The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Betrayed Downstream

by The Lycanthrope

Chapter 20 — Comparing Notes

Coronado Island, California

The soft chime of the mobile gently awakened me. I turned my head to see Janet’s eyes flutter open. She smiled.

“Good morning, Ben.”

“Good morning, Janet.” I kissed her as the mobile chimed again. I reached for it on the bedside table. The time read 7:06 AM, and the mobile said the call was from D. Kyriakos. I answered it in audio-only mode, since we were both still naked.

“Hello Dr. Kyriakos.”

“Good morning Dr. Lincoln. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Not a problem.”

“Are you watching the morning news?”

“Not yet. I take it I should be?”

“Call me back when you’re done watching.” He disconnected. I brought up the room’s entertainment system and got the morning news on the screen.

Clifford Harrison was in the middle of making a statement for the press. He was standing in front of the HGT headquarters, smiling and suntanned, with the building and corporate logo sparkling prominently in the background. He was talking about how HGT was committing itself to medical research to find cures for genetic illnesses. There wasn’t much solid information in what he was saying, but when Clifford Harrison spoke, it was news.

The news announcers made glowing comments about Harrison and what a humanitarian he was, and the story ended. If Harrison was going to use the nano-protein to cure diseases, maybe I’d misjudged him. I touched the button to replay the part we had missed. It consisted mostly of the news anchor introducing the story and saying that Clifford Harrison was going to make an important announcement on a live vid feed from HGT headquarters.

“That wasn’t live, he faked it,” Janet said.

“What?” She tapped the button to pause the vid playback.

“OK, it may or may not have been live, but there’s no way he was really there. Look at the background. It’s mid-morning with full, bright sunlight there. You can see the hard shadows being cast by things in the background. But Harrison and the podium are lit from multiple angles so there are no shadows at all. And it’s a diffuse light, not the hard direct sunlight that’s on everything else. It’s possible to overpower sunlight that strong with artificial light, but you’re going to almost blind your talent if you try it. It takes an experienced actor to deal with that, and he’s not an experienced actor.

“And I just noticed that the flags are fluttering in the background, so there’s a breeze. But you don’t see any effects of a breeze on Harrison and the things in the foreground. Wherever he was, it wasn’t outdoors in front of that building.”

I backed the vid up again and watched it with an eye on what Janet had mentioned. She was right.

“You’re right. It’s very subtle, but it’s there if you know to look for it.” I turned to her.

“Beauty and brains! You’re an amazing woman, Princess Janet.”

“And here I thought you just wanted me for my body, Ben.”

“Well, that too, Sexy.” She smiled. “Why would someone fake being outside for their press conference?”

“I don’t know, Ben. Maybe he’s afraid of getting a sunburn. Or maybe he just wanted to get the corporate symbols in the background even though he’s somewhere else. It could be a lot of things.”

I picked up the mobile and called Dimitri Kyriakos back.

“Hello Ben. Do you think Harrison has found something new to do with Jorge Melendez’ creation?”

“I don’t know, Dimitri. I have my hands full trying to learn the full story behind the effects of the nano-protein.”

“I hear you there. It’s definitely more than I expected.”

“We should get together and compare notes, Dimitri.”

“That sounds like a good idea. When do you want to do that?”

I whispered, “breakfast” to Janet and shrugged my shoulders. She nodded.

“How about a late breakfast on Coronado Island?”

“Sounds good to me. Where are you staying?”

I told him and we decided that 10:00 would be enough time for us to take care of what we needed to do before we met.

“I almost forgot, Dimitri, I have a girl with me. I think it might be interesting for each of us to interview women who are bound to the other.”

“I like that. I’ll bring a couple of girls, too. I look forward to seeing you again, Ben.”

“Same here.”

We disconnected. I turned to Janet.

“It looks like you’ll get to meet Dimitri after all. Are you OK with all this? I should have asked you first.”

“I’m fine, Ben. I’m a little nervous, but I’m fine.”

“Why are you nervous.”

“I’m yours, Ben. All I want to be is yours. If this nano-thing makes me attracted to him, I… I… I just want to be yours forever.” She looked frightened.

“Shhh, Janet. It’s alright.” I hugged her to me. “You’re mine, and that’s how it will stay.” It seemed reasonable that if Dimitri was able to unbind her from me and bind her to him just by being close, then I’d be able to switch it right back in exactly the same way. Still, it wasn’t fair to Janet to make her worry. I picked up my mobile.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m calling in reinforcements, Princess.” Cheryl answered immediately.

“Hi Ben. Feel like coming up for a little morning play time? I should be home in about half an hour.”

“How about a rain check on that and you come to breakfast with us?”

“You and Janet?”

“Yes, and Dimitri Kyriakos and a couple of his, um, ‘concubines’ too. We’re going to have breakfast at 10:00 at Coronado.”

“Coronado? Very nice. I’d love to, but I don’t think I can get home, get changed, and still catch the San-Trans in time to be there by 10:00.”

“No problem. I’ll send the Saab to get you.”

“Oh you are so thoughtful, Sexual Sultan Ben.”

“You won’t think so when I take you over my knee!”

“Oooooh! My dreams come true! Please don’t tease me, O Sultan, spank me for being naughty!”

I sighed. I wasn’t going to win this one.

“So would you like to come to breakfast with Janet and me and Doctor Kyriakos and a couple of ladies he’ll be bringing?”

“Sure, that sounds great.”

“OK. I’ll send the roadable for you. Give me a call when you’re ready to go. And thank you, Cheryl.”

“You can thank me later, Ben.”

“No doubt you’re already planning how that will happen?”

“Already got it figured out. I’ll see you in awhile.”

I disconnected and then directed the Saab to go to Cheryl’s apartment. It would be waiting for her after she got home and did whatever she needed to do before breakfast.

“Now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I’m confused.”

“What’s confusing you, Princess?”

“Rumor has it that Harrison has been buying ownership interest in some of the vid media networks. He should have access to the resources it would have taken to do that video well enough that you couldn’t tell it was faked.”

“Maybe he was rushed or… Wait a minute. Did you say he’s getting controlling interests in the vid networks?”

“Yeah. It’s not big news, so I guess most people don’t know about it. I follow what’s happening in vid media because that’s where I want to be. Why? Is it important?”

“I don’t know. There are a number of reasons someone might want to do that. Maybe it’s just an investment; a way for him to make even more money.”

“That’s what I was thinking, but that was before you told me about what happened in Morocco. Do you think he’s trying to control the media for some reason?”

“I don’t know, Janet. I’d think that would be hard to do, since information gets around in so many different ways. Then again, if it can be done, Harrison is the one who has the resources to do it.”

I thought about it for a few moments and got nowhere. I decided that it needed further research, but not at the moment.

“So, Princess Janet, what do you say we get showered, get dressed, get our things packed, and then we go for a walk on the beach before breakfast?”

“OK,” she said, with a little disappointment in her voice.

“Is everything OK?”

“Yeah. I was just hoping that we could… you know…”

I grinned at her.

“Did I forget to mention that the shower looks big enough for both of us?”

“The shower? You mean we… In the shower?”

“I think you’ll find it interesting and educational.”

As it turned out, Janet found that being all wet and slippery and naked with someone was very interesting. She also seemed to enjoy discovering that she had a very sensitive G-spot and that it was positioned perfectly for maximum stimulation when I took her from behind. It was a very interesting and educational shower.

* * *

We held hands while we walked on the sugary white sand. The sun climbed above the red-shingled roofs that topped the hotel’s grand Victorian buildings, promising another clear San Diego day. Janet was in blue jeans and a light sweater. I still hadn’t quite gotten used to the idea that the local residents considered the weather cold, even though it was so much warmer than Michigan. It was both practical and just plain more fun to walk barefoot, carrying our sneakers with us.

We didn’t talk about conspiracies, Harrison, or faked videos. Instead we talked about our lives, Janet’s housing situation, and babies. I told her more about my plans for the apartment complex. She claimed that it was further evidence that I was ‘amazing.’ We watched the changing shadows and highlights the rising sun created on the rocky cliffs on the peninsula in the distance. Janet said the bluff jutting out into the Pacific was called Point Loma.

My mobile chirped at about 9:30. Cheryl said she was ready to go and waiting beside the Saab. I opened the door for her remotely and then programmed it to bring her to the hotel. I suggested that she pass the time during the trip by using the comms system to look for a roadable she might like.

Janet and I headed back toward the hotel. We were still about fifty yards away from the huge deck attached to the main building when I spotted Dimitri Kyriakos. He was up near the main building, accompanied by a blond girl who towered over him and an Asian girl who was a few inches shorter than him. Both girls appeared to be fawning over him constantly.

“It looks like our breakfast companions arrived early,” I told Janet. She looked in the direction I was indication, then froze in her tracks.

“Are you OK?”

“Ben! That’s Erica Whitcomb and I’m pretty sure the other one is Corinne Hosokawa!”

“O…K… And they are…?”

“Actresses. BIG actresses.”

“Do you know them or something?”

“No! Of course not! They big names. They’re movie stars, Ben.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No… Well… It’s just that… He shows up with two gorgeous movie stars and you’ve only got…”

I was getting quicker at figuring these things out.

“I’ve ‘only’ got the elegant, charming Princess Janet, whose beauty, poise, and grace stunned the main dining room at Golden into awed silence last night?”

“But… but… that was different.”

“How so? You’re still you. You’re still the same girl who turned every head in the room last night.”

“But I didn’t have to talk to those people, and they weren’t movie stars. I don’t want to embarrass you, Ben.”

I turned her to face me.

“Do you remember what I told you about the effect I have on women, Janet?” She nodded.

“Last night when we walked into the dining room and every looked at you, so you remember how you felt at that moment?”

“Yes. I was scared.”

“And what happened after I explained what was going on and asked you to be Princess Janet?”

“It was like… Everything changed. All of a sudden I felt like I was all those things you said.”

“That’s the effect I told you about. But I didn’t make you change into something that wasn’t you. I just showed you the things that I see in you. I see all the things that are Princess Janet. I also see the girl who likes hiking in nature, and the girl who wants to make educational vids, and the girl who gave me her most precious gift last night, and the girl who will be the mother of my baby. I see all of those things. You are all of those things.

“Everyone is different, Janet. I don’t know anything at all about those girls with Dimitri, but I do know some about you. I know that you are a wonderful, sexy, elegant, beautiful lady who should never think that she’s less worthy than any other women, even for a second.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Ben.” Her eyes were moist.

“You’re welcome, Janet. Do you still feel the same way about having breakfast with them?”

“I’m still nervous, Ben. I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“You could never embarrass me, but would you like me to change things so you feel better?”

“Please?” It was almost a whisper. I held her gaze.

“Janet, look inside yourself and you’ll see that you are a confident, poised, sexy, charming woman. You are comfortable and relaxed in any social situation. You radiate beauty, intelligence, grace, and elegance. You are at peace with who you are at any given moment, even though you may want to grow and change sometimes. You can be whoever you want to be, whenever you want, and you do that with complete confidence. Though you may not have noticed them before, these things have always been a part of you, along with everything else that makes you the wonderful woman you are. You are still the same person, but now you can see the rest of you that was already there.”

I kissed her.

“So, Princess Janet, mother of my child, how do you feel?”

She straightened up, looked at me serenely, and gave me a confident smile.

“I feel ready for breakfast, Ben. And thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, Princess. Remember, though, you’re still everything you always were, including the hot little minx who likes to do naughty things in the shower.” She blushed and giggled.

We walked up the beach and climbed the stairs to the expansive deck, then sat and put on our shoes. When we stood, Dimitri Kyriakos spotted us and headed toward us. One girl clung to either side of him as if they were drowning and he was the only life preserver in the world.

“Movie stars didn’t act like that twenty years ago,” I said quietly as we started walking toward them.

“It’s really strange. When I’ve seen them on the news vids they’ve always acted aloof and everyone else is always trying to get their attention. I don’t know why they’re all over him like that.”

We walked across the enormous deck toward them; well, I walked, anyway. Janet, despite her casual attire, seemed to glide effortlessly and gracefully beside me. She was walking, but somehow she did it with a style and classiness that showed the world that Princess Janet had arrived.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re doing, but it’s sexy as hell,” I whispered, leaning toward her. She smiled sweetly back at me.

“I’m just wondering what it will feel like when you take me from behind in bed, like you did in the shower. That was amazing.”

Somehow I managed not to trip over my own feet when I heard her comment. She continued to smile calmly at me. Princess Janet definitely had a naughty side.

“Ben! Good to see you again.” Dimitri Kyriakos offered his hand and I shook it.

“Good to see you, Dimitri.”

They dynamic between us was strange. We’d never spoken directly to each other before, yet it felt like we’d survived a harrowing ordeal together. I wondered if it was that way with all of the men who had been downstreamed by Harrison. There was a moment of awkward silence as we both took stock of this new feeling, then I turned toward Janet.

“My lovely companion here is Janet. Janet, this is Doctor Dimitri Kyriakos.”

“Dimitri, please,” he said, extending his hand.

“Lovely to meet you, Dimitri,” she said, offering her hand palm-down. He looked surprised at the gesture for a moment, then took her hand in his, bowed his head, and raised her hand to gently brush the back with his lips. Apparently he’d watched old movies, too. I suppressed a smile when the two girls with him each possessively locked both of their hands onto his arms.

“This is Erica,” he looked up at the blond, “and this is Corinne,” he nodded to the Asian girl.

“Nice to meet you ladies,” I said. They both clung tighter to Dimitri’s arms and merely nodded in acknowledgement. They seemed nervous and skittish.

“We’re waiting for one more to join us,” I said, “but I think we can go inside and get settled in. She should be in a few minutes.”

The five of us went inside. I stopped at the concierge desk near the entrance and gave them a quick description of Cheryl, asking if they could kindly direct her to the restaurant to join us for breakfast when she arrived.

We were seated by the maitre ‘d with style and efficiency. The longer I spent at the hotel, the more impressed I was with how well they did everything. I knew that I would find excuses to stay there in the future.

Corinne and Erica, of course, insisted on sitting on either side of Dimitri. Janet accepted the chair I held for her, and I seated myself to the right of her. We’d barely settled in when Cheryl made her entrance as only Cheryl could.

She breezed into the room as if she didn’t have a care in the world, then spotted me and locked on like a sexual cruise missile. She strutted toward me, wearing a light blue sundress and sandals with a couple of inches of heel to them. Her large breasts bounced enticingly in the low-cut dress. Knowing Cheryl, I figured that not only was she braless, there was probably nothing but Cheryl inside the dress.

I stood as she approached. Dimitri turned and looked at Cheryl, then stood. Dimitri’s two girls turned and looked at Cheryl. Janet just smiled in amusement. Cheryl’s gaze never wavered from my eyes as she approached us. I half expected her to tackle me to the floor and try to rape me, but Cheryl was one step ahead of me.

When she reached the table, Cheryl’s gaze immediately switched to Janet and she broke into a big smile. She stepped past me, leaned down, and gave Janet a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome to the family Janet,” she said softly. Janet smiled.

“Thank you, Cheryl.”

Cheryl turned to me and gave me a look that told me that a simple hug hello would not be acceptable. I stepped to her and leaned down a bit. She reached her hands behind my neck and pulled me into a kiss that made my toes curl. The kiss extended past the time for a casual kiss, past the time for a familiar kiss, past the time for a passionate kiss, and even past the time for a “your presence is requested in the nearest bed immediately” kiss. Finally she released me.

“Good morning, Honey, I’ve been thinking about you,” she said with a saucy smile.

Dimitri and his girls appeared at a loss for words after her display. I took her hand.

“Cheryl, this is…”

“Corinne Hosokawa, Erica Whitcomb, and… Doctor Dimitri Kyriakos, I presume?” Cheryl finished.

Dimitri nodded, seemingly dazed.

“Hi, I’m Cheryl. I’m a Scorpio, and my favorite hobby is ruining men for other women, though I must admit that it didn’t work with Ben,since he’s ruined me for other men instead.” Erica and Corinne looked horrified.

I rolled my eyes.

“Actually, I think her favorite hobby is being sassy,” I said. “Now behave yourself!”

I pulled out a chair and seated Cheryl on my right, sandwiching myself between her and Janet.

I sat, and Dimitri followed suit a couple of seconds later. Erica and Corinne nervously moved closer to him.

We looked over the menus and placed our breakfast orders. I noticed that Dimitri’s girls both waited for him to order, then they each selected the same breakfast that he had. I mentally filed it away as yet another odd behavior from them, along with their nervousness and their incessant clinging to Dimitri.

While we waited for our breakfast to arrive, Dimitri and I talked about our post-Downstream lives. While I’d had sex with seven girls (and sincerely hoped that Arianna wasn’t pregnant), Dimitri had been with more than double that number. He mentioned that Erica and Corinne were numbers 12 and 15, respectively.

Noticing that the girls looked distressed at being mentioned as just two of what would eventually be a long list of women, I asked Dimitri if he’d noticed that the binding effect was stronger than we’d originally been told. He gave me a cautionary look and a slight negative shake of his head, then said that he’d like to talk to me about that, but it could wait until later. It looked like he didn’t want his girls to know about the effects he was having on them. I acknowledged his wishes with a nod.

Breakfast was excellent. There was no question in my mind that I would return to the hotel in the future. As we ate, I thought about various situations under which I’d like to return to the hotel with Ashley, Cheryl, Shelby, Gina, Lauren, and Janet. There were all kinds of pleasant possibilities, and I even had a wild, hopeful fantasy about how to make them reality, but none of it was likely to happen until after we were sure that Harrison wasn’t up to something unsavory.

After we’d finished eating, I suggesting that Dimitri and I separate and each of us have a talk with the girls the other had brought for a few minutes. Janet and Cheryl were agreeable with the idea, but Corinne and Erica looked very reluctant. Dimitri agreed that it was a good idea, and the two actresses hung their heads in resignation. He told them to go with me and answer my questions. They complied with what I recognized had been a direct order to them.

As we left Dimitri, Cheryl, and Janet at the table and walked out of the restaurant, Erica and Corinne kept casting fearful glances back at the table. I took them to my room, thinking that having them in an enclosed area would be the best test of whether they would be affected by my scent. I directed them to sit on the foot of the bed, which they did with all the enthusiasm of someone being led to the gallows. I pulled a chair around and sat facing them.

“First, ladies, I want to say how much I appreciate you talking with me. Thank you.”

They both nodded.

“Second, I want to say that I’m concerned about how upsetting this seems to be for you. Can you tell me why this is bothering you?”

It took about ten minutes of fits and starts, sniffles and tears, and fearful admissions, but eventually I got the story. The basic gist of it was that their entire lives were centered on Dimitri Kyriakos and they were terrified that they would lose him. They were afraid that he’d get bored with them and discard them. They were afraid that Janet and Cheryl would take him away from them. They were afraid that I’d make them come with me and they’d never see him again. Dimitri was the center of the universe, as far as they were concerned, and they felt like they would be lost if he ever went away.

I tried to reassure them that I had no interest in taking them away from Dimitri and that Cheryl and Janet had no interest in taking him away from them. It was only marginally effective. Since we’d been together more than long enough for me to have had any effect I was going to have on them, I tried a direct order.

“Erica? Corinne? Just relax and be calm. Everything will be fine.”

It had no effect. Being in close quarters with me had done nothing to change their binds to Dimitri.

“OK, ladies, just one more question, then we can go back to the restaurant. How do you feel about me?”

“You seem nice, but I really want to get back to Dimitri,” said the tall blond. Corinne nodded in agreement.

I let them freshen up in my bathroom, then we walked back to the restaurant. Their moods brightened a bit when they saw that Dimitri hadn’t been spirited away by Cheryl and Janet. In short order they were back in their chairs and clinging to him. Sadly, their reprieve was only for a few seconds. Dimitri suggested that he and I take a walk and talk about things, leaving the four girls at the table to talk amongst themselves.

I took Cheryl and Janet aside and asked them to keep mum about the binding effect, Harrison, and the other hidden aspects of the whole situation. I didn’t know why Dimitri hadn’t told his girls about it, but I was sure that he had his reasons.

I also mentioned that both of Dimitri’s girls seemed to be in a fragile mental state and I gave Cheryl a direct order to be nice to them and not upset them. I feared that a little sass from Cheryl might push the girls into a nervous breakdown. She pouted, but agreed, even though she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

* * *

The hotel had a number of beach cabanas set up. Dimitri and I decided that one of them would be a good place to talk. They were sheltered from observation and only open toward the ocean. We staked our claim to one of them and waved off the formally-dressed waiter who appeared a couple of minutes later to offer us morning libations.

Dimitri didn’t beat around the bush. He brought up Clifford Harrison immediately. His news was more disturbing than I’d anticipated.

“They just dropped out of existence, Ben. Maurice St. Claire, Bastien Albrecht, and three or four others. Maurice had been making noise about going public with what had actually happened even while we were being evacuated from Morocco.

“Sure, I was as pissed off as anyone, but it was so obvious that Harrison had set things up heavily in his favor that I think any fool could see that the best move was to shut up and let it go. Not Maurice. As soon as the discussion group started up, Maurice was right there trying to get everyone to go public. Bastien took up the cause and a few others threw in words of encouragement. The rest of us kept our mouths shut and just let them vent.

“Then the next day; the NEXT fucking day, Ben; they were gone. Maurice, Bastien, and the others who’d joined in the day before simply didn’t show up in the discussion group. A couple of the guys in the group tried contacting them directly. Their mobiles were out of service—disconnected. THAT was the end of any talk about going public. Nobody knows what happened, but a half dozen men seem to have fallen off the face of the Earth.”

“We’re probably being monitored, Dimitri. I’m almost certain that my movements and communication are being monitored, so it seems likely that the discussion group would be monitored at the very least, and possibly some or all of the men who were downstreamed might be individually monitored like me.”

I told him about Pamela apparently having been forewarned that I was coming and I also mentioned that someone whose scientific intellect I greatly respected had sent me an encoded message stating that my communications were being monitored by Harrison. I didn’t mention Emily Cho’s name.

“That stuff is supposed to be sacred, Ben. From what I’ve heard, all of the navigation and communication systems are heavily encrypted and it takes a Federal court order to have them monitored in this country, and the equivalent national-level legal orders in any other country. Unless you’re a really bad person, your privacy is supposed to be guaranteed.”

“Apparently not if you’re Clifford Harrison. He had free reign to say and do whatever he wanted when he time bubbled us for the second time, and he definitely has the resources. From what I’ve seen of the effects of the nano-protein, it might have been as simple as him finding a female Federal judge and basically telling her to let his people monitor us.”

“Christ, Ben! Do you think he’d really do that?”

I nodded. Dimitri pondered for a few seconds.

“Good thing Jorge has only hinted at what’s going on in his lab, then.”

“Jorge Melendez?”

“Yeah. He’s back working at HGT. He joins in the discussion group most of the time. He said that he’s trying to adapt his work to help humanity. He says there’s been a big push from corporate lately to see how it can be applied to genetic diseases. He also said that there are multiple groups working on multiple projects with the nano-proteins and he’s not privy to what the other groups are doing. He’s been saying it in a ‘rah-rah, go HGT’ way, but I think it bothers him that there are secret projects with the nano-proteins and that information about them is being kept from him. The last time Harrison did a secret project with Jorge’s work, humanity got screwed.”

“Interesting, Dimitri. I didn’t even go back to my lab. I have no idea if HGT still considers me an employee. I think I need to go and find out what’s happening there.

“The good news is that I’m almost certainly still the only person who understands how the Temporal Singularity works and how to make the key component for a stasis field generator. The bad news is that I made a few of them at the High Energy Physics lab, including the one that Harrison used to downstream us. I made eight of the most advanced model of the multi-spatial lattice, and at least that many of the previous generation, which was stable enough to hold a stasis field together for months at a time. Those are dangerous things to leave lying around. The rest of the generator is something that any decent electrical engineer with an understanding of high energy physics can make.”

“You need to go back, Ben. I can think of a dozen nasty things someone could do if they had one of those things at their disposal.”

Dimitri sat in thought for a few seconds.

“This monitoring thing you brought up really chafes me. I mean, I think we all suspected that it might have been going on, or maybe someone ratted St. Claire and the rest out to Harrison, but what you’ve told me pretty much confirms it. What makes me sick is that we can’t tell the others about it because we have to assume we’re being monitored. Telling them about it would alert the listeners that we know and we may be up to something.

“DAMN IT! I hate this! The only thing we can to is exactly what Harrison told us to do. We have to sit down, shut up, and knock up women.”

The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.

“I like that, Ben. It fits perfectly.”

“It’s Sun Tzu. He’s been popping up in my thoughts a lot lately. I think I’m headed for a conflict with Harrison, Dimitri.”

“Well right now it’s his will being imposed on us, Ben, so be careful.”

“I can’t change that for everyone, but I think I may have a chance if it’s just me. I may have some leverage that Harrison doesn’t expect. First I have to very carefully make it so that his will isn’t being imposed on me, then I need to find a way to impose my will on him. If I can find a way to do that, I might be able to make things better for everyone.”

“Well you have my support, Ben.”

“Thanks.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I wondered what Harrison was up to. What had happened to Maurice St. Claire, Bastien Albrecht, and the others? If I could get an inside track on Harrison, could I convince him to stop any ugly plans he might have? Could I even get myself into a position to try that? There were too many unknowns. I’d need to plan and adapt as I went along. It was time to let it go for a little while.

“So, Dimitri, why do you think that Harrison didn’t tell us the full extent of our effect on women?”

“I have no idea. At first I thought it was just me, but others in the discussion group have hinted that they’ve seen it, too. After Maurice and the others disappeared, we’ve pretty much had an unspoken agreement to tiptoe carefully when it comes things that might concern Harrison or the stuff he told us in Morocco.”

“So you’ve found it to be much more extensive and powerful than Harrison let on?”

“Oh yeah. Just look at Corinne and Erica. Those two are a couple of sharks. I overheard them talking about how they wanted to make sure that I was always theirs, so I had to put a stop to that. I mean, it’s not like I’m in love with them or anything. I don’t have any real feelings for them at all. All I did was get them pregnant, and they practically begged me to do that. Getting knocked up is the new status symbol among the rich and famous, Ben.”

“They seem… skittish, Dimitri. What did you do to them?”

“I sat them down and laid down the law. I ordered them to never do anything that went against my wishes. I told them that I was the most important one and they would respect my wishes and they should fully expect me to go off and father lots of kids with lots of girls.”

“Have you experimented much with the control you have?”

“Not really. Women pretty much do what I say. When I heard those two scheming, well that’s the first time that I’ve really come down hard on any of them.”

“I’ve experimented with it a bit. Can I hazard a guess as to what’s going on with them?”

He nodded.

“From what I understand, they’re actresses, and big ones at that. Ever since they became big stars, everyone has been fawning over them and catering to their whims. When they hooked up with you, all of a sudden everything shifted and they had to deal with basically becoming like groupies trying to get the attention of you, the superstar. That was a big change for them and they felt alone and frightened in strange territory.

“I don’t know what they were planning, and maybe they don’t even know that. I think that what they were looking for was a feeling of safety and something solid to hold onto. I’m sure you can see that literally, since they practically cling to you whenever you’re around. I can also tell you that they’re miserably and scared to death when they’re not with you. While I was talking to them, the only thing on their minds was getting back to you. I’m pretty sure they were terrified that Janet and Cheryl were going to steal you away.”

“They have good instincts then, Ben. Your girls are completely different from the sixteen or seventeen I’ve had sex with since we got back. They’re so… alive, so vibrant.

“Janet is the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met. Even from talking to her for just a few minutes I could see that she has so many different facets that it would take days to really get to know her.

“Cheryl… Well, Cheryl is sex on a stick. She’s a little sexual volcano. I have no doubt that she’s ruined men for other women. Frankly Ben, if it’s OK with you, I’d welcome the opportunity to bed either or both of them.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it quickly before I snapped at him. Where had the sudden anger come from? What was I feeling? I was feeling territorial, protective, and jealous. I didn’t want any other man touching Cheryl or Janet. I thought about the others. The idea of Ashley, Shelby, or Gina being with another man provoked the same strong feelings. Lauren Steiner, too, though to a lesser extent. My feelings toward Arianna were complex and confusing. There was still a lot that she and I needed to work out.

So why was I having the gut reaction that you’d expect from a serious boyfriend or husband? That was something that I needed to figure out, but this wasn’t the time. What about Dimitri’s request?

I’d told Ashley that I wanted to be fair to her and not restrict her to having sex only with me, since I would be off impregnating dozens of women. The thought of her being with another man knotted my stomach, but I meant what I said. I did want to make it fair for her. And I, as much as it upset me, I wanted to be as fair as possible to the others, too. They deserved no less. I pushed aside my instinctive reaction and turned to Dimitri.

“They’re free women, Dimitri. They can choose who they sleep with. I haven’t done anything to restrict them to only being with me. When we get back, you can ask them and see if they’re interested.”

“Fair enough. How do you do it, Ben? How do you keep control over them but still let them make their own decisions like that?”

“I don’t really keep control over them. The only place where I’ve done something that you might consider ‘control’ is when it comes to keeping the information about Harrison and Downstream secret. I told them about everything, including everything that happened in Morocco and all of the effects I have on them. I asked them first if they would keep it to themselves. When they agreed, I ordered them to do that. They know what that means and they agreed to it beforehand.”

“But you said that you’ve experimented with the effect.”

“I have. You can use it for forced absolute control, but I’d rather not do that. I’ve found it to be very powerful; much more so than Harrison let on. Rather than use it for control, I’ve used it to bring out and enhance positive traits my girls already had. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I’ve been able to figure them out and correct them. It seems that my girls’ minds take what I say quite literally and make it a part of their fundamental reality. I’ve had to be careful about what I tell them when it’s phrased as a command.”

“So do you think it’s been working the same way for me?”

“I think so, Dimitri. Look at Erica and Corinne. If they were insecure about being in an unfamiliar situation and worried about losing you, what would happen if you told them that you were what was most important to them and their brains took it literally?”

“Well I meant that what I wanted and needed was more important than their scheming…”

“Yes, but that’s not what you told them. You have two girls adrift in the middle of the ocean and you’re the only solid object they see that floats. Of course they’re going to want to hang onto that life preserver. But then you tell them that it’s the most important thing in the universe, AND you tell them that it will go away at some point and it may or may not come back.”

“Oh shit! No wonder they’re acting like that. I really messed them up.”

“Fortunately, I think you can fix it. And I think that you are the only one who can fix it. I talked to them for awhile and then I tired to calm them down and it had no effect at all. Every other time I’ve spent at least a few minutes with a woman I’ve been able to influence her with commands or suggestions. Erica and Corinne ignored my direct commands to calm down and relax. They seem to be bound exclusively to you and obedient only to you.”

“Your girls are the same way. I directly told Cheryl to tell me if she’s wearing underwear under that dress. She just smiled at me and told me that a girl needs to keep some things secret so she can surprise her man. Any other girl I’ve met would have answered my question.”

I chuckled.

“My guess is that there’s nothing but Cheryl under that dress, but you never know. So your girls wouldn’t calm down for me and Cheryl didn’t respond to a direct command from you. I’d say that the binding is to one man only. Maybe prolonged exposure or more intimate exposure would change that, but so far it looks like it’s exclusive.”

“So what do I do about Erica and Corinne?”

“Give them their lives back. Undo whatever it was that made you the center of their universe. They need to be able to go on with their lives as actresses, and they can’t do that if their every thought is based in fear over losing you. They need to be able to stand on their own feet again. You said that you don’t have any feelings for them?”

“Yeah. I mean they’re beautiful and they’re OK to talk to and pretty good in bed, but that’s about it.”

“That’s actually a relief to me, Dimitri. So far I’ve developed at least some attachment to each of the girls I’ve been with. I was worried that would happen with every girl I have sex with. Are there any that you’ve become attached to?”

His eyes went unfocused for a moment.

“Alicia,” he said, staring out at the ocean. “She’s very special. We’re together all the time. I would have brought her, but I can’t leave Erica and Corinne alone too long or they freak out. Carrie is special, too. It bothers me to think of life without being able to see either Alicia or Carrie.”

“So it sounds like you have an attachment to two of the girls, but not to the others.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s right. You know, Harrison didn’t mention anything about this stuff.”

“I’ve been wondering about that. He’s not a scientist, Dimitri, he’s a businessman. I wonder if his tests were only done to look for the results he wanted, rather than an exhaustive study of all of the effects.”

“Like checking to make sure the builders have installed the front door on your new house, but not bothering to notice that there’s no roof?”

“Exactly. He was having the project done in secret, and he probably had a very limited number of women to test and a very limited time to test them. I can definitely say that different women respond differently to me. There’s a norm for how most act, but there are definitely some pretty wide deviations from the norm, too.” Arianna and her mother came to mind.

“Same here. Just look at the two I brought. They were clingy right from the start. None of the others are like that. And Dana… wow! Every time she sees me, she’s ready to rip her clothes off and go at it right there, no matter where we are. Definitely very different responses from some of the girls.”

“I don’t know if Harrison is out impregnating women or not. From the photos and news reports I’ve seen, I think he’s been offering his ‘services’ to women in power and the wives of men in power. Regardless, he must have noticed the variations in responses from different women and the much stronger binding and control effects by now.”

“True, but only if he’s been knocking girls up, Ben. If he’s been too busy making sure that none of us is threatening whatever it is he’s doing, maybe he hasn’t had time to notice. I’d sure like to know what happened to Maurice and the others.”

“You and me both, Dimitri. Hey, we’ve been out here for awhile. Are your girls going to be OK?”

“Probably not. We should get back. I need to make things right with them.”

We walked back inside and found Janet and Cheryl trying to sustain a conversation with Dimitri’s two neurotic girls. All four looked relieved to see us returning. Dimitri went immediately to Erica and Corinne.

“I apologize,” he said. “I had no idea what kind of a mess I created for you. Ben helped me understand. I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’m going to impregnate lots of women, and that’s what I need to do, but I’m not going to just throw you away now that you’re pregnant. Please relax and be calm with the knowledge that we will work everything out so that it’s best for all of us, OK?”

For the first time since I’d seen them, the two girls relaxed a bit and seemed to calm down. They both nodded.

“Good,” he said. “I’ll be right back and everything will be OK.” He turned and walked over to where Janet, Cheryl, and I were standing.

“Thank you, Ben. I think I can work things out so that with them. I didn’t understand what was going on or what I’d done.”

“No problem, Dimitri. I wish we had more time to talk, but there are too many things going on. And with Harrison probably listening in, there’s no way that we can talk freely other than in person. I am going to take your advice and try to find out what’s going on inside HGT.”

“You know, we may be able to kill two birds with one stone here.” He looked at Cheryl and Janet.

“Ladies, I want you to know that you are two of the most intriguing women I’ve ever met. I asked Ben if he would allow me to be intimate with you, but he said that he doesn’t control you and you decide what you want to do in your lives. I’d very much like to be intimate with either or both of you. In addition, that might give Ben and I a way to exchange information without it being intercepted by Clifford Harrison.”

He stopped and waited for them to respond.

“I am truly flattered, Doctor Kyriakos,” Janet replied, “but I have only been the woman of one man, and I intend to remain only his woman for the rest of my life. I must politely decline your gracious offer.”

“I understand, Janet. Thank you.”

Cheryl didn’t need any time to think about it either.

“You’re a good looking man, Dimitri, and a week ago I would have taken you up on your offer. But like I said earlier, Ben has ruined me for other men. Sorry, but I can’t. And besides, I’m pretty sure that the message passing thing won’t work. When Ben said he was going to find out what’s going on at Harrison Global, I think he meant that he’d be doing that in Michigan.” She looked at me with sadness.

I nodded glumly in response.

“Thank you, Cheryl. You’re both amazing women, and I’d have been kicking myself for the rest of my life if I hadn’t asked. And you’re right about passing messages. I hadn’t thought that Ben would probably go back to Michigan. You telling him something over the vid isn’t any more secret than me telling him over the vid.

“Thank you again, Ben. Our time together today was very helpful. I wish you luck with Harrison, and please be careful and always watch your back.”

“Thank you Dimitri. I’ll do that.”

We shook hands, then went back to the table to say our goodbyes to Corinne and Erica. Dimitri and the girls departed, leaving Cheryl, Janet, and I at the table.

“So, how was your chat with Dimitri, ladies?”

“He’s… interesting, Ben, but he’s not you and he could never be you.”

“How so, Cheryl?”

“Well, aside from the fact that I’m more sexually attracted to your toenail clippings than I could ever be to a thousand complete Dimitri Kyriakoses…”

“Toenail clippings? Toenail clippings?!?”

“It’s a figure of speech, Ben, don’t over-think it. What I’m trying to say is that the sexual part is definitely there, but there’s something else, too. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but it’s something that’s really important.”

“Caring,” Janet said. We turned to look at her.

“You care deeply about us, Ben; all of us. He doesn’t seem to care about his girls like you care about us. He seems like a decent guy and I’m sure he’s nice enough to them, but what I have with you—what I think we all have with you—is much deeper and much more precious.”

“He does have a couple of girls that he cares about deeply, just not Erica and Corinne. I’m actually relieved that it’s possible for men like Dimitri and I to make women pregnant without developing deep feelings for them. I’m going to need to make a lot of women pregnant, and I was worried that I’d end up feeling emotionally attached to all of them.”

“I can see where that would be a problem, Ben, and I understand. But please know that I care about you, too, and I feel deep feelings for you, and I’m sure that Cheryl and Shelby and the others do, too.”

Cheryl nodded in agreement.

“Last night I became your woman, Ben. I know that I’m not your only woman, but I am your woman and mother of your child, and that’s a bright light that warms my heart. Today I learned how incredibly lucky I am to have met you, rather than Doctor Kyriakos, as I had intended.”

It was my turn to blush in embarrassment. I hugged both girls tightly.

“OK, as wonderful as this place is, I think it’s time we got out of here. Our bags should be at the front desk by now, so I’ll get the Saab up here so they can be loaded in. And speaking of the Saab, did you find any roadables that looked interesting, Cheryl?”

We headed toward the main reception area, talking about why “anything fast and red” wasn’t a very useful specification for buying a vehicle.