Botanicaust by Tam Linsey Page B

didn ’ t let go. She rose, her deft hands bringing up another picture he thought he ’ d deleted.
    His heart raced with embarrassment. His father had always warned him his drawings would lead to trouble. Shaking his head, he again tried to take the notebook. “ I didn ’ t mean for anyone to see those. Please. ”
    An entire string of unintelligible words streamed from her lips, and she pressed the notebook to her breasts as she palmed the lock and exited his cell.
    “ Tula, no! ”
    But his words were in vain. He wondered what his sins would get him into now.

    As she climbed the stairs out of Confinement, Tula scrolled through the memory on the gamma pad, reviewing all the drawings Levi had done since he began talking. Her patients usually made multiple drawings of her over the course of counseling, but what struck Tula about these was the way he turned color and light into something powerful. A talent some might consider genius. Especially considering he ’ d done it on a child ’ s gamma pad.
    She passed her lab and continued to the second flight into the Liebert building. Although the walls were solid concrete, the sun bored through the retrofitted nuvoplast roofing, and the unaccustomed brightness made her eyes tear as she emerged into the hallway. Only a few doors down from Confinement, Council Woman Arnica ’ s office stood open to indicate the head of the Conversion Committee was available.
    If Tula could convince the Board of Levi ’ s talent, they might listen to her plea for special consideration.
    She needed a full portfolio. His notebook from the Reaches was at her house — technically illegal, but it seemed a shame to send it to the incinerator, and now she gladly rushed home to retrieve it. She lived a few minutes walking distance, and a little direct sunlight felt good on her skin in the middle of the day. A haze of dust in the air made her nose itch and hinted at an incoming blowout. She glanced at the green yuvee tree in the square outside her apartment. No imminent UV storm.
    In her apartment, Mo lay snoring on the sofa. Burn Ops must have cancelled flights because of the impending sand storm. Levi ’ s notebook rested face open on her entertainment console. Even Mo had been intrigued by the portraits, the long sweep of a building and its shadow, the grotesque face of a creature with curled horns she ’ d researched and discovered was a goat.
    “ Hey, baby. What are you doing home? ” Mo rubbed his eyes and stretched his long green legs over the edge of the sofa.
    “ They want to euthanize Levi in the morning, and I have to petition the Board immediately. ”
    “ Here I was hoping you ’ d come home for a nooner. ”
    “ It ’ s a matter of life and death, Mo. ” She scolded, then relented. “ I know you ’ ve missed me the last few days. As soon as I get Levi through conversion I ’ ll take some time off, okay? ”
    Lips drawn down with disappointment, he nodded. “ You ’ re going in front of the Board like that? ”
    “ Like what? ” She tucked the notebook under her arm.
    “ You know how judgmental they can be. Maybe some jewelry? ”
    He was right. She had to look like she had connections. Her heart warmed and she bent to kiss him lightly on the lips. She ’ d have to make sure to give him time as soon as she could. “ Thanks, Mo. ”
    In the privacy of her vanity, she selected some long amber bead earrings and a pendant to match. The earrings hurt going in, the pierced holes having drawn shut from disuse. She chose a thin gold bracelet, a pair of matching anklets, and a topaz ring. In lieu of hair beads, she pulled her short bangs out of her eyes with a simple, nuvoplast clip given to her as a child by Dr. Werne, her conversion therapist. Thanks to his efforts, she ’ d become a genetic psychiatrist herself. The clip would be good luck.
    Taking the notebook in one hand and the gamma pad in the other, she hurried back to the living room. “ This better? ”
    Mo looked