"Fascinating," she says softly, and completely without irony. "Copper-based blood would entail a completely different protein for oxygen transport..." She nearly misses the rest of his explanation, although she finds that equally interesting. "What do they think about humans, then? We must seem all over the place compared to them..."

Ninety-nine years isn't so bad, but it sounds like it's not long enough to keep people from being nervous. "The colonies had a cold war of their own," she comments. "But after finding a common enemy, a lot of colonial rivalry has fallen by the wayside... I wouldn't recommend it as a solution, though."