Botanicaust (64 page)

Garden
—
the nuvoplast houses where Haldanian children are kept until they finish puberty and can withstand ultraviolet light.

Gotte
’
s Wille
—
God
’
s Will.

Haldanian Protectorate
—
the government formed after the Botanicaust by the scientists who developed conversion technology. Mission statement is to offer conversion to the population of the world in an attempt to minimize humanity
’
s need for food.

Holdout
—
the Old Order name for their protected community.

Integration
—
the heavily supervised time period during which converted children acclimate to their new environment and society.

Knowing, The
—
cannibals who retain certain kinds of knowledge, such as healing or locating water.
They are marked by scars to keep them safe from other cannibal hunters
.

Mark of the Beast
—
an Old Order belief. The green skin of the Haldanians is the obvious sign that someone is marked.

Native Haldanian
—
one born to parents already expressing the chloroplast genome.

Nuvoplast
—
a bio plastic grown and used by Haldanians to build everything from gamma pads to sand-skimmers to the walls of their dwellings.

Old Order
—
a remnant Amish society who survived the Botanicaust by erecting electric fences to protect their hand-cultivated acreage.

Ordnung
—
the set of earthly rules believed to be sent by
God which
are followed by the Old Order.

Reversion
—
a convert who regresses to cannibalistic ways.
Punishable by death.

Ripening
—
a once common autoimmune condition among naturally born Haldanians in which the body attempts to purge itself of chloroplasts. The faulty gene has been largely eliminated from the population, but still appears as a random mutation in one out of ten thousand births.

Rumspringa
—
a time during adolescence just before a young person chooses to be baptized into the Old Order. Literally
“
running around.
”

Sand-skimmer
—
a land vehicle used by the Protectorate to cross portions of the Burn.

Sunstorm / UV flare
—
a short period of time, more common in autumn and winter, when the atmosphere allows excess ultraviolet to reach the earth. Largely due to improperly tested herbicide use during the Botanicaust, which created gaps in the ozone layer.

Telomerase
—
an enzyme that prevents genetic deterioration by replicating the telomere regions of DNA strands during mitosis. Used by the Fosselites to extend life indefinitely, although telomerase cannot pass the blood-brain barrier and therefore does not function on neural DNA.

Verification of Consent
—
a signed document required for cannibals or other potential converts over the age of sixteen in which they express their desire and reasons for becoming a convert. Outlined in Ordinance 317 under the Protectorate Mission.

Yuvee tree
—
a genetically altered tree originally introduced to
“
fix
”
nitrogen in cropland and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers. Later discovered to foretell an incoming ultraviolet flare by the rapid leaching of color from its leaves. Called mgunga tree by the Fosselites.

Dedication

Deepest gratitude to my husband, who has supported me through the baby steps of my career and been my first reader, even when the writing was awful.
May we take many more strides
together.

Acknowledgements

I also want to thank my wonderful critique partners, who weathered my ups and downs, and were never afraid to be honest with me; Maxine Mansfield, Lynn Lovegreen, DeNise Woods, Morgan Q. O
’
Reilly, Jae Awkins, Boone Brux, Jennifer Bernard, Lizbeth Selvig, Lizzie Newell, Peter Paul Morgan, and Dena Hankins.

And finally I
’
d like to mention my editor, Tina Winograd at TRW Enterprises, who worked faster than I could on perfecting the manuscript.

About the author

Tam Linsey is a lifelong Alaskan who is obsessed with self-sufficiency. In spite of the rigors of living in the High North, she grows, hunts, or fishes for much of her family
’
s food needs. She believes that we should have the right to choose what we eat, and therefore is also a GMO labeling advocate (not to be confused with a GMO opponent.) When she is not farming, fishing, or cooking, she writes speculative fiction.

You can learn more about her at
http://www.tamlinsey.com

Or visit her on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/!/TamLinsey

Or Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TamLinsey/241217872556029

Other books by Tam Linsey