Miracle Workers (SCE Books 5-8) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [81]
A planet full of that super-dense ore is a great find, and I’m glad that we’re getting to help mine it. I’m also glad that this will probably mean improved relations with the Nalori.
But I’m not glad that we’re potentially on the brink of war, and Sonnie’s so far away.
I miss her. And I’m worried about her.
Letter from Razka on Sarindar to Marig on Nalor, eleventh day of Sendrak, twenty-third year of Togh
My wife:
I write to you for the first time since arriving at this dreadful place. The reason is, I fear for my life. Since the cause of the fear still exists, I write. Before I go any further, however, I wish to make a request of you. Please kiss each of my children for me. When you do so, tell each of them that their father loves them. Even the ones who are too young to comprehend. You will understand why I ask this after you read this letter. But, please, do that first. Thank you.
Of all my wives, you are the one I dislike the least. So I wish you to have this record of my life in this place. We are building a subspace accelerator here on Sarindar. It will allow our glorious government to harvest chimerium. That, I’m sure, means as much to you as it does to me. But they’re paying me, so I won’t complain.
The first thing that happened when I got here will amuse you. The foreman issued me a weapon. Me. It took three days just to figure out which was the right end to point. But the foreman insisted. He was a big man named Kejahna. He assigned me to be the aide to the project leader. That used to be Nalag. You would have liked Nalag. He was pleasant. He was also driven insane by this place. Much the same way you drive me insane, to be truthful. After he went mad, the government did something odd. They requested help from the Federation. The Federation sent a woman from Starfleet. I thought that made them madder than Nalag, at first. But Commander Gomez has been magnificent. Several here started calling her “Sañuul” because of her work. She made the load-lifters work. She brought the project back on schedule. She fixed several errors in the subspace accelerator.
She also killed a monster shii.
No, your fears have not been confirmed. I have not gone insane. I sometimes wish I had, but no. The monster shii is real. It is not just the stuff of legends. And Commander Gomez killed it after it attacked and killed several workers.
The problem with legends isn’t when they turn out to be true. It’s when they turn out to be half-true. You see, in all the stories I’ve heard about the monster shii, I’ve never heard anyone mention two. But there were two here. The second one is much bigger than the first. It killed Kejahna and took three others. Commander Gomez told me to organize a search party. She and Kejahna did that the last time a monster shii attacked. I didn’t want to go with her, but she insisted. Especially with Kejahna dead. Do you know what she told me? That I was the only person she trusted now. Armed with my sonic rifle and this undeserved responsibility, I went out with her.
Sarindar is a beautiful place in the daylight. At night, it is somewhat less so. When the sunlight glints off the flora, it’s like walking in a jewel. Without that light, it’s like walking in a tomb. Especially when we came across the dead bodies. Houarner, Erobnos, and Caargenne, the three who were taken. Also Kejahna’s body. We found their remains on the ground, ripped to pieces. Except, of course, for their heads. The monster shii presumably still had them. The one Commander Gomez had killed had taken poor Kelrek’s head.
We continued to follow the trail. It led to a large cave. Commander Gomez told me that the last monster shii was in a cave. This cave was apparently much bigger. But it had the same thing in it. Skulls. Many many skulls from many many animals. Some of them looked quite old. The monster shii had obviously been killing for a long