The Adventures Of Miniator chpt 2 The spaceship

2 The Spaceship

The day before Minitor left Toolia for Earth, Professor Zok, had much to explain and show him. The first thing he showed him was the very special spaceship the professor had built for him. And because Toolians are so big the Professor could simply carry the spaceship outside to the garden with Miniator excitedly hovering around him. It looked something like the flying dinosaur pictures the Professor had shown him. The Professor set it down, and said:

'The first thing you have to do, Miniator, is go inside, and walk down to the front to the chair in the cockpit and sit down. There you will see, to your right, lots of buttons... You should press the very top button marked GROW... so off you go!'
Miniator walked excitedly up the spaceship's ramp and into the spaceship.... Everything inside was bright and shiny, it had rooms to the left and right, but he carried on down to the front to the cockpit and sat down in the big comfortable chair. He saw all the buttons and pressed the one marked GROW. Immediately everything began to move and get bigger and bigger... Miniator was so shocked... he thought he was getting smaller! 'WOW!', he shouted holding on to the chair, which was now no longer big... but gigantic... how he laughed. And the spaceship and everything grew gigantic... It was so big the professor could now join him...

'So you like it?' chuckled the professor coming to him.'

'Like it? I love it, Professor! How did you do that?

'Well, for the last few years I've been working on a way to make you bigger..., But so far I've only managed to make things smaller... It's all to do with not having enough of the original atoms... but I won't go into detail... so when I built your spaceship, which I'd like to call, 'The Dino', if that is alright with you..., I built it full size, then built the Dimension Changer into it, so I could make it small to fit you...

'What else can it do?' asked Miniator excitedly.

'Well, I've included some of Toolia's standard spaceship equipment... such as the Auto Pilot, see I've already set it's destination to Earth. That will take you directly there. And it has a Time Shifter, so once you land, you will be able to travel back in time, then back to the present, but you know it is impossible to travel to the future... The future is not yet decided, and would be constantly changing because of what happens in the present... you understand that? And the Time Shifter is not completely accurate, it can only set a year, not the month or a day.

Then here is the Speed Warp, which will allow you to go close to the speed of light. That's this button here, I've marked it TOP SPEED... so you won't forget which button it is.'

'How far is Earth exactly, Professor?'

'Ten light years, and one light week... if you want to be exact.'

'Oh!' said Miniator thoughtfully, 'that means... travelling close to the speed of light it will take me around ten years to get there... that's a long time to be alone, Professor,' he added sadly.'

'Yes, it is..., that is why around 50,000 years ago the very famous Professor Chron invented his Sleep Capsule'
'Sleep Capsule?'

'Yes, follow me!' And the Professor walked back the way they had come. Because the spaceship was now so big Miniator used his jet-pack to follow the giant steps of the professor to one of the rooms he had passed earlier... This room had a massive bed in it, but it was in a long glass tube, which had many dials inside. On one of the dials, marked in red, it said 10 years and 6 days.

'You see,' said the professor, 'I've set it for one day earlier than your journey will take... And when you climb in that tube and close the door, then press that big blue button, you will fall into a very deep sleep for the full 10 years and 6 days, and when you wake up it will be as if you have slept for only one night.'

Miniator thought for a moment, then said, 'But, Professor, that means I will be 10 years older, and I still have to come home... another ten years...!'

'Ah, well, said the professor, expecting Miniators response, 'that is why the very brilliant Professor Chron is so famous, because this wonderful gadget has an Anti Ageing Atmosphere... And he also invented the Rejuvenate, which when you get older you will also be able to use as we Toolians do, so when you awake you will be as young as when you went to sleep, my boy. Isn't science wonderful?'

The professor noticed Miniator was looking nervous, and he said, Yes, Miniator, it's a long time..., but you are old enough now, and it's time for your first adventure.... Why, I was your age when I first visited another planet... And I was also nervous... and if you don't like it you can simply set the controls again for Toolia, go back to sleep, and when you wake up you will be home again... This cheered Miniator up and he smiled at the professor...

'And look in here!', said the professor striding out the room, I've built you a telecommunication room...'

They crossed to the other side of the corridor and entered into a room full of computers with flashing little lights of different colours, and a very large screen. In a corner it had a couch and comfortable chairs.

'Computer!' said the professor. And an image of the professor appeared on the screen

'Yes', said the professor's image on the screen, 'can I help you?'

'Yes,' said the professor this is Miniator your captain.... Miniator smiled and so did the image on the screen....

'Good to meet you, Captain, can I do anything for you?'

'Tell him to shift change, Miniator,' whispered the professor.

'Shift change', repeated Miniator.'

'To what, Captain?'

'Mmm, let me see...' hesitated the professor. 'to a house', whispered the professor to Miniator.

'To a house!' said the confused Miniator.

'What kind of house, Captain?'

The professor whispered again in Minialtor's ear.

'An Earthling cottage,' Minialtor said to the computer.'

The spacecraft began to shudder. Minialtor clung to his chair. Then a picture of a cottage appeared on the screen.

'So', said the professor, pointing to the screen, that is how the spacecraft now looks from the outside.'

'Really?' chirped Minialtor.

'Yes,' said the professor, 'you will be able to find a pleasant place to land the ship, and then no one will notice your spaceship. And you can also change it to different houses, or even different ships, so you can sail on, or even under the water, because as you know, most of the earth is covered by water.

'But it can shape-shift to many things... You can look through all the pictures later, and the computer will help you. And now I will also fit a connection to the computer and your suit, so you can speak to it where ever you are. The computer will control everything for you, and will bring the ship to you. And your suit will also be able to quickly blow a very safe transparent bubble around you in case you are in danger.'

'Wow!' shouted Miniator, that is wonderful. Thank you, Professor, you are a genius!'

The next day was the big day! Miniator's departure from Toolia to Earth. The Toolians, especially the children, who loved Miniator, were very sad about him leaving... The evening before he had appeared on the TV News to explain why he was leaving... he explained how he had always thought about returning one day to Earth to see where he had come from... he wanted to know all about it. The professor was beside him, and explained that Miniator would be compleatly safe, and how it was important for him to see Earth how it was in the past, and how it is now.

The next morning Miniator said good bye to the professor with tears in both their eyes. All the Toolians were watching on their TV screens as Miniator left the professor's house waving to all the cameras and entered the small spaceship. And they saw it lift from the ground and speedily disappear into the blue sky.