“But if we got them planting extra food to pay us . . . ?” Pipra left hanging.
“And as I understand,” one of the other managers said, “our Marines are going to be taking out a lot of their big carnivores. That should leave them with wild woods that have been off-limits to them but that they can farm their own way. Maybe not as efficient as our way, but any food helps.”
The conversation went long and was surprisingly fruitful. Kris decided that even business folks, when faced with a “make it work or starve” situation, could do a good job of making it work.
That left Kris and her abbreviated team making plans to drop down and see what a meeting with Ada might produce. The survey of the planet had turned up a copper mountain that would provide wiring, windings for electric engines, all kinds of nice stuff . . . if the locals didn’t mind it being strip-mined.
Everywhere Kris turned there was more juggling.
Then, just as Penny, Masao, and Amanda were about to leave, Professor Joao Labao walked in. “Do you have a minute? I have some things you may find interesting.”
“By a minute, do you mean an hour or a half hour?” Kris asked.
“Hour, maybe less.”
“Staff, would you hang here for a few minutes? If he starts boring you, feel free to leave. If I fall asleep, you can definitely leave.”
“What I have to tell you will definitely not put you to sleep.”
33
“We have results back from our study of the alien mother ship. Oh, and I think I can move more of my scientists dirtside. I understand you need the Smart Metal from our rooms and pubs. I have asked and eighty-five to ninety percent of my team have volunteered to transfer their work to colonial territory. We will need energy to power our analytical machines, as well as housing and food. If that can be assured, I think we can convert the large barn where they hold their annual harvest festival into the Alwa/Colonial Research Center.”
“That’s gracious of you. Have you arranged any of this, or are you coming to me to see if I can make it happen?”
The professor smiled so aristocratically at Kris. “Of course, Your Highness, we will need for the viceroy to make it happen.”
Why do I bother asking dumb questions? Kris scolded herself.
“I’ll add that to my other topics for tomorrow’s meeting with the colonials,” Kris said with as much of a smile as she could manage.
NELLY, YOU CAN GET ME ON ADA’S SCHEDULE FOR TOMORROW, CAN’T YOU?
I’M CALLING. SHE’S IN A MEETING RIGHT NOW AND IS IGNORING THE GENTLE REMINDER OF HER COMPUTER THAT SHE HAS A MESSAGE COMING IN. SHOULD I CHANGE THE SETTINGS ON HER COMPUTER TO BE MORE INSISTENT?
NO, NELLY. WE’RE THEIR GUESTS, NOT THEIR OVERLORDS. LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU GET A REPLY.
“So, Professor, I thought you said you had information about the aliens and their base ships.”
“Yes, we have examined their agricultural facilities, food having become suddenly of great importance to us.”
“And?”
“We have found where their dead go, I think. While much of the hydroponics gardens are part of their sewage and recycling system, there is a portion set apart. This also has that same pattern on its ceiling that we think is a star chart. While most of the ship is designed for humanity cheek to jaw, this area grows something like grain, as well as a vine that we analyzed and which produces a fruit easily converted to alcohol.”
“Bread and wine,” Amanda said softly. “This is my body. This is my blood.”
“Yes, several of the researchers of the Catholic perspective had the same observation. We think that cremains are sprinkled in this garden, and the fruit of these plants are special to them.”
“So the bastards may have a soul,” Kris said.
“I would have put it a bit more gently,” Penny said. “Still, it shows something that we have in common, some hope for an afterlife.”
“Or rebirth,” the professor said.
“Or they just want to remember their ancestors in some fashion but can’t devote much room to it,” Masao said.
Kris noted how each of the humans had interpreted the alien behavior within the confines of their own culture and expectations. She sighed. The aliens were alien. That was the whole idea. Oh, and they want to kill us, no matter how much they remember grampa or gramma.
“Anything on the technical side?” Kris asked. “What about the reactors that were removed or the lasers?”
“Based on the power lead outs, we know they were using superconducting cables and that the reactors were large enough to power a large city. The leads into the laser bays that were also removed were the type we’d use for a 15- or 16-inch laser. Not having one to examine, I don’t know how focused the laser is, so I can only guess at range.”
“From our experience, it seemed to be equal to our range and just as deadly,” Penny said.
“I beg to differ,” the professor said. “We have reviewed the video of the battle. It is not very good, but it leaves us wondering about just how powerful their lasers were. They used a lot of them. No question about that, but regarding their range and power, gun for gun, we are not willing to give them equal power with us.”
The professor paused and gave that shrug Kris had come to expect so often from the professional scientist. “We cannot be sure based on the data available, but we think the question of who has the most powerful lasers is still very much on the table.”
“I’ll try to remember that next time I get in a shootout with one of them,” Kris said.
“If you could avoid blowing it to gas and bring something home to look at, it might be nice,” the scientist said.
“That’s easier said than done,” Kris pointed out.
There were other minor things the boffins were willing to estimate. The huge ship had a basic population of thirty to fifty billion people.
This stopped Kris in her tracks. She’d felt guilty, thinking she’d slaughtered ten to fifteen billion. This left her stunned.
Still, the professor went on. No, they had no idea how many might have survived Kris’s Hellburners. Half to two-thirds of the ship’s population might have died in either the actual explosions or the sudden opening of the ship to the void of space. It did not have a lot of internal, airtight bulkheads.
Clearly, these folks intended to be the ones doing unto others, not having someone else doing unto them.
The professor left, again reminding Kris that she needed to arrange for the landing of his boffins. Kris was left to wonder how fast a population that huge could adjust to the change humanity presented them with and what they might do to improve their prospects. Humanity had produced the Smart MetalTM frigates and put the 20-inch laser rifles into production.
What did the bastards have in reserve?
NELLY, HOW MUCH ROOM WOULD THIRTY BILLION PEOPLE TAKE UP?
DO YOU MEAN STANDING BACK-TO-BACK, KRIS?
NO, ASSUME THEY GET A SQUARE YARD PER PERSON. BACK ON WARDHAVEN, THE PUBLIC LAND SURVEY IS STILL LAID OUT IN SQUARE-MILE BLOCKS. SIXTY-FOUR SQUARE MILES TO A TOWNSHIP. HOW MANY TOWNSHIPS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT. A CONTINENT’S WORTH?
THINK THREE MILLION PEOPLE TO A SQUARE MILE, KRIS. A ONE-HUNDRED-BY-ONE-HUNDRED-MILE SQUARE WOULD HOLD THIRTY BILLION.
SO IT’S ACTUALLY SPACIOUS IN THEIR MOON-SIZE BASE.
THAT WOULD BE HARD TO SAY.
Kris thought on that for a while, then remembered she needed help on her Hellburner question. She had to call another meeting with Pipra, a mining expert, and Admiral Benson. Penny and her lieutenant stayed, though Amanda excused herself. If there was a mountain of copper to be strip-mined, she needed to check on its location and the local attitudes.
If it was down south, the ostrich types might not mind. Of course, the ore would have to be shipped north for refinement and manufacturing. Nothing came easy.