NShalain Troubles - The Arrival- Book

This book was originally published by Publish America. IT is a scifi story about two men who get transfered to the alternate world of NShalain. There they find friends, romance, and problems up to their eyeballs.

Detailed Summary

Frank and Josef meet each other while on a hiking trip. They take refuge from a violent storm in a cave. While in the cave, a natural event takes place and transfers them to the alternate world of NShalain. They find the physical laws of this world are slightly different than those of Earth. This difference effectively turns them into supermen, albeit with some rather strange handicaps. They are befriended by some of the local people and become romantically involved with two of the women. They find their new world has significant problems, both physical and political. They become embroiled in attempts to resolve them.

Excerpt/Quote From Book

Chapter 1

Arilie, her mother, Jerlina, and her friend, S’Tillian, waited in the dimly lit cave. All three women were wearing breathing packs. The air in the cave, to them, was very thin; having been pumped down for the comfort of whomever may show up. They could breathe without the masks, but were more comfortable with them.

This cave was under Arilie’s ancestral home. It had what her people called a “transition point” between her world and the world that her father said was called “Earth” by its inhabitants. Her people referred to Earth as Oshalain. This name was derived from ancient roots that literally meant “place of origin”. They called their world NShalain or “new origins”.

This particular transition point became active every one hundred seventy two years. It had for the last roughly 5,500 years brought all of her male forbearers to her world. The trio was waiting for the next appearance. The last man to come through was Arilie’s father. The next one, if he showed, would become her husband.

The three women were dressed in utilitarian jumpsuits which did not hide their attractive figures. Jerlina and her mother were full figured. S’Tillian was younger than the other two. She had what most men considered an extremely attractive figure, but not as full as the other two.

She had a lower body density than the other two. The density reduction was mostly in her bones. This resulted in her having a lower body weight, a more fragile skeleton, and less physical strength than her companions.

S’Tillian looked at her friend saying, “You look like you are getting nervous.”

With a rueful smile, Arilie replied, “Wouldn’t you be nervous waiting for a complete stranger who may or may not show up and if he does, he is to be your husband?”

Her mother glanced over at her saying, “I recall being just as nervous when waiting for your father to show up. Fortunately your grandmother was there.” A look of sadness came over her face as she continued, “Tanya was there too. She was a close friend, similar to how you and S’Tillian are friends.”

Arilie looked at her mother’s sad face. “I recall you talking about her. Unfortunately she died in that cave-in when that maniac Igor came through KaltWen’s transition point one hundred years ago. In a way, maybe it was a blessing though. I would hate to think of her as being his wife.”

Jerlina shook her head. “No. I wish she were still alive. She had invited me to join her at their transition time, but your father wouldn’t let me go because the last two transitions there were unpredictable and showed instability. That usually means that the transition point is nearing the end of its lifetime and almost anything could happen. In fact the actual transition was three days late. It was catastrophic. First Igor was ejected from the transition point way past where Tanya and her mother were waiting. Then a flood of Oshalain boulders came through, landing on top of and crushing them. Igor was severely injured, but obviously survived.

“Had Tanya lived and once we understood what Igor was up to we would have figured out some way of rescuing her and her mother. Her grandmother had already died, rather prematurely.” She stopped for a moment then continued, “Although considering how much of a spitfire Tanya was, Igor probably would not have gotten away with all he did had she survived.”

Arilie chuckled. “That would have been interesting; Igor stopped cold in his tracks by a woman! Hopefully the fellow who comes through here will be nothing like him. I hope he will be a man like Dad was!”

S’Tillian looked at the both of them saying, “I kind of wish I was in your situation Arilie.” She held up her five fingered hand. “Because of this, I am shunned almost as badly as you. Almost every man I see thinks that I am attractive until they notice my hands. When they see five fingers instead of six, they avoid me like I was a yalnic virus carrier!”

She dropped her hand and continued, “The OshalainSerea have become more and more influential. They have convinced many people that anything that bears the slightest appearance of being Oshalain should be shunned. They are even convincing many to accept their perverted religion rather than follow the old traditional belief because this belief originated on Oshalain.”

Arilie looked over at her friend. She saw the attractive elfin face behind the breathing mask. S’Tillian was a throwback to when the people of her world originally came from Earth many thousands of years ago.

Archeological research and tradition indicated that a whole valley with a few people and some animals was transferred some 6,500 to 8,000 years ago. Other valleys with animals and plants had apparently been transferred several hundred years before the people arrived. The exact time for either transference had not been determined. Since then, the people had gradually changed so that having pointed ears and six fingered hands was the norm.

Occasionally within certain family lines, five fingered hands showed up amongst females only. These “recessives” as they were called also had one other characteristic which set them apart. This was the ability to handle matter from Earth comfortably.

The physical laws of Earth were enough different than those of NShalain that handling material from Earth was unpleasant for most NShalain people. The matter from Earth kept its identity and had a strong field around it. The only people who could handle such matter without discomfort were those who had come from Earth; had a parent from Earth, such as Arilie and her mother; and the recessives, such as S’Tillian.

Arilie had been introduced to S’Tillian five years before, when Arilie was teaching at the school that the girl was attending. They soon became fast friends, even though there was quite an age spread between them, Arilie was currently sixty-two and S’Tillian twenty-five. Jerlina was glad to see that her daughter had a true friend to count on.

Unfortunately with their friendship came almost constant exposure in one form or another to Oshalain matter or Oshalain fields for S’Tillian. This exposure did not physically bother her, but was causing an accumulation of Oshalain matter in her body. Her body was beginning to have a field around it similar to that around Arilie’s and Jerlina’s bodies. S’Tillian’s fear about not finding a mate had a basis in reality other than OshalainSerea politics. Any NShalain man would find a close relationship with her uncomfortable if not painful!

Arilie was thinking about how to respond to her friend when a charged feeling in the thin air caught their attention. They looked to the far end of the cave and saw a faint glow. Jerlina shouted, “LOOK AWAY FROM IT!” The three turned away as the glow quickly grew very intense. They could see it through their tightly clenched eyes. Suddenly it faded. They turned back to look towards the end of the cave again.

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