Botanicaust

through the room. “ Michael, where are you? Report to Medlab immediately with our guest. ”
    Michael flinched , then his shoulders fell as he looked at Tula. Apparently, this wasn ’ t the Medlab. “ Can I walk this time? ” she asked.
    With a shrug, he nodded.

    Medlab looked much like the room she and Michael had just been in, except no radiation suits and only one gurney. A small woman with dark skin and close-cropped hair surveyed the screen on a diagnostic unit next to the exam chair. The sight of her white lab coat put Tula at ease until the woman turned and considered Tula with blood filled eyes like Dr. Kaneka ’ s.
    “ You must be Tula. I ’ m Dr. Rice. ” She extended a hand.
    Trying to not let her repulsion show, Tula forced her arm forward in a jerk to shake. “ What ’ s going on? And what happened to Levi? ”
    “ I ’ m not sure what you mean? Michael, you can go back to your regular duties. ”
    The big man shuffled his feet and gave Tula a parting glance. She smiled encouragingly at him. “ Thank you for saving me. ” She assumed that ’ s what he ’ d been doing, rescuing her from the crazy woman.
    Dr. Rice patted the recliner under the diagnostic unit. “ Take a seat and we ’ ll give you a quick once over. ”
    Too tense to sit, Tula moved to the unit but didn ’ t lower herself to the seat. “ That woman back there. Why did she attack me? Is Levi all right? ”
    “ Rosalee is sometimes afflicted with delusions. I apologize on her behalf. Your companion will be along shortly. Dr. Kaneka said you ’ ve been in the desert for some time? ” The woman looked Tula over, much the same way Dr. Kaneka had, and Tula tried not to squirm.
    “ Our skimmer crashed. We ’ ve been walking for days. ” Settling into the seat, Tula put her arm in the pulse-rest, but couldn ’ t relax. Should she tell this woman the entire story? Would they help without contacting the Protectorate?
    “ I ’ m surprised to see a Haldanian traveling with one who is unconverted, as you call them. ” Selecting options from the exam screen, Dr. Rice activated the arm of the scanner and stepped back.
    Tula imagined her skin tingling in response to the imaging radiation, although she knew her cells would not react to this low dose. “ Yes, well, it ’ s a long story. And it ’ s Levi ’ s, too. I ’ d like to wait for him. ” She struggled with a plausible way to ask for help without condemning them both.
    Dr. Kaneka arrived, but Levi was nowhere in sight. Remaining in the doorway, he spoke in low tones to Dr. Rice. Stuck in the chair, Tula could not move. She strained her ears to catch his words, but the scanner arm made too much noise.
    Were they going to call the Protectorate? Her heart rate had to be excessive, likely skewing the results of the scan. When the sensor cleared the edge of the chair, she pulled her arm from the pulse-rest and rose, surprised at how tired her legs were. The hum of the auto-sanitization mode reminded her of her lab and how often her patients begged for an end to the pain during conversion. She promised if she ever resumed her job as a Conversion Psychiatrist, she ’ d be a better listener.
    As she approached the doctors, she caught the tail end of the conversation. “ … with Vitus. ”
    Her entire body seized. There was only one thing left to do if they ’ d already told Vitus. She held her head high and steeled her voice. “ Dr. Kaneka, I ’ d like to ask for asylum. ”
    Dr. Kaneka ’ s bloodshot gaze speared her. He had a new scab across his left cheek. “ Asylum? Now, that is an interesting turn of events. Why is it you seek asylum? ”
    “ The Protectorate issued an order to exterminate me, which may or may not have been suspended. And Levi does not belong to them. I won ’ t go back. Not after … everything. ” She was too exhausted to explain. How much had Vitus already told them? She wanted nothing more than to collapse into a chair and drink a protein canister.
    “ So you are what the Haldanians call a reversion? ” His attention travelled to the pink scar on her arm.
    She involuntarily stepped back. Was she a reversion? She never considered herself such, but according to Protectorate protocol, she was. “ I ’ m not trying to return to the way I was before my conversion. I disagreed with decisions the Board made regarding the treatment of prisoners. Levi in particular. I am still in support of conversion. ”
    “ So, you ran away with him?