4 Shark Attack!

Chapter 4 SHARK ATTACK! "Um, there's no blue wire under the destination dial," said Andrew. Uncle Al rubbed his chin. "Problems always have more than one solution," he said. "I'll figure out another way to fix the destination dial." Judy rolled her eyes. "Can't you just use sonar or radar or something to find us?" "Did you notice the unusual color of the Water Bug?" asked Uncle Al. "Yup," said Judy. "Andrew said it was some kind of disguise coating." "It is," said Uncle Al. "The Protectum coating helps to hide the Water Bug from everyone— including me!"

"Bummer!" said Judy. "But why does the Water Bug have to be hidden?" Uncle Al was quiet for a moment. "Have you guys ever heard of Soggy Bob Sloggins?" he asked. "Uh-uh," said Andrew. "Nope," said Judy. "Soggy Bob Sloggins has been stealing animals from all over the world," said Uncle Al. "Last year, he smuggled a dozen platypuses out of Australia in his suitcases. He packed a pair of pandas out of China in his trunks. The International Police caught him sneaking out of India with a pygmy elephant in a pickup truck." "Why does he want all those animals?" asked Andrew. "Soggy Bob is building Animal Universe," said Uncle Al, "the biggest theme park ever. But he doesn't care about the animals. He told a reporter that if an animal cost too much to care for, he'd stuff it!" "Oh no!" said Judy.

"I've been working with the International Police," said Uncle Al. "We've heard that Soggy Bob wants to find and capture giant squids! He's got a huge tank ready. The sign above it says 'Soggy Bob's Giant Squidwiches—Coming Soon!'" "We can't let him do it!" said Judy. "We've got to protect them!" said Andrew. Uncle Al nodded. "I know how you feel," he said. "I made the Water Bug so I could go anywhere in the ocean and keep Soggy Bob from harming giant squids or—" Suddenly the Water Bug started to shake! The Uncle Al hologram wiggled like purple Jell-O. Then it disappeared. "Yikes!" yelled Judy, wobbling in her seat. "Why are we on spin cycle, and what happened to Uncle Al?" Andrew and Judy peered out the windshield. At first, all they saw was a gray triangle. Then they saw a smooth torpedo shape as long as a car! "It's a shark!" said Andrew.

The shark had chomped down on the Water Bug's bumper. It was trying to pull it off! Judy leaned close to the windshield to get a better look. "Why would a shark bite a bumper?" she asked. Andrew scratched his head. "I made the bumpers out of this special rubber blubber so the Water Bug could bounce off rocks and stuff. But it looks like rubber-blubber buggy bumpers taste good to sharks." Judy gave Andrew a nasty look. The shark let go of the bumper and cruised by the windshield. "Yaaaaah!" yelled Judy. "That's the weirdest head I've ever seen."

The shark's head was as wide as the windshield and shaped like the top of the letter T. At each end of the T, there was a big, dark eye! meep… "Hammerhead shark!" said Thudd. "Sharks use lotsa stuff to find prey. Shark skin feel things move in water. Shark ears tell if prey animal healthy or sick. Shark nose good smeller. Can feel electricity, too! Electricity come from all things that live. Come from machines! Come from Water Bug!" The shark's mouth was a curved slit filled with rows and rows of claw-like teeth! meep… "Sharks got three thousand teeth!" said Thudd. "When tooth break off, shark get new one!" "What's that yucky stuff stuck between its teeth?" asked Judy. "I think it's little pieces of the rubber-blubber bumper," said Andrew. "That shark could use a toothpick." Suddenly Andrew saw something in the rearview mirror. More torpedo-shaped creatures!

Lots of them! They were twisting and spinning through the water, right toward the Water Bug!