1 Tick Tock Tick Tock

Chapter 1 TICK... TOCK... TICK... TOCK... "No onions on my pizza, please," said Andrew Dubble. "They remind me of when we were attacked by snails on the coral reef." Uncle Al's face crinkled into a smile. "The onions protected you from the snails," said Uncle Al. "They saved your life!" Andrew and his thirteen-year-old cousin, Judy, were sitting in the big, comfortable kitchen of Uncle Al's log cabin. Just a few hours ago, they had been deep in the Pacific Ocean rescuing a giant squid. Now they were in Montana!

Uncle Al loaded a thick, cheesy slice of pizza onto a plate. Judy pulled at a string of hot cheese that had gotten tangled in her long, frizzy hair. "It's too bad we had to leave Hawai'i so fast," she said. "We didn't even have time to eat breakfast." meep… "Uncle Al had to come back," came a squeaky voice from Andrew's shirt pocket. "Big trouble!" It was Andrew's best friend, Thudd. Thudd was a little silver robot invented by Uncle Al. His name was short for The Handy Ultra-Digital Detective. Uncle Al nodded. "My partner, Professor Winka Wilde, is missing," he said. "There's a message on the Hologram Helper." Uncle Al pulled a round purple object the size of a golf ball from his pocket. He pressed a black button at the top of it. Tick… tock… tick… tock… A whispery voice said:

"Time is short, Time is long. Time's a chain. Its links are strong. But there's a way To break time's hold, To tuck who I want Into time's many folds. Miss Wilde is gone. I'm sure you're vexed. But don't worry, Dubble! You'll be next! Don't look to the future. Don't study the present. She's locked in the past, And it's 5000 unpleasant! HA! HA! HA!"

Tick… tock… tick… tock… Judy shivered. "That voice gives me the creeps," she said. Uncle Al poured grape juice for Judy and Andrew. "That was a scientist named Doctor Kron-Tox," said Uncle Al. "I used to work with him. He had amazing ideas, but he became obsessed with time. One day, he left our laboratory and vanished without a trace. Now it looks like he kidnapped Winka!" meep… "Unkie Al gotta be careful," said Thudd. "Don't worry," said Uncle Al. "The worst enemy of a bad problem is a good plan. I'm working on a time machine. It's called the Time- A-Tron, and it's almost ready to test." "Wowzers schnauzers!" said Andrew. "Where is it?" meep… "Want to see!" said Thudd. "Well, let's go!" said Uncle Al. He put the Hologram Helper in his pocket and headed for the

kitchen door. Uncle Al's cabin was under a tall pine tree. The land beyond the tree made Andrew think of other planets. The ground was stony and dry. Tall brown rocks stood in rows like weird statues. Scruffy bushes poked up between the rocks. Uncle Al led the way up a path lit with lights. Andrew and Judy caught up with him at the top of a hill. Hnnnnnnnnnnnnn… came a humming sound from somewhere in the distance. "It's down there," said Uncle Al. In the valley below was a giant glowing mushroom!

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