Andrew's stomach slosh. Urf! he thought. I feel like throwing up. URRRRRP! Andrew popped out a garlicky burp. It's the pepperoni pizza from lunch, he thought. He gripped the soft fur of the bat's neck tighter. meep… "Drewd okey-dokey?" came a squeaky voice from Andrew's shirt pocket.

It was Thudd, Andrew's little silver robot and best friend. "It's like the worst roller-coaster ride," said Andrew. "And there's no safety belt!" "Androooooooo!" came a wail from the other side of the bat. Light from the full moon lit the frowning face of Judy Dubble, Andrew's thirteen-year-old cousin. She was dangling from the tip of one of the bat's big ears. Like Andrew, Judy had been shrunk as small as a beetle by Andrew's latest invention, the Goa Constrictor. Goa was sort of short for Garbage Goes Away. Andrew's invention was supposed to squash garbage atoms. It turns out the Goa could squash the atoms of anything—or anyone! "Jooodeeeeee!" hollered Andrew over the wind. "Get onto the back of the bat! You won't flap around so much!" "Whaaaat?" yelled Judy. "I can't hear you! I'm trying to get off this stupid ear!"

Judy reached down and grabbed a fistful of fur on the bat's neck. Then she let go of the ear. The wind caught her and bounced her on the bat's neck. With her free hand waving through the air, Judy looked like a cowgirl at a rodeo. Finally, Judy managed to grab on to the bat's neck with both hands. She tucked herself behind the bat's ear. The air around the bat was swarming with specks and dots. Andrew recognized the ones that came close—they were mosquitoes, beetles, and moths. Nyeeeeeee… A high-pitched whine whistled in Andrew's ears. meep... "Mosquito!" said Thudd. Nyeee— The sound suddenly stopped. The bat had scooped the annoying insect into its wide-open mouth.

"Wowzers!" said Andrew. "This bat can catch an awfully fast bug! I could barely see it!" meep… "Bat not use eyes to find bug," said Thudd. "Bat send out sound. Sound bounce off bug. Like echo. Sound bounce back to bat ears." Thudd pointed to his face screen. "Bat brain figure out 'xactly where bug is. Called echolocation. Use echo to find bugs to eat. "This bat eat three thousand bugs every night!" Thudd continued. "Bat can eat as much as bat weigh!"

"Holy moly!" said Andrew. "That would be like me eating eighty pounds of pizza!" Judy was shaking her head. "I don't know, Thudd. I don't hear the bat making any bug- finding sounds." meep… "Bat sound too high for human to hear," said Thudd. "Like whale sounds are too low for us to hear," said Andrew. "Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!" said Thudd. Suddenly the moon went dark. Andrew looked up. A huge shape with horns and wings was blotting it out! Eek! "Great horned owl!" squeaked Thudd. "Great horned owl eat bats!" "And us!" said Judy.