The KEEPERS

By Gerald Reno

When RS was fourteen, he met a new friend that lived in the next farm over from his house. His name was Alex. Alex and RS would spend the summer days fishing, bike riding, and sharing their crazy dreams they would have and try to make sense of them. RS thought Alex was the smartest kid he had ever known. Maybe it was because Alex had told RS that his mother and father were scientists. Alex told RS that one day, RS would build a machine that would help make people's life better.

Alex moved away in the fall and told RS they would see each other one day in the future. Early in the spring of the next year, after the snow had melted and the back roads were dry. RS walked the four miles to the farm where Alex ha lived hoping he had returned. To RS's surprise, he found only an old farmhouse that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. RS did not remember it looking that way. After all these years RS still remember his friend and hoped that he would see him again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885054621

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Gerald Reno

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2022

ISBN 979-8-88505-461-4 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88505-462-1 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Keeper’s Personae

RS Ritter—Keeper 01410

Susan Ritter—RS’s Wife

Lisa Ritter—RS’s Daughter

Todd Ritter—RS’s Son

Rob Taylor—Airplane Mechanic

Howard Tills—Security Guard

Young man at Guard Shack—Military

Jeff Jackson—Keeper 01510

Sarah Jackson—Jeff’s Wife

Debbie—Internal Management Control

Mr. John Ford—Executive Director

Tammy Bridge—Computer Support

Alex—RS’s childhood friend

SAM—Artificial Intelligence Central Computer Control

Janet—Ford’s Secretary

Mr. Ron Smith, Chris Hadley—Lieutenant Commander; Military

Sergeant Lights—Military

Tom Walker—Cryostat Heat Exchanger Group

Chapter 1

It was like any other Texas morning, still hot from the night before, as he stood before the bathroom sink washing his face. RS was thinking how nice his ten days off from work had been and how he had really enjoyed being with his kids and wife, Susan. They had flown up to Bear Springs to escape the heat for a few days. News reports were saying the heatwave was the worst ever. He thought so too, but remembered his father’s stories about the heat in the late ’80s. In June 2015, when Susan was pregnant with Lisa, they had flown up to Montana to look at Glacier National Park. The news reports were right—all the glaciers were gone. On their way back to Texas, they made a trip over the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River looked like a small creek. The impact of global warming was being felt all over the world in 2019.

As he poured himself a cup of coffee, he grabbed the notepad.

Morning, Susan, don’t forget to call Rob Taylor and tell him it’s okay to do the required maintenance on my airplane next week. We had reached the hours for the required maintenance which had to be done if we wanted to keep flying.

He had met Rob in Wichita while buying his new Cessna Caravan Aircraft. Rob worked for Textron Aviation Service in Wichita, Kansas. He moved to Abilene, Texas, and started his own business at the Abilene Regional Airport. RS and Rob became good friends over the years, and RS would not let anyone else work on his plane.

Tell Todd to pick up the parts he needs while in Austin for his computer and I will help him fix it when I get back home. Give Lisa a kiss for me. I will call you on Wednesday night. All my love, RS.

It was 4:30 a.m. now, and he was running late, and if he didn’t get moving, he would not make it to work by seven. Jackson would scream his bloody head off.

On his way out, he gave a kiss to his wife who was asleep and used to his early departures every two weeks. He was glad he had decided to take his motorcycle this morning. The ride at 70 mph would help him stay cooled off. It had taken ten years to build the largest accelerator in the world, and when it was finely completed, it could not keep up with the growing amount of electrical use in the US. So to help curb the use, the US started to phase out air-conditioning, which was the main source of electrical use. Now most people used swamp coolers in their homes. Most workplaces in the US were allowed to keep their cooling systems on during normal work hours.

Once again, as he headed into work, he was thinking about his stay at Bear Springs. It was hard to believe that within six months, he and Susan will have been married twenty years. They had met while attending college at UT in Austin. They have had their ups and downs in their marriage, but in the last few years, they had grown to love each more. As for his children, he could not get over how much they had grown up so fast. Lisa was a spitting image of her mother. She would be moving to Santa Barbara this summer to start school in the fall. Todd was seventeen and had a mind of his own. He had spent most of his free time building computers for himself and his friends. His wife said it was amazing how much he’s like his father.

When RS was fourteen, he met a new friend that lived in the next farm over from his house. His name was Alex. Friendships have the same power and influence over your life as your family relationships. You sometimes attract friends you want in your life based on your needs. RS had gone to school in the city, so most of his friends never came out to see him during the summer. So when Alex came along, RS was happy to have a friend to spend the summer with.

Alex and RS would spend their summer days fishing, bike riding, and sharing their crazy dreams they would have and try to make sense of them. RS thought Alex was the smartest kid he had ever known. Maybe it was because Alex had told RS that his mother and father were scientists. Alex was very good with machines and had helped RS build different electrical devices, which never worked right, but it was fun and it helped pass the time during the summer. Alex told RS that one day, RS would build a machine that would help make people’s lives better and do great things for the planet too. RS told Alex that he didn’t think that he was that smart. Alex just said to wish big and sometimes things come true. Alex would talk about how mankind would travel to other planets some day and meet other people in the universe, or at least, he said his father told him that. RS figured that since Alex’s father was a scientist, he knew what he was talking about.

Alex moved away in the fall, but RS never forgot him. He always remembered Alex said that they both would eventually grow up and would have great changes in their lives. Alex promised never to forget him, and he would see him one day in the future.

Early in the spring of the next year, after the snow had melted and the back roads