Fatalis

"What choice do we have?"

Grand looked at her, then started back along the passageway. "There are things we'll need."

"For what?" Ha

"For doing what nature may have intended when it saved them eleven thousand years ago."

Chapter Seventy-Nine

The first thing they needed was to come back and feed the animals, which they did. Raw meat and milk. Then Grand and Ha

As Ha

Grand called Dr. Honey Solomon at the Santa Barbara Zoo and told her what he'd found. Four baby saber-tooths. He told her where to find them and what she'd need to rescue them. He made her promise that they would remain at the zoo until he returned to Santa Barbara the next day. He didn't tell her where he was going. When Ha

Nothing is ever clean or final.

Not a leave-taking, not a decision, not even a death. There are compromises, sacrifices, and complications. There are unrealized hopes and unfulfilled promise. There is risk.

And there are always disappointments even in victory or happiness, if only because it ca

Jim Grand had learned that when Rebecca died. When he did what he believed was right and lost the close friendship of Joseph Tumamait Perhaps that was why the Chumash believed that animals were higher than humans. Because their needs were less complex, their mission on earth clearer and more attainable. For humans, perfection could last a moment but nothing more.

This too was a compromise. But Grand felt it was a good one. The right one. Not just for the saber-tooths but for his own peace.

As Grand and Ha

Divide and survive, just as the adult cats had done.

A special habitat would certainly be created for the animals in the zoo, as much to accommodate them as the tourists who were sure to see them. Grand was not happy about the prospect. On the other hand, he would be there to look after them. In the meantime, as the silver male and his little companion grew to adulthood they would feed on local fauna. It would be difficult for people to find them, let alone capture them. Perhaps in time the cats would create a new environmental niche in the mountains, one that couldn't be taken from them by civilization or climate. A place where an ideal balance could be established.

The seaplane landed on the lake after dusk. Grand taxied to shore, then unloaded the cages. He set the female free first. She wandered off several feet, stopped, and looked back.

He released the silver cub.

The saber-tooth male ran after the other. Without looking back, they bounded into the high grasses.

Standing on the isolated shore, Ha

"Maybe I should look into some of those Eastern faiths," Ha

"What do you mean?"

"The ones you were telling me about, where all things are co

"Something feels whole here, doesn't it?"

Ha

Grand felt tears pressing hard behind his eyes as he looked out at the saber-tooths' new home. He held Ha

The cats were alive and free again.

So was Grand.

Blinking out a tear to the stars and to Rebecca, Grand turned and walked Ha

About Jeff Rovin

Jeff Rovin is an Author of many How to Play, video game books which were popular in the 1980s and 1990s. They detail strategies for dozens of games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy. He is currently the editor in chief of Weekly World News.