yelled, mad as hell.
Mabuse grabbed her shoulders. "Eile, calm down!"
"Goddammit, you say yer gonna put some monstrosity inside me, and you tell me ta calm down?! Don't you talk shit ta me, you asshole! You let me go, now! You even come near with some thing and I'll freakin' kill you, I swear it!"
Mabuse clasped both sides of Eile's face with her hands. "Enough! If you don't get control of yourself this minute, I'll sedate you!"
"Fuck you, ya crazy bitch!"
Mabuse frowned, and her whole face set itself into a hard mask. "Now, you listen to me! I can inject you with a drug that'll leave you awake and aware, but destroy your will. You won't be able to resist and you'll do everything I tell you. You'll even do it gladly. Is that what you want?"
Eile understood Mabuse wasn't bluffing; what's more, she figured the mad scientist wasn't lying, either. She stopped struggling and lay still, trying to get her labored breathing under control and quiet her heart thumping rapidly against her chest. "No," she said, glaring.
Mabuse nodded, let her go, and straightened up. "Very good. Cooperate with me, and you can survive this in reasonably good shape; fight me, and you'll be dead, or a vegetable. Understand?"
Eile would have nodded if she could. "Yes," she said.
"All right. I have a few more tests to run, and then I'll put you in a containment cell until I'm ready for you." She picked up a device that looked like a dildo, except it had a cup at one end that looked like a diaphragm.
"What's that for?" Eile asked, as Mabuse spread lubricant over it.
"It'll tell me what stage your fertility cycle is in," she explained as she inserted it into Eile's vagina.
"What? Why -- AHH!" There was some minor pain as it slipped past her hymen, but Mabuse was slow and gentle. She stopped when she reached the cervix, then turned the device carefully to seat it with a firm, snug fit.
"Why do you need to know that?"
"I need to know if you're ovulating," Mabuse replied as she went to a control panel along the wall.
"But why?"
"The method of implantation requires that you be mated to the organism's adult form."
"What?! Holy Jesus --!" she began, but was cut off when Mabuse activated the device. Immediately, she felt an electrical and vibrational sensation inside her that stimulated her sexual arousal. It was like using a vibrator, except far more intense. She couldn't think of anything else as fire ran along her nerves throughout her body and her muscles convulsed with the first of what would be numerous orgasms. She wailed and moaned in an uncontrollable manner, totally abandoning herself to the experience.
From "Dribble & Maggot Meet Redjack"
"Lady Margaret?"
She looked up and saw Differel's butler standing over her, holding a cup of coffee. She flashed a weak smile as she accepted it.
"Thank you, Aelfraed."
"You mustn't blame yourself, My Lady."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but that's easier said than done."
"Sir Differel knew the risks--"
"Yes, but I was supposed to be watching her back, and...I didn't do a very good job."
He took on a more stern and authoritarian demeanor, as if switching roles from loyal family servant to those of Caerleon Order Chief of Staff and responsible adult. "There will be time for recriminations later. At the moment we must concentrate on finding Sir Differel as soon as possible."
She frowned in irritation as she stood up. She didn't like people giving her orders at the best of times, and certainly not servants taking on airs, no matter how much authority they actually possessed. "You and Mr. Holt have that well in hand. I would only get in the way."
"Then I would appreciate it if you stayed out of it altogether."
She looked past Aelfraed as he turned to gaze at the speaker. A spare dapper towheaded man in a business suit stood just inside the opening to the tent. His appearance reminded her of Willem Defoe.
"And you would be?" she asked.
"Inspector Halpren of the Metropolitan Police Service." He displayed his badge and identification card. "I've been assigned to the search for Director Van Helsing."
Aelfraed nodded. "Very good, Inspector. We could use all the help we can get."
He stepped further in. "I'm afraid you don't understand. I've been placed in charge. This is now a police matter, and I would appreciate you and your people clearing out so my men can conduct a thorough search unimpeded."
Margaret did a mental double take in surprise, but she said nothing. Aelfraed was technically in charge, but she could intervene if necessary.
"Inspector--"
"Mr. Walters, I understand your desire to find your mistress, but there is nothing the Order can do that the Met cannot. Now, I strongly urge you to withdraw and leave the matter in our hands. I give you my word, I will contact you the moment we find out anything definite."
"Inspector, this happens to be a Caerleon Order operation."
She noted his voice was tighter and sharper than normal, but she couldn't fault him for that.
"It was. My orders come direct from the Commissioner; if you object, take it up with him. Now then, are you Margaret Chesham?"
"Inspector!"
She had never heard him raise his voice before. She laid her hand on his arm. Startled, he glanced at her, but when she smiled and winked, he returned her smile, nodded, and stepped back out of the way.
"I am," she said to Halpren.
"I need to take a statement from you. I understand you were the last person to see her alive."
"She isn't dead yet!" Aelfraed said.
"I sympathize, Mr. Walters, I really do, but we need to be realistic. It's been over ninety minutes since Director Van Helsing disappeared, and Redjack's previous victims were all killed within an hour of being snatched. We really cannot hold out any hope."
"I understand, Inspector," she said, "and I assure you the Order will give you its full cooperation. I am at your disposal. Meanwhile, Aelfraed and Mr. Holt will begin recalling our search parties. However, it may take some time for them to return."
"Of course."
She looked at Aelfraed. "Would you see to it, please?" And she winked again.
He nodded his head. "As you wish, My Lady." As he looked up he flashed a small, sly smile before exiting the tent. She expected he and Holt would do everything they could to delay while she sounded Halpren out.
She turned her attention back to him and smiled, turning on the charm. "Would you like some coffee?"
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yes; thank you."
She walked over to the table where the refreshments were laid out. The coffee at least was hot if not fresh, but the donuts and bagels were hopelessly stale. She filled a second mug and took it back to him.
"What do you wish to know, Inspector?"
He accepted the coffee. "For now, just tell me the circumstances of her disappearance."
"We were patrolling the blocks south of Brushfield Street to White's Row, between Commercial and Crispin Street. We were heading west up the lorry park between the London Fruit Exchange and the parking garage, towards the Christ Church churchyard, when I thought I saw movement in one of the car ports under the garage."
"Where was Sir Differel in relation to yourself?"
"On my left, ahead of me. We had just passed the entrance for the Dallas News, and she was passing in front of the first of the warehouse doors for the Exchange. I stopped and turned, and shined my torch over the opposite side of the street, but I didn't see anything. When I turned back, Differel was gone."
"You didn't hear anything? A scuffle, a muffled cry?"
"No, Inspector, nothing."
"How far ahead was she?"
"No more than six feet, but no closer than four."
"You can be that precise?"
She flashed one of her sweet arrogant smiles, which always infuriated Dribble no end. "I used to be a Girl Guide."
"I see." His tone suggested he was unimpressed. "
For how long did you turn away?"
"No more than twenty seconds."
"So you're suggesting that Redjack appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Sir Differel, subdued her and dragged her off, vanishing again, all without a sound, in only twenty seconds?"
"I would say in less time than that."
He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then smirked. "I understand the two of you have some history together."
"We've been frenemies for the past eight years."
"You had her excluded from Gresham's School, which you both attended, and you tried to have her Censured, which would have amounted to her being stripped of her title and confined to the Tower indefinitely. Since then you and she have been involved in a number of other incidents together. I was unable to learn any details concerning what happened--they have been classified under national security--but I was able to learn that in each case Sir Differel's life was known to have been in jeopardy."
"As was mine."
"Perhaps, but I find it wildly coincidental that you were the only other person present at all the times Sir Differel nearly died, who also has a history of antagonism towards her. And now she's disappeared."
She figured that would come up in some fashion, but not quite in the way it did. "Are you telling me, Inspector, that I am under suspicion of having orchestrated her disappearance, possibly even her death?"
"You were alone with her, and I believe you hated her enough to want to destroy her. What better time to act than during the killing spree of a notorious serial killer?"
She felt her irritation rise. She prided herself on having better control over her emotions than Differel, in that she could display a wider range than just icy cold or fiery hot. But dealing with bureaucrats