Back to the tale and into the present tense.

 

                  Even though he's a little tired, the drugs which were administered by the "waking-up system" have left him feeling quite happy. He's in a really, really, really good mood. The trans-electrical stimulator must have been slightly out in its calculations concerning the doses and so it's a hap-hap-happy day, oh what a beautiful morning, the hill's are alive...etc. And the planet is just wow! Even though it's devastation as far as the eye can see and it's freezing and there's a hurricane blowing and...it's great! And what's this? A group of white-clad monks swinging lanterns and trudging towards him across deep snow.

 

Enter the Shelter

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               The natives are really nice. They belong to a sect of survivalist gardeners. They think the captain is pretty cool and so they invite him to stay with them in their indestructible shelter where the tend their little gardens. They grow everything they need to eat and smoke; and they need to smoke a lot because it's not easy living on a wasted, devastated world and as if that's not enough, rumour has it that there's a platform-booted giant exo-spider roaming the wild country. That's why the Shelter is buried deep beneath the ground and surrounded by what the gardeners call "berlin walls" (berlin is a kind of concrete, apparently).

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                "I have discovered that this ruined planet is in fact the mythical planet Earth! While taking a stroll outside the walls in the short calm between hurricanes, I believe I saw the Statue of Liberty half buried by a thick layer of stardust and I'm almost certain I saw apes!

 

The walls are broad. They were built a long time ago. They are tall, too tall. They were built to last, to protect. They confine the gardens. They confine freedom. Mankind has not always resided in caverns of steel, surrounded by berlin walls. I must return to the past, search for memories. Perhaps I could find the answers in the Shelter's archives. I shall go there forthwith"