Short Story, Serialized, Part 1

The Barrier
by MK Alexander
(part 1)

I admit to being nervous. It wasn’t everyday my old professor called me to his chambers for a meeting, and this time, a meeting of some importance. The old song came to my mind, the old, soothing song everyone learned in childhood:

Protect us from the falling sky, embrace our world, we ask not why….
Eternal rampart of destiny, we praise thee, forever on high…

“I put you in charge of this project.”
“Me?” I asked, feeling both surprise and disbelief.
“Of course. It was your ancestors who began it… their idea in the first place. Who better?”
“It’s too much responsibility for one person.” A chill went up my spine.
“Nonsense. No one is better qualified. Assemble your team and get on with the task.”
“The council has approved this?”
“Of course. I still hold some sway with them.”
“I expected a chilly reception, or a tepid response at best.”
“Their passion now burns for completion.”
“And resources will be allocated?”
“Anything you need,” he assured.
“Still, it may take some time… a long time… perhaps, another lifetime. There is no way of knowing.”
“Such has been made clear to the council. They’ve promised to be patient.” My elder, my mentor, put his hand on my back with a certain affection. He had been my teacher at school for a good many years.
“Patient? Hmm… how patient?” I paused to wonder.
“Long ago, all speculation concerning the barrier was heresy,” he began in his particularly academic tone. “To mention it, let alone study its nature, was forbidden. Such ideas went against the flow. The barrier was inscrutable, immutable, impervious, impenetrable.” He let go a laugh and his whiskers bristled. “Archaic thinking…” he said with emphasis and laughed again. “New thinking has spawned over the countless years, and now, the truth of it all can be discovered— largely thanks to your efforts.”
“I echo this exact sentiment, of course,” I replied rather cooly. “Though, I think it has less to do with me, than recent events.”
“How so?”
“Well, there are the rumors of the mysterious burning rock, for one.”
“A myth, no truth in it at all.” He gave me a cold reply.
“Still… the story is whispered among many, and in the great schools as well. They tell of a symmetrical stone, smoother than any other, hotter than a furnace, boring, burning its way through the barrier relentlessly, and methodically, until it fell to the depths to be crushed on our shores.”
“A story, nothing more, I assure you. Our legends are filled with tales of things falling from the sky— eh? Besides, the council has dismissed this event, outright. A hoax, perhaps.”
“A hoax?” I asked. “To what end?”
“Just to stir things up… Even after all this time, some would still call it, our great protector…” He took me aside confidentially. “What has changed the council’s view is your diligent effort. All that work, poring through the archives, your measurements, your meticulous records, the frequent journeys to the heights… and, your actual progress.”
“I believe it’s this very story— this hoax as you call it— has prompted the council to change its mind.”
“Nonsense,” he bellowed.
“And this unusual stone also spoke, it’s been alleged.”
“Spoke? And what did it say, this, this burning stone?”
“Nothing intelligible… only a rhythmic pulse could be heard.”
“Again, utter nonsense. A talking stone?” he asked derisively.
“And what of the thunderous cracking we all heard just last year? It spread across the entire globe. Everyone could feel it... and its certain terror.”
“We should not speak of that. But you know as well as I, such phenomena were often recorded in the old manuscripts, and mentioned throughout antiquity. It is a… a… kind of seasonal occurrence. Such calamitous thunderings mark the epochs of time. A natural event— not the stirrings of an angry god— yes?”
“Still…”
“Ah, we live in an enlightened era. Everything has changed. Momentously, tidally. We’ve all seen your data, and the consensus is that you are getting close.” He patted my back again. “We believe, the council and I, that this is surely the final phase of the project. The truth will be known at last. It will be a great achievement. An advance, unparalleled in our history... a truth that will surely be world-shattering.”
“And you believe the population at large is ready for such a revelation?”
“Who can say?”
“You fully understand the implications of all this? The effort required?”
He nodded.
“We’ll have to go to the depths to bring up the necessary—”
“Not today… Home to your wife now, and tell her the news. I’m sure she’ll be very pleased,” he said warmly.
“That’s doubtful. She worries. She’s the anxious sort. She constantly tells me that this is a dangerous endeavor.”
“And you agree?”
“There is some danger, yes. We’ve already lost many workers this year. And countless others have died over the centuries.”
“Sad tidings, however, the pursuit of truth is worth the cost in lives. Even those who have died would agree. Their sacrifice has been honored, they are the most revered of our people. Your very own father is such a person.”