Chapter 1

They were the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy.

The universe produced all kinds of life forms in many variants: interesting, distressing, harmless, wonderful, amazing, mindlessly destructive, and in some cases, those that were purposefully and highly efficiently malicious. Evolution and random development dictated that the malevolent life forms would have varying degrees of effectiveness, but that some would be more capable than others.

In a universe as big as ours, chances are that a few of these life forms were going to be incredibly deadly to other forms of life.

The Stellar Union occupied only a fraction of the Milky Way, but its territory was large enough that it encountered its fair share of malignant life forms. They all had one thing in common: they were not merely deadly, they were parasitical in nature. They survived by taking over, controlling, and conquering all other forms of life, altering them to suit their own purposes.

The most deadly of these parasites could take over entire worlds. They could leap to the top of the food chain, taking over the highest form of life on a planet, and modify its DNA to suit its own purposes.

The Stellar Union encountered several virulent parasitical life forms such as these, and fought them as though their lives depended on it. Which it did. A single member of the most dangerous parasite, once lodged on an unsuspecting planet, could take over an entire planet within a handful of years.

Eventually the most deadly of parasites were brought to heel, contained, or destroyed. The few who survived were locked up under high security. But even high security was not always enough to contain creatures such as these ... and when a ship full of them crash landed on Earth, no one would be safe.

Second Prologue: The Breach

“Zarabeth, do you hear me?” came the voice over the comm.

Zarabeth, sitting in the cockpit of Special Containment Ship Z4, smiled. “I hear you, Dunlop 4,” she said.

“Status.”

“Dunlop, you call every day to ask that. And every day, for the past 143 days, you have received the same answer. Do you really think this time will be any different?” She asked. She checked the rear sensor. Dunlop 4’s scoutship was in perfect formation, half a mile behind the Special Containment Ship.

“Status,” Dunlop repeated.

Zarabeth resisted the urge to sigh. Dunlop was always business. She had met him, briefly, before the mission had started. He had seemed like a very serious man. She knew a little about his history, how he had lost his family to the parasites, how he had fought them for hundreds of years, through all his versions. It had changed him, made him a harder person. That was a shame, really, since Zarabeth found him quite attractive.

“Status unchanged,” said Zarabeth, checking the instruments, even though there was no need.

“Prisoners?”

“All containment and stasis fields are green,” said Zarabeth.

“Ship status?”

“All functioning properly and on course. Really, Dunlop, when are you going to stop worrying?”

“When the mission is complete. Out,” said Dunlop.

When the mission was complete. In another 58 days they would reach the black hole which was the border between this universe and Dimension 93. Then the prisoners would be put in a shielded bubble and shot into the center of it, and cross over.

It seemed like an incredible amount of work. But the Stellar Union, while it eliminated enemies in combat, did not believe in executing prisoners, even ones as heinous and as dangerous as these. For a time they had been contained on a top security facility on Ilotosh IV, but after two escapes, one of which had quickly spread and Infected nearly a tenth of the planet’s population in a matter of weeks, it was decided that they were too dangerous to be held anywhere.

So they were sentenced to be cast into Dimension 93. This Special Containment Ship was called into action, and the crew was handpicked. All three of them, Zarabeth 2, Zhanna 1, and Zenia 8, were special “Z” class guards who were specially trained to resist parasitical invasion; but even they were not totally immune.

Still, the prisoners were locked up and in stasis. They couldn’t even think, much less move.

But Zarabeth shuddered every time she looked at the six, large prison compartments. Given enough time, there were enough parasites in there to Infect the entire galaxy.

The Special Containment Ship was not large. The main lounge connected all the chambers, including the cockpit, each of the crew quarters, and each of the containment areas.

While Zarabeth was on duty, Zenia and Zhanna were both in their quarters; Zenia was reading, and Zhanna was sleeping.

No one was in the central lounge.

And then, suddenly, someone appeared in the central lounge.

A bald purple and black man.

A bald man who was half purple, half black, wearing clothes which were also half black, and half purple. The left side of his body was purple, the right side black, and the left half of his clothes were black, the right side purple.

The most amazing thing about the black and purple man was his eyes. They were simply wild. And he had a manic smile to match. He looked insane, capable of anything.

For a moment the purple and black man looked around at all the doors, to the crew quarters, to the cockpit, and to the containment areas, and he simply smiled broadly, considering the possibilities. He seemed to relish simply being there, at that moment, having the power to do anything he wanted.

The purple and black man walked over to the first of the containment doors and put his hands over it, as if sensing what was inside. He closed his eyes and concentrated, then shook his head, and went to the next one.

One by one, the purple and black man went from containment door to containment door, until finally he found the one he wanted. He looked at it for a moment, and just savored the feeling.

It was the very beginning of the very beginning. He would never have that moment again, never again have that kind of power to set things in motion.

The purple and black man spent a full ten minutes just ... savoring it. Then he finally nodded, and waved his hand, and the door opened, bypassing the security lockout.

This particular Containment Chamber was crowded. It was full of creatures. Many looked like insects. Bugs of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. Some also looked like pancakes, yellow brown pancakes, some bigger, some smaller, ranging from three to ten inches in diameter.

All of them, encased in a blue stasis field, were unmoving.

Which one to take?

The purple and black man smiled and closed his eyes, and grabbed blindly. The stasis field should have immobilized his hand, but didn’t. He reached into the field and grabbed something.

When he pulled it out, he opened his hand and looked at it. It was a thick worm, approximately three inches long.

The purple and black man looked a little disappointed. He had hoped for more. But he had set the rules of the game, and was going to play by them.

The worm, outside the stasis field, immediately started to wriggle, to move across his palm towards his wrist. But the purple and black man waved a finger at it, and it immediately froze in its tracks.

The purple and black man closed the Containment Door and moved to the crew quarters. He hovered behind one of them. Empty. He moved to the next one. Zenia was inside, reading. She didn’t make a sound, but somehow the purple and black man knew she was awake. Then he moved to the door to Zhanna’s quarters, and he sensed what was inside, and he nodded. He waved a hand, and the door opened silently.

Inside Zhanna was asleep, face down on her bed. She was wearing a nightgown that was backless, which exposed her smooth, creamy skin.

The purple and black man crept to the foot of her bed. He put the worm at the very foot of it.

Immediately, the worm came alive. Inch by inch, it started to move.

The purple and black man smiled broadly and left the room, waving a hand to make the door close silently behind him.

Then the purple and black man took one last look around, gave another big smile, and waved a hand, and totally disappeared.

Zhanna had been dreaming. She was making love.

This was not a dream from the memory of her original self, but actually her, Zhanna One. She remembered a time when a young man who worked as a functionary for the Stellar Union had taken a liking to her.

“You’re very brave, to take on a mission such as this,” said the young man. Celarus? That had been his name.

“I am programmed to serve,” said Zhanna.

“That you are,” said Celarus, who got a gleam in his eye when she said the word “programmed”. “But you are also a lovely young woman.” And then he put a hand over hers, and that was all he needed to do.

In her line of work, Zhanna didn’t get many opportunities to socialize. She immediately understood what was being offered and accepted it. She gave a quick nod as she met Celarus’s eyes, and let him lead her off to a side chamber.

He proceeded to undress her and gently make love to her. It was wonderful. It had been so long ... so long ... Zhanna could feel Celarus, plunging in and out of her, his organ thrusting, rubbing against her clitoris, rubbing so strongly. It felt so real, so unlike a dream, and when she climaxed, powerfully, she cried out, and opened her eyes.

She was in her bed, drenched in sweat. She hadn’t had a dream like that for a long time! She checked the chrono.

Zhanna stood up, yawning, while slowly stretching. She took off her nightgown and entered the sonic shower. She let it scrape off the dust and sweat particles until she was reasonably clean.

When she emerged, she was reaching for her uniform when she felt the first twinge.

Down there.

Zhanna sat down on her bed and slowly spread her legs.

There it was again. Another twinge.

Zhanna spread her vaginal lips. What she saw made her gasp.

There was a worm, half buried in her flesh, nestled around her clitoris.

Zhanna gasped with surprise. Instinctually, she reached down to pluck it out of her, but she felt a sharp pain, radiating from her clitoris, even as she put hastily pulled her hand away.

The worm could sense what she was about to do. She experimentally tried moving her hand closer to her clitoris, very slowly. The pain started to ramp up again. By the time her hand was only a few inches away, she had to grit her teeth from the discomfort. She pulled her hand away, and the pain ceased.

“How did you get out of containment?” Zhanna asked. Of course the worm, being a first stage parasite, did not answer. “And how did you get in here?”

She had to warn the others. More of them could be at large. She went over to press the comm button, and felt a stabbing pain in her groin, and she doubled over.

The parasite had chosen the perfect place to take control of her. The clitoris was one of the most sensitive parts of the body, with thousands of nerve endings. Used gently, it could give tremendous pleasure, but in the wrong hands, it could deliver terrible agony.

The parasite, even in stage one, seemed to know enough about her intentions. If she tried to remove it, or to warn others, it would cause her tremendous agony. But what if she simply went to Zarabeth and yelled for help?

The parasite seemed to sense her thoughts, for suddenly an image appeared in her mind of her doing just that. She saw herself crying for help in front of Zarabeth, and then she saw herself scream in agony and fall to the ground. In her vision, Zarabeth bent down and checked her pulse. “Her heart has stopped,” Zarabeth said, to Zenia.

The creature was sending her a message.

Could it deliver enough pain in one stroke to kill her?

Possibly.

Zhanna sat down on the bed. “Can you understand me?”

She felt a slight tinge of pleasure in her clitoris. She didn’t want to admit that felt good.

“All right, I understand, I can’t warn anyone, or remove you. Let’s make a deal,” said Zhanna. “Your friends, in containment, are scheduled to be send into Dimension 93 when we reach the black hole in two months. If you do nothing to spread yourself or cause any trouble, I will allow you to remain within me. Then, after the mission is over, I will drop you on an uninhabited world. The way you breed, you can become the dominant life form in a matter of months. Are we agreed?”

She felt a slight tinge of pleasure, and heaved a sigh of relief.

It was not an ideal solution; all the parasites were supposed to be destroyed. She herself had become somewhat compromised. But the parasite, while limiting her course of action, did not control her mind. With this bargain, she should be able to complete the mission without Infecting others.

She got dressed and went into the lounge. The very first thing she did was check the Containment Chambers. The indicators said they were all secure. How had this parasite escaped? She looked around the Lounge for any other escapees.

“Looking for something?” Zenia 8 asked brightly.

“No,” said Zhanna quickly. Zenia gave her a hug, and then held her hands. “I heard you cry out last night.”

“I ... uh...”

“Oh, it was one of those dreams, huh?” said Zenia, giving a knowing look as she turned to get breakfast from the Food Fabricator.

Zarabeth came out of the cockpit. “Good morning, ladies.” They each gave her a kiss on the lips. Zarabeth looked at Zhanna. “You look a little stressed, Zhanna.”

“Zhanna had a wild dream,” said Zenia, giving Zarabeth a wink.

Zarabeth smiled. “I suppose it’s natural, given how long we’ve been out of space. The Dispatcher has promised us an extended Pleasure Vacation with extra Sexathon Credits upon our return, in light of our dedicated service, and the importance of this mission.”

A Pleasure Vacation that Zhanna would not be able to enjoy, not until she got rid of this parasite nestling between her legs.

After a leisurely breakfast, where Zhanna didn’t eat much, Zarabeth yawned. “I’m tired. I’m going straight to bed.”

“I relieve you, sir,” said Zhanna.

“I consider myself relieved,” Zarabeth smiled, heading to her chambers.

Zhanna made her way to the cockpit, and sat in it, all alone. Well, not quite alone.

She did a routine systems check, feeling nervous. Would the creature attempt to take control of the ship? To sabotage the life support? To send a message?

But as the time passed, Zhanna saw that the creature was perfectly quiescent within her. She was hard pressed to even feel its presence. Perhaps it would keep its word.

Each of the three of them had their own shifts, and their awake periods also overlapped, but there was usually a two or three hour period, towards the end of her shift, when Zhanna was on duty and the others were asleep. Zarabeth would be long asleep by then, and Zenia liked to take a power nap before her shift started.

Towards the end of her shift, Zhanna felt herself getting up and entering the lounge. She didn’t quite know why.

She felt herself gravitating towards the Containment Doors. She slowly moved to the last one, the one that contained the Hive creatures. As she moved towards it, she started to feel pleasure radiating from between her legs. It felt so good!

She hovered near the door, enjoying the feeling. But then the feeling faded. She took another step towards the door. The good feeling grew stronger again, but only for a moment.

Finally she was right up against the door controls. She knew now what the creature wanted, what it was trying to manipulate her to do.

Zhanna felt a sharp pain between her legs. She gasped. Then she felt another sharp pain.

She put her hands up to the door controls. Immediately the pain ceased. In fact, she started to feel good again. Better than good. She started to rub the areas around the door controls. It was as if rubbing the wall was like rubbing herself, as if she was masturbating herself by rubbing the wall. It felt good, so very good.

Zhanna gasped, closing her eyes, lost in pleasure, as she let her finger roam the controls. And then her finger fell over the release button, and suddenly she heard a soft hiss and the door opened.

She jumped back. She saw the blue containment field separating her from the parasites. There were all kinds of them, insects, spiders, and pancake-shaped creatures.

“No,” said Zhanna.

Suddenly she felt the sharp pain between her legs again. The pain grew.

“No,” said Zhanna again.

The pain only increased.

Suddenly, without being aware of it, through the pain, Zhanna reached up and put a stasis glove on, which covered her left hand and lower arm. Immediately, the pain was tremendously reduced.

Zhanna, gasping, got up. “No, please no,” she said.

She felt the pain starting to build again. She knew what she was going to be made to do. She had no choice.

Zhanna reached inside with the glove. She knew she had to pick something. Her hand brushed a giant black spider, nearly a foot in diameter. She shuddered. If she let that loose, it would quickly take over the entire crew. She reached for the most harmless thing she could find, which, as it turned out, was another worm.

She extracted it and put it in a sealed containment jar. It immediately came alive, wriggling to escape. Zhanna removed the stasis glove and closed the containment door. She looked around. The Lounge was still empty.

Zhanna went back to her quarters. She knew what would happen next.

She held the containment jar in her hands. As she touched it, she started to feel pleasure between her legs again.

“No,” she whispered, as the pleasure started to fade. She started touching the containment jar, which caused the pleasure between her legs to grow. The stronger she rubbed the containment jar, the closer to the top she rubbed it, the stronger her pleasure grew. And then she was lost in the pleasure, rubbing the jar, and then the top of the lid had come off, but Zhanna didn’t notice that, because she was lost in an orgasm.

When she recovered from it and opened her eyes, she looked at the jar. It was empty.

She looked around for the second parasite, but it was gone. She could find no traces of it. That worried her.

She checked the chrono. She had to get back to the cockpit. It was almost time to hand over control to Zenia.

After Zhanna had handed over control to Zenia, she went back to her quarters and searched again, but couldn’t find the other worm. Where was the second parasite? Had it gone on to Infect one of the others? One parasite, alone, was a concern. But it wasn’t powerful enough to take over someone’s mind. Well, there was nothing she could do about it.

She lay down and forced herself into an uneasy sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she got up, feeling no different, and took a sonic shower. When she came out, and saw the reflection of her back in the holographic mirror, she gasped.

She had two worms lodged on her upper back. Between her shoulder blades.

The first worm, the one that had been between her legs, had migrated to her back. And the second worm had joined it.

This confirmed Zhanna’s worst suspicion. The parasites intended to take full control of her body.

She reached over her shoulder to try to pluck the parasites off, but felt a stabbing pain and dropped to the ground. The parasites were now lodged over the top of her spinal column and could deliver pain to any part of her body. Matters kept getting worse.

“We had a deal,” Zhanna cried. There was no answer from the parasites. “We had a deal,” she sobbed.

There was no choice now. She knew what fate was in store for her. She had a faint hope that perhaps the parasites would be satisfied once they controlled her, but she doubted it. The best she could hope to do was to slow their rate of taking control of her mind.

She put on her uniform and went into the lounge. Zenia was there and greeted her. Zhanna opened her mouth to cry for help, but felt a severe stabbing pain, inside her head. She staggered against the wall.

“Zhanna, what’s wrong?” Zenia cried, seeing her in pain.

Zhanna knew if she said the wrong word, that the parasites would make her head explode. “I ... I just have a headache,” she said.

“Oh, you dear!” Zenia went away and returned with a pain pill. “Take this.”

Zhanna took it under her watchful eyes.

“How long have you been like this?”

“Not long,” said Zhanna, wishing she could tell Zenia the truth. But the creature would probably kill her instantly. Could she sacrifice herself to save the crew? She tried to find the strength within herself, but a hint of the pain returned, and her courage fled.

“Well, you just rest up. Your shift isn’t for another eight hours. Why don’t you go back to bed after you eat?”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” said Zhanna. Back to bed. With her growing parasites.

She did go back to bed, but only so Zenia couldn’t see her sob. She knew what was coming next.

When her turn came to take the watch, she knew what would happen.

After the others were asleep, she felt compelled to return to the lounge.

“Momomomom,” she muttered. She had started saying that to herself, during her shift alone in the cockpit. She knew that was the first sign. The first sign of control.

Zhanna started to feel sexual arousal again, and began to rub herself between her legs. Even though there was nothing between her legs, no creature there, she was being stimulated by the two worms between her shoulder blades. The parasites could stimulate or punish any part of her body from there.

She started to rub herself more and more rapidly as she approached the containment door. She felt her sexual need increase twofold as she stood before the door controls. She rubbed and rubbed herself but couldn’t climax. She desperately needed to--

Zhanna opened the door. She saw the creatures in stasis. She knew what she had to do. She knew what she shouldn’t do. As she rubbed between her legs, desperately trying to extinguish the burning need, she knew what she had to do.

She put on a stasis glove and reached in. Without hesitation she took out another worm.

Then she removed the stasis glove and closed the compartment.

This time the worm was not in a containment jar. It was on her naked hand. An oversight? Intentional or accidental?

Zhanna had no time to ponder as she saw the worm start to traverse to her wrist. She moved to pluck it off, but felt a terrible pain in her head. She collapsed to the ground.

She felt rather than saw the worm slowly make its way up her lower arm, then her upper arm, then her shoulder, then to her back to join the other two worms between her shoulder blades. In moments it was in place, digging into her flesh...

“Momomomom,” said Zhanna. “Mamoonishom. Mamoonishom,” she said, not even realizing at first that she was the one saying it.

She had three parasites on her back now, and they were starting to assert control.

Zhanna forced herself up and back to the cockpit. She searched the database for information about these kinds of parasites.

Four. That was the number she came up with. Typically, four of the first stage parasites were needed to move up to the second layer of control.

And she had three.

Suddenly, the comm crackled. It was Dunlop 4, in the escorting scoutship, requesting a status report.

“Report, Containment Ship, report,” his voice said, and Zhanna realized he had been repeating his message several times.

What to tell him? That she was Infested with parasites? She couldn’t tell him that; they wouldn’t let her.

She finally activated the comm. “This is Zhanna,” she said.

“Zhanna? Why did it take you so long to respond?” Dunlop 4 asked.

“I ... I was in the aft section of the ship, checking the Containment Chambers.”

“Are they secure?” Dunlop asked, anxiety clearly in his voice.

“Yes,” said Zhanna, thinking of the three parasites on her back. “All secure. Very secure.” What else could she say? What else would they permit her to say?

Zhanna spent the next 24 hours under a cloud of dread. She knew what would happen next. She knew the aliens would take it to the next level, and begin to take control of her mind. She looked at the parasites on her back in the holographic mirror. They had seemed to grow longer, thicker. All they needed was one more.

“We had a deal!” she sobbed. They didn’t respond. “We had a deal!” she cried again.

They didn’t care.

She settled into an uneasy sleep. From time to time she muttered, “Mamoonishom. Mamoonishom. Momomomomomomom Mamoonishom.”

The next day, when she took her shift, she knew what was coming.

She resolved not to leave the cockpit.

But sure enough, six hours into her shift, she somehow found herself back in the crew lounge. In front of the last containment door.

“No,” she whispered. She felt tremendous sexual arousal as she rubbed the side of the door controls. She tried to prolong it, to gently pet and caress the door controls, as if she were masturbating a sexual partner slowly, to give pleasure, but not to allow him to climax. It felt so good! She rubbed her finger up and down the door controls and shuddered with pleasure. But before long her fingers were moving wildly, brushing them every which way, and her finger rubbed the door control (accidentally? on purpose?) and the door opened.

And then Zhanna felt the tremendous burning between her legs. She had a great need that could only be satisfied in one way. Without hesitation, Zhanna put on a stasis glove, and took out a worm.

Zhanna looked at it for a long moment, She knew that one more worm was the tipping point. She knew that with one more worm she was lost. She would be totally under their control.

But she needed it so badly. She was so far gone, that she actually tilted her head forward and dropped it on the back of her neck.Why had she done that?

She had no time to consider as she suddenly felt a tremendous orgasm. She sank to her knees, barely aware of the fourth worm moving to join the others.

That night she had vivid dreams. Of pancake like creatures, thousands of them. “Mamoonishom,” Zhanna cried in her sleep. “Mamoonishom Mamoonishom Mamoonishom,” she said, as she rubbed between her legs. It felt so good!

When she woke up in the morning, she looked at her back in the holographic mirror.

And saw a newly formed pancake like creature.

The worms had combined to form a rider, as she knew they would. She saw it gently pulsate on her back, between her shoulder blades. She knew better than to try to remove it.

“Welcome,” said Zhanna. She looked startled. Had she just said that?

“What are you?” said Zhanna.

“We are part of the Hive Mind. As you soon will be,” said Zhanna. It was as if two different people were speaking out of her mouth, she and ... the other.

“No,” said Zhanna.

“Get dressed. You must act normally or the others will become suspicious.”

She had no choice. She got dressed, and went out into the lounge. Zarabeth and Zenia were already there. She thought it should have been obvious to them that she had a rider on her back, under her clothes, but they were totally oblivious to it, making small talk with her.

“You still look stressed, Zhanna,” said Zenia, putting a hand on hers.

“Everything is fine,” said Zhanna, feeling a bit startled. She hadn’t said that. Zhanna found that while she could talk, so could the other within her. She tried to call out for help, but found the instinct died wordlessly in her throat.

“You still look a bit out of sorts. Would you like a full body massage?” Zenia asked.

“Perhaps later,” said Zhanna, the other Zhanna.

Zhanna worried that once she entered the cockpit, the creature would take control of her body and do something drastic, like sabotage the life support system.

But the creature didn’t yet seem to have the ability to control her arms and legs. For now, its control was limited to her mouth. The creature told Zhanna it wanted to look at the database of planets, and after a bit of pain, Zhanna complied. It had her sift through one after another after another, using Zhanna’s eyes to read through them, but analyzing the results by itself. It gave her a jab of discomfort when it wanted her to move on to the next one. Finally it stopped at one entry.

“This will serve us nicely,” Zhanna heard herself say.

Zhanna looked at the entry. “Earth. Semi-primitive planet, development L-4. 15 billion people.”

“Exactly,” said Zhanna, relishing the thought. “Low technology means low ability to resist. And a large population means more hosts. It will be perfect for us.”

“But we are going to N9481,” said Zhanna, referring to the black hole which was a gateway to Dimension 93.