Parasites Love Earth!

  "Wonderful. I hope no other parts of me are modified," said Jack.

  They made love every day, twice a day. As they made love, they looked into each others' eyes and said, "I want this baby. I want this baby. I want this baby." Jack said it as he hammered into Sam's vagina, ejaculating hard and deep within her; and Sam said it as she rode his penis, milking it for all it was worth. They had been conditioned to want it, but they also genuinely wanted Sam to give birth, hoping it would earn them the right to reproduce normally.

  Finally, five days later, Sam felt a stirring in her belly. She was pregnant. She hugged Jack with the good news.

  "Oh good, I'm going to be a father. Of brainwashing spiders."

  "Don't look at it like that," said Sam. "We've proven we're fertile together! Once I give birth, they'll have to give us permission to have a child!"

  "But what kind of child?" Jack wondered.

  When the day came, Jack was there for her, once again holding her hand as Sam lay on the bed, her legs spread, as one spider emerged after another. Sam joyously counted six spiders, all perfectly healthy. She knew that would only reflect positively on her and Jack.

  She proudly reported to Gavin when the mission was accomplished. He hugged her and smiled.

  "So, now can Jack and I have a child?"

  "You want to have a child with him, but not me?" said Gavin.

  That stopped her cold. For once, Sam didn't know what to say.

  "Relax," said Gavin, breaking the tension with a smile. "You and I have not been genetically paired. You and Jack have. I'm sure the two of you will have permission soon."

  This struck Sam as odd. Gavin, her husband, was showing no interest in having a child with her, and didn't seem to mind if she had a child with Jack. That wasn't like the Gavin she knew. She wondered how much the parasites had changed Gavin, and what they had really done to him.

  "In the meantime, there are one or two minor tasks you must complete first, before you will be ready for full scale reproduction."

  "I'm ready," said Sam.

  "Good. We're going to take a little trip tomorrow, to northern McLean," said Gavin.

  The next day, Gavin took Sam to the cave. This particular cave was in the hills of northern McLean, by the Potomac, in a small wooded area. This was the place where the Hive had set up another nest.

  Sam got her first look at a nest, and it horrified her. She and Gavin had taken off their clothes, and they were now bathed in an eerie green light. Gavin pointed out the Hive Mind, a big round globe with eyes, which seemed to stare down at them. Sam, with her ESPer skills, sensed only malice and hate from it. She shuddered, directing her attention elsewhere.

  But horror surrounded them all. Human beings were being experimented on in every direction. She saw people with insect body parts, even insect heads. She saw people strapped down while tiny insects flooded into their bodies. She saw the communing room, where rows of people sat facing away from each other, their faces full of joy and fatigue. She saw giant spiders eating people. And then she saw women being eaten alive by riders, who were sucking the life out of them.

  Gavin took her to a small chamber where there were a series of worms and riders in different compartments. Gavin asked her to scan the first set of worms with her ESPer powers.

  "Do you sense anything?"

  He was looking at her carefully. Could he tell if she lied?

  "I sense... an alien presence," said Sam honestly.

  Gavin nodded, giving a small smile. That had been the honesty test, apparently. Then he showed her another set of worms. She sensed them too.

  But then Gavin showed her another batch of worms, and Sam sensed nothing from them. Nothing at all. They looked like the first set of worms, but she got no ESPer impression from them.

  Gavin smiled. "We used one of those on you when I first Infected you. But we weren't sure about them. Now we can use them on ESPers and others with sensitive talents."

  Sam saw how she was helping the parasites yet again. She had helped them Infect a wide swath of HomePlanet Security and the Survey Service and now she was helping target ESPers. But once again, she had no choice.

  Then Gavin had her analyze a sample of riders. Sam did, but shook her head with each one. She sensed something from all of them.

  "We'll have to keep trying, then," said Gavin. Then he led her to a series of alcoves. There was a person in each alcove, with a spider on their heads. "Forget about the spiders. I'm interested in the minds of the people. What do you sense from the first one?"

  Sam reached out to the first man, who looked to be in a daze. "There is something wrong with his mind... something unusual."

  Gavin nodded. "What about the next one?"

  The next alcove contained a woman, who smiled in an almost normal way, which was odd, in a place like this.

  Sam frowned. "Something is also wrong with her."

  "Something?"

  "It's as if her feelings have been... manufactured. It's hard to explain."

  "And what about the next one?"

  The next alcove contained a man who was crying, loudly.

  Sam concentrated. "Sadness... loss... that's all I get from this one."

  "Nothing... artificial?"

  "No," said Sam.

  "Thank you, honey," said Gavin, giving her a hug. "We can go home now."

  ********

  The enormity of what Sam had done caught up with her when she looked at herself in the mirror the next day.

  Her rider had developed a third ring. And her rash was growing bigger than ever.

  She went to tell Jack.

  Now that the Hive had taken over HomePlanet security, they were free to come to work or not. It didn't really matter. She found Jack at home, watching holovision. She came weeping into his arms.

  "What's wrong?" said Jack.

  Sam took him to the bathroom and took off her shirt and showed him. "I got my third ring!"

  "So?" Jack took off his shirt, and Sam saw that his rider now had two rings. And his red rash was growing larger as well.

  "It must have been all that wild sex you and I were having," said Jack.

  "Yeah," said Sam, enjoying it when he hugged her. "But Jack... they say a triple ring has complete control over me."

  "Does it? If so, why are you crying in my bathroom?"

  Sam paused. That was an excellent point. If she was under the total control of the aliens, why was she crying in his bathroom?

  "I don't buy it," said Jack. "I mean, sure, they can control our bodies. And they do. But they can't control our minds, not on the really important things."

  "Like what?"

  "Like my love for you," said Jack, pressing his waist against hers. "Is your love for me something the aliens put in your head?"

  "No," said Sam, sobbing.

  "And my love for you certainly isn't. As long as that's real, I figure there's a lot of us left," said Jack. "They try to convince us that they're controlling us in every way. That's part of the game."

  Sam stiffened. It reminded her of something Colonel Worth Rogers had told her, a few weeks ago, shortly before she had been taken.

  "Actually, you know, these pancakes aren't all bad," said Jack.

  "They're not?" said Sam.

  "When I take you on your hands and knees, I kind of like seeing yours move up and down on your back," Jack confessed.

  "You do?"

  "Sure."

  Sam had her own confession. "I... I kind of like seeing yours, in the mirror, when you thrust into me. It seems to thrust in and out in sync with your movements. It's... very sexy," said Sam, looking up at him shyly.

  They kissed, and then one thing led to another, and Sam felt better. For a while.

  ********

  "We want your family," said Gavin. He watched Sam's reaction closely.

  "My family?" said Sam.

  "Your mother and father. Your sister, Kirsten, your brother in law, Joel, and your darling niece Katie."

  "Why?"<
br />
  "Because we can," said Gavin. "Everyone must join the Hive Mind. Do you not agree?"

  "Of course," said Sam. "But how am I to..."

  "Use the flies," said Gavin.

  And so Sam got on the phone and called her mother and father, and her sister Kirsten and her family, and invited them all over for lunch that weekend. Her excuse was that she hadn't seen them in a long time. And that was true. It was months since she had seen her parents, and even longer for Kirsten. Sam's work at HomePlanet Security had kept her very busy, especially since the new alien invasion.

  Of course, her family still knew nothing about the alien invasion, as it was being kept a state secret. A state secret, kept by a state that was rapidly falling under the control of the Hive Mind.

  To her great dismay, her parents eagerly accepted her invitation, and Kirsten only required the slightest prodding to get her to come. Her heart sunk further when she learned that Joel and Katie could come as well.

  There was no choice.

  Gavin's persona changed remarkably on Saturday. He was no longer her slave master, or boss. He was simply Gavin the loving husband, who stole little hugs or kisses from Sam when he pretended that others weren't watching. It made Sam feel more than a little uncomfortable, but she smiled and pretended to like it.

  Finally, when they were all there, and eating lunch, Gavin called her to the kitchen. "They're all here," he said pointedly.

  "I thought maybe we could wait until after they finished-"

  "They're all here," he said again, his eyes on her.

  Sam nodded. He was going to make her do this. She felt like her loyalty was being tested. Why she didn't know.

  She opened a drawer and took out the bottle. It was full of little flies. She moved to open it.

  "In the dining room, Sam, release it there," said Gavin. He smiled. "They'll have a shorter distance to fly. Don't you agree?"

  Sam nodded miserably, and went to the dining room. Everyone was still eating lunch. She had hoped to at least let them finish. She felt Gavin's eyes on her from the kitchen. Feeling miserable, she opened the jar.

  The insects swarmed out.

  "What you got there, Aunt Samantha?" Katie asked, eating a chicken leg.

  "This?" said Sam. "Just an empty jar I forget to put away." Sure enough, the jar was empty now.

  "Ow!" said Katie, feeling a sting on her neck. She slapped it.

  A moment later, Sam's mom slapped her own cheek. She came away with a small smear of blood. "Dear, do you have an insect problem?"

  Sam looked nervously at Gavin. "Yes, Mom, we have to get an exterminator."

  Katie's Dad slapped a fly that bit into his neck. "Better get one soon."

  They stayed and chatted for a while after lunch. Sam was never gladder than when they left. After they were gone, she turned to Gavin. "How long?"

  "A day or two, at most," said Gavin. "Their first worm will emerge in that time, and make its way to their genitals. You will go to them in two days, and give each of them their second worms."

  "Do I have to?" said Sam, with pleading eyes.

  "Yes," said Gavin.

  Why were they making her do this? It made no sense.

  But two days later, with a heavy heart, Sam knocked on the door of her sister, Kirsten. Kirsten opened the door, looking uncomfortable.

  "Can I come in?" said Sam.

  Kirsten nodded.

  Her husband Joel and 16 year old daughter Katie sat in the living room. They all looked unhappy.

  "Let me guess," said Sam. "You've all gotten your first worm, right?"

  "How did you know?" said Kirsten.

  "A lucky guess," said Sam. "And here's another: when you try to remove it, or go to a doctor, it gives you a lot of pain."

  "That's right," said Joel.

  "Fortunately, I have the solution," said Sam. And she raised a jar of worms.

  "More worms?" said Kirsten.

  "Yes," said Sam

  "No," said Joel. "What did you do to us?"

  "Only what had to be done," said Sam. She opened the jar, took out a worm, and approached Kirsten. "Bend your head forward, dear."

  "No," said Kirsten. "Sam, are you out of your mind?" And then she felt a pain in her gut, and her head bent down. Sam put the worm on the back of her sister's neck.

  She turned to Joel. "Your turn."

  Joel tried to run, but he immediately fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Sam, sighing, reached down and put a worm on the back of his neck.

  Katie, seeing what had befallen her parents, simply sat there, wide eyed as Sam put the worm on the back of her neck.

  "Good girl," said Sam. "When you get older, you'll understand." She turned around. "When I come back tomorrow with your next worm, I expect a little more cooperation. I want you all facing the wall, with your shirts off, in a position of compliance."

  After she left, Sam went to her air car and started driving to her parent's place.

  "That was so awful," said Sam. "What you did to them. How you treated them."

  "They are simply meat to be processed, nothing more," said Sam.

  "They are my family," said Sam.

  "Not anymore. The Hive is your family," said Sam.

  When she got to her parents' place, her mother was shocked when she learned the source of the worms.

  "Deal with it, Mother," Sam snapped, as her mother, gasping in pain, bent her head forward, leaving Sam an ideal place to put the worm on.

  Then she turned to her father. "How do you want it, Dad?"

  Her father did not resist, but he whispered. "You're no daughter of mine."

  "You got that right," Sam smiled. She repeated what she had told Kirsten, that tomorrow they must be in positions of compliance, or they would be punished.

  As she drove home, Sam said, "I'm sick to my stomach. You treated my parents so terribly."

  "Did I? If so, why didn't you do anything about it?" Sam asked.

  "What can I do about it? I have a three ringed rider on my back. I can't resist," said Sam.

  "That's just an excuse. You know the real reason you didn't resist," said Sam.

  "And why is that?"

  "Because secretly, you like it," said Sam, grinning to herself in the rearview mirror. "You like seeing your family being treated like meat. You approve of it, because you are part of the Hive now. All that's left of you is one tiny fragment that is too embarrassed to admit it."

  "That's not true! You're forcing me to do these things!" Sam said.

  "If that's really true, then there's not enough left of you even to converse with, is there?"

  And Sam found herself silenced the rest of the trip home.

  When she got home, Gavin congratulated her, complimenting her on her good work. "And once they've gotten their riders, I want you to see them through until they reach maturity."

  "On my own family?"

  Gavin stared at her.

  "I have no family," said Sam. "There is only human meat, slaves for the Hive Mind."

  "We are all slaves of the Hive Mind," said Gavin.

  "We are all slaves of the Hive Mind," Sam repeated.

  "Good," said Gavin, nodding approvingly.

  ********

  When Sam came to deliver the third round of worms to Katie's family, they obediently lined up and took off their shirts, and pressed their hands against the wall. She guessed that their worms had given them a few lessons in obedience.

  "So much better," said Sam, dropping a worm on Kirsten's back. Then she dropped on Joel's back, and one on Katie's. "Tomorrow you will be ready for the next step. You must participate in your enslavement. I will give you the worms, and each of you will put them on each other's backs."

  "You want us to participate?" said Joel, unbelievingly.

  Sam put her face up to Joel and said, "Momomomom."

  Joel just stared at her with contempt.

  Sam said again, "Momomomomom."

  Joel's expression suddenly became blank. "Momomomomom
."

  "Momomomomom," Sam repeated.

  "Momomomomom," Joel said.

  "Excellent," said Sam. "See you tomorrow."

  When Sam got to her parents, her mother took off her blouse, but her father refused to assume the position. He writhed around on the floor in pain.

  First Sam took care of her mother, dropping the worm on her back. It slithered to join the other two already there.

  Then she turned her father, who was in agony on the ground. "Mother, help me get him up."

  Her mother complied. When they had her father up, Sam said, "Dad? Are you going to behave?"

  "No," said her father. "I am not going to participate in my own enslavement."

  Sam felt immensely proud of her father.

  Sam sighed. "I had a feeling you were going to be trouble. All right, mother, let's dump him on the couch."

  They moved him to the couch where he lay on his side.

  "I didn't want to do this, Father," said Sam, opening black bag. "I didn't want to do this. But you made me." She opened it.

  Her mother screamed when she saw the black spider. Her father tried to turn over on his back, but Sam was quicker, sitting on him and holding him down. As he struggled, the spider climbed up and attached itself to his head. In seconds, his struggles ceased.

  "What is it doing to him?" her mother cried.

  "Just giving him an attitude adjustment, Mother," said Sam.

  "Sam... how can you do this?" her mother asked.

  Sam pondered the answer as she fished out a worm, and put it on the back of her father's neck. "I am no longer Sam. I am part of the Hive Mind."

  Her mother looked at her and nodded. "I can see that is the truth. There's nothing of my daughter that I recognize."

  That hurt Sam incredibly. She wanted to say something, but the other Sam cut her off, simply laughing.

  ********

  When Sam came to visit her sister Kirsten the next day, she found that the family had undergone quite an attitude adjustment. They were willing, even eager to take their worms. They all took off their shirts, and Kirsten put the worm on Joel, who put his worm on Kirsten, and then Kirsten took the last worm and put it on Katie.