The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

‘Pierced’

(mc, f/f, nc, sf)

DISCLAIMER: This material is for adults only; it contains explicit sexual imagery and non-consensual relationships. If you are offended by this type of material or you are under legal age in your area, do NOT continue.

Synopsis:

Alien bioweapons are unleashed on an human colony world.

* * *

‘Pierced’

Chapter Three ‘Naigurh’

Part Three

* * *

Han-Irinov was sweating in her sleep.

She was also—almost imperceptibly—moaning.

Cora watched her with her new eyes. She could see the flicker of her pulse, the heat in her cheeks. Cora decided that the time had come.

“Hello, lover,” she said quietly, in her sultriest voice.

Han-Irinov quieted.

“That’s right, lover, I’m talking to you. You’re soooo horny. I can see it. I can smell it. I’d love to help with that, lover. Love to help you get off. You need it soo much. You’re so. Amazingly. Horny.”

“Horny,” Han-Irinov mouthed.

“Yes, so, so horny. Incredibly horny. And you love it. You love being this horny, it makes you happy, it makes you alive. You’re as horny as you’ve ever been and you love it.”

“...love it.”

“Yes. You love it. You love being so horny. What’s your name, lover?”

“’M Pearl.”

“Pearl. That’s a beautiful name, Pearl. A beautiful name for a beautiful, powerful woman. Now Pearl, listen to me, Pearl. Listen, listen. So closely. You’re dreaming, Pearl. A wonderful, beautiful dream, for a wonderful, beautiful, safe woman. You’re dreaming now Pearl and in your dream there is nothing to think about other than how horny you are, how wonderful you feel, how safe everything is. No other thoughts, nothing at all. All you know is that you are horny, happy, and safe. How do you feel, Pearl?”

“Mm. Horny. Happy ’n safe.”

“Yes. Yes, Pearl, that’s exactly right. This is a dream and in your dream you are horny. So horny. You need to get off, to have someone touch your pussy, to have someone suck on your pussy. And although you really want someone licking your pussy, even though you are so horny it’s all you can think about, you also know that you are happy and safe. This is a dream, it’s a good dream, nothing bad can possibly happen. You’re dreaming and you’re safe. Do you feel safe and warm, Pearl?”

“M’yeah. Safe ’n warm. ’N horny.”

“Yes, Pearl. Yes. What do you want now, Pearl? In your safe, warm, happy dream, what do you want to happen?”

“Ssex.”

“Yes. Yes, Pearl. And this is your dream, so it can happen. Whatever you want is what will happen. And if you want sex, the first thing you need to do is to take off your clothes. Take off your clothes, Pearl. Slowly, sleepily. You are safe and warm and happy, and this is a dream so just take off your clothes now.”

“Mm. Yeah. Naked.”

Han-Irinov sat forward in the chair, eyes still closed. Slowly, she stood up, and began to fumble with her clothes.

“Slowly, slowly. There’s no need to hurry in your wonderful, safe, warm dream. You have a beautiful body, it’s so perfect and so real in your wonderful dream. You look beautiful and sexy and powerful, and anyone who might see you will be awed by your body. You have no flaws; in the world of your safe, happy dream, you are perfect.”

Han-Irinov unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it off; then she unclipped her bra and laid that aside. Her hands went to her pants.

“Yes, Pearl. Yes. This is good, this is right. This makes you happy. You have a wonderful, sexy body, and you are so horny. So very horny, you need sex now, and this is your dream so you will have sex and it will be wonderful. You’re so beautiful, and warm, and safe, and horny.”

“’M horny,” Han-Irinov mumbled, sitting back down in the chair to unlace her boots. Her pants and underpants were already around her calves. She undid first the right boot, then the left, and let them fall to the floor. She pulled off her pants and stood, nude except for her socks.

“Yes, Pearl, yes. You want this, you need this. You need sex. But who will you have sex with, Pearl? Who is here in your dream?”

“Sashka. Gir’friend.”

“No, Pearl, Sashka is not here. Sashka is fine, Sashka is safe, but she is far away. Don’t you remember? You’re dreaming but in your dream you are in a remote station in the jungle. There’s only you, your prisoners, and your friend, the engineer.”

Han-Irinov’s brow furrowed above her closed eyes. “Not Andreia. Likes boys.”

“But what about the prisoners, Pearl? You could have sex with them.”

Slowly, Han-Irinov shook her head. “No. Dang’rous.”

“But this is a dream, Pearl. It’s just a dream, it’s your dream, and in your dream everything is safe. Everything is good and everything is the way you want it to be. I’ll show you, Pearl. Walk over to the cell now, Pearl, and you will see that everything is safe and fun. I promise.”

Han-Irinov’s face looked skeptical, but her eyes remained closed as she slowly approached the bars. Soon she was close enough for Cora to touch. All three nude women stood facing each other.

“Good, Pearl. Very good. You’re perfectly safe in your dream. In your dream, these women are not slaves to some aliens. No. They’re your slaves. That’s right, Pearl, this is your dream and these are your slaves. This is your dream and they are totally obedient to you.”

Han-Irinov stood an arm’s length from the bars. Emilee was now tilting her head slowly up and down, her mouth open, as she gently misted Han-Irinov’s nude skin. Beads of mixed sweat and mind-softening compounds glittered all over Pearl’s bare breasts, her stomach, her thighs.

“To me?” she murmured.

“Yes, Pearl, yes,” Cora continued in her seductive tones. “We are your slaves. This is your safe, happy, horny dream. Of course we are your slaves. Your sex slaves. Anything you want, we will do. Without hesitation. Because we are your sex slaves. In your sex dream. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

“Yess...”

“It is wonderful, Pearl, and it’s all for you. You are the Mistress of your dream. Now, Pearl, you don’t want to spoil your dream by waking up, but you will need to use your eyes to see. Happily, if you focus on dreaming, you should be able to open your eyes and stay in your dream. Just focus on the truth—you are dreaming, you are happy and so, so horny, and when you open your eyes everything will be just the way you want it to be, in your dream. Go ahead, Pearl, open your eyes, but remember the truth: that you are dreaming. This is all a dream.”

With a flutter, Han-Irinov’s eyes came open.

“You see, Pearl? We are both here, naked, ready to obey you. We are your sex slaves, in your sex dream. How do you feel, Pearl?”

“I feel... good. Horny.”

“Of course you do, Pearl, because this is a sex dream. We are ready for you, Pearl. We will do whatever you say. This is just a dream, a safe, happy, sexy dream. Whenever you are ready for sex, Pearl, just command us and we will obey.”

Han-Irinov’s hand moved over to her pussy, and began to stroke. “So horny,” she said, her eyes slowly roving over Cora and Emilee’s naked bodies.

“Yes, Pearl, yes. Use us. Use us for sex. We are your slaves, ready to obey you.”

Han-Irinov nodded. “Yes. Sex slaves. You look like sex slaves.” Her tongue moistened her lips. She slowly turned her head.

“Keys,” she said.

Dazedly, placidly, she walked back to the desk. She lifted the keys from the desk surface, and walked to the cell door.

“Sex slaves,” she said. “Need sex.”

Cora and Emilee did not move, their breasts still pushed through the bars, but their heads swiveled to track Han-Irinov as she opened the cell.

As she entered the cell.

“You,” she said dreamily to Cora. “Kiss me. You,” she told Emilee, “my pussy. Lick it.”

“Yes, Pearl,” Cora said. “We are your sex slaves.”

They approached Han-Irinov. Cora smiled with closed lips, her new glands filling her mouth with fluid. She reached out to stroke Han-Irinov’s arm, then her breasts. Han-Irinov shivered.

Emilee moved behind Han-Irinov and pressed up against her from behind. Still smiling, Cora leaned in for a kiss. She slipped her tongue into Han-Irinov’s mouth, and slowly fed her the mouth full of venom.

* * *

Margot and Captain Stone crept down the hallway towards the lobby door.

They kept near to the patient-room doors, in case another mindslave entered the hallway. What happened to the one earlier, Margot didn’t know. She must have gone into one of the other rooms—possibly with an egg for a freshly admitted victim. They had waited in the other room long enough that hopefully she’d returned to the lobby.

Listening intently for any sound, they inched forward. Then fortune was with them. The last door on the left before the lobby was a stairwell. Moreover, it had a directory posted next to it—and the directory listed the broadcast room.

It was on the top floor.

Gingerly, Stone opened the stairwell door. They listened, heard nothing. They entered the stairwell and Margot carefully closed the door behind them.

Up four floors. One step at a time, ears straining, they ascended.

As they neared the third floor landing, a door opened below them. They both froze, pistols in hand. Any gunshots in the stairwell... escape from here would be difficult. And the gunshot would be loud. The depot hadn’t had any suppressors. Why would it?

But whoever it was, whatever she was doing, she exited the stairwell on the second floor. They waited to hear the door click shut, then continued upward.

Fourth floor.

Stone opened the door. The hallway was very different from the first level, more like a business office corridor than one in a hospital. Short, easy maintenance carpet; prints hung on the walls. Three doors down on the opposite side of the hallway there was a door with a large red light next to it. The light was illuminated.

“Broadcasting,” Stone whispered. Her eyes narrowed.

Margot put a hand on her shoulder. “Stone,” she said, “wait. What’s our escape plan? If we raise an alarm, there’s no way we’re getting back down those stairs.”

Stone nodded. “Let’s find a window and set up ropes. We do this, then we jump and run like hell.”

They crab-walked down the hallway, staying as low as possible. As they passed the wooden doorway with the red light adjacent, Margot could hear a woman speaking inside.

Marina Yao.

They passed by. The final doors in the hallway were executive offices; they had the best views, of course. The doors were locked with mechanical locks.

“Damn,” Stone whispered, wiggling a handle. “Of course they’re locked.”

“Hang on,” Margot said, kneeling down.

The depot didn’t have lockpicks, of course, but Margot had collected a few stiff wires and a screwdriver. Any more advanced world and everything would be ID-swipe, of course, but Strand was thankfully still largely analog and low-tech.

A dozen fucking aircars. On a continent.

Margot focused on the door. She pushed the worry that someone would see them out of her mind—and was rewarded a moment later by the appropriate click and the turn of a handle.

The room was an administrator’s office, probably the hospital executive. Degrees on the wall proclaimed that it belonged to a Henry Zhang-Brown. He was not in residence.

His desk was solid, local hardwood. Stone unzipped the backpack and pulled out a woven filament line, twenty-five meters long. She tied it to the desk. They hadn’t brought descenders or even carabiners. Margot supposed they were lucky they’d thought to bring the rope. They did have gloves, so that was something. Hopefully they would hold up if they had to slide down at speed.

While Stone was tying the rope off, Margot went over to examine the window. It was, fortunately, designed to open; at this altitude the air temperature outside was frequently pleasant. Margot unlatched it but didn’t pull it open yet.

The Captain had finished securing the line, and laid the coil on top of the desk. She turned to face Margot.

“So what’s your plan?” Margot asked. “If we walk in and shoot whoever’s in there, the gunshots will draw immediate attention, but you’re going to need time to place those explosives. I assume that’s why you brought them. Simply tossing them into the room from the hall might not even destroy the equipment. So how do we play this?”

“I... uh... hm.”

“You hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Margot said. “We’re on the fourth floor of a building containing dozens of enemies and you’re making this up as you go along.”

Stone put a hand to her forehead. “Shit. I- I’m sorry, Belangier. I’ve been fucking this up from the start.” She held out her upturned palms. “What do you think we should do?”

Margot closed her eyes and, a bit to her own surprise, successfully released her irritation. It served no purpose, would be of no help. She looked over Stone’s shoulder at a painting of a rocky coastline, and thought out loud.

“If it’s just the Yao woman... hm. We don’t want her raising the alarm. We also don’t want her realizing what we’re up to. She might opt to die rather than let us harm the equipment.” Margot bit her lip. “Right—we draw on her. We make as though you want to use the equipment to make a broadcast, something SSDF related. We don’t want her knowing what you’re going to say, so I bring her down here and tie her up. You plant the explosives and come down here as quick as fucking possible, we leave out the window.”

“What if there is more than one person in there?”

“Same plan, slightly more difficult. I mean, if there are two or three. If there are six of them in there we gun everyone down, shoot up the equipment, and run the fuck away.”

“Mm. What if she can use the little fucker on her head to call for help? Through the walls?”

Margot shrugged. “Maybe she can. How would we know? Same plan only there will be more gunplay when the reinforcements arrive.”

“Right.” Stone dragged her fingertips along the top of the desk.

“Any more what-ifs?”

Stone shook her head. “No, but- I don’t think we should tie her up in here. She might sabotage our escape. Can you open the office across the hall, and keep her in there?”

Margot nodded. “Good idea. We’ll hold her there, then slip out. She won’t be able to tell them which way we left.”

“Exactly.”

They walked over to the doorway. Stone paused, hesitated. Then she turned and put out her hand to touch Margot’s shoulder. “Belangier... thank you for coming with me. I’ve realized what a bad idea this was, a bad, arrogant, selfish idea. If it weren’t for you coming along on my stupid quest I’d already be dead, or worse. Whatever happens... thanks.”

Margot made half a smile. “We’re human, Stone. If we work together, we can just about cover each other’s fuck-ups.”

“Heh. Yeah. Thanks. And Belangier... you can call me ‘Varra’.”

“You’re welcome... Varra. And to you: Margot. But let’s not congratulate ourselves just yet.”

“Indeed.” Stone’s smile vanished as she put her hand back on the doorknob. “Let’s get this done.”

* * *

The door to the holding room swung open.

“Hey, Pearl,” Cruzado-Liu said as she walked in, “I think I’m picking up something from the Northern hemisphere on the radio; New Boston maybe. The interference is pretty bad but there’s definitely someone transmitting there. Also, I brought you a dri... what the FUCK?”

She froze, water bottle in hand, staring at the scene in front of her.

The cell door was open. Han-Irinov was in the cell, lying on her back on one of the cots; Dr. Vanderbruk was on top of her, reversed. Vanderbruk’s head was down between Han-Irinov’s spread legs, and Han-Irinov’s head was raised to clamp her mouth solidly on Vanderbruk’s pussy.

“The. Fuck.” Cruzado-Liu breathed. The door swung slowly closed behind her.

Vanderbruk’s head rose to face her, mouth glistening beneath the black carapace of the xeno.

Cora, who had been standing just behind the door, whipped Cruzado-Liu’s pistol from its holster.

Cruzado-Liu spun around, but Cora already had the gun. She tossed it into the cell.

“Don’t worry, Andreia,” she said. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

She opened her mouth and sprayed a stream of venom fully into Cruzado-Liu’s face.

“We just want you to join the winning team,” Cora finished with dripping lips.

* * *

“This is Marina Yao, broadcasting from Naigurh. Make your way here if you can. Last night there were xeno probes against our north-western perimeter. We repulsed them and the road from Wotao and the Tao valley are clear, but we don’t know for how much longer. We are getting refugees out over the Spine as fast as possible. Make your way here if you can.

In other news, we have received word that the Sunset Archipelago resort communities have been overrun. Many occupants were able to escape in small craft; the information we have is that the xenos lack ocean-going abilities and that escape in watercraft is possible. If you are near the ocean you might consider that option. There has been no word from the northern Tay peninsula and there may be resistance there.

Once again, this is Marina Ya—”

The door opened quickly and Stone and Margot strode in, pistols out. The room was small, four meters by five, and ringed with equipment panels. The only occupant was a woman sitting in a swivel chair; there was a microphone on a built-in desk in front of her.

Stone grasped the woman’s shoulder firmly and pulled the chair away from the microphone. The pistol barrel pushed into her cheek.

She stared up at them with glossy solid black eyes.

She was small, golden-skinned, and attractive. She was dressed in a thin sundress, and her stomach was swollen as though she were five months pregnant.

Margot took all this in and turned to the console. She found the transmission switch, and turned it off. A pair of red lights on the wall went dark.

“What do you want?” the woman asked.

“Marina Yao, I presume,” Stone said. “I need to borrow some airtime. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Do as you wish,” Yao replied. “But it would be better were you to surrender and join us. Serving the brood is bliss.”

“Get her out of here,” Stone told Margot. “I don’t want her in here when I do my thing.”

“Got it,” Margot replied. “Alright, Miss Yao,” she said, “Stand up. You’re coming with me.”

Yao stood up from the chair. Margot turned her to face the door, and placed the muzzle of her gun against the back of Yao’s head.

“And don’t even think about calling for help,” she said, “in your head or otherwise. You’ll die the instant I see something scuttle.”

“My life is meaningless,” Yao replied. “But I will comply with your demands. I won’t make trouble.”

Margot guided her out into the hallway. Hopefully she couldn’t communicate with any of the other mindslaves in the building. Hand on her shoulder, gun to the back of her head, Margot guided her down to the second executive office at the end of the hall.

It had been as simple to open this office as it had been the first, and the interior looked much the same; only the name on the framed degrees was different, and the windows overlooked the paved area in front of the hospital rather than the crammed parking area in back. It seemed unlikely that the guards manning the checkpoints could see anyone inside the room, four floors up and behind mirrored windows, but Margot kept herself and her captive away from the exterior wall anyway.

Yao made no trouble as Margot directed her into the office and pushed her down into a chair. She turned the chair to face the interior corner of the room and slid both the chair and Yao into the corner.

Unfortunately, they had used their only rope to prepare for their escape, leaving none to tie up Yao. Nor did Margot have any handcuffs—which would have been easy enough to find at the police station!—or even a roll of tape. So Yao remained unbound.

Hopefully Stone would be quick. Margot sat on the big executive desk, pistol pointed at Yao’s back.

“Why have you not killed me?” Yao asked.

“What good would it do?” Margot replied. “There are a lot more where you came from.”

“That is true. But perhaps you are angry at me for luring more humans here.”

“What are you, a psychiatrist? Don’t try to analyze my motives.”

“Actually, I am a psychiatrist.” Yao paused. “You know my name. What is yours?”

“I don’t think you need to know that. You just keep facing that corner and be quiet.”

“As you like.”

Yao sat quietly. Margot frowned. “Actually, tell me something. What are you doing to these people? The ones downstairs.”

“They are being repurposed. The brood has many needs as we colonize this world; these humans are being adapted to fill those needs.”

“Yeah, but what, specifically? Why the eggs, and the tubes?”

“All brood hatch from eggs,” Yao replied. “As for their new purpose, I cannot say. I have my instructions and I obey; to what end the humans downstairs are destined, I do not know.”

“But you’re converting them into brood. Even without the... the things on their head.”

“That is correct. All humans must be enslaved.”

“Like you.”

“Exactly like me.”

Margot waved her pistol vaguely at Yao’s swollen midsection.

“I see they’ve already pumped you full of eggs.”

Yao paused. “Yes. It was glorious. How did you know?” She ran a hand across her stomach. “What caused you to not believe I am simply pregnant with a human child?”

“I was... held captive for a while. Your masters had run out of crawlers, so they tied me up and made me watch... things.” Margot shivered. “I saw... that. Them. Doing that.”

“I see. And you still do not wish to join us? It is so wonderful, being their slave. All your burdens are cast away and replaced by the simple purity of obedience. And, of course, there is the physical pleasure—the orgasms are better than any you’ve had. And so many. When they pumped me full of eggs....” Yao stroked her belly. “It was so wonderful...”

“Spare me,” Marina said, trying to keep the chill in her voice. In a twisted way it did seem wonderful. All that sexual pleasure, more or less constantly, no cares or worries at all. So different from what Margot was going through.

She remembered that hazy time by the swimming pool, Cora lapping at her sex...

She mustn’t let Yao think she was tempted.

“So. The ‘brood’, eh? That’s what you call yourselves?”

“My masters do not use vocal language, so there is no correct ‘word’ as such. When speaking human, ‘brood’ seems a fitting term. Others would also serve.”

“Why Strand? Why come here?”

Yao shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that by coming here they have made my life complete. I am the creature I was always meant to be. I obey and I live to obey. Everything is... perfect.”

“Yeah, write a book about it. I assume that—”

The door opened and Stone slipped in. Margot observed her arrival with her peripheral vision and didn’t take her direct vision off of Yao, who had turned her head at the sound. “Look at the wall,” Margot commanded in a cold voice. Yao complied.

“We ready?” Margot asked Stone softly.

Stone nodded. “Three minutes,” she said. “Let’s- wait, what’s going on there?”

Brow furrowed, Stone slipped across the room to look out the window. “Oh, God,” she muttered.

Margot rose and went to the window, keeping her eyes on Yao. She took a glance out into the parking area.

A convoy had arrived.

There were three large recreational groundcars, ungainly rectangular vehicles with living quarters inside for vacation traveling. They were accompanied by at least as many normal groundcars, in a long line reaching back into the forest. The lead vehicle was at the checkpoint; a man emerged from it and began speaking with the guards. Other armed guards were emerging from the hospital.

How many people were in them? The large ones could be empty or they could be packed with escapees, come here to Naigurh to what they thought was safety...

Margot looked at Stone. This would be a perfect time for their escape. But...

The man at the vehicle nodded, and gestured. People began to emerge from the big vehicles. Men, women. Children.

Margot looked at Stone, whose eyes were wide.

Two minutes.

Margot took a step back, raised her pistol, and shot the window. She followed the shot with the bottom of her boot, kicking out shards.

Everyone in the paved area had stopped moving and was looking up at her as she leaned out the window and screamed.

“It’s a traaaap!”

There was two seconds’ pause, then chaos erupted below.

She looked at Stone. “Best we can do. We’d better go.”

Yao had turned to watch, and Margot pointed the pistol at her. She stared at the large, black eyes. Margot knew she should kill the woman. She had lured those people here, them and who knew how many others. But...

Stone was already at the door and entering the hall; Margot crossed the room, eyes and pistol still pointed at Yao. There were gunshots outside the window.

Then there were gunshots in the hallway.

Margot emerged to see one of the big xenos racing down the hallway towards them. Stone was firing at it, but her slugs weren’t slowing it down. Margot braced her arm and fired as well, aiming for the spots where the legs connected with the body.

The explosive pellets did the trick, clear ichor erupting from the xenos body where a neat group of hits blew away fist-sized chunks of chitin. That leg snapped off, but the thing kept coming. Then another hit disabled a second leg and it collapsed, writhing.

Behind it, uniformed women had ducked into rooms on either side of the hallway. With the warrior bug down, they leaned out and returned fire.

“I hope they’re not waiting outside,” Stone hissed, slamming open the door to the other office. Margot half-expected to be shot as she jumped in behind her, but whatever the xenos did to their slaves it didn’t give them preternatural accuracy. She slammed closed the door to the office as Stone flung open the window. Margot toppled a bookcase in front of the door as Stone flung open the window and tossed the untied end of the rope out.

“What I wouldn’t give for a ’biner,” Stone said, pulling her gloves on.

“What I wouldn’t give for a fucking aircar,” Margot replied.

“Touche.” Stone grabbed hold of the rope and leaned out the window. “Well, no one down there yet,” she said, then crawled out.

Margot waited a moment as Stone righted herself, feet against the exterior wall, and began to descend. Then she took hold of the rope and climbed out the window.

The refugee column must have been well armed, for the gunfire continued around the front side of the building. There were also vehicle sounds; with luck, the vehicles at the rear were turning around and escaping, although what additional forces the xeno-infested soldiers had further down the road Margot didn’t know.

Stone reached the ground without incident. No xenos or xeno slaves had appeared at the back of the hospital; no one leaned out of the window above them and fired down. Margot slid downward as quickly as she could without losing control. Her left glove tore.

The explosion shook the building.

Margot fell for an instant before the rope went taut again; the desk must have moved. She quickly clambered down the last five meters and dropped to the ground.

“So much for radio Naigurh,” Stone said.

“Do you want to help out front?” Margot asked, crouching. There was a burst of automatic weapons fire.

Stone looked torn, but shook her head. “No. I wish them the best luck, but we’ve got other things to do.”

Margot nodded. The two of them ran into the woods.

* * *

“Deeper.”

Cruzado-Liu’s face was slack, her mouth slightly open. Her hands lay limply on her thighs. Her eyes were wide and focused on something far, far away.

“Deeper.”

Cora sat in front of her, mirroring her, close enough that they almost touched. Her eyes, too, were wide. Her mouth, too, was open, and now and then tiny puffs came from it, glittered in the humid air, and were drawn in with Cruzado-Liu’s breath.

“Deeper.”

Their chairs were pulled close together, facing each other. Cora’s knees were to either side of Cruzado-Liu’s. Cora was nude; Cruzado-Liu was nude from the waist down.

“Deeper.”

Hands alighted gently on Cruzado-Liu’s shoulders. She did not react. Behind her, Emilee Vanderbruk leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

“There. You belong to me, Andreia. Tell me you will obey.”

Cruzado-Liu’s lips formed the words. “I will obey.”

“Yes. We are deep in the core of your mind, Andreia. Deep down, in the source of everything that is you. And you are my slave, and here you will help me tie the reins that will control you. Tell me that you are my slave.”

“I am your slave.”

“Good. Focus on this moment, Andreia. Burn this into your mind. You are deep, deep, so deep in those eyes. You do not think. You can not think. You are a machine, a machine that hears and obeys. Focus on what you are now, Andreia. Remember it. Burn it into you. I speak, you obey. I speak, you obey. You cannot think at all. Focus, Andreia. Remember exactly how this feels. Remember everything.”

Andreia sat, staring, motionless.

“This is the true you, Andreia. The core of you. When I speak, when I tell you to return to your core, whether you are awake or asleep, whether you are calm or enraged, you will return here. All of your meaningless, surface emotions will drop away, and you will be this. The way you are now. I speak, you obey. I speak, you obey. This, is how you will be. Say ‘yes’.”

“Yes.”

Vanderbruk stood up again. She left her hands on Andreia’s shoulders, leaned foward, pressed her bare chest to the back of Cruzado-Liu’s head.

“Good girl. I speak, you obey. The real you. Your core. Tell me, Andreia. When I tell you to return to your core, what will you do?”

“I will return. I will obey.”

“That’s right. When I tell you to return to your core, you will see those eyes. You will see only the eyes. And you will fall into them, you will forget all your silly concerns and you will obey. I speak, you obey. When I tell you to return to your core, Andreia, what will you see?”

“Her eyes.”

“And what will you do?”

“I will forget. I will obey.”

“Very good, Andreia.”

Vanderbruk leaned forward a bit more, and to the side. Moving like a snake, slowly, deliberately, the tail of the crawler on her head slid along Cruzado-Liu’s cheek, pressed at her lips.

“Now, Andreia, I want you to suck.”

Keeping her head motionless, her eyes wide, Cora reached forward with her right hand, put it between Cruzado-Liu’s legs. As the blankly staring woman suckled on the dark tail, Cora gently began to stroke.

Beneath her black, liquid eyes, Cora permitted herself to smile.

* * *

The fat AATGV tires crunched onto the gravel in front of the police station.

To the west, the sun was a fading orange glow, the sky streaked with purple clouds. It would probably rain that night; Verdis was a damp place in general, and it hadn’t rained for nearly a week. Not since before...

Margot swung open the AATGV’s door and felt the humidity of the jungle lowlands wash over her. She hadn’t realized how much cooler it had been up north, and the AATGV had climate control. The evening noise of the birds and insects, and now the click-bats, was cacophonous.

They hadn’t said much on the ride back from Naigurh. Margot knew that Stone must have felt tempted to turn the AATGV around, to head north to Naigurh rather than south and away, to blast as many of the xenos and their infested slaves as possible, to find the refugee caravan and get them away from the insidious trap that Marina Yao had laid for them.

And then what? Bring them here? To what end? They were refugees themselves, hiding in a powerless cinderblock, without a plan beyond staying one step ahead of the xenos.

Or was there a plan? Margot’s thoughts turned to Doctor Emilee Vanderbruk. The three SSDF women had risked themselves at Arc of Sands for a reason. Was the fact that the doctor was just another mindslave sufficient to deep-six that plan?

Stone had just driven on in silence.

Privates Junipero and Lao rode in the back. Margot suspected that they almost didn’t believe them at this point, and were just following orders out of habit. Were half suspecting that real SSDF soldiers would arrest them and drag these crazy women away.

It would be a luxury to be unaware of the truth.

Stone parked the AATGV right at the front door, and killed the engine. The unlit station seemed ominous in the gathering twilight. They’d gotten back before dark, just, so there’d been no need for headlights, and they weren’t going to turn them on now. There had been no sign of anything overhead—were there flying xenos?—but lights would still have stood out for kilometers in every direction.

Margot opened the rear door and Junipero and Lao hopped out. They came around the front, where Stone stood in front of the station door.

Stone’s pistol appeared in her hand.

Margot frowned and her hand went to her own sidearm. Had something set the Captain’s alarms tingling?

Han-Irinov and Cruzado-Liu hadn’t come out to meet them, true, but... But. They should have heard the AATGV roll up; and one of them should have been keeping a lookout for hostiles. Where were they?

Stone opened the door.

“Cruzado-Liu?” she called into the building. “Han-Irinov! Respond!”

For a moment, nothing.

Then: “Captain? Hey Captain, come in here.”

Stone looked at Margot and tilted her head, then entered the building.

Margot followed, Lao and Junipero in tow.

She kept her hand hovering over the grip of her pistol. Unlit, the reception area was just a collection of shadows. It was as hot and moist inside as outside; a few weeks and there would be mold on the walls.

“We left Specialist Cruzado-Liu and Corporal Han-Irinov here with some prisoners,” Margot told the two Privates as they stepped into the building behind her.

Stone was already down the hallway, standing in the doorway of the holding room. “What is...?” she asked. Margot stepped up behind her.

Doctor Emilee Vanderbruk was seated behind the desk. She was writing something down on a sheet of paper. Cruzado-Liu was looking over her shoulder.

The crawler was still firmly attached to Vanderbruk’s head.

Margot looked around quickly. Cora was still in the cell, and the cell door was shut. She looked back at Margot with impassive black eyes.

Hearing Stone’s voice, Vanderbruk’s head had risen. “Who is it?” she asked. “I can’t see.”

“It’s Captain Stone,” Cruzado-Liu told her. “And Sergeant Belangier, and some other people.” She nodded her head. “Welcome back, Captain.”

“What’s going on?” Stone asked.

“Sorry Captain, Han-Irinov’s getting some sleep and I didn’t want to leave Doctor Vanderbruk here unaccompanied. Apparently she’s, well, she’s...”

“I am myself, Captain,” Vanderbruk said. “At least, for the moment.” She waved her fingers at the crawler riding her skull. “This... thing on my head. I have managed to fend off its attempts to suborn me. For now. I doubt I shall be able to do so indefinitely.”

Captain Stone walked closer. “Why did you let her out?” she demanded of Cruzado-Liu.

Cruzado-Liu looked abashed. “Well, she started talking, and wanted to write something down. And we figured that two of us could take her... but she hasn’t been any trouble. You can see.”

“You probably should incarcerate me, or at the very least keep me restrained,” Vanderbruk said. It was unnerving, watching her xeno-capped head rise as the Captain approached the desk. “As I say, I fear that eventually this parasite will succeed in its goals, and I will become little more than its marionette.”

“What the fuck,” Private Lao mumbled, staring at Vanderbruk, then at Cora. “What the fuck is...?”

Junipero, too, was staring with wide eyes.

Margot remembered that neither of the privates had seen any xenos. “That’s one of the little ones,” Margot told them. “They jump on you and eat your brain. Then you turn into her,” she said, gesturing at Cora. “At least, everyone else has. The doctor here appears to be an exception.”

“The fuck’s with her eyes...?” Lao whined, staring at Cora, who stared impassively back at him.

“An exception for now,” Vanderbruk said. “Eventually the brainpiercer will win, and I will become its slave.

“That is, after all, how we designed them.”

Everyone’s face turned to her.

“You did what?” Stone said.

Vanderbruk sighed. “These creatures are a bio-weapon. Secret Imperial project. A way to deal with rebellious colonies without damaging the physical assets.”

“You’re fucking kidding me. Why are they—why Strand?”

“That I do not know.” Vanderbruk gave a humorless chuckle. “If I had, I would have picked somewhere else for my vacation.”

“So what can we do?” Margot asked. “What’s their weakness? How can we escape them?”

“You cannot escape,” Vanderbruk replied. “They will fan out across the entire continent. The oceans will be a barrier, but I suspect whichever faction has unleashed them will have seeded the other continents as well. You might survive unmolested on some of the minor islands, if you could get to a boat. But,” she added, raising a finger, “I have another suggestion... albeit a rather self-serving one.”

They stared at her. “There is a lab,” she said. “A secret lab. It’s well south of here, on the Jade peninsula. I worked with the researchers there. They had an... an antidote. It would be stupid to develop creatures such as these and have no way of wiping them out, once they had done the Empire’s dirty work. So there’s an antidote, a chemical spray that can be delivered aerially, that will shut them all down. Kill them. It disrupts their basic biology. Harmless to humans, of course.”

“There’s a fucking cure?” Stone blurted.

“Just so. And, as you can tell, I would be most interested in getting access to it. I am attempting to draw a map,” Vanderbruk said, indicating the paper in front of her, “but of course I cannot see and that is rendering the process... challenging. However, I will do my best to guide you there.”

“It’s dark outside,” Stone observed. “If we leave now—”

“Your lights would be observable for miles,” Vanderbruk finished. “Indeed. Well, perhaps I can hang on long enough. Being intercepted would doom us all anyway.”

“I have questions,” Stone said.

“I will provide whatever answers I can,” Vanderbruk replied. “For as long as I can.”

Margot looked over at Cora, who remained seated quietly on one of the cell bunks. It was probably her imagination, but the nude, freckled, xeno-infested girl almost seemed to be wearing a smile.

* * *

END Chapter Three