The Snows of Shangrila: Book Five of the Sci-Fi Series

By Donald Krueger

The year was 1711 when the epic of long living infants began. They are abnormal by all Earth standards as if stuck in a time warp. They're housed in a Catholic Orphanage run by a dozen or so nuns. The children do grow albeit at a very slow pace comparable to perhaps one year for every five years of normalcy.
The nuns are protective but sworn to secrecy by a Bishop who fears that some heathen entity has invaded his charge and denial is best served for his narcissistic ego. He may one day become a Cardinal providing his resume remains flawless. As years pass, he never fails to employ his rank on each and every visit. He dislikes these children as they threaten his inflated ego, yet he has no answers.
The two vow to escape and a windfall inheritance provides a way. The two are locked in friendship and their adventure is as a couple. They plan together and devise ways to achieve a blending within a world that has but an 80-year life expectancy. For them, they had just reached adulthood at age 80. A huge adventure sends them to the new world. Hard work and perseverance over many years, result in establishing the moist prestigious cattle ranch in Montana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664126237

Donald Krueger

Donald Krueger Sci-fi author Donald Krueger is a retired airline pilot. His airline career had him flying transports starting with the DC-3 and ending with the DC-10. He lives in the pleasing climate of Southern California and enjoyed numerous interests other than flying, including music and sculpture. Currently is his interest in writing. The 'Snows of Shangrila' is book five of his science fiction book series. It spans a dozen years of research plus a vivid imagination. The stories have a rich mixture of imagination and actual history. More than once the reader will find his/herself pondering, “I didn’t know that”, yet on checking find the occurrences are factual.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

A new life

T he last message from the Antares spaceship was:

"Bon Voyage old Friends. It’s only 24 trillion miles."

It is a solemn day in Dayton, Ohio as the Antares spaceship made the jump to light speed heading for its home of Centauri some 4 lightyears distant. Somehow the ‘old friends’ part of the message was extremely sorrowful to Bill Mayfield and Marvin Stone. It was the same emptiness they felt some half dozen years ago when the entire Downs family boarded the same spaceship to live on Centauri. Now it is 2035 and over three decades since the realization of Centauri’s existence came to Dayton.

Bill and Marvin thought they’d be returning to ‘life before Downs’ but that all changed as two members from the Antares expedition found solace on Earth and decided to remain. Magnus, the Antares commander was opposed but gave in to the couple’s wishes. He was bound to face heavy criticism when he got home, but the whole expedition was so disappointing, he understood the couple’s sense of adventure. How will they cope? Fortunately, Bill Mayfield and Marvin Stone had vowed to maintain the farmhouse complex at Geoffrey’s insistence. So, the young marrieds did have a place to live.

The two newbies were likely the first couple married by the commander of a spaceship. They are young and excited with high hopes, but without Geoffrey, the wealthy patriarch in control, the burden here in Dayton is on Bill and Marvin. The new couple has no money. No one had thought of that.

Bill and Marvin walked from the hangar to the farmhouse. They sat in the living room trying to absorb their new predicament. Doc Newton and Taddy, the newlyweds, had already retired to their bedroom.

Finally, Marvin spoke: What have we done Bill? I have second thoughts. Maybe we should have tried to talk them out of staying here.

Bill: Too late now Marvin, but we didn’t do it. They made up their own minds. First, they are lovers and now even more so since they married. I think they really wanted to be alone. I imagine they had the hots for each other for some time on the Antares expedition. Getting alone on a spaceship is not really getting alone.

I guess you’re right. said Marvin. And then again they are savvy persons. In all that traveling through the celestial realm of junk, the realization hit them that the only bright spot, other than home, was here. I think they were concerned that Earth would be forgotten when all this sibling frenzy ended. Maybe that was the plan; with them here, the Council of Centauri can never forget Earth. These two are Centauri citizens on another planet. That realization is engrained whether the Council likes it or not.

Okay. said Bill. But we have to make a plan. Bring the telescope computer back here so we can send a message to Geoffrey. The newbies are going to need papers and he must give us the know-how. You and I can’t support them so jobs must be considered. If that isn’t enough, Taddy’s pregnant and will need care later on. What the hell can we tell an obstetrician when her pregnancy needs attention. Geoffrey was an MD and watched Sarah like a hawk but he still consulted with an OB. Remember Geoffrey had big concerns about the lengthy pregnancy but that was with Sarah, and her genes were not programmed for a 4-year pregnancy. This one should be easy.

Marvin: I almost forgot. They look so young but they’re over one hundred years old. This crazy long-life thing is what started the whole enchilada with Geoffrey, Sarah, and the infamous 1711 babies. He continued: I’ll get the computer tomorrow so we can send a message. Then we’ll have a serious discussion with Doc and Taddy about what’s around the corner.

The next morning, Marvin drove back to his Chicago office to pick up the computer. His secretary looked up from her desk. Welcome back stranger. Are you going to be here for a while?

No; I just came to pick up that computer in the storage room.

Do you know an ‘Eddie Gertz’?

No, why?

He called. He said he’s Sarah Warner’s publisher and wants you to call him.

Marvin dialed the number and Eddie answered. Marvin spoke: This is Marvin Stone from Stella Systems returning your call.

Oh yes Mr. Stone. I was Sarah Warner’s publisher before she stopped writing. I must move my office and was cleaning out some files. In one drawer were copies Geoffrey Down’s Journals. Also, with them, was a note from Sarah asking me to give them to you so they could be kept at Dayton. That was a half dozen years ago and I had forgotten all about it. Do you still want them?

By all means. Give me your address and I’ll pick them up this afternoon.

Marvin was thrilled. The journals would be very helpful for the newlyweds when getting familiar with the background about the Earth/Centauri relationship.

It was late in the day when Marvin got back to Dayton. He put the computer and the journals in the little office of the farmhouse and then went to the kitchen for a snack. He called Bill who said he’d be there in the morning.

The next morning, the four gathered in the living room. Bill was first to talk: I stayed up late last night working on our problem. I get a monthly statement from the bank regarding the farm account. Geoffrey had signed a long-term lease with the farming corporation hoping the income could pay the expenses on the place. It does and there’s a little left over. There is about $60,000 that has accumulated since Geoffrey left. That can keep us going for a while.

Taddy and Doc listened intensely while Bill talked. Doc seemed confident he could get a job, but he hadn’t thought about an identity problem.

Marvin continued to explain the identity thing in this world. It is your existence recorded at some City Hall, mostly so the government can keep track of you. To work as a doctor, you will have to show your doctor’s license and a medical degree from some accredited school. We’ve got to send a message to Geoffrey right away. He knows how to cheat the system but, it will be a couple months before he can send directions.

Bill offered: You know, on second thought, maybe it won’t be so hard. There are many illegals that have jobs around this town. It seems many employers just look the other way when it comes to papers. I know the schools are loaded with illegals. In fact, some even get extra privileges for being so disadvantaged. But you two don’t look illegal and you speak English too well. Let’s say you’re from Canada. Still you’ll need a U.S. work permit.

Marvin went to the farmhouse office to retrieve the journals he’d brought from Chicago. He handed them to Doc. These may help. They are a summary of the problems Geoffrey encountered when he found himself in an orphanage in England over 300 years ago. They are most interesting and will give you some insights about living a very long life in a place where normal life expectancy is 80 years.

Doc and Taddy began paging through Journal number one. They were reading together and couldn’t put it down. Finally, Doc said: "Why don’t you give us time to read these and then get together again. I think we’d be better prepared to make plans if we get some background how the others coped.

The next day it was late morning when all four were together again. Taddy spoke first. He certainly had an interesting life. Bill replied: Yes, all that stuff from his childhood on. He had an excellent memory., The Journals are only about Geoffrey. There’s much, much more to this family but unfortunately there is no book, at least not yet.

What do you mean, ‘yet’?

Geoffrey’s wife Sarah is the book writer and she is now on Centauri. Of the six 1711 babies, four of them found their way here. I’m sure she has written about all of them. Maybe she’ll send it to us some day,

Marvin: I want to check something.

He checked the recent calls on his phone and dialed Eddie Gertz.

Eddie answered with: Who’s calling please?

This is Marvin Stone. I came to your office yesterday to pick up Geoffrey’s journals, remember?

"Yes, I remember. How can I help you.?

I’m wondering if Sarah had any books in the works before she quit writing?

Well I do have one rough draft. It is quite patchy, and she wanted our ‘story flow’ department to read it over and make suggestions before she did any proofing. She was a stickler for arranging her research stuff to be comfortable for the reader. We never got that far because she didn’t answer my calls.

Would you release the draft to me?

We don’t copyright a book until we’re ready to publish, so legally I could give it to you. But I’m hesitant; I still feel responsible to Sarah. Any chance that you can get a signed release from her?

Well, Mr. Gertz, It may be possible, but it will take a couple months. She’s on an extended journey so I’ll have to make a bunch of calls. Then I’ll get back to you."

Great, I know about her extended journeys, but she used to stay in touch. Now not a peep. I’ve given up trying, so good luck.

Marvin returned to the group with the news. We have to send a message with the radio telescope. I’m sure Sarah will okay it, but it’s not like she’s next door.

CHAPTER TWO

The Big Surprise

B ill was disappointed. I’m not sure how to send a message. Messages always cane from them to us. Do you know how?

Marvin was shaken. I should know all this stuff, but it’s been so long. Let’s look on Geoffrey’s computer. He must have left some instructions.

They went to the office and turned it on. Right there on the desktop was an icon: Sending a RT message.

RT must mean radio telescope. Click it.

The instructions came right up and made them feel silly. "Write the message with a word processor and save it to a thumb drive. Take the thumb drive to the telescope; find the plug and insert it. A bunch of lights will come on. On the tiny screen wait for MESSAGE READY TO SEND. Under the screen is a SEND button. Push it. It will make some funny noises. Wait until MESSAGE SENT appears on your screen and you’re done.

How do we know where it went? asked Bill.

I remember when we built this thing, we had put in a special data link to insure it stayed locked on the coordinates of Centauri. It would take a bunch of programing to send them any place else.

After a few hours they had the message ready. Marvin remarked: When they first used this thing, they didn’t know how to word it in a foreign language. At least we don’t have to worry about that. Okay we’re all set to transmit. Bill asked Doc and Taddy. Do you two want to visit our radio telescope? It’s the big dish that is responsible for the whole ‘Earth/Centauri’ contact.

They began walking from the farmhouse when a car came up the lane. Who could that be? said Bill. Nobody ever visits here. The car pulled up and out came a man and women.

Good Lord! cried Bill. It can’t be Geoffrey and Bernadette, but damn.

The couple came closer. "We’re the Bentons, we’re looking for Sarah Warner and we’re worn out knocking on doors. Marvin grabbed Bill’s arm. I think I’m going to faint."

Let loose my arm Marvin, or you’ll take me down with you.

When calm finally settled on the two, the male visitor spoke. You both look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you alright?

Marvin just stood there like a statue and when Bill tried to speak, his voice failed. He motioned for the couple to follow and went into the house. He went to the fridge and retrieved four beers. He sat them on the coffee table motioned for all to sit.

Bill broke the ice: Forgive me but my mind is whirling. He took a couple swigs. This is a shocker. Okay, I don’t know how to explain it, but you two look exactly like persons who lived right here in Dayton for over 30 years. His name is Geoffrey Downs. At his direction, I built this farm complex. Marvin here is the radio telescope designer. Unfortunately, you missed them by a couple years, but the likeness is striking and that is why you’re seeing such disbelief on our faces.

The Bentons indeed look identical to the Downs bunch, except for their western garb that Geoffrey would never have donned, Charlie maybe.

After a few swigs, Mr. Benton spoke. "Okay I’ll go first. We’re the Bentons. We own a ranch in Montana. A few months ago, we were watching TV and flicked to a doctor show that was discussing aging. ‘Aging’? That caught our attention. It was the usual BS until they got to one guest. This guy said he had info about a person who lived to 300. He explained he had no proof except for an unpublished book from one of his authors who spent a lot of time running to Dayton, Ohio to visit this guy.

Who is this author? asked the moderator.

Her name is Sarah Warner and she is an accomplished investigative author. She was hot on some revelation of an ageless cult or something to that effect. I was her editor when she lived in Chicago and then without warning, she vanished.

Mr. Benton continued: "Okay, that’s what triggered our search and now we know how you know our siblings. You may know about 1711, but the rest of our world does not. Becky and I have been buddies, partners, and lovers for three centuries. We never fit in the scheme of life.

We left the Worcester orphanage in 1810 and have been skirting around the ageless thing for two centuries. So, the TV show was the first clue we’ve ever had and since it is a nice time of year, we decided to take a motor trip. It is a three-day drive from Fort Benton to Dayton, but we stretched it into a week with some scenic side trips. Once we got here, we were lost without a plan, so we decided to play private eye. Where to find a reference to ‘Sarah Warner’? Nothing at City Hall, nothing in hospital records. Then we lucked out with a search of a client base for doctors. Sarah had been to an obstetrician. We tracked him down and found her address as a resident near town, but not as Sarah Warner but as Sarah Downs. Next we checked real estate listings. We found a Mrs. Connors who had sold the Downs house. We called her and struck gold. She knew all about Geoffrey Downs and the Harry Olsen farm, so here