Botanicaust (16 page)

“
Shhhh.
”
She held out a hand and moved into the room, colliding with his broad chest in four steps.
“
Come,
”
she whispered, stroking his shoulder and down his arm to take a hand.

He followed without a sound. In the hall, she pulled the door shut, horrified at the click. No response from the monitor room. She put a finger to her lips, hoping he understood. With a hand, she gestured Levi to keep up.

At the top of the stairs, she scanned the main hallway of the Liebert building. A few lights gleamed above privacy screens, but the hall appeared deserted. She handed Levi the robe. He could barely shove his arms into the sleeves, but it covered the bulk of his glowing, pink skin.

They scurried down the hall and Tula stopped at the doors, surveying the street for passersby. Wind whistled down the dark passage between buildings. The jewelry store on the next street gleamed bright with lights, hopeful that passing lovers might stop to bestow gifts upon each other. But other than that, darkness dominated the business district.
“
Keep your robe closed and your head down.
”
She tugged on the thick edges of the robe, but it would not close across his chest.
“
Here goes nothing.
”

Likely to draw attention by dashing down the street, she looped an arm around Levi
’
s and strolled outside across the pavement. The three blocks to the skimmer yard felt like a million miles. Wind chilled her naked skin and tugged her hair, but Levi needed the robe far more than she did.

Light streaming from the attendant building chilled her more deeply than the cutting wind.

“
God, no,
”
she groaned under her breath. Nobody should be there.

Levi squeezed her hand and pointed toward the Burn.

“
No. You won
’
t get far enough.
”
The Burn Teams would be on him first thing in the morning.
“
Stay here. Stay.
”
She pointed to a narrow walkway between two buildings and handed him the supply bag. Eyes wary, Levi stepped into the deeper shadows.

Putting a swing into her gait, she sauntered toward the attendant building. For
all the
world she wished she
’
d worn some jewelry.
Inside, the mechanic, Koil, reclined in a chair with his sandaled feet on the desk.
A gamma pad sat propped against the wall playing a movie. His eyes widened at her appearance and he dropped his feet from the desk.

“
Dr. Macoby! What are you doing out so late?
”

“
I might ask you the same question. You don
’
t live here, do you?
”
She looked around with a wrinkle in her nose.

“
Oh, no. No, no, no. Batina and I had a fight.
”
His face broke into a sheepish grin.
“
My fault, of course.
”

“
She
’
d love to hear you say that.
”
Tula grinned back and perched on the edge of the desk.
“
What
’
d you fight about?
”

“
She works the shoe store. Brought home a new pair for me tonight and threw away my favorites.
”
He pointed down to his worn sandals.
“
Had to rescue them from the recycler.
”

“
How are the new ones?
”

A flush turned his face brown beneath the chloroplasts and his gaze darted to a pair of new sandals tossed near the door.
“
No idea.
”

Tula smiled and clucked her tongue. She had it from here.
“
Boy, are you in trouble.
”

“
I figure I
’
ll sit the night out here. She
’
ll be cool by morning.
”

“
Koil, can I tell you a secret? The jewelry store across from Luan
’
s Stitchery still had their lights on a few minutes ago.
”

“
You think?
”

“
I think your woman gives you a gift, you
’
d better have something for her.
”

“
Damn. You
’
re right. Thanks, Dr. Macoby. Oh, did you need something?
”

“
I
’
m just out for a stroll. Saw your light on.
”
She stood and sauntered from the building.

Making a point to stroll the opposite direction, she gave Koil time to disappear around the corner before running back to where she
’
d left Levi. He
’
d wandered down to the other end of the alleyway.
“
Levi!
”
she hissed.

He hurried in her direction, a relieved look on his face. At the skimmer yard, she deposited him and the supplies in the nearest skimmer and hurried back to the wall with the ignition fobs. Crime wasn
’
t an issue in the Protectorate. The only reason the Conversion Department had locks was to keep the prisoners contained.

Grabbing a key, she spotted Koil
’
s new sandals and took them, too. Levi needed shoes.
Sorry, Koil
.

As they sped past Burn Ops toward the edge of the city, a flight team emerged from the hangar, talking and laughing, obviously high from their day on the Burn. Willing them to ignore her, Tula stepped on the accelerator. The skimmer shot past the outer fence. She clutched the steering wheel, eyes wide as t
hey were enveloped by darkness.

T
he Reaches
Levi twisted to look back at the city for the tenth time. The lights and glitter of glass houses had disappeared in a blanket of haze. He turned to face forward, peering into the darkness. In the driver
’
s seat, Tula gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make her knuckles gleam as she stared intently ahead. They ran with no lights. The faint blue glow from the dashboard gave off only enough light to see fantastic swirls of dust pummeling the front window, eddying along the clear sides, grasping at the vehicle as if attempting to stop the reckless flight. Every once in a while, the vehicle shuddered and swayed, from the wind or from an unseen obstacle in their path, he couldn
’
t tell. His stomach leapt and twisted. Not used to this kind of speed, he was thrilled and frightened at the same time.

Earlier, in the single-room cell, after the effect of the stun wore off, he
’
d been ready to accept his death. He
’
d made his peace with God. His mind wavered from so many changes. The will to live, the will to die - how many times had he determined a course of action over the last weeks, only to be derailed at the final moment of proof? He felt like Abraham on the mountain as he prepared to sacrifice his son, relieved to have God stay his hand.

Only Levi was not so pious. Surely, it never occurred to Abraham that God was toying with him.

Ashamed of his thoughts, Levi dropped his head in silent prayer and beseeched the Lord to grant them safe passage.

For hours they headed through the darkness. The storm howled louder, and small stones and other debris cracked against the sides of the vehicle. His stomach dropped out from under him as they tilted precariously, slid sideways, and righted again. He clutched the edge of his seat.
“
Tula?
”

“
It
’
s okay.
”
She didn
’
t take her eyes off the front window.

He struggled with words. Dare he break her concentration? Could she see anything?
“
Eye?
”
He pointed out the front.

A slight shake of her head.

She couldn
’
t see. He
’
d hoped the Blattvolk had some kind of enhanced night vision, in addition to their green skin. Could the other Blattvolk pursue them in this weather?

Again the car lurched, and the hum of the engine rose to a whine. Tula let out a string of words Levi didn
’
t understand, but interpreted as frustration.

“
Should we stop?
”
He knew she wouldn
’
t understand, but the silence pressed around him until it was hard to breathe.

“
Levi free.
”
More words, and again,
“
free.
”

Then the car entered free fall.

The Haldanian Protectorate

Vitus planned on being up at dawn to oversee the euthanization, but he still had two hours on his clock when the
com
shattered the silence in his apartment.

“
Dr. Vitus Dedecus, there
’
s an emergency in Confinement. Please respond immediately.
”

Groggy, he heaved a few breaths and flung back the blanket. Damn that prisoner. What had the mongrel done now? He used the lavatory and settled a few beads around his neck and at his ears. He
’
d wanted to look his best for the euthanization, but there was no time for primping.

Muttering, he stepped out of the apartment. The wind ripped at his necklaces and blown sand scoured his exposed skin.
“
They couldn
’
t warn me there was a blowout?
”
He spit sand from his stinging lips and ducked back into his apartment to dig for a mask and wind-wrap in his equipment box. Once he had the breather secured and the stiff microfiber suit cinched at the neck and cuffs, he slipped outside, making sure to close the door tightly against the invading wind.

Any remnant of pleasure about the upcoming euthanization was shredded to nothing by the scouring sand as he made his way to the Liebert Building. Another figure coming from the opposite direction stumbled toward the front door, but Vitus didn
’
t wait to see
who
. He lurched inside, flung off his mask, and tramped down the hallway to the stairs.

Already in Confinement, Faran and the head of Burn Ops were in a heated argument.
“
…
nothing
, Faran.
”

Brows creased, Faran cowered at Vitus
’
s glare.
“
Sir. I don
’
t know how, but the prisoner is gone.
”