“That sounds like an animal.”
“No, it’s a plant. It does that photosynthesis thing. Boy does it ever. It can store up energy like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and when its mitochondria start burning that energy, it can pull its roots up and take off upstream or wherever it wants to go with the kind of speed that leaves most fish behind.”
“Does it have a brain?”
“We don’t think so. It seems to react more than act,” Pipra said, but not confidently. “Any scientists who can get their hands on some of this are in it up to their ears. This is going to be worth megatrillions.”
Kris closed her eyes. She kept hearing this was a game changer and worth money, but she wasn’t hearing a whole lot of why.
“How does it work?” Kris demanded.
Pipra made a face. “We’re working on that. There are flying fish and a batlike thing that can move fast enough to catch this plant and also have the stomach enzymes necessary to use it.”
“So it’s complex.”
“Complex as hell.”
“And people are going to want to pay money for this because . . .?” Kris said, waving her arms vaguely.
Pipra looked at Kris like she was a particularly dumb three-year-old. She started to open her mouth, then seemed to think better of it. A moment later, she finally said, “You use nanos, don’t you?”
“Lots of them.”
“I’ve never met a Soldier that didn’t like their nano scouts,” Pipra said.
“It can save your butt.”
“But they don’t have much endurance. Not enough power.”
“Right,” Kris agreed.
“And you want to recover them, right?”
“Right.”
“But if a wind comes up, they might not have enough power to fly back to you.”
“Yes, then you lose them, and commanders and budget folks get very cranky. Speaking of which, I’m getting very cranky.”
“Yes. Okay. Now, assume that your nano has one of these mitochondria powering it.”
A light went off inside Kris’s head.
Pipra went on. “Marines gobble down candy bars before a fight. It gives them energy. Now, what if we could give them a candy bar with this stuff inside?”
“Would it work?”
Again, Pipra made a face. “If we can figure out what the flying fish and bats have in their bellies that allow them to access the full power of this stuff, yes. Maybe.”
“How close are we to making this work?”
Pipra shrugged. “Six months. Six years. Very likely not six weeks or sixteen years.”
Kris made a face. “So we’re talking raw science with lots of unknowns.”
“And we’re dealing with people on one end.”
“But nanos don’t have civil rights,” Kris said.
“But there are a lot of people that wouldn’t want weeds or spiders running around with this kind of strength. This could be the invasive species from hell,” Pipra said. “I suspect that a lot of people won’t want this anywhere near them.”
“Ouch,” Kris said, seeing the downside for the first time.
“Most of our research is taking place on a new lab on the moon.”
“Who paid for it?”
“We all did.”
“And how much will it take away from the defense effort?” Kris demanded.
“Not a lot,” Pipra answered vaguely. “Listen, you said the first day we were here that no one cared if we lived or died, so long as we died hard and the aliens figured we belonged here. Well, some of the scientists have pointed out that our DNA won’t pass the smell test if the aliens do any checking.”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” Kris admitted.
“Now we have something on this planet that humanity needs, really needs. And we really don’t want the aliens to get their hands on this stuff, assuming they’d look before they raped this planet down to the bare rock.”
“Yes,” Kris said, feeling like the word hardly carried enough meaning for the job.
“So, I invested your money in this.”
Kris nodded, thinking hard and fast. “I think you did good.” Then she changed the subject to her own concerns. “By the way, have you hired a lot of Alwans?”
“Lots of them. Kris, our consumer products are catching on like a house afire. They love our microwave ovens. Down south, our solar-powered riverboats are selling just as fast as we can deliver them. That’s what they’re using to troll up this plant.”
“Everything is changing.”
“Damn right it is.”
“Some Alwans don’t like it,” Kris reminded Pipra.
“They can disagree with it all they want, but they better get out of the road. We’re coming through.”
“No doubt,” Kris said. “Are we done?”
“Pretty much. I hear your ships got shot up pretty bad. We’ve got a decent supply of Smart Metal that should be good for repairs. We’re also building our own reactors and lasers.”
“Twenty-two inchers, I understand.”
Pipra grinned. “You bet they are.”
The businesswoman left, to get about her business.
Kris turned back to her walk to the Princess Royal.
For Pipra, business was business.
For Kris, it was complicated.
She had two cultures she needed to bring together in harmony. No, make that three. She couldn’t forget the felines.
She might have a good job for them.
She was lost in thought, and almost to the P Royal when an ensign ran up to her.
“Admiral Kitano sends her respects and requests your presence on the flag bridge immediately, ma’am.”
“Nelly?” Kris said.
“I’m in the dark about this as much as you.”
Kris began walking briskly.
62
Rear Admiral Kitano was waiting for Kris in her own day cabin, which looked very much like a flag bridge at the moment.
The place looked downright homey. It had a wooden desk just like on the Wasp, only its carvings looked like angels rather than Greek pillars. It had several sofas and armchairs. These were in a lovely royal blue rather than the Wasp’s earth tones.
Kitano wasn’t seated at any of them but stood before one of several large screens.
“You didn’t rob the chief’s mess for the screens, did you?” Kris asked.
“I wouldn’t dare. These are all local production. Among hardworking Alwans, sixty-inch screens are catching on. I got half of the first production.”
Kris went to stand by her subordinate. The screens showed the Alwa System in the middle and jumps covering a dozen systems out.
Two were flashing red.
“Is there a problem?” Kris asked.
“No and yes. Or maybe yes. Do you want the good news or the bad news first, Admiral?”
“Make it Kris among admirals.”
“And I’m Amber,” Kitano said.
“And we are faced with?”
“What looks like incoming reinforcements, headed for Alpha Jump. That’s nice, but also headed for Alpha is something else.”
“Does this something else have some substance?”
“It just jumped into that red system farthest out. Six I think, but if we’re right, if it’s going fast enough and puts on some turns, its next jump takes it to our system.”
Kris frowned. “You know about what we found when we caught up with Sampson and her mutineers.”
“It’s a big report, Kris. Did I skim over something I shouldn’t have?”
“Some of the alien warships from the mother ship we first blew away put on some speed and revolutions and didn’t try to slow down until they were quite a ways from here. I don’t know if what they did was common knowledge or just something they stumbled across.”
“It looks to be developing into common knowledge, Kris. A week ago we had a ship jump into a system five out from our Beta Jump. It built up speed crossing the system and hit the jump at close to eight hundred thousand klicks an hour.”