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Levi ’ s drawings appeared. This time, the chubby face of Josef, his fist curled against one cheek as he slept.
    “ No. ” He thrust the notebook at the woman. Each breath seemed to require his complete attention. He stumbled onto the cot, wrapped his hands around the back of his neck and lowered his head between his knees.
    God was a cruel deity to torture him so.

    Vitus returned the tranquilizer to the compartment near the prison door. That woman ’ s screaming had disturbed him for the last four hours. He ’ d had enough of Tula ’ s little pet project. Ninety nine percent of the time adults were not viable converts, and why she insisted on wasting precious resources on these two was beyond him.
    Well, not really. She was a convert herself. She obviously had a soft spot for these pitiful excuses for human beings. And she ’ d pulled every trick in the book to keep these two alive after determining they were not a family unit. When he sent her the euthanization form, she dredged up some old policy stating all prisoners were granted ten days to prove worthiness for conversion.
    Absolute waste of time.
    However, her parting words a few moments ago hung over his head. “ I ’ ll take this to the Board, Vitus. It ’ s unethical. ”
    The Board was all about ethics. Like these animals deserved any ethics. Conversion was a privilege, not a right. If they converted every cannibal out there, humanity would end up no better than when the Botanicaust had occurred in the first place. Ungoverned greed had caused the planet ’ s downfall, and cannibals were nothing if not greedy. More food. More time. More space.
    No, the Conversion Department ’ s job was to screen potential converts and make sure only the most useful entered Haldanian society. Converts had to earn back the cost of conversion. The Board needed to recognize that. Tula kept letting marginal personalities pass conversion requirements.
    He pulled up her statistics on his computer screen. Seventeen percent reversion rate. Three percent required euthanization after conversion. Her numbers were barely within tolerances. One more failure and she ’ d be due for a reprimand.
    Maybe he could help that along.

“ B ut they ’ re children! You have to give me more time! ” Tula blocked the door to Vitus ’ s office. He ’ d just sent her the euthanization orders for Rhomy and Nika.
    Vitus sat at his desk illuminated by a circle of light from the fiber-optic daylight emitter in the ceiling. His crystal jewelry winked flashes of color as he checked off items on his gamma pad. He didn ’ t bother to look up. “ You ’ ve been spending all your energy on the new captives. We can ’ t keep feeding all these prisoners. ”
    Guilt rose over Tula in a wave. “ Rhomy is ready for conversion. She showed me a drawing of herself as a convert the other day. ” Opening her gamma pad, she started filling in conversion forms for the girl.
    “ If you say so. ” Vitus rose. “ I have a Board meeting now, Sertularia. If you ’ ll excuse me. ”
    Tula frowned. Vitus hadn ’ t used her given name since he ’ d first taken the position as the Conversion Department Supervisor and learned she was a convert. “ You ’ ll approve it? You never give in to a conversion so easily. ”
    “ Just get them off my roster. ”
    A moment of hesitation might mean the end for the two children. “ I ’ ll get both girls into gene therapy this afternoon. ” She would have to give them a little more attention during their Integration sessions, but Albert would help her.
    “ Make sure you get me the forms. ” His words seemed like an afterthought as he pushed past her and out the door. She wondered what the Board meeting was about to have him so distracted.
    As long as the girls converted, she didn ’ t care. She wasn ’ t quite sure they trusted her enough to lie still for the gene therapy, yet. Conversion would be so much easier if sedatives didn ’ t interfere with the cellular