Parasites Love Earth!

by Gary L M Martin

  Sam's eyebrows raised.

  ********

  "What a darling! Still handsome at 83! Well, just as pretty as I am at 90, I suppose," cackled Gretchen McCallister. "You just came from him, didn't you? I can see it clear as day, in your mind."

  "Ms. McCallister-"

  "Gretchen!" said Gretchen, lashing out with her cane and striking Sam on the leg. "We don't stand on formality here!"

  "Gretchen, reading someone's mind is strictly illegal-"

  "So? There are only a handful of people who can do it. It takes a 90 or a 95 or so to do it, and how many people claim to have an ESPer rating that high? Tell me, young lady!"

  "Very few-"

  "So it's a silly law, and silly laws are made to be broken," said Gretchen. "Tea?"

  "No, thank you." Sam glanced at Lieutenant Fischer. "We are here-"

  "About the new alien invasion, of course," said Gretchen.

  "If you can read my mind, you know that they tried the very same technique-"

  "Which they tried on me," said Gretchen."Successfully, I might add," she cackled. "They lured me to a warehouse, and Anna was there, and then she, well, you can guess what happened then." She lowered her voice. "I always felt so ashamed about that."

  "About being Infected?"

  "Um," Gretchen nodded, chewing on a cookie. She still had a few good teeth. "I gave in way too easily. Anna was a fighter. They worked her mind over, and they worked it again and again and again, until it was perfectly smooth, like a polished stone, and yet she got back up and kept fighting them. They even put a worm in her head, did you know that? It directly linked her to the group mind. But even then, she found ways to resist. That's the key, my dear. Never give up."

  "That's similar to what Colonel Rogers told me," said Sam.

  "Yeah, well he was always a smart boy, wasn't he?" She gestured to a holophoto. "See that? That's my son Clifford." She lowered her voice. "He's my and Worth's gift to humanity. After the invasion ended. I was a mess. Full of guilt. Worth helped me recover. We got a little involved. A little too involved. Then Clifford came along. Saoirse acted like she never knew. A classy lady if ever I met one. But she was an ESPer, like us, so she had to know, I say, right? But she never said a word about it."

  "Gretchen, I really came to learn some-"

  "Of course, you're a pretty girl, and you don't need me to tell you that," said Gretchen. "Any man with half a mind would want to take you to bed and bang you hard and good." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Like that Lieutenant besides you there. He's trying so hard to act official-like, but in his mind he's wondering what it would be like to have his way with you in bed. If it weren't for the decidedly alien influence in his head, you might take him up on it."

  Gretchen had been whispering in a soft voice, but when Sam turned to Lieutenant Fischer, she saw a snarl on his face, and he started to get up. But Sam was faster, and she drew her blaster and shot him.

  "A shame," said Gretchen, looking down at his body. "Otherwise, he seemed like such a good boy."

  ********

  "I didn't sense any alien presence with my ESPer abilities," said Sam.

  "Well, that may be because Lieutenant Fischer doesn't have any alien parasites on him," said Janice.

  They were in the medical wing, discussing the condition of their newest prisoner. Jack was there as well.

  "So, Gretchen was off her rocker on this one?" Jack asked.

  "Not necessarily," said Janice. She pointed to a holoimage of Fischer, pacing furiously in his cell. "I conducted a thorough physical examination, and did find evidence that he had had a rider in the past. There was the faint remains of a red rash between his shoulder blades."

  "So he used to be controlled by the aliens," said Sam. "But how are the controlling him now?"

  "I also found a series of micropunctures on the back of the head," said Janice. "It's as if tiny microfilaments had been inserted into his head repeatedly."

  "Brainwashing?" said Sam.

  "Quite possibly. I took a scan of his brain, and compared it to the one we had on file." She punched up two images. "As you can see, these areas here, and here, have been increasingly stimulated."

  "Great doc, but what does it mean?" Jack asked.

  "I have no idea," said Janice. "Just that something's been done to his brain."

  "So these aliens can now control people even without having an actual parasite on them?"

  "I don't know how extensively they can do that, or how long it takes to brainwash someone," said Janice. "It is probably easier simply to directly control them. We're doing a back check on all of Lieutenant Fischer's family and associates to see if anyone else might be affected."

  "Good, doc, you do that," said Jack.

  As they left the medical wing, Sam shivered.

  "What?" said Jack.

  "Nothing," said Sam. She just remembered how Colonel Rogers had acted like she was going to get taken over by the aliens. Would she be next?

  ********

  Gavin surprised her that night by making dinner.

  Sam was surprised for several reasons. First, she thought that Gavin was travelling for work, for a solid month or so. He had already been gone for nearly three weeks. He usually called her before he got back.

  And secondly, relations with Gavin simply hadn't been that good lately. Their relationship had had a tough time recovering from the vampire incident. While Gavin didn't openly blame her for draining his manhood, she knew he was resentful. His resentment had only grown when Dunlop 4 had fully restored her without fully restoring him. Even now they had sex with difficulty, with Sam unable to climax on his smaller penis, and Gavin only climaxing with intense concentration and effort.

  She had suspected that Gavin purposefully taken a long term assignment to be away from her for a while. Sam didn't know what to say or do to repair their damaged relationship. Maybe time would help.

  But here was Gavin now, cooking her a wonderful three course dinner complete with candles, acting like the very solicitous and interested husband. As he kissed her, she realized that that is what must have happened. Maybe time had healed all wounds. After all, he did love her.

  As they sat down to eat, Gavin told Sam about his consulting job. This time he had been in Santa Monica, California. She listened to him drone on, but really was focusing on his face. For the first time in a long time he looked happy and relaxed. That was a good sign.

  After dinner, Gavin took her in his arms and started to kiss her. That felt good too. Then kissing lead to touching which lead to one thing and then another and before long they were in bed together. She reached to touch him all over but when her hand roamed over his penis she felt him push her hand away. He was still sensitive about his penis size. So instead she concentrated on touching him everywhere else.

  Sam was prepared for this part. As before, she was ready to fake an orgasm, for Gavin's benefit. Everything else was perfect, and she wanted him to be happy. When he climaxed inside of her, she would do it too, making him think that he drove her over the edge. She felt him enter her, and something felt a bit odd, at first. But then he began thrusting in and out, working up a rhythm, and all was fine. She could feel his penis, it just wasn't large enough to satisfy her. Gavin worked and worked at it, grunting more and more. She tried to encourage him, smiling and faking moans to make him think he was turning her on. And then Gavin gave a larger groan, and she almost felt a weak spray of sperm inside of her.

  Gavin gave a broad smile as if he had just accomplished something spectacular. And as he pulled out of her, Sam got the first sense that something was very, very wrong.

  She felt something, something unusual, slithering out of her vagina. She reached down to see what it was, but Gavin pushed her back on the bed.

  "Hey!" said Sam.

  The whatever it was had moved, and was now circling her clitoris.

  This time Gavin let her sit up.

  "Gavin, what is this?" She said. She opened her folds, and loo
ked inside.

  There was a worm, firmly entrenched around her clitoral hood.

  Sam looked at Gavin in horror. "You Infected me?"

  "Yes," said Gavin, smiling.

  "Gavin, how could you?" said Sam.

  "It was my honor," said Gavin.

  "Your honor?" said Sam.

  ********

  Gavin had been gone for nearly two weeks. But he hadn't done any management consulting. He had showed for a project in Sacramento, but as he stepped into the office of Quasitronics, Inc., he found no one there. He walked around the office, looking for someone, anyone, to explain what was going on.

  In a corner office he found a woman, smiling.

  "Welcome, Gavin. I've been waiting for you," she said. "My name is Melinda."

  "I think there's been some mistake," said Gavin, looking around.

  "No mistake," said Melinda, getting up from behind the desk. Each step was a seduction. "You are the husband of Major Samantha Arden, are you not?"

  "Yes," said Gavin, uncertainly.

  "Then there is no mistake at all," she smiled, as she slipped her arms around him.

  ********

  "Your honor?" said Sam. "You're doing this voluntarily?"

  "You want to see?" said Gavin. He turned his back to her. "Do you see any worms, Sam? Any riders?"

  "No," said Sam. "Gavin... they must have programmed you to do this."

  Gavin turned around to face her. "They didn't program me to do anything. When they told me what they wanted, I volunteered. Eagerly."

  "Why?" said Sam.

  "Because I didn't realize I married little Ms. Perfect. Do you know what they said to me, Sam? The very first thing? They wanted to know if I was the husband of Major Samantha Arden. That's all I've ever been, during our marriage."

  "That's not true."

  "That is true. You married me because I was convenient and safe and easy. We both travelled a lot, so we both married someone who could accept each other's lives. Little did I know that I was getting married to a galactic hero."

  "I never intended to make you feel that way."

  "You couldn't help it. That was just the way you were. And then... when this thing with the vampires happened. You drained me, Sam, you took away my manhood, completely."

  "I was under the influence of the vampires."

  "So you told me. But I noticed, while under the influence, you didn't drain your good friend Colonel Jack Sullivan. Why is that, Sam? Why didn't you melt his penis away like you did mine?"

  Sam opened her mouth and closed it. She didn't have a good answer.

  "I'll tell you why. It's because you love him. You've always loved him. I was always your Jack substitute, the man you could safely have sex with because I was not your superior officer."

  "No," said Sam.

  "You know it's true. And then there's the matter of your other boyfriend, Dunlop."

  "He's not my boyfriend."

  "Did you ask him, Sam? Did you ask him to restore you completely, but to make sure not to restore me all the way, so you could maintain your superiority over me? So you could maintain your control?"

  "That's not true."

  "Well, I have the control now, Sam. I'm in control, and you belong to me. And the Hive."

  Sam looked at her husband. From the way he talked, she barely recognized him. Some of the things he said she was sure was coming from his heart; and yet, she couldn't entirely believe that he would willingly betray her.

  "And now you serve the Hive, Sam. It's fitting it occurred during an act of sex. Our last normal act of sex, if you can call it that. We will still have sex, after this, but it will be different. Quite different."

  "If you think I'm going to let a single worm control my mind, you're mistaken," said Sam.

  "You are going to let a single worm control you, and every day, you're going to come home, and I'm going to give you another worm, and another and another, until you grow your very own rider," said Gavin.

  "You're crazy," said Sam. She got up to get her clothes, but suddenly doubled over in pain.

  "Feel that, Sam?" said Gavin. "It may feel like your clitoris is being peeled away, one nerve at a time, but it's all an illusion. Of course, that doesn't help with the pain you're feeling now, does it?"

  "I... I didn't sense any alien presence," said Sam.

  "They have been developing worms that are not so detectable, even by superhero ESPer types like you. But you're going to help with that, Sam. You're going to help with a lot of things now that you're on our side."

  "I won't," said Sam, sitting up as the pain eased off. But she didn't try to stand again.

  "You will," said Gavin. He got up and held up a black box. "Made of solid metal. So your Superman ESPer skills wouldn't detect it."

  "Wouldn't detect what?"

  Gavin opened the box, and a black spider jumped out.

  "Oh my god," said Sam. She struggled to get up, but the pain in her clitoris drove her to her knees again.

  The spider jumped on the bed.

  "Don't fight it, Sam," said Gavin, walking around to her side of the bed. "It will only make it harder on yourself."

  Sam struggled to get up, but the pain in her clit started to grow. Gavin came over to her and turned her on her back, and held her down.

  "Gavin! Gavin, no!" Sam cried.

  "It's all for your own good, Sam. Trust me, soon you'll be thanking me for it."

  Sam struggled to get up, but Gavin had her arms pinned down, and the pain in her clitoris was driving her to agony.

  And then, through the pain, she felt something jump on her back. She struggled again, freeing one of her arms, just as she felt something on the back of her head, and then there was a sharp pain, and then...

  Suddenly, Sam was lying face down on the bed. She blinked, and saw the black spider obediently going back into the metal box.

  "What just happened?" said Sam, sitting up.

  "You've just had your first programming session," said Gavin, smiling.

  "I don't feel any different," said Sam cautiously.

  "You wouldn't," said Gavin.

  "I'm still not going to help you."

  "Uh huh."

  "My loyalty is still to the Survey Service."

  "Of course," said Gavin. He saw that Sam was just saying these things, trying out the phrases to test herself, to see how it felt. To Sam, she felt perfectly normal. Just what had the spider done to her?

  "You're free to get up right now, and go to your headquarters, and report everything you know," said Gavin.

  She looked at him to see if he meant it.

  "Of course, it's the middle of the night, and you're bound to be tired."

  "What time is it?" Sam checked the chrono. It was now one o'clock in the morning. Just how long had she been under the influence of that spider?

  "Why don't you wait until tomorrow to turn me in?" said Gavin. "I'll still be here. I won't go anywhere. I promise," he smiled.

  She didn't trust him. But she got up, and felt no pain. There seemed to be nothing preventing her from leaving.

  And she was tired. He was right about that.

  "All right," she said, reaching for her blaster. "But I'm sleeping on the couch. Don't come near me if you know what's good for you."

  "I wouldn't think of it," said Gavin. "Good night, my love."

  Sam settled into an uneasy sleep on the couch, clutching her blaster. As she dropped off, a tiny part of her mind yelled how irresponsible of her it was to-

  ********

  "Good morning!" said Gavin. Sam woke up with a jerk. Her blaster had dropped to the floor during the night.

  "I'll have breakfast ready in a few moments. Do you want to shower first?"

  Sam nodded. She went into the shower and inspected herself. The worm was still lodged there, around her clitoris. She showered and dressed.

  She saw Gavin had laid out breakfast, and she hesitated. But he had already had opportunities to drug her. She made a decision and s
at down, started to eat.

  "Good," said Gavin. "I'm sure you have a busy day ahead. You need to have fuel for your body," he said. There was something in the way he said that, the way he said the word 'body', which rubbed her the wrong way.

  "I'm going to tell my superiors everything that happened here," said Sam, swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

  "Of course."

  "And they're going to send a team here to bring you in."

  "I'll be waiting for them," said Gavin.

  This wasn't like the Gavin she knew. He was so cocky, so confident.

  Kind of like Jack.

  "But... just in case you do decide not to turn me in, I will have dinner ready for you when you get home. As well as your second worm," said Gavin.

  Sam dropped her fork with a clatter. "Do you seriously think I will come home tonight like a docile sheep and allow you to put another one of those things on me?"

  "Yes," said Gavin. He smiled confidently. "Because that's exactly what's going to happen. You and I both know it."

  Sam gave him a dirty look. She got up, grabbed her briefcase, and hat, and headed for the door.

  "No goodbye kiss?"

  Sam glared at him, and left.

  When she got into work, she went to her office and dumped everything on her desk.

  Jack. He should be the first one she told.

  She left her office and started walking to his. It wasn't far, just two hallways down.

  She took one step. She started to feel a throbbing in her clitoris.

  She took a second step. She felt a strong pain in her clit.

  By the fifth step, she was in agony. She turned around and limped back to her office.

  How did that little worm inside of her know what she intended to do?

  As she sat in her desk chair, the pain eased off.

  Sam went to her computer, and started to type a message. She had just barely typed "SUBJECT--URGENT" when she felt a stabbing pain, again in her groin.

  She stopped typing, but the pain continued, on and on. Finally she deleted her draft message, and the pain left her.