Mark and his brother Jason both were looking at the shining new computer enviously. Jason was determined not to go against their father's wishes but Mark was more adventurous than his brother. He loves experimenting and his aim was to become a scientist like his father.
“Dad will be really mad if he finds out you've been playing with his new computer” Jason said, “He told us not to touch it.”
“He won't find out,” Mark said, “I'll just have a quick look and shut it down.”
Mark had been scolded before for touching his father's equipment. But his curiosity was difficult to control and this new computer really puzzled him.
It was a strange-looking machine — one his dad had brought home from the laboratory where he worked. “It's an experimental model,” his father had explained, so don't touch it under any circumstances.” But his father's warning only served to make Mark more curious. Without any further thought, Mark turned on the power switch. The computer burst into life and seconds later, the screen turned into colours, shifting and changing, and then two big white words appeared in the centre of the screen: “SPACE TRANSPORTER.”
“Yes!” Mark cried excitedly, “It's a computer game. I knew it! Dad's only been pretending to work. He's really been playing games instead!” A new message appeared on the screen:
“ENTER NAMES
VOYAGE 1
VOYAGE 2
Mark's finger flew across the keyboard as he typed in both of their names.
“INPUT ACCEPTED.
START TRANSPORT PROGRAM.
AUTO-RETRIEVE INITIATED( 自动回收程序已启动).”
The screen turn even brighter and a noise suddenly rose in volume.
“I think we'd better shut it off, Mark,” Jason yelled out in terror, reaching for the power switch. A beam(光束) of dazzling white light burst out of the computer screen, wrapping the boys in its glow(光芒),until they themselves seemed to be glowing. Then it died down just as suddenly as it had burst into life. And the boys were no longer there. On the screen, the letters changed:
“TRANSPORT SUCCESSFUL.
DESTINATION: MARS.
RETRIEVE DATE: 2025