THE JAMILL
A voice woke him. It was so real that he could have sworn that someone was in the room with him, speaking to him. He heard it again. It was a woman's voice, but he was alone.
He had no idea where he was. Ray's head hurt, as though it had been in the engine room of a freighter class cargo carrier for days without ear protection. Though he was still not able to open his eyes, he knew he was no longer on the Food Planet. He was relieved that he had not been eaten or still marooned on the planet. He thought to himself that at least he was alive.
The floor beneath him was hard, metallic, and the air smelled stale. If he had to guess, he would say he was on a space ship. The humming in his ears, the vibrations of the deck, the sound of air pushed through vents, were the signs. But he did not recognize the sounds of the engines.
Still, the voice continued. Ray desperately wanted to open his eyes to see if someone else was in the room with him, though he sensed that no one else was there.
A few moments passed, and he was able to open his eyes. He glanced around. He did not recognize the designs of the ship the room displayed. As he suspected, he was lying in an empty chamber. Its only feature a single uncomfortable looking chair. He was still wearing his flight suit, but all of his equipment and his weapons were missing.
"Who's there?" he asked.
He quickly realized that the voices weren't coming from the room or a speaker or even from outside. Instead, they were bouncing around in his head.
He could hear the voices but could not make out what they were saying. He wasn't sure if this was some form of torture or psychiatric examination. The room did not look too hospitable, and he remembered that he was hit and saw something just before he passed out. Ray realized he was a prisoner, but who was in his head!
"I hear voices in my head!" Ray exclaimed out loud, the idea shocking him back to full consciousness. He then tried to control his mind to block out the voices. Instead, the voice came through much more clearly.
<Do not be afraid> the voice told him. It sounded odd as if he were having a discussion out loud with himself, though he didn't control part of the conversation. Plus, he could tell that he was speaking to a female. He didn't know how he knew that, but he did.
<I am communicating to you with my thoughts,> the voice continued. <Calm down and do not speak. Only focus on your thoughts.>
Ray knew he had to concentrate and calm down. He wasn't going crazy. Ray was communicating with some outside force, not with himself. He figured it must be the way telepaths communicate. He did not like the idea of 'talking' that way with someone he could not see.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" he said out loud, almost in a panic.
Then he remembered what the voice in his head said, "only focus your thoughts." He concentrated and thought.
<Who are you?> he tried to say mentally. He tried not to think of anything after that and waited for a response.
<I am Teleka of the Jamill> the voice in his head told him. The answer was clear and concise. However, based on what the Alien had told Blue-Ray, the Jamill are the ones that attacked Nisthura. They were the enemy. Ray doubted that any good would come from their communicating.
<The Jamill!> he thought back angrily. <Why have you attacked us? We were on a peaceful mission. You have no right to keep me here.> were the main ideas of his thoughts though he had a harder time separating the questions into separate sentences. Teleka must have understood because her answer was an attempt to reassure him.
<You are mistaken> Teleka replied <You and I are prisoners of the Korram. I am not your enemy. However, it is true that some Jamill have betrayed us and joined with the Korram. For the moment, you must focus. You and your people are in great danger.>
<Why? Why would we be in danger?> Ray protested, <We have done nothing.>
<Soldiers are coming. Do not tell them anything. I will continue to help you.> It appeared to Ray that time was running out, so rather than answering the question, she warned him.
It was hard to hear anything from outside the chamber. According to the voice, the Korram were on their way. Ray saw the access door and waited for his visitors' arrival. Moments later, there was the sound of the door sliding open from the middle to either side. What he saw shocked him at first. These Aliens looked like pure evil. He remembered the devilish red eyes but not so much the rest of their hideous features. He assumed they were the Jamill, but now he had second thoughts.
These creatures did not appear to communicate telepathically. They seemed a bit awkward but determined. The sounds they made seemed repetitive and straightforward. Ray did not understand what they said, but it was clear to him what they wanted him to do. They pointed their staff weapons at him and motioned for him to sit. He sat in the chair that was in the center of the room. One of the ugly creatures placed himself behind and laid his heavy three-fingered hand on Ray's shoulder as a sign that Ray should not move. The other two brutes stationed themselves on either side of Ray, and waited.
Ray was facing the chamber opening. It had since closed, but after about fifteen minutes of waiting, the door slid open again. This time a man walked in. He was medium build and looked identical to a Terran male, but he was blue, a deep sky blue to be more precise. He also had two tentacles on his head. He also had darker blue markings on his face that looked like circles on his cheeks and chin. He wore a dark purple and black uniform, giving Ray the impression that he was a crew member. Ray assumed that he was the leader since the guards appeared to have gotten him ready for an interrogation. As he entered the room and took a position in front of Ray, the guards stood like statues. They obviously would not tolerate any nonsense during what he suspected was going to be an interrogation.
The room was now cramped and Ray was uncomfortable. The smell of the over 2-meter tall aliens made Ray a bit nauseous, and the red and yellow color of the room started to hurt his eyes. On top of that, Ray's head started to throb again. Whether it was from the beating he had gotten on the planet or the telepathic communication, it was giving him a headache. The blue man was obviously upset.
<You must cooperate, or you will die.>
Ray heard in his mind what appeared to be the blue man's thoughts, which made it clear that he was a telepath. Though the man was not moving his lips, Ray could see by his actions that he was talking to him. Ray was not sure if the threat was real, but didn't want to die. He had no idea who these people were or what they wanted. All he could see is that they viewed him as an enemy.
<I know you understand me, but why can I not read your thoughts?> was the man's question, over and over again.
Ray had no idea how these telepaths could communicate with him in a language that was undoubtedly foreign to them. He was not about to answer and even if he did telepathically, his thoughts were being blocked. It seems that what Teleka said was actually happening, and it was frustrating his interrogator beyond words. Until he knew what was going on, he decided to trust Teleka's advice to say nothing.
The blue man seemed to be concentrating with all his will and mind but to no avail. He probably had no idea Teleka was helping Ray. He probably thought Ray could hide his thoughts, as they did. No antennae were necessary. Ray heard again in his mind what the man was saying.
<You must be intelligent,> he went on. <You are not from this System. Where are you from?>
The intensity of his questions betrayed the blue man's realization that Ray's mind was not open for reading. He was not going to get anything from him unless Ray allowed it. The man came looked into Ray's eyes. As he did so he demanded in Ray's mind as if his own life depended on it, <Open your mind!>
Ray sat there. He knew the seriousness of the situation. Did the man have the authority to kill him? Even if he did not, his frustration might cause him to lash out. Regardless, it didn't matter much because Ray had already determined that he wasn't going to open his mouth, and Teleka was preventing the man from reading Ray's mind anyway.
Ray offered a smirk and shook his head.
The blue man took out a small electronic device from his uniform jacket. It looked like a recording device of some kind.
"Bo-Lay!" the antenna-ed man ordered out loud, using his mouth. His voice had an odd pitch, a little low a little high.
He suddenly tossed out the cylindrical device that landed in Ray's lap. Ray didn't understand the words but assumed the man wanted him to speak into the machine. Or, maybe, he had to keep the device with him at all times, or something like that.
The blue man was again visibly agitated. Ray could hear in his mind his words.
<You must have the ability to block our telepathic communication!>, he said, frustrated beyond all measure.
Ray, who until then did not react to the man, unwittingly responded with a smirk. The blue man knew that he did indeed understand what he was saying. That angered the interrigator even more.
The blue man again communicated telepathically, but this time not directly to Ray. His orders this time were to the soldier that was standing behind Ray.
<Korram soldier, show this prisoner our disapproval!> was the order.
At least now, Ray knew who those ugly, smelly, aliens were. The blue man called them KORRAM soldier. As Ray took a mental note of that, something slammed into the back of his head, knocking him off the chair. His ears rang, his headache spread all over his body, and as he fell to the floor. He was out cold.