They have each already put a small suitcase of clothes and a box of food in the time machine.
Of course, it was in a room in Frank's apartment.
He had agreed with Ronny to have a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs before they left. Ronny didn't turn this down.
Frank is someone who does not tolerate carelessness. Ronny always found that a disadvantage. Actually, that's also why they didn't move in together. This time, too, Frank insisted that they first tidy everything up together before leaving.
That's what they did.

“In the Devonian, the sea level was high. That's why I pressed coordinates 10 km away from the coastline that is there today,” says Frank. I'm also not entirely sure if this is enough.
But anyway, I made the time machine water and airtight.If we ended up in the ocean, we could paddle to shore in an inflatable boat, which I also took care of.
It's the most compact thing I could find. look. It looks like a backpack. Shall I show you how it blows itself up. Really nice to see. Paddles were included”
“You think about everything too, Frank, right. Just show it to me right away”

Frank presses a button on the side of the packed boat and Zoef. In the blink of an eye, it was apart and filled with air at the same time.
Ronny is stunned. “How advanced,” he says, “Top of you. We will certainly not drown like that”
“Hopefully, the fish will leave us alone,” Frank sighs, “But of course I'm also curious about what we'll see. It must be impressive”

It takes a while before Frank gets the rubber thing folded back into a backpack format.
But finally, the time has come.
All right, the time machine is spacious enough for their belongings and the backpack.
They each sit in a seat behind the control panel.
“Are we both ready” , asks Frank.
“Of course,” says Ronny.
Frank presses in the coordinates he calculated on the front edge.

There they are gone and a few seconds later they are already in the middle of the Devonian.
Their boat doesn't come in handy. They land in the middle of a huge fern.
Through the large window of the device, they immediately look out with curiosity.
The environment in which she ended up is very special. It looks like a forest. But it mainly consists of ferns, tree ferns and conifers, and the ground is everywhere covered with liver-moss and other finer structures of mosses.

“The Earth's soil has remained bare as a stone for centuries,” says Ronny. Liver moss was the first to spread out of the ocean.Why that plant suddenly needed that so much, people don't know. Maybe there were too many sea creatures who saw it as their food.
Or was it part of the evolution of Creation? No one can answer that”
“It's a very special forest. But also stunningly beautiful. So nature was beautiful from the start.
All those beautiful shades of green. It really does look good on my eyes. This is really fun” Frank had just said this, or a huge head of a centipede pops up outside the window of the time machine. It scares them both. Neither of them had seen this huge animal coming.
It looks in through the window with two pitch-black eyes. I'm sure it was curious about that strange thing that just showed up in their domain. With his huge antennae, he scans the window.
Would it look for an opening?
Then it focuses and shuffles across the bell-shaped time machine with its millions of legs. It takes a long time because he is very tall. They can now clearly admire his underside with all those legs.


“Geez. This was a bit of a shock,” says Ronny, “Have you seen what a huge head it has and its body is probably 20 meters long. In our time, in Scotland, on the coast of the island of Kerrara, they have found a fossil of this animal. When it was completely excavated, it turned out to be up to 25 meters long. The one we saw was probably a little smaller, I think. What do you think, Frank, can we venture out”

“Hum I don't know that yet. The oxygen content is higher here. The atmosphere in our time contains about 21 percent oxygen. Here in the Devonian, that's 31 percent. That's why the bugs are so huge”
“Why does that affect their dimensions so much” , asks Frank.

“Insects don't have lungs. They use a network of tubes that run through their bodies to carry oxygen. These air tubes are called tracheae.
In the Devonian, with its higher oxygen concentration, there is enough oxygen to provide a large insect with the necessary oxygen.
In our time, where Oxygen contains no more than 21 percent, the distance between the tubes and the interior of the animal is too great. The number of tubes in insects therefore depends primarily on the oxygen content in the atmosphere.
The insects of our time would suffocate if they were as big as in the Carboniferous. They have adapted to the oxygen level and can therefore now no longer grow bigger than a hand;
Oh look. A dragonfly. She shaves by us like that. What a beautiful copy. Impressive that they are so huge.I really like their cups, which are so clearly visible now. It looks like they also have a nose. Do you see that? Nice, those yellow cups. Would we risk going outside”

“Maybe we should wear an oxygen mask then. I think our body is not up to the 30 percent oxygen”
“Or we'll grow from it right away,” jokes Ronny.
“Imagine. Preferably not. Then we can't or will hardly be able to enter the time machine”
“Do you also have oxygen masks with you”
“Of course. I'm thinking about everything, right”
“Formidable. Then we can take pictures”
“We're careful, huh? The insects are probably everywhere and there are also giant mosquitoes. I really don't want to be bothered by that. Or did they not need blood at the time”
(continues)




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