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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 creature 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.

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