A Science Fiction Saga

Chronicles of Tonath by Mari Collier

Series Excerpt

The Western Star Shift Institute’s Observatory and the Academy were set against the north wall of the complex. The Observatory tower hovered over the other buildings and grounds like some forgotten pyramid transported to a new life. Its hewn limestone sparkled jeweled points back into the sun. Brother John’s animated face glowed as he assured Loren that the new telescope superseded any in existence. This Teacher would have all the information needed to protect the Way for another century. Who, Loren wondered paid for all the new buildings and equipment?

The steps leading into the Academy had been swept clean by some early rising Brother and were now inhabited by a basking, blue lizard. Lizards aren’t blue, he thought. They should be grey, black, brown, beige, or green with different colored markings.

Once he was inside, he noticed the air was still cool from the morning breezes. Soon the chambers would turn into miniature ovens and the Brothers in their black, brown, or grey robes would ignore the inconvenience. He looked around for someone to report to and wondered why he had been sent here to learn. The Academy of the Star Brotherhood and Academy of Arts were in Anoth within the old Eastern Star Shift Institute. Any teaching here was for the more advanced scholar and for those honing their meditation techniques to learn the Readings and their interpretations. There were the advanced mathematicians taking more math classes to be able to calculate star path projections and supply the information to the Teacher for crosschecking. Here resided the repository for six thousand years of Star Charts from the previous Teachers. Brother John had claimed it was really over ten thousand years. Loren doubted the latter figure as Brother John was well into his fifth cup of ale that evening and exaggerating every tale he told.

A young, grey clad Brother walked towards him. “Good morning. I’m Brother Herman. Welcome to our teaching Institute. You’re to take your instructions from me, but first you must meet with Brother Calvin.” The smile in his blue eyes seemed genuine, his voice a pleasant baritone. Brother Herman led the way into a back section, clearly designed for individual offices.

Brother Calvin answered their knock by saying, “Enter,” but remained seated as they walked in. The office was bare except for the compiling ledger on his desk. He motioned them to sit, sat back, allowed dry eyelids almost devoid of lashes to flit downward, opened his eyes, and regarded them both with a cold stare.

“Teacher has commanded that you be taught the rudiments of the literate world. Brother Herman will suffice for this task. All reports of your progress and/or any dereliction of study time will be forwarded to me.”

His pale lips compressed for a moment and then continued moving. “If it is true that you remember nothing, bear in mind that this Institute alone is responsible for the Teaching of The Way. Our Brotherhood was created to carry the Way safely through the generations. The Star Shifts must be recorded and interpreted. If we are wrong, the Day of Burning begins again and man is lost. The evil of Star Shift ignorance will rule and the savage green creatures will spread over the land. To safeguard against this, all heretical teachings must be refuted and ground out. Unfortunately, their numbers increase under a gentle Teacher and economic good times. Perhaps you would find it more comfortable to remain here as a faithful Brother, ignorant of worldly teachings. Should you decide to remain as a Brother of the Way, you may report back to the dwelling section for an assignment. You would be under Brother John.” Brother Calvin twisted his lips into what Loren suspected was meant to be a smile.

“Your offer, Brother Calvin,” he replied politely, “is very tempting, but even if I do decide to stay as a Brother, don’t you think I could serve better if I am able to read and write?”

Brother Calvin’s face hardened. Hell, thought Loren. That was his idea, not Teacher’s.

“Very well, Loren. Brother Herman, you are to use the Library.” He dismissed them both and returned to his records.

***

The Teacher heard, but was not listening to the night lark’s song of gladness. Cool evening breezes stirred the fumes of tallow wafting from his reading lamp. Oil from whales had ceased to be plentiful with the closing of the ocean roundings. He hoped that Donaldson’s promise that the new fuel from ground tar, or black resin as some called it, would soon replace the whale oil. Teacher forced his mind back to Brother Herman’s report and the problem at hand.

Report Evaluation from Brother Herman: It is obvious that Loren had read and ciphered previously. One reading and one number practice session would be sufficient and Loren would be ready for the next level. In six months’ time, he has progressed to the university level. Loren has requested to continue his studies at a higher level and/or venture into the world on his own to seek employment to be able to repay the debt he felt he owed to the Western Star Shift Institute.

Brother Calvin’s evaluation was equally terse. He disapproved. Brother Calvin felt the man a fraud and did not believe that Loren had forgotten anything: all of his statements to that effect were lies and continued to be lies. His academic progress proved this thesis.

Teacher leaned back in his chair and formed a bridge with his slender fingers, the loose sleeves folding and draping back from the arms. He ran the problem in his mind again.

Fact: The stars had flared and the sky had shifted.

Fact: There was now a stranger in their midst.

The Problem: True Man, True Foe, or Unmeaning Foe? Had he, the Teacher, missed the true interpretation of the Reading?

Was it a coincidence that Brother Heathington had gone to Anoth to gather supplies and medicines and then boarded the ship at Portwein to New Anoth with his purchases to care for the injured from the coming Star Shift? Would Brother Heathington’s (a doctor of profound learning) evaluation of Loren been different from Crossen’s had he lived and returned here? And why had Brother Heathington not believed that New Anoth would be destroyed? Was the heresy more widespread than the city of Anoth?

Teacher’s eyes narrowed as he remembered Crossen’s jubilation at being called to practice his craft. Crossen’s gloating demeanor since Loren’s recovery was a problem. Was there more to know than the strange clothing and boots Loren had worn or certain information that he had derived from Brother Zack and his teas?

Under his direction, Brother Zack had administered the truth tea and Loren’s babbled answers had no meaning. Some of the words were not recognizable. What were those words? Few knew any of the Greenies language, but Loren’s words were not the few known ones. The tea had left Loren weak and fever ridden. At the end, Loren kept repeating, “I found the Way.”

Teacher wondered if the capitalization of the Way was in his own mind. Did Loren mean something else? If Loren truly meant The Way, he is then True Man and he, when the time of his middling arrives, will return to the Western Star Shift Institute with his tithe, his male portion, and his knowledge.

If Loren were True Foe, then he, Teacher, would surely recognize it. Unmeaning Foe, however, would be more difficult. Both of the latter possibilities would demand that the person had all their faculties, including memory, to hide behind the pretext of True Man. True Foe would do anything possible to destroy the Western Star Shift Institute while an Unmeaning Foe would not intentionally do so. Since Brother Calvin felt Loren was at least the latter, he recommended keeping Loren here under any pretext. There are years yet, thought Teacher, many years for the Readings and the Stars to coincide. He came to a decision, drew the blank paper towards him, and started to write.