Prelude I | Starbuilders

Continuing to shiver in spite of the thick pelts and waterproof skins he was wearing, Nothaar Akii considered what he could do to rectify the situation. Although the necessary protective attire had been specially harvested from creatures native to the area and treated in a way to help keep the extreme cold at bay, Nothaar was still finding it difficult to understand how the beasts could survive outside in such conditions. Deciding to put aside his own discomfort, Nothaar instead turned his head to the right and asked in the language that his host spoke, "This is it? This is as far as we can go?"

"Yes," the old man named Baubu Yoordi confirmed, "Just as you asked, I've taken you to the southernmost point in the land. This cliff juts out further than anything else, thus making it the true end of the world."

Nothaar rotated away from Baubu and looked out over the dark and choppy salt sea. Given the fairly limited amount of time the sun would have shined overhead on that day, they had to use what useful light there was to complete the trek out to this locale, take in the boundless nothingness, and then make the return journey to Baubu's village. And all this had to be accomplished before the night fell and the predators that stalked under the cover of darkness discovered their presence. There's still so much I don't understand, Nothaar thought to himself. Expressing his concerns aloud, Nothaar declared, "These extremely short days are so distressing to me. Nothing like this happens where I'm from."

"It's the reverse in the summer," Baubu explained before a knowing, yet good-humored look spread across his face. "If I can convince you to stay that long, you'll see days when the sun goes to sleep for just a short while."

"The summer…" Nothaar trailed off, lost in his own thoughts and pangs of homesickness. "That's another thing that doesn't fit. When it's summer here, it's winter back at my birthplace. Everything is inverted down here in the southern lands."

"From my perspective," Baubu harrumphed, "your northern homestead is the backwards one. You said your village was on the northernmost tip of the world?"

"That's right," Nothaar confirmed. "Even the stars above changed as I crossed the great desert. I mean, of course, where the new stars have appeared, not where the old stars used to be."

"I'll have to take your word on all that and what your motherland is like," Baubu conceded, "having never gone very far to the north myself. However, I can confirm that the stars you have seen here are not the ones of my youth. Before the… the… what did you call it, again?"

"The Sky Shift," Nothaar answered in an almost reverent whisper. After all, it had practically become his religion and calling.

"Right, right," the elder Baubu acknowledged. "My memory is not what it once was. Nonetheless, I had one of my young pages go through my observations, and she concluded that the Sky Shift you say happened at your village also transpired at the same time as the one here. It all seemed to occur simultaneously twenty summers past."

Nothaar displayed his melancholy acceptance before responding, "Not that I doubted it at this point in my journey, but that confirms it: the Sky Shift was a worldwide phenomenon that took place everywhere at once. In every village I've been to that has a Keeper, they've been able to validate the Sky Shift happened on practically the same day, give or take a little difference depending upon how far east or west they are when the sun goes to sleep and the moon awakens."

"Are you absolutely sure it was everywhere?" Baubu challenged his visitor.

"What do you mean?" Nothaar asked in confusion.

Flashing him a mischievous expression, Baubu queried, "Do you believe there is nothing beyond the endless salt sea?"

Aware that he was most likely falling for one of Baubu's riddle-filled traps again, Nothaar nevertheless responded, "It's called 'endless' for a reason, is it not? I've seen no reason to consider otherwise."

Laughing, Baubu said, "Well that, my newfound friend, is where you're wrong. I know with almost certainty that there's more out there, far beyond the horizon we can see from this particular vantage point."

Trying not to feel insulted by his geriatric guide, Nothaar instead swallowed his pride and pursued what he was really after: information. "Please, tell me about it," he implored. There was nothing Nothaar desired more than to discover the complete truth, and the only way he was going to get it was if he learned about… everything.

"How about a trade?" Baubu offered. "From one Keeper to another."

"You don't have to be so formal with me," Nothaar countered. "I don't really do all those rituals and things. At the risk of offending you, I don't believe the Knowledge should be contained only by Keepers like us and our small pool of assistants. Instead of withholding what we learn to a precious few, I would like to see the Knowledge spread to the entirety of the masses."

In response to Nothaar's declaration, Babub's visage instantly became devoid of any readable emotion. Nothaar internally snickered as he recognized that Baubu was using a technique he was quite familiar with and employed prodigiously himself: the masking of all intents and feelings. Without a trace of his genuine reaction, Baubu plainly stated, "That is borderline blasphemy."

"According to some I have met," Nothaar willingly offered without so much as an attempt at self-censorship, "my thoughts are quite heretical, already beyond any tolerable or reasonable behavior. I will tell you that I've been… removed… from several villages by other Keepers for uttering such a treatise."

"And yet you still hazard saying the same to me?" Baubu tested. "Why would you do such a thing when I could just as easily cast you out and leave you to perish alone in the wild over the remainder of the long winter?"

Instead of answering, Nothaar just sighed and articulated, "Besides never getting this cold or staying dark for so long at the northern edge of the world, there are many differences I can opine on. For instance, although it can snow up there, rarely does it accumulate beyond a few fingers-width in depth. During some winters, there is no snow at all. As I traveled south from my village, things became hotter and hotter until I reached the wastelands. After crossing them and continuing to head downward across the countryside, the climate became much more like what I was accustomed to. Yet, I came to discover that the territories below the desert wastes are much larger than those of the north. At some point, I came to find winters more like these. True, this is the worst I've seen, but I'm not afraid. Despite leaving my home with no frame of reference for what winter could be, I've adapted and will continue to do so."

"Why tell me all this?" Baubu solicited.

"For two reasons," Nothaar began. "First, I want you to know that should you expel me, I'll still find a way to survive, so your threats have no bearing. Second, I wanted you to hear what freely sharing the Knowledge sounds like without the constraints our profession and dogma put upon us."

Baubu stared at Nothaar in complete silence for several moments more. Nothaar held his gaze, not breaking eye contact as the wind whipping around them provided the only accompaniment. Finally, Baubu blinked, started cackling, and declared, "I like you Nothaar. You're unconventional for sure, but maybe we need a little bit of that to shake things up. People can become so complacent and think they should do things as they have always been done. More so, it's quite clear that the world is changing in ways we cannot control and predict. Unfortunately, I won't survive long enough to see this through. It'll take someone like you to lead us to the other side of whatever is coming… whatever has already come."

"Thank you, Baubu," Nothaar accepted with both sincerity and humility. "That means a lot, especially coming from someone as venerated as you. Your reputation has actually extended quite far and wide from here. I've heard your name in my ears for many seasons now, and am glad to see you have lived up to the grandiose expectations others have heaped upon you, whether or not you were aware how you're regarded elsewhere in the world."

Clearly surprised and not even attempting to hide his feelings anymore, Baubu looked down at the snowpack and disclosed, "I had no idea my name was spoken outside my own village in any context…"

"You would be amazed at everything there is to see and learn!" Nothaar exclaimed.

Looking up, Baubu sadly professed, "I'm afraid I missed the opportunity to do what you're doing and tour the whole land. My youth is far behind me, and I fear I may have squandered it, after all. Nothaar, tell me about the rest of our scattered brothers and sisters, if you would. It would gladden me to be taught through what your eyes and ears have perceived."

"I will," Nothaar quickly agreed with a gesture that indicated his concurrence, "after you tell me what is beyond the apparently not-so-endless salt sea."

"You are tenacious!" Baubu remarked. "Very well. I assume you'll want to hear from the primary source directly, too, so I'll summarize. The fishermen who go out in the summer often claim they have caught sight of another land even further to the south. However, this place has been described as being made entirely of ice! According to their oral tradition, some of their ilk have even ended up landing or wrecking there, and that during the peak of the season the sun never sets."

"Astounding!" Nothaar granted. "Although, it's a bit suspect. If they wrecked their boats on this land of ice, how have these stories returned to us?"

"I don't know how it is where you come from," Baubu replied, "but fishermen here never go out alone. There are always several vessels traveling together as a safety measure. These seas are quite rough and treacherous. Even in the heat of summer, boats have run into large blocks of ice, some of which have washed up on our shores."

"And yet, despite all these detailed accounts and signs of something more to be learned," Nothaar interrogated Baubu, "you never thought to confirm the incontrovertible truth? You chose not to go out there yourself to find out for sure?"

Signaling his disapproval at such an idea, Baubu confessed, "I never much cared for being on the water. I can barely stick my feet in the ocean without becoming nervous. Besides, the fishermen have far more important work to do than drag a curious Keeper around on some wild adventure. They must use the precious time they have to gather vital sustenance for our people. As you can clearly see, we need a lot of provisions for the winter, so preserving the bounty of the summer harvest is critical for our survival. It's a difficult existence, but quite rewarding. I could never ask them to give up days and days of their life-sustaining profession just to satisfy my own inquisitiveness, even if they were willing."

"I understand," Nothaar granted. "It's much the same where I come from… and everywhere else I've been, for that matter. Come, let's return to your village; I'm getting quite chilled. On the way, I'll tell you all about the rest of the world."

The above piece is an excerpt from the speculative hard science fiction novel Starbuilders by J.P. Prag, available at booksellers worldwide. Learn more about the author at www.jpprag.com.

Twenty years ago, the stars above Nothaar Akii's head suddenly changed.

Christening it the Sky Shift, Nothaar found that this event was merely the harbinger of a devastating metamorphosis that was about to befall his world. More than anything, though, it impacted the children. Newborns came out of the womb with strange physical features, far different than anything seen before. As they grew up, the youths intuitively spoke a tongue that no one else understood. After learning these conditions were not isolated to his far northern village, Nothaar set out on a long journey of discovery, taking him all the way to the southernmost tip of the land.

With his expedition seemingly completed, Nothaar decided to retrace his steps and share his discoveries with everyone he had encountered along the way. However, those plans were quickly waylaid when he chanced upon a gift that had come crashing down from the heavens. Expecting just to find a rock filled with rare and valuable resources, he instead met Syraaq Sec and Ifuwukoogeeq. The mysterious duo not only spoke the Language of Children fluently, but also possessed knowledge far beyond Nothaar's comprehension.

And then they declared Nothaar was the key to unraveling a great injustice, one that had been perpetrated upon his people and many others by the Starbuilders.

Starbuilders is a work of mixed fiction and nonfiction elements. With the fiction elements, any names, characters, places, events, and incidents that bear any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. For the nonfiction elements, no names have been changed, no characters invented, no events fabricated except for hypothetical situations.