Chapter 1

The canjo swung towards the child's head and his own weapon automatically came into position to deflect the blow to a safer area. He shifted to try to get his opponent out of position. The return blow was very strong though and his sword vibrated dangerously, hurting his hands and wrists. His return strikes did not get by the block but he was already working a few moves ahead and swung with all his might each time.

The third strike of his canjo did strike his opponents padding before his opponent landed a blow to his partially protected head.

Leefstic was stunned and started to get up from the deck where he suddenly found himself. A friendly hand came out and he gladly took it so he could get to his feet once again.

"Not bad Leefstic," the man's mental emanations projected towards his son. "You gave my leg a bruise even through the padding."

Sondo, Leefstic's father held his son to him, wondering if the knock on the head was going to give any problem. He concentrated and looked into his son's mind on an open level and saw that the pain was already being properly taken care of along with a heightened response to have the body repaired. He was careful to not show his full concern for fear the young lad would think it was pity.

"Do you want to try again?"

Leefstic backed up a bit and looked up to his father. He wanted to say no but he was already looked on as someone to shy away from a fight. His ratings would suffer if he didn't work hard to bring them up. "I can try again but I need a moment to clear my head."

In a moment they nodded to each other and soon the battle began once again. Leefstic was only one hundred and forty three centimetres tall and his father was more than a half metre taller and outweighed the boy's forty three kilos by that much again.

The match went on for another ten minutes before Mallo, one of his mothers put an end to it. Leefstic was getting slower with every stroke and his father was just pushing his son enough to get him to gain some strength and stamina.

Mallo was actually a sister to his biological mother but all eleven wives his father had were his mothers. They watched out for him but also encouraged him to do more.

"Time to eat you two. Get cleaned."

Leefstic and Sondo bowed to each other and held the weapons in their hands. The matter transmitter took them away immediately then they removed their padding. This too disappeared the same way. The undergarments followed a similar but different path. The two walked to a pattern on the deck and each disappeared. In another part of the ship they emerged in a large room and each felt the devices controlled by the computer remove all the wastes from their bodies' surfaces. Sondo's short blonde hair stuck out perpendicular to his skull but Leefstic's long platinum blonde hair was a spectacular sight. A clip would soon hold it in place in a ponytail for convenience. Now it appeared to be an aura radiating from the head alone.

Sondo came close after they were cleaned and looked at the damage he had inflicted. It was almost healed already. "How is your head now?"

"Better now dad. There was some pain but I got it to a manageable level. Most of it had left by the time we restarted the match."

"I am glad to hear that. Look into my mind to see what I thought of your efforts."

Leefstic did as he was asked and found the things he had done wrong or just a bit too slowly. He found his father though felt good about his son's fighting abilities. Leefstic could see that his father hid a bit of his regret that his son was not putting out as much effort to kill an opponent as he should. Aggression was a scarce commodity in the young lad. There was no other subterfuge for it was very difficult to lie when your mind could be read.

Clothing came to their outstretched hands and they put the garments on. Tractors were guided by Leefstic's mind. His long hair was once again put into the form he wanted and a sapphire ring and pin put in place. Not everybody could control the tractors this well and it was one of the things he felt proud of. In a moment they were back in family territory watching the women just starting to take seats at a long table.

Leefstic took his seat as the family bowed their heads to think of all their friends and family. Some were on the Soldoy, the ship they were currently on. Each took a second to talk to the others and then began to eat.

Somey was the only child at the table in Leefstic's eyes but in actual fact he was one as well. This condition would persist for a good many more cycles of time. The little girl was seated beside him and Leefstic helped the child to eat her meal while eating his own.

Dishes appeared and disappeared from the table or moved around so each could help themselves. Leefstic took a large leg that imitated a bird on one of the planets they had passed on this trip but it was many years before he had been born. Vegetables were added along with three small capsules that should be taken to ensure that his organic processes worked as they should.

When the adults were not looking he took a small piece of pseudo meat and wrapped it with the end of his pointy tongue and then extended it toward the young girl. She smiled at this and her hands came out to catch the long pink piece of flesh.

Leefstic's biological mother Looma looked at her only child and checked in his public mind to see how hurt he had been. "Leefstic," she said quietly. The tongue came back into his mouth very quickly and he realised that nobody else had seen him do this.

The woman was happy that her husband and her son's father was able to pull up enough on his stroke to not cause any great damage. Learning to fight was important to the Seffra. Their race had to be able to defend themselves. Looma also liked how the boy got along as he should with his very young sibling. This was one of the reasons the Seffra race had stayed so strong for so long. Family was so very important.

Their bodies were kept in good shape by many forms of exercise so that they could perform their duties as efficiently as possible. Sports were very actively pursued and many of those were armed and unarmed combat. Though the Seffra could kill with their mind alone, sometimes an enemy was found that could put up a shield that required alternate means of survival.

A ship could provide awesome weapons or support. Energy weapons of many kinds could be utilized but it all worked down to being able to handling your own body, reflexes and mind. A conflict could be handled by just a computer but that would be giving up what made biologicals what they were.

Looma said, while she nibbled on a similar thigh, "How are you feeling Leefstic? Should we bring a med unit just in case?"

Leefstic was happy they were only talking on their own private band. He was young and would be where a human child of eight would be. He still resented the adults making him feel so uncomfortable. He hid his feelings and said, "The pain has gone Mom, and I doubt if there is even a mark now."

"I am glad to hear that Leefstic. You know how we all worry about you, you are growing up very fast and doing an adult's job in many ways. There are just too few children on the ship and we tend to mother the ones we do have."

"I know that Mom, it's just that I just don't have the will to fight as hard as the rest of you do."

"You will get it some day. You are just too young to be thinking of killing now."

Leefstic was not swayed by the words. He did much better than average in all the academic training. Fighting with the computer proved he had very good reflexes. He still didn't quite have that something extra that let him achieve parity with others his age when it came to trying to damage another living creature.

There were only three hundred and seventy nine people in the 'category' on the ship and he was rated very high in his age group except for his aggression. The standards though were set down ninety three thousand years ago and hadn't changed appreciably since.

He was almost a quarter of the way to becoming a legal adult and had a fair portion of the height but he was actually very thin. Medical had said that this was still within the bounds of normalcy but Leefstic still wanted his body to start putting on much more bulk. He could start the process himself but his family would surely have something to say about it. The rules of their culture stated that he had to do everything the hard way.

Looma looked at her son protectively but kept her mind shut tight against her son finding out what she thought. He was so beautiful in her eyes. His face was very symmetrical and his oddly coloured hair set it off very well. His eyes were a bright blue that oddly suited him very well even if less than three percent of the Seffra had this trait. The sapphire ring in his hair matched his eyes colour. The design dated back to when their race fought each other with spears.

Leefstic kissed his mother when the meal was finished saying, "I have to go on watch now."

Looma replied, "I am very proud of you son. I know you're still upset about a few of your ratings but you'll make up for it in your studies. None of us in this room did as good as you do though your aunt Mallo was close."

"Thanks mom. It doesn't bother me that much. I'm still young and have a good chance to catch up to where I should be in my standings. Soldoy thinks I will do well but may not make it that high as a military officer. My tech rating is in the first percentile of our race."

"I knew you were good. Some must fight from a chair. I don't think there have been very many times when we have actually faced our enemies eye to eye in thousands of years." She left unsaid that Leefstic would not make a ship's officer though he could make a good scientist.

Leefstic gave his mother another kiss, then one for little Somey and disappeared. The rest of the family had already split up and did what jobs they had to do Half were destined for the gym or the arena to get their bodies in better shape. It seemed an obsession even though it was a necessary thing to do to keep the crew occupied and their minds healthy.

Leefstic sat in a comfortable chair and interfaced with Soldoy. The AI was an old friend and teacher even if he also did all the rating. "Your wound has completely healed Leefstic. Your mind did the task as well as any could I think."

"Thanks Soldoy. I was fast enough for my age but I was still too slow especially when I am fighting dad. Looking in other people's minds I see that they are able to focus much more and their speed increases dramatically. Why can't I seem to do this?"

"You have not come to a situation yet that will push you that last little bit. You come close fighting in your mind. Your body moves almost as quickly as an adult when you are fighting mechanicals but I know you can do much better if you let yourself go." Before the boy could talk more, Soldoy said, "We are receiving some odd signals from this quadrant."

Leefstic reached out with his mind and searched the area designated by the friendly AI but hidden in his mind he knew he was given this job to allow him time to get over his disappointment.

The ship was starting to slow as it entered the next system on their route. Additional probes flew out from the ship, while others stayed behind as pickets. Leefstic knew the rules and did what was required of him to investigate. He had sat here many times but as of late he was performing the duties on his own. Instead of looking for things that were interesting he always looked for anything that could be a possible threat to the ship and the crew.

The galaxy that the present crew had been sent to survey was about the same size as their old one. At present there were seventy four ships performing this same duty but all of them had different courses to follow. The work of mapping and categorising would take many thousands of years. Bases were set up along the way and other ships would continue the advance over time. Most ship's companies decided to continue with a few new members because a ship was all they ever knew of as home.

The ship had 4470 adults and the 379 children with two babies due in half of a cycle of 72 ship days. The Seffra lived long enough through their genetic makeup and their medical devises to force them to restrict unfettered population growth. There had been some deaths when scout ships failed to return or when they investigated the habitats of some of their enemies.

The system in front of them looked to have a habitable planet but the gravity was only seventy percent of what they were used to. It did have some animal life. Small probes left the ship to descend into the atmosphere to investigate the planet more accurately. The ship itself stayed far out of the system.

The open fields and bodies of water were interesting to Leefstic but not nearly as much as what he found attractive on the ship. The planets were interesting and on his other watches he would see what new discoveries could be found if any. The ship would stay here for at least a third of a seventy two day cycle to gather enough information.

When his watch was over, he finished his report and did a mental tour of the ship as his next task. The volume inside the hull was large enough that this was done only in small increments. The ship was 1,400 metres long The beam was 580 metres while the height without antennae was 490 metres. It would displace only 3.6 million tonnes because of its small size when compared to some other ships.

There were many large areas used for sports and war games. Other large environments contained equipment that would be useful to investigate some of the odd phenomena they found when searching. Some of those units now were aimed at the various planets and other instruments investigated the minute samples of life in the pods and the data sent to the ship.

Leefstic searched the forward section of the outer hull first for problems but as usual nothing was seen. Small probes scurried over the hull all the time to do minute checks but the Seffra had to pull their own weight and not rely on a computer even though one was as good as Soldoy.

Four days passed then Leefstic was instructed to assist the green team in their next skirmish. He was happy to see that three of his mothers including Looma were on his side. Every adult on the ship would eventually fight every other one in the course of six of the seventy two day cycles.

Sergeant Boista said, "Leefstic, I want you to slip around the enemy's left flank. If you cause enough confusion we have a good chance of getting enough points this cycle for some extra rest and relaxation. Are you interested in visiting the planet below or some time with the single ladies?"

Leefstic had felt oddly in the last few cycles. He had talked to Soldoy about it. He was directed to look within his own body and found a higher percentage of certain hormones. When they were cross referenced with a great may protein forms, he found that he was starting to produce chemicals that would give him the urge to mate. Already his body was feeling a bit more disorganized as it altered minutely to the new environment. This occurrence was very rare for a boy of eight would not usually develop this way for a few more years.

Just a half cycle ago he had found that while trying to sleep, his penis had started to grow of its own accord. This was very new to him and Soldoy told him all about it in greater detail and even how to control it. He thought of asking his father about it but felt much more comfortable to continue with his friend Soldoy.

Leefstic looked at the sergeant and said, "I am beginning to feel that way. I will do my best for the team."

The sergeant hid his thoughts but wondered if what the boy said was true.

The competition began a few hours later. Many plans had been considered and rejected till one seemed to have the greatest chance of success. This also meant that Leefstic had to do one important manoeuvre to make the plan work. If he failed then his team would be out of position and they would be run over by blue team.

With their minds now tightly shut the team took positions. Blue responded and then some of the greens altered their positions. This continued with the lieutenants from each team giving coded signals that told his players where and when to move. Occasionally a bolt of energy went from one side to another but their shields were more than enough to protect the wearers.

Three hours later Leefstic was in a small cleft in a rock with a small camouflaged piece of material over his huddled position. The energy of a special shield would be detected even if it could do a much better job. He stayed motionless with his mind sealed tight. In an hour a special code was given and some of his team moved to draw Blue away from his position.

Leefstic counted down the minutes and searched carefully for both friends and foe alike. He slipped down from the rock and folded the cloth so it could be tied around his waist. More mental commands were heard but they were not for him. It took another hour to crawl into position. The distance was just fifty metres but probes were out looking for any sort of movement. None of those were better than the ones his team used but it did allow a bit of leeway. The passive camo material was now over his head and body. It allowing most of him to blend in with the terrain around him.

He could see the blues moving about and smiled as he saw the blue captain moving forward. He almost lost it when he saw that it was his father this time. The smile returned and he knew that his father would hardly be perturbed at him for doing what he now had to do.

In both his left and his right hands were small pellet guns that would throw a subsonic round of collapsed matter. It was a very old weapon and used only compressed air to propel the small projectile. It was so weak that it could only travel a few kilometres if there was room for the pellet to go that far.

There were seven targets in view and he waited just a moment till his dad was closing his eyes to concentrated as he gave his next set of orders. Half way through the two guns started to quietly cough projectiles at the protected men and women. The last three needed a bit more thought and Leefstic shot where they might jump too. In all three cases the pellets struck their targets and the blues had to remain still and incommunicado.

Leefstic now scrambled to another position and was able to take two more before he was struck with an energy weapon and some explosives probes. Even as he flew through the air he was happy with what he had done. Landing was a bit rough but Soldoy would not allow it to be that hard.

Listening with his mind he could see the greens moving up through the area he had cleared but most of the battle was over with the captain, his father, removed from the game along with two of his lieutenants.

The contest lasted three more hours but in the end Soldoy stated that the greens had won by a considerable margin.

Leefstic's mothers had come up and one picked the poor boy up and held him to her as if he were an infant. The weapons in her hand and on her back were completely forgotten. Sondo was next and walked up to his son and then hugged him to him as well. "You did a good job Leefstic. I had no idea you were there and I know the rest of us were the same way or you would never have been able to get all of us."

"Thanks dad. It wasn't my idea though, I just did as I was told."

"That is what duty is son. You do your part and everybody else does theirs too."

There was the usual party after the game with everybody invited that was not on watch. Leefstic was congratulated by everybody that came, even those on blue team. That area of rock now would be carefully checked for the next few thousand years to make sure a repetition would not occur.

Jona, one of the younger adult women came over to Leefstic to congratulate him. She had always liked the look of the young boy even though he was a bit on the thin side. It did suit the purpose today though when he had removed the majority of the blue team's officers.

The boy though was even more beautiful than the females she had seen in records or ones on the ship. She knew that he liked his long hair and wore it even though others thought it a problem. He did have a vain streak but it was not that big when she thought of the adults she knew.

"You were very good today Leefstic."

The sounds of her mental voice thrilled Leefstic for some reason and he turned to see the young woman. He hoped that when it came time to find some wives, Jona would still be available. Her aura stood out strongly but sadly didn't come too close to his.

Jona was able to get most of this even though it was hidden. The boy was sprouting hormones now and didn't really know what to do with himself. She though she knew what to do with him. A young boy needed to learn in the hands of someone that cared. "Leefstic, why don't you come with me? I want to show my appreciation for the great job you have done today."

"Me? I am... Ok."

Jona smiled at the boy and took his hand in hers. She was a head and a half taller and half again his weight but this didn't seem to bother any of them.

The transporter took them to the single quarters. Leefstic saw others looking at them but he surprisingly didn't feel shy about this. He held Jona's hand tightly and felt them to be sweaty. He discovered it was his hand that was this way and tried his best to control his body.

In a moment they were at the portal and Jona opened her door and said, "If you want to come in you may, Leefstic."

The boy gulped a bit trying to remember all the data he had ever perused on the mating rituals. He had read his mothers' minds and his father's too when they had been otherwise occupied and knew most of the basic ideas. He closed his mind tight and called to his friend, "Soldoy, will you help me with this?"

A chuckle was heard that the boy didn't resent and he heard, "Yes, I will Leefstic. Females are odd creatures to a male, especially a young one like you. They need to be overwhelmed with sensations to get them to act favourably. I can see in your mind that you know how violent they can be when they are in the throws of an orgasm. Always look to your safety. You may be unintentionally hurt and you need to protect yourself."

"What do I do first?"

"Do what your father does but start by asking Jona if you may remove her clothes for her."

"Ok."

When they got close to the bed, Leefstic got up his courage first and asked, "Jona, may I remove your clothes for you. You are the first woman for me and I want to make it memorable for both of us."

Jona smiled, and wondered where the boy learned to be so romantic. He looked effeminate and thin but seemed to have an intensity about him that made everybody love him. It now seemed that the tables had turned and she was the one on the receiving end. "Sure Leefstic. I would love that."

The boy released the woman's hand and guided her to sit on the bed. He began to undo the clasp at the left shoulder and pulled the flap forward exposing just the shoulder. His face drew close to the newly exposed skin. After a sniff of the woman's body he kissed the exposed skin with small delicate touches. The area soon shifted so that he was kissing the neck and then the ear.

Jona's arms came up to hold the boy to her. She had experienced sex with both genders for quite a few years but never did her partners do this to her. She started to take off his clothes but his hands came up and put them back onto her lap.

Leefstic allowed more of the flap to move and thus expose more of this beautiful woman's skin. A breast appeared before him. It was the same as all the other breasts his mothers had because there was no nudity taboo but this breast before him was special. His lips descended and kissed his way around the rise in her chest.

Jona could not take it any more and moved his head so that he would be at the nipple at the summit. Leefstic only gave this a small suck then a kiss and tried to pull away. Jona had other ideas and it was only when she was getting no more movement did she relent to this young male. This was not the way it was usually done. Each gender was more or less equal and it looked like this boy wanted to do this only his way. She searched again to see how experienced this boy really was.

When Leefstic was freed, he went back to kissing the exposed flesh but stayed away from the most sensitive areas. The other closure on the right shoulder was undone and again Leefstic repeated what he had done earlier and knew he was driving Jona crazy. Finally two more closures on the waist were undone and the upper garment fell onto the floor.

Leefstic stepped back and looked at the woman before him. "You are very beautiful Jona. I am glad it is you that will be with me the first time."

She reached out for him and Leefstic said, "No Jona. I am going to take the rest of your clothes off." It was easy to see how inflamed she was and let her need show through to the public portion of her mind.

Leefstic bent down and removed one slipper then picked up the foot and gently kissed the top of the foot one time while looking Jona in the eye. The woman looked on shocked at what was done. She had never heard of this before but felt pleased that it was done with so much love in his mind. Soon the second slipper went the same way and again the kiss came.

Jona felt more of a tingle in the juncture of her legs and wanted this boy more than she wanted any other partner of either sex. She felt the boy's hands slide up the outside of her legs and stop at the waist. A small mental command and this closure opened. Soon another on the other side did the same.

"Stand up my darling. It will be easier this way."

The woman did as she was ordered and Leefstic moved forward to lower the garment but only after looking at what was uncovered first. Jona stepped out of her slacks and now just waited for the next command.

Leefstic had his eyes closed so he could concentrate on the smell of this woman before him. He found that this seemed to drive Jona even more crazy. He had been getting instructions from Soldoy but also from some novels that he had read when he was young. The first was when he was two but didn't really understand many of the references but now the information seemed to make much more sense.

"Sit on the edge of the bed, Darling." The woman again did exactly as she was told. As Jona got more excited her mind shield opened more and he was able to see what was pleasing her more and was able to do what was needed. The ideas coming from Soldoy began to make even more sense now.

Leefstic reached out with his mind and his arms and used two of the small tractors in the room to pick up the woman's legs. He had practised moving things many times but this was the first time that he had done it on another living being and he used the utmost amount of care. The knees were pushed toward Jona's shoulders and Leefstic was monitoring Jona for discomfort.

A stronger smell came to Leefstic's nose. He had smelt this many times before from his mothers. It seemed to do some odd things to him but he felt that the effect would be proportional to the amount of male hormones flowing in his own body.

Soldoy said, "Bend down Leefstic and smell where the scent is the strongest. Run your tongue gently along the lips. Can you feel Jona's need for you?"

Leefstic did as he was told and found the smell and then the taste to be acceptable. At this range his own sexual organ grew in size till it was uncomfortable. His hands undid his own clothing as he gently licked the woman's opening.

The woman was in great need now but Leefstic deduced that it would be better to keep her this way. He also knew from his mothers, how demanding they could be without even knowing they were doing anything wrong. His dad suffered many scratches, bruises and even patches of hair pulled right from his scalp. He also knew that he could control a few more tractors if necessary.

When Jona's hands came to his long hair he quickly took two tractors and pulled her hands down close to her hips and held them there. Being helpless now seemed to inflame the woman. The first orgasm came and then continued with only a mild cessation lasting a few seconds.

More tractors were employed and Jona's torso was pulled closer to the side of the bed and elevated. Now only her shoulders, head and arms were on the bed. Her opening was just high enough for Leefstic to lick easily.

Jona was not quite sane now. She implored for more stimulation even though she was going through a continuous orgasm. Leefstic could feel people from different parts of the ship look in on Jona trying to find if she were in pain for she sounded very distressed. Her mind was calling for help for she didn't want the boy to just torture her.

Chapter 2 »