Botanicaust (21 page)

When he moved to put the thing on her shoulder she squeaked and shrank away. What was he doing?
“
No!
”

He frowned.
“
Good. Medizin.
”

“
No. No. Poison. Bad. Tula no plants.
”
She managed to lift a warding hand, careful not to touch the frond.
“
Tula, no.
Levi, yes.
Tula, no.
”
How could she express that what worked for him was toxic to her?

He looked at the slimy frond, said a few words, then the word,
“
water.
”
He made scrubbing motions with his hands on his arms and pointed to the lake.

Did she want to wash? The effort sounded astronomical. But between the covering of leaves and the gooey sap he
’
d likely been spreading on her, it was a good idea. No wonder she was covered in blisters and unable to move on her own.

She nodded.

He slipped his hands beneath her like a baby and carried her to the water
’
s edge. Lowering one arm, he allowed her to slide to her feet, but the change to an upright position nearly made her pass out. She sagged against him like a rag.

“
I can
’
t,
”
she tried to say.

“
It
’
s okay.
”
He swung her into his arms again and strode into the pond until waist deep.

Every blister on her body cried out as he lowered her into the tepid water. Whimpering, she buried her face against his chest. After the initial shock, she laid back, allowing the water to swirl around her ears and rinse the grime from her hair. The sulfurous, wet smell of the pond reminded her of a protein drink gone
bad
.

She stared past him to the pale sky leached of color by the sunset, but not yet dark. The first and brightest stars glimmered like jewels and she thought of Vitus. Was he still searching? She couldn
’
t believe Mo had been ordered to kill her. Her entire life had been destroyed in the wink of an eye. Where could she go? Live in the sun forever?

Without the nuvoplast housing, she
’
d have to acclimate to a perpetual high. Burn Operatives did it, but UV storms drove them back to the city. Plus, they received yearly telomerase treatments to regenerate the damage to their organs. She no longer had a city. And Levi was as alien to her as she was to him.

She tilted her head farther back into the water to let the pool hide her tears.

A
s he had many times over the last three days, Levi climbed the rock bluff next to the pond to scan the surrounding desert for cannibals or Blattvolk. The sunrise bloomed red, bathing the desert the color of blood. To the east, the pond grew
boggy,
the vegetation thick, and past that, a dry creek bed led away, probably an outlet for an overfilled pool in the rainy season. Several hunks of rock and boulders jutted from the nearby desert floor, several larger than the rock he stood on. Along the northern plain, in front of the mountains in the horizon, a line of rough greenery snaked a path from west to east.

Green meant water. Was that line the river where he
’
d been captured? He thought perhaps the jagged teeth of the ruins he had passed through could be seen on the other side of the trees.

He stared at the shadows across the plain. So far the view was clear of people. But cannibals hid better than he beneath the blanket with Tula. He cringed at the memory.
Focus on survival.

While Tula healed, he wove himself coarse clothing from cattail fibers, and a wide hat to keep the sun off. Other plants
—
any plants
—
seemed to cause Tula pain, so he left her the robe and blanket. But she often didn
’
t want to cover herself, and only wore the robe during the sun
’
s high points. He
’
d finally accepted that, as a plant, she had to expose her skin to sunlight for food. The fact she didn
’
t have to eat made him jealous as he gnawed on cattail roots and pulled insect legs from between his teeth. What he wouldn
’
t give for a tender pork loin.

But her nakedness was a thing between them. His lustful thoughts over her exposed curves caused him to spend more time away from her than with her. They spoke in simple gestures and one word sentences full of deeper meanings, often misunderstood. She pressed him to talk, learning words in his language more quickly than he learned hers.

Josef
’
s plight pressed on him, but he couldn
’
t leave Tula helpless. The time had come to form a plan, and he dreaded the outcome. What if she expected to come with him? He couldn
’
t tell her
no.
Yet he had no place for her in his world.

He looked west to the mountains. The Fosselites were there.
With the cure for Josef.
Levi had no idea what to expect when he found them.
If he
could
find them.
The salt trader sometimes talked of the men-in-the-mountain, claiming they could cure all ills. The trader was the reason Levi sought the strange scientists who had supposedly lived through the Botanicaust. Did they consider the Blattvolk abominations? If Tula were with him, would they agree to see him?

Unable to resist, he crossed to the opposite edge of the bluff to peek down at the camp. Although he couldn
’
t see her through the lean-to roof, he imagined Tula sleeping, robe draped over her for warmth in the harsh night. He
’
d lain awake many times, knowing she was shivering as he shivered, knowing if they shared body heat, they could both sleep. But he would not open that door again. He didn
’
t trust himself to bundle with her when he dreamed of her every night and every day.

With a sigh, he slowly clambered down the rock face to the pool. He rounded the bluff to see Tula emerge from the canopy and stretch, backlit by the early sunlight. The flat plane of her stomach rose in perfect symmetry with her breasts. He itched as much for a pencil as he did to feel the softness of those breasts. Thank God she continued to wear the short skirt covering her hips and thighs.

Pulling the brim of his hat low over his eyes to keep his gaze off her, he gathered the basket he
’
d made to carry the water bottles and sat on a small boulder at the pool
’
s edge. As she did every morning, she joined him, inching her bare feet in the water. Here on the rock she chose not to wear her rubbery plastic sandals. Her little green toes spread like leaves beneath the water.

She smiled at him, and his heart flipped. If only she wasn
’
t marked. Everything about her was grace and beauty.
Except her jade skin.
Exotic as that was, it labeled her off limits. The scabs from her blisters left small, lighter colored patches of skin where they fell off, but the mottling didn
’
t make her any less beautiful. She was different to begin with.

“
Tula,
”
he said.
“
Levi
go
.
”
He made a walking motion with two fingers and pointed into the distance.

A crease appeared between her brows. She nodded slowly.

He wished he could express his fears.
He steepled his fingers against his mouth.

“
Tula okay you go.
”
Her lips curved into a smile. She put a hand to the sky, then the water, then
the
shelter. But he didn
’
t think the reassurance she radiated was honest.

“
Do you have anywhere to go? Any friends?
”
He pointed out across the horizon without actually looking.

She followed his arm and her eyes widened. Raising a trembling arm, she pointed to the sky.
“
Duster!
”

Haldanian Protectorate

“
You can
’
t be serious!
”
Vitus slammed the gamma pad onto the Councilwoman
’
s desk. Morning sunlight glinted from the privacy screen across the street, shooting a beam straight into Vitus
’
s eyes and forcing him to sit in the visitor seat.

The Councilwoman didn
’
t flinch.
“
Dr. Dedecus, the Board is simply avoiding making any irreversible errors in judgment. Hymo has a very important point, regardless of his vested interest as her lover. Dr. Macoby has been the recipient of valuable training which shouldn
’
t be wasted if she has not reverted.
”

“
He
’
s a convert weed himself. Probably helped her escape. He should have been removed from the operation the moment the search began.
”

“
We would not allow her full access to Conversion Department facilities until we were sure she was not a threat to security. And, in the unlikely event we were to reinstate her full clearance, you would be required to abide by our decision.
”

“
Listen to me, Councilwoman.
”
He rose halfway from the seat, and lowered again as the glare from across the street hit his face.
“
I oversee the Conversion Team and their prisoners. I personally know the difficulty in achieving conversion with these mongrels. Being a doctor does not make Tula any less of a convert. And converts revert. Even with remediation, she
’
s a liability to the Protectorate.
”

“
I
’
ll take that under advisement.
”
Arnica dropped her attention to the gamma pad on her desk in dismissal.

Vitus sucked a fuming breath and stormed out of the room. How could a native Haldanian be so blind? Even if reassigned to scrub protein vats or work the mines, Tula knew too much about Protectorate policy to be allowed to live.

He left a message at the Department, and then headed to the special lab at Med Ops. Unlike those convert
weeds,
he
’
d earned the resources for his treatments. He
’
d hoped the previous procedure would take permanent hold, but instead, his ripening had accelerated.
Probably because of all this extra stress.
His remission could only be a matter of time. One of these days his chloroplasts would live forever.

And if Tula came back, he
’
d be sure she never got more than a convert deserved again.