Miracle Workers (SCE Books 5-8) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [85]
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.