Chapter 7

7 The light faded again. But this time there was a glow. It was the purple marbles! They were floating and slowly circling the room. The large black ball was floating, too! But Pablo, Violet, and Deepak could barely see it. The sheet was also glowing, but it was now green. "That's so cool!" said Pablo. His face was tinted purple from the light of the marbles. "What are those?" asked Deepak.

"I bet the black ball represents the black hole," said Violet. "Space-tacular! You're correct," replied Dr. Crisp. She gave Violet a high five. "Are the two purple marbles asteroids?" asked Pablo. Before Dr. Crisp could reply, he interrupted. "I mean, comets! Maybe they're comets?" Pablo said with a half-smile. He rubbed the back of his head. He didn't want to give any more wrong answers.

Dr. Crisp laughed. "Those marbles can be just about any space object you want." She clapped her hands twice. The floating purple marbles came to a sudden halt and zoomed toward her. She grabbed one in each hand. With a gentle flick of her wrists, Dr. Crisp sent the glowing marbles sliding along the sheet. They rolled to a stop near the opposite edge. "Unlike your friends and family back in the Newburg Meadow, space objects are always moving through dark energy. Even our planet Earth!" Dr. Crisp explained. She clapped her hands twice again and the balls flew back over to her. "And other objects that are nearby can affect the path they follow." "Like a black hole?" asked Deepak. "Exactly!" Dr. Crisp said. She clapped her hands four times. The large black ball floated toward the center of the sheet. It lowered until it was sinking into the middle.

"Okay, Makers," began Dr. Crisp. "Now it's time to put those magnificent minds to work! Try to figure out what black holes do to dark energy. That will help you figure out how they work." Then Dr. Crisp raised both hands above her head and shouted, "Ready, set, THINK!" Pablo, Violet, and Deepak examined the model space fabric. Violet bit her lip. "I don't know about you two, but I can't tell what the black hole is doing to the dark energy." Pablo had no idea, either. From what he could see, the model black hole was just sitting there. But he didn't want the others to know that. "Well, black holes suck up everything that gets close to them," said Deepak, tugging his ear. "Maybe black holes are like magnets!" Pablo suggested. "Maybe they attract space stuff that way?" Deepak paused and thought. "I'm not sure. But we can test it out!"

"Yeah!" added Violet. "We can put the space balls on the sides of the sheet. If a real black hole works like a magnet, then they should be pulled over to the model black hole," Violet explained. "Let's give it a try!" said Pablo. But when they put one of the marbles on the edge of the sheet, nothing happened. "Hmmmmm," said Deepak as he tugged his ear. "It didn't work." Pablo felt his chest deflate again. He needed to think of another idea. And fast. "Maybe black holes are like a vacuum! And suck up space stuff!" he said. "But that doesn't make sense," said Violet, shaking her head. "If black holes were like vacuums, then the marble would have still rolled toward it when we put it on the space fabric."

"Yeah, and we still don't even know what black holes are doing to the dark energy," added Deepak. He looked down at his Magnificent