Botanicaust

man hauled the enormous door closed with a deep and very final sounding thud. The third man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke. “ Welcome. I am Dr. Kaneka. ”
    “ I ’ m Tula, and this is Levi. ”
    “ We did not receive word the Protectorate had sent an emissary. ” Dr. Kaneka ’ s lips pursed with displeasure.
    Before Tula could answer, Levi babbled something excitedly.
    Dr. Kaneka stared at him in confusion. “ Is he speaking German? ”
    “ I don ’ t know. We captured him weeks ago in the Reaches. But he ’ s not a cannibal. ” Tula reassured the doctor.
    “ Deutsch? ” Dr. Kaneka asked Levi.
    “ Ja. ” Levi started another sentence, but the doctor held up a hand to stop him.
    “ Fascinating. I ’ ve not heard German in over a hundred years. What ’ s he saying? ”
    Tula flushed and tried to maintain eye contact as the doctor turned his bloody gaze back on her. “ I don ’ t know. ”
    He huffed, nostrils widening in contempt. “ I ’ ll see if a translator is … available. Follow me. ” He entered an enormous hall carved out of solid granite. Thirty feet overhead, weak illumination from long bulbs barely reached the concrete floor. Their echoing footsteps bounced off distant walls, dying away in the vastness of the cavern.
    His companions hung at the back of the group, gaping at her as she grasped Levi ’ s hand to follow the doctor. The yawning tunnel smelled of dust and disuse and the faint hint of ancient petrochemicals. Two flatbed trailers holding insectile looking, metal-bladed flying machines squatted on one side of the chamber. A blocky, old-style automobile parked nearby looked like it might still operate.
    The doctor continued a brisk pace down the concrete centerline, pausing only to point at a dust mop. “ Alex. ”
    “‘ K. ” The trisomy man wrapped thick fingers around the metal handle and began sweeping.
    “ Michael, with me. ” He didn ’ t bother to verify the larger man complied before continuing his march. The big fellow waited for Tula and Levi to move, then shambled along behind. Ahead, the doctor mumbled to himself as they walked, but Tula couldn ’ t make out the words.
    At the end of the three-story-high tunnel, they reached a wall. In the center of the massive barrier, two opposing four-step staircases met at the top of a small landing where a set of double doors provided egress. The doctor gestured Levi and Tula up and through. Inside, a small anteroom offered three narrow white hallways — two dark, one illuminated, each barely wide enough for two people to pass. They followed the lit corridor in silence, the walls echoing with the vague hum and clunk of machinery deep in the bowels of the earth, and the doctor ’ s sporadic mumblings.
    Used to the airy feel of the greenhouses, and more recently the open sky, Tula swallowed against the threatening claustrophobia. The dismal lighting and cramped hall were worse than the lab. At least the lab ’ s offices offered fiber-optic sunlight. Maybe the quarters are more spacious.
    They passed several rooms, and finally the doctor paused at a set of white double doors, his hand on the latch. He focused an annoyed glare at Tula. “ You should have called before you arrived. Our translator won ’ t be ready, you know. And we don ’ t have accommodations prepared. ”
    A new worry entered Tula ’ s mind. What if the Fosselites contacted the Protectorate? Neither side would want to do anything to damage trade relations. “ It might be better if you don ’ t tell the Protectorate of my arrival just yet. ”
    He looked Tula over, his focus lingering on her scarred arm and her hand joined to Levi ’ s. Suddenly she felt dirty. She dropped Levi ’ s hand, wiping the palm on her skirt.
    “ You have been in the desert too long. ”
    Resisting the urge to run her fingers through her hair, she said, “ I … yes. I suppose I have. ” She must look an absolute wreck, and for the first time in her life, longed for jewelry.
    “ Perhaps you should come with me while your companion talks to the translator. We can set up a telomerase drip. ”
    The idea was tempting, but she wasn ’ t sure what Levi might tell the translator, and this entire situation needed to be handled delicately. “ I ’ d much rather stay with him, for now. I might be able to help with the translation. As his Conversion Psychiatrist, I managed to learn a little of his language. ” It couldn ’ t hurt to let them