On Earth Page 3

  “Bye, guys!” shouted Beeper. “Maybe some of you will turn into fossils and I’ll find you someday!”

  Beeper hitched his backpack over his shoulder. He and Andrew sloshed along the muddy edge of the pond toward Judy.

  “Come on,” said Judy, hopping off her rock. “Let’s get back to the Time-A-Tron before we run into more huge buggy things.”

  She led the way, following the thread.

  “Anyone want a sandwich?” asked Beeper, reaching into his backpack.

  “Sure,” said Andrew.

  “No thanks,” said Judy.

  Beeper threw Andrew a sandwich bag.

  Andrew opened the bag and took a bite. “What is it?” he asked.

  “Tuna and peanut butter,” said Beeper. “My favorite.”

  “Interesting,” said Andrew, taking another bite.

  It wasn’t long before they could see the green ocean between the tree trunks. Andrew spotted the eggy shape of the Time-A-Tron on the beach. The tide was higher now. Waves were splashing against it.

  RUUUUUUUURRRRRR!

  “Sounds like a train!” said Andrew.

  “Sounds like thunder,” said Judy.

  The ground beneath their feet rolled like a wave.

  meep … “Earthquake!” said Thudd.

  Something strange was happening to the ocean—it was disappearing! It was getting sucked away from the shore. And it was carrying the Time-A-Tron with it!

  “We can’t let the Time-A-Tron get away!” yelled Andrew.

  He shoved the half-eaten sandwich into his pocket and pushed through a tangle of vines.

  “Noop! Noop! Noop!” said Thudd. “Gotta climb tree!”

  “That’s nutso!” said Judy. “We’re losing the Time-A-Tron and you’re telling us to go climb a tree?”

  meep … “Tsunami coming!” said Thudd. “Giant wave made by earthquake! Tsunami wave can be hundred feet high!”

  “Holy moly!” said Andrew.

  Judy looked up. “Are these trees tall enough to keep us from getting washed away? Will the trees get washed away?”

  “Just climb!” said Beeper.

  He was already ten feet up a tree. It swayed as he climbed higher.

  “Beeper’s tree is too skinny for all of us,” said Andrew. He found a fatter tree and started climbing.

  “Hurry up,” said Judy, following him.

  The tree trunk was like the skin of a pineapple. The scaly bark kept snagging Andrew’s pajamas. There were no branches to hang on to.

  Andrew looked down. The beach and the ferns looked far away. Andrew felt dizzy.

  meep … “Hurry!” squeaked Thudd. “Water coming!”

  On the horizon, Andrew saw a thin, dark line. It was getting wider and nearer by the second.

  Andrew and Judy were only halfway up the tree.

  “Move it, Andrew!” yelled Judy.

  “Wait a minute,” said Andrew. “I’ve got to keep Thudd from getting wet.”

  The last time Thudd had gotten wet, his thought chips had gotten soggy. He had been in very bad shape.

  Andrew hung on to the trunk with one hand and searched his pockets for a Bubble Bag. He’d invented the Bubble Bag to keep Thudd dry.

  “Uh-oh,” said Andrew. “I can’t find my Bubble Bags. But I do have this.”

  He pulled out the bag with the half-eaten sandwich inside.

  “Why are you stopping?” Beeper yelled from his tree.

  “I’m going to use the sandwich bag to protect Thudd,” said Andrew. “He can’t get wet.”

  “Just don’t dump my sandwich,” said Beeper. “You can squeeze Thudd in on top of the bread.”

  “Okay” said Andrew.

  Quickly, he stuffed Thudd in with the sandwich and tucked him back in his pocket.

  Andrew and Judy scrambled up to the long, brushy branches at the top of the swaying tree.

  The dark line on the horizon had become a huge wall of water rolling toward the shore. The nearer it got, the higher it got.

  “The water is as high as the trees!” cried Judy.

  “Hang on!” said Andrew.

  KRAAAAAAAASHHH!

  The water slammed into their tree. It was cold and hard. Andrew closed his eyes, held his breath, and clung tight to his branch. He felt the water dragging powerfully at the tree, bending it.

  Suddenly the tree jerked loose! The wave swept them back into the forest. Andrew pushed his head between his arms to keep from being scratched by branches.

  Then the wave began to go down and move in the opposite direction. It was dragging them back toward the beach.

  Andrew lifted his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of orange. Beeper’s T-shirt! Beeper was still up in his tree on the edge of the forest. He was pointing and yelling.

  Andrew couldn’t hear every word, but he thought he could make out “Time-A-Tron!”

  Beeper scrambled down his tree and jumped into the water. He swam between floating trees to get to Andrew and Judy.

  “We survived a giant tsunami!” shouted Beeper, climbing onto their tree trunk.

  As the wave pulled away from the island, it left the beach covered with logs.

  “We’re getting hauled out to the deep sea!” said Judy.

  The wave carried them so far out that the island looked like a distant dot.

  Beeper pointed toward a tangle of tree trunks floating nearby. “I saw the Time-A-Tron get dragged off with that pile of logs,” he said.

  “I don’t see it,” said Andrew.

  “Maybe it sank,” said Judy.

  “We can dive to look for it,” said Andrew.

  “You remember what the Time-A-Tron said about the water?” asked Judy.

  “It’s a little late to worry about that,” said Beeper. “But look what I’ve got!”

  He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a small package of juice with a drinking straw attached. He yanked it off.

  “You can use this to snorkel,” said Beeper.

  Beeper put one end of the straw in his mouth, bent the straw up, and dog-paddled with his face underwater.

  Beeper lifted his head and smiled. “See?” he said. He reached into his backpack, pulled off two straws, and handed them to Andrew and Judy. “Breathe through your mouth,” he said, “not your nose.”

  “I know how to snorkel,” said Judy. “My parents taught me when I was three.”

  Andrew and Judy bent their straws, slipped off the tree trunk, and dipped their faces under the surface.

  Rays of sunlight lit the green water.

  On the sandy bottom, Andrew saw creatures that looked like they came from other worlds. Things that looked like giant ice cream cones with tentacles squirmed through the water. Huge bug-like animals crawled along the bottom. Fish with armored bodies swooped slowly over the sand.

  Wowzers schnauzers! he thought. I wish Thudd could tell me what these things are.

  But Thudd was tucked safely in his sandwich bag.

  Andrew was happy to find something he recognized—colored branches of coral like the ones he’d seen when he’d been lost on the reef.

  Something strange was moving behind a hill of coral. It looked like a giant snail shell. It was as big as a stove! Sticking out of the open end was a head that looked like a squid, but with dozens of wriggling tentacles.

  Woofers! thought Andrew, swimming away. Whatever that is, I hope its not hungry.

  Andrew felt a poke. It was Thudd. Even though he was in a plastic bag with a sandwich, he’d managed to creep to the top of Andrew’s pocket. Thudd was pointing.

  At first, all Andrew could see was a big shadow. But then he glimpsed a silvery shine beneath the shadow—the Time-A-Tron!

  Andrew began to swim toward the Time-A-Tron. Thudd poked him even harder.

  Andrew lifted his head above the water, took the straw out of his mouth, and pulled Thudd out of his pocket.

  Judy popped up beside Andrew and so did Beeper. Beeper blew water out of his nose.
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br />   “Thudd found the Time-A-Tron,” said Andrew excitedly. “Let’s go!”

  “Noop! Noop! Noop!” said Thudd, his voice muffled inside the plastic sandwich bag. “Giant armored fish down there! Called Dunkleosteus. Big as bus! Look!” Thudd pointed to his face screen. It showed a frightful face. Instead of teeth, its jaws were filled with jagged saws.

  “Dunkleosteus drag Time-A-Tron underwater!” Thudd continued. “Chew on Fast-Fins!”

  “Uh-oh,” said Andrew. “I guess that’s why the Time-A-Tron didn’t want us going into the water.”

  “How can we get the Dunkle-whatever away from the Time-A-Tron?” asked Judy.

  “I want to see the Dunkleosteus!” said Beeper.

  Judy rolled her eyes.

  “Beeper,” said Andrew, “do you have any more of those sandwiches?”

  Beeper nodded. “I’ve got six left.”

  “Yes!” said Andrew. “We can use them to lure the Dunk away from the Time-A-Tron.”

  “I’ll throw them,” said Judy. “I’m the best pitcher in my softball league.”

  “Let’s throw the whole backpack,” said Andrew. “It will take the Dunk longer to get the sandwiches and give us more time to get to the Time-A-Tron.”

  “I hate to say it, Bug-Brain,” said Judy. “But that’s a good idea.”

  Beeper punched Andrew on the arm. “Will you get me a new backpack?” he asked. “I want one with lots of pockets.”

  “Sure!” Andrew smiled. “I’ve got an extra one at home.”

  Beeper pulled two small black cases out of his backpack and put them into his pockets. Then he pushed the backpack toward Judy.

  “Here ya go!” he said.

  Judy pulled herself up onto the tree trunk.

  “Where’s the Time-A-Tron?” she asked.

  Andrew pointed.

  Judy rolled the backpack into a tight ball and threw it far away from the Time-A-Tron.

  Plash!

  Andrew checked underwater to see what was happening with the giant fish.

  The Dunkleosteus stopped chewing on the Time-A-Tron’s Fast-Fins. It swam over to the backpack. It started to attack it!

  The Time-A-Tron began to float slowly to the surface.

  “Let’s go!” yelled Andrew. “Before the Dunk finishes his lunch!”

  They all swam as fast as they could between the logs and branches that cluttered the water.

  Every time Andrew felt something go bump, he hoped it wasn’t the Dunkleosteus.

  In seconds, they reached the Time-A-Tron. It was floating on its side.

  bong…

  Its oval door slid open.

  Andrew crawled in, then Judy. Beeper was pulling himself over the edge when …

  “Yeeouch!” he yelped. “Something’s got my pants!”

  An ugly gray head rose up out of the water. It was as big as the front of a car.

  “The Dunkleosteus!” yelled Andrew.

  Judy stuck her head out the door. “Take off your pants!”

  Beeper fished the two small black cases out of his pockets and tossed them through the door. Then he unbuttoned his shorts.

  The monster fish head sank below the water—with Beeper’s shorts between its snaggly jaws!

  Beeper scrambled into the Time-A-Tron wearing just his lizard T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. His boxers had pictures of penguins on them.

  Andrew slid the door shut.

  bong… “Welcome back, little Dubbles,” said the Time-A-Tron. “I was afraid I might not see you again. And who is our guest?”

  “Beeper Jones,” said Beeper. He bent down and picked up the black cases. “You’re pretty cool for a time-travel machine! My uncle’s time-travel machine just grunts.”

  “Beeper is Doctor Kron-Tox’s nephew,” said Andrew. “But he’s a good kid.”

  bong… “Welcome, Master Beeper,” said the Time-A-Tron. “Children, please prepare to leave immediately, before the Dunkleosteus returns to munch on the Fast-Fins. They have already been damaged.

  “But I have good news. There is a bit more tachyon fuel than I thought. We may have enough to rescue your uncle and return to our own time.”

  “May have enough?” said Judy.

  bong … “And only if we travel more slowly than we did before,” said the Time-A-Tron.

  “Let’s go!” said Andrew, pulling down the door that led to the top compartment.

  Hooo … hooo …

  The little owl was sitting on top of the tachyon fuel tank. It opened its beak and spread its wings.

  “What a great little owl!” said Beeper.

  He opened one of his small black cases, took out a gadget that looked like a remote control, and pointed it at the owl.

  ping … ping… ping …

  “It’s a northern pygmy owl!” he said, reading a display at the top of the gadget.

  “What have you got there?” asked Andrew.

  “It’s a DNA Detector,” said Beeper.

  meep … “All living things got DNA molecules,” said Thudd softly from inside the sandwich bag. Andrew opened it.

  “All DNA molecules different. Turtle DNA different from tiger DNA. Different kindsa owls got different DNA.”

  Beeper nodded. “My uncle gave me this thing so I could find creatures on the island. We can use it to find your uncle!”

  bong … “Let us hope so,” said the Time-A-Tron. “But for now, please do hurry. I shall make room for Master Beeper.”

  When they climbed to the upper compartment, a new silver-blue chair was rising from the floor behind Andrew and Judy’s seat. Andrew, Judy, and Beeper strapped themselves in. Andrew took Thudd out of the sandwich bag and put him on the control panel.

  Judy checked the compartment under the control panel. The shrew’s beady brown eyes stared up at her. Its pointy nose twitched. Something stringy was hanging out of its mouth. It was eating the cords that held the earplugs!

  Judy turned to Andrew and Beeper. “Is everyone ready?” she asked.

  “Yup,” said Andrew.

  meep … “Okey-dokey,” said Thudd.

  “You bet!” said Beeper.

  Judy held down the Fast-Forward button.

  HNNNN… HNNNN… WOOHOOOOO!

  The Fast-Fins began to spin. At first, the Time-A-Tron whirled sideways in the water. Then it rose straight up and fluttered just above the surface. As the Fast-Fins spun faster, balls of green light flickered around the Time-A-Tron.

  BLAFOOOOOM!

  “Nice ride!” said Beeper, leaning over the front seat. “What’s that button you’re pushing?”

  “It’s the Fast-Forward button,” said Judy. “I have to hold it down till we get to twenty thousand years ago. That’s when we start looking for Uncle Al.”

  “That’s how I can help!” Beeper said. “I’ll set the DNA Detector for human DNA.”

  The numbers on the digital display were flipping by more slowly than before:

  246 MILLION YEARS AGO

  185 MILLION YEARS AGO

  93 MILLION YEARS AGO

  Now and then, the sky was lit by an exploding star.

  “Let go of the Fast-Forward button,” yelled Beeper. “The DNA Detector says we’re close to a human!”

  bong … “I do not think so,” said the Time-A-Tron. “We are approaching sixty-five million years ago. There are no humans here.”

  “It could be Professor Wilde!” said Andrew. “We’ve got to stop.”

  Professor Winka Wilde was one of Uncle Al’s partners. She had been kidnapped before Uncle Al.

  Judy let go of the Fast-Forward button.

  BUH-BUH-BUH ZNERKKK!

  The Time-A-Tron wobbled to a stop. They were in a dark green forest, next to a giant gray boulder.

  Andrew rubbed his eyes. “Um, I thought I saw that boulder move,” he said.

  “Probably because the Time-A-Tron smacked into it when we landed,” said Judy.

  “Hoo boy!” said Beeper, peering down through the dome. “This boulder ha
s a tail! A monster tail as thick as a tree trunk! And the Time-A-Tron is sitting on it!”

  As Andrew looked around to see what the tail belonged to, his eyes met a pair of eyes.

  Huge, dark, reptilian eyes were staring at him through the dome!

  There’s nothing on Earth like this, thought Andrew, except a dinosaur!

  TO BE CONTINUED IN ANDREW, JUDY, AND THUDD’S NEXT EXCITING ADVENTURE:

  ANDREW LOST WITH THE DINOSAURS!

  In stores July 2005

  Thudd wanted to tell you more about baby Earth, but he was too busy keeping his friends safe from tsunamis and Dunkleosteuses. Here’s what he wanted to say: o For millions of years, Earth was a ball of molten rock because of all the asteroids and comets that kept crashing into it. But something else helped make the Earth hot and squishy

  The asteroids contained radioactive elements, like uranium. Over thousands of millions of years, radioactive elements change into other elements, like lead. As radioactive elements change, they give off heat.

  The inside of the Earth is still hot and squishy because of radioactivity and the heat left over from those crashing asteroids!

  No one knows for sure where life began on Earth, but we do know that it had to be near water. When scientists search for life on Mars, they look for water. If there’s water, there could be life!

  When the Earth was very young, there was almost no oxygen. The only creatures alive then were bacteria that lived without oxygen.

  But then plant-like bacteria evolved. These creatures burped up oxygen—lots and lots of it—as plants do today. This oxygen actually poisoned the first creatures that lived on Earth! Most of them died. But some of them live today in places where there is little or no oxygen. Can you think of places where there is very little oxygen?

  Because they don’t have lungs, insects cannot suck air into their bodies like we can. Instead, air flows in through holes in their hard outer skeletons. But the air can’t get very far inside, which keeps insects small.

  Around 300 million years ago, some scorpions, centipedes, and insects grew to enormous sizes—much bigger than insects grow today. No one is sure how they grew so big. One idea is that there was more oxygen in the air, which made it easier for oxygen to get inside a larger creature.