Gronth Ch. 05 Matt Makes Decision

Christina

At Beta's instruction and with Matt's permission, Beta invited everyone inside and gave Matt and each of the members of the family a sensory relay receiver, which they all placed on top of their heads. The receiver would allow the family to see and hear the memories that the Dreamcatcher had recorded from Matt's brain while he lay unconscious on the operating table.

"I watched your part of the fighting on Zandor, as have members of the Council," Beta told Matt.

"They all agreed that your part in the battle was masterful. You have an amazing aptitude for war."

"Thanks. I guess," Matt said at the mention of his testosterone based skill set.

"What about the people I spared on Keppler Delta? The women and children I didn't strafe and bomb even though I was under orders to do so?" Matt asked defensively.

"Joya mentioned to me that it was you who was responsible for that. That act of mercy was duly noted. You can control your violent nature. You proved that you are not a totally mindless pawn of your leaders.

"Mindless?"

Beta gave Matt a crooked smile. She had inadvertently insulted the Terran. Was he about to become violent? His demeanor did not change at all. The Terran wasn't going to attack her after all. Joya gave him a hug. Did her mother think that she was playing with fire? Joya knew better. Matt was just always afraid. He just wanted to look after his people.

"So, what memory did you need to prove to you that I was worth saving?" Matt asked.

In Matt's, and everyone else in the family's minds, a park appeared. Surrounding the park were a number of run-down older buildings. Matt was back in old Dallas. Several children played on the dangerous looking park equipment and others seemed to be playing a game that involved kicking a ball around.

"Just think what you would like to say into your relay, Matt, Your comments will become part of the official records.

"That's my old playground!"

"Your thoughts are coming through loud and clear," Beta told Matt.

"What are you doing Matt?" Beta asked.

"Tai Chi. I can tell from my movements that I'm doing Tai Chi."

"What's Tai Chi?" Joya asked.

"It's exercise, but it's one of the martial arts too. I was a student of martial arts; Using my body to fight,"

"Who is that girl?" Baros asked.

"That's Christina. I had almost forgotten about her. I must've been about eleven years old. Christina moved away when I was twelve."

"That's a little older than sixteen, very young." Baros told his family, who measured time differently.

"Christina was what we used to call special. She was older than me but had the mental age of a much younger child.

"She looks to be almost as old as Joya is now," Beta observed.

"But she's still playing with dolls," Ando noticed.

Matt nodded, a gesture that Joya and Ando had adopted. Baros and Beta understood that Matt was agreeing with what was said.

"Christina was a very sweet girl, but a lot of boys thought that she was much older than she really was. Everybody looked after Christina."

"Everybody?"

"Well, the little kids and I looked after Christina. She was special."

Joya had told everyone what Matt had said about protecting his people. Apparently, Matt considered Christina to be one of his people. The family watched, through Matt's eyes, as three older boys came onto the playground. They didn't look like they belonged there. The kids stopped playing ball and watched what was happening. The older boys looked around the playground for a minute until one of the boys walked over to sit next to Christina.

The older boy leaned over and gave Christina a kiss. He used his hand to squeeze Christina's breast through her blouse. Christina just smiled. She didn't kiss the older boy back, but the boy squeezed Christina's breast again. Christina went back to playing with her doll.

"What are you thinking Matt?"

"Where is Christina's aunt? She usually watches Christina like a hawk. Maybe she knows what's going on with Christina. I don't like it. He shouldn't be touching Christina like that. One of the younger boys ran from the playground. Maybe he went to get help.

"That's right. That's the way to have fun." Another boy who sat down on the other side of Christina said. The boy kissed Christina and squeezed her breast as well.

"Christina's Aunt is nowhere to be seen. I don't like the way they're treating Christina."

"Hey, you look really pretty. How about going with me and my friends here?" the new boy asked Christina. "We could go to my place and have a lot of fun together."

Christina looked at the boys for a second and went back to playing with her doll. Christina ignored all three boys, not understanding the significance of the kissing and groping that the boys had been allowed to get away with.

"The bitch is ignoring you Rich," one of the other boys said.

"Hey bitch! I was talking to you! Are you too good to talk to me?"

Why was the boy angry? Had she done something to make him shout? Christina offered the doll to the boy. Maybe he would like to play with her doll too. The boy slapped the doll away and reached for Christina's shirt, tearing it open.

"That did it. Christina was just playing and the new boys misunderstood. They want more, much more."

Matt stopped his exercise and raised his voice. "Stop it. She's special. You're scaring her. Leave her alone." Matt told the older boy.

"Shut up, retard!" another of the older boys told Matt. "Go back to doing your little China dance, China boy."

"China boy. That's funny, Rich. "What you gonna do to us if we don't stop China boy?"

Matt spoke up again. I said to leave her alone. She's special. She doesn't know what you want."

"Hey bitch. You've got really nice tits. You don't mind us playing with them do you? Come on, give us a little peek?"

"Or a little feel?" the first boy said, grabbing Christina's naked breast.

The boys all laughed at Christina when she made no effort to cover herself. The girl had no idea that she was virtually naked from the waist up.

"Stop."

"Let's go to my place to play mommy and daddy. First though, we need to whip China boy's ass. "

"They're going to rape her," Baros said with alarm.

Joya and Ando gasped. The idea of a rape had never occured to them until Baros said it. Now it was obvious what the boys wanted to do to Christina. Joya unconsciously grabbed Matt's hand tighter. Christina was one of Matt's people.

Beta's' family didn't see the first blow, but only heard it when the largest of the boys made a gurgling sound. Within a few seconds, all three boys were on the ground, holding various body parts. Christina's aunt finally came running up, arriving late to the playground.

The aunt arranged Christina's shirt so that she was no longer exposed and then began yelling at the boys herself. It turned out that the aunt went to school with the teenage boys. She told them that Christina's father was a policeman and that they were in big trouble. Then, she thanked Matt and left the playground with Christina.

The sensory feed to Baros' family stopped, returning everyone to the present.

"That was it?" Matt asked.

"That was it."

"That's what convinced you that Terrans might be decent humans?"

"That's what helped me decide to invite you into my home," Beta admitted to Matt.

"But those boys acted like animals. If anything, it should've given you a bad impression of us Terrans." Matt objected.

"The aunt told the boys that they would be in trouble with the police, so their behavior was not condoned at all. Besides, you stopped anything bad from happening," Beta reasoned.

"With violence," Matt added.

"Sometimes violence is warranted," Beta told Matt.

Namiya

Later that morning, there was a shimmer in the air in Beta's backyard that Matt would soon recognize as the end of a wormhole opening. Namiya stepped into the yard alone, without fanfare. As always, Matt was fascinated by the Elani method of transportation. A small wormhole in space-time could allow an object to be repositioned, or translocated, to another vacant location. Soon, he would learn how to do that too.

"I have a friend that I would like for you to meet," Beta said as she introduced the leader of the Elani High Council to Matt. Matt was surprised at Namiya's youthful appearance. It was an amazement to him that the leader of the High Council was not much older than he was. Max guessed early thirties. Joya wasn't needed to translate, as Namiya had an implant of her own, but Matt insisted that Joya remain. He needed her for moral support if nothing else. To everyone else, he wasn't just another crazy Terran. Joya cared for him as a person.

Matt knew that this conversation with the Elani would be coming sooner or later. The Gronth presence on Zandor meant that the Elani planets were part of the overall Gronth strategy. If the Earth based scientists could clearly detect the habitable planets in the Toran-Rona nebula from Zandor, the Gronth surely would have.

Matt knew that the Groth were just as big of a threat to the Elani as they were to U.Te.P. and the Earth Analog Alliance. Whether or not the Elani civilization realized it yet, the Gronth would surely conquer the peace loving Elani planets without Terran intervention.

After the usual pleasantries, Matt said what he knew to be true. The Gronth were coming for the Terran and Elani worlds.

"You know, the Gronth are on their way here. It is only a matter of time, but their arrival is inevitable."

"We have already received their ultimatum," Namiya said.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Run away," Namiya answered frankly.

"Just translocate everything to other planets, right?"

"We can relocate our homes and cities long before the Gronth arrive. But as you say, they are coming and they will want to occupy our planets," Namiya admitted.

"Can you simply relocate your way of life? You will never be able to run far enough away from these predators. The Elani need our help and we need the help of the Elani."

Namiya had seen the conditions on the other planets outside the region and much farther away from the Gronth. They could barely support life. All of the best locations were in the Terran area of influence in the Orion Stub region of the galaxy.

Matt was no mind reader, but a handful of Space Force Marines and his six fighters had virtually stopped the Gronth on Zandor. He had been saved, and the leader of the High Council was here to speak to him, a warrior, directly. She must want something desperately.

"My guess is that what the Elani need right now is a little testosterone. The Elani are wondering if they can count on the Terrans to defeat the Gronth once and for all. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Go on," Namiya said.

At least Namiya did not deny that she had thought about using the Terrans to defeat the Gronth. Together they would have an excellent chance to defeat the reptile invaders.

"I have fought the Gronth and I recognize them for what they are. They are predators, pure and simple. The Gronth will conquer and use the Elani like the Terrans never will, because we are all humans after all."

"Terrans are excellent warriors," Namiya agreed.

"Much better at war than the Gronth."

"We've been fighting each other all this time. At least we won't eat you like the Gronth will."

"The Elani need the help of Terran warriors to defend the Elani from the Gronth. Terrans need your technology, specifically translocation, to help us defend ourselves against the predators," Matt finally said.

"The Elani people will cooperate with the Terrans to fight the Gronth, but we cannot fight them ourselves. It is not in our nature to fight. We have plans to run away rather than fight."

"I understand that. The Elani wouldn't be good in a war anyway. They have never fought anybody. The Elani spirit is one of cooperation. The Terran spirit is competition. We live for a good struggle and we like to win."

Namiya agreed with Matt in that respect, the Terrans definitely liked to fight and win. Namiya felt that with Elani help, the Terrans would eventually defeat the Gronth. Then again, the Terrans had never seen the Gronth fight. She would make those records available to the Terrans. The Groth had been conquering planets like hers for thousands of years.

The ability to translocate could be a game changer for the Terran fighters. We need your technology. We need your ability to translocate our weapons. We will take care of all the fighting, but you can help with everything else. Equipment will need to be designed and built, defenses will need to be constructed. Our warriors will need to be supplied and fed."

"You have been thinking about fighting the Gronth for quite a while haven't you?"

"Ever since I was shot down the first time. Besides, you and Beta said it best, Terrans are excellent warriors and I am masterful when it comes to my chosen vocation. Using your translocation technology, we could take the fight to the Gronth. The Terrans would be unstoppable."

Unstoppable, there it was. Revenge was not something on her mind or on the minds of the Elani people. She had to keep the Terrans from conquering anyone, especially the Elani. She couldn't give them full access to translocation, even though Matt had unwittingly been given full access during the surgery to heal his brain.

"Terrans would have only limited access to translation. Terrans could move freely between the Terran colonies and Zandor, but not to the Elani worlds," Namiya said.

The restriction was not lost on Matt. It was almost as if he could read the Council's mind.

"We wouldn't use translocation to attack the Elani, if that's what you're afraid of. We might use it to free the civilizations that the Gronth have conquered though.

How had he known about her biggest fear? The Terrans would surely try to exploit the Elani just as they had exploited their fellow humans.

"Would you still accept our help with those restrictions on translocation?"

In addition to spotting several habitable planets within the nebula, the scientists had found the rotating neutron star within the cloud. Speculation among the physicists stationed on Zandor considered this type of pulsar to be a source of immense power.

"Is this about the spinning pulsar within the nebula?" Matt guessed, trying to get more information from Namiya.

Namiya laughed at Matt's persistence. He wanted the ability to translocate for his own people. Namiya couldn't let that happen.

"That power source has been used by the Elani for a very long time. Don't forget, the Lost Tribe used that energy to move to a different part of the galaxy. Everybody knows how the Ancients discovered and harnessed the power. Nobody knows who controls it.

Who was he kidding? It would take all of the scientists on both the E.A.A. and U.Te.P to even find a nearby pulsar to use. Even then, they wouldn't know how to or what to do with all of that power. Translation was still magic to Matt.

"The Elani need the Terran's help. Will you please help us?" Namiya finally asked.

"I'll have to talk to my superiors."

"Of course."

Namiya stood up and excused herself before leaving her hosts and the Terran. The air shimmered and Namiya stepped through to her office in Elan City.