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And, since the camp is no longer a safe haven, I need to take action.

The trap would have worked if the shii had actually been hit with any of the shots fired at it. One thing that did work was the lure. So I’m going to try the lure again, this time in the camp hospital. It’s generally the most crowded place anyhow, so the shii would probably scope it out in any case. Meanwhile, I will move everyone to the space beneath the SA. Dolahn should be able to convert it to a makeshift hospital, and I’ll put the remaining armed workers on guard.

Once that’s done, I’ll lure the shii with the ruby flowers and try to communicate with it. I’ve programmed my combadge so that its translator will render the machine language of the shii, based on what I could glean from the first one.

Letter from Razka on Sarindar to Marig on Nalor, fifteenth day of Sendrak, twenty-third year of Togh

My wife:

Yes, another letter. Because once again I have been reminded of my mortality. Once again, I ask you to kiss my children for me before reading the rest of this letter. Thank you.

Commander Gomez yesterday hit upon the idea of setting a lure for the monster shii. By the way, she has learned that this creature of legend is, in fact, a machine. It was programmed by strangers who came here on an expedition. The expedition members died, but the two shii lived on. These strangers fed on the brains of other living creatures. This is why the monster shii take the heads of men. They are gathering food for their dead masters. Tragic, in a way, especially given the number of good men who have had to die. In any case, Commander Gomez decided to lure the creature.

A previous attempt to trap the monster failed, but she did succeed in luring it with a glemnar flower. So she cleared out the hospital and had Dr. Dolahn and J’Roh construct a new hospital under the subspace accelerator. This was sensible, as the old hospital was the easiest place to defend. The new hospital will be even easier to defend. So all the wounded and sick, the doctor, and all the remaining healthy people were moved to the new hospital. Commander Gomez remained behind at the old hospital. She liberally spread the glemnar flowers and waited. She felt that the monster shii would come to the hospital. Her plan was to try to talk to it. She thought she had come up with a way to do so. At least she was not foolish enough to try this without backup. She was armed with her Starfleet sonic rifle. All she had to do was wait until the monster came. We would wait in the hospital until it was safe.

That, at least, was the theory. Unfortunately, the practice proved somewhat different. We had very few sonic rifles left. Mine, having gone completely unused since I was issued it, was one of them. Those of us who were armed stood guard at the two entrances to the hospital. One led to the dish, the other to the underground tubing. I was stationed, along with J’Roh, at the dish entrance. The other four were at the tubing entrance. This made sense. J’Roh was not a very good shot, and you know what I’m like with a weapon. It was very unlikely that the shii would come in through the dish, as it would have to climb up onto it and then slide to its center. The tubing provides a more direct access. That, therefore, had the best guard.

Not that we thought it would matter, of course. We all assumed that Commander Gomez’s plan would work. Well, actually, I assumed that. So did J’Roh. He was the one to first call her “Sañuul” after she solved the riddle of the load-lifters. And so did some others. Most, however, thought that the plan was a foolish one. Many wanted it to work anyhow, but only so that the shii would kill Commander Gomez.

In fact, I distinctly remember that part. Querti had just said, “If we’re lucky, the beast will take her bait and take that hideous head of hers off.” Then he started to say something else as Anilegna started to laugh. Then the entryway buckled, making an awful, tearing noise.