Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans (7 page)

“Why yes,” I replied, “if there is something here that fits me…”

Kala laughed, ”Everything here will fit you, you were scanned upon entering your quarters and your measurements were taken and your wardrobe assembled before we entered this room, I assure you everything will fit you quite well.”

“Gee
,” I replied “and I thought I was doing well when I was able to be fitted for a suit and have it altered to fit in a day back on Earth”

Kala just looked at me
curiously, like I had to be kidding, then turned and started looking through the large room-like closet with hundreds of outfits in it.   I said, “While you’re looking I’ll shower.”   Kala didn’t respond so I went into the bath, undressed and got into a shower large enough to accommodate about four or five people and began the fog mist that I had experienced in the
TRITYTE’s
bath. The process had barely begun when I was aware of Kala entering the shower behind me.  I turned to see her standing next to me, not really looking at me as she began to shower also. 

“I decided to get cleaned up here to save time,
” she said as the fog mist covered her body, “I hope you do not mind.” 

“
Ahh … no… it’s quite alright,” I answered somewhat awkwardly.  In my mind I was pondering her actions, this seemed just like one of those scenes in a movie where a person is in a shower and another person enters and they end up making love in the shower, the only difference was that I didn’t get the sense that Kala had any other intentions than bathing in mind.   I tried not to display any surprise or outward sign of confusion or discomfort as the fog and ultrasonic cleaning gave way to the water rinse and then the drying process.  I glanced at Kala as her shower entered the rinse mode, I could not help but admire her body which had all the loveliness of a goddess, please forgive the cliché but she truly did.

I stepped out of the shower and looked about the bath for one of the depilatory shavers and found one conveniently laid out by the mirror
, as I was shaving I had a chance to take a good look at myself for the first time since I had started this journey.  It was obvious that before too long I would need a haircut; my red hair was starting to get a bit long. Other than that, however, I didn’t look too bad. My one point eight three meter frame was moderately muscled and trim and while I was not a handsome head turner for most women, I did manage to catch a few female eyes from time to time.  While I was contemplating my appearance I noticed Kala come into the room behind me and proceeded to a small compartment and retrieve a device reminiscent of a hot curling iron that many women on Earth use. This device had no power cord and she moved it around her head and hair with an artistic grace that had me mesmerized.  With each pass her hair dried and she was able to style it in different configurations that seemed to hold just where she wanted them too. I know this would sound strange to my fellows back on earth, but we both were standing there quite naked, this lovely woman and I, focusing on her hair and the way she was styling it with apparent ease using this strange stick contraption.  She noticed me staring and said without stopping.

“Have you
not seen a style stick before?”

“
Ahh no…I haven’t,” I replied, “we have something that looks similar on Earth called a curling iron, but it works nothing like that.”  By now I realized how strange I must look standing there naked staring at her with my mouth open as she styled her hair.  I closed my mouth and focused on finishing my shaving.

“Does that device also trim hair? “
I asked while I finished my shaving.

“Yes actually it does,” Kala said as she made one last adjustment her hair
“do you need a trim?  I’ll show you how to do it if you like.”

“
Ahh yeah, sure,” I muttered, “if you don’t mind.”  Kala approached me still nude, and began waving the wand through my hair while explain which button to push and how to adjust the length of the cut by rotating a ring at the base of the rod.  As she moved the wand through my hair her body brushed against mine in a most pleasurable way yet I could see by her expression and her actions that she had no intentions other than to demonstrate this device. I decided to speak up.

“Kala,” I began
, “you said you were here to help me understand the culture’s in the Federation and to help me  to not make a mistake in dealing with the peoples of the Federation, is that not correct?”

“Yes,” she answered, as she finished the final touch to my hair, and then added
, “do you have a question?  Oh and by the way, when you use this device in the trim modes only make one pass through your hair or it will take off too much or leave you with uneven hair. If you prefer, you can simply have one of the ships stylist come in and do it for you.”  She stepped back looking at my hair checking if it looked okay.

“Well
…,” I began “I was wondering if it is customary for men and women to bath together in your culture when they are not romantically involved or bonded.” (
Bonded
sort of came out as I searched for a word for marriage in the Federation language, but failed to find one that matched Earths marriage values).

“Why, yes it is fairly common.  Is it not so on your planet
as well?” She asked as she drew back from me with a look of amazement on her face. 

I chuckled and said
, “Well yes and no, that’s kind of difficult to answer, the general morays on Earth would say “no” but it’s not uncommon for un-bonded men and women to bath together as a pair but generally it is as a precursor to a sexual relationship or after one.”

“And sex on your planet is a romantic relationship function and not
simply a general thing men and women do together for pleasure?”  She asked, drawing back with a concerned look on her face.

“That’s more or less the way the
majorities of cultures on my planet think and act, but many do not follow those tenants and some do have sex with multiple partners simply for the physical enjoyment, though it is frowned upon by Earth societies as a whole.” I tried to explain.

“Oh,
” Kala said drawing back even further “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I never stopped to think nudity might be a taboo to you. I sincerely apologize, it won’t happen again.  Please forgive me.   I had no idea that our showering together or being naked together might have a sexual implication you.”

“No, no
!’ I said, perhaps a bit too eagerly,” you have not offended me in the least, and our being nude here is not bothering me or creating any sexual desires in me” (which was a lie as she was really very beautiful and I cannot imagine any human male not being sexually attracted to her), but it was unexpected to me and I thought I should get clarification lest I make some mistake later on.”  

“Oh…”she began relaxing a bit
, “I’m glad you were neither offended nor bothered by this event.  While many accommodations and cabins on ship have their own baths and toilets facilities many do not and common facilities are used by both men and women simultaneously.  The same holds true on most planets and cities throughout the Federation, there are a few planets with regions and religious cultures that have differing views and practices. On Reyes for instance, men are not allowed to see a woman’s nude body until they marry and then only that of the woman they marry.  On Ceirector, men are not allowed to see another man nude nor a woman to see another woman nude, but they may see members of the opposite sex nude and it’s perfectly okay.”   

“WOW
!!” I exclaimed, “I wonder how that tradition evolved.”

Kala
explained patiently “We can discuss this more later, if you like, but right now we need to be getting dressed and get something to eat before the Captain arrives. I laid some clothing out for you on the bed. I hope you approve.”  While she was saying this I saw her retrieve her uniform from the cleaning unit in my closet and begin donning it.  

I could not help
admiring her physical form, a well-toned body, smooth and enticing curves and the shape of her breasts as she pulled the uniform on and adjusted it. Fortunately she didn’t notice my stare or the physical reaction my body was beginning to have by the scene.  Suddenly I realized what was happening and turned my back to her and began to don the outfit she had laid out for me.  So much for my speech about how her nudity not having any sexual effect on me, secretly I was hoping we would have other opportunities to shower together in the future.

The outfit Kala had chosen for me consisted of a pair of black pants
, a black short sleeve shirt much like a T-shirt only with a mock turtle neck, and a black jacket that reminded me of the old Nehru jackets of the 1960’s that I had seen in pictures but never actually seen in person.  The black shoes were made of a material much like leather but on close examination it appeared to be a synthetic material. The shoes only extended to the top of my ankle.

I dressed and looked at
myself in the mirror and must admit I was impressed with the image I saw.  The black suit seemed to accent the red of my hair.  Unlike so many others on Earth with red hair I did not have the typical lack of melanin in my skin that was common resulting in a very pale complexion for redheads. 

My mother had once told me that my grandfather on her side
of the family had been a Redbone; a term in Louisiana for a person of mixed race, usually part black and part Indian or white.  My grandmother had been Irish, and others in my family tree seemed to be from all over the place which resulted in me having lots of unusual genetic material to combine bringing about my rather unusual physical make up. I tended to thin in the waist and broad in the shoulders, built more like a basketball player, but not quite as tall.  The excess melanin pigment in my genetic makeup meant that just a small amount of sun and my skin turned a golden bronze.  In the past few weeks, however my tan had faded and I was now more pale, though not the porcelain pale that so many natural red heads tend to be. 

             
I glanced over at Kala in her gray military uniform with its black stripes that went around the chest, apparently a way they indicated rank in the Federation’s military.  Kala had told me that the meeting with the Captain would take place in a meeting room within my general accommodation area and that the Captain was trying to keep the recovery of the
TRITYTE and
its cargo a secret for as long as possible.  All of the troops and pilots involved in the retrieval and sequestering of the
TRITYTE
onboard the ship had been isolated from the rest of the crew and the several thousand others onboard the
DUSTEN
solely in an effort to contain the information as long as possible.

Kala had apparently sent some sort of signal to Piesew letting him know we wished some food and wanted it served in my quarters because we had barely finished dressing when the front door opened and Piesew and one of the staff along with one of the guards entered the room with a cart with several covered dishes.  The cart was pushed into the dining area and Piesew and the other
staff member placed and arranged the dishes on the table.  Two glasses of beverage were poured from a strange looking bottle and then offering their best wishes and enjoyment of the food, Piesew and the other staffer left the room, but the guard remained. From a pouch on his belt he produced some device which he passed over the food and drink before announcing that everything was poison free and safe for us to eat and drink... then he also left the room returning to station outside the door of my quarters.

The dining room in my quarters had a glass wall with a view that looked into a small atrium garden with tall fern like plants and a small waterfall. The table we were seated at to eat was small,
ideal for two but you could have crammed four at it with some effort. I commented to Kala that “I guess I won’t be holding any dinner parties here”. 

“Why not,” she inquired between bites of food?

“Well for one thing,” I said, “this room and table are too small.”

Kal
a looked at me for a moment with one of those looks like,
is he kidding
, and then she got up and walked over to a wall panel and pushed a few button.  Suddenly the walls began to move and the room expanded getting bigger. 

“This room can be adjusted to accommodate more people, there is a larger table under the floor that can be brought up that is suitable for seating up to
twenty four persons at a time if you wish.” Kala said and then pressed another button shrinking the room back down to the more intimate size it had previously been.

“Wow” I exclaimed “I had no idea.  We have nothing like this on Earth, at least not that I know of… I mean we could have
… we certainly have the technology to make something similar, but I’ve never seen it done.”

“How do you like the food?
” Kala asked

“It’s very good, it reminds me very much of a dish we have on Earth we call
spaghetti and meat balls, it tastes much the same, only the sauce on ours is red where this is green. We even have a similar beverage we drink with the meal, on Earth we call it wine, it has a mild alcohol content to it.”

“So then your people on Earth do consume alcoholic beverages,” Kala began
, “ I had ordered our meal through Piesew before we showered and when you mentioned your planets attitudes about nudity I became concerned as most of the cultures that have nudity issues and taboos also seem to have alcohol restrictions as well.”