Equestrian Phoenix: Prelude
The main office of the Species Restoration Project was almost neuroticly orderly. Data crystals were all neatly placed in their racks. The only tools out of place were those which were obviously in use for recently interrupted projects. The surfaces were scrupulously clean and the furniture pristine.
This appearance was at great odds with what was going on outside the building. Faint but shrill inhuman cries of distress could be heard coming through the walls. The door opened to admit a Minbari man and an exhausted human woman.
Well, perhaps mixed-race would be a better description. The woman's head had a faint ridge around the back of it masked by her hair which indicated some Minbari in her ancestry. She rubbed a hand across it in frustration as she sat down at the desk and began searching through the crystals.
At least the bastard was considerate enough to leave the records in order, she snarled telepathicly. If he ever shows his face here again, I might not torture him before I kill him.
Vera, that is...
I know damn well what it is, Talev! she snapped at him. I'll work through forgiving the callous son of a bitch later. Right now, I'm not about to repress what I feel. I don't care if he was damn near dying from Rim-longing! He had no fucking business leaving his post completely unattended.
She brandished a particular crystal. Even if we forget about the pain those poor things suffered...are still suffering out there, I can tell you now that his selfishness is the death knell for the species. After that plague last year, we had one more chance to bring them back. Now, by the actions of one idiot and a pack of Zarg on a hunt...
The woman slumped back in her chair. I should have known better than to have only one assigned to system watch. Her thought-forms were now tinged with self-recrimination. Talev stepped around the desk and leaned in to touch her shoulder.
You couldn't have known. Generally, only one of us is needed.
"For want of a nail..." It doesn't matter now. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. I'll have to check the stock records to confirm it, but, from the sheer body count, I can tell you now, with utter confidence, that we've failed. Equus caballus could not survive another genetic bottleneck. The horse is as good as extinct.
***
It took a while for Talev to meet with his friend again. There was much work for every human who had responded to the belated distress call. Panicked (and often wounded) horses needed to be found, calmed, brought to the base and treated. The mangled corpses were being collected to be incinerated. The Anla'shok's spirit grieved.
For the last thousand years, humans and Minbari had worked to undo countless millennia of neglect and misuse. The last horses had been gathered on suitible planet and a careful breeding program instated to attempt to undo the genetic damage.
By irresponsiblity and bad luck, those dreams were now shattered.
In the end, it was Caleb who stumbled across Talev instead of the other way around. The Minbari had just finished convincing a stallion with a frightful gash in his hindquarters to enter the veterinary building when he saw the man walking his way with a foal slung over his shoulders.
Another orphan.
Yes. Her mother managed to get her into a crevasse and her body blocked the entrance when she was killed. The Ranger sighed. The Zarg haven't changed much.
Oh, they have, Talev objected. They're still killers. They're just more intelligent about how they do it now.
I suppose you're right. What is the prognosis?
The Minbari shook his head and sent a thought-burst of his discussion with Vera. Caleb took it in with a groan.
We all feared as much...
Don't give up hope yet. There may still be a way.
Perhaps, but Valen help me, I can't see it.
With that, he turned and carried his trembling burden toward the stable which had been set aside for orphaned foals.
This appearance was at great odds with what was going on outside the building. Faint but shrill inhuman cries of distress could be heard coming through the walls. The door opened to admit a Minbari man and an exhausted human woman.
Well, perhaps mixed-race would be a better description. The woman's head had a faint ridge around the back of it masked by her hair which indicated some Minbari in her ancestry. She rubbed a hand across it in frustration as she sat down at the desk and began searching through the crystals.
At least the bastard was considerate enough to leave the records in order, she snarled telepathicly. If he ever shows his face here again, I might not torture him before I kill him.
Vera, that is...
I know damn well what it is, Talev! she snapped at him. I'll work through forgiving the callous son of a bitch later. Right now, I'm not about to repress what I feel. I don't care if he was damn near dying from Rim-longing! He had no fucking business leaving his post completely unattended.
She brandished a particular crystal. Even if we forget about the pain those poor things suffered...are still suffering out there, I can tell you now that his selfishness is the death knell for the species. After that plague last year, we had one more chance to bring them back. Now, by the actions of one idiot and a pack of Zarg on a hunt...
The woman slumped back in her chair. I should have known better than to have only one assigned to system watch. Her thought-forms were now tinged with self-recrimination. Talev stepped around the desk and leaned in to touch her shoulder.
You couldn't have known. Generally, only one of us is needed.
"For want of a nail..." It doesn't matter now. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. I'll have to check the stock records to confirm it, but, from the sheer body count, I can tell you now, with utter confidence, that we've failed. Equus caballus could not survive another genetic bottleneck. The horse is as good as extinct.
***
It took a while for Talev to meet with his friend again. There was much work for every human who had responded to the belated distress call. Panicked (and often wounded) horses needed to be found, calmed, brought to the base and treated. The mangled corpses were being collected to be incinerated. The Anla'shok's spirit grieved.
For the last thousand years, humans and Minbari had worked to undo countless millennia of neglect and misuse. The last horses had been gathered on suitible planet and a careful breeding program instated to attempt to undo the genetic damage.
By irresponsiblity and bad luck, those dreams were now shattered.
In the end, it was Caleb who stumbled across Talev instead of the other way around. The Minbari had just finished convincing a stallion with a frightful gash in his hindquarters to enter the veterinary building when he saw the man walking his way with a foal slung over his shoulders.
Another orphan.
Yes. Her mother managed to get her into a crevasse and her body blocked the entrance when she was killed. The Ranger sighed. The Zarg haven't changed much.
Oh, they have, Talev objected. They're still killers. They're just more intelligent about how they do it now.
I suppose you're right. What is the prognosis?
The Minbari shook his head and sent a thought-burst of his discussion with Vera. Caleb took it in with a groan.
We all feared as much...
Don't give up hope yet. There may still be a way.
Perhaps, but Valen help me, I can't see it.
With that, he turned and carried his trembling burden toward the stable which had been set aside for orphaned foals.