Chapter 12: Questions and more questions.

Chapter 12: Questions and more questions.

Billy and Petra now slowly used to be together on certain hours, but also were able to let the other find something to do for themselves.
For Billy that was difficult in the beginning.
Now he finally had a friend of his own, of which only Nemo knew, but also he had to learn better lesson number 2, this better could not interfere with his normal life.

That had another advantage: they often found out different things: Petra by strolling around the bubble, and seeing with a fresh look all that was new for her, where Billy so was used to see things inside, he hardly did notice them anymore.

Billy therefore had to look better, with more curious eyes even, to explain what he knew about all, or what he had to ask Nemo.

The stories Petra told about Homeland, still were a well of information, and he longed more to go there each and every day.
To make clear, it was difficult, and why, Petra did ask Nemo about a submarine, the moment she did see one of them pass the outer rim.

Out of breath she came at a lesson, Billy went alone to, because she could read and write the normal letters and numbers, while Billy had to learn both systems: the old Atlantian system, ánd the one, the humans on earth, or dry-landers did use.

This became more important each day in their search, while it had to be done before the kids could ask Nemo for the olden information about crystals and colors, and what they had to do with the environment.

But also Petra had to wait, until this lesson was over, before she could ask.
Finally the time was there.
Nemo looked at her and said: “What is on your mind? You did run in like there was something very special you wanted to know.
Thank you for waiting for the end of Billy’s lesson. What was on your mind?”

“I was at the rim, and I did see a submarine pass by.
That did remember me a question, I did ask the Lady about what a space shuttle was, and she told: ask Nemo about a submarine, and imagine that in the sky.”

Billy looked as if he did not understand a word, but also remembered asking himself, why the rim was that hard, and why the Atlantians, and sometimes daddy went out into a submarine.
How could Petra or the Lady know, he was curious about that too?

So he shook his head, almost in disbelieve, and said: “How did you know, I wanted to know about that, just before you arrived for the first time?”

“There are no coincidences,” Nemo said.
“We Atlantians do believe, that all happens on the right time. We also do believe, that all has a reason.

We do build submarines, to go through the deep water.
They have to be made from the strongest materials, we ever found.”

“Why,” Billy asked. “for me it still is something… uh… unclear, that thing about water pressure. Why is that so very important?
And what is the difference, or the resemblance with the space shuttle, Petra asked about?”

“Well, it seems another biology lesson is due.
You do remember, that we need oxygen to breath, and for that need plants?
For fish and water creatures, the oxygen also exist in water, but we cannot breath that. So we have to live inside a protected place, where the air cannot escape, like our bubble.”

“Why is that bubble round and hard, Nemo?” Billy asked.
“I do wonder a long time about that, but there were so much other things going on, I did forget to ask about.”

Nemo went to a filing cabinet, where he did store some food, for when he was busy doing experiments, that did not allow him to go away if he wanted to record all that happened.
He came back with 2 boxes, 2 eggs, a huge bucket of water and some strange goggles.

When all had those goggles on, he did put the box, made of hardened seaweed, in the water. The deeper in the bucket it went, they did see through the goggles, the more the sides of the box were pressed inside, until they broke, long before the bottom was reached.

Than he did the same with his egg.
That did reach the bottom, the egg was still whole to Petra and Billy’s surprise.

He did not explain what was going on, but did bring them to another room, where he had a glass contraption standing, with a hose on top.

“With this apparatus, I can take out all the air in the glass.
That is the same, as when you are outside the air-zone of the world, for you: of dry land. There we use space-shuttles. Now look!”

He did the same experiment again.Strange enough the opposite happened with the box. The sides did not go inside, but got outside, as if there was a balloon blowing itself inside out.
Until it burst, and flew away in a myriad of small peaces, that where stopped by the strong glass bowl.

Than he repeated the same with the egg, and that did not bulb out… only when all air was out, and it did not float anymore, it did fall and became broken.

”You do see, that the round form is stronger, than the squared form.
That is, why submarines are mostly round or cigar-shaped. That is close enough to round, and that makes it better go the way we want it to go.

Now you have seen with your own eyes, why you cannot go out of the bubble without protection, Billy.
You have no round shape.
And you cannot, like Purple, breath water.
So try now please, how long you can keep your head under water, without taking air.”

Billy did, but could not stay under for longer as a few counts, just as with the swimming lessons he now had in the moat.

“Well, we cannot only drown in water, our body’s also cannot without the air-pressure.”

“Does our skin not keep us together?” Billy asked.

“Of course it does, but lately you began to understand, that things are more complex.
Just like what Petra said, she had learned of her grandmother: You cannot take out one thing of something whole, like your body also is, without damaging it.
Your body would react as the box in the glass, when I slowly took the air out.”

“How scary,” Billy said. “But is there not a solution for that?”

“That is rather complicated, you have to learn a lot more, before you understand. For now, this must be enough as an answer.”

“Is that also the reason, the rim is so hard and round?” Billy did ask again, very hard thinking, what made the round form so special.
“I always wondered, but I do think, I am going to understand about it.”

“There is more to this double question of Petra’s.
Until now, you cannot understand all, while you never have been on dry land.
But a bit I can show you. Will you please take your football into here?”

Billy wondered, but when he could play his ball, he always did run as fast as he could.

“Look, the whole world has this shape, even you cannot easy see that, while it is that big.”

“How big would I be, when I was compared with this ball?” Billy wondered.

“You could only see yourself with a very strong magnifying glass, such as we do use sometimes to study very small things.” Nemo said.

Even Petra had no idea.
For her the world always had look totally flat, and so she said.

“This time, you just have to believe what I do say, later, I do promise, I will show you. But you have to be big and strong, as you did see by this experiments.”

“May be you can have a better idea earlier, when you do know the differences between the real world, and Homeland, where I do come from.
There is more possible.
But remember, your parents have to tell you more about dry land, so you cannot make a mistake, ánd the lady has to agree,” Petra said.

Nemo looked with a kind of home sickness in his eyes, as if he remembered, how it was on dry land, and asked: “Do you think, I also ever can come to Homeland?
I sometimes like to see the sun, and the trees and so on again.”

Petra answered: “Only, if there is found somebody, to be your special friend alas. And my name is not Amany, the girl that dreams the future, so I do not know.”

“Than lets go on with this, before lesson times is over.”
With this words he did put Billy’s ball in the glass container, and first nearly all air was sucked out.
It seemed the ball was growing a bit, but luckily it did not burst, Billy thought.

Than Nemo let in some smoke and blew softly trough the hose, so the ball started turning.Than something strange did happen: all smoke went round and round the ball, as if it was stuck there.

“That is called gravity, Billy.
That prevents all and everything from falling of the planet, even air, so light it weight is almost nothing.
Gravity comes from the planet, later you will learn more about that, when we start learning about materials, and about the rotation.”

Petra said: “do I understand well, that going round and round without ever stopping is rotation? About that my mother or grandmother did not tell yet, nor my teacher.”

“You are right, all knowledge is saved in Homeland, but only that, what is needed, is in the stories.
You will see, that from now on, all mothers and grandmothers do know about this.”

“Who did tell you so? I never heard about that,” Petra said, wondering how Nemo could know a thing like that.

“I did read it in the chronicles, that are even more ancient books, only very learned Atlantians do study.
Now put out the light, and I will show Billy the last lesson of today, before he got his ball back,” he laughed.
They did, and suddenly in the dark Nemo let a very small light shine on the ball.

“That does look like the sun!” Petra said. “That is the only thing I do miss, when I am here under the bubble. Sunlight is so different from this light.”

“And do you see the shadow?
Now you can study that better, while our lights are so evenly divided over the bubble, that except under the table in the houses, almost nowhere is shade.
Think about it, or ask you mom and dad how that was on dry land.
I do have the idea, this will be of need in the near future.
Tomorrow we will go with this, and may be I then found some more in my books about the crystal.”

That evening mom and dad had a lot to tell about how they did live, before they came to the Atlantian bubble.
Just like all moms and dads do, when they made a walk and explained their kids about nature, and all they do see around.

Only Billy had to use his imagination, while he never did see those things.

But that night he did dream of dry land, and how it would be, so much green and blue, and how would a real sun look like?
May be he soon was able to go?

© Nan van Daalen, all rights reserved.