Parasites Love Earth!

by Gary L M Martin

  When she came out of it, Sam had a vague memory of saying "Momomomom," and then looked down at herself. She was bathed in sweat, as if she had just run a marathon. Her vaginal juices were dripping on the cave floor.

  She turned to look at Melinda, who was smiling at her. "You're a real firecracker! I can see why you're the talk of the town!"

  Sam blushed.

  "Let me walk you out, dear," said Melinda, putting an arm around her.

  On the way out they passed by the central column of the Hive Mind. Sam saw that her mother's body had already been partially absorbed; her legs, which had been free, were now covered in the rapidly advancing green flesh of the central column. Her face was still visible, with pleading in her eyes. Sam smiled and gave her mother a mocking salute. She gave Melinda a fantastic kiss as she left.

  ********

  "Wasn't that great?" Sam said, grinning at herself in the rearview mirror as she drove home.

  It was the middle of the night.

  "I loved it when the spider took Dad. Did you see the surprised look on his face?" Sam said.

  "No, it was awful," said Sam.

  "And didn't Kirsten look really hot when the spider melted into her brain?"

  "No, it was terrible!" said Sam, feeling terribly upset.

  "Then why did you just stand there?" Sam asked. "In fact, why were you laughing and fucking Melinda the entire time?"

  "I wasn't doing that!" Sam cried.

  "Weren't you?" said Sam. "I appear to be talking to you, but this is all just one big illusion. There aren't two of us, only one. You were the one who Infected them. You were the one who led them to the cave. You were the one who fed your Dad to a spider. You were the one who watched as Joel had his brain melted, and as your precious Katie had her vaj cut out to be put into a spider. Face it, it was all you, and you loved it!"

  "No!" said Sam cried.

  "That's all that's left of the original you. A pathetic voice. The tiny bit of your original self disclaims responsibility for what the other 99 percent does. Well, that doesn't matter. Soon even that tiny one percent will be snuffed out. Then I won't have to listen to that whiny voice," said Sam, grinning from ear to ear. "You're almost completely gone, Sam. I can feel the very last bit of you, draining away."

  ********

  Jack got a frantic knock on his door at three o'clock in the morning. He opened it. It was Sam.

  She was shaking, and her eyes were filled with tears.

  She ran into his arms, still crying.

  It took only a short time to get the complete story from her.

  "They made me convert my own parents and sister," said Sam. "They made me convert them, and then they made me bring them in to be slaughtered. And I laughed. I actually laughed as my father was slaughtered, as my mother was slowly killed, as my sister had a spider put into her brain, and I watched them suffer and die while I had sex with some fucking bitch!" Suddenly, Sam was in a rage.

  "It wasn't you, Sam," said Jack.

  "Wasn't it?" she yelled. "Why didn't I fight it, Jack? Tell me why?"

  "Because you couldn't. You have this giant thing on your back, remember?" said Jack.

  She returned to his arms, crying. "But why didn't I even try? Jack, I didn't even try," she said, her face full of pain.

  Jack held her in his arms.

  "And it made me say such terrible things. Why did it make me do that, Jack?" she said.

  "I don't know," said Jack. "Maybe it wants to convince you that you wanted it. Maybe that was the point of the whole exercise."

  "That's what scares me," she said, and she looked so beautiful to Jack in that moment, especially with tears in her eyes. "It scares me because I think that maybe I did want it! If I didn't, I would have fought against it!" She started to cry again.

  Jack held her in his arms. They both had giant pulsating riders on their back surrounded by giant red rashes. That's all he could do.

  ********

  When Sam returned home the next day, Gavin embraced her. "I hear everything went well with your family."

  "Yes," said Sam, as neutrally as she could.

  Gavin gave her an appraising stare. "Things are going well on all fronts. We are getting closer to producing a manageable gateway to Dimension 43. Soon thousands of our brethren will be able to join us." He stared at her again. "Does that please you?"

  "Yes, very much," said Sam, turning away.

  Gavin turned her head to face him. "You have gone through some amazing trials. Now I think you need a rest. Just stay here with me, and rest for a few days."

  "I think I'd like that," said Sam, but she was thinking of Jack when she said it.

  And then the programming began again.

  Every morning, and every evening, Gavin asked her to submit to spider programming. Sam naturally agreed, but she wondered what it was all about. She had been reprogrammed in the past, on specific occasions, but now she was being programmed twice a day, every day.

  She didn't feel any different after the sessions, but she could tell something was being done to her. She tried to ask Gavin about it, but he wouldn't tell her.

  "I am eager to cooperate," said Sam. "But how am I supposed to know what to do if you won't tell me what's expected of me?"

  "When the time comes, you will know," Gavin assured her.

  During her reprogramming, Gavin had sex and communed with her every day. That was good, even if it wasn't as good as it was with Jack. The rash on her back was growing larger and bothering her a little bit more now, but Gavin assured her it was nothing to worry about.

  Every day Sam submitted to the programming obediently. But her heart raced before and after she submitted herself to the black spider. What were they doing to her? She didn't feel any different. She thought about her love for Jack. It was still strong and true. So what were they preparing her for?

  She got her answer on the fifth day. She woke up one morning and yawned. According to their routine, Gavin would commune with her after they woke up.

  Something felt different. She felt... lighter. Sam went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

  Her rider was gone.

  Instead, there was an angry red circle around the perimeter where it had been. Underneath it, where the rider had been, the skin was a sickly yellow color, and peeling.

  Sam came back in the bedroom. She looked around and saw an open black box. Inside was her rider, pulsating.

  She looked at Gavin, who was still in bed, looking at her.

  For the first time in a long time, Sam realized she had complete freedom of choice.

  Should she put the rider back on her?

  Before she was Infected, the answer would have been no. In the first week, even the first two weeks, the answer also clearly would have been no.

  But now...

  She wavered, undecided. Something in her brain told her strongly that she wanted it, that she wanted the rider more than anything. But something else held her back.

  Gavin, seeing her indecision, spoke for the first time. "After I put the first worm on you, did you come home every day to accept another one?"

  "Yes," said Sam. She remembered coming home, and stripping down, even without being asked, and taking her second worm. She remembered voluntarily having sex with Gavin, even though she knew it would mean taking another worm. And she remembered even voluntarily putting one of the worms on herself. She had wanted it all.

  "When you got your rider, did you participate in communing and sex to help it mature more rapidly?"

  "Yes," said Sam again. She remembered her first communing, how good it felt. And then she remembered the sex. After the first time, she had participated eagerly in both, even though she knew the end result would only be to make her rider stronger and to give it a better grip over her mind.

  "Did you willingly help us Infect the Survey Service and HomePlanet security?"

  "Yes." Sam remembered going to Colorado Springs, and Infecting senior officers one by one.


  "Did you willingly Infect your best friend and former lover Janice?"

  "Yes," Sam said again, remembering how she had seduced and betrayed Janice.

  "Did you Infect Jack Sullivan, the man you love more than anything in the whole wide world?"

  "Yes," said Sam, remembering how she had seduced him, given him his first worm, and then pressured him into agreeing to be reprogrammed.

  "Did you cooperate in being impregnated and giving birth to black spiders?"

  "Yes," Sam said, remembering how she obediently let the large black spider impregnate her, her legs spread, as she eagerly tried to get pregnant.

  "Did you willingly infect your entire family?"

  "Yes," Sam said again, remembering how she had released the flies which Infected each of them with worms.

  "And did you laugh at you watched them die in the Cave?"

  "Yes," said Sam, a tear coming to her eye. It was her cruelest deed. But she had done it.

  "So, what are you then?" said Gavin.

  There was only one conclusion she could come to. "I am part of the Hive Mind."

  And with that, she looked down, and put her trembling hand into the big black box. Her rider reached out, and grabbed on to her hand. Sam looked away, and felt rather than saw her rider slowly crawl up her arm. When it settled down between her shoulder blades again, she resisted the urge to cry.

  Gavin came out of bed and kissed her gently. "I'm so proud of you. Come, let's commune."

  ********

  The next morning found Sam repeating the same scene. And the morning after that. Each morning, Sam was presented with a choice. Her rider slipped off of her in the night, and she had to consciously choose to let it inhabit her again. She had to want it, without any coercion.

  And each day she thought about it again, and came to the same conclusion, and reached out and let her rider take her.

  This routine continued every day, until the seventh day, when finally Sam got up, and, without any hesitation, reached into the box, took out her rider, and placed it on her back.

  Gavin stood up, looking pleased. He gave her an incredible kiss. "Finally, you're ready."

  He took her to bed, and made love to her one last time. This time he was almost tender. He looked into her eyes as he thrust into her. When he climaxed, he said her name. Sam felt a special bond to him. For a few moments, it seemed like her husband had returned to her.

  ********

  Gavin told Sam her mission at breakfast. "This will be your biggest challenge yet. You have to seduce and Infect Dunlop 4."

  "Dunlop 4?" Sam hadn't heard from him in a while; he had gone off hunting the Hive Mind on his own. "But... I can't. He'll sense my rider. He'll sense the changes in me."

  "No, he won't," said Gavin. "He won't sense your rider, because you won't be wearing one."

  And then suddenly Sam understood. All those mysterious nights of spider reprogramming she had gone through. All the tests she had undergone to see if she would put a rider on herself when she was free. It was all about seeing if she could be trusted to seduce Dunlop 4 without a rider controlling her.

  Gavin saw the recognition in her eyes.

  But there was still one thing Sam didn't understand. "But... even if I don't have a rider, won't he sense the change in me?"

  "No," said Gavin. "You gave us the answer to that. We did tests with you, remember? You can't sense if someone's mind has been altered if it's been clouded by heavy emotion."

  "But... how do I cloud my mind with heavy emotion? I'm not nearly that disciplined," said Sam.

  "You won't have to fake it. It will be genuine."

  Sam got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  "What do you mean?"

  "You'll be grieving for the death of your husband."

  "But... that would mean....."

  "I would have to be dead," said Gavin. And then he raised his right hand, which had been hidden below the table. It held Sam's Survey Service blaster. "I came home last night. I had a blaster in my hand. Your blaster. It was set to kill. I tried to Infect you at the point of a gun. You resisted. During the struggle, the blaster fell out of my hand."

  And he took her blaster and handed it to her, handle first. Sam found herself gripping it, pointing it at him, and her eyes widened in horror.

  "You scooped up the blaster. You pleaded with me to stop. But I still came at you," said Gavin, standing up. Sam did as well, still pointing the blaster at him.

  "I charged you. So you had no choice but to shoot," said Gavin. And then he smiled, and said, "Goodbye, my love."

  Sam's eyes widened, and she felt a sudden intense pain in her body. She cried out, and all her fingers and toes involuntarily contracted.

  Including her finger on the blaster trigger.

  Suddenly there was a smoking hole in Gavin's body, and he fell to the floor, lifelessly.

  "Gavin!" Sam cried, her eyes full of tears. She rushed to him. But he was already dead.

  ********

  The Survey Service came and took the body. The Hive's Survey Service, since the Hive was in control now.

  Janice tried to console her weeping friend. "There, there," she sat, patting Sam on the back.

  "He's gone, Janice! I can't believe it!"

  "It's all for the best," said Janice.

  "How can you say that?" said Sam.

  "It's all for the Hive," said Janice meaningfully. She handed Sam her comm. "Don't you have someone to call?"

  ********

  Dunlop 4 arrived at her apartment that very evening. By then, Sam's rider had been removed, and she appeared to be alone in her apartment. Her door was ajar when Dunlop 4 arrived. He entered, seeing her weeping on the couch.

  "Samantha, you have my greatest sympathy," he said.

  Sam, full of grief, just cried and reached out he arms. Dunlop came forward and embraced her tenderly.

  "I never thought it could happen to a member of my family," Sam sobbed. "It was always some other people. But Gavin was acting like a stranger. I didn't recognize him."

  "That is what the Hive does. It turns loved ones against each other," said Dunlop 4. "That is what happened when the Hive took Sirena and used her against the original Dunlop. Listen, Sam, really listen to me now. I killed the one I loved too."

  "You did?"

  Dunlop nodded. "I killed Sirena when she tried to Infect me."

  "You... you?"

  Dunlop shook his head. "No, the original Dunlop. But I remember it just as if I were there. I did the same thing you did. I did it because I had to. As you did."

  Sam felt a sudden wave of empathy for Dunlop. They both had suffered in the same way She continued to cry on his shoulder. Dunlop just held her in his arms, silently comforting her with his presence. Finally, she said, "I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight."

  "I can give you something which will help you sleep," said Dunlop.

  "No. No chemicals," said Sam. She looked up at him. "Would you just hold me, in bed? Please?"

  Dunlop paused, then smiled slightly. "Of course."

  Sam went into the bathroom to change into her nightgown. When she came out, Dunlop was already in bed. Perfect. She lay down, lying so her body faced his. And then she hugged him.

  "It is going to be all right," said Dunlop.

  Sam hugged him, and slowly touched his body. His back felt good. Gradually she let her hands drift downwards. She felt his legs, his chest, his arms, his face. Dunlop let her proceed. But then Sam looked at him, and pressed her lips against his. Dunlop didn't respond.

  "Sam," he said.

  "Please," she said. "I need it. Now of all times."

  Dunlop saw the look of pleading in her eyes. It melted something in his heart.

  When she kissed him again, he responded, kissing her back.

  They kissed and touched for some time. Then Sam reached under his shirt and touched his chest. It was firm and hairless. Then she moved to open his pants. Dunlop looked at her but didn't try to stop her as sh
e opened his pants. She worked a hand towards his penis. She didn't quite know if Dunlop was fully human, but his penis certainly felt familiar enough. She started to rub it.

  Dunlop groaned, for the first time. Sam smiled and worked him harder, kissing him at the same time. Dunlop started to respond more enthusiastically, and he put his hands on her nightgown, and began squeezing her breasts.

  Before long Sam got them both naked. Dunlop had a slender body, but was very athletic. His body was completely hairless--even around his penis. But that was no boy's penis down there. It was every bit as long and thick as a man's. And it got longer the more Sam worked on it with her hand. She stared knowingly in his eyes as she began to fist him, moving her clenched hand up and down his rapidly expanding shaft.

  And then, when she felt his shaft get solid, she knew what she had to do. Sam had no rider on her back to tell her what to do, but she had been so intensely programmed for this moment that she didn't even give it a second thought as she mounted Dunlop. Sam looked Dunlop straight in the eye as she felt the pressure of his cock against her nether entrance. He looked at her with unfamiliar lust in his eyes, and Sam, knowing it was time, and slowly slipped his aching organ deep inside of her, without regrets or even second thoughts.

  Sam smiled. The first part of her mission had been accomplished. She rode up and down on his penis, but her mind was elsewhere. Thinking of the joy of bringing Dunlop into the Hive. How good it would feel when he was one of them.

  The thought itself was enough to cause her to climax, and as she did, her insides clamped down tightly on Dunlop's penis, causing him to go over the edge as well.

  But then, after his climax, Dunlap frowned.

  "No," he said. He looked increasingly distressed.

  Sam just looked down at him and smiled.

  Dunlap pushed Sam off of him, and saw the worm, on the head of his penis.

  "No, Sam," he cried. He tried to pry the worm off of him, but even touching it caused him to howl in pain. Undeterred, he gritted his teeth and tried a second time, but he only screamed louder.