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.
