Chapter 20: Plans for the future.

Chapter 20: Plans for the future.

More sleepy than they ever had thought to be, Billy and Petra woke up after their hour of sleep.
Mom was a bit concerned, while Billy did look so pale, but he did not feel feverish. He ate a hearty breakfast, so she believed him, when he told, he had a very long dream with lots of running and so on.
They all laughed, everybody sometimes did dream that way.

Petra escaped all the teasing, by not showing herself, before they were on their way to Nemo.
Nemo also did look, if he had not slept much, which was true.

It was too interesting, to read about how far technology in the world had developed, a thing, the Atlantians only could hear about, when the mermaids did rescue somebody.

Lately only Billy’s parents were scientists, al others had other jobs, important to know about, but Nemo did like to know all he could and investigate.

“Have you slept a bit tonight?
I have not after you were gone, and there was a big heap more of those sacks in the hallway this morning.
I did not hear you, while I was reading about decompression.”

Billy did rub his eyes again, Petra did yawn a bit, but their eyes were on his face, waiting for him to explain.

“I do think, the Lady did lift a tip of the veil of the future, by telling you to learn, as hard as you can. So your whole family will have to do.
For we are so deep in the ocean, we cannot go up in a very short period of time.
The normal world is not of paper!” he joked, with a wink to the kids.

“Decompression is simply said: very slowly getting used to less water pressure and another mixture of air.
Divers do use different air as the normal air from the world under the sun, or on dry land.”

Here Billy laughed, and told: “In Homeland it always smells fresh, and feels light, quiet different from here!”

“How that works, you will learn in the next years.
But to keep all of you healthy to do some missions for us on dry land, a group of the humans is slowly going up, each month a few centimeters.

For that we have to design, and make, with the help of a lot of this books, and our own special knowledge, a special bubble, that will not be discovered by people, but allow you all to adapt to the other conditions.”

“Why could that not earlier than?” Billy wanted to know.
“I do know my parents sometimes are homesick, although they are lucky here.
They do miss the family on dry land, who now must think, they do not live anymore.”

Petra smiled, looked at Nemo, and almost at the same time they said: “There is a time and place for everything.”
There after they both said something different. Petra said: ”my grandmother told” while Nemo said: “the old books say!”

They started with sorting all the things they collected in Homeland.
“Do I have to learn áll that is in there?” Billy wondered.

“Yes, most of it, but this bubble is not build in one day, as the one that brings the humans up will be.
We take all the time that is needed, mister impatient!”

Than Petra told, what they had thought to ask, so Billy would not say the wrong things: the writing assignment about the house of knowledge.

“That was a good thought,” Nemo answered.
“But soon your parents will know about the going up project.
Let’s start and bring all this knowledge to were it belongs.
After that you have to leave it to the Atlantians, the Lady, and the adult humans, how we share what we know by now, or what we can use.”

“But you have not told one tiny bit of the secret of the healing stones,” Billy sulked a bit, also while he was that tired.

“Well, that is the last I will tell you, before the hard work of bringing all this to the house of Knowledge begins.

You have seen the Axels. You do remember, I did tell you, the world also does have an axel with the same color follow up.
There are also spots, we Atlantians do know, that conduct the energy of the stones from one place to another.
The crossings of those connecting points have even more energy.

Some of this knowledge is saved by the humans as folklore: they do call this path ways ley-lines and the crossing are vortices of power.”

“What are vortices” Petra asked.

“The more energy-rich crossing points.
Some people can feel them, and before electricity most people could feel, they were on the good road, while it was a ley-line-road.

They did build churches and important buildings on this spots, feeling their power.

Well, some of the humans have the difficult task, to burry a heap of powerful stones in buildings like this, or along this lines.
They do have to do that, with out others knowing it, or those easily can destroy it or take it away.

This way slowly the world should be brought into its right balance again.
More of the secret, I am not allowed to tell you now.
Still, you do not have to wonder until you are a scientist yourself, Billy.
Petra will learn as much as you will, while she is your lifelong friend.”

“Did I hear right, the Lady sometimes can come and visit you?” Billy asked curiously, while this made, he was not the only one with a Homelander friend I the bubble anymore.

“Only a few times alas, Billy.
She can, when we do draw her a drawing of my study, the one with the locked book case. Petra will bring that to her.
But while she is the Lady, and does have so much important tasks, it will be not that often.”

Petra told: “Sometimes, there also are friends, that have a great different in age, may be your friend is not born yet” she consoled Nemo, and at the same time let her friend know, he wás very special.

“So let’s start with our own great project, so you, and some others can go up in a few years time as our ambassadors.”

“Ambassador?”

“That is somebody, who can speak for another country or people. It is a very important task, so we start early, more early as I did think before.”

So all went on with discovering learning, and preparing for a clean and healthy future of our world.
On dry land a lot of friends did, what they had to do.
May be we meet some of them in the future, knowing they do have a friend, but mostly not, while we cannot see the friends of others outside Homeland.

And in the bubble Billy, Petra, Lilo, later even Violet and their parents came together with some other humans, when the time was right, and they started the long and slow way up.

But that is another story, may be later we do tell about.
For now how our Homelander friend Petra met Billy and what adventure they had together ends.
But knowing Homeland, and also knowing, it is were all the real secrets of life are saved, you will hear another story about what will happen to them, when they do tell me.


© Nan van Daalen, all rights reserved.