Chapter 8

John sat back and looked at the determined expression in her fiery green eyes. A mixture of trepidation and elation whirled within him. She cared about him like he did her! But how would she take it when he explained to her what MC-125 was? He let out a tense breath he did not know he had been holding. He stood up and circled about the oak desk. He kneeled before her and tugged off his brown leather gloves.

"What are you doing?" a curious, yet slightly frightened, Samantha asked.

John looked up at her and answered with a slight quaver in his voice as he lifted his hands to her face. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. I'm going to have to show you." Gently, he cupped her face and was astounded by the softness of her skin. He told himself to focus and looked deeply into those sparkling emerald eyes and worked a simple command into her mind. John rocked back and placed more of his balance on his heels as he watched.

"What did you do?" Samantha said as her hands lifted and loosed her hair from its coif. Her hands shifted and removed the diamond studs twinkling at her ears.

"Why are you removing your earrings, Samantha?" John asked, already knowing how she would answer.

"Because I feel like it."

"And your hair?"

"I'm more comfortable this way."

John smiled to himself. "No, Samantha. You are doing those things because I told you to."

"You didn't say anything of the sort," she snorted and placed the diamonds in John's outstretched hand.

"No, I commanded it through my skin."

"What?" she paused.

"Look," John explained as he lifted a bare hand. "Remember the ball last month and we bumped into the GenenCorp VP, Edwards?" She nodded. "Remember how the night ended for him? How he drunk himself senseless and made a total ass of himself?"

"You?"

"Do you think he would of done something like that, regardless of how weak-minded he obviously is?"

"Yes, but..."

John reached out and held her hand. "Let me demonstrate." He let loose his mind and sent out a complex string of commands that was now as easy as breathing. Instantly, he saw Samantha flush as her breathing became labored. She closed her eyes and her head tilted back as she moaned out behind clenched teeth. John's focus snapped as Samantha tore her hand out of his grip. She stood with her back to the door, her face flush with confusion as her chest heaved.

"What... what did you just do?"

John waited patiently for her to catch her breath. He was surprised that she would be able to pull away from him. He had tried that very tactic on some women but never had any of them ever manage to escape his grip when he was commanding. "I tried to induce an orgasm."

Samantha stared wide-eyed at his reply. "What?" John again waited for the bewildered woman to gather her thoughts. "No, that's impossible."

"No, it isn't," John replied calmly. He had by now slipped into his Command mentality. He knew that he was on pins and needles now. Samantha was like a cornered animal; she could bolt at any moment or simply stand still in fear. Not that he could blame her. When it took hold on Cassandra what he could do she was stark terrified of him. Slowly, he watched Samantha bring her breathing under control and then her calm composure slid back into place. Remarkable, John thought.

"Explain," she managed under a steady voice.

John stood up and made his way back to his desk and sat down. Samantha did likewise and sat in her seat. "Remember that conversation with Edwards? About how I was dismissed from GenenCorp because I lacked notes and my slow progress?"

"Yes."

"There was a reason for all that," John said. "You've seen my research and are familiar with my work."

"None of which supports Edwards' claims."

"Right, but in the case with MC-125 I did hold back."

"MC-125? You're project."

"A compound that I was working on for GenenCorp concerning chemo-suggestion. You are aware of GenenCorp's skyrocketing in the stock market a little over a year ago?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with this? They created 'No-Cold' and brought about a new generation of cold medicine."

"Yes and no," John answered. "They did discover 'No-Cold' but that wouldn't explain the robust financial status that they found themselves in. While 'No-Cold' was in research I was working on MC-125. I succeeded. But I exceeded anyone's expectations. I created what was essentially a total mind control drug. So I dumbed it down and extracted key components from it. Edwards saw I was done and moved in. I was discharged and the MC-125 was taken and sold secretly to major food distributors. Their advertising campaigns worked in tandem with the drug and if you look, you'll find also that certain food corporations had a very good year as well."

"And what about the key to MC-125?"

"I didn't have access to a proper Environmental Hazard disposal unit on hand so I did the only logical thing I could think of."

"You drank it."

"Yes."

"And now you have the ability..."

"To command anyone on a whim with my touch," John concluded.

They sat quietly for the next couple of minutes as Samantha digested the information. "And that was how you climbed through ranks so quickly here in Pharmtech," she finally said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," John said simply. "But, I only nudged the people up top to notice me. You can see for yourself that all of my advancement was based on hard work. I have a good track history with the company. I'm not looking for more money or a higher position than what I've got right now. I have all that I need. A secure source of income and a respectable position in a large biotech corporation."

Samantha's eyes hardened. "What you did was cheat the system," she said crisply. "You cheated the system and pretty much got away with it. You aren't the one who decides what kind of job you deserve."

"Then tell me I don't deserve it," John threw back at her. "Tell me I haven't worked hard to earn what I have right now. Tell me that eventually you corporate types would get your heads out of your asses and actually look at the workers under you. Aside from you, every single corporate person I've run into has been another 'Edwards' if only a milder version of him. Tell me that your first month as president here everyone wasn't more concerned about their jobs than on what the company actually accomplished."

Samantha sat quietly while John ranted until he finally calmed down. "Are you done now?"

"Yes," John smiled. "God, that felt good to get out of the system."

Samantha shook her head and smiled at him. "You're right, you know. I was up to my eyes in brown-nosers that first month. And yes, you do deserve your position here. I've read a good chunk of what you've done so far with lung cancer and it does show promise. But that isn't the point. You still cheated."

John sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But was there really some other way to go about it?"

"No," Samantha answered. "You forget that I live in the corporate world. Cheating and lying go with the territory. Lawyers and politicians don't hold a monopoly on it. Some of us just know how to do it better than others. You take a big risk showing me the ace up your sleeve."