Miracle Workers
Page 20
Best regards,
your husband,
Razka
First officer’s log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53283.9
I have returned with the search party. We were able to trace the “monster shii” to its lair—another cave system, about half a kilometer farther from the camp than the smaller cave where the previous shii had its lair. This cave was much larger, and contained a concomitantly larger number of skulls. I was hoping to collect some skulls for samples, for Dr. Dolahn to examine, but the opportunity did not present itself, as the shii attacked. Zilder, D’Ren, and Eridak were all killed, and several others were injured. (Tricorder recording of attack appended.)
It is after midnight, so our next quasar/pulsar window won’t be until tomorrow afternoon. When that happens, I intend to send a message to the Nalori government, requesting that we receive permission to suspend the SA project until we can deal with this problem. I’m also preparing a distress signal to send to the da Vinci —based on Lt. Commander Duffy’s last communiqué, they may not be able to respond to it, but I’d rather play it safe.
I’ve also instructed the remaining workers to construct a sonic barrier around the camp. The electric fence we put up didn’t even slow this creature down, and we need some kind of defense. True, the sonic weapons didn’t work, but that may have been because they’re not powerful enough. J’Roh—who is now the foreperson, following Kejahna’s death—pointed out that we’d have to cannibalize some of the sonic rifles to accomplish this, but, to my mind, it’s worth it.
It’s not like the weapons were doing us any good. . . .
My next task is to find a way to conduct an active scan on this planet. I need to get proper sensor readings of this area, see what it is that’s attracting the shii here. I suspect that we’re doing something to provoke it. Animals generally don’t attack without a reason. Since it can’t digest carbon-based life, it obviously isn’t pursuing us for food. Besides, the specificity of the attacks indicates a possibility of intelligence. But this is all speculation until I can get this tricorder to do some actual scans.
Personal log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53284.1
Amiracle has happened. I was up all night working on it, but I finally figured out a way to adjust the tricorder so I can get at least partial sensor readings of the chimerium-laced area. The resolution is awful and the readings are spotty, but it’s better than what we had before, which was nothing. I hope that I get to live long enough to share this breakthrough with Starfleet.
Razka’s at my tent. . . .
Supplemental
For the second time on this expedition, Razka has asked me to perform the funeral rites for the people who were killed by the monster shii, which reminded me that I hadn’t yet written condolence letters to the families of the ones who died. I already did one for Kejahna’s family. I have to admit—I hate to admit—that I forgot about both duties in the rush of getting the workers to build the barrier and adjusting the tricorder.
I just remembered that time on the Enterprise —our first encounter with the Borg. I was an ensign, fresh out of the Academy, working in engineering under Geordi La Forge. The Borg cut parts of three decks out of the saucer section—with eighteen people in them. They were missing and presumed assimilated. I kept trying to focus on getting the shields back up, but I couldn’t get those eighteen people out of my mind. Geordi said two things to me: “Just put it out of your head” and “We’ll have time to grieve later.”
But the Nalori peoples have very particular funeral rites. And I’m a part of it now, whether I like it or not.
Besides, there’s not a helluva lot I can do until noon, when we send the messages.
Supplemental
The funeral was subdued. The ceremony was for everyone who died except Zilder. I think I did a better job of commending the mazza of the dead to the Endless Wind this time. I wish that I didn’t have to keep practicing, though.
Eridak, one of the Nalori who died, only had two scars—both on his face, none on his forearms. From what I’ve learned, those are the basic coming-of-age scars. Every Nalori here has them, but he was the only one I remember who had only those two. Which meant he was very young. Too young to die.
Afterward, I checked the tent that Zilder had shared with three other workers, and it turned out that he had made up a will since arriving on Sarindar. Rather than follow any Bolian traditions, his wishes related to the death rites of the Damiani. Zilder had worshipped the Damiani god Ho’nig, and according to the Se’rbeg —the holy book of Ho’nig-worshippers—he was required to be buried within three days of death.
That, of course, isn’t going to happen. The crystalline nature of this world makes it impossible to bury anything.
Zilder wrote his will on a piece of paper. He had made many corrections and addenda to it during his time here. He left the Culloden to the Nalori Republic, “as my thanks for hiring me to work for them.”
He left his copy of the Se’rbeg to me. He had originally left it to Nalag, my predecessor, but that had been replaced with my name. The exact phrasing was, “To [Nalag, crossed out] Commander Sonya Gomez, I leave my most valued copy of the Se’rbeg, the holy words of Ho’nig, in the hopes that [he, crossed out] she will find the same enlightenment and glory through it that I found over the years. This is the book that changed my life for the better. I hope it can do the same for [him, crossed out] her.”
I stared at the cracked leather binding of the book and shook my head. I had found Zilder’s constant religious harping to be irritating from the moment he picked me up in the Culloden at Starbase 96, several dozen eternities ago, but now, realizing that I would never hear him imploring me to take Ho’nig into my life again, I found I was going to miss it.
I can’t even give him a proper burial.
Dammit, this whole thing is falling apart. Yesterday, we were on schedule and the one danger to the project had been killed. Now, seven more people are dead, work has ground to a halt while we try to defend ourselves against a hostile alien—and try to find out why it’s attacking us. How the hell did this happen?
I’m going to find out.
Supplemental
I just finished my first scan of the area. So far, nothing. Razka came up to me and asked me what I was doing, and I explained to him that I was trying to determine why the shii was attacking.
Razka looked at me like I was insane. “Did you look at the skulls in the cave, Commander? This monster has been killing things on this planet for much longer than this installation has been here. Besides, what does the reason matter?”
“It hasn’t just been killing, it’s been decapitating and saving the skulls. It may be intelligent. We can’t just kill it without finding out why.”
“Perhaps you can’t. And perhaps I can’t.” He got a funny look on his face when he said that. “But there are dozens of workers here who will do whatever is necessary to avenge their comrades. And, regardless of your status, Commander, they will not listen to any words you say about it possibly being intelligent or something to talk to. It is an animal, and it has already killed seven men. The only response that anyone here will support is to kill it.”
Transcript of message sent from Nalori Republic Senator Moyya to Commander Sonya Gomez on planet Sarindar, twelfth day of Sendrak, twenty-third year of Togh
We are distressed by your absurd request to suspend operations on the Sarindar Subspace Accelerator Project. We had been led to believe that the officers of the Federation Starfleet were professionals who did not succumb to the foolish ramblings of old women. To insult the intelligence of this senate by suggesting that you have (again) fallen behind in the project’s timetable due to attacks by a “monster shii” is bad enough, but to accompany it with a “recording” of an attack that is so obviously a forgery merely compounds the offense. It is obvious to us that the workers you claim were killed by this “monster” were malingerers and drunks who allowed themselves
to be attacked by native fauna. It is equally obvious that Starfleet has sent not their best, as promised, but an incompetent and a fool. There are some voices among the senate who believe that Starfleet simply dressed a foolish woman in a commander’s uniform and sent her to us, hoping we would not notice. The only way to prove those voices wrong is to get the project back on schedule.
Therefore your request is denied. Work will continue. Any unauthorized departure from the planet Sarindar will result in the exclusion of those departing and all other workers on Sarindar from any and all government work for the rest of their natural lives.
First officer’s log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53285.0
In light of the Nalori Republic’s refusal to accede to my request, I have ordered the workers to resume the scheduled construction of the SA. I have lodged a formal protest with the senate and with Starfleet Command over the gross inhumanity being displayed by the senate in this instance. A distress call was also sent out to Starfleet—specifically for the da Vinci, but sent on a general Starfleet frequency—fourteen hours prior to the reception of the senate’s refusal. While it will take two days for it to reach the Federation, I have faith that someone will respond and, if necessary, evacuate the planet.
Departing is only an option if another ship arrives, as the Culloden is keyed to Zilder’s DNA. The radical dissimilarity between Bolian DNA and that of any of the races represented on this project—not just that of the assorted Nalori races, but also of my human and Dr. Dolahn’s Gallamite genetic structure—renders it impossible to “hot-wire” the Culloden, at least with the equipment available to me.
I have instead devoted my resources to restructuring the duty schedule in light of the reduced personnel, maintaining our defense against the shii, and attempting to improve the presently limited ability of the tricorder to scan the surrounding area despite the high concentrations of chimerium. I am hoping that Dr. Dolahn’s autopsy of the first shii will give us some idea of how we can either defend against or communicate with this creature. In addition, I intend to take a bioscan of a “normal” shii, to give me a base for my readings.
I will continue to send updates and recordings of the monster shii to the Nalori senate, in the hopes that they will come to their senses.
Personal log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53285.2
I just finished a trip outside the encampment to take a bioreading of the shii. The normal-sized ones are roughly the size of a pony, and they move through the crystalline landscape with an impressive grace. After twice nearly being killed by the mutant versions—or whatever they are—it’s nice to be reminded that the “normal” ones are quite elegant.
In fact, they’re more noble than a good chunk of the sentients presently on the planet. I had to put someone on guard over the Culloden after four different incidents of people breaking into the ship to try to get off-planet. They didn’t succeed, of course, but that’s hardly the point. These are people who make their living working for the government. That same government has made it clear that any attempt to leave the planet will result in them never working again. A lot of these people have families, but they’re willing to risk their livelihood to get out of here.
I, on the other hand, am willing to risk going outside the sonic barrier to get those bioscans. Luckily, I wasn’t attacked by the “monster.”
Not that anyone would have volunteered to come along to protect me. Nobody’s called me “Sañuul” since the massacre at the cave, and I’ve been getting the same doleful looks that I got when I first arrived. Nobody’s invited me to join them for meals, either.
The project is even more behind schedule, with much less than a day’s worth of work getting done on either of the last two days. Everyone wants to leave. No one wants to work.
And I can’t blame them.
But I need to find out what is causing the shii to attack us. There has to be a reason.
Someone’s raising the alarm.
Supplemental
Another attack. Five people are dead—the guard on the Culloden and the latest four who had tried to commandeer it. While they were trying to break into the ship—I’d placed a coded lock on it, along with a recording device—the shii attacked. The ship is docked outside the perimeter of the sonic barrier, so the shii had a clear path to them. In fact, I’m stunned that none of the others who’ve attempted escape before them were similarly attacked.
All five corpses were missing their heads.
One thing I did notice on the recording is that one of the victims—G’sob, one of the Osina assigned to the tubing detail—managed to wound the shii. His weapon was set on a lower intensity, but a higher frequency than normal. I checked his weapon—the shii left it behind—and its reading indicated a different setting from what it had actually fired.
For the first time since I arrived on Sarindar, the substandard equipment is working in my favor. Thanks to G’sob’s rifle being defective, we now know that we can wound the creature.
As good news goes, however, this isn’t much. I suspect that things will only get worse.
Personal log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53286.2
Things have gotten worse.
Half the workers have refused to leave their tents. The ones who still have sonic weapons—many of them were cannibalized to make the sonic barrier around the encampment—are clutching them to their persons and threatening to shoot anything that comes near them. They’ve all readjusted their weapons to the setting G’sob used.
I’ve tried to get them to go to work, but I have no hold over them anymore. The senate’s decree has served to completely undercut any authority I had with these people, even as it undercut their own authority. No one here can possibly take seriously a body that refuses to accept the existence of something most of us have seen with our own eyes. And yet, the fact that they don’t believe what I tell them about the same creature has given the workers carte blanche to ignore my orders.
Neither the tubing nor the mining mechanics are finished, even though they should have been done by now. The delivery system is off-line, and probably will remain that way—especially since the three most talented members of that particular detail are now dead. In my next message to the senate, I intend to ask for replacements since they can’t be bothered to actually shut down the project. There’s no way I can complete the SA without sufficient personnel, and even if the remaining crew worked their hardest—which they most definitely won’t—we couldn’t finish this thing.
I’ve been scanning for twenty-eight hours, and I can’t find a single reason why the shii is attacking. I’m half-tempted to go back to the cave and try to do a scan there, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk—yet. But it may come to that. I’m still awaiting Dr. Dolahn’s autopsy report on the shii I killed. He said he’d get to it today, but he’s said that every day since I first brought it to him.
I’ve also come up with an idea for how to trap the creature without killing it.
First officer’s log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53286.8
I have managed to boost worker morale slightly. The tubing was finally finished this morning, so I reassigned them to construct a trap for the shii. This was work they could actually get enthusiastic about, since they’re stuck on the planet for the time being. (My numerous communiqués to the senate have met with a resounding silence. I’m hoping to get a reply from the da Vinci tomorrow.)
The principle of the trap is quite simple: it’s a box that’s divided into two halves by a set of metal bars. I had been hoping for duranium, but all that’s available is a steel composite left over from the tubing. Three people stand on one side of the bars, armed. The other side is open. Based on the bioscan I took of the regular shii, there’s one particular ruby-like flower that they are fond of eating. The plan is to place several of those flowers into the open end of the trap. Once the shii enters, a force field will be activated, trapping the creatu
re inside. The three armed people then fire on the creature at the low-intensity-high-frequency setting, which should be enough to stun it, or at least to subdue it.
The detail has taken to the task with relish, and I’m hoping they’ll have it done by nightfall. Kugot, Amuk, and Entorr have volunteered to serve as the executors of the trap.
Supplemental
The trap has failed. Entorr, Kugot, and Amuk are dead. One of the weapons misfired and damaged one of the bars. The shii flailed and sliced through the bar. All three missed the shii with their shots, and then were, unfortunately, prime targets once the bars went down. It is unclear why the three of them did not escape through the rear hatch, but their failure to do so resulted in their tragic deaths. Entorr was killed by decapitation. The other two were beheaded after they were killed. The creature departed with all three heads.
I doubt the creature will fall for the same trap again, and we don’t have the material to reconstruct it in any case.
I am still waiting for the final autopsy report from Dr. Dolahn on the shii that I killed. Scans of the region still fail to provide any reason why the shii would be attacking us.
Personal log, Commander Sonya Gomez, planet Sarindar, Stardate 53287.0
Okay, my official log has the formal report about how exactly Entorr, Kugot, and Amuk were killed. I need to say, however, that it was the most pathetic sight I have ever seen in my life! Much as I hate to speak ill of the dead, I really have to wonder about those three. Did they have a death wish?