Langford turned to him. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe these plants are part of the objective and maybe they’re not.” He paused, thinking. “The Chinese know we’re here, and unless they’re idiots, they know that we’re here to find out what they’re doing. And there’s only one way to do that: get a look in those trucks.”
Langford nodded. “So they’re expecting us to show up, and instead of what they’re really bringing out of the mountains, they pack the crates full of plants as a ploy.”
“Exactly.”
Langford considered it.
“Except,” piped in Griffith, “they don’t know when we would sneak in. A lot of these shipments would then have to become ploys, not just one.” He spread his arms in a questioning manner. “And how long do they keep that up?”
“I agree,” added Bartman. “Whatever it is they have, they’re pretty serious about their extraction. I can’t imagine they would suddenly start packing all their trucks with plants, hoping to throw us off. They would have to know a ploy is the first thing we would suspect. It’s what we would do.”
“Okay,” replied Langford. “Scenario two then. The plants are only one of the things they’re after.” He noticed Clay shaking his head. “Clay?”
“It’s possible, sir. But that whole truck was filled with them. Even if it were only part of the extraction, a whole truck full would mean it’s a big part. It’s possible, but more often than not, the simplest answer is usually the right one.”
“That would mean these plants are, in fact, what they’re after.”
“Correct.”
Next to Clay, Will Borger cleared his throat. “If I may, sir. I think Clay is right. I’ve been studying the satellite video, and it’s clear to me, given how quickly they’re unloading these crates, that they don’t appear very heavy. It also supports the likelihood that all of the crates contain the same thing.”
“Dr. Lokke? Any thoughts?”
Lokke slowly shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’d have to confer with some of my staff, but on the surface, it’s certainly possible they found something of extreme interest. Taxonomy has arguably contributed more to modern society than anything else. Everything from glues to fabrics, to antibiotics, almost everything has roots back to… well, things with roots.”
“So what kind of plant-based discovery would warrant this kind of secrecy?” asked Miller.
Lokke blinked, thinking. “God, it could be almost anything. My first guess would be something medicinal or biological.”
“Or technological,” interjected Caesare.
Langford turned to him. “Technological?”
“Maybe?” Caesare shrugged. “What is China most dependent on? Oil. Maybe there’s a relationship.”
“Synthetics!” exclaimed Borger, seeing where Caesare was headed. He looked back to the monitor. “That is a possibility, sir. And it might explain why the Chinese are trying to grab it.”
“What are synthetics?”
“Synthetics are pretty much any compound that we’ve been able to duplicate from its original, organic source. Which, as Dr. Lokke pointed out, is usually some derivative of biology. “Synthetics” is mankind creating a superior product through more modern means, say through a chemical process. Oil is one of these products. In fact, synthetic oil goes all the way back to World War II. When the Nazis were running out of real oil, Hitler ordered an investigation into a synthetic alternative. And they found one. They were able to create huge amounts of oil and rubber synthetically to keep their armies moving. Even fuel. But the process wasn’t all that sophisticated and required much more energy to create than they got from it. Which, of course, can only go on for so long. We’ve come a long way since then.”
“Meaning?”
“Biofuels,” Borger answered.
“Biofuels?”
Borger looked back and forth between Caesare and the screen. “Biofuels is a much more natural and cleaner process than synthetic fuels. There are all sorts of companies and governments working on it. The main problem is that even biofuels aren’t as efficient as we need them to be. The plants just don’t produce a high enough concentration of organic oil. What we really need is a plant source that produces at least twenty percent more to really achieve a self-sustaining biofuel.”
“Are you suggesting this plant the Chinese have found in Guyana has more oil in it?”
“It’s a possibility. If oil really is the focus here. But like Dr. Lokke said, it could be anything. Heck, maybe its photosynthesis.”
“You mean as in light absorption?”
“Yes.” Borger stopped to think and suddenly got an excited expression. “Actually, if it’s photosynthesis, that could be huge!”
“Will,” the Admiral said. “Focus. You’re losing us here.”
“Sorry, sir,” he replied sheepishly. “Photosynthesis, as you know, is a plant or tree’s ability to absorb sunlight and turn it into energy. It’s a biological process that is still far more efficient than we can achieve with things like solar panels.”
“And?”
“China just happens to be the largest manufacturer and exporter of solar products, by a long shot.”
Miller frowned. “So?”
“So,” continued Borger. “What if the Chinese found a plant whose photosynthesis is ultra-efficient? Better yet, what if it allows them to better understand or copy the organic process?! There would be no other solar product in the world that could compete with that.”
“Which might allow them to reduce their dependence on oil at the same time,” offered Caesare.
“Oil is a finite commodity,” agreed Lokke. “Some of the biggest oil wells in the world are beginning to run dry, like Cantarell in Mexico. The world is being forced to turn to shale. Eventually, the sources will either run dry or become so difficult to tap that only the richest countries will be able to afford it. And with a population of one and a half billion people, the Chinese are no doubt acutely aware of the importance of real, tangible resources.”
Langford frowned. Wars were fought over resources like these. When resources become scarce, the only predictable human reaction is to fight for what is still left. Energy is the lifeblood of modern society. Without it, any nation on the planet would perish. And whoever controlled it over the long term became the victors.
“So, oil or photosynthesis,” Langford said.
“Well, those are just possibilities, sir. To be honest, if it is some kind of biological discovery, it could be almost anything.”
Langford glanced at Miller before leaning back in his chair. “Okay,” he said, turning to Krogstad. “Roger, keep your people on this. We need some answers. We need to understand exactly what we’re talking about here. Mr. Borger, I want you to see if you can pinpoint where these trucks are going.” He then looked at Lokke’s image. “And Dr. Lokke, I’d like you to start getting a small team of experts together just in case we need a task force on the ground. Bring them in from wherever you need to but have them ready within a few days.”
Lokke nodded. “Absolutely.”
Langford and Miller looked at each other again. This time they shared the same weary expression. If this “discovery” were as important to anyone else as it apparently was to China, things could get very ugly. They hoped it wouldn’t, but their expressions were telling. If the simplest explanation was the right one, then the message was clear. The Chinese had gone to a lot of trouble and expense over these plants, which meant they were probably ready to fight for them too.
32
DeeAnn could feel a sense of worry growing within herself. Dulce wasn’t as talkative as usual, and she wasn’t sure if it was due to stress or nervousness, or whether a result of the increasing errors from the vest’s computer system. Juan had looked at it the night before and confirmed the frequency of errors was still increasing.