I raised a hand. "Excuse me, sirs? But I don't think we have such ordnance available to us. I'm familiar with the loading manifests and I-"
"Don't believe everything you read, Captain," interrupted General Wallachstein. "I told you that nothing has been put in writing. There's a lot you can hide aboard a ship of this size."
"Yes, sir." I shut up.
Lizard asked quietly, "What about the nuclear options?"
Wailachstein shook his head. "It was extensively discussed. We decided it was too risky. The political fallout was unacceptable. The risk to the mission was also unacceptable. You'll have to make do with fuel-air explosives."
Dr. Zymph spoke up then. "Let me give you some background on the thinking of the Brazilian government. In partnership with their Japanese allies, they have begun extensive development of Chtorran agricultural products in tightly controlled biospheres, as well as in open-air farms. They have experienced great success using fluffballs and wormberries for the production of sugar and alcohol. As you know, the Brazilians use gasohol for thirty percent of their fuel requirements. The fecundity of the Chtorran biomass makes it possible for them to renew this resource at a faster than ever rate and further reduce their dependence on foreign fuel sources.
"The Brazilians also do not share our aversion to the consumption of Chtorran flora and fauna. They have begun a national campaign to introduce many Chtorran species into their national diet. Japanese investors have also built plants for the processing and exporting of Chtorran delicacies. The Japanese are apparently very enthusiastic consumers of Chtorran protein. They particularly enjoy fresh worm blubber, either cooked or raw. I'm told that it makes for a particularly flavorful, if somewhat chewy, form of sushi. I haven't tried it myself. I have no particular desire to do so."
She allowed herself an unhappy shake of the head. "There's another aspect that we also have to acknowledge. Large parts of the Chtorran ecology are proving to have hallucinogenic effects. Several varieties of Chtorran dope are starting to show up in our seaboard cities. There's a lot of experimenting going on, different ways of processing the material, different ways of ingesting it. We're seeing some deaths from Chtorran narcotics, we expect to see a lot more. Some of these drugs are proving to be incredibly addictive, and they represent the potential for additional damage to the American economy.
"We have tried to point out to the Brazilians that the Chtorran agriculture is incredibly aggressive. There is no reliable way to control it. There is no safe way to farm it or harvest it. Any concentration of Chtorran flora represents an environment that not only wants Chtorran fauna, it needs it to survive. The Chtorran ecology is so interlinked that you simply cannot grow one species alone. Everything is connected to everything else. No matter how many times we repeat it, most people never seem to understand it: There is no such thing as one cow. We have tried to point out to the Brazilians that any concentration of Chtorran flora will put chemical attractants into the air that will call other Chtorran life forms to it, in particular whatever partners it needs to proliferate and spread.
"The Brazilians are not interested in this news. Chtorran agriculture is solving the nation's hunger and employment problems. It's adding millions of dollars of hard currency to the Brazilian economy every day. The Brazilian government is hopelessly addicted to the Chtorran market. They actually believe they can control it. And they believe that the American initiative to wipe out the infestation is an imperialist plan to destroy their new agricultural industries, permanently cripple their economy, and keep them dependent on American farm exports. The Brazilians and the Japanese believe that human beings can not only survive the Chtorran infestation, but tame it to our own ends." Dr. Zymph's expression demonstrated what she thought of that idea. "I don't have to tell you how dangerously stupid that course of action will prove to be. Most of you have had firsthand experience with the Chtorran ecology." She shook her head again and handed the briefing back to General Wallachstein.
If Wallachstein had looked unhappy before, he now looked absolutely miserable. "We know that there are human beings living in the mandalas, cooperating with the Chtorrans on a scale never before realized. We do not know if they are slaves or renegades or willing partners, or some relationship for which there is no human equivalent. We believe that the Brazilian government has much more knowledge of this presence than they are publicly admitting. It may even be that this human-Chtorran cooperation is occurring with the approval or the backing of the Brazilian government."
He let his next words out so slowly, he could have been experiencing physical pain in saying them. "We suspect that factions of the Brazilian government are playing with the idea of growing and training their own tame worms as weapons of war." He let that thought sink in. "We suspect that they may be intending to attack the United States again, by sending swarms of these trained worms up through Central America. We suspect that plan will backfire and that the swarms of worms will move on Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro first, but even so-the whole idea is so appalling that we have no choice but to investigate it.
"Of course, you realize," he added, "if we take any action against the Amazon mandalas without the agreement of the Brazilian government, it could be considered an act of war, and it probably will be." He spread his hands in front of him, as if to hold a very uncomfortable idea. "This whole situation is extremely delicate."
General Anderson stepped forward then. "At this point, we are not prepared to risk a war. Your mission is not to start one, not to fight one, but merely to gather intelligence on the scale of operation needed to win such a war, if and when it occurs.
"We want you to gather specific specimens and freeze them for our labs in Houston and Oakland. Other than that, we want you to minimize all direct contact with the inhabitants of the mandalas, human or Chtorran-except for those circumstances that also serve your scientific goals.
"In specific, we do not want you to initiate any military action against the mandala; but if you are. attacked, we want you to defend yourselves and get out as quickly as you can. Let me also add this: if you come into contact with any human who you think has a direct contact with the Brazilian authorities, you are to terminate that individual immediately, rather than risk any direct reports on our activities getting back."
Wallachstein added, "I don't have to tell you how dangerous this whole thing is. I want you to be careful. But most of all, I want you to get the job done. We're prepared to cover for you, more than you may realize, but please don't make our jobs any harder than necessary."
Dr. Zymph again. "I know that most of you signed on for a mission of scientific observation. And I know that you're not exactly overjoyed about having a military component to this operation. Let me put those thoughts to rest. The military aspect of this operation has been part of it from the very beginning; for obvious security reasons, it has been kept extraordinarily secret; but I want you all to understand that the immediacy of the military imperative is directly derived from the ecological crisis confronting us. There is no dichotomy here, there is no disagreement between the two branches. We are in.complete agreement about our needs and our goals.