The Tellers

Chapter 3

I had been awake for some time, my head finally clear of my frenzied nightmares. My fever had broken the night before, and I had finally had several hours of sleep as I remembered sleep before the pod. Restful. I was wearing unfamiliar clothing, and holding a conversation with Jardine quietly, using the mental interfacing to keep it private. He had reviewed the events leading up to the pod until they assumed a rough but welcome chronological sequence in my mind, instead of the disordered images that plagued my nightmares. 

They had pieced it together too, the kids that had rescued me. I call them kids; they really are on the cusp of adulthood. The guy, Derron I guess his name is, is maybe twenty. He moves like an athlete; certainly he has the frame of one. The girl, Neve, is probably even younger than he is. She is a beautiful girl, but sometimes there is something in her eyes that speaks of pain. I know about pain. But I digress. As I said, they peiced it together; they had been discussing my identity for twenty minutes while they thought I slept, and the girl had reached more or less the right conclusions. When they mentioned insanity, I decided I should fill them in, and get some information in return. 

"I know I've been the picture of sanity these past three days, but deep down inside I'm totally wacko." I commented dryly. 

The girl let out her breath. "You scared me! This is the first time you've recognized anyone since you..." 

"almost drowned? Yes, I remember that, and not much after. Thank you, by the way. I make it a point to thank anyone who saves my life." 

"Well... you are welcome." It was Derron who spoke up. "You kinda dropped in out of nowhere. Where do you come from, anyway?" 

"Your girlfriend already has it figured out." My voice was still raspy and hoarse. "She's a smart one. I am the same Ransom Lewis from history, and I guess I've been in cryosleep for two hundred years. As far as I know... I'm the only survivor from the GCS Azurri." My voice trailed off as the memories came crowding back. I held them off while controlling my breathing. No need for emotions right now. I wanted information, not comfort. "Jardine- my personal assistant- says a merchant ship called the GCS Vatican picked up my survival pod drifting in outer space. They were bound for this planet, and were unthawing me en route. I guess they suffered some sort of accident entering the atmosphere, and came apart. My pod was still intact and landed in your pond." 

Neve asked, cautiously, "so... you don't have to answer this if you don't want to. But what happened to the GCS Azurri? You kept talking and mentioning names in your fever and such. If its too hard you don't have to answer..." 

I didn't respond for a few seconds. "We made first contact with the Tellers. At least that's what we called them. At first everything seemed to go really well. Our software was able to analyze their communication and break through the language barrier. I was part of the party sent to the surface to dialogue with their leaders. But then... something went horribly wrong. And there was a fight." My voice became wooden. "They killed us. I was spared; I don't know if anyone else was. But they had me in a... prison I guess you would call it. I was immobilized. They couldn't decide exactly what to do with me, though. Then Psome rescued me. Or at least tried to. She got me out of the cell, anyway, and they were chasing us through the Labrynth. And they caught us. But Psome was powerful and she killed three of them... before she died, she gave me... something very special. I was able to use it to get away. I contacted the Azurri, still in high orbit, and was able to get onboard. Unfortunately when they broke high orbit to rescue me they came within range of the Tellers. Some got onboard. There was a fight. We got away into space, but it was an all-out war on that ship, and it ended with the ship crippled and me getting into a survival pod and blasting away, just before the entire ship went to pieces. I watched it go, watched my crewmates die. Then I had Jardine put me in cryosleep. And that's where I've been for two hundred years, until I suppose I drifted into a shipping lane and the Vatican picked me up."