Botanicaust

forward and shouted back, gesturing to the people around her.
    The second duster arrived, kicking up swirls of fallen leaves and dirt. It circled the group and then settled to earth. Beyond, at the burning house, brave men manned the hoses of the fire truck to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby houses. Soot-stained faces kept checking back, but they continued dousing flames. Eily edged away from the group with the children.
    Several figures leapt from the open sides of the newly arrived duster. Tula shouted, “ Mo! ” and ran toward the Blattvolk, tripping on her skirts before hiking the fabric to expose her slim, green legs. She flung herself into one of the men ’ s arms. His touch was far too familiar for Levi ’ s liking, pulling Tula ’ s body close to his. When he planted a kiss directly on Tula ’ s lips, Levi shot to his feet. “ Tula! ”

    “ No! ” Tula ’ s heart leapt in fear. One overeager Burn Op turned his gun to Levi. “ Stop flashing. These people are the ones Councilwoman Arnica ordered me to find. They ’ re peaceful. ” She prayed invoking the Councilwoman would make the flashing cease.
    The Burn Op hesitated and shouted, “ We found her first, Mo. The bounty is ours. ”
    “ I got Vitus onboard. He ’ ll call the shots. ”
    Tula ’ s legs grew weak. “ Mo? ”
    “ Vitus offered a bounty on you. Thought I ’ d make sure you ’ re brought home alive. ”
    She pressed her lips together. He was still protecting her. “ Thank you. Can you have the other duster stand down? ”
    His brows twitched and he glanced at a man behind him who Tula recognized as his boss, Panone. “ Sir? ”
    At the lip of the duster, Vitus, adorned in blue and copper beads and bangles, clung to the edge of the door. His skin had a coppery cast she ’ d never seen before. His eyes bored hatred into her, the sclera as red as Dr. Kaneka ’ s. Her skin tightened from head to toe under his stare.
    Panone spoke into the micro headset wrapped around his ear. “ Stand down, men. But keep alert. ”
    Vitus blustered from his perch on the vehicle. “ Ordinance eighty nine dictates all Outsiders not in compliance with — ”
    “ Excuse me, Dr. Dedecus, but Burn Ops is my division. Policy is to offer conversion to all non-resistant Outsiders. I see no resistance here. ”
    Still staring at Tula, Vitus rasped, “ You can ’ t bring back all these people for conversion. ”
    That seemed to give Panone and the others pause.
    Tula tried to still the trembling in her chest. “ This is exactly what the Board wanted to find — a people still living a pre-Botanicaust way of life. This is what Councilwoman Arnica sent me to find. ”
    Panone nodded. “ Round up as many as you can. Bill, get on the com back to the Protectorate. Let them know what we found. ”
    “ And take her into custody! ” Vitus thrust a trembling, beringed finger at Tula. “ Someone put her in cuffs! ”

    Vitus tottered back to his seat in the duster. He grew weaker by the hour, it seemed. Damn that Kaneka, encrypting his notes so even his Fosselite assistants had trouble accessing the information. The spot where Vitus had banged his wrist this morning had blossomed into a flaming purple bruise. And to top it off, the brief exposure to the sun made his skin itch and his eyes burn. Again, he cursed the dead Fosselite.
    But he had Tula now. The power was his.
    He watched as they loaded her onto the duster. Her man refused to cuff her, and Vitus didn ’ t have the strength to argue. As long as he got her back to the lab for samples, he would leave well enough alone.
    She looked healthy. What he could see of her in that horrible dress, anyway. And that made him furious as well as hopeful. The Fosselites were keeping what they ’ d deciphered of Kaneka ’ s notes from him, but they wanted Tula back badly. Rice had contacted him several times since their initial interaction. He was convinced Kaneka had given her the new strain of fungi in spite of Rice ’ s assurances to the contrary. Seeing her unharmed reinforced his belief.
    Adjusting his necklaces to cover as much of his chest as possible, he settled back against the jump seat and watched them load the other mongrels into the hold. The duster would only hold eight or so prisoners, plus the Burn team in the cabin. The adults refused to let go of the children, and Tula convinced the Operatives to allow one adult per child on board. Not that it mattered. These kids were pale and