Chapter Thirteen #2
“It blew across states and touched almost every place in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. I bet there are more, nuclear testing had downwinder effects touching pretty much all over the globe. The US aren’t the only ones to do it.
I didn’t want to be in blast areas that tainted water.
You’re looking a little queasy. We can stick to the good of nuclear energy.
France uses 75% nuclear energy making it the lowest carbon power grid in the world.
It’s clean energy that isn’t killing the planet. ”
She perks up. “We want that. Badass has the money. We just need the facilities and someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.”
I nod. “I’m in. Someone said the governor gave horses. What state and Club?”
“Elan in New Mexico and she gave them a land lease.”
That would be way too easy. I stand. “I’m going to call them and see if I can get a map of the area. Maybe they have the land now.”
“No, I want to go. Web said I have anything I want to get this done. I’ve been working nonstop. There’s a chopper on a pad here, let’s just go to Elan with the horses, trees and rolling hills. I’ll call Cooper.”
I laugh. This will be fun.
Hud and MB meet us at the chopper with dogs and smiles. “Elan?” MB is amused.
A Bit runs to Copper with a tag or something. She smiles at MB and bends to her girl dog. “Athena, this is a radiation detector. I’m clipping it to your collar.”
No one is smiling anymore. “Why?” I ask since the men are stunned or something. “We got Prometheus and Havoc. They’ve got to train on it at some point so I’m starting that. Prometheus, Havoc, watch the card and alert if radiation is detected.”
Prometheus barks and Havoc chuffs.
All righty then. I watch the Bit smile at the men. “Brothers no talk anyway.”
I laugh with Copper and board the chopper while the Brothers figure out what to ask, or what to say or what to do. They follow us in so they got the what to do.
Copper explains about the compression step that Alder added so the cement is eighty percent stronger, uses thirty percent less cement product and its lighter. I don’t get what she said about no cracking because the Brothers found their voices but it’s good.
“How does he come up with these things?” We can reinforce with that, I hope.
She smiles. “I kind of help with that. I’m an engineer like Stella but I published and always kept track of the innovative and military breakthroughs.
I’m a dual citizen that lived in Germany longer than the US.
Reading the studies and patented information was always in English.
It pissed my step mom off.” She’s a rebel that fell into the right place.
“So, you read about cement?”
“In Germany, we went to China for an Innovative Builders Conference. I got to talking to the engineers and a company we bought minerals from took me on a tour of the new roads, showed the rail lines they had running, and even plans of the river they have been widening with locks and new villages to serve the ships headed to the Caspian Sea. I loved the conferences but wasn’t able to do much with my father always shutting down my hobbies.
If it was aerial he didn’t care but everything else he called a hobby and waste of resources. ”
“I’m glad you’re here and able to jump around to things that interest you.”
“Alder and Stella are just like me. When I saw his lighted walkways, I sent the research for the compression cement and B-CORE. That’s the ultra-lightweight steel panels.
I used it for the drones in Germany. That waffle block helped me while coding for the lightweight Kevlar suits.
The silkworm pattern only added a few lines once I put the B-CORE code in.
” She’s really into building unusual things we use every day.
I’m wearing Kevlar. “Vapor’s mom invented Kevlar.” I add the only thing I can since I'm not an engineer anywhere close to these flipping mega geeks.
Her whole face lights up. “Stella told me. I met her at the ol’ lady meet. She sent me her mom’s books but I’ve been too busy. I’m up to the gas shortage but didn’t have the time to dive into Kevlar.”
“Thats how, isn’t it? The gas shortage sent companies into invention models.”
“Yeah, but I want all the experiments failed and successes. She was R they got bombarded with Mass then Connecticut. It was nuts.”
I smile. “Stella told of the elephants at a birthday party.”
He nods. “My grandfather is by the perpetrator of that fiasco.” He points at Knight.
I didn’t see him come in with Danny and Ben. “He’s healed?” The Brother doesn’t move like he’s hurt at all.
“He’s healed. Aylen and Aiyana did it at the reservation early this morning.”
I put my hand up and shake my head. He knows I don’t need it and smiles with a new subject. “Your girl is going to get Web his power and do it safely.”
My eyes snap to his. “That wasn’t thrown in for nothing.”
“It wasn’t. She knows what she’s talking about, Alder and Asa trust that more than the overbearing know it all that doesn’t know it all. She needs to stick to SMR. She’ll understand.”
I raise brows at him. “You could tell her.”
He smiles. “I don’t talk, she doesn’t know me and I will show when I need to.”
I don’t have an answer but he’s walking away. I find my girl and drag her out then toward the stable. “I was told you need to stick to SMR and you’d know what that means. It’s challenged and LP and Asa trust you. Fight for it if you have to.”
She stops and watches me. “You don’t know what it means?”
I shake my head.
“I’ll make it happen the safest way possible.”
It’s the radiation or power thing they went off to look at. I nod and kiss my girl for not asking or giving me more than she needs to. Some shit isn’t for me to carry. I trust her to make that call.