Bryan's grisly fate resulted in a flurry of legal recriminations. Rancher Hiram Peace denied any responsibility, and the Chronivac's makers relied on the clauses buried in fine print to absolve themselves of any complicity in the case of the young man who transformed himself into a bull only to be mistakenly sent to a slaughterhouse for processing as steaks, hamburger and other prime cuts.
Bryan's brother, Matt, felt that he was the only person genuinely upset about the horrific mix-up. Even Bryan's stepfather seemed more interested in squeezing a financial settlement from someone, whether it was the ranch, the Chronivac makers, or perhaps the slaughterhouse.
He hadn't been a happy man when told by his lawyers that he didn't have a strong case.
So, the matter had dropped, and everyone had seemed resigned to the new reality, until ranch hand Zeke paid a visit to Matt. They hadn't spoken since Matt had rejected Zeke's apology for his part in the bungled rescue that had resulted in Bryan the bull being transported by mistake to the slaughterhouse.
Matt was prepared to slam the door in Zeke's face, but Zeke got his hand in the way. In his hand, he held a frosty vial.
"We need to talk," he told Matt.
"What's that?" Matt asked distrustfully.
"It's bull semen," Zeke said. "It has been frozen. It's one of Bryan's, agh, deposits."
Matt frowned. "What the hell?"
"Hear me out," Zeke said. "Don't you remember? The Chronivac guy said they couldn't bring Bryan back because they no longer had living DNA."
"Of course I remember…."
Zeke waved the glass vial. "But we do have some DNA!"
They exchanged a look of dawning agreement.
"Do you think it could work?" Matt wondered.
Zeke grinned. "Only one way to find out."