Hello, Ric here with another Trek Bestiary, this time on the devils of the dark, the misunderstood
Horta. Despite being called the devil in the dark, the Horta (or Janus hominidae) is generally
not malevolent. They are however territorial and defensive. Also sentient. So technically
not a beast, but then neither was Armus so these video apparently get a little flexible.
I was also surprised at the amount of memory beta content about these beings that there
is, so I’ll touch on that after the canonical information.
First encountered on Janus VI in 2267, the Horta were in the midst of a very delicate
time of their life-cycle a period of renewal where they entire species almost goes extinct.
Settled in 2210, the Federation mining colony accidently destroyed thousands of Horta eggs
as the automated machines burrowed. The distressed mother began trying to fend of the miners
which led to a lot more deaths until the catastrophic misunderstanding was resolved and official
first contact established. The Horta are Silicone based and have a fibrous
mineral skin which looks almost like like molten rock, but it is somewhat flexible.
Their underbelly was a sheet of softer undulating muscle and cilia which propelled them around.
Their rock-like outer shell made them very difficult to scan for, as coupled with their
surrounding environment of rock, tricorders often read them as mineral. Only when they
were much closer could their life signs be detected. This outer layer also functioned
very well as armour and they were resistant to energy fire, being downright immune to
low level discharges and stuns. Although they weren’t made from neutronium or anything
so the more powerful burst could injure them Their sensory organs are rudimentary but many,
they detect light in the infrared spectrum, can smell and taste through touch and sense
tremors and vibrations around them. They are also mildly empathic. They also do not need
air to breathe and can even survive in complete vacuum for a time, which is probably because
they live deep underground. The Horta can burrow very easily through most
naturally occurring rocks, mineral and metal deposits by secreting a very powerful acid.
This compound was so dangerous that it would almost completely dissolve a person in seconds,
leaving only trace fragments. It was secreted through ducts around the body and they could
squirt it with such precision as to be able to carve lettering on to the floor.
The reason for their tunnelling is two-fold. First off, it’s how they expand their dens,
and secondly, they consume the minerals that they melt as sustenance. This leaves behind
very smooth, circular tunnels, similar but smoother than those left by magma. Such Horta
dens tend to be very deep underground, the one on Janus VI was 23 floors deep and sporadically
among these corridors were larger chambers. These chambers were named by the Horta, things
like the Chamber of Ages, the Alter, the Memory Stone and so on. The Vault of Tomorrow was
the name they gave to the hatchery. Every 50,000 years, the Horta gather and lay their
eggs en masse. There could be several thousand of them, then they all die off, except one.
That chosen one becomes the Mother Horta who nurses and protects the hatchery and its contents
of silicone-shelled, perfectly spherical, foot wide, silver eggs.
After some time, decades apparently, the eggs hatch and the species is renewed. This is
where we get into the memory beta portion of their life cycle. When first born, the
infants share a telepathic hive mind with the mother as the nexus. They grow in a matter
of days constantly eating and burrowing together, forming their armour as they go. However,
within a few years of them hatching, the Mother Horta dies and they lose their telepathic
connection, becoming individuals. With the only appearance of the Horta in TOS,
Starfleet ended the misunderstanding by making a deal with the Horta of Janus VI in which
the Horta would aid their mining efforts while the miners would protect the eggs. Remarkably
forgiving of the Horta to be honest, but they agreed.
Other stories state that in 2269, Starfleet needed to break up a very large and dangerous
asteroid, and they decided to ask the Horta of Janus VI for aid. The Horta were able to
tunnel through the rock rendering it hollow enough to be destroyed safely. This also had
the knock on effect of exposing the new Horta generation to interstellar travel, and ever
since, the Horta have continued to work alongside Starfleet mining outposts all across the stars,
seemingly happy to do so, including Bajor’s moon of Baraddo.
In 2270 a Horta even joined Starfleet, one Dahai Iohor Naraht. It served on the enterprise
from 2275-2278 and was still a lieutenant in service by 2287. He was equipped with a
vocalisation translator to interpret his thoughts and noises into understandable language. Before
this, Starfleet had communicated through writing, mime and telepathy where possible.
Many other Horta joined Starfleet after the first, with individuals such as Chwolkk serving
on Riker’s USS Titan in 2381. This is less strange the more I think on it as the Horta,
despite their appearance and animal like behaviour during the renewal, are sentient and more
adaptable than you may think. Plus they definitely constitute strange, new lifeforms, so of course
the Federation would like to learn from them. By 2305, the Horta Sanaht was representing
Janus VI on the Federation council and in 2380, the Horta had been recognised as Federation
citizens with all the rights that entailed. Starfleet even manufactured several Horta
starships. These were filled entirely with stone and minerals, so that the Horta could
tunnel through the interior and shape them how they saw fit. Basically a spaceship shaped
asteroid crammed with all the tech you’d need to fly it at warp.
So there we have it. The lore and a little extra, on the Horta. Not bad for a sentient,
rock blob and I have to say, they are remarkably understanding for a species who had almost
half a generation destroyed and now work for the organisation that did it. Wait that’s
bad. Are Starfleet the bad guys? Thanks for watching the bestiary and I’ll
see you next time for another lore video. I’ve been Ric, thanks again and goodbye!