the large lock turned it and stepped back as sparks shot out and the lock fell to the ground Hurry he shouted to his friends Casey ran into the shed and held the door open for her brother She shut it behind him They walked across the large shed to the tarp-covered machine on its wooden platform Luis and Casey yanked off the tarp Luis set the combination lock on the machine to 10 10 10 Their fathers had used their ages to set it Luis wondered if his dad hadnʼt been thinking hard enough or thought it would be too obvious for Luis and his friends to guess The door of Teslaʼs Time Twister slid open and they went inside They quickly found their seats Luis put his hands on the spot where he had to set the dates on the machine Okay Uncle Cyrus where are you Luis asked What date do we set 8
Steel bumped into the control panel then backed up and rolled forward until it bumped the panel again with its nose The date to set is March 20 2175 Cyrusʼs voice said All right into the future Tyler said Maybe robots will do all our work for us Luis shook his head I hope not How many science fiction movies are there about robots who take over humans Lots He leaned over and set the dials to March 20 2175 He smiled at his friends What kind of problem would they have to solve this time He hoped it wasnʼt more aliens Ready he asked Ready Casey said Oh yeah Tyler added Luis pulled the lever next to the dates The room began to spin He knew it wasnʼt the machine moving Somehow they traveled
through time because of the machine but Teslaʼs Time Twister did not go with them Luis kept his eyes open this time He watched his friendsʼ bodies twist through time Like before he felt like they were in a whirling tornado Mist surrounded him and he could not see the Time Twister any more This time the whirling tornado around him looked like water A water cyclone Luis thought Strange shadows seemed to swim around him His ears popped like they did when he dived off the high dive into the deep end of the pool at the recreation center He opened and closed his mouth until the popping feeling stopped The feeling of movement stopped Luis heard the sound of breaking waves He opened his eyes Luis stood on the deck of some kind of boat All around was water The waves beat against the boat
Dark clouds above him rumbled with thunder Lightning flashed in the clouds Wind whipped across the deck of the ship blowing an odd looking flag back and forth Luis rubbed his eyes as salty water sprayed his face The flag showed a city under a glass dome Fish swam around the city and a large letter A was stitched onto the flag Where are we Tyler asked He sat on the deck next to Steel I donʼt think this salty air is good for my cat Casey pulled her coat tight Itʼs not good for any of us Iʼm cold Luis looked around the deck of the boat He realized it wasnʼt just a boat It was a huge ship It shone of black metal There were no masts or oars Luis walked across the deck surprised that the metal wasnʼt slippery with the waves crashing up over the sides
