A truck claiming to be Mama's Place slumped in a dirt parking lot half a block down, selling quick breakfasts to people coming off shift. Kris joined the crowd. Men and women stifled yawns and scrubbed at tired eyes as they waited. Some still had energy to gripe. ''I swear to God, they're speeding up the line.'' ''You're just slowing down.'' ''No, they are speeding up the line. I'm gonna talk to the union stew; they can't do that.'' ''I did talk to the union rep, and they are and they can and you better just be happy you got a job.'' ''Ain't that what they always say.'' ''Well, maybe having this job means we won't have to worry about that draft notice I got yesterday.'' ''Why not?'' ''They don't draft people making the guns the army needs.'' ''Who says we're making guns?'' ''And what do you think that box is you're putting together, an eggbeater?'' ''It ain't no gun.'' ''If it ain't a targeting system, I'll eat it.'' ''And if you keep running your mouth, you'll be begging them to draft you. The jail they'll put you in ain't gonna be nice.''
Kris stood at the head of the line; she ordered a breakfast burrito of rice and beans, added a potato fry, and got a juice for free in a meal deal. As she reached for money, it dawned on her paying with a Wardhaven bill might not be the brightest idea of the day. She dug in her pocket, keeping her money out of sight and getting a ''You do have money for this, cutie,'' from the old man purporting to be Mama. She produced five dollars, Turantic, and got a few coins in change and her meal.
Most people scattered to their homes, but a few hung around the other side of the truck where a makeshift counter hung. It gave those with nowhere to go a place to set their food as they stood and ate. Kris took up a small corner. Talk was low and generally about the coming war. Half seemed to think Hamilton had done everything that had gone wrong for the last six months, or maybe forever. Others thought Wardhaven was at the root of the trouble, or at least cooperating with Hamilton.
''We take on Wardhaven, we're going to need help.'' ''I hear Greenfeld can stand up to those Wardhaven snooties.'' ''Yeah, I expect Greenfeld can fight till the last drop of Turantic blood.'' ''You like those Wardhaven snobs?'' ''I don't like Greenfeld. Any way you cut your cards, they're bad blood.'' ''They're our friends if we need them to fight our enemies.'' ''I say we need better friends and fewer enemies.'' ''I hear some Hamilton thugs beat up a woman last night.'' ''No, you got that confused with the Wardhaven cruds that tried to kidnap that girl off her sailboat yesterday.'' ''I heard on the news they both happened.'' ''No, you got it all wrong.''
Kris backed away from the counter before anyone came to blows. Walking down the street, she reviewed what she'd heard. Weapons… this was probably some kind of weapons plant. She and Nelly had worked so hard to patch together the nano spies from a bit of jewelry only for her to learn what she wanted by just hanging around a lunch wagon and eating a burrito.
WE WILL HAVE MORE SPECIFICS WHEN THE NANOS COME BACK, Nelly said, a tinge of defensiveness in her voice.
THAT WE WILL HAVE, Kris agreed.
But the nanos' pictures would not show the confusion boiling in people's minds. Was it Hamilton or Wardhaven or Greenfeld that was their enemy? Lots of differing opinions. All the facts kept being turned upside down. With no communications off planet and all kinds of things happening on planet, people were left in the dark and swatting at everything. Kris wished she knew more about Turantic, more about these people before all hell started nibbling at them, driving them crazy.
As Kris rambled under gray skies, the nanos reported in.
THE FIRST FIVE ARE BACK. THEY REPORT NO ENCOUNTERS WITH HOSTILE NANO GUARDS, Nelly reported.
WHAT DID THEY FIND?
i AM CORRELATING THE DATA.
Kris pulled a pair of glasses from her pocket. Nelly began to run schematics across the lenses. It looked like the place was putting together thirteen-millimeter antirocket lasers. Nice for defending small ground units, but not what she was looking for. More nanos showed up, identifying a production line full of four-inch secondary batteries for cruisers or the main lasers for small destroyers.
WE HAVE A STRANGE NANO BUZZING AROUND US, Nelly announced.
CONVERT IT OR KILL IT.
THAT IS WHAT I AM DOING.
Kris paused in her walk, turned her back on the plant, and studied a building offering studio apartments by the week. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Abu's cab. He paused at a stop sign, then turned right and headed away from her. Kris tried humming a tune but found her mouth too dry to do much more than blow air. Above her, a crackling sound told her Nelly had resorted to destruction before the computer said, I HAD TO KILL THAT ONE. IT WAS STARTING TO TRANSMIT.
Kris sauntered toward the street she'd last seen Abu on. Two minutes later, he pulled up beside her. She got in. ''Drive as fast as the speed limit allows and change directions randomly.'' ''Are you in trouble?'' the cabby said, doing as she asked. ''I don't think so. But why make it easy for the bad guys?'' ''Put on the scarf. I know some very random streets.'' In three minutes, they were weaving in and out of traffic on a series of roads that had to have been laid out by a exceedingly drunken cow. Kris left the driver to his own devices while she reviewed what she had and what she wanted. Small arms for an army or even secondary lasers for ships was interesting, but she wanted the main battery for a fleet. An army could be defensive or offensive. A fleet, at least a large one, was anything but defensive. And to arm ships, you needed very big lasers and capacitors. That meant very big factories. Kris went down Nelly's list, hunting for the largest.
There it was, about as far on the other side of town as it could be. I PLANNED THAT ONE FOR LAST, Nelly said, JUST BEFORE WE HEADED HOME.
THAT SOUNDED GOOD LAST NIGHT, BUT IF THEY'VE GOT NANO GUARDS AT THIS LITTLE SHOP, I HAVE A HUNCH WE'D BETTER DO THE MOST INTERESTING TARGET FIRST. WE MAY NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE.
HUNCH, Nelly said. INTERESTING CONCEPT. YET YOUR ROUTE DEFIES PATTERN ANALYSIS. IT IS ALSO NOT THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TARGETS. IT IS NOT ECONOMICAL.
BUT IT MAY SURPRISE THE OPPOSITION AND KEEP US ALIVE.
I BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND ''SURPRISE.''
Kris told Abu her next target. He greeted it with a scowl. ''I know it's a bit out of our way,'' she said.
''That is not the problem,'' he said, bringing up a map. ''There is only one way into that plant. See these communities. They are gated now. I cannot use those roads.''
''Gated communities that close to a major industrial plant. That doesn't sound right.''
''But that is what happened last year. The plant is behind a large berm. Its sounds and sight does not offend the community.''
MY MAPS DO NOT SHOW THOSE COMMUNITIES AS GATED, Nelly said.
ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HIRING A MAN WHO KNOWS THE LOCAL CHANGES, Kris said, struggling to resize her problem. Going there was sticking her head in the lion's mouth. Maybe she was overreacting to Nelly frying a guard at the smaller plant, but Kris had a very strong hunch this lion's mouth would have a lot more teeth than the last. Gating whole housing areas. They didn't want strangers around.
''I want a look at that place,'' Kris said, stabbing at the map. ''You know a quiet place we can pull over and talk?''
Two minutes later, they pulled into an empty parking lot at a small God's Word Is the Bible church. ''They are very full on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, but today is not one of them.'' Abu said. ''Maybe it is time that you stop protecting me. I cannot help you if I am in the dark.''
Kris studied the man. The olive skin of his face was creased from years of working in the sun, but his eyes were clear and open. His offer was honest. It saddened Kris that all she had to offer him was coconspirator status. The man deserved better. She started slowly.
''There are space docks above the beanstalk loaded with merchant ships, brought in suddenly, and in mass, for some kind of upkeep that does not require a lot of oversized additions to the ships. However, I have been watching just such oversized packages passing through the secure freight elevator. I don't know what's in those crates, and I would very much like to know.''