Botanicaust

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