other.
âNot!â
âWelcome to Paragon Studio,â the driver said as we drove between some huge buildings. âThese buildings are called sound stages. Hundreds of movies have been made on these stages. From the first silent films to modern special effects movies, Paragon is the leader!â
âEffects, Noodle,â Zeek said. âLike in Metalhead , when the cyborg turns into a mailbox right in front of us and the guy goes to open it andââ
âYes, son, Paragon is known for its special effects,â the driver went on. âIn fact, many of the monsters and other creatures you see in movies are actually computerized robots. And all of them are run by a central computer here at the Studio. We call it the Big Brain.â
Zeek nudged me. âYeah, like some kind of super Noodle.â
I couldnât believe it. âYou mean everything is run by this Big Brain?â
âEverything,â the tour guide said. âNow here is the castle where they filmed â¦â
Suddenly, the sky turned black above us. I looked up.
Crack! A jagged flash of white light shot down from the clouds. Thenâ Boom! Ba-boom!
âCool,â I said. âNow, thatâs what I call special effects!â
âExcellent!â said Zeek. âGreat opening shot!â
But the driver seemed upset. âThese are not effects, boys. Thatâs real lightning. And itâs going to rain any second.â
He was right. A second later the rain did come down. Real rain. In buckets.
âThis way!â the driver shouted. âTo the castle!â Everyone jumped off the bus and followed him.
Well, everyone but Zeek and me.
We were too busy trying to get all the rain and lightning on tape. When we stopped looking through the camera, everyone was gone.
âThe castle, quick!â I said. âLetâs run for it.â Kraaakkk! A huge bolt of lightning crashed down right in front of us.
Ka-boom! Another blast zapped the street.
âNoodle! This lightningâs got a bad attitude!â
Ka-blam!
I whirled around. I saw a door. âRun!â I screamed.
We tore across the street.
We leaped in the air.
We shot through the door as another jagged bolt of lightning blasted our heels.
TWO
Kaaa-blam!
We hit the floor, slid into something hard, and stopped dead inside a room. A dark room.
I looked out the door.
There was a big black hole in the street where we had just been. It was smoking like a volcano.
âHoly cow,â I said. âDid you see that? That could have been us.â
Zeek didnât answer.
His mouth was hanging open.
Just like it does when Mr. Strunk calls on him in class and heâs not ready.
I reached over and pushed his mouth closed.
âBut ⦠but ⦠Noodle!â he mumbled. âThis is a movie studio. Nothing really dangerous happens here. I mean, does it?â
âNaah,â I said. âItâs just a storm. When it stops weâll just walk right out, andââ
Bam! A sudden bolt of lightning blasted the street again. Wham! A gust of wind slammed the door shut.
âWell, okay, so maybe we donât just walk out.â
We looked at the lightning outside the window. It was crashing all over the studio.
âI donât like this, Nood. Itâs too much like â¦â
âA movie?â I said.
âYeah, and not a very funny one.â Zeek started tripping over things in the dark. âOww! Where are we, anyway?â
âItâs a movie set, I think.â I felt the wall near the door, found the light switch, and flicked it. The room suddenly blazed with silver light.
âWhoa! Noodle!â Zeek cried. âI think we just stepped intoâthe future!â
Zeek was right.
We were standing on the control bridge of the 25th-eentury galactic star cruiser Centauri Vulcan. Well, the movie set of it, anyway. Big cameras, ladders, electrical cables, spotlights, and tools
Mark Blake
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