J.O. Dickingson

The Panthers and
the Giant Hue-manz

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"The analysis is complete, Captain," announced Science Officer Cal Maison. "The planet is indeed rich in hydrazine in a natural state, even richer than Phobeus. When word of this gets out there's going to be a rush to strike claims for extraction that hasn't seen since the Klondike gold rush of the eighteen hundreds on Earth or the lithium hydroxide war of last century."

"Well, let's not be too optimistic until we have an actual sample in our hands. Where's the best place to drill?"

"Any place! The crust of this planet is literally floating on a sea of the stuff."

"File those reports as confidential for my eyes only. We don't want to start another war based on supposition. Ms. Gionni, an update on our scans for intelligent life forms."

"From what we've been able to tell, there is just one species, scattered in small pockets no larger than a few hundred," replied Anthropologist Eloise Gionni. "Remarkably humanoid but the culture appears primitive. There does not appear to be any planet to space telecommunications system, nor a means of distance communication from one place on the planet to another, nor any form of industrialization or even agriculture whatsoever. From what we can tell, they appear to be at the hunting and collection stage of cultural development."

"So it isn't likely that they will have a planetary government or council or anything like that to deal with."

"No sir. Even a regional government is unlikely."

"Well, only one way to find out for sure. First Officer Ford, select an appropriate landing party and brief them."

"There is a problem sir," interjected Ms. Gionni.

"Which is?"

"There are areas that we have been unable to scan, small but unusually numerous. There seems to be some sort of force field our scans cannot penetrate."

"Force field? I thought you said this is a primitive culture?"

"We don't believe the field is artificial. Most likely it is a natural phenomenon. But with so many areas being blocked, we can't be sure of our data. The landing party will need to be aware there are areas that are unknown and to exercise appropriate caution in their vicinity." "So alert the landing party First Officer, and provide a map of these areas Ms. Gionni."

"Yes sir," the two officers responded.

"There is another problem."

"And that is?" the Captain asked with a hint of irritation. Gionni was young but when he asked for an update, he wanted the entire update, not a serialization.

"From the images we have been able to collect, it would appear that the intelligent life form is short in stature, about one and a half metres [5 feet] maximum."

"Well, where there is a choice, select the shorter member, First Officer."

"Yes sir."

"Also, their appearance is very young sir."

"Then where there is a choice, also send our youngest-looking members."

"I mean preteen, sir."

Captain Romanov raised an eyebrow as he looked at the young anthropologist. "Well, we will have to make do with what we have. There's more?" he asked, noticing the look on the anthropologist's face.

"Yes sir. They, ah, don't appear to wear any clothing."

"You're telling me this intelligent life form consists solely of naked children?" he asked, raising his eyebrow even more.

"There are areas our scans have been unable to penetrate," the anthropologist replied defensively.

Captain Romanov frowned. "Well, there are limits to trying to blend in with the locals, and standards of morality to be followed. Is there anything else?"

"No sir."

"Then you have your orders First Officer."

"Yes sir."

"And include Ms. Gionni in the first landing party," the Captain added with a slight smile as his first officer prepared to leave. It would be a good learning experience for the young officer, and hopefully to be more forthcoming with future reports. The landing party lead by Lieutenant Nori Yokomuri, their youngest-looking and shortest officer qualified to lead an initial party, and accompanied by the twenty-six-year-old anthropologist Eloise Gionni who towered over him by ten centimetres [4inch] and outweighed him by a dozen kilos [26 lbs] landed on the surface at ten hundred hours approximately two kilometres [1¼ mile] east of one of the larger communities. There were twelve in the party, two biologists, two geologists, a second anthropologist and five security in addition to Nori Yokomuri and Eloise Gionni. They immediately set off in the direction of the community.

"I think we are being watched," whispered Eloise, one step behind Nori who was in the lead. They had been walking for about an hour, following a well-used path through the jungle-like forest.

"I've sensed it also," Nori whispered. "They've been following us for the past half hour. I've alerted security."

A half hour. She hadn't noticed for that long, nor had she caught the Lieutenant's signals to the security members. She was impressed, Nori not seeming like much of a leader to her, and a little chagrined at her lack of observation.

They continued for another hour. "We should be getting close to the community," she whispered, making it more of a question than an observation. Two hours to cover two kilometres-they should have reached it well over an hour ago.

"According to our GPS we should be in the middle of it," Nori replied. Coming to a fork in the path, the first major division, he chose the right. As they continued, the branches became more and more frequent. Each time he chose the one heading most closely in a westerly direction. Each time he chose he was sure he heard giggling coming from the dense jungle on both sides of the path. Nobody said anything and nor did he. Another half hour passed. They came to an intersection. The path they were intersecting had footprints coming from the left and heading to the right. Closer examination revealed it to be their footprints, yet that was impossible. Every choice they had made had been a branch in a fork. This was the first intersection. The giggling was more pronounced, and Nori was not the only one to hear it this time.

They continued and twenty minutes later came to another intersection, this one having footprints coming from the other three directions but none leaving from the centre, which was illogical and impossible. He hailed their watchers, telling them they came in peace and asking them to reveal themselves. There was silence. They continued, coming to a fork fifteen minutes later. A bit of cloth hung from a nearby branch-a bit of cloth Nori had left as a marker. There was laughter in the tree tops. They had come in a complete circle, but the GPS had constantly indicated they were heading west. It was clearly malfunctioning on this planet. Nori called again with the same result. He became insistent, a bit angry. Silence.

At the next junction the path widened and three branches ran parallel in the same direction. At least this was new. They split into three columns and continued cautiously along the three parallel paths. Suddenly fruit with a hard rind and resembling coconuts tied to vines swung into the path, bonking them on the head and resulting in more giggles. They proceeded cautiously but triggered the next trap, more coconuts on vines, but these hung lower, striking their buttocks and between their legs. The laughter doubled. Nori made another plea and was met again with silence.

The next trap was more dangerous. A pit in the path covered with branches and grass with sharpened sticks pointing up from the bottom. Lieutenant Yokomuri managed to throw himself to the side and avoid falling into the pit. One of his men in the adjoining path, a security officer by the name of Matt Stuart, was not so lucky and suffered a severe gash to his leg. This time there was no giggling, only silence. Nori again hailed their unseen trackers, assuring them that he and his team meant them no harm, but if they continued to harass them, they would leave him no choice.

Suddenly a boy appeared in the path on the other side of the pit. He looked to be about twelve years of age, about a hundred and fifty centimetres [5 feet] tall, perhaps forty kilos [88 lbs] in weight. A satchel hung at his right side from a strap that extended across his chest from his left shoulder. He was otherwise stark naked and didn't look a bit concerned. "It is unfortunate your companion was hurt, but we did not invite you," he said blankly in perfect English, his voice showing no regret or sorrow nor any emotion at all.

The boy's accusatory tone caused his blood pressure to rise, but Nori remained calm. He slowly raised his hand, palms facing the boy to show he was carrying no weapon. "We come in peace. We mean you no harm. We only wish to talk."

Several more boys appeared behind the first, seeming to materialize out of thin air, and then several more behind those, a dozen and a half in all. The boy in the lead turned and talked to them, his voice too low for Nori to hear, and then turned to face Nori. "Very well. We are growing tired of this adventure anyway. Come this way." He gestured and the three parallel paths appeared to merge to a much wider path in the distance where Nori was sure there was no path before. They followed the boy who turned and walked ahead with his back to them, totally unconcerned they might attack. The other boys, ranging in age from what appeared to be six to twelve, flanked them, all staring at them curiously.

They arrived at a clearing ten minutes later. Surrounding the clearing were tall, massive trees, the bottom branches beginning eight or nine metres [25-30 feet] off the ground. Tree houses of assorted sizes and platforms were built on the branches at different levels and connected by swinging vine bridges. There were two dozen houses they could see, and probably just as many or more higher in the trees and deeper in the jungle. The boy who appeared to be their leader took a panpipe from his satchel and blew a short note. Boys suddenly appeared from the tree houses, swinging down on vines or clambering down rope ladders, at least another four dozen, all naked, from the ages of three to twelve. They gathered behind the boy and when he sat cross-legged at the end of the clearing, they sat to either side and behind him in a half circle.

"So giants. So you come to talk. So talk," the boy said in a tone that indicated he was accustomed to giving commands, and having them obeyed. "Well," began Nori, "to begin with, we are not giants-."

"You are as big as giants," observed one of the boys.

"And are as ugly as giants," observed another.

"And stink like giants," said a third, a younger boy, wrinkling his nose and causing several of the younger boys to giggle.

"Well," replied Nori, somewhat taken aback by their childish abruptness and rudeness. "I can see how we would appear as giants to you, but really, we are humans."

"What are hue-manz?" asked the boy leader. "We do not know that word. And must you speak your thoughts? It causes an echo in our heads."

It dawned on Nori that the boy was not moving his lips. Was he capable of mental telepathy? And if he was, did that mean he was able to read their thoughts?

"Yes, and yes," the boy replied. "That is better, but can your companions stop projecting their thoughts also? It is most noisy and hard to concentrate with so many thoughts bombarding us." His voice reflected irritation and was unquestionably condescending.

"I, uh, we," said Nori as he glanced at his companions.

"Do not know how," said the boy with a patronizing sigh, apparently reading his mind. Nori immediately cautioned himself that he had to be careful what he thought if the boy could tell what he was thinking, and then cursed himself for thinking that for now the boy surely had 'heard' what he had just thought. The boy did not try to hide his smile. Turning and looking at his companions for a moment, he turned back to Nori. "We understand. We have lowered our sensitivity so as to block your broadcasts. Now then, what are hue-manz?" he asked again, using mind talk.

"That is what we call ourselves where we come from," replied Nori, finding it easier to speak than just think. The boy frowned but said nothing.

"And where do you come from, Giant Hue-manz?"

"We come from a planet we call Earth, very far away."

"Plan-it is another word we do not know."

"A planet is a world, like your own, but ours circles a sun far, far away, so far it would appear as a star at night."

"Your world circles a sun instead of a sun crossing the sky like our own."

Nori considered correcting the boy on the basic principle of astronomy but decided doing so would only confuse him and that it would be best to accept his error. Of course he had no sooner thought that than he realized the boy had to have read his thought. Embarrassed and flustered, he didn't know what to reply.

"I will use your primitive mode of communication if it will make it easier for you," the boy said, this time audibly. His voice was young, like that of a prepubescent child. It was also condescending, as an adult talks to a child too young to understand.

"Ah, thank you."

"So, you are from the stars, not from our world?"

"Yes." There was a murmur of awe and surprise from the boy's companions.

"Which is why you have come to us through the air in that flying bird that is not a bird that you arrived in."

"Yes." So they knew about their landing. Did they know of the ship orbiting their planet also? Nori had no sooner thought that than he regretted it. This was most difficult. It was actually impossible not to think. The boy gave no indication of having read his thought. Could they really lower their sensitivity to thoughts? And had the boy been so innocent as to have actually turned off his telepathic powers? Being able to read their thoughts gave these boys a tremendous advantage, one that he certainly would not have abandoned. From the lack of response on the boy's face as he thought these thoughts, the boy had to have turned off his ability. Either that or he would make a formidable gambler.

"You are on a very big adventure."

"Ah, yes, we are."

"It is very exciting to be part of your adventure." The boy's face radiated his pleasure and the others all murmured agreement and delight. Nori felt an uplifting excitement and pleasure himself. Could these boys transmit their emotions also besides their thoughts? "We have many questions. Like, tell us, Giant Hue-manz, why do you and your companions drape those skins over your body? And what manner of beast has such skin? We have seen nothing like it."

"Well, first of all, these are not skins," Nori said, "except our boots, and our belts which are made of leather, which is what we call the hide of a horse which has been specially treated. The rest of our clothing is manufactured-made-made from fibres of plants."

"Absitively amazing," the boy said and the older boys nodded. "But why, Giant Hue-manz? Why wear anything?"

"For some places and some times of the year on our world it is to keep warm. And for all humans, it is a matter of privacy and decency." He had a quick flash about the exception of nudists but decided it best not to mention them and confuse the child. "For our people it is considered immoral to expose certain parts of your body."

"It is immoral to be naked?" the boy asked with a note of incredibility, and of amusement. His companions twittered their amusement behind him.

"Yes. On our world."

"This is not your world, Giant Hue-manz" the boy said pointedly and with a hint of challenge.

Nori chose to ignore the comment. He was getting accustomed to the boy's arrogance and reminded himself that he was speaking to a child. "My name is Nori," he said instead, indicating himself. "Lieutenant Nori Yokomuri, and this is Ms. Eloise Gionni," he continued, gesturing to Eloise who had sat down beside him.

"Val," the boy said, standing to attention and introducing himself proudly with a formal bow.

"Zeb'el," said the boy sitting beside him as he too stood proudly to attention, bowed, and sat back down. He appeared to be slightly older, perhaps twelve and a half.

That started a wave of introductions by the rest of the boys, followed by the rest of landing party, who having taken the lead from the boys also stood and bowed.

"So Val, you are the leader of these boys?" asked Nori.

"We do not know this word boiz."

"Your companions," Nori replied, gesturing to the others.

"Oh. Yes, I am the leader of these boiz, and all Panthers, and today, of this adventure. And you are the leader of your boiz?" he asked, gesturing to the landing party.

"Ah, yes. We call our group a landing party."

"We like to party," the boy said brightly and his companions all nodded vigorously in agreement with huge grins. "In fact that is enough talk. Let us party now." He leaped to his feet and those around him did also most eagerly.

"But we have just begun. And there is much to talk about," Nori objected. His comment was met with dead silence and the most serious frowns. Clearly that was not only not up to him to decide, but he had made a major faux pas in opposing their leader's decision. "Of course only with your permission," he quickly added subserviently.

"Very well, I permit it, for a bit longer," the boy said, clearly pleased with the recognition of his authority. "You are weird and we have many questions."

"We too have many questions," Nori replied. Choosing to ignore the difference in definition of party and the connotations accompanying the word 'weird', he instead addressed the misunderstanding of the meaning of the word 'boys' and a question that had been on his mind since their meeting. "But first, I must explain we are not all boys."

Val looked at him in puzzlement. "You are not all companions?"

"Well, yes, we are all companions. But there is another meaning for the word boys. You are all boys, as are most of us, but a few of us are girls." The boy leader and his companions continued to look at him in puzzlement. "We are men," he said, gesturing to himself and several others, "but some of us are women." He gestured to Eloise. The boys all focussed their attention on her. From the looks on their faces they still did not understand. "I am a male, like you, and your companions," he tried again. "Officer Eloise Gionni is a female." The boy looked at him and then at Eloise curiously. This was becoming difficult, and embarrassing. "We are different, here, and here," he explained, patting his chest and between his legs.

The boy Val rose and stepped up to Eloise. He brazenly leaned in closer to examine her breasts. As he reached out to touch them she instinctively drew away and brushed his hand aside. With surprising speed and even more surprising strength and skill, he grasped her wrist and twisted her arm around, pinning her to the ground as he drew a stone knife out of his satchel. The security personnel reached for their weapons.

"Wait," called out the Lieutenant to his men, raising his hand. "She meant you no harm. On our world it is indecent to touch another person without their permission, especially for a male to touch a female where you were about to touch."

"On this world striking another unprovoked is sufficient reason to loose one's hand, especially striking the leader of a Tribe," the boy said without relinquishing his hold.

"It is a misunderstanding."

"I understood what I was doing, and she understood what she did, and I understood what she did," the boy said in challenge. "There is no misunderstanding." Several of the other boys who had approached during the confrontation nodded agreement.

"I'm sorry," Eloise said. "It was an instinctive reaction."

"Well, since you are sorry," Val said, finally releasing his hold. Eloise sat up and massaged her arm. For such a skinny boy he was remarkably strong. "Remove this skin that is not a skin that we might see for ourselves how you are different and if what you say is the truth," he said, gesturing to her blouse.

"We are speaking the truth," Nori objected. "Read my mind if you doubt me. As I told you, among our people it is immoral to expose certain parts of our body, and it is especially so for a female to expose herself to a male, and especially for a woman to expose herself to a boy."

"It would appear many things on your world are immoral," the boy replied coldly, then even more coldly, "and, as I have said, this is not your world."

Nori opened his mouth to object but Eloise cut him off. "That is all right, Lieutenant," she said beginning to unbutton her shirt. "This is not a hill to die on."

Nori knew she was right. They were vastly outnumbered and although the boys would suffer the most in any confrontation, in the end they would be the winners. She removed her blouse, and then reaching behind her, unhooked her bra and removed it. The boy studied her breasts intently, his eyes and facial expressions showing curiosity and assessment but nothing more. If he found the sight of her breasts arousing or immoral he did not show it. He raised his eyes and looked into hers and with their eyes locked, slowly raised his hand. Whatever his thoughts, he was not projecting them. Eloise held his gaze as he touched first one and then the other breast and then gave the left an experimental squeeze. She could not help tensing and pressing her lips together with the indignity and the immorality of having her breasts touched by a twelve-year-old boy.

"Zeb'el, Brie, come check this out. The fee-mail Giant Hue-manz has udders! Two of them!"

The two boys who had been sitting beside him rose and stepped forward. They cocked their heads one way and then the other as they examined her. Zeb'el reached out and pushed her right breast aside as if checking to see how it was attached. When he was done, Brie, who seemed a bit younger than the other two boys, reached out and touched her nipple. As she jerked, the three boys immediately stepped back and tensed, prepared to defend themselves.

"I am sensitive to touch there," she explained, maintaining her calm.

The three boys looked at each other and then slowly smiled with understanding. "Now you," Val said, turning to Nori. He was reluctant to obey these demands from a child, but he was a child, and there was no harm in doing as he had ordered. If it would engender good relations between them, it would even do some good. The three boys examined his chest but made no effort to touch him. "Your nipples are also sensitive, like the fee-mail?" Nori nodded. "It is indecent on your world for a male to expose his chest to another male?"

"No."

"For a male to expose his chest to a fee-mail?"

"No."

The three boys looked at each other. "Your world has confusing rules," Val said. He looked down at Nori's crotch. "Now the rest."

"On our world that is considered the most private part of the body of all," Nori objected. "A male does not expose that part of himself to even another male, even when emptying his bladder, and for a male to expose himself to a female without her agreement is the most indecent act of all."

"Then your companions and your fee-mail-ez can look away. You need only show us."

"It is also indecent for a man-for an older male to show himself to one as young as you."

The three boys looked at each other again and shook their heads. "Why?" Val asked, completely and genuinely perplexed.

"It is considered wrong. There are rules against it, and one can be put in jail for doing so on our world."

"Jay-ill?"

"Locked… in a cage," Val replied in want of a better explanation.

"On your world. But this is not your world."

"Thankfully," added Zeb'el.

"Positutely," agreed Brie.

The three boys stood there expectantly. Nori weighed his alternatives. According to his training, unless it was life-threatening, a positive contact was always priority. He slowly undid his belt and pushed down his trousers and his underwear. The boys seemed as interested and curious about his second layer of skin that is not a skin as they were about his genitals. They then turned to Eloise and stood without a word.

"You do not have to."

"It is all right Lieutenant." She knew the priority of this mission as well as did Nori, and she was not going to have any blame if there was any placed on her. Besides, she knew the others would look away.

She felt very strange undoing her belt and pushing down her trousers and then pushing down her panties before the three preadolescent boys. She knew there were perverts of both sexes who would find the situation erotic, but for her exposing herself to a twelve-year-old boy was filthy and gave her gooseflesh. The three studied her genitals much more closely than they had Nori's. To her relief they did not try to touch her. They did not try to hide the looks on their faces, nor their thoughts. They found her private parts unpleasant, stomach-turning and frightening.

"Like the beasts!" the three boys thought to each other in wonder, their eyes brightening with pleasure at their comprehension. Most of the other boys widened their eyes with surprise, evidently having received the same thoughts. That they had broadcast their repugnance to the Giant Hue-manz did not seem to bother the boys.

"You both even have hair like beasts," Val observed, addressing Nori.

"In our species the male and female grow hair when they get older."

"You must be very old to have so much hair," Val observed, looking at Nori's chest and then at Eloise's breasts.

Nori chose not to respond as he and Eloise pulled up their underwear and trousers and did up their shirts. "Speaking of age, where are all the adults of your tribe?"

"Add-ults?"

"Those who are older than you."

"Zeb'el is the oldest among us," Val responded.

"And Dar-el," added Brie.

"But he is away with a hunting party."

"What about your parents?"

"Pair-entts?"

"Your mother and father."

The three boys looked at each other. "These are new words to us."

"The male and female who created you."

The three boys looked at each other again. They appeared to be communicating. "You mean like how the beasts create little ones?"

"Yes."

"We are not created like the beasts," Val said with a chuckle, looking at Nori condescendingly and speaking as if explaining the facts of life to a child.

"Then where do you and your kind come from?" asked Eloise.

"The cabbage patch." It was Nori and Eloise's turn to look at each other. They could not refrain from a slight smile.

"We can show you," Val offered, "but not today. There is enough talk now." He turned and addressed the rest of the tribe. "The adventure is ended. Now it is time to celebrate this adventure with our new friends the Giant Hue-manz."

The announcement was met with cheers and applause and Brie called for a round of three cheers for Val for the great adventure, which the boys did heartily and then dashed off. Tables appeared out of nowhere and platters of food were brought out, nuts and fruits and vegetables of all sorts, some recognizable and many not, and jugs of clear, cold water, a sweet nectar, and a sharp white liquid tasting vaguely like raw milk. Kilns were fired up and the fragrance of baking bread filled the air and open fires were started and game roasted on spits, hens and rabbits and what appeared to be a pig and another a deer or some such beast. A horn was sounded from afar and answered by someone in the village and there appeared shortly thereafter another band of boys, a dozen in total, each pair carrying what appeared to be a deer hung from a pole. There was much cheering by the assembled boys, and much chatter about the Giant Hue-manz who had come from a star to talk. Dar-el, another boy of about twelve or thirteen and the leader of the hunting party, was taken aback by this new event and disappointed it had eclipsed the success of his hunting party. Nori picked up his thoughts, and he was sure everyone else had too. He had to wonder what it must be like living in a society where your every thought and emotion was known. The boy was introduced with much reverence and praise, and Nori took the hint and praised the boy for the success of his hunting party, which greatly pleased him and his chief, Val, and helped lessen his disappointment.

They feasted then and there was no shortage of food or liquid refreshment. There was much retelling of the story of the meeting of the Giant Hue-manz adventure, and the story of the hunt, with more discussions and questions posed of each other. After the meal several boys brought out musical instruments, flutes, panpipes, drums, a xylophone of sorts, and a six-string instrument played with a bow like a violin and plucked with the fingers like a guitar, and the entire company sang audibly with a quality that challenged the Vienna Boy's Choir on Earth and the boys danced vigorously singularly, in pairs, or in groups. A few boys began to stroke themselves as they sat and ate and talked or watched the musicians or listened to the singers. A few others paired up and played with each other. The number of boys arousing themselves or each other quickly grew, pairs becoming threesomes and then foursomes and then jerk circles of five or more, the music and dancing forgotten.

"You Giant Hue-manz are not happy?" Val asked, sitting down beside Nori and one of the two biologists in the landing party, a balding, forty-year-old man by the name of Harold Golding.

"Oh no, we are very happy," Nori replied. "The food was delicious, and the music and singing fantastic. You are fine hosts. Our first meeting has been most positive."

"Positutely," Val agreed heartily. "But you are not joining in what is the greatest pleasure and brings the most happiness of all." He nodded toward his erection, which had been impossible for the Giant Hue-manz to ignore. Nori began to open his mouth. "I know, such pleasure is considered indecent on your world," Val said with a sigh. "But as I must keep reminding you, this is not your world." He brazenly and defiantly reached over and squeezed Val's crotch. Remembering what had happened when Eloise had reacted to such intimacy, he made no sudden or rash moves though he certainly thought his objection and his revulsion and hoped the boy had not lowered his sensitivity. If the boy read his thoughts his face did not show it, and again Val had to wonder if the boy was really so innocent. "Is it because of the presence of the fee-mail-ez of your species?"

"Well, yes, in part."

"I think we have determined which of your landing party those are," Val said as he stood up and looked around. Finding whom or what he was looking for, he stared in that direction for a few moments and then sat down. Nori assumed the boy had sent a telepathic message and sure enough, several boys showed up minutes later. "Your fee-mail-ez may retire to one of our homes, or to a clearing adjacent to this one where they can eat and drink all they wish but need not witness what they find indecent. Please be assured and please assure them that they will come to no harm. We do not wish what is our great pleasure and happiness to be a displeasure and unhappiness for them."

"Thank you for your consideration, but the males among my party are not comfortable with such pleasures also. Perhaps it is best if we all withdraw for the night."

"All of you?" asked Val in surprise, and with obvious suspicion. "But we are all what you call mail-ez, you and us and most of your companions."

"But we are more comfortable expressing ourselves sexually with members of the opposite sex, with females."

"Oh! Like the beasties!" Val exclaimed, his face brightening with comprehension at their strange behaviour and reluctance. "Then please, tell them to go ahead. That would be most interesting to watch!"

"Ah… they are not accustomed to being watched, and the partners they would prefer doing it with are not here."

"Then they are free to leave also and rut with your fee-mail-ez out of our sight, or sit and do nothing," Val offered generously but with a hint of wonder at such behaviour. "But surely not all. There must be some Giant Hue-manz mail-ez who find pleasure and happiness doing what we are doing." Nori had to admit that it was possible some of his landing party found pleasure in masturbation or even sex with other males, though it was highly unlikely considering the high calibre of men and women selected for space exploration. Having thought that and with Val studying him, he knew there was no point in denying the possibility now. "We are most curious to see how it is with Giant Hue-manz mail-ez, if it is the same pleasure as it is for us."

Nori struggled with a solution out of this dilemma. First contact was often fraught with uncertainty and misperception, and this one was particularly so. He did not want to do anything that might set them and this native population off on the wrong foot, and to imply what these boys thought a wonderful thing was frowned upon by themselves would be sure to upset them, but there were limits on how far one should bend his own values, and certain principles to be followed. What the boy was asking of them was not a major request in the grand scheme of things, but it did go very deeply against some basic and entrenched moral values. He was not inexperienced in such initial negotiations or he would not have been selected to lead this landing party regardless of the fact he met the unique physical qualifications required in this specific encounter, but this one was complicated. Harold Golding came to his rescue, much to his relief.

"I too am curious how it is for the Panthers, if it is the same as it is for us humans. Is the pleasure different for each of you, or is it the same for all of you?"

"We are all of the same mind. It is pretty much the same for one as for any other."

"Then in that we are alike. In the interest of a harmonious relationship between our two peoples, I would be willing to volunteer to engage in this adventure," Harold offered, turning to Nori. Describing the boy's proposition as an adventure clearly pleased the boy. "Not all boys engage in each of your adventures do they?" he asked Val, who shook his head. "Then perhaps we could leave it up to the conscience of each member to choose between duty and values?" he asked Nori.

"An excellent idea," Nori agreed. "If you would give us a moment?" Val nodded and after an explanation, stepped back to allow them to confer in private.

The situation was put to the landing party. The three females of course would be automatically excused. For the rest, their participation was likely unnecessary. Harold had volunteered and Nori intended on doing so, feeling it was his responsibility as their leader. That would likely be sufficient to satisfy the boys' curiosity. While a fuller participation would strengthen the relationship between themselves and this native population, it was not essential, and what was being asked of them did run against very basic and very deep values. To decline to participate would not be held against any member. In fact it would be better to not engage than to engage reluctantly and end up with an unpleasant experience when the local inhabitants clearly considered it to be something wonderful. After a brief discussion, the members of the landing party having strong, uncompromising opinions on the matter, Pierre Deschamps, the other anthropologist on the team, and Greg Thompson, one of the security men stepped forward to join Harold and Nori. The rest left with for a nearby clearing while the four of them stripped.

Val seemed extremely pleased that there were four of them, and quickly invited Zeb'el, Dar-el, and Brie to join them. They sat in a circle, Panther alternating with a member of the landing party, the former clearly excited by this new adventure, the latter clearly embarrassed and uncomfortable. They sat there stroking their cocks, the boys concentrating on what they were doing and feeling and glancing occasionally at the others, especially the Giant Hue-manz, to see what progress they were making and if their dinks changed like theirs did. The landing party was far more self-conscious and avoided as much as possible looking at anyone, and particularly at each other. The four of them had all masturbated at some time or another to varying degrees and each had his reason for volunteering.

Harold actually had three reasons. As a biologist he was naturally curious about all life forms and especially intelligent ones, and was mystified why there were no adults present, and if they were truly absent, how this life form perpetuated themselves. He saw volunteering to engage in what the boys evidently valued as a way of gaining their confidence which certainly would not harm any future investigation into their lives. As an advocate of the space exploration movement and a twenty-year member of earth's International Space Exploration corps, he also strongly believed in ISE's policies, including that of promoting a congenial first contact with other forms of intelligent life, which he saw as endangered at the moment. Third, as a teenager he had experimented not just with masturbation but with oral and anal sex with a couple close buddies, and those had been enjoyable times. Although now happily married, the forty-year-old man had fond memories of those days so had no qualms about joining these boys in a simple act of jacking off and, in fact, saw it as an opportunity to relive those pleasant days of his past, an opportunity he would never find again. The Panthers, all having thick, luxuriant hair, found his receding hairline a novelty and were particularly curious if anything else was different about him, and their attention he had to admit was arousing.

Nori was closer to the boys in height and weight and his oriental features made him look ten years younger than his thirty years, and he had slanted eyes and a tawny tint to his complexion, all reasons for the boys to be interested in him also, all the boys they had seen so far having a decidedly European physical appearance. Like many boys, Nori had experimented with masturbation when he was about the age of the four boys sitting with him, but having an active physical regimen and a strict cultural upbringing, it had not amounted to anything beyond that. Although uncomfortable given his strict upbringing, he did not find what the boys were doing that severely immoral, and besides, he saw it as a small sacrifice for the greater good of ensuring good relationships, and like Harold, he was a dedicated career member of the ISE corps.

Greg, being twenty-five and the youngest and like Nori unmarried, had masturbated frequently as a teenager up until eight years ago and still did it on occasion, having curtailed his activity largely out of guilt and shame. His motivation for volunteering was simple. Surrounded by several dozen naked boys all happily masturbating was arousing and philosophically he had never seen anything sinful nor improper about the act. Officially he could always claim he had volunteered because he saw it as his duty as a member of the security team to guard those who stayed behind and he knew the other guards would not. It was a good rationalization for his nagging conscience as to why he'd felt aroused. Muscular and with his forearms and calves heavily haired, his chest a mat of dense, dark brown hair, and a thick bush of pubic hair, he immediately caught the attention of the four boys.

Pierre also had more than one motive. As an anthropologist he welcomed any opportunity to observe different cultures and to participate in their rituals. Volunteering also gave him an advantage over his colleague Eloise whom he saw as an unfair competitor on this expedition, being young and a female, when it came to being published in professional journals. Happily married with three children and two grandchildren, the fifty-year-old also had a dark secret-he found prepubescent boys arousing and the only reason he had never acted on any of his fantasies was because of the deterrents his society had in place for such proclivities. As the boy Val had said repeatedly, this was not their world!

Of the four boys, Dar-el was a year older than Val, a centimetre taller, and five kilos [10 lbs] heavier. He was athletic and muscular, his muscles beginning to show the firmness and definition that came with puberty, and loved hunting for the challenge and the danger. He was admired by the other boys for his strength and his skill at hunting and had a large following but he was no threat to Val as leader for he had no desire for the burden of decision-making and responsibility that came with being a political leader. The two boys, respecting and admiring each other's strengths, were the best of friends. Zeb'el gave the impression of being the oldest but was actually midway between Val and Dar-el in age and build. He took on leadership of adventures and of the Tribe itself on occasion when Val was distracted by other things, but he was quiet and serious and lacked the charisma of Val and so was less popular though greatly admired for his intellect, and others, including Val, often sought him out for advice. His close companionship with Val enhanced his reputation and he knew and appreciated that. Brie, a year younger than Val, was blue-eyed and blond-haired, a bit shorter and lighter than others his age, and full of piss and vinegar to use a term from earth and somewhat of a jokester. He was too daring and impulsive to be a good leader, but with his charm and devil-be-damned attitude and his constant pranks he was hard not to like. On Earth he would have been a boy lover's dream, and would have been one of those boys delighted to fulfill those dreams just for the adventure and pleasure of it.

Soon all eight were erect. The boys' erections were all close in size, Brie the shortest and Dar-el the longest, a centimetre difference between the two. Nori was the next closest in size, fifteen centimetres [6 inch], with Greg being the largest at eighteen [7 inch] and Harold and Pierre between the two. All around them were boys similarly engaged, doing themselves or doing each other, a few having formed jerk circles and doing the boy on their right while being done by the boy on their left. The eight of them concentrated on the pounding pleasure between their legs and the pleasant itch around the rim of their glans, a pleasure familiar to all eight of them. Soon the four boys were speeding up, unable to resist the explosive pleasure they knew awaited them, and as their breathing became deeper and more ragged, their strokes became more irregular. The humans interspersed between them could not help noticing, increasing their own arousal.

Of the four men, Pierre was finding the experience the most stimulating and his swollen cock was itching badly. Not wanting to be the first to ejaculate, he strained to hold back and tried to concentrate on something else, which with three of his companions and four good-looking young boys eagerly beating their meat was impossible. Out of habit, the four boys began to project their growing excitement and pleasure, accenting the pleasure of each other and of the four men, and at the same time they began to receive the thoughts of the others, including the four men. Their own thoughts they found arousing of course. As for the four men, feelings of embarrassment, self-consciousness, fear of performance, guilt, and shame, were all emotions the four boys were familiar with but never associated with masturbation and they found this new association intriguing, and confusing. They also picked up the arousal the four men were feeling and discovering these Giant Hue-manz were indeed a lot like them and feeling just as horny and feeling just as much pleasure as they were feeling intensified their already intense enjoyment.

So linked were they that it would be impossible to say one came before the other, the eight all coming within seconds of each other. The four boys jerked and twisted uncontrollably and unabashedly as their orgasms hit, and they groaned and sighed with uninhibited pleasure as their little, slender cocks throbbed hotly in their hands and they were convulsed with their dry orgasms, their own augmenting the others and the others augmenting theirs. And then the four Giant Hue-manz came, the men shuddering as they ejaculated, their semen spurting out the tips of their cocks with a burning delight and a force far greater than they were accustomed to, their orgasms augmented by the thoughts of erotic pleasure and awe from the four boys. Spurt after spurt erupted from their swollen cocks and their cocks throbbed hotly in their hands with a pleasure greater than they had ever felt before. The four boys stared in wonder at the four men gasping and sighing and thrusting out their hips and throwing their heads back as the strange milky-white goo spurted from their dicks.

"Are you guys all right?" asked Val.

"Yes. We are very all right," replied Nori with a sigh.

"That is what is supposed to happen with Giant Hue-manz?" asked Zeb'el in surprise.

"Yes."

"Ewww," the four boys responded, wrinkling up their noses as they inspected the globs of goo more closely.

"It's wet," observed Val, daring to touch one of the globs with his index finger, like all boys fascinated by anything gross and not afraid to investigated it.

"And sticky," added Dar-el, doing the same and rubbing the strange slime between finger and thumb.

"And messy," contributed Zeb'el.

"It is, all of those, and feels absolutely wonderful," responded Nori.

"Absitively," agreed Brie, filled with the enthusiasm and unbelievable ecstasy they felt from the four men, and the eight of them felt a warm bond and an understanding that for the four men was new and wonderful and for the four boys revealing and reassuring. Amazed, intrigued and excited by this new phenomenon, the four boys were filled with questions and sat and listened in rapt attention, and the occasional revulsion, as the four men explained about semen and ejaculation and sperm and making babies, and the four men felt like kids again as the wonder and amazement of the boys as they learned about these new mysteries washed over them.

"The same will happen to you when you are older," Nori advised.

"Which is not that far away for all of you I would think," observed Pierre, partly in warning and partly in promise.

The boys glanced at each other but said nothing. Nori noticed they did not broadcast their thoughts, which was curious and raised a warning, but which he let slip by considering the enormity of what they had just done.

"Can I try doing yours?" Brie asked Pierre. "You can try doing mine if you like."

If he would like? A boy lover's dream! Pierre looked into the eleven-year-old's wide, innocent eyes and his heart ached with lust. He glanced over at Nori in the hopes of finding approval and thinking how he might agree without sounding too eager to his companions. The look in the eyes of the leader of the landing party was not promising as he had feared.

"We could all pair up," Val suggested. "It would be an interesting adventure, or is it considered indecent to jack off twice in one day on your world?" The question was asked in innocence but carried a tone of sarcasm. The boy caught on quickly.

"No, but it is not customary for a man and a boy to do such a thing together. In fact it is considered against the law on our world. I know," he added quickly as Val opened his mouth, "this is not our world."

"You are catching on too, Giant Hue-manz," the boy said as a matter-of-fact. He was not making a joke nor being sarcastic, but he was making a point-two actually: that the rules were of this world, not Nori's, and that he was fully aware of Nori's thought about him. The boy looked so young and innocent and telepathy being allocated to quacks and fictions writers, it was difficult to believe the boy could actually read minds. The twelve-year-old boy reached over and picked up Nori's limp penis with his thumb and first two fingers before Nori could respond or stop him. Brie immediately reached over for Pierre's and the boy lover quickly reached over and picked up the slender, limp prick of the prepubescent eleven-year-old boy before any of his colleagues could voice an objection to pairing up. Zeb'el and Dar-el eagerly followed the others' lead, just as excited about finding out what it would be like to wrap their fingers about the huge cocks as their companions were. The men followed Pierre's lead hesitantly, not wishing to offend their hosts but far from comfortable having their privates fondled by pre-adolescents and even less comfortable fondling theirs.

The four boys were erect quickly, excited and delighted with this new adventure. The four men took longer to get back in the mood and to become erect again as they struggled with their oppressive upbringing and ingrained values not just about engaging in sex with another male but about engaging in sex with children. Being eagerly and joyfully stroked and being surrounded by dozens of other boys happily and eagerly wanking each other a second time and all broadcasting their arousal and physical pleasure overcame their misgivings. That was not surprising considering the circumstances, and was much to Pierre's relief, the boy lover fearing that his rapid arousal would be suspicious. He inhaled and exhaled slowly and deeply with pleasure as the eleven-year-old boy sitting beside him slowly worked his thumb and first two fingers up and down his shaft and over his knob, sending thrills of arousal through the rim and bringing back memories of his first experimentation with his own pecker using the same technique. He similarly wanked the slender but rock-hard cock of the boy, slowly pulling his foreskin back to expose his bulb and then slowly pushing it back up. He normally did himself now using his fist, but the boy's size made it more difficult to use all four fingers. The boy's eyes shone with pleasure and excitement, his lips pressed together as he concentrated on doing the man and watching for the semen to spurt. His own pleasure at having his little cocklet stroked was evident without the need for telepathy, as was the pleasure his three companions were feeling.

Again the four boys picked up the feelings of guilt and shame and reluctance from their partners, not just about wanking this time, but about being wanked by mail-ez younger than themselves, and even greater aversion to jacking off the four of them, with, they all noticed, the exception of the one who called himself Pierre, but who at the same time was fearful his pleasure would be discovered by his three companions. It was all very foreign and very mysterious to the four boys, which made the adventure even greater, much to their delight. As they broadcast that delight the four humans were unable to ignore their pleasure and enthusiasm and the men found themselves growing more and more aroused until their physical pleasure overpowered all other thoughts. That did not go unnoticed by the four boys who glanced at each other and smiled knowingly as the basic power of sexual pleasure was reaffirmed, even for beasts.

In short time the four boys began to pump their hands faster in response to their own approaching orgasms, and their breathing once again grew more laboured and ragged. There was no guilt, no shame, only the most immense pleasure, and the men marvelled at its intensity and purity. One by one the boys reached their orgasms and they again openly and unabashedly groaned and sighed with the pleasure pulsating through their swollen organs and the stimulation shooting through their glans, again sharing their delight with each other and with the Giant Hue-manz. With such intense pleasure bombarding their minds from outside and bombarding their minds from their own throbbing pleasure between their legs, one by one the men ejaculated for a second time, just as forcefully and with just as much pleasure, but with a reduced volume and increased thickness of semen, and with more guarded pleasure than the boys expressed. The boys were delighted with having made the men squirt and they glanced at each other, their eyes sparkling and of one mind.

The men could not help notice that all four boys, and all those around them were uncircumcised, and the four boys and those nearest them could not help notice that Greg was the only one of the four men that was like them and that Nori had a partial skin that formed a collar about his bulb when soft instead of sliding back up to cover it like theirs. The boys of course openly and unabashedly expressed their curiosity, and Nori's explanation resulted in them shuddering and cringing and glad that they were not Giant Hue-manz. When the boys suggested switching and pairing up to the left instead, they were advised that a third time was pushing the limit for the four men, which combined with the strange guilt and displeasure the men obviously were feeling about doing something they so clearly ended up enjoying made them even more glad that they were not Giant Hue-manz.

When Nori tried to explain that being limited in the number of orgasms they could experience was not just a matter of being human, but also one of age, the boys expressed difficulty comprehending age as their guests saw it. Although they understood change in size and abilities as they grew from the time they appeared, again insisting it was in a cabbage patch, to their present state, also once again insisting that they were the oldest of their tribe, they had no concept of age or aging, and the change occurred so slowly and over such a long period of time none of them were sure just how many seasons that took, and were even less clear how long they were in their present state. It was on that note that the four men rejoined their companions and retired for the night, Nori radioing a brief report of their first contact to the orbiting ship, needless to say leaving out what had happened after their feast.

The next morning everyone slept in late. Following a breakfast of fruit and what tasted like an oatcake, Val took Nori and Harold to the cabbage patch, a large wild garden of what did appear to be cabbage and they found out later was harvested and boiled and tasted like cabbage. He informed them that the appearance of a baby was rare, and always only occurred when one of the Panthers died, which was rare and the result of an accident or being killed by one of the larger, more savage beasts that roamed the jungle, insisting nobody died of old age nor disease, concepts totally foreign to him and which Nori and Harold had to explain.

Meanwhile Pierre spent time with Brie learning more about this culture of boys, and Greg accompanied Dar-el and his hunters on another hunt. All of the boys regardless of age participated in some way in maintaining the village, hunting, fishing, or collecting berries and roots for food and maintaining a rudimentary garden including the cabbage patch; herding a sheep-like creature for its milk and raising chickens for eggs; replacing vine ladders and thatch roofs that had become worn with age; repairing and making weapons, which consisted of bows and arrows, spears, a blow gun consisting of a hollow reed and needle-sharp thorns from a poisonous cactus-like plant, and stone knives; and making reed bowls and baskets and clay jugs, the younger boys learning by example from the older boys.

That took up considerable time but was broken up by games, mostly games that honed their hunting skills like archery, knife toss, target practice with the spear, slingshot, and blow gun; and games that kept them in peak physical condition, races, games of tag, wrestling, a ball game that was a combination of soccer and basketball and another similar to volleyball, and games of hide and go seek. They also played typical fun games, like marbles, jacks and a form of gambling using fourteen-sided wooden dice, all for fun as they lived communally, sharing almost everything and having few personal possessions other than their weapons and a few personal treasures, a brightly coloured or unusual stone or shell, a necklace or arm band of shells, bone or wood decorated with feathers, or a wood carving, all of which were displayed with pride and admired by all. There were no fixed friendships other than those that developed among boys having a common interest. There only appeared to be one rule, crap and piss in the trench at the edge of the village or bury it in a hole away from the path if out in the wild.

The other men having chosen not to join them in their celebrations the previous night were treated curiously but with indifference, and the three women were ignored and avoided altogether. The biologists and anthropologists persisted in trying to solve the mystery of the lack of adults and of women and yet the presence of children. That they were actually hiding until the intention of the newcomers was determined was the most commonly held view, though most cultures hid their children, not the other way around. A few considered the possibility they did not exist and concluded there was either something in their food or drink or something they inhaled that stopped growth when the boys were on the verge of puberty, which appeared to be somewhere between the ages of ten to fourteen, but that left the question how it was that there was a range of ages from three to puberty, and how it was they didn't eventually all die out.

There were disagreements and even the occasional fight among the boys. Like boys everywhere, those disagreements were commonly over some slight, real or imagined, often over a physical characteristic like large ears or a beaklike nose or over the lack of a particular skill, or over some strongly held opinion. And like boys everywhere, those disagreements at times escalated and were resolved by fisticuff, ending in a bloodied nose or fat lip or black eye, and within hours, or at the most a day, the difference was forgotten and the combatants the best of friends again. And like boys all over, there were lapses in responsibility with so many fun distractions and little repercussion.

The presence of the Giant Hue-manz exacerbated things. Accustomed to rules and routines and being in charge, the landing party found it difficult to deal with the lack of any regulations and the lackadaisical attitude of the boys which was often blamed as the cause of perceived irresponsible behaviour. The freedom of the boys and being subservient to them was very difficult to take. The boys of course saw the humans as all too rigid and serious to the point of being haters of fun. It did not take long for the adults to begin attempting to force their attitudes on the boys. The sexual behaviour of the boys was a prime example and a major concern. Even the four who had participated with them that first night of contact saw their behaviour as improper, and an example of what happened with the lack of parental supervision and regulation. All saw it both morally and socially wrong and not content to leave the situation as it was, they tried to change it and enforce their own values, openly expressing their distaste and disapproval of what they considered licentious behaviour. As their captain had said, there were limits to trying to blend in with the locals, and standards of morality to be followed. That did not sit well with the Panthers who saw nothing immoral, illegal or distasteful in what they were doing and they resented the attitude and judgement of these newcomers. When groups of the landing party began slipping away to discuss matters where the boys were not able to reach them with their minds, suspicions and rumours quickly began to fly not just among the boys but among the humans as well.

One of the most vocal opponents was a forty-year-old security officer by the name of Jason Carlson, a staunch Christian and father of four who saw his mission not just ensuring the safety of his fellow humans but also bringing the word of God to any heathens they encountered. The breaking point came one day when half a dozen of the younger boys who had enough of his insulting behaviour and better-than-thou attitude descended on him as he was returning from the latrine trench and separated from his companions. Dragging him into the jungle, they stripped him and used strips of his clothing to gag him and suspend him from one of the overhanging branches so that his feet were just off the ground. They proceeded to play with his member and stroke the inside of his thighs and his nipples until the physical stimulation overcame his mental control and he became stiff. They jeered and laughed at him and accused him of hypocrisy, for how could one on one hand condemn the practice as a sin before God, whatever that meant, and yet evidently find pleasure in it, for everyone knew you did not get a boner unless you were finding pleasure. Not just satisfied with that, they continued to stroke his stiff member to make him spurt, to see this new thing with their own eyes, and to further prove that he was enjoying it. Red-faced with shame and anger and humiliation, he hung there before them stark naked, his erection jutting up in the air, his seed hanging in a pendant from his stiff cock. That resulted in demands that the boys be punished, which Val and the other older boys did not see as necessary as the man had challenged their beliefs and had instigated the retaliation, and all the boys had done was shown him the pleasure that he was denying and the hypocrisy of his words. The upshot of the event, or the adventure as Val referred to it, was that there was little that Nori and the others could do about it.

A few days later one of the women in the group found herself in the same situation except the boys had not attempted to masturbate her, having no desire to touch her and having no idea how to go about doing such a thing with a fee-mail. She was stripped and hung up for exhibit in retaliation for her constant nagging about the immorality of nakedness and subjected to a continual line of boys come to see with their own eyes the horrible disfiguration between her legs and the absurdity of having two udders and bombarded with their own thoughts of nauseousness and pity for not having a dink or nuts like them. Again there was nothing Nori or the others could do about it other than send the three females back to the orbiting ship for their own safety and to be replaced by three men who, Nori spelled out in a private note to the Captain, had some expertise or knowledge about dealing with pre-adolescents. In an effort to show their cooperation and goodwill, and so the Captain could see first-hand the problem he was having, Nori suggested the boys send a representative to meet their leader and learn a bit about their technology and see the advantage of becoming educated. To his surprise they selected the boy Brie.

It was several days before they returned, and the three selected appeared to be a good match. Eloise's replacement, Nicholas Gorbachov, was a bearded, jovial fifty-six-year-old father and grandfather, a storyteller besides an anthropologist, who was immediately accepted by all the boys. The second, a thirty-five-year-old botanist by the name of Richard Stone was similarly immediately befriended and set to work identifying and collecting local plants in the hope of determining the source of the boy's arrested physical development, which he jokingly called the youth factor. The third arrival was a surprise, twenty-one-year-old Justin Beck, a novice communications officer, but like the others, quickly accepted by the boys. Perhaps, Nori surmised, Captain Romanov intended the young officer to entice the boys into embracing technology, or perhaps he might be hoping Beck could unravel the mystery of the boys' mental capabilities.

The following day Richard Stone spent the morning examining the cabbage patch and talking to the boys about the occurrence of babies, including several who claimed to have found such babies, and then the afternoon in the jungle in the company of three six-year-old experts collecting mushrooms. It being hot and humid, it did not take much to convince him to remove his shirt, and then his trousers, and finally his underwear. Standing at a hundred and seventy-three centimetres [29 inch] and weighing eighty [175 lbs] kilos, the thirty-five-year-old botanist was in prime physical condition, and being single and handsome, considered a good catch by the women aboard the exploration ship. He was considered a good catch by the three six-year-olds also who were particularly interested in his hairy crotch and the dark brown hair under his arms. An avowed boy lover, Richard could not help notice the interest of the three boys, and he himself was just as interested in the smooth pubes and attractive little acorn-sized penises and smooth little nuts of the three boys. As one of the boys by the name of Kai'o brushed up along side of him to point out a particularly tasty mushroom as he crouched down to inspect the fallen log, he could not help think of something just as tasty dangling between the youngster's legs, and the youngster could not help noticing the botanist's dink beginning to swell. He did not have to use his mind touch to know what the man was thinking, and as he turned and kissed the man on the lips, Richard didn't need mind touch to know what the boy was thinking.

Talk turned to other things and Richard discovered that the briefing he'd received about the boys and their sexual proclivities had not been exaggerated. Mushrooms were soon forgotten as the three boys were invited to explore the body of the Giant Hue-manz and he was invited to explore theirs. They were soon all erect and eager to satisfy the itch that had arisen between their legs. It was at that moment that they were joined by Brie in the company of Pierre Deschamps and newcomer Justin Beck, Brie having taken the two men to a secluded spot nearby to demonstrate his powers of delusion, using his mind to influence theirs into imagining paths and barriers that did not exist, the powers Val and he had used to create the imaginary maze the landing team had followed on their first day on the planet, having in reality been wandering about in a large clearing and the adjoining jungle.

Brie did not have to use any powers of his mind for Pierre and Justin to realize what Richard and the three naked cherubs were doing, nor for encouraging them to join in. Unbeknownst to Pierre and Richard, Justin was gay. Although his sexual attraction was to others close to his age, he had known since the age of ten that he preferred those of his own sex and at twenty-one that had not been that long ago. It took only a gentle nudge for him to feel the arousal of having sex with a six-year-old, particularly one as attractive as any of the three naked cherubs with their pert little erections. To Richard's relief, the two men chucked their clothes and joined him and it did not take the boys long to give the men boners with their tender, smooth bodies and puerile and prurient thoughts.

Lying on their backs, the three men were straddled by the naked cherubs and they eagerly took the boys' nuts in their mouths and sucked on them, delighting in their smoothness and rolling them in their loose sacks. They willingly slipped their lips about the wickedly stiff little dinks of the six-year-old vixens and sucked on them, causing the boys to squirm and giggle with the pleasure which they broadcast to the men, increasing their own lust and pleasure. As the boys squirmed and bucked and twisted their young bodies into impossible pretzels with their orgasms, the men never felt so horny. And then it was the three boys sucking their nuts, taking their large balls into their mouths and sucking on them, and then slipping their lips about their cockheads and sucking on them. Slowly the boys eased their lips down and then began to bob their heads, sucking on the cocks of the three men at the same time as if they were popsicles. They knew about the squirting and were warned, but chose to experience having their mouths filled with the Giant Hue-manz's slime. Filling the mouths of the three cherubs sent the men into a fit of ecstasy such that none had ever experienced, and as the boys swallowed their slime the three men quivered with the delight of the six-year-olds drinking their cum as much as the pleasure of their ejaculation.

They lay there afterward and talked about the pleasure of what they had done and the ideal life the three boys lead, and of the oppression back on their world for engaging in such pleasure, and then they sixty-nined, the men sucking on the slender pricklets of the three boys and the three boys gamely sucking the huge cocks of the Giant Hue-manz. That Brie had disappeared before they had begun had not seemed unusual, and that his choice of taking the men into the jungle to the precise spot where the three boys were was not by coincidence was seen as devilish inspiration, not manipulation.

During this time the landing party learned about the Panthers' neighbours. To their east was another tribe who called themselves the Sharks and were derogatorily called the fish-breaths by the Panthers, mostly fishermen, and with whom they traded their bright feathers and feather robes and wood carvings for sea shells and pearls. To the north were a third tribe called the Wolves with whom they traded for pelts to sleep on and were referred to as the Stinky Feet because of their practice of wearing necklaces and hair combs made from the claws of the animals they hunted. To the west were the Cobras who had a shiny soft stone that they pounded flat and made into beautiful rings, necklaces and arm and leg bands. They were known as the Snake Eyes because their eyes were wider than those of the other tribes, or as the Gobs because like their namesakes, they had perfected the art of spitting and included it in their rituals, including sex, and was a skill the other tribes envied though they would never admit it.

And during this time the Panthers learned more about their new visitors and their real purpose. Although they had taken great efforts to hide their thoughts, they were unaccustomed to having to do so and found it next to impossible and trying to slip away just as futile as the boys were experts at tracking and hiding thanks to their games of hide and seek. The boys quickly realized these Giant Hue-manz were as Dar-el put it "stoopid as the beasts" for they had weak minds over which they had no control. They were also immense liars and suck-ups, saying one thing to their face which they thought would please them while at the same time thinking something totally different, a behaviour totally unheard of among all the tribes. Worse of all, they meant them harm. They were constantly thinking of ways they would change them once they took over their world, making them wear clothes and go to something called school and church and introducing them to technology and how to make better use of their minds, which was absurd considering these Giant Hue-manz had no ability to use their minds at all, and making them more civilized, whatever that meant, and responsible to some enforcement group they called adoptive parents. They were also very sneaky, or thought they were. For example they pretended to be only mildly interested in this stone which they called gold but when you listened to their thoughts it was really much valued. Zeb'el reported he had overheard the landing party's leader talk to his leader by using this box they kept hidden and this leader sent another landing party to make contact with the Gobs to make a deal to trade for their stone, which greatly angered Val as that would mean the Gobs would do less trade with them. Zeb'el also discovered from their thoughts and listening in on discussions with this box that their new guests were even more desirous of some substance buried under the ground which they knew nothing about and had no name for.

One of the large cats that inhabited the jungle, a beast similar to the boys' namesake, the panther, was beginning to be seen on a frequent basis near the village, and it was discovered some of the Giant Hue-manz were keeping leftover food on the ground instead of hanging it in the trees, which was dumb because everyone knew that attracted lazy animals to their encampment and lead to a big argument which would have ended in fight except their leader was too chicken to fight Val. Attempts to trap the beast in one of their pit traps, or to catch it in one of their vine nets failed. Seeing this as an opportunity to mend the oversight by his team and to advance the relationship between the boys and themselves, Nori offered to get rid of the beast for them. Actually, it happened to fit in perfectly with his plan to have a team become permanently established on the planet's surface, figuring he could follow that step up by offering the boys protection from all beasts and even relieve them of the chore of hunting, and in return for which they would set up drilling rigs in choice locations to begin pumping up hydrazine. That of course meant showing the boys the capabilities of their lasers, something he was sure would be of interest to the hunters of their society and that could be used as a trade item to negotiate future terms for establishing human communities on their land.

So, he took Val and Dar-el aside and demonstrated the weapon, which as he anticipated, greatly astonished the boys and was of immediate interest to Dar-el who broached the idea of making a trade, offering of course their traditional trading goods of wood carvings and feather robes. Much to his delight that fell right into his plan and he countered that it took special strength and skill to use the weapons, and rather than trade the weapon they would offer the service of protection and hunting, in return for something the boys would find useless, a liquid found underground. They debated rifles versus service for a while, and then feathers versus hydrazine, and finally Val and Dar-el stepped aside to confer and Nori was confident that they would capitulate to his terms.

Much to his dismay, Brie suddenly appeared, along with five boys, who from their appearance appeared to be about eight, along with Pierre Decamps, Richard Stone, and Justin Black, whom Nori had noticed were often seen together and much to his delight were becoming firmly entrenched in the community of the Panthers.

"So," said Val, "this laser weapon can kill a panther with one shot, at a distance that would take a panther a dozen dozen breaths to travel?"

"It can," Nori replied. The new arrivals looked at him and then at the laser rifle in his hand with surprise, including the three men.

"For this thing you call hydrazine, we would have a laser weapon for each hunter."

Nori shook his head. "We would agree to kill any beasts that threaten your people, and to hunt your food for you. To use these weapons takes a special skill and knowledge, and a strength that someone your build and size would not have."

"Are you saying our hunters are too stoopid and too weak?" challenged Dar-el, his voice rising in anger. Several of the other boys tensed and glared at Nori in anger, their stance and their mental broadcast leaving no doubt they were insulted.

Nori wished the others had not arrived, and that he could have negotiated only with Val, who had a more level head and calmer disposition, but he had known Dar-el had to be included as the leader of the hunters and a highly respected member of the community, and the unfortunate chance meeting with Brie and the others meant the cat was out of the bag. "I am saying this weapon is very powerful and very different from a bow and arrow," Nori replied "Let me show you." Handing the boy the rifle, much to the surprise and disapproval of the men, he knelt beside him and guided him to aim at one of the coconuts still hanging from the distant tree he had been shooting at. As he anticipated, the kick of the rifle knocked the boy back flat on his ass and the boy missed the target by a mile. Taking back the rifle, he slowly and carefully aimed and fired, shattering the coconut, not a difficult shot for a marksman like himself. The boys looked at him in astonishment and with respect, an attitude they had not demonstrated for some time.

"We will talk more of this," Val announced with an abruptness and finality that Nori had come to learn. "This is a matter for Zeb'el and others to advise. What brings you out here?" he asked, turning to Brie.

"We have come to retrieve Pierre's recorder."

Nori looked at the anthropologist. "I seem to have misplaced it," he said with a shrug.

"And what makes you think it would be out here?"

"The boy, Brie," he said, gesturing to the boy, "said he saw it out here, in a vision."

"A vision?" asked Nori, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"A trance I have discovered some of these boys are capable of," explained Pierre, causing Nori to raise his eyebrow further. Just what else and how much were his men discovering and not keeping him informed about? His suspicion was immediately detected by Val and the other boys and they sensed the developing tension as Pierre added that he had only made the discovery that morning, evidently feeling a need to explain himself to his leader. "When I discovered it was gone this morning and could not find it, I asked Brie if he had seen where I left it. He has been accompanying me most places as of late." Nori had noticed that, again to his pleasure, at least up until now. Val noted that change in thought also exchanged glaces with Dar-el, who had also noted it. "He asked me to describe it, and then he focussed his mind, and described where he saw it. We've come to find it."

"All of you?"

"The others," he said, indicating the men, "were curious to see if the boy really is clairvoyant. The boys, well… "

"Came along for the adventure," said Brie, who had been glancing around. "There, by that rock that looks like a pig." It looked just like any other boulder to Nori and the other men, but they followed the boy over to it. There, to their surprise, was the recorder.

"You were here yesterday?" asked Nori.

"I… think so," Pierre said. "Brie was showing me his telekinetic ability and we were walking and talking and trying different objects and how far he could move them. I don't know." He looked around. "Everything looks the same."

"So you were here yesterday?" he asked Brie suspiciously.

"I don't know. I didn't really pay any attention to where we were or where we were going. Like Pierre said, we were tossing different stuff that we found as we walked and talked, like coconuts and twigs and stuff. We wasn't going anywhere specific."

"This is the place he described. The big boulder, the row of trees in the distance that you were shooting at, the open meadow between," offered Richard, definitely in awe and accepting the boy's claim at clairvoyance.

"It is," agreed Justin. "Exactly."

"Positutely," said one of the eight-year-old boys by the name of Pan.

"What were the three of you doing out here?" Brie asked, turning the table on Nori.

"Nori was showing us this weapon of the Giant Hue-manz to protect us from the wild beasts, and to help us hunt," Val explained. "It shoots at a great distance."

"It seems the Giant Hue-manz have many things that shoot a great distance," Brie said, staring at Nori's crotch suggestively and causing the boys to snicker and giggle.

"I have heard of that," said the boy Pan with a grin, looking up at Nori.

"Perhaps Nori can demonstrate his other laser for you," observed Dar-el, to the amusement of the boys.

"Perhaps all the Giant Hue-manz can," suggested Val, "if we can find a target."

"I think I know of one," Brie said, wiggling his butt with an impish grin and causing the eight-year-old boys to giggle.

"It is a perfect day for screwing," observed Val. "And we have had enough talk for one day."

The five eight-year-olds, Dar-el and Brie readily agreed. The four Giant Hue-manz looked at each other most uncomfortably. The three new arrivals were still self-conscious about engaging in sex in front of each other, and they certainly were reluctant to do anything in front of Nori. As for Nori, despite the time he had now spent on the surface, he was still very much at unease and very much against doing anything with the boys. He also knew he was in a difficult position and the moods of those who mattered, Val and Dar-el, easily swung from for to against him on the slightest perceived slight. He had been so close to making an agreement!

"That of course is something immoral on your world," Val observed, looking at Nori challengingly.

"But of course not on yours," Nori responded, daring to look Val in the eye as challengingly. As soon as he said and did so he felt foolishly childish.

"But is still practised on yours," Dar-el observed, "though I suspect the expression 'up yours' is not an offer to bring your partner pleasure."

Nori cursed the boy for reading his mind, and then cursed himself for silently cursing the boy and then cursed himself for thinking the retort in the first place when he had replied to Val's challenge and in frustration tried to think of something other than what he was thinking.

"Screwing is a good way to focus the mind on only one thing," offered Dar-el. He was being honest and helpful, not sarcastic. Nori did not have to be able to read his mind to know he was being sincere. He could tell that from the tone of his voice and look on his face and sarcasm was not part of the nature of any of these boys.

The Giant Hue-manz did not have to read what was on the minds of the five eight-year-olds. They were broadcasting their excitement and eagerness to participate in this new adventure loud and clear. Agreeing to participate would help his negotiations Nori realized, and immediately tried to stop thinking along that line. If the boys had read his mind, they gave no evidence of it. "So, on your world, is there a preference who is the top and who is the bottom?" he asked, deciding the faster he got this over with the better, and wishing hadn't thought the latter the moment he had. The boys gave again no indication of having heard his thoughts and he hoped they had been too busying thinking of the pleasure of screwing to bother reading his mind. The boys' inability to remain focussed for any length of time was certainly a major weakness.

"I think there are enough of us and enough hours before supper to be both, several times," responded Val in all seriousness.

As the four humans disrobed, Pan asked why they covered themselves up, and expressed his confusion how nudity could be immoral when one had to expose those parts when performing their bodily functions and when one wanted to engage in sex. One of the other eight-year-old boys observed that it was an "absitively waste of time" in his opinion. Once the humans had stripped, the eight of them paired up, the four humans with four of the eight-year-old boys, Val with Brie, and Dar-el with Pan. As they began to caress each other and fondle each other's genitals, Nori felt particularly self-conscious having an eight-year-old boy fondling his cock and balls and him caressing the boy's thighs and buttocks. Pierre and Richard on the other hand were in seventh heaven and made no effort to hide their pleasure. Brie had outed them several nights earlier, having observed that unlike all the Giant Hue-manz they enjoyed having sex with boys. They could not answer his obvious question why the others were not as enlightened as they were. The two men were soon erect and Justin and Nori were not far behind, it being impossible not to become aroused with everyone around you getting erections and the eight boys all broadcasting their pleasure and erotic thoughts.

They were all wondering what it would be like to have the Giant Hue-manz's huge dicks up their assholes, especially the four boys paired up with them, and if it would hurt. The four humans were wondering the same thing and Pierre and Richard wished they had brought some lubricant down to the surface from the ship. Picking up his knife, Richard walked over where Nori had been shooting coconuts, walking feeling strange with his erection leading the way. Picking up one of the shattered coconuts, he shaved a bit of the white flesh and smiled. Like coconuts back on earth, the fleshy fruit was high in oil content. Gathering up a few pieces, he returned to the group and they shaved paper-thin slices and rubbed them on their dicks until they were glistening in the sunlight and used them to lube the boys' holes, which the boys thought great fun and several thought it would be fun to try next time they sucked each other.

Brie and the eight-year-olds dropped to their knees and elbows and the others knelt behind them and grasping their buttocks one by one they penetrated their eager partners. Pierre and Richard closed their eyes in ecstasy as they grasped the smooth, compact backsides of the two eight-year-old boys and pressed the tips of their cocks against the oiled holes of the two boys. Ever so slowly they felt the boys' anal muscles stretching and their cocks slowly penetrating their hot, moist holes. They inhaled deeply to calm themselves and pushed forward slowly, not wanting to harm their willing partners. The boys' holes continued to stretch open as the boys strained and grunted to accommodate the two men until the men's knobs popped inside them. Inhaling deeply, the two boy lovers slowly sank their cocks up the boys' rectums, delighting in the tightness and the heat and moistness until their curly hairs were brushing against their smooth backsides, a new experience for the two boys who giggled with the ticklish feeling and broadcast their pleasure. The other two eight-year-olds were similarly broadcasting their pleasure as they were slowly penetrated by the other two Giant Hue-manz. Having their rectums stuffed so fully was exceptionally pleasant and had not really been that great an effort, unbeknownst by the men the four boys having been introduced to screwing at the age three.

Brie and Pan had been similarly mounted by Val and Dar-el, both boys having been mounted by the two leaders countless times in the past but enjoying this penetration as much as any of the others. They found it particularly enjoyable as their two partners broadcast to them the pleasure they were feeling sinking their stiff dicks up their rectums at the same time they were broadcasting to their two partners the pleasure they were feeling being penetrated. Justin and his eight-year-old partner were similarly exchanging thoughts, Justin thinking back to his earliest days of sexual experimentation and his apprehension and delight his very first time at the age of eleven, three years older than his present partner. That had been by his best friend, who was only a few months older than himself. As he thought of that time and the excitement they were feeling, along with apprehension and a measure of guilt, his eight-year-old partner picked up his thoughts and shared those emotions with the other boys, at the same time broadcasting his own thoughts of pleasure at being stuffed by this Giant Hue-manz and his pride knowing that he was one of the first four to know what it was like.

Nori was feeling the greatest self-consciousness and guilt of the four men, being neither gay nor a boy lover. He of course was being bombarded by thoughts of pleasure from not just his partner but all eight boys, which enhanced the pleasure he was feeling, and he had to admit that he was feeling pleasure. He was a man after all, and had sexual needs, and having his stiff cock surrounded by hot, moist flesh pulsating in time with his own cock was not an unpleasant feeling. That realization was met with feelings of surprise, guilt and wonder on his part. He would not have expected sinking his cock up the asshole of an eight-year-old boy would bring any pleasure at all, and certainly had not expected it to be not that different from fucking a woman. All his life he had been told sex with another of his gender was wrong, and sexual contact between adults and children was now universally condemned with the most severe punishments earth had yet seen. Of course the mind contact with these prurient and delinquent boys was a large part of the reason he was feeling pleasure he knew, but even accounting for that, he could not deny it was enjoyable having his stiff cock up the tight hole of this eight-year-old boy. Did that mean that boy lovers did have some validity in their act? That was difficult to believe, and even more difficult to accept, but a possibility he had to accept.

As he pumped his hips to and fro, working his stiff cock in and out of the tight asshole of his eight-year-old partner the pleasure grew. From the panting and snorting of the other six pairs, their pleasure was increasing also. Despite his misgivings and doubts, the thirty-year-old Lieutenant was fucking the tight ass of an eight-year-old boy and enjoying it, even he dared to confess, more than he'd ever felt having sex with a woman! His cock was throbbing and the knob burning with arousal and he could feel the pressure building up in his loins. He was about to shoot his semen up the ass of the eight-year-old cherub. For a moment he wondered if living on this planet of boys was turning him into a boy lover. And then he was spurting his jism up the tight ass of the boy, flooding his rectum with his seed, and around him the other three men were similarly filling the rectums of their young partners while the Panthers' two leaders, Val and Dar-el were trembling with their dry orgasms and he could think of nothing other than the immense, throbbing pleasure between his legs and the burning irritation of his ejaculation.

Still flushed from their climaxes, the four men and Val and Dar-el assumed the position on their knees and elbows while Brie and the eight-year-olds shuffled up behind them on their knees. Nori could not believe it. He was now about to have his ass fucked for the first time, and by an eight-year-old boy, and he was actually looking forward to the experience! Of course with their slender cocks the six boys did not need any lubrication. The boy penetrating him broadcast his joy and excitement at being one of the first of the tribe to fuck the leader of the Giant Hue-manz, and as he grasped Nori's hips and eased his little cocklet, no bigger than a man's thumb, up Nori's asshole the boy sighed with the pleasure of having his throbbing, aching cock surrounded by manflesh. As he felt the boy's little boner sliding up his hole, Nori trembled and his arms and legs turned to gooseflesh. The little bugger was actually fucking his ass and it felt good, very good!

Pierre and Richard found themselves in heaven once again as the two boy lovers were mounted by two of the eight-year-old boys. They inhaled deeply and arched their backs as they felt themselves being penetrated and quivered with delight as the two boys began pumping their little dicklets in and out of their bodies. On top of their own pleasure, they were being bombarded by the erotic thoughts and pleasure of the eight boys, intensifying their own pleasure. The twelve of them knelt there in the jungle rutting like wild animals as sweat began trickling down their ribs and the insides of their thighs. Swollen flesh throbbed and stretched assholes burned as the six pairs worked toward achieving that ultimate of pleasures. When the boys began to buck and jerk with their dry orgasms, the four men trembled with a delight in another's climax they never would have believed possible.

The men had not yet caught their breaths when they were approached once again. Lying on his back with his backside raised, Nori found himself being mounted by Val while on his right Pierre was being mounted y Dar-el and on his left Richard was being mounted by Brie and Justin by Pan. That he, the leader of the landing party, and Val, the leader of the Panthers, were united in this most basic and universal sex act seemed right. He looked up into the lust-clouded eyes of the twelve-year-old and the boy smiled down at him dreamily and Nori did not need mind contact to know the pleasure the boy was feeling. Meanwhile the four men grunted and gasped like four women as they were mounted and as the four boys began to fuck them, and they trembled with a powerful sense of pleasure emanating from the four boys. The other four eight-year-olds paired up face to face also and once again the twelve of them were afloat in a sea of sexual pleasure. The look of ecstasy on the faces of the four boys when they climaxed up the asses of the four men sent tremors of desire through the loins of the four men and they embraced the four boys fucking them as they shared in their ecstasy.

As they disentangled, Nori caught the eye of Pierre and he felt a flash of lust for the fifty-year-old anthropologist that was stronger than any desire he had ever felt for a woman, and he saw in the man's eyes the same lust for him. The two men crawled over to each other and embraced and kissed and began to caress each other and to fondle each other's balls and stroke each other's cock as if they were longtime lovers and ardent homosexuals. Richard and Justin were caught by surprise by the action of the two men, but as they caught each other's eye they felt the same intense lust and reached for each other. Given the lust-filled atmosphere, it was really not that unreasonable. Fully erect, Pierre and Justin got to their elbows and knees and Nori knelt behind Pierre as Richard knelt behind Justin. As Nori and Richard penetrated their two partners and began to fuck them with a furious abandon, the eight boys circled them and sitting cross-legged, watched the four men, their arousal augmenting that of the rutting men. Nori's cock throbbed and ached with a pleasure as great as he had ever felt screwing a woman, even better, and he grunted and gasped for breath as he slammed his loins against the backside of the boy lover. Filling Pierre's rectum with fresh cum while Richard filled Justin's, Nori trembled in ecstasy, unable to believe he had just fucked another man in a sexual rage like he had never felt before.

He had no sooner pulled his dripping cock out of the man's ass than he found himself being mounted by Justin Beck while Pierre turned and mounted Richard Stone. While the twenty-one-year-old Communications Officer penetrated his ass and began pumping his cock in and out of his body, Nori was very much aware of being watched by the group of preadolescent boys and as he glanced in their direction he saw a smile begin to curl the lips of the boys' leader. So that was the source of the unnatural lust he and the men were feeling for each other! He could feel the urging of the boys' minds, their thoughts the same soprano as their prepubescent voices would be. Screw! Screw! Screw! Their lust was unnatural, and the control of their minds even more so. He fought their thoughts and tried to counter them but there were eight of them and one of him, all chanting vulgarly and bombarding him with obscene thoughts and unnatural desire. He tried to focus on their mind control but the lust pulsating through his veins and the throbbing pleasure between his legs made it impossible. And then Justin was filling his ass with cum and the two men were swept away with undescribable pleasure. By the time Nori and his men recovered, the boys had gone and they were left sticky, exhausted and embarrassed, and frightened.

The following day they boys did not mention what had happened and Nori did not know how to bring it up, not the sex part but how the boys had been able to control them so completely. A few days later they reached an agreement, a pocket knife for each boy and a hunting knife for every two and four dozen axes, standard supplies found on any exploration ship. Converting a section of shelving to provide two crates of titanium spear heads and four crates of arrow heads was easy and a minor inconvenience, and a crate of coloured glass beads, a compromise for the request for laser rifles, was laughable. In return the boys agreed the Giant Hue-manz could establish villages on their land for the extraction of hydrazine, a totally useless substance in the minds of the boys. While these negotiations were going on, a similar deal was made with the Cobras for their gold, the humans from the two camps keeping each other informed on their progress, something the humans did not consider an unfair advantage Unbeknownst by Captain Romanov or the leaders of the two landing parties, the Cobras had been warned about the appearance of this new tribe and the leaders of the two tribes kept each other informed on negotiations also, telepathy and a chain of fast runners being just as efficient as the communication system of the Giant Hue-manz. The Cobras would be indebted to the Panthers for a long time for the warning, and for the opportunity to experience the strange sexual thoughts of these invaders as brief as it was. Well, for as long as boys remember such things anyway.

Nori would have been exuberant had he not been feeling ill. The nausea and headaches intensified during negotiations, and the night they concluded he ran a fever, keeping him away from the celebration feast and sexual orgy put on by their hosts. In the morning his crotch was covered in red blisters and his mouth and anus were filled with white pustules. The eruptions quickly spread across his body. He at first concluded that the disease had been picked up sexually, but he discovered all of his men had come down with the same afflictions, not just those who had been sexually active with the boys. Returning to the ship, he and his men were quarantined and the doctors determined they had been infected by a virus something similar to smallpox. The landing party that had contacted the Cobras came down with the same disease a few days later. Despite their precautions, the crew on the orbiting ship began coming down with the disease also, spreading with surprising speed, and despite all their technology and knowledge, they could not find a medicine to treat it. They could not even locate the virus. Fevers began to climb to death-threatening levels alternating with chills.

Despite the severe pain and his bleeding gums and cracked lips, Nori had to smile at the irony. Despite all their advances in technology and medicine, it was like the contact between the Europeans and the North American natives hundreds of years ago, but in reverse. They had clearly picked up some disease the boys had become immune to. Medical teams were sent down to the planet with the plan to collect blood samples to prepare a serum to fight the disease but the boys could not be found, nor any evidence that they even existed, even when they went directly to the coordinates where they knew the villages had been. Nori knew exactly what had happened. Frightened by the appearance of the sudden affliction, the boys had gone into hiding, and were using their telepathy to lead the medical teams through a nonexistent maze that would never be solved. And then they began to die, one by one, excruciatingly painful deaths the result of soaring body temperatures and infections of the heart, lungs and brain. It quickly became evident that a cure was not going to be found, and that they would never make it back to civilization. A decision was made. They made their peace with their makers, the valves to the rocket fuel were opened, and the fuel ignited.

The Panthers and the Cobras saw the explosion in the night sky, like a falling star, but a select few knew what it really was. It was a dirty trick, making them think they had contacted a fatal disease and causing their minds to panic as they broke out in imaginary sores, but they had played dirty first. It had been a random thought by the biologist Harold Golding and picked up by Pan that had given Val the idea. It had been easy implanting the idea in their minds as they slept, and given the simplicity of their minds once implanted their brains believed it was real. They could not find a virus, whatever that was, because there was none to begin with, and once their minds thought they had become sick, they became sick.

It was a shame. A few of them, like the Giant Hue-manz called Pierre and the one called Richard seemed to think like them, but even they could not be fully trusted, being such simple-minded beasts, and Brie had been unable to identify any others when he had been taken to their ship. It was all their fault anyway. They were a greedy, meanspirited, stiff-necked lot with too many rules. If only the stoopid Giant Hue-manz hadn't wanted to change their way of life, to change them to be like them, it might not have happened. Val, Dar-el and Zeb'el looked at each other and shrugged. Draping an arm about Zeb'el's shoulder and the other about Dar-el's waist as the two boys similarly draped an arm about his, Val and the two boys headed back to the village to join the celebration. It had been a grand adventure anyway, one of the best.

The End