To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [12]
N’vashal was never a staple of the Skerrian diet; it was only used as a seasoning, in minute quantities, and then only in certain ethnic dishes. It’s likewWell, have either of you ever heard of a spice called galingale?” One took at their faces told her that they hadn’t. “It was popular during the Middle Ages, found in the kitchens of almost every European nobleman. But nobles were not in the majority.
Galingale was a luxury, and when tastes changed, it was no longer worth the trouble and expense of importing it.” “So you’re saying that it became extinct?” Riker asked.
“No, just extremely rare. On the other hand, there was a kind of parsnip called skirret that did die out entirely because people stopped cultivating it, and a type of small onion, and a certain breed of English peas—” “And you call yourself an amateur historian?” Riker teased.
Dr. Crusher smiled. “Don’t be fooled. I didn’t even know there were such things as galingale and skirrets before I attended the Ark conference. Malabar Station has one of the Federation’s most comprehensive archives of plant and animal DNA, and the cloning facilities—” Her face fell. “It’s a shame that they don’t have a sample of n’vashal either. It’s the synthetic enzyme that’s unstable, not the naturally occurring one found in the plant itself. If we could get our hands on one living n’vashal plant, we’d have no trouble producing enough clones to treat the immediate problem on Skerris IV. Once they recovered their health, the Reclamation settlers could grow a more genetically diverse crop and take care of themselves.” “If we could find that one plant,” Troi said sadly.
“The Federation has been helping the Orakisans contact every colony that carried n’vashal with them from Skerris IV. The plant couldn’t grow on some worlds, on others it grew, but was destroyed by native wildlife.” “And on some it grew unmolested until the colonists decided to cultivate something else instead,” Dr.
Crusher finished. “Now there’s only one colony left for them to search: Ashkaar.” “At the risk of being called a pessimist again, I don’t think much of their chances,” Riker said. “I’ve seen the navigation specs. Ashkaar is the fourth planet from a sun that’s about as far from Skerris IV as you can get and still stay in the same quadrant. Do the Orakisans know whether the colony itself survived, let alone the n’vashal?” “That is what we’re going to help them find out,” Troi answered.
“Much as I hate saying it, I’m inclined to agree with Commander Riker on this,” Dr. Crusher said. “For a last chance, Ashkaar really isn’t a very good one. I’ve been talking to Data about the information taken from the Miramik find. It was more than just a list of ships’ manifests and colony coordinates, it also contained progress reports received from the individual settlements. As you said, Ashkaar is the most distant of the Skerrian daughterworlds, and for good reason: The colonists who undertook the voyage had some very definite goals in mind. They were cultural dissenters, people who disliked and disapproved of many elements of life on Skerris IV. It’s an old story, really, wanting to escape, start over, make a new, simpler life for yourself, for your children.” “Like the Pilgrims,” Riker supplied. Then, seeing Dr. Crusher’s searching look he added, “I’m a bit of an amateur history buff myself.” “Or like the Min-hau. The desire to escape a corrupting cultural influence is not unique to Earth history,” Troi said. “Nor is the desire to put as much distance between the new settlement and