Botanicaust (32 page)

Dr. Kaneka arrived, but Levi was nowhere in sight. Remaining in the doorway, he spoke in low tones to Dr. Rice. Stuck in the chair, Tula could not move. She strained her ears to catch his words, but the scanner arm made too much noise.

Were they going to call the Protectorate? Her heart rate had to be excessive, likely skewing the results of the scan. When the sensor cleared the edge of the chair, she pulled her arm from the pulse-rest and rose, surprised at how tired her legs were. The hum of the auto-sanitization mode reminded her of her lab and how often her patients begged for an end to the pain during conversion. She promised if she ever resumed her job as a Conversion Psychiatrist, she
’
d be a better listener.

As she approached the doctors, she caught the tail end of the conversation.
“
…
with
Vitus.
”

Her entire body seized. There was only one thing left to do if they
’
d already told Vitus. She held her head high and steeled her voice.
“
Dr. Kaneka, I
’
d like to ask for asylum.
”

Dr. Kaneka
’
s bloodshot gaze speared her. He had a new scab across his left cheek.
“
Asylum? Now, that is an interesting turn of events. Why is it you seek asylum?
”

“
The Protectorate issued an order to exterminate me, which may or may not have been suspended. And Levi does not belong to them. I won
’
t go back. Not after
…
everything.
”
She was too exhausted to explain. How much had Vitus already told them? She wanted nothing more than to collapse into a chair and drink a protein canister.

“
So you are what the Haldanians call a reversion?
”
His attention travelled to the pink scar on her arm.

She involuntarily stepped back. Was she a reversion? She never considered herself such, but according to Protectorate protocol, she was.
“
I
’
m not trying to return to the way I was before my conversion. I disagreed with decisions the Board made regarding the treatment of prisoners.
Levi in particular.
I am still in support of conversion.
”

“
So, you ran away with him?
”
Dr. Kaneka raised his black brows high over the rim of his glasses. She blinked, trying to maintain eye contact in spite of his horrid visage.

“
I only intended to save him from euthanization. As if the term makes murder any better.
”
Her voice trembled as she thought of all the other patients she
’
d neglected to stand up for.
They were cannibals
. Levi was different.
“
Levi
’
s not a cannibal. He
’
s not a threat. The Haldanian mandate of conversion should not apply to him. But because he
’
s a carrier of the F508 mutation, they decided he had to
—
to
—
”
she stuttered, enlightenment washing over her.
“
His son has cystic fibrosis! That
’
s why he
’
s here!
”

Dr. Rice chimed in.
“
If his son is the one needing treatment, then his son should be the one here. We cannot be expected to travel the globe to cure everyone. The cost for our services is quite steep as it is.
”

“
But if his son is too sick to travel, surely you could fly over there and retrieve him?
”

“
We do not
‘
fly over
’
and retrieve people.
”
One side of the doctor
’
s lip curled upward in a sneer as she looked down her nose at Tula.

Tula wondered what Levi intended to trade for these people
’
s help. What else had been in his bag when they
’
d captured him? The only thing she could remember was the notebook, now turned to ash.
“
Is he with the translator?
”

The doctors exchanged a glance Tula couldn
’
t read and then Levi appeared behind them, escorted by a man in a crimson tunic. His face lit up when he saw Tula and he pushed his way between the doctors to grasp both her arms.
“
Tula, are you okay?
”
He looked her up and down as if assessing the damage, for once not avoiding the nakedness of her breasts.

“
I
’
m good.
”
She leaned toward him and put her arms around his waist in a hug in spite of the crisscross of cattail twine and yuvee leaves over his back
“
Have him take a seat,
”
the black-skinned doctor pointed to the diagnostic chair.

Tula wrapped her fingers around his and led him to the chair.
“
Levi, good medicine. Sit.
”

He settled back against the headrest and Dr. Rice placed his arm in the cuff. The screen immediately flashed warning lights.

“
His blood pressure is abnormally high. I
’
ll need to sedate him.
”

Nodding Tula, smiled encouragingly at Levi. Dr. Rice coded the chair for sedation and Tula watched Levi
’
s eyes blink once, twice, and remain closed.

Dr. Kaneka cleared his throat and Tula jumped.
“
We will offer you both lodging for the night. Your friend has already eaten. You require methionine and lysine, I believe? Would you like us to do a nitrogen balance panel to determine any other deficiencies?
”

The thought of a protein canister sounded like manna right now.
“
I would appreciate that.
”

“
Dr. Rice will see to you, then.
”
Dr. Kaneka left, and Tula turned back to an unconscious Levi.

“
Let
’
s get these putrid leaves off and see what we
’
re dealing with, shall we?
”
Dr. Rice pulled on protective gloves and picked up scissors before taking a seat on a round swivel stool next to the diagnostic chair.
“
These cannibal remedies are so hit and miss.
”

“
He
’
s not a cannibal.
”
A flash of déja vu seized Tula as she spoke the familiar words.

“
Where are his people?
”

“
We were in the process of discovering that when the Board ordered his
—
execution.
”
She made a conscious effort to change the word. No longer would she think of the murders in terms of euthanizing.

The doctor twisted her chair so she could look Tula directly in the eye.
“
You were a doctor?
”

Tula straightened and lifted her chin a little.
“
I still am a doctor. A Conversion Psychiatrist.
”

“
I understand. Almost all converts are children. Why were you so intent on this particular adult?
”
Dr. Rice tilted her head.

Shifting her attention, Tula looked Levi up and down. Slack in sleep, his face appeared more youthful.
But not a child.
The golden stubble of his beard glimmered along his jaw and outlined the fullness of his lips.
“
He was with a woman in labor when we picked them up. He was helping her. We thought they were a family, and I was going to study cannibal family dynamics. But it turned out he didn
’
t even know her.
”
The memories were like another life. So much had happened, she
’
d forgotten the mystery of the Levi she
’
d first met.

The doctor raised a condescending brow, and out of instinct, Tula tacked on a scientific justification.
“
The altruistic behavior was unusual. And he arrived with a primitive notebook full of drawings of what appeared to be a stable community. I was assigned to study him and find out if there were more Outsiders like him.
”

The doctor turned back to her work.
“
I see. And the Haldanians believed his people might have something to offer?
”

“
A group of peaceful Outsiders, people who could still live off the land, would be a valuable asset.
”

“
That they would.
”
The doctor pulled the cattail wrap from Levi
’
s wounded arm.

Tula leaned closer. How could they see in the watery illumination from the ceiling?
“
Don
’
t you need a light? Fiber optics would be easy to run in here. You could channel full spectrum sunlight.
”

“
Unfortunately, we have severe skin sensitivity to solar radiation. This is why your friend must bring his son here for our help. We cannot risk exposing ourselves to ultraviolet or other potentially damaging activity. One of the side effects of the longevity enzymes, I
’
m afraid.
”

“
Are there a lot of side effects?
”
Tula thought of the red eyes.

“
There are always costs when man alters nature
—
his own or the world around him. Rosalee is the perfect example of the price for our longevity. Our bodies can be maintained, but our brains deteriorate. Telomerase is ineffective on brain cells.
”
Rice used a toe to open a bio-waste disposal unit and tossed the cattail fibers inside.

“
Oh, how awful!
”
Tula knitted her brow.
“
Are many of you effected? You and Dr. Kaneka seem fine.
”

Dr. Rice stiffened.
“
Oh. We
’
re working on some secondary enzymes. But our supply is … unsteady.
”
She peeled back the leaf compress.
“
Ugh. Look at these Mgunga leaves. What an invention.
”

Tula watched the poultice as Rice tossed it away.
“
We call it yuvee. It predicts incoming ultraviolet surges.
”

“
Yes, yes, the fluorescence is a useful byproduct if you spend any time outside, I suppose.
”
Dr. Rice cinched Levi to the chair and rotated him to access his shoulder.
“
The Mgunga tree was engineered to fix nitrogen levels in cropland.
Do-gooders trying to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.
Planted it all over the Midwest. The original species was from Africa, and lived on no precipitation. But give it a little rainfall and it explodes. Couldn
’
t get rid of it once it settled in. And the amarantox loves it.
”

“
I was actually surprised by the variety of plants growing
Outside
. And the animals! I
’
d been led to believe nothing was left from before the Botanicaust.
”

Dr. Rice cut the binding on Levi
’
s chest and shook her head.
“
Nothing like before. I was married to a botanist before the Botanicaust. He was on the Amaranthine Team. The one that lost control of the amarantox.
”

Tula
’
s mind reeled. In school she
’
d learned the Botanicaust had been caused by climate change, in spite of scientists
’
best efforts. Amarantox had simply filled a gap.
“
The amarantox was created on purpose?
”

“
Not exactly. The plant was supposed to help us live forever. It has naturally high levels of a unique tocotrienol, which researchers attempted to enhance. They didn
’
t realize they
’
d also increased the plant
’
s defensive chemicals. It secretes compounds into the soil to keep competing plants from sprouting. When the drought hit, the amarantox took over and
cross-bred
with all the native amaranth, spreading the toxic genome throughout the continent. Crops couldn
’
t compete. The weed shrugged off targeted herbicides, and farmers resorted to broad-spectrum sprays, which only helped kill off the competition.
”