Drivers

"He wore golden straps across his body to contain the lethal PSI radiation that poured from him -- and when he removed them, entire armies fell."
-- Description of Llewellyn 709, the most powerful Driver alive (Booklet 001)

Drivers (German: Lenker) are PSI-gifted humans who possess the innate ability to navigate spacecraft through Space II, the alternate dimension that enables faster-than-light travel. They are the most important social class in the civilization of Die Terranauten, forming the indispensable link between the stars. Without Drivers, interstellar commerce, colonization, and communication would be impossible. This monopoly on space travel makes them simultaneously the most essential and the most resented caste in the Terran Star Empire -- a paradox that drives the saga's central conflict across all 99 booklets.

Overview

In the 26th-century civilization of Die Terranauten, humanity has expanded across hundreds of star systems. All interstellar travel depends on passage through Space II -- a hostile, incomprehensible alternate cosmos where normal navigation instruments fail and unshielded minds can be destroyed. Only individuals born with PSI Powers -- parapsychic abilities including telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, and PSI-shielding -- can perceive and interact with the currents of Space II. These individuals are the Drivers.

Drivers do not merely steer ships in the mechanical sense. They form psychic collectives called Lodges aboard each vessel, pooling their mental energy to perceive the topology of Space II, shield the crew from its lethal effects, and guide the ship along safe corridors to its destination. The process is mediated by Mistletoe Blossoms -- flowers harvested from the primeval tree Yggdrasil -- which focus and amplify the Drivers' psionic abilities. Without mistletoe, even the most powerful Driver is severely limited; without Drivers, the mistletoe is useless. This symbiosis between human PSI talent and the organic technology of Yggdrasil is the foundation of interstellar civilization.

The Driver monopoly on space travel creates enormous privilege, resentment, and political tension. The Council of Corporations depends entirely on Drivers for its economic power but chafes under this dependency. The saga's primary antagonist, Max von Valdec, devotes his life to breaking the Driver monopoly through Kaiser Force -- an artificial technology that tears open passages to Space II without PSI assistance -- and his campaign against the Drivers escalates from political suppression to galaxy-wide persecution, genocide, and ultimately cosmic catastrophe.

Abilities

PSI Powers

All Drivers possess some degree of psionic ability, though the strength and type varies enormously between individuals. Common Driver abilities include:

• Telepathy: The ability to communicate mind-to-mind, essential for coordinating Lodge operations during Space II transit. Some Drivers, such as Narda, possess extraordinary telepathic range and sensitivity.
• Telekinesis: The ability to move objects through mental force. Llewellyn 709 demonstrates this at extreme levels, reprogramming computer systems telekinetically (Booklet 075).
• PSI-Shielding: The generation of protective psionic force fields. Lodges combine their shielding to create a PSI-Shield capable of withstanding orbital bombardment (Booklet 012).
• Precognition: Some Drivers experience visions of the future. Thor von Riglan and Jelina von Riglan possess this "Light of Realization" (Booklet 081).
• Hypno-Fields: The ability to create mental illusions. Asen-Ger uses this to project phantom Driver ships, drawing Gray Guards away from the real fleet (Booklets 007-008).
• PSI Storms: At extreme power levels, a Driver can unleash uncontrolled psionic energy that distorts reality itself. Llewellyn 709's removal of his containment straps causes devastating PSI storms (Booklets 001, 045).

Space II Navigation

The core function of Drivers is guiding spacecraft through Space II. This process requires:

1. A Lodge: A group of Drivers working in psychic concert, led by a Lodge Master.
2. Mistletoe Blossoms: Organic amplifiers harvested from Yggdrasil that focus PSI energy and attune the Drivers' minds to the frequencies of Space II.
3. Concentration and Coordination: The Lodge must maintain continuous mental cohesion during transit. Loss of concentration or a break in the Lodge's psychic chain can result in the ship being lost in Space II.

Without mistletoe, Drivers can still enter Space II, but navigation becomes far more dangerous and imprecise. David terGorden and Narda manage to guide a Razzo through Space II using only their raw PSI talent (Booklet 005), but this is considered exceptional and extremely hazardous.

The Riemenmann

The rarest and most extreme manifestation of Driver ability is the Riemenmann ("Strapman") -- a Driver whose PSI power has been amplified to lethal levels, causing their body to emit constant psionic radiation fatal to those nearby. The Riemenmann must wear a containment weave of golden straps to prevent their energy from killing everyone around them. Llewellyn 709 is the saga's most prominent Riemenmann; his doppelganger Valhala 13, bred by the Gray Guards, is another. The process of becoming a Riemenmann is described as a transformation so profound that it effectively creates a new person -- Llewellyn 709's former identity as Mar-Estos was essentially destroyed in the process (Booklets 030, 061).

The Caste System

The civilization of Die Terranauten is stratified into rigid castes, with Drivers occupying the most privileged position. The major castes are:

Drivers (Lenker)

The PSI-gifted elite. Drivers enjoy preferential status due to their irreplaceable role in space travel. They are organized into Lodges, governed by Lodge Masters, and their apex leadership resides in the Council of Lodge Masters on the planet Zoe. The highest-ranking Lodge Masters hold the title of Summacum. Drivers have their own internal hierarchy, legal traditions, and social customs distinct from the rest of Terran society.

Arbiters

Members of the professional and administrative classes who serve the Council of Corporations and its subsidiary enterprises.

Relax

The Relax are the masses of ordinary humanity -- those without PSI abilities who do not participate in the work process. They are "provided for" by the corporations through entertainment, drugs, and basic subsistence, but have no real power or agency. The Relax live in a state of managed apathy, often addicted to substances like Dust Medusa Extract (Booklet 076). The term "Relax" encapsulates the system's contempt for the non-PSI majority: they are seen as passive consumers, not active participants in civilization.

The character Gian Cuny, a Relax addicted to dust-medusa extract who dies during the Kilimanjaro uprising seeking his next fix (Booklet 076), epitomizes the despair of this caste.

Nomans

Below even the Relax are the Nomans -- literally "non-humans," outcasts who have no legal rights and survive in the ruins and underground spaces of the great cities. Brak Shakram and his band of Nomans living in the bunkers beneath Ultima Thule represent this lowest caste (Booklet 006). The Nomans are the forgotten underclass, invisible to the corporations and the Drivers alike.

The Resentment

The Driver monopoly on space travel creates deep resentment among the non-PSI castes. The corporations depend on Drivers for their wealth but despise this dependency. Ordinary citizens see Drivers as a privileged elite who hoard power through an accident of birth. Max von Valdec exploits this resentment masterfully, blaming the Drivers for the failure of his Kaiser Force demonstration and inciting a galaxy-wide pogrom against them (Booklet 004). His rhetoric frames the Drivers as monopolists who hold humanity hostage -- a message that resonates powerfully with the Relax and the corporations alike.

This caste tension eventually erupts into the War of the Castes (Booklet 076), a planet-wide uprising on Earth in which Relax, Nomans, Arbiters, and various insurgent groups rebel against both the corporations and the Driver establishment.

The Lodge System

Drivers are organized into Lodges -- psychic collectives that serve as their fundamental social, professional, and political unit. The Lodge system pervades every aspect of Driver life.

Structure

• Lodge: The basic operational unit. A Lodge typically consists of a small group of Drivers (often 5-12) who have trained together and developed the psychic attunement necessary to navigate Space II as a team. Each commercial or military starship carries at least one Lodge. The Lodge members aboard the GDANSK in Booklet 001 -- Hadersen Wells, Dime Mow, Tsien Wan, Farewell-Paal, Maury Jacques, Winchinata Jacques, and Quiet Hollister -- represent a typical working Lodge.

• Lodge Masters: The leader of a Lodge, a Driver of exceptional PSI power and experience who coordinates the collective's mental operations. Lodge Masters carry significant political weight in Driver society. Notable Lodge Masters include Asen-Ger, Hadersen Wells, Ari marTheos, Valentin Claudius, and Lodge Mistress Jana.

• Super-Lodge: When extraordinary psionic power is needed, multiple Lodges can merge into a Super-Lodge -- a collective of hundreds or even thousands of Drivers operating as a single psychic entity. Super-Lodges are capable of generating PSI-Shields strong enough to withstand orbital bombardment, as demonstrated on Zoe (Booklet 012), and of creating elaborate illusions that span entire battlefields (Booklets 007-008). The formation of a Super-Lodge requires immense concentration and is physically exhausting for all participants.

• Summacums: The intellectual and political elite among the Lodge Masters, holding seats on the Council of Lodge Masters on Zoe. Jose Javage and Gram Ashmit are Summacums encountered on Zoe (Booklet 011). Asen-Ger himself holds the rank of Summacum.

The Planet Zoe

The planet Zoe, orbiting the sun Spilter, serves as the political and spiritual capital of the Drivers. It is the seat of the Council of Lodge Masters and home to the Summacums. Zoe is also inhabited by the Merun, a native insectoid race, and features the sacred Grottos of B'ai Ching where Drivers coordinate their most powerful PSI operations. Zoe's destruction by Valdec's Kaiser Force transmitter, which destabilizes the sun Spilter and causes it to go nova (Booklet 012), is the saga's darkest hour and a turning point for the Drivers as a people.

The Driver Council

After the destruction of Zoe and the long years of exile, the Drivers eventually establish a new governing body, the Driver Council, based on Sarym. Asen-Ger serves as deputy chairman of this council (Booklet 070), which oversees the resettlement of Silent Drivers and the restoration of Driver space travel during the Second Driver Space Age.

Pirate Lodges

Not all Lodges serve the established order. Throughout the saga, outlaw Drivers form pirate lodges that prey on commercial shipping. The PHOENIX, an old Driver freighter crewed by a pirate lodge, attacks container haulers near the Usher Cube (Booklet 035). The existence of pirate lodges reflects the lawlessness that follows the persecution of Drivers -- stripped of their legitimate livelihood, some turn to raiding. Booklet 081, "Driver Pirates," depicts Thor von Riglan and Jelina von Riglan being recruited as Drivers for the STORTIS, a ship desperately in need of a Lodge to navigate Space II.

Notable Drivers

The saga features a vast cast of Driver characters. The following are the most significant:

David terGorden

The central protagonist of Die Terranauten, appearing in 67 of 99 booklets. Born from Myriam's mystical connection to Yggdrasil, David possesses extraordinarily powerful PSI abilities. He is the prophesied Heir of Power and one of nine Spectra destined to reactivate the Long Row, the intercosmic anti-entropy system. David's arc carries him from fugitive Driver to Lord Colonel of the Council of Corporations to cosmic savior.

Llewellyn 709

The saga's second most prominent character (53 booklets), known as "the Riemenmann" or "the Strapman." A super-Driver whose lethal PSI radiation requires containment by golden straps. His galaxy-wide PSI call in Booklet 001 ignites the Driver rebellion. Formerly Mar-Estos, nephew of Growan terGorden. He kills the Super-Driver Ares 17 in psionic combat (Booklet 036) and leads the Terranaut fleet through the saga's final acts.

Asen-Ger

Real name Ansgar Asenger, a Lodge Master, Summacum, and co-founder of the Terranauts. Appearing in 40 booklets, he is David's mentor and father figure. Son of a Dragon Rider from the Sealed Land on Adzharis, secretly connected to David's mother Myriam del Drago. He serves as deputy chairman of the Driver Council on Sarym in the later saga.

Narda (Narda del Drago)

A young, highly gifted telepathic Driver and member of Asen-Ger's lodge from the saga's beginning. She receives the first new mistletoe from David on Adzharis, inaugurating the Second Driver Space Age (Booklet 060). Narda travels with David aboard the Collector in the late saga.

Claude Farrell

A steadfast Driver and Terranaut, David's most constant and loyal companion. Present from the earliest adventures through to the finale, he takes command of the Terranauts when Llewellyn 709 is incapacitated at Star City (Booklet 095).

La Strega del Drago

A Driver and witch in Asen-Ger's lodge. She detects the Hypnoter implanted in David at the Great Festival and overloads Valdec's control device, freeing David's mind -- a pivotal act in the saga's opening arc (Booklet 003).

Hadersen Wells

Lodge Master of the GDANSK, later commanding the GARIBALDI and MILAN. A reliable leader who issues an ultimatum to Valdec on behalf of the Drivers (Booklet 011) and demands Asen-Ger's release.

Luther Straightwire

A mysterious figure who appears as a human Driver but is revealed to be a Steerer in disguise. He guides David to the Old Forest and reveals his destiny as one of nine Spectra (Booklet 094).

Lodge Mistress Jana

A Lodge Mistress of the Terranauts and owner of the IRMINSUL. She carries the Connex Crystal and is rescued by Llewellyn 709 from an Entity on Hephaistos (Booklet 093).

Ari marTheos

A Terranaut Lodge Master who intervenes on Zoe, helping the Drivers escape and instructing them to land on Earth. He uses a consciousness manipulator to turn Queen Mandorla against Valdec, then dies shortly after (Booklet 005).

The Super-Drivers

Notable Super-Drivers include:

• Ares 17, Artemis 11, and Plutos 23: Enhanced on Sarym, they break free from Gray Guard custody and attack Arda-City on Shondyke (Booklets 035-036). Ares 17 is killed by Llewellyn 709 in psionic combat.
• Prometheus 107 (and variants Prometheus 93): A powerful Super-Driver clone who captures Llewellyn 709 and Lyda Mar on Sarym (Booklet 063). Destroyed within the PSI-aura.
• Phönix 17, Isis 24: Genetically engineered test subjects at the Kaiser secret station on Sarym (Booklet 043).

The Super-Driver program represents Valdec's attempt to turn the Drivers' own gift against them -- creating controlled psionic weapons answerable only to corporate authority.

The Silent Drivers

The most tragic figures in the saga are the Silent Drivers -- former PSI-gifted individuals who had their psionic abilities surgically removed by Valdec's regime. After the fall of Zoe (Booklet 012), the Gray Guards systematically strip captured Drivers of their PSI powers across the galaxy, in facilities on planets like Siam-Sin and aboard hospital ships like the MEDIKRAT.

Stripped of the abilities that defined their identity, the Silent Drivers become hollow, broken people. In the later saga, they are resettled on Sarym, where they develop a mysterious illness: they create haunting "color compositions" that have a penetrating psychic quality, and anyone who views them -- including David, who falls into a catatonic state -- is profoundly affected (Booklet 070).

The resolution comes when the Silent Drivers are integrated into the bio-PSI ecology of Sarym through contact with plant spores from the Buds of the Tree, becoming "Multi-Mediators" -- beings who can interface with the living planet itself. This transformation represents a kind of healing and transcendence beyond their original PSI abilities. As David recognizes, it is a sign of humanity's potential for symbiosis with the cosmos.

Persecution of Drivers

The persecution of Drivers is the saga's central political narrative, escalating through distinct phases:

Phase 1: Corporate Dependency and Resentment (pre-2499)

Before the saga begins, Drivers occupy a privileged but resented position. The Council of Corporations depends on them for interstellar commerce but views them as an obstacle to complete corporate control. The Biotroniks Corporation, controlled by Growan terGorden, holds a monopoly on Mistletoe Blossoms -- the substance Drivers need to navigate Space II. This creates a triple dependency: the galaxy needs Drivers, Drivers need mistletoe, and mistletoe comes from one corporation.

Phase 2: The Pogrom (2499-2500)

When Max von Valdec's Kaiser Force demonstration fails at the Great Festival in Ultima Thule, he blames the Drivers, accusing them of sabotage and monopolistic greed. He incites a galaxy-wide pogrom: Drivers are placed in "protective custody" (concentration camps), their property is seized, and public opinion is turned against them through propaganda from Manipulated News (RMN). Asen-Ger is arrested for publicly defending the Drivers. Llewellyn 709 issues a secret broadcast warning all Drivers to flee (Booklet 004).

Phase 3: Systematic Stripping (2500)

Valdec's forces begin the systematic removal of Drivers' PSI abilities on an industrial scale. On planets like Yenderson, Volonder, and Siam-Sin, Drivers are brutally suppressed: strikes are crushed, ships are destroyed, and individuals are herded into facilities where their PSI powers are surgically stripped away. Ennerk Prime witnesses the suppression on Yenderson; Suzan Oh survives the destruction of her ship on Volonder; Onnegart Vangralen observes the stripping process on Siam-Sin (Booklet 012). Prison worlds like Veldvald are used to imprison and exploit surviving Drivers as forced labor (Booklet 028).

Phase 4: The Destruction of Zoe (2500)

The culmination of the early persecution is Valdec's annihilation of Zoe, the Drivers' homeworld and seat of their civilization. Using the Kaiser Force transmitter, Valdec destabilizes Zoe's sun Spilter, causing it to go nova. The captured Drivers on Zoe are stripped of their PSI abilities. Only a handful of Terranauts -- David, Asen-Ger, Mandorla, and a few others -- escape in a courier ship (Booklet 012). The destruction of Zoe is the genocide of an entire culture.

Phase 5: The Valhala 13 Operation (2501)

Even after the initial persecution, Valdec continues his war against the Drivers through covert means. Valhala 13, a Riemenmann bred by the Gray Guards as Llewellyn 709's perfect double, is deployed to infiltrate and destroy the Terranauts from within. Valhala captures and replaces the real Llewellyn, attacking Terranauts on Rorqual and sowing chaos (Booklets 045-048).

Valdec's Opposition to the Driver Monopoly

But Kaiser Force is fundamentally destructive. It draws energy from Space II in ways that accelerate entropy, damaging the fabric of spacetime itself. The destruction of the planet Xaxon by Kaiser Force emissions draws the attention of the galactic Entities -- ancient supercivilizations that threaten humanity with a Final Strike if the technology is not abandoned (Booklet 050). Kaiser Force is, in essence, a technology of domination that poisons the cosmos to avoid depending on human gifts -- the perfect expression of Valdec's worldview.

David's opposition to Valdec is, at its core, a defense of the principle that humanity's relationship to the cosmos should be symbiotic (through Drivers and Yggdrasil) rather than exploitative (through Kaiser Force). His departure on an Organ-Sailer in the saga's finale to "eliminate Kaiser Force forever" (Booklet 099) resolves this central tension.

The War of the Castes

By 2503, the tensions between Drivers, Relax, Nomans, corporations, and insurgent movements erupt into the War of the Castes -- a planet-wide civil war on Earth (Booklet 076). The conflict involves:

• The Action Committee Free Africa, which launches an uprising in Kilimanjaro
• The Nomans, who revolt in the ruins of New Delhi
• The Anarcho-Syndicate, led by Philip Moran
• The Brak Shakram Command (F.F.D.E.), coordinated by Manuel Lucci
• The GeneralManags, led by Anlyka terCrupp, who plot to seize Council power for themselves

The War of the Castes represents the ultimate failure of the old order: a society built on Driver privilege, corporate exploitation, and caste division consuming itself. David's eventual resignation of the Lord Colonelship (Booklet 079) acknowledges that political power cannot resolve the structural injustice -- only a fundamental transformation of civilization can.

The Second Driver Space Age

After years of persecution and exile, the Drivers' fortunes begin to reverse when David cultivates a new Yggdrasil seedling on Adzharis, passing a trial by the Dragon Witches to prove his worthiness. When the seedling produces the first new mistletoe, David gives it to Narda -- inaugurating the Second Driver Space Age (Booklet 060). This act restores the Drivers' ability to navigate Space II independently of Kaiser Force and begins the long process of rebuilding Driver civilization.

The Second Driver Space Age does not simply restore the old order. The Drivers who emerge from the years of persecution are changed: more militant, more politically aware, and more willing to cooperate with non-Driver allies. The establishment of the Driver Council on Sarym, the integration of Silent Drivers as Multi-Mediators, and the final Lodge-formation and galaxy-wide PSI call in Booklet 099 all point toward a new model of Driver civilization -- one based on partnership rather than monopoly.

Key Events

Appearances

Drivers appear in 93 of the saga's 99 booklets. The following are the most Driver-centric stories:

Themes

The Drivers embody the saga's deepest thematic tensions:

• Gift and Curse: PSI ability grants Drivers immense privilege but also makes them targets for persecution, exploitation, and weaponization. The Riemenmann -- whose gift is literally lethal -- is the extreme expression of this paradox.
• Monopoly and Resentment: The Drivers' indispensable role creates both power and vulnerability. Their monopoly on space travel generates the resentment that Valdec exploits, while their dependency on mistletoe makes them controllable by whoever controls Yggdrasil.
• Nature versus Technology: Driver space travel through Yggdrasil's mistletoe represents an organic, symbiotic relationship with the cosmos. Kaiser Force represents a technological, exploitative alternative. The saga argues that the symbiotic path -- despite its inconveniences and dependencies -- is fundamentally superior to the destructive shortcut.
• Persecution and Resilience: The Drivers' experience across the saga -- pogrom, genocide, exile, stripping, and eventual rebirth -- constitutes a narrative of collective suffering and survival. The transformation of Silent Drivers into Multi-Mediators suggests that even the most devastating persecution cannot permanently destroy the human capacity for transcendence.
• The Circle Closes: The saga begins with Llewellyn 709's galaxy-wide PSI call summoning Drivers to rebellion (Booklet 001) and ends with the Drivers forming a Lodge on a transformed Earth and sending a PSI call that the Entities themselves acknowledge (Booklet 099). The Drivers' journey -- from persecuted minority to cosmic participants -- is the story of humanity's relationship to the universe made manifest.

Drivers appear in 93 of 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. They are the most frequently referenced social group in the saga.