Under His Influence

“Or you’re just deluded. A madman. Works just as well.”

“Oh, come on, Miranda, that’s unworthy of you. I thought you were bright. That’s why you’re here. You’re a smart girl, unlike your drippy little friend.”

“She’s your wife! You vowed to love her.”

“Oh, vows, schmows. You humans take everything too seriously. I mean, ‘forsaking all others’—is that a life sentence or what? All the same, I’m looking for my brood partner, and I think I might have found her.”

“Brood partner? What a revolting term. And have you forgotten that Anna is expecting your child?”

“Oh, I know. A mistake, as I said.”

“But…but…”

“You’d be spluttering if you were saying that out loud, wouldn’t you? I know. I don’t expect you to understand me. I just expect you to want me.”

“Anna wants you. Anna loves you.”

“But she’s a mistake, Miranda.”

“You keep saying that! Why? Why is she a mistake? And what on earth is going on? You’re obviously embroiled in some huge plot, but what is it? Where do we fit in?”

“I wanted a journalist. I was looking for a journalist. It’s why I was in that bar, the Dolly. Because it was opposite a newspaper office and, sooner or later, an attractive and available young cub reporter was going to trot in and, when she did, I’d be ready. But Anna isn’t a journalist.”

“No, she’s a sub-editor. Why did you want a journalist?”

“I want someone who can help me influence the media. I need a few stories planted here and there. And I need access to the man who owns your paper.”

“Rodney Merchant? But he lives in the U.S. now. You’re in the wrong country.”

“I know that now. Even my research falls down sometimes. But it’s too late now. Besides, he comes back for meetings all the time. I want your editor to introduce us.”

“Anna said you’d already met Prendergast.”

“We didn’t get on. We had some ideological differences.”

“So your plan is crashing about your ears. You married the wrong woman and you can’t get the editor on your side. I’d give up if I were you. Go back to wherever it was you came from.”

“Life-strainist,” he accused. “Go back to where you came from? You sound like one of those shaven-headed men never seen without a pit bull terrier and a can of Tennants Extra. Shame on you, Miranda. No,” he continued, resting his chin on Mimi’s head, holding her by the shoulders so that her skin crawled with inconvenient longing. “I can’t go back. Ever. But I can stop them coming here.”

“Them?”

“My fellow planetarians. I can stop them coming down here and colonising your tatty little world. All I need to do is repair the hole in the ozone layer.”

“Oh. I see.”

“You see that I have many reasons for wanting to perfect my project, Miranda. But I need money. More money. Lots of it. And if you can get me Rodney Merchant, I can get the money.”

“I… This is so much to take in… I can’t think… Can you at least release me from this awful chair? I’m beginning to understand you, John, but I need to know more. Much more.”

“You don’t need to know anything, Miranda. You just need a bit more of this.”

He nuzzled the side of her face and then he peeled off the gag and replaced it with his lips, intense and searching, holding her captive with his teeth and tongue. Mimi had no means of resistance, and she was not sure she could have fought him off anyway, once the kiss started doing its treacherous work on her body, bringing it to his complete subjection. All conscious thought flew out of her head and she was in an alien place, a place of dark, erotic rapture that beguiled her like the devil himself. This is what he did to Anna, a tiny voice of dissent, waking up, squeaked from a corner of her brain. This is how he enslaved her. But the voice was weak, and Mimi did not know how long she would be able to hang on to it.

“Weird. I wonder what’s happened to her?” Liam flattened his second empty beer can, not entirely able to concentrate on Grease on the TV screen.

“I’m a bit worried,” Anna said, turning huge scared eyes to him. “I’m all alone here, and I haven’t heard from John, and now Mimi… I hope she’s okay. She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Oh, sweetheart!” Fat tears were rolling down Anna’s cheeks. Liam put an awkward arm around her, hugging her to his chest. “Mimi can look after herself. She can look after the whole world if she sets her mind to it. She’ll be fine. Don’t cry. Please.”