7 The Big Bang!

Chapter 7 THE BIG BANG! "WHAT?" cried Judy. "Holy moly!" said Andrew. bong… "But if we arrive a bit after the universe is born, there's a small chance we may survive." Judy rolled her eyes. "Well, that really cheers me up," she said. bong… "If we manage to stop in time, the light will be brighter than billions of suns. You will need special goggles." A door under the control panel sprang open. Two pairs of goggles fell out. The lenses were

thick as bricks. bong… "Hurry, hurry, HURRY!" said the Time- A-Tron. "We are terribly close." Andrew slid the goggles over his head. Judy was pulling on her goggles when her eyes suddenly got wide. "Wait a minute," she said. She reached for her neck and pulled off a thin silver chain. The chain was looped through a pearly shell that Judy had found on the beach in Hawai'i. The edge of the shell was thin and sharp. Judy handed the shell to Thudd. "Try this," she said, slipping the goggles over her eyes. meep… "Okey-dokey," said Thudd. He poked the edge of the shell around the button. meep… "Got it!" said Thudd, scooping up the last bit of fudge. He held the shell out to Judy. The Worm-Drive button popped up!

"Super-duper pooper-scooper!" shouted Andrew. The rainbow colors disappeared. Even through the brick-thick goggles, Andrew could see the light that the Time-A-Tron had warned them about —light brighter than a billion suns! All at once, it was horribly hot inside the Time- A-Tron. Andrew got so wet with sweat, he felt like a boiled potato. I'm melting! he thought. "Where are we?" he asked, woozy with heat. bong… "We are at three minutes after the universe began," said the Time-A-Tron. "It is incredibly lucky that we stopped here.

"But we have a terrible problem. The Time-A- Tron cannot find any atoms of Montana. That is because atoms do not exist yet. Let us hope the Time-A-Tron can find just a tiny particle of Montana. Then the buttons will blink green and we will be able to leave." "Humph," said Judy. "I'm hotter than a Thanksgiving turkey my hair smells like it's burning, and we're stuck at the beginning of the universe. So tell me how we're lucky." bong… "It is only a billion degrees out there now," said the Time-A-Tron.

meep… "Ten million times hotter than boiling water!" said Thudd. bong… "Three minutes ago, it was millions of times hotter than that!" said the Time-A-Tron. "Why is everything so hot?" asked Andrew, shaking a shower of sweat out of his hair. bong… "Our universe began in an explosion that is beyond imagination," said the Time-A- Tron. "I know about that!" said Andrew. "It's called the Big Bang." bong… "Yes, Master Andrew," said the Time- A-Tron. "The Big Bang created enormous heat and energy. But the strangest part is this: The thing that exploded was smaller than an atom. From that tiny thing came everything in the universe—the galaxies, the stars, the planets." "Cheese Louise," said Judy, fanning her very red face. "That's super-ridiculous! I don't believe it!" meep… "What Time-A-Tron say is true," said Thudd.

bong… "Thank you, Thudd," said the Time-A- Tron. "Three minutes after the Big Bang, the only things that exist are parts of atoms and light." "This light is awful!" said Judy. "Even with these goggles on, it's making my head hurt!" "You mean there's no stuff to see out there?" asked Andrew. "No stars? No planets?" bong… "It will be two hundred million years before there will be things to see in the universe." Judy folded her arms across her chest and glared at Andrew through her goggles. Drops of sweat were dripping off her nose. "Of all the awful things you've ever gotten us into, Andrew, this is the awfullest!" Andrew shrugged his shoulders. "We have to find Uncle Al and Professor Wilde," he said. "But I guess putting fudge in my pocket wasn't such a good idea." meep… "Fast-Forward button blinking green!" said Thudd. bong… "Ah, but not the Worm-Drive button," said the Time-A-Tron.