A Serpent in Paradise Ch. 06

Author's note: This story is primarily a continuation of "Paradise Obtained", but also includes characters from "The New Neighbours/The Good Master" and "The Friday Night Games Club".

This is the culmination of my 'Haller universe' stories, so is not the best place to begin. I would recommend reading the other stories first; doing so will add depth of character background and make various things clearer.

All characters are over 18.

A Serpent in Paradise: Chapter 06

Katya was grim, "Look Matt, I can't get us out of Romania. There are checkpoints, border guards, police, the whole bureaucracy of a state, all designed not to let people wanted by the authorities go where they will." They had got as far as Arad in the west of Romania, near the Hungarian border. Katya's theory was that a train rather than air or road was their best bet to get the Germany, but they couldn't simply walk into a station and buy a ticket.

"So that's it then?" Matt said in despair. "We just fool here around until we are caught and Geoff Mills wins?"

"No," said Katya decisively. "It's up to you. I said before we set off that mind control was our secret weapon. You are going to have to use it on some officials who can get us passage out of here. I have access to Mills methods myself, but that's no good for this purpose. We won't have the time or opportunity to drug and programme people. It has to be your way -- it's almost instant and very effective."

"But I've told you before," said Matt, gloomily, "it only works on women. We would have to be incredibly lucky not to run into a man at some point."

"But why do you think it only works on women, Matt?" Katya asked. "We're all one species; male and female brains can't be that different."

"You'd be surprised. They get flooded by different hormonal inputs at various stages in development and there have been multiple studies showing differences, notably in the amygdala and the hippocampus. Also, the two sides of the brain have more connections in women than in men. It doesn't mean either sex is superior but they are different and it affects behaviour. I tailored my technique toward the female patterns of brain structure and chemistry, with the emotional regulation functions of the amygdala being particularly relevant."

Katya pondered this for a moment, then said, "Mills' method works on both sexes just fine. Have you ever actually tried yours on men? I mean, even when you were just experimenting and developing your system?"

Matt looked back to those days when he had been a driven man, desperate to crack the secrets of mind control. He had been a different person then; in those days it had been all about how he would collect and control girls and force them to his will and he shuddered in retrospect at how little thought he had given to what his subjects might have wanted. Interacting with the women of his harem and coming to see them as people had made him a more fulfilled and contented man and also a better one. But the bottom line was Katya was right; all his test subjects had been female.

"It's true I never tried it on men. They were not my ... um ... interest," Matt conceded.

Katya looked him firmly in the eye, "Matt, I'm going to be honest with you. Since Mills started this crisis by escaping and kidnapping Ilse, you have been little better than useless, moping around miserably while others acted. Do you think you deserve to be master to nine beautiful, talented women -- four of them now captive in the hands of your enemy?"

She was vehement in her accusation and Matt's shame and guilt flared up as she went on relentlessly, "If you are truly worthy of them, it's time to prove ii. Make your system work on men, get us out of here, rescue your girls -- it's now or never."

Delilah, who had been listening quietly as Katya laid into her Master, suddenly stepped between them, took Matt's hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. "Master, she's right that you need to do this, but I want you to know I have complete faith in you. You are a great man and I know you're going to rescue Nikki and my other sisters." The fact that it was the normally flippant Delilah, who rarely seemed to take anything seriously, that was speaking with such sincerity made her comments all the more striking.

Millie came over and slapped Matt on the back. "She's right, Boss. You've got this, I've never doubted it." He glanced at the blonde Australian. Her approach might be different but he saw in her face that she believed what she was saying. He suddenly felt about two feet taller. These strong, brave women trusted him; he couldn't let them down.

"Alright, I'll try. We'll do this properly, methodically and scientifically -- but also quickly. As a start, perhaps you three ladies could do what you do best and go find me a test subject. Some senior rail company employee with the ability to smuggle us onto a train would be ideal."

*****

Mike Roberts had got his flight to Germany courtesy of the British government. Perhaps they felt some sense of responsibility for what had happened, perhaps it suited them to let him interfere or perhaps they just wanted to get him to shut up, but whatever the reason it was made clear to him this that this was the extent of the help he would get. He was now on his own.

As to what to do next, Mike had no idea where Geoff Mills -- and therefore Carly -- might be, but he knew exactly where to find Albrecht Haller. So, he headed for Hamburg and the headquarters of JI Weyer-Kant. His plan, if you could call it that, was to somehow get access to Haller and use Mills' drug and ultrasound method to force him to reveal where Carly was. It was a long shot, but then he was out of good options. As is generally the case with desperate plans, this one didn't work; or rather, it went nothing like he hoped for, although the outcome was also unexpected.

It had been obvious that walking through the front-door was not going to get him anywhere, so he had looked for another way into the building and round the back he had found a goods entrance. Being during the day, the loading and unloading bay doors were open and Mike decided that the best thing to do was to look confident as if he belonged there and simply walk in. He had found in his past as an IT technician when visiting clients that most people are reluctant to challenge anyone who gives the impression they know what they are doing.

This might have worked as a strategy in many places, but Haller had secrets to hide and this was reflected in a higher degree of security paranoia than most organisations showed. Mike had hardly made it more than a few metres inside the loading bay before he was challenged by a worker and moments later a security guard appeared. He was taken to a room and politely asked to wait, although the guard remained to ensure he did. Mike's expectation was he would be handed over to the local police.

To his surprise something entirely different occurred. A smartly dressed middle-aged woman entered the room and said, "Mr Roberts, how delightful to meet you at last. I'm Helga Beck. Herr Haller is keen to talk to you. Obviously, I must ask you to give me your mind controlling equipment, which will be returned afterward. If you agree to do so I will take you to see him."

"And if not?" Mike asked.

"Then I'm afraid you will be handed over to the police on evidence of trespass and suspicion of intent to steal."

Mike could see he had little choice and, anyway, Helga's approach intrigued him. He was mystified as to what was going on, but at least he would get to see Haller.

Half an hour later he wasn't much clearer, although his surprise was growing. Helga had taken him to an elevator that went directly to her and Haller's offices. Once in the latter the only concession to the abnormality of the situation was a stony-faced individual who sat silently in a corner watching everything with cold eyes. Mike had no doubts he was a bodyguard of some sort. He looked very capable and, judging by a slight bulge under the armpit, was presumably armed.

Haller had greeted him warmly and started by apologising. "I am genuinely sorry you have been brought into this, Mr Roberts," he had said, "Mr Mills, Mr Mitchell and Ms Wade were essential to my plan, but you were not required. I couldn't anticipate that Miss Stone would accompany Miss Harding on her visit to see me and, unfortunately, that left me with no option but to take her prisoner. However, matters are progressing very well, and you should see her soon."

Mike let him know in colourful terms what he thought of the way Haller used people. It was doubtful that such language had been heard in Haller's office previously, and certainly not directed at its occupant. The bodyguard started to look a little twitchy, but Mike was careful to make no hostile move of any sort and the abuse left Haller unruffled.

"As I have said, Mr Roberts, I apologise for the distress I have caused you. However, I am in a position to make it up to you. I wish to invite you to accompany myself and Fraulein Beck. We are going to see Mr Mills and his prisoners in the next day or two and I fully expect Ms Wade, Mr Mitchell and their charming companions will also be present. It should make for an interesting meeting and I am keen to witness it for myself. It will, after all, be the culmination of ten years' work."

Mike had no idea what Haller was talking about, but getting to Mills was why he had come, so he agreed to the proposal. Somehow, he was certain that a lot of people ended up doing what Albrecht Haller wanted, even when their original intention had been something quite different.

*****

It had taken Matthew Mitchell five years to perfect his mind control technique on women. It took him just over four hours to learn how to convert it to work on men. It seemed that Katya had been right; male and female brains had far more in common than they had differences.

This is not to say it was easy. For the most part it was the product of a lot of full experimentation, recalibrating the setting of his mind control device slightly, trying it on the test subject, recording the setting and the result and then trying again. Delilah's mind couldn't be relied on not to wander off from such dull work, so Millie and Katya shared the role of keeping a record of the settings used and the result. It had taken him seventy-three such adjustments and tests to find a setting that worked.

Even their test subject had got bored eventually. An inoffensive rail company employee called Marius Sava, he had been lured into a quiet area by the provocative charms of Delilah, only to be jumped by Katya and Millie and hauled into Matt's presence. Tied to a chair in a disused building, he was initially convinced that he was about to be murdered despite his captors' assurances to the contrary, but he soon discovered that all these strange people wanted to do was shine a blue light in his eyes, to no apparent effect.

However, if this work was 90% perspiration, the key ingredient turned out to be the 10% inspiration Matt brought to it. There were thousands of potential settings and they would have been days working through them all one at a time, but Matt was looking with expert insight for patterns in the data and after forty or so attempts he began to see them. The adjustments he made became less systematic and included more intuitive leaps as he followed his observations on what did and didn't seem to help.

Because the truth was that, despite all his flaws, Matthew Mitchell was a genius -- at least in this one small field. No one else could have cracked the problem so quickly and on the seventy-third try Marius had replied, as ordered, "Yes, Master, I am you servant and will obey you."

After that, their trip from Romania to Germany via Budapest had been a curious mixture of exhilarating and dull, with a large helping of uncomfortable thrown in; twelve hours inside a goods truck, with only occasional breaks, will do that. The exhilarating part had been Matt in action, on top of the situation and ensuring that they stayed safe and moving by mind controlling a succession of men and leaving a trail of confused victims behind him. He had even started to enjoy it. For the first time he was experiencing the full potential of mind control as a way of getting what you wanted.

When they had made it across the German border, climbed out of the goods truck in a marshalling yard and finally escaped over a fence into the surrounding city, they discovered they had reached Munich. This was all well and good, but raised the question of where to go next. Like Mike Roberts, their only lead was Albrecht Haller in Hamburg, 500 miles away.

Then, as they sat in a park eating a cheap takeaway, Katya got a text on her phone. She read it, swore violently, read it again, declining to tell the others the content, then sat in silence for almost three minutes, before replying, tapping away, creating a message that Matt noticed included a string of numbers. Shortly afterward she received a second text, which she carefully read, before switching her phone off.

"Matt, ladies, we are going to a rural part of Hesse state, where we will find Geoff Mills and all your harem sisters." Katya said. "There Matt will play the white knight, rescue the fair damsels and slay the dragon."

All three of them stared in disbelief at her confident tone. Matt certainly didn't feel much like a hero at that moment. He was dog tired and urgently in need of a shower and a good meal; they all were. But more to the point was the question he asked: "How do you know?"

"Albrecht Haller has just told me."

"Haller? The man who double crossed us and set us up? Surely, it's just another trap?" Millie and Delilah were just as vociferous as Matt; none could understand what Katya was thinking.

"Haller didn't double cross us; or, more accurately, he did but he's done it to everyone," said Katya quietly. "What he's done is played us -- all of us; you, me and Mills too. We have all been so many cards in a complex game of poker and today he won the jackpot and it's time to cash in the chips."

"Thanks for the interesting metaphor, but what does it mean?" asked Matt.

"No time for that now," said Katya, "we have things to do. Matt, I suggest you 'persuade' a taxi driver that he really wants to take us from here to Hessen State but not bother to charge us for the privilege."

*****

Some days had passed since Geoff Mills had last seen Albrecht Haller and he was conscious that it was probably time he started work for the German, but the truth was that he was enjoying himself too much to bother for the moment. He was lying in bed with a naked Ilse and Carly while Georgia had just brought him breakfast in bed -- orange juice, croissants and coffee. Matthew Mitchell's former PA was dressed in a French maid's outfit so tiny as to hardly cover anything. Geoff thought this look rather fetching and had bought several of these uniforms.

He was just contemplating how much better the American girl looked dressed in this humiliating outfit than in a smart business suit, when Baumann politely knocked on the door and entered. "Master, we have captured an intruder, a young lady who says her name is Natalia."

"Really," said Geoff in surprise. As far as he was aware only Haller knew he was here. "Bring her to me. I'd like to know what she wants." His surprise increased when she was shown in. "I'm sure I know you. We've met before, haven't we?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "in a motel near Brighton."

"Oh yes, of course ... you were a customer of mine and had some relationship with Bradley Gilmour." Then he grinned, "I remember the meeting well now ... and what happened afterward. You had that red-haired eighteen-year-old slut with you."

"Yes, Stacey," Katya confirmed.

"And I had brought Ellie Walcott with me as a sample of my work. Hmm ... the four of us had some fun that night. I remember fucking you hard from behind and you were howling like a bitch on heat. So how come you've turned up here?" Geoff asked.

"I work for Albrecht Haller now. He sent me," she said, half truthfully. "He said that if I was caught, you would understand what to do."

"Did he?" said Geoff, "Well I hope he doesn't mind losing you, as now you're here, you'll be staying. I recall you made a very pleasant and submissive cock-sleeve and I've always got room for more of those." He had interpreted her remark to mean Haller had sent her as a spy but if she failed by getting caught then he was free to add her to his harem.

Geoff climbed out of bed. He was naked, but as everyone here except the girl who had called herself Natalia was his slave that didn't matter. He picked up the aerosol version of his drug from the bedside table, went up to Katya and spayed it in her face, then took out his ultrasound device. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Natalia Rostova," Katya said, using the name that Mills already knew her by as she thought it was best to keep things simple. The first part of this -- convincing Mills that he had mind-controlled her -- was going to be tedious, but she had to admit she was rather looking forward to what might follow afterward.

*****

An hour later Katya was naked on Geoff's bed, her hands tied behind her back, her head down between Ilse's spread legs where her tongue was busy lapping at the German girl's pussy, her rear half kneeling, bottom up, while Geoff Mills was behind her, gripping her hips as he pounded his cock into her tight, wet cunt, taking her hard and fast. Her buttocks were red and sore from where Mills had spanked her with a paddle for ten minutes before fucking her.

Katya was blissfully happy. Had she actually been under mind-control and forced into this then some part of her might have hated it, but she was fully in control and choosing to allow herself to be treated in this way and it was just what she needed. Mostly she was dominant in her life and relationships and -- again mostly -- that was how she liked it, and yet just occasionally she enjoyed giving herself completely to a man.

Geoff Mills was an odd case. He was very average in appearance and physique (although well-endowed in one key department) and there was little to distinguish him, other perhaps than his rich, deep voice, and yet Katya found him exciting. She supposed it was his domineering ways; the fact that he clearly didn't care about anyone other than himself. If you had the occasional desire to be dominated and used like a piece of meat then Geoff Mills was your man. It would have been intolerable to Katya on a permanent basis but just now ...

The irony was that she knew that she would easily have taken Geoff down now and ended the whole business; there was nothing to stop her. However, she had very good reasons for wanting Matthew Mitchell to have that honour and -- frankly -- she was enjoying this too much to stop.

In fact, she was enjoying this a lot ... Katya felt her thoughts begin to fragment. An orgasm was building inside her and it was going to be a beauty. Her clitoris was throbbing, her skin flushed and her legs were quivering. She felt pulsating waves centred on her clit and pussy starting to spread through her body. Katya let the feelings explode through her as she came, Geoff Mills' hard cock still thrusting rhythmically into her spasming cunt.

*****

Matt, Delilah and Millie had an uncomfortable four hours in the forest that surrounded the compound waiting for Katya to come and let them through the back gate they had found. The plan had been for her to enter and allow herself to be caught, knowing that Mills was certain to try and mind control her. She would pretend to succumb and once it was safe sneak away and let the rest of them in.

"You were a long time," grumbled Matt, when at last she appeared. "And what in God's name are you doing dressed like that?"