Lycanthropos (10 page)

"And you vouch for his loyalty?"

"I vouch for his compliance and his silence." That seemed sufficient and Himmler nodded. Schlacht continued. "We filmed this gypsy Kaldy from shortly before his transformation until he broke out of the cell. Corporal Oberwald, who had been operating the camera, stopped filming at that point, but we were able to save and develop the film." Schlacht licked his lips nervously. "
Reichsführer
, you are familiar with my record, you know me personally. You
must be aware that I am not subject to delusions and that I am
as emotionally stable as any S.S. officer. With that in
mind, I repeat my request. Please take the time to view the film
."

Himmler gazed long and hard at the young officer and then, choosing perhaps to indulge him or choosing perhaps to
trust his own initial instincts regarding this man, he nodded his head curtly. "Very well. Where is the film?"

"My adjutant is waiting outside with
it,"
Schlacht said,
relieved to have surmounted the first of the obstacles which
he knew he was to face this day. "I have taken the liberty
of arranging for a projector and a screen as well, so that you will be able to see the film here in your office."

Himmler sat back in his chair and folded his hands demurely in his lap. "Proceed," he said softly.

The next few minutes seemed to Schlacht to stretch on
for an eternity. His adjutant Vogel brought in the film and
the equipment and began to set up the projector and the portable screen. Schlacht stood by nervously and fidgeted
as Himmler sat motionless, his face impassive and
unreadable.

The room was darkened and the black and white image of Janos Kaldy moved about on the silver projection screen. The flickering images were reflected in the lenses of Himmler's spectacles, and Schlacht sought in vain for any indication of his chief's reaction to what he was seeing.

It was all there, captured on celluloid from the
first wrenching spasm of pain which caused Kaldy to double
over to that moment when the werewolf threw itself against
the
bars of the cell, at which point the S.S. guard had
stopped turning the crank of the camera. Then the screen was
filled with flickering white light as the end of the film reel spun about and slapped against the top of the projector. Vogel turned on the lights in Himmler's office, and Schlacht turned to the
Reichsführer
, awaiting his
response.

Himmler sat pensively, his thin fingers steepled before his lips. Then he said, "Again."

Schlacht nodded to Vogel, who proceeded to rewind the film. When it had been shown for the second time, Himmler said, "Rewind it again. I wish to show it to Festhaller." He reached over to his intercom and instructed his secretary to ask Festhaller to come to his office as quickly as possible. Schlacht knew that this polite request from the chief of the S.S. and the Gestapo would result in an almost immediate compliance. He was correct in his assumption, for not five minutes had passed, five tense, silent minutes,
before Festhaller entered the office.

Joachim Rudolf Festhaller was head of the Race and Species Classifications Division of the Anthropology Department of the
University
of
Berlin
. It was he who, after the passage of the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws of 1935, brought it to the attention of the Party that the principles of National Socialism were not being observed in the Anthropology curricula of the universities throughout the Reich, and it fell to him, a hitherto minor and not particularly well-educated instructor at a small private girls school in Hessen, to reform said curricula. He had found a mentor in Alfred Rosenberg, the Nazi Party's official philosopher, who shared with him an uncritical acceptance of all manner of pseudo-scientific speculations about race and biology. They had even begun to formulate racially correct positions on matters as far
beyond their ken as nuclear physics and architecture.

Festhaller had persuaded Hitler and Himmler that everyone living within the borders of
Germany
needed to be classified according to species and race. With the extension of German military power from the Arctic Circle to the Sahara desert, from the coast of France to the interior of Russia, Festhaller had kept himself quite busy classifying people all over Europe, so busy in fact that he found himself obligated to suspend his activities at the university and work full time at S.S. headquarters in
Berlin.

He regarded his solution to the problem of classifying Dr. Goebbels as his greatest moment. In stark contrast to Hitler's Aryan ideal, Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels was short, olive-skinned, dark-haired, and dark-eyed. After much contemplation, Festhaller created a separate classification for Goebbels, who was then officially recorded as being a
Nachgedunkelte Schrumpfgermane
,
a dwarf-like germanic who
darkened.

Himmler was wondering what Festhaller would make of
Janos Kaldy.

Schlacht waited expectantly for Himmler's opening
remarks to Festhaller. He knew from long experience that the
S.S. chief had a tendency to open discussions in one of two ways, either by expressing an opinion on a subject or by soliciting the opinions of others before expressing his own. If Himmler began by telling Festhaller what he believed about the subject of this impromptu conference, it would mean that he had already made up his mind on the issue and was merely calling upon a pliant subordinate to agree with him. Schlacht was hoping for the other alternative: a
request for evaluation and analysis.

"Colonel Schlacht has brought me a reel of film, Herr
Professor," Himmler said. "It is a record of a most unusual
event involving a Gypsy." He paused, and Schlacht held his breath. "I want you to watch it and give me your opinion."

Schlacht heaved a sigh of relief as the projector was once more switched on and the film was shown for yet a third time.
It is not necessary for the
Reichsführer
fully to believe
, he told himself.
As long as he recognizes that
there is something here that warrants investigation, I will
have succeeded; and from that point on, the logic will carry us to my final goal
.

When the lights were turned back on, Schlacht was pleased to see Festhaller gaping in astonishment at what he had just seen. The Party's race expert removed his thick wire-rimmed glasses and wiped his brow with a gray handkerchief. There was a quality to Festhaller which Schlacht found repulsive. Perhaps it was the perpetual sheen of grease and sweat upon the rolls of fat, or perhaps
it was the way in which the small eyes were enveloped by the
flesh of his cheeks when he smiled. Whatever Festhaller's
racial background might be, and Schlacht did not doubt that
it was pure, the professor was nonetheless far from the Aryan physical ideal. But Schlacht reminded himself that this fat pig had friends in high places, and would be a valuable ally if an ally were needed. Himmler allowed the professor a few moments in which to compose himself, and
then asked. "Well? Is it possible?"

Festhaller cleared his throat. "You will pardon me for asking this, Herr
Reichsführer
, but is there any possibility that this film has been tampered with, falsified
in some way?"

Himmler looked at Schlacht for a response, and the Colonel shook his head vigorously. "Absolutely not, Herr
Professor. I myself was present at the events you just saw,
and the film was shot and developed under my supervision."

Festhaller nodded and pursed his lips contemplatively. He knew Schlacht quite well, professionally, of course, not personally, and he had no doubts about the Colonel's devotion to the awesome task of the racial purification of
Europe
. "In that case, Herr
Reichsführer
, I can only reply that it is impossible but obviously true."

Himmler's face betrayed nothing. "Any speculations, Herr
Professor?"

Festhaller's brow furrowed as he replied, "There are analogues in nature, Herr
Reichsführer
, imperfect but
perhaps useful. What we have here is apparently some sort of
spontaneous genetic mutation, affecting the cell structure of this creature down to the molecular level of the cells.
The Gypsies are, of course, a lower life form, sub-human
like the Jews, but we don't really know very much about their physiologies. Their physical similarity to humans has
protected them from the type of research necessary for an understanding of their biological structures. I have often considered vivisection as…"

Himmler brought Festhaller's attention back to the matter at hand. "What are the analogues you referred to?"

"Well, common things such as the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly or the tadpole into the frog."

"But this transformation," Schlacht broke in, "is periodic and appears to reverse itself."

"Are you certain of this?" Festhaller asked.

"Reasonably certain," Schlacht replied. "Not absolutely
certain. All we are positive of at the moment is that the change occurred. We do not know how or why."

Festhaller nodded again, assimilating this. "We must study this creature, of course, dissect him if need be."

"I would advise against that, except as a last resort," Schlacht said, turning to Himmler. "We may never have such a
specimen to study again, and it would be a great loss to our
science were we to kill him unnecessarily."

"He must be classified," Festhaller muttered. "I tend to
believe that he is not a Gypsy at all, but rather some other form of lower pseudo-human, like the African Negroes or the Red Indians of America. Perhaps we should simply list him, temporarily at least, as
a Lycanthropos."

"Again, Herr Professor?" Himmler asked, cocking his head
in Festhaller's direction.

"A Lycanthropos," he repeated. "It's a Greek word. Literally, it means ‘wolfman.' Lycanthropia has been recognized by some psychologists as a personality disorder which..."

"This is not a personality disorder, Herr Professor, if I may be so bold as to say so," Schlacht observed.

"No, no, certainly not, certainly not," Festhaller
agreed quickly.

"Gentlemen." Himmler said with a tone of finality, "we must do the following things. First, Schlacht, you must find this man once again. That should not present too great a
difficulty, should it?"

"No,
Reichsführer
." Schlacht replied. "I have already
formulated a procedure for his apprehension."

"Good. Then he must be studied." He stood up behind his desk, and Schlacht remarked to himself, as he so often had when dealing with Himmler, how incongruous it seemed for so small and delicate a man to possess so much power. "As you both know, we have already begun our experiments in eugenics. The extermination of racial inferiors must go hand in hand with our efforts in selectively breeding the master race, recreating that Aryan people which once dominated the globe before they were polluted and degraded by the Slavs and the Jews. For this, an extension of our understanding of genetics is of vital importance. We may stand to learn quite a bit about the process of gene mutation from this creature."

Schlacht took a deep breath.
Now is the time
, he thought. "
Reichsführer
, there is another significance to this creature, one which is considerably more important than
the eugenics program."

Himmler's eyebrows raised quizzically. "Indeed?" Now that he had chosen to accept at face value what Schlacht had
told him, he was receptive to anything else his subordinate
might have to say.

"Yes," Schlacht said. "As you recall from my report, this Kaldy managed to kill two dozen heavily armed men with his bare hands. He tore them to sheds, in
fact."

"As you reported," Himmler agreed, his face and tone as
unrevealing as ever.

"On the night he broke out of the
Ragoczy
Palace
, one of
the guards emptied a machine gun into him." Schlacht paused for dramatic effect. "Kaldy wasn't even scratched."

Himmler's expressionless eyes glimmered slightly. "Yes,"
he mused. "You noted that. Uninjured by the guards."

Schlacht leaned forward and spoke in hushed, almost
conspiratorial tones. "Invulnerable,
Reichsführer
.
Invulnerable."

Himmler nodded, intrigued by the direction Schlacht was leading him and slightly amused by his subordinate's melodramatics. "Continue, Schlacht, by all means." Himmler
sat back down behind his desk.

"Consider it from this perspective,
Reichsführer
,"
Schlacht said enthusiastically. "It is reasonable to assume
that whatever it is that happens to Kaldy, whatever
explanation there is for it, it must be chemical, basically chemical. If we can unravel the chemical process which
causes this to happen to him, perhaps we can isolate it. And if we can isolate it, perhaps we can replicate it!"