He described the experimental fields as a liability.
He claimed the roots would require costly removal before the land could be used for conventional agriculture or development.
When she rejected the offer, he increased it slightly.
Then withdrew it.
Then returned with a different proposal that would allow her to remain in the farmhouse temporarily while he acquired the surrounding acreage.
Dileia read the contract.
It contained terms she disliked.
An extended closing period.
Broad inspection rights.
And a clause allowing the buyer to terminate the agreement under conditions that would leave her with little protection.
She declined.
Harlon became irritated.
“You're not in a position to negotiate like this,” he told her over the telephone.
Dileia looked toward the stack of bills on her desk.
“Then stop calling.”
He laughed.
“You think another buyer is going to want four hundred acres of roots?”
She took a breath.
“Maybe.”
“Name one.”
She didn't answer.
He smiled through the telephone.
“Exactly.”
Then he hung up.
For weeks afterward, his words followed her.
Name one.
She couldn't.
Her father's research contacts were scattered.
Several email addresses no longer worked.
One American materials company had dissolved.
Another had been acquired.
The Swiss laboratory had changed names and ownership arrangements.
And the technical correspondence was so dense that she sometimes spent hours understanding a single page.
But buried in the old journals was evidence that Walter had not been inventing the strange properties of the sap.
He had measured them.
Repeated experiments.
Sent samples for independent examination.
And recorded results that warranted further study.
The difficulty was turning those observations into a viable business.
She learned how wide the gap could be between a promising biological material and a product customers were legally permitted and practically willing to purchase.
A biopolymer might absorb water in a laboratory experiment but fail when exposed to soil microbes.
It might work under controlled temperatures but degrade under strong sunlight.
It might be useful in one agricultural environment and ineffective in another.
And even if it performed well, commercial development would require processing, standardization, safety assessments, regulatory review where applicable, and reliable production costs.
Dileia knew all that.
But she also knew a crop couldn't become valuable without somebody doing the work.
Her father had done the first twenty years.
She wasn't prepared to discard them after only two more.
The second summer brought the letter she'd been dreading.
The bank notified her that the loan had reached a critical stage.
After prior missed obligations and unsuccessful restructuring efforts, a specified amount was required to cure the default before the lender proceeded with the next foreclosure steps.