Botanicaust

had no one thought to offer diapers? So many techs considered the prisoners animals.
    Both adults rose, the woman to the front with her hand out asking for the canister, the man back in the center of the small area. Seeing him up close instead of on a monitor reinforced how big he was, head and shoulders taller than most cannibals, who tended to be small and wiry.
    Tula handed a container to the woman and said in Haldanian, “ Food. ” The woman ignored her and scuttled to a far corner to set down the baby before drinking greedily. According to the techs, the man had been giving his protein drinks to the woman. Tula looked him in the eye and held up the canister. “ You must be hungry. ” This time she spoke Cannibal.
    He stood with arms akimbo, blanket draped over one shoulder and under the other arm to hide his body, his pale blue eyes creased into worried lines. She took a small step back at the sight of his eyes. It was like looking in a mirror. Blue eyes were rare among Haldanians, and all but non-existent among the cannibals. Mo loved her unique coloring, and for the first time she thought she understood why. Exotic . She watched the stranger ’ s chest rise and fall in tensely measured breaths.
    “ I ’ m not going to hurt you. You need to eat. ” She held the canister through the bars.
    The man didn ’ t move.
    She put the protein drink back on the tray and lifted his notebook from the surface. “ You like pictures? ”
    He started forward and then froze. She set the tray and the notebook on the floor outside the cage and unrolled a child ’ s gamma pad from the pocket of her lab coat. The device lit up when she tapped the screen. With slow, exaggerated movements, she dragged a finger over the broad surface, leaving a long curved mark. The whole time she moved, she watched the man ’ s face. His attention flickered between her face and her hands. Again, slowly, she lifted her finger and made circles for eyes and another larger one for a nose.
    “ Would you like to try? ” She brushed her palm over the screen and the lines cleared, then she lowered the sheet to the floor inside the cell.
    The female cannibal had not been interested in the activity until Tula set the gamma pad inside the cage. Now the woman dashed forward and snatched the item from the floor. Both Tula and the man watched as the woman turned it over in her hands, sniffed it, put a corner in her mouth to bite it. Luckily the nuvoplast was resistant to abuse.
    With a disgusted look at Tula the woman threw the gamma pad to the floor and approached the bars with her eye on the man ’ s full canister.
    “ No, this is his. ” Tula picked up the canister and pointed to the man.
    The woman spoke for the first time. “ Hungry. ”
    New prisoners felt like they were constantly hungry. The manufactured protein drinks were standard Haldanian fare - amino acids, vitamins, and minerals providing complete nutrition to a person who could create carbohydrates out of sunlight. Outsiders required many times the intake of calories, and Tula was endlessly fighting the restrictions the Conversion Department imposed on potential converts. Their theory was if the prisoner became hungry enough, they would convert. Tula maintained that a well-fed prisoner was a happy convert. The sweets she provided the prisoners came out of her own pocket money.
    The Conversion Department ’ s bottom line was if someone took too long to convert, they were not worth feeding.
    “ What is your name? ” she asked the woman.
    “ Awnia. Give me. ”
    “ Awnia. My name is Tula. ” She watched the woman ’ s face to see how the introduction registered.
    Focus still on the canister, the woman repeated, “ Hungry. ”
    On the bed, the baby started to fuss. As if remembering the child was hers, the woman backed up, lifted the infant.
    Tula turned to the man and pointed to her chest. “ Tula. ”
    His face flushed as his gaze wandered to her chest and then darted to the ceiling.
    “ What is your name? ” She couldn ’ t understand his excessive tension. Perhaps because he feared for the woman and child? Sticking the protein canister between the bars, Tula allowed the woman to approach and snatch it from her, but it made no difference in the man ’ s stance.
    She pointed to the gamma pad on the floor of the cell. “ Draw. ”
    The man ’ s blue eyes shifted to look at the gamma pad, and then as if making a decision, he pointed to his notebook.
    She considered giving