Gronth Ch. 06

Joya's Family Bath

Matt knew that his superiors would want to fight the Gronth threat, and had considered how Elani technology could help accomplish those goals. He could tell his people all of this information whenever the LeJeune was able to re-establish communications with Earth.

Oh shit. How would his parents react to finding out about his death on Zandor? He had to consider that tomorrow. Tonight, he was having a "proper" bath with Joya and her family. Ando had tried to explain that he would have no modesty tonight, or any other night with the family. He'd have to get naked and shower in front of everyone before he got into the bath, still nude, to soak and visit.

Matt told Ando that he had overcome his desire for modesty and that he would join Ando and his family in the bath. Ando was happy that Matt had overcome his stange aversion to being naked around people. Nobody was going to harm him on Ralajan, or any of the Elani worlds for that matter. Ando was sad that Terrans had to live in constant fear of being naked. Joya had explained to him how frightened the Terrans were. He was happy that Matt was finally trusting his family.

As the afternoon proceeded, Matt met Joya's extended family. He met Beta's parents, Rayen and Sima. Like Beta, Rayen studied Terran customs, including Earth history. It had been Rayen who had discovered Earth and made the connection with the Lost Tribe. Beta had continued her mother's work on Terrans at the University. It had been on Beta's insistence that Matt had been rescued from Zandor in the first place.

Timor, Baros' father, lived on Ralajan with Lana but worked on Randor growing the special herb that was used as a stimulant in the tea that Lana's company produced. Lana used the herb, along with other plants, to blend the special tea for all of her friends to enjoy.

Lana's tea had quite a following on all of the planets and the trade balance she earned for making the tea allowed Lana to afford a much larger home. Lana could afford to live on any planet, even Elan, but Ralajan was beautiful and the weather was nice.

As Matt was to learn, the Elani economy was based on how much work was accomplished in developing a service or goods. Lana's tea didn't take much effort and Timor's labor growing and gathering the proper leaves wasn't much either, but millions of Elani loved Lana's tea. After sending the tea to everyone who loved it, Lana had accumulated millions of credits that she could use as she saw fit, such as Terran Studies at the University and the Medical Clinic.

Lana loved to host parties for her family, and usually did so about four nights a week. As usual, Lana's parties began with a good soak in the communal bath. Timor had visited the uninhabited planet of Sanor and translocated a volume of 39 degree Centigrade water from a hot spring there. The hot spring was pristine, and contained several healthful minerals. Timor translocated the water in those mountains into the bathing pool in Lana's backyard. Everyone had gathered around the group shower heads to bathe and thoroughly clean themselves before getting in the soaking tub.

Matt was no stranger to group showers, they even had co-ed showers in the military now, but he'd always avoided those. The idea of soaking naked in a big pool as a social event was new to Matt. Nearly everyone had gotten into the big tub while Matt watched. It was fascinating to him that nobody was self-conscious about their lack of clothing.

"Do Terrans take baths with their clothes on?" Rayen asked as she washed her body under the outdoor shower.

"No. Not at all" Matt said, feeling foolish for hesitating to join the family event.

Matt began taking off his clothes in front of Joya's grandmother. Nobody else seemed to notice his nudity. Even Joya, who was already in the pool, was deep in conversation with her mother. Matt blushed but continued to wash himself all over. The Elani never got into the bath without being squeaky clean. After he was clean, Rayen took Matt's hand and led him into the pool where all the women were gathered.

Matt could feel the women's eyes on him when he entered, even though none of them said a word about it. Matt thought that he now knew what a good looking girl felt like on Earth when she went swimming in a bikini.

"You're very fit," Bar said to Matt when he floated over to the men.

"Haven't you spent time in the army or something like that?" Tan asked.

Matt could've gone on about how the Space Force Marines were the best and toughest soldiers in the Terran military, but the Elani male would never understand. Yes he was fit compared to the average military officer but he was nowhere near the strongest Space Force soldier out there.

"Something like that. I'm sure that if all you did for two years was to work out like I did, you'd be as fit as me," Matt said.

"All you did every day was work out? It must be nice," Bar said.

Matt just smiled and nodded. How could he explain all of the maintenance, ship drills, simulator training and PT that he and his fellow Space Force Marines went through every day on LeJeune.

"Really, you don't look much different than we do," Tan told Matt.

Again, Matt just nodded and agreed with the Elani man. Tan could never understand that Matt had been trained to kill people, with his bare hands if needed. How could he explain that war was hell. Only a few people knew that Matt and his kind had left paradise behind? His people left an idyllic life on Elan to pursue one full of hatred and violence on Earth.

Matt desperately wanted to change the conversation. Maybe he would talk about Aliens. He had always been interested in Alien visits to the Earth. Anything but war.

"Hey. Are you sure that your people didn't build the Pyramids?" Matt asked Baros light heartedly.

Baros smiled broadly, realizing that Matt had tired of discussing how he was different from the other Elani. He had forgiven Beta and him for capturing his thoughts. Thank goodness Matt had changed the subject. He was getting sick of the younger men comparing their bodies to Matt's.

"Not us," Baros chuckled.

"You didn't give our ancestors anti-gravity technology?"

"No."

Matt discussed all the evidence he had for UFOs. If the Elani were out there, others probably were as well. Maybe some of the other aliens were responsible for cattle mutilations and anal probes.

"Some of our probes may have been spotted from time to time within the last twenty years, but I'm sure that they never probed a cow's anus," Baros said, laughing out loud.

That did it. The conversation had turned away from Matt and onto different subjects. The older men admitted that the Earth and her allies may have been the subject of Alien probes only because the Terans were quite unusual in the Galaxy.

"We keep an eye on your planets. We are amazed at how far your technology has advanced without a proper grasp of the true nature of the physical universe," Baros said.

"All the Physics I learned in school was wrong? No wonder it was so hard for me to understand it"

"It's unbelievable that your scientists got as far as they did without a proper understanding of Mathematics," Beta added as she joined the conversation.

"Maybe you could teach me some Math"

Beta just looked at Matt blankly. She hadn't learned Elani Math. Like most Elani, she'd just learned to count, add, subtract, and divide. Matt looked at Rayen. She was college educated as well, maybe she knew Math.

"Nobody I know can do Mathematics. We never learned about it in school," Rayen said.

"Nobody learns Math or Physics unless they work with the processes. Those students are very few. They lead very privileged lives. All we learned about in school is biology," Beta told him.

"I wish that was all the science I had to learn," Matt said.

"Poor thing. Have you ever used any of the Math or Science you learned in school?"

"I wish I'd never studied all that stuff now."

He thought back to the endless hours he'd spent memorizing the periodic table of Elements for Mister Grider or solving three-body problems in basic Physics class for Doctor Wallace. Most of the stuff he'd learned in school had been a waste of time. He just knew how to fly a plane and that was enough for the people who paid him.

"Not a bit. I have no idea of how translocation works. Namiya said it's from a pulsar. It's all magic to me too."

"A pulsar? That's all new to me too," Beta said.

"I went to school with a girl who went to the University to learn Math and Physics," Rayen said.

"Here on Ralajan?"

"Of course not. Last I heard she had a big place on some other planet. She had anything a person could ask for."

"Was she working on pulsars?"

The blank looks he got from the women were genuine. They didn't know a thing.

"Last I heard was that she was able to get anything that she asked for. What would you ask for Lana? The best food and wine is always available to her. That's why we can't find the really rare stuff here on Ralajan," Rayen said.

"What would you do if you could have a different mate anytime you got tired of the one you had?" Venya asked as she cupped Matt's impressive package in front of Joya.

"Leave it up to you to ask that question Venya," Joya said as she squeezed Matt's naked buttocks and sent him back over to the men.

Matt floated back to the men when the women started going down their lists of things they would ask for if they had unlimited wishes.

"I don't suppose that any of you know about Elani Science. How pulsars work for example?"

"What's a pulsar?" Timor asked.

"Just try to forget about everything except having fun. Tonight we will celebrate your survival," Baros said.

When it was time to leave the big tub, everyone sat naked around the tub, cooling off. The old Matt would have asked for a robe or something to cover himself with. Here and now, it seemed right to cool off from the hot water with everyone else. Tan sat by Noomie and made small talk. Matt had the feeling that Tan would be going home soon, without Noomie. Bar was doing much better with Venya. The way that they were looking at each other suggested that Bar had found a mate for the evening.

As the evening and everyone cooled off, Noomie sent Ando, Bar and Tan inside to fetch everyone a new robe to wear while they ate. The late afternoon cookout was a huge success as far as Matt was concerned. The grilled fish didn't taste like anything he'd ever experienced, but it had been truly delicious. He recognized a few of the dishes made from Sordu, most notably the salad and the beans. The freshly baked bread and a dish of cake and sweet cream made by Ando's hands rounded off the meal wonderfully.

Matt joined the rest of Beta's family in walking from the big house to their modest home. On the floor, Baros had made up a sleeping pallet. Matt had assumed that the pallet was for him, but learned that Ando would be sleeping on the floor until an anti-gravity bed could be made. Matt was used to sleeping in much tougher conditions and volunteered to take the floor.

"Don't be silly. You can sleep with Joya," Beta told Matt.

Obviously, Beta had approved of Matt as a suitable mate for Joya during the evening's visit to Rayen's house. Matt could think of nothing more wonderful than making love to Joya tonight, but Matt had taken what she'd said in the hospital to heart. Matt would wait for Joya until she was thirty cycles, or twenty-one Terran cycles old. It would be a test of their love for each other.

"Don't forget. Thirty cycles." Matt told Joya when she removed the robe.

Matt didn't know if the admonition was for himself or for Joya. He had certainly been a gentleman and had followed the Elani protocols. If anything, Joya had made it known to her family that she was expecting Matt to be her mate.

"Aren't you going to take your robe off before you get in bed?" Joya asked, laying down naked in the anti-gravity field but leaving room for Matt.

Matt swallowed hard. God, she was beautiful. If you love her, you'll wait. Matt moved to his side of the bed and self-consciously removed his robe. Joya giggled.

Matt laid down beside Joya, avoiding touching her completely. As soon as Matt settled down on his side of the bed, facing away from Joya, he felt her snuggle up against his back. It took Matt a little while to control his primal urges, but when he was finally able to drift off, Matt slept better than he had in years.

The next morning, Matt woke up alone. The sun was high in the sky, he had slept very well. Matt visited the fresher and took care of his ablutions before heading into the kitchen where he met Baros and Ando.

"G'mornin,"

Ando was used to the strange greeting, but Baros had never been greeted in that way."

"Good morning," Ando replied.

"It is starting out to be a typical day," Baros said, not sure why Matt was interested in the weather. Beta had already told Matt that it only rained at night.

"Where are the girls?" Matt asked, pouring himself a cup of hot tea.

"They're outside talking about you,"

"What are they saying?"

"You have a cute butt and you smell sexy," Baros answered.

Matt took a long swallow of the hot tea and looked outside. Beta, Lana, Rayen and Joya were in animated conversation.

"I'm surprised that they haven't commented on my big muscles and my hairy chest."

"They discussed that earlier. Apparently, you are quite a catch."

Ando scoffed at the women's opinion. First, his sister was an angel, and now his patient was a catch.

Matt Returns to Earth

"Bolt? Is that you?" Captain Andrew Tyler gawked at the familiar face that appeared on the comm unit aboard the John A. LeJeune.

"It's really me. I got picked up by some friendly Aliens and they got me all patched up as good as new," Matt told his old friend.

"What about Jackson?

"Jake didn't make it. Just me."

Matt and Andy sat in silence for a moment remembering Matt's friend and wingman.

"Aliens rescued you huh? Good Aliens or Reptile Aliens?" Tyler asked.

"Good Aliens," Matt replied, pulling Joya into the frame.

"I'd say," Captain Tyler raised an eyebrow to Matt and his gorgeous savior.

"Hey. How can I see you on my comms when I haven't been able to talk to anyone for months?"

"I'm in a spaceship that's closer than you think.

Captain Andrew Taylor looked up at the monitor that showed the outside of the ship. Waving directly at him was a domed house, Beta's. Matt stood with his arm around a beautiful woman. That must be the Alien who'd saved him.

"Holy shit. Am I seeing things? You look like you're in a flying dome."

"It's actually pretty difficult to achieve the illusion of flying. This dome can relocate anywhere in the known galaxy more easily."

"I can't believe that you made it. Things were bad on Zandor. I was sure that you bought it down there."

"Yeah. I thought I bought it too. Hey Andy. Can you let the big brass know that I made it and that I have some friendly Aliens that I need them to talk to?"

"I'll let them know that you made it and that you want to talk to them, but you know that I haven't been able to send or receive anything from Earth for months."

"I've had my people working on that problem. I can send your technicians a fix for your communication problems. I just thought that the news that I was still alive would be better received from you than from an Alien civilization in the Perseus arm."

"Nobody knows that you're dead yet, but it sure is good to see you again. I was sure that we had lost you."

"I'll send the message about the good aliens along with the fix for your comms. I really need to talk to whoever's in charge." Matt told his friend.

Two days later, Matt sat across from General Mark Thompson, E.A.A. Space Force. General Hodges had retired after Matt's "little stunt" and punishment. Due to Matt's actions though, U.Te.P. had come back to the bargaining table and hostilities between the two combatants had ceased. Matt was very proud to be a part of that legacy.

"That's a hell of a story you've got there Major," the General told Matt.

"The word coming in from LeJeune seems to corroborate your report, though," Thompson admitted.

"You've seen the videos. I was there in real life. I have nightmares about the Gronth," Matt admitted.

The General shook his head. "I would never let anybody but a hardened warrior see the videos the Space Forces and the drones provided. I threw up several times during the screening myself,"

The General looked over Matt's written report of his actions on the day of the battle and what had transpired since that time.

"You say that you've come from this planet called Ralajan only this morning? My experts say that the planet you've identified as Elan is not visible. It's inside the Crab Nebula. That's an entirely different arm of the Galaxy. It took nearly two years for LeJeune to get to Zandor, and this Elan is two times farther than that." General Thompson said in disbelief.

"Elani Mathematics and Physics are totally different from ours," Matt shrugged.

"Obviously," the General snorted.

"I still can't get over how a freaking flying saucer just appeared on the runway of the base and let you off before it disappeared again. It's a wonder you weren't shot on sight," the General said with irritation.

"I let your people know that I was coming. I even gave the proper entry codes!" Matt objected.

"Still. A freaking flying saucer."

The General sat, staring into Matt's face. The General considered himself to be an excellent judge of character, and this Space Force officer truly believed everything that he had included in his somewhat unusual report.

"Okay, I'm buying it," Thompson said after a moment.

"I'll be heading to Moscow to meet with the top U.Te.P. and E.A.A. officers this evening about this Gronth threat. You need to come along. I'm not going to be the laughing stock of the organization. You need to tell your own story," Thompson said.

Matt nodded, grateful that Thompson had given credence to his wildly bizarre report.

"I'll need my medical team and my translator to accompany me," Matt said, referring to Ando and Joya.

"Sure, sure. Whoever you need," the General said.

"By the way, I don't travel with Majors. I'm promoting you to Colonel. Make sure you get your proper insignia before we leave."

The General's attache, Colonel Henry Fletcher, would make sure that Matt and his companions would be taken care of. Henry, known to his friends as Hank, had been shot down and had lost the use of his legs on Gliese. Now he flew a desk.

"I'll need some new uniforms and insignia. All my clothes are aboard LeJeune."

"Yes, I have your orders. You will all need some new clothes," Henry said as he felt the fabric of Matt's Elani made tunic.

"Clothes that will work wherever we go to meet," Matt said.

"I'll call Colonel Cruz to help Ando and Joya pick out some warm clothing for the trip. It's pretty chilly in Moscow this time of year," Henry said.

"Moscow huh?"

"Neutral city," Hank explained.

Sofia Cruz turned out to be the intelligence officer attached to the Space Force General. She, of course, was a colonel as well. Sofia routinely travelled with Thompson, even though she never slept with the man like other female officers slept with their commanders. General Thompson's wife made sure that the General never shared rooms. Additionally, Sofia was a very attractive woman and was easily able to pick and choose her own male companions wherever she went.

Slivia had been raised as an Army Brat by her father, a Staff Sergeant most recently stationed on Gliese. She had just become an officer when she discovered the U.Te.P. ships scheduled attacks on the Military bases there. It had been her intelligence and her warning that had got the fighters in the air, and the defenses manned in time. Her career had only improved from there.