"Leave me alone."
Sean raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward. "You'll be fine," he said quietly. He knew that she didn't like diving underwater.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Nicola.
Sean gave her a big brotherly smile and patted her hand.
"You'll be fine," he said again, and turned back around to face the front of the bus.
Nicola closed her eyes and tried to breathe slowly and quietly. I'd rather parachute out of a spaceship over active volcanoes than scuba dive through that Underground Sea.
CHAPTER 16
WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND SEA: ENTRANCE TO THE PLANET OF WHIMSY
THEVOLCOMANIAN GOVERNMENT WOULD LIKE TO WARN ALLVISITORS THATWHIMSYIS NOTORIOUSFOR ITS LACK OF PRACTICALITY AND BASIC COMMON SENSE.
WHILE SOME PEOPLE FIND THE PLANET "PRETTY AND INSPIRING," MOST SENSIBLE PEOPLE DESCRIBE IT AS "FRUSTRATING, FOOLISH, AND HOPELESSLY VAGUE." WE THEREFOREDO NOT RECOMMEND THE PLANET OF WHIMSY ASA PLEASANTTOURISTDESTINATIONANDSUGGESTTHATYOU STAY IN VOLCOMANIA AND ENJOY THE CONVENIENCE AND VOLCANO VIEWS (OF WHICH THERE ARE NONE IN WHIMSY).
YOURSSINCERELY,
THEVOLCOMANIAN GOVERNMENT
SIGN NUMBER: 1049808509808508
AUTHORIZATION CODE: 494-809
The Space Brigaders were all wearing the scuba diving suits provided by JJ-11 and reading a large sign on the shore of a small, ugly lake. The water was dark brown, with patches of grease floating on top, like something left over in an unwashed pot.
Everywhere they looked they could see evidence of the war being waged on Whimsy. Huge, empty buses were parked in orderly lines, each with the words, VOLCOMANIAN ARMY--WE WIN WARS! in block letters along the side. Nicola looked down and saw what looked like thousands of deep footprints in the mud, obviously left by the soldiers' boots as they marched to the lake. There were drag marks where weapons must have been pulled across the ground, and signs still standing with instructions like: LINE UP HERE FOR PROVISIONS and RESTOCKYOUR AMMUNITION HERE.
"Those must be the tanks and cannons they couldn't fit through the tunnel connecting Volcomania to Whimsy," said Sean, pointing at a number of massive, gray, metallic objects bobbing about in the middle of the lake.
"No wonder they couldn't fit," said Greta. Nicola followed her gaze and saw the most peculiar sight: a long, thin stone cylinder stretching out into the sky and disappearing into the horizon. It made Nicola think of those overpasses connecting shopping centers across highways. Why did the entrance to the tunnel have to be at the bottom of a sea?It would be so much easier if you just went up an escalator!
Shimlara picked up a pebble and threw it into the sea.
"Let's hope these suits work well," she said cheerfully as the pebble vanished without a trace. "That water looks chilly!"
Volcomanian suits were very different from the rubbery suits Nicola had seen scuba divers wearing on Earth. These suits were made of fine, polished lava stone. You stepped inside and the suit automatically snapped close around your body. The insides were lined with soft fur, which felt smooth and comfortable against Nicola's skin. Instead of wearing fins on their feet, the suits had giant tails like mermaids. The tails--which doubled as storage containers for their backpacks--dragged behind them as they shuffled along, their backs bowed slightly with the weight of the heavy oxygen tanks strapped to their shoulders. They didn't have masks or snorkels like Earthling divers. Instead, their heads would be encased in large transparent bubbles of pale green glass. Right now, they were all holding the glass bubbles like footballs under their arms.
"Your hair won't even get wet," said Sean to Nicola (as if that was the only reason she was worried about scuba diving).
"Remember to watch your air supplies," said Tyler. As usual, he had been the one to read through all the instructions and learn how the suits worked. "There should be plenty of air to get us to Whimsy and back. But you have to breathe slowly and deeply, otherwise you'll use it up too quickly. If the arrow pointing at the level on your air gauge turns red, you've got five minutes to get out of the water. When it turns black--that's it, you're out of air."
Nicola imagined the panic she would feel if the arrow turned red. Just the thought of that happening made her breathe in quick, jerky gasps.
"When we get to the Planet of Whimsy, don't shoot straight up to the surface," explained Tyler. "Otherwise you could get decompression sickness. You have to come up very slowly and stop for a rest every minute."
"What's decompression sickness?" asked Katie.
"It's when nitrogen bubbles form in your bloodstream," answered Tyler.
Nicola didn't like the sound of that at all.
"But if your air supply is low you just go straight up to the top, don't you?" asked Greta.
"No, no. It's very serious.You've still got to come up slowly. That's why it's important you keep an eye on your air supply. As soon as the arrow turns red, slowlyswim up to the surface. But that's not going to happen. The instructions say we've got enough air to get all the way to Whimsy and back."