Botanicaust (38 page)

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.

Rising, he spotted a gamma pad on the small table next to the bed. Tula must have left it there earlier. Hands itching to put his feelings on paper, he picked up the device and swiped a hand across the surface. A partially played game of chess appeared on the screen. The unfinished moves of Tula
’
s game made him ache. Clenching his teeth, he exited the game and found the drawing program.

He sat and stared at the blank screen. All he could think to draw was Tula.
Always her smile, her blue eyes, the gentle curve of her neck and shoulder.
Of its own volition, his hand created a swoop, and then the fall of the necklace she
’
d been wearing at lunch.
Such primitive baubles for such an advanced community.
But then, it had come from one of the lesser members of the society. Where would Tula rank among all the scientists?

He needed to stop thinking of her.
To focus on his goal.
Josef. He tried to call to memory his son
’
s face, to put the child on the screen. The image would not come. How could he not remember every detail of his own child? He
’
d been gone so long. In the dungeon of the Blattvolk, he
’
d had no way to tell the passing of days except by the arrival of meals, and he
’
d lost count. The same as the artificial state of existence the Fosselites chose to live in here in their mountain.