Botanicaust (11 page)

Arnica once again leaned back in her chair.
“
Have you learned anything about where he came from?
”

“
He speaks a different dialect than I
’
ve encountered.
Maybe a pre-Botanicaust language.
But he
’
s learning quickly. Given more time, he
’
ll fit into the Protectorate.
”

“
These drawings indicate a sizable community.
People who are still possibly living a primitive life as farmers.
The Conversion Department may be interested in making contact with them. I
’
m going to issue a temporary holding order on the euthanization. Find out all you can about his tribe.
”

Tula nodded furiously. More converts like Levi would be a wonderful addition to the Protectorate.

The Councilwoman held up a palm.
“
You
’
ll have to convince Vitus to put in for a CFTR waiver and therapy request. I
’
ll do what I can. Then the Committee will decide how to proceed. Let
’
s say I give you
…
two weeks?
”
Arnica tapped some information into her data screen.

“
Thank you, Councilwoman. I
’
ll work non-stop.
”
Tula gathered the gamma pad and notebook. The way things were going with
Levi,
two weeks should be enough time to get Verification of Consent. The real problem would be gaining approval for the genetic waiver from Vitus.

She wondered if her supervisor might like some more jewelry.

Bruises covered Levi
’
s knees from the cement floor. His prayers remained unanswered, and he battled despair. Samuel
’
s admonitions circled his mind like vultures over a fresh kill. Was his desire to survive another selfish excuse to do as he wished? He should
’
ve refused the food. Water even. If he had, he
’
d be reunited with God, right now.

But he wasn
’
t ready to die. Something inside him yearned to live.

“
Forgive me, Lord, for my impure thoughts. For my sinful desire for an abomination.
”
Levi
’
s heart wrenched. Tula seemed less and less like an abomination every day. Was this the devil
’
s work, pulling him closer to irreconcilable sin? Again an image of Tula came to his mind, not her curves, but the irregular pink patch on her arm.

He gasped with enlightenment.
“
She was once human.
A Child of God.
Is her sin forgivable?
”

She was Blattvolk, every inch of her skin marked
—
except the right arm. Could someone be only partially
Marked
? Could a soul like that find salvation?

Repressing a groan, he rose from his position on the floor.
“
No.
”
Evangelizing her wasn
’
t an option. The idea was against everything he
’
d been taught.
“
These people are damned. They
’
ve turned their backs on God.
”

Did Tula know about God? He couldn
’
t even talk to her. The concept of God was too big to summarize in a few days.
Maybe you will be here more than a few days.

“
I have to save Josef!
”
The cry echoed off the cement ceiling, as if trapped in this room along with him.

These people altered the very foundation of God
’
s creation. People like them had brought the Botanicaust upon the world like the people in Noah
’
s time had brought the flood.

Would God offer them salvation now?

I don
’
t have time, God.

And yet, all he had right now was time.

At his desk, Vitus scrolled through the extension order and snarled. That convert weed had gone over his head. And Councilwoman Arnica might as well be a convert herself, always bending the rules to bring more weeds into the Protectorate. As the Haldanians expanded their boundaries, she
’
d insisted they negotiate new trade agreements with those repulsive Fosselites up north.
Almost as disgusting as bringing cannibals into society.

He ran a hand down the smooth green skin on one arm. He
’
d made the most of the Fosselite deal.

Dr. Macoby was probably fawning and flattering that damn prisoner into signing the Verification, right now. Her use of those agave candies bordered on illegal, but if he took her down based on that, he
’
d have to take down the candy maker, and too many Council members enjoyed the illicit treats. The sweets were well enough for children, but adults were not so easily swayed, and he was surprised she hadn
’
t used sex as a lure yet.

If only. Then he
’
d have an ethics case against her.

He rolled the beads of his necklace through his fingers. What
had
she been doing with the prisoner? Setting down the gamma pad, he crept out of his office toward the monitor room. Multiple screens showed empty cages, but the one he was after recorded Dr. Macoby with the prisoner, sitting too close to him on the bed. She shouldn
’
t be inside the cell without a guard nearby. But that wasn
’
t enough to cut her down for good.

He snarled at the screen. She was always wriggling through loopholes. What he needed was probably on these monitor disks or her gamma pad. He punched in the code to send the recordings to his gamma pad. If not with the man in the prison, then with one of the children she
’
d recently converted. Rumor was that boy had been causing trouble. Something was bound to go wrong.

And he
’
d be there to make sure the rules were followed.

The drawings on the gamma pad were no longer inspired, and Tula sighed in exasperation. She wondered who was trying to convert whom. Levi was fixated on his primitive belief in God, unable to see that God hadn
’
t saved him. Conversion was the only way to make the world safe. Maybe this was why adults were so difficult to change over.

“
The Protectorate saved me.
”
Taking the gamma pad from him, she accessed a case file she hadn
’
t looked at since obtaining her doctorate. Inside were photos of herself after conversion, as well as detailed notes by Dr. Werne.
“
Me.
”
She pointed to the girl in the photo, then to herself.

Levi nodded.
“
Not you make.
”
He shook his head, obviously frustrated with his lack of words.

She pointed to the picture again.
“
Cannibals,
”
she said.
“
Eat Tula.
”
Keep the concept simple.

“
Not cannibal.
”
He tapped his chest, asserting his separation from the cannibals for the hundredth time.

“
I know you
’
re not a cannibal.
”
Tula grimaced.
“
I wasn
’
t, either.
”
She swallowed rising nausea.
Not for long
. Searching the database, she found a photo of a duster, a goggled Burn Op grinning behind a flame gun.
“
Saved me. Saved you.
”

“
Gefangen.
”
He nodded, his lips curled in disgust.

What is gefangen?
“
Safe,
”
she put a hand to her brow and sighed with mock relief.
“
No cannibals. Safe.
”

Levi heaved a breath and closed his eyes in apparent frustration.

After three days, she
’
d made no progress in either converting or obtaining information from Levi. She tapped the gamma pad and brought up a drawing from his paper notebook.
“
Levi.
”
She waited until his eyes opened, ready for the hardness that came into him every time she showed him these pictures. Pointing to the baby, she said,
“
Not safe.
”
Flipping through each of the pictures of people, she repeated the phrase.

When she turned to one of the many of the woman - Sarah, he
’
d called her - he put his big palm flat over the screen.
“
Sie ist mit Gott.
”

Again with God.
“
She
’
s with God. Okay. Not safe.
”
She scrolled back to the drawing of a child and made a gathering motion with her arms.
“
Make safe.
”
Again she repeated it with the other pictures,
then
rubbed her left arm.
“
Make like me. Safe.
”

His head jerked up, eyes full of understanding for the first time. Trembling, he rose from the bed, and she was reminded how big he was. Her heart skipped a beat and she shrank away. But he didn
’
t mean her harm. He backed to the cell bars, holding both palms up as if to ward her off.
“
No.
”

“
Levi, listen. No hungry. No cold. No cannibals. Safe. Here. Safe. They can be like me. You can be like me.
”