Page 39 of The Genius
“Of course, it’s lightweight and strong.”
“What if you incorporated modular sun panels? The carbon fibers could store the energy and the solar panels would charge them. It would be environmentally perfect.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “That would be brilliant, but I’m foreseeing all sorts of issues.”
“We’re engineers. Coming up with solutions is the fun part.”
“But I don’t have modular solar panels that can withstand the pressure or the weather elements. This isn’t like installing sun panels on a roof or a bike lane, Shelly. The wind resistance is significant, not to mention potential hail, rain, snow, and lightning. I don’t even think they had something that advanced before the war.”
“Then you’ll have to build them.”
Tristan gave me a look that said,That’s easier said than done.
“I’ll help you come up with ideas and you can have the engineers in the environmental department help you too. I bet they’d love this project.” Tapping on the drawing, I added, “And is this the design?”
“Yes, it’s just a rough sketch, but I was inspired by the military drones we have here in the Northlands. They can transport up to fifty people at a time and resemble large bumblebees.”
I stared at him. “Why in the world would you go with something like that?”
“Because you always tell me to imitate nature.”
“Yes, but when it comes to flying the bumblebee isn’t the most refined specimen.”
“I was focusing on the size of it.”
Letting my fingers trail along the outlines of the large drone he had created, I shook my head. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t?” Disappointment dripped from Tristan’s voice.
“No. Biomimicry is admiration for the perfection of nature. What do you want to imitate? Give me your top five features.”
Tristan counted on his fingers. “I want it to be silent, fast, energy efficient, flexible, and solid.”
I tapped my upper lip, thinking. “We already talked about the fuel, so let’s make a shape that causes as little air resistance as possible. If we can get this bad boy to soar it would be perfect, wouldn’t it?”
“Soaring is nice, but people have places to go. Like work.” Tristan took another bite of his pie, and his upbringing in the Motherlands showed when he covered his mouth with his hand when he spoke while chewing. “It has to have some speed as well.”
“Speed is your specialty. I trust you can do some magic there.”
“Right, but racing drones aren’t built to accommodate up to forty or fifty people.”
Twirling a lock of my hair and thinking hard I sat for a while going over options in my head while listening to Tristan’s challenges with his design.
“The Adélie penguin.”
“The what?”
“The Adélie penguin.”
Tristan scratched his head. “We’re talking aerodynamics here, Shelly. Penguins don’t fly.”
I leaned forward. “That’s right. But they swim and slide with perfection. It could give you the angle for your bottom.”
“Penguins are so fascinating with their white and black colors.” Tristan frowned. “If nature is such a genius, how come they have white and black colors when they live on ice? You would think they would be all white so they could camouflage themselves against ice to avoid predators.”
“That’s a good point.” I tapped at my lip. “There must be a logical explanation.”
“It doesn’t matter, Shelly. It was just an observation. You know, because I’m so sharp.” Tristan chuckled, but I wasn’t listening to him. My mind was digging through everything I ever read about penguins.
