2 The Time-A-Tron

Chapter 2 THE TIME-A-TRON Andrew and Judy followed Uncle Al down the rocky path. As they got closer to the mushroom, they saw it was actually an inflatable dome. Uncle Al went to a square little box on the wall of the dome and spoke into it. "Good golly Miss Molly" he said, and part of the wall swung open. Inside was a small, empty room. Hanging from the ceiling was a giant spiderweb. "How do you like my burglar alarm system?" asked Uncle Al. "If someone tries to get in without the password, the Catch-O-Matic web flops down and holds them here."

Uncle Al grinned at Andrew and Judy. "I got the idea when you guys were trapped in the spiderweb in Mrs. Scuttle's bathroom." Andrew and Judy looked at each other and smiled. Uncle Al opened a door at the end of the little room. HNNNNNNNNNNNNN… Now Andrew didn't just hear the humming sound. He could feel it, too. The door led into a huge room. In the middle of the room was an enormous egg-shaped object. It almost touched the ceiling! Andrew's eyes grew wide. "Wowzers schnauzers!" he said. "Is that—" "The Time-A-Tron!" said Uncle Al proudly. The top half of the egg was a clear dome. The bottom half was silver. The whole thing sat on a silver cone that floated off the ground.

"Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "It looks like a cooking timer! We have a little one just like it in our kitchen." "How does the Time-A-Tron work?" Andrew asked Uncle Al.

Uncle Al scratched his chin. "Do you know about the speed of light?" "Yup," said Judy. "That's how far light can travel in a second." meep… "One hundred and eighty-six thousand miles in one second!" said Thudd. "That's right!" said Uncle Al. "If you traveled at the speed of light, in just one second you could cross the United States seventy-five times! "Some people think that light is the fastest thing in our universe. But there is something that can travel faster than light." "What?" asked Andrew. meep… "Tachyon!" said Thudd. "Huh?" said Judy. "TACK-ee-on" flashed across Thudd's screen. "Right," said Uncle Al. "Tachyons are extremely tiny. They're much smaller than atoms. "Traveling faster than light does strange things. It may even allow us to travel through time. The Time-A-Tron is fueled by tachyons."

Andrew squinted at the Time-A-Tron. There was a blur in the middle of it. "Why does the middle of the Time-A-Tron look fuzzy?" he asked. "That's because of the Fast-Fins," said Uncle Al. "They're moving so quickly you can't see them. The tachyons get the Fast-Fins spinning faster than the speed of light and then…" Andrew started walking toward the back of the Time-A-Tron. "Andrew!" said Uncle Al. "Don't touch anything!" "I won't," said Andrew. "But when can we try it?" "The Fast-Back button is finally working," said Uncle Al. "But the Fast-Forward button is causing trouble. You and Judy can help me with that tomorrow. But only if you promise to follow my instructions exactly." "We will!" said Andrew. Judy shook her head. "Andrew, you've messed up every invention you've ever touched," she said.

"Look what happened with the Atom Sucker. You got us shrunk smaller than a fly's eye!" "That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't sneezed," said Andrew. Judy put her hands on her hips. "And what about when you broke the destination dial off the Water Bug? We ended up sinking to the deepest place in the world!" "But we saved the giant squid!" said Andrew. "Come on, guys, don't argue," said Uncle Al. "Why don't you go back to the cabin and get ready for bed? Make yourselves some hot chocolate. I'll be back in ten minutes." Outside the laboratory, the moon was full and bright. The moonlight made the strange rocks look even stranger. When they got back to the cabin, they washed up and got into their pajamas. Judy put on her bathrobe, too. Just like his regular clothes, Andrew's pajamas had lots of pockets, and the pockets were full of stuff.