Botanicaust

by Linsey, Tam

  Shocked, Tula stared at the screen. Almost all the lesions had disappeared. Frowning, she asked, “Why don’t you ask the Protectorate to convert you?”

  “No!” Dr. Kaneka reeled backward in his chair, eyes wide and lip curled in revulsion. “No, conversion is not an option for us. Just as immortality is not an option for the converted. Our initial experiments to combine the technologies proved disastrous. Telomerase alone does not allow one to be immortal. The sustained amounts required for immortality cause mutations and cancer. We use a panel of enzymes and immunoreactives to control and remove mutated and apoptotic cells. The immunoreactives do not take kindly to the insertion of chloroplasts into the cell genome.” Dr. Kaneka winked and laughed, as if he’d just delivered the punch line of a joke.

  After he finished chuckling, he said, “I’m prepared to offer you asylum if you agree to aid us in further research.”

  Tula considered. “I’m not sure how I can be of assistance. My area of expertise isn’t gerontology or chemistry —”

  “You misunderstand. We are not asking for collaboration. We need chemical samples.”

  Tula sat back to gauge the expression on his bland face. “You want to use me as a test subject?” A shiver coursed from her middle, up her shoulders, and to the tips of her fingers and toes. “I hadn’t actually planned to stay —”

  “Your friend spoke to our translator this morning, and it appears he has nothing to trade. We will go to his home and provide treatment to his son in return for your cooperation. The offer is more than fair.” He stuck his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and stared at her through bloodshot eyes.

  They were willing to actually venture outside? And save Levi’s a son? It was a generous offer. Perhaps she could travel with them and meet Levi’s people first.

  Tula cleared her throat. “I’d like to talk to you about offering conversion to Levi’s people. You have the technology —” Dr. Kaneka shook his head, but Tula pushed on. “I could convince many of them of the benefits of conversion, given enough time. Perhaps once they are converted some of them will be willing to aid your research. We can all help each other.”

  Dr. Kaneka’s scrutiny raked over her like grit in a blowout, making her cringe. “We need a convert with a well established genome immediately. The only agreement we will entertain is that you remain here for testing. But I will consider putting forth the offer to his people.”

  “I’ll come back as soon as I secure some initial conversions.”

  “I told you, our time is running out. We need to begin at once.”

  She looked at the gamma pad lying before her with its purple image. She understood his urgency. But simply passing along an offer for conversion would get no results. Not if the rest of the community was anything like Levi. But if she didn’t take Kaneka’s offer, not only would there be no chance for Levi’s son, but little chance the Fosselites would offer conversion at all. How could she refuse and live with herself?

  After a shocked instant, Levi blundered toward the exit after Rosalee and the others, only to find a man in a bright red tunic blocking his way. The man put up a calming hand and urged Levi back into the library. The crazy woman’s words hung in the air. Don’t believe a word they say.

  Levi tried to step around the man in red, but the man mimicked his moves to block him. “I want to go back to my room,” Levi said.

  “Sit. Safe.” The man’s mouth smiled, but his blood-curdled eyes stayed wide and alert.

  “I don’t want to sit. I’m worried about Tula.”

  The man remained firmly in place, his arms akimbo. Levi stood nose to nose with the man, not touching, unable to get by without physically pushing past. His insides quivered as his passive upbringing warred with his desire to protect Tula.

  The man squinted and his nostrils flared. “Sit.”

  After a moment of hesitation, Levi spun around and paced the length of the bookshelves. Although here of his own volition, he was as much a prisoner as he had been with the Blattvolk. They could do with him as they liked and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. Thank God they hadn’t locked him in a cell. Yet.

  None of these Fosselites seemed truly sane. And they couldn’t even fix their own children. How could he be sure they could help Josef without added risk? Josef could end up with dementia, or only able to have children with Down’s Syndrome, or with some other horrible side effect. He should take Tula and go home to enjoy the time God had given him with his son.

  What seemed like hours passed, and finally Levi heard voices in the hall. Rushing to the door, he spotted Dr. Kaneka speaking to his room guard. The doctor glanced at him, said one last thing, and walked away. The sentinel turned to Levi and gestured for him to follow. Glad to be out of the library, Levi moved abreast of the guard in spite of the narrow hall. Ahead, voices murmured and dishware clinked behind a set of double doors, and the scent of food made Levi’s insides churn with hunger.

  The guard paused at the doors and swung an arm wide for Levi to precede him.

  “I need to get Tula,” Levi said.

  A familiar bubble of laughter caught his attention from the cafeteria and he caught sight of Tula already at a table with the big man who had carried her away when they’d first arrived. Two Down’s Syndrome people sat with them. Ignoring his guard, Levi rushed toward Tula, his chest light with relief.

  She looked up, her teeth a brilliant white in the deep jade of her face. Around her neck, a filament strung with feathers and baubles didn’t so much cover her as draw attention to her nipples. “Levi!” She patted the seat next to her.

  “Why didn’t they give you clothes?” he said in a low voice as he slid into the seat.

  “You like? Color is … blue?” She stretched the fabric of her new skirt over her thighs.

  He glanced at the table companions gaping at him. If she was going to fit into his world, she’d have to learn modesty. But this was not an argument to have right now. “What is that?” He pointed to her necklace.

  “Michael gave to me.” She stroked the long feathers. Levi gathered the big man sitting across the table must be Michael by the way he flushed and squirmed like a nervous child. The other two didn’t speak, just alternated between staring at Tula and ogling him.

  The rest of the room was either oblivious to the guests or working hard to contain their curiosity. Most tables had at least one Down’s Syndrome occupant, and now that Levi knew they were Fosselite children, the groupings made sense. These were family units. He furtively surveyed the occupants of his table, wondering where their parents were. Tula was completely comfortable with them, and they with her. Would her children be green? He hadn’t considered it until now.

  “Tula, let’s leave. Now. I want you to come home with me.”

  She squinted like she didn’t understand him. “House?”

  He laced his fingers with hers. “I have nothing to trade. I want to see my son. I want you to meet him. He needs a mother.”

  They stared at each other for several heartbeats before she bowed her head. “Oh, Levi.” Tears dripped into her lap. “I trade for you.”

  He ran a hand up her arm to caress away a tear. “What do you mean?”

  “Dr. Kaneka ask me to stay. To help them. They help Josef.”

  He stilled, throat tight. She wanted to stay?

  “Is good choosing. They have medicine for me.”

  Medicine. He remembered how sick she’d become outside, how excited she’d been to reach the Fosselites. The trip here had nearly killed her. “But I want you with me.”

  “Is my only way … live. Medicine for me.”

  For a long time Levi only looked at her, hand against her tear stained cheek. He wanted to burn her face into his memory forever. She could not go with him. He could not protect her outside, from the sun, the plants, the cannibals. He nodded slowly a single time, his heart cracking like ice falling from the eaves. “Gotte’s Wille be done.”

  Tula sat cross-legged on the bed and s
tared at her hands while Levi watched the monitor set into the wall of her room. The image was live — a camera looking over the wide plains below the mountain — but the landscape was lifeless. This would be her only contact with the outside for the rest of her life.

  Levi had been arguing with her for ten minutes. “I can build you a house like you had in your city. A greenhouse, we call it. You’ll be protected.”

  Her hands were folded so tightly in her lap, her knuckles gleamed. The idea of travelling through cannibal territory under the sun’s UV rays made her bones ache, but she would go to be with Levi. However, there was his son to consider. “Is only way for Josef.”

  He scrubbed both hands through his short hair, as if trying to rub new ideas into his brain. “I want the cure for Josef, but not at the cost of your future. At the very least, they should put a time limit on your indenture.”

  “What is in-den-shur?”

  Instead of explaining the word, he opened the door and looked into the hall. Holding out a hand, he said, “Come with me, Tula. I want to find Dr. Kaneka. You need to talk for me.”

  Together they marched opposite the cafeteria, the direction their escort had gone after leaving them at the room several hours ago. The doors on both sides of the hall had placards next to each handle. All of them had numbers, some had names. Levi scrutinized each. They reached Medlab and Tula tugged against his hand to stop and knock. A voice inside invited them in. Tula opened the door to find Dr. Rice, her dark face pressed to a microscope.

  “Dr. Rice,” Tula greeted her.

  The woman jerked away from the microscope and looked toward her guests. “Dr. Macoby…”

  “We’re looking for Dr. Kaneka. Do you know where he is?”

  Dr. Rice pressed a few buttons on a speaker and asked for Dr. Kaneka.

  Levi bent close to Tula’s ear. “Tell her I need to talk with someone about trade.”

  Tula steeled her jaw. Was it too much to hope he had something to trade that might tempt them? If what Kaneka had explained about their brain tissue was true, a Haldanian would be a very valuable commodity to them. “Who do we talk to about trading for medicine?”

  “I am authorized to handle medical transactions. What do you need now?”

  “Levi wants to trade for his son’s treatments himself. He says the debt is his, not mine.”

  Dr. Rice raised an eyebrow and looked Levi up and down before replying. “I doubt his people could offer us anything of value. We’re quite self-sufficient here. Unless they have new technology to offer, we’re not interested.”

  Tula’s throat tightened as her last shred of hope evaporated. She looked a Levi’s feet then up to his eyes. “She says you have…” She struggled with the word for technology and pointed to several machines in the room. “Know things. New to them. To trade.”

  “They want trade in science? I don’t have science. I have food. Livestock. Wool.”

  As Tula translated, Levi kept talking. “I’ll do manual labor for you for the rest of my life. Tula cannot pay my debt. I’m responsible.”

  Tula finished translating as best she could, although she wondered if Dr. Rice was even listening anymore. The dark woman tilted her head and turned the corners of her lips up at Levi as though indulging a child. “No.”

  Levi’s eyes widened and the color drained from his face. “Ask her what else she wants. Anything I can give her.”

  Tula’s entire body broke into a heated sweat and her stomach churned. There was no other option. Pressing her lips together, she shook her head. “Levi, I do trade for you. Is done.”

  He put his hands gently on her shoulders. “You can’t. It’s not your responsibility. I’m a man, and I take care of my family.” He turned to Dr. Rice. “I take care of my family.”

  Resisting the urge to melt against him in tears, Tula put a hand on his forearm. “Josef need.”

  “Not like this. No.”

  “Levi, I stay here. I need stay. Outside bad for me,” she reiterated for herself as much as him.

  “I’ll build you a greenhouse.”

  Tula’s throat tightened around her tears. She wanted to go with him. She’d never desired someone like this before. Even if she only had a few years with him, exposed to the sun, she would choose to be with him. But there was Levi’s son to consider. “Dr. Rice, is there nothing at all he can provide in trade? Certainly you can’t produce everything you might want or need hydroponically.”

  “We don’t require anything he can offer. We offered help for his son only to make you happy. We don’t take in new people. Everyone here has to contribute.”

  Dr. Kaneka spoke from the open door. “But we don’t want there to be lingering resentments for either of you on this. If you truly wish to help him and his son, you have to make him believe you want to stay.”

  Searching the doctor’s face for any sign of pity, she said, “Levi brought up a valid point. Will I be free to go at some time in the future? Or am I enslaved to you forever?”

  The man hesitated, then smiled the same way he had when he’d made the offer. “My dear, if at the end of – say five years – should you wish to leave, we would have no quarrel with that. I shall draw up documents, if you like.”

  Five years for the life of a boy, then she could be with Levi. Completely worth it. “Levi, I stay only five … times? Here. Five - winters. Five summers.”

  “Years.” He provided, his focus shifting to Dr. Kaneka. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Is not problem. You go. You save Josef.”

  Levi’s face creased into deep lines and he pressed his fingers to his temples. She had to make this easier on him somehow. Like Dr. Kaneka said, she had to make Levi believe she wanted to stay.

  “Levi, I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.”

  His eyes widened, face lined with stress, doubt in his eyes. “I’ll bring Josef back, then we’ll stay, too. I can push a broom for them if that’s what it takes.”

  She shook her head, as much to fight off the tears as to deny him. The Fosselites would only consider him a drain on their resources, especially with a genetically inferior son. “We cannot be. You are not my kind. I am science.” She used the word he’d provided earlier.

  “Tula, you are human, in spite of your skin color. You are a Child of God, and you belong with me.” He reached one hand toward her and she used every ounce of willpower to back away. Her chest constricted as the softness in his face turned to confusion.

  Donning a mask of disdain, she said, “God? You are like cannibal. No science.” After so long defending him, the words hurt her throat. Every muscle tightened in anguish.

  Levi blanched. His outreaching hand fell to his side. “Do not deny the Lord our God.”

  Her breath caught. That was the way. She turned to the diagnostic chair so she didn’t have to look at him. “Science save me. Is only way. Not God.”

  Dr. Kaneka interjected by stepping forward with a small box he offered to Levi. “Tell him to carry this with him. When he reaches his home, he is to push this button, and it will send out a long-distance signal.”

  Tula glanced over her shoulder and spotted Dr. Rice propped on her stool with her arms crossed. The woman nodded in encouragement.

  Focusing on Levi’s chest to avoid his haunted eyes, Tula said, “Dr. Kaneka say take with you. Push … “ She didn’t know the word for button and pointed to it instead. Her hand trembled and she dropped it as quickly as she could. “When you get to Josef. They come then.”

  “Tula.” The deep emotional timbre of Levi’s voice nearly broke her.

  “You leave in morning.” Lifting her head, she strode from the room. It wasn’t until she reached her own quarters that she sagged onto the unused bed in a puddle of tears.

  Forgive her, Lord. Inside Levi’s head, Samuel’s voice reminded him Tula was a Blattvolk. She was marked. And she’d denied God. There could be no salvation for her kind. His feet moved without consciousness as he followed a man wearing a red tunic back
to his room. The passages reminded him of the underground tunnels back home, quiet and seldom used. To the right, the cafeteria. Past that, the library where he’d spoken with Rosalee. Numb to the core, he carried the beacon to his quarters, both hoping and dreading Tula would be there waiting for him. Repentant.

  His room was empty. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the blank white wall behind the chair. Had what they’d shared last night meant so little to her? Then again, she’d seduced him in the desert with pure, raw sex. Was he only deluding himself to justify the weakness of his flesh?

  He’d been willing to offer his entire share in the Old Order cooperative to free her. He thought about the electric fence, the methane operated farm equipment, the extraction house where the hog pancreases were produced into enzymes for the cystic fibrosis kids. Primitive technology in comparison to the Fosselites, but he’d been willing to give them anything. Perhaps there lay his sin.

  Sliding to his knees, he pressed his hands together in the comfort of the Lord’s Prayer. It had been a long time since he’d engaged in any sort of litany. The rote words did not ease him, however, and the hollowness in his chest grew from numbness to pain, then anger.

  He should have been stronger. All his life he’d been warned about the Blattvolk, and he’d allowed her to pull him into debauchery and sin. Demons could appear good if such acts achieved the greater goal of evil. She might have saved him from death, but he would have died clean.

  Penance. He needed penance. The communion service back home would be happening about this time of year. But there was no blessed water and bread here, no one to allow him to wash their feet. Levi missed it. He rocked back and forth on his knees, taking in the sharp pain on his kneecaps as if suffering might cleanse him. He needed to do something.