Lycanthropos (25 page)

"Couldn't have been..." Weyrauch muttered from the side
of the room.

"Damnation, Gottfried, either speak up or be quiet!" Schlacht shouted.

Weyrauch cleared his throat. "It couldn't have been Kaldy. I mean, he couldn't possibly have killed Fräulein Loewenstein's parents. He had been in Blasko's keeping ever
since the end of the War."

"Of course it wasn't Kaldy,"
Petra
said angrily, "but I had no way of knowing that when I first heard about this project. I just assumed that it was he. How many werewolves can there be, after all?"

"Well, two, at
least,"
Weyrauch replied.

"Yes, Claudia,"
Petra
nodded, "and it must have been Claudia who killed my parents, unless there is yet another of these creatures somewhere." She turned back to Schlacht and, struggling to master her emotions, she said, "Herr Colonel, I am heartily sorry that I never mentioned my personal interest in this project. But please keep in mind
that I never lied to you and never attempted to deceive you.
All I did was keep my private affairs private. I have been doing my job and doing it well, and we have essentially the
same goals, you and I."

"Your excuses are not acceptable, Fräulein," Festhaller said imperiously, his small eyes glowing with vengeful anger. "Herr Colonel, I think it appropriate under the circumstances that Fräulein Loewenstein be punished severely
for her deceit and disobedience." He paused as if thinking about this for the first time. "At the very least she must
be transferred away from this project, and I also believe
that a term of imprisonment is called for."

Petra
stared at him with undisguised hatred and then she turned to Schlacht and asked. "Herr Colonel, I wish to know
if my duties here include allowing this fat pig to fondle my body whenever he wishes."

Schlacht had not been expecting this question, and it took him a few moments to respond. "What's that?"

"My question was clear enough, I think," she said, her voice biting and furious through its steady and moderate tone. "The only reason that Festhaller has brought any of
this to your attention is that I have rejected his uninvited and thoroughly disgusting advances."

Schlacht turned his gaze slowly to Festhaller. "Indeed!"
he said softly.

"Herr Colonel," the professor said quickly, nervously,
his chubby hands twitching and his voice an octave higher than normal, "surely you do not believe this slanderous accusation!"

Schlacht looked from the professor to the chemist, and the calm confidence of the latter contrasted strongly with the nervous embarrassment of the former. Schlacht had no difficulty deciding who was lying and who was telling the truth. His hard face grew angry as he said to Festhaller, "Are there too few prostitutes in
Budapest
to keep you busy, Herr Professor? Is that the problem?"

"Herr Colonel, I assure you..." Festhaller began.

"Enough!" Schlacht shouted. "This is an S.S. headquarters
and a research station, not a brothel! And Fräulein Loewenstein is a scientist and a respectable Aryan woman, not a field whore! You will keep yourself restrained, Herr Professor, or I shall see to your restraint personally." Festhaller lapsed into a disgruntled, humiliated silence as Schlacht turned back to
Petra
and said, "This is, of course, unrelated to the point under discussion. I do not feel that you have been open with me, Fräulein."

"Please, Herr Colonel," Petra implored, "it really was not I who withheld information from you, it was the Professor, and he did so from the most base of motives. Please do not assist him in taking revenge upon me when it
is in your own interests to assist me in taking revenge upon
these monsters."

Despite his anger at not having been told about Petra's background, Schlacht felt himself softening toward her. "I am not personally interested in revenge," he objected. "I have no more an emotional antipathy to this werewolf than I have to any other Gypsy, or to a Jew or a Slav or a Negro, for that matter. I regard my primary function at this point
in my career as involving waste disposal, and Kaldy is to me
but another piece of rotten fruit in the garbage pile... aside from his temporary value to us, of course."

"But your goal is not only to help expand the power of the Reich, Herr Colonel,"
Petra
said. "You and I and Mengele and the whole S.S. organization are
 
dedicated to racial purification and a program of carefully controlled eugenic breeding. Part of this process is the extermination
of racial inferiors, and anyone who is part man and part
beast is obviously a racial inferior."

"Fräulein..."

"So Kaldy must die. And, when we catch her," and Petra's
face grew suddenly hard and hateful, "his friend Claudia must die. And for them to die, we must learn how to kill them!" She paused and took a deep breath. "So our goals are the same, Herr Colonel. Do not begrudge me my pleasure at the prospect of playing a part in killing the creature who
murdered my parents."

Schlacht nodded tentatively. "There are times, to be sure, when the desire for vengeance and the need for justice coincide."

"Yes," she replied. "And this is such a time."

"Very well, Fräulein Loewenstein," Schlacht said. "I
shall, on this one occasion, choose to overlook this entire
matter. But I expect that you will not in the future make the assumption that there is anything,
anything
, involving my command which is not my affair. Is that understood?"

"
Jawohl
, Herr Colonel,"
Petra
said with a smile of
relief.

"Good." He turned to Festhaller. "The test subjects have
arrived?" His voice was very cold, very correct. Like most of the S.S., Schlacht mingled his fanatical perversity with an oddly puritanical attitude toward the German woman, and as he spoke he was thinking how annoying it was that having Festhaller taken out and shot would be politically unwise.

"Yes," the Professor nodded, coughing nervously, still
angry at the failure of his scheme, his face sill flushed with embarrassment. "Dr. Mengele is being very helpful, and so is the Luftwaffe. I sent a telegram to Auschwitz this morning, soon after the first subject died, and a dozen more subjects were flown into
Budapest
just after noon," he said, attempting to sound friendly and familiar and at ease with Schlacht, as if they were the closet of comrades, as if the recent unpleasantness had never occurred. "I got the impression from the pilot, by the way, that
Reichsführer
Himmler has made it quite clear that this project of ours is of special interest to him."

"Excellent," Schlacht responded, making a point of not reciprocating Festhaller's tone, and then turned to
Petra
.
"Fräulein, we can assume, can we not, that the only difficulty facing us is the determination of the proper amounts of the various chemicals, correct?"

She hesitated for an instant before replying, "Well, that is the problem we are facing at the moment."

"Yes, I know, one thing at a time, first things
first,"
the Colonel said quickly. "We have twelve test subjects. I want you to prepare serums of varying compositions for testing this evening. I see no need to test the possible
combinations one at a time..."

"I agree, Herr Colonel,"
Petra
broke in, "but if that is
what you wish us to do we will have to do it this afternoon
or tomorrow morning."

"Why?"

"Tonight is the second night of the full moon. Long before sunset I intend to be away from here and locked safely in my own lodgings."

Schlacht's lips grew narrow and tight as he said,
"Fraülein Loewenstein, you have the most annoying habit of
turning each simple discussion into an argument."

She shook her head. "I am not arguing, Herr Colonel. But
you know as well as I that this other werewolf is apparently somewhere in the vicinity of the city. Tonight will be the last time this moon cycle that she will be able to assume her wolf form, so I suggest that if she intends to free Kaldy, she will attempt to do so tonight." She paused, allowing the others present to realize significance of her words. "I do not intend to be in this palace when she comes here tonight, and I recommend that you move Kaldy to another location. I do not recommend doubling the guard, because we all know that the guards will be of no use when she
attacks."

"If
she attacks," Schlacht said, "if she comes here
tonight or any other night, if she is still somewhere near
Budapest
, Fräulein. We do not even know for a fact that this Claudia is aware of Kaldy's capture. I am quite certain that
she killed those three farmers in Grushia last night, but
that may be coincidental."

"Is it coincidental that my parents were killed in
Germany
twenty-five years ago and that this creature makes her appearance in
Hungary
just when we have captured her
longtime companion?"

Festhaller shook his head. "No, she's right, Herr Colonel. Kaldy's friend is here for a reason, and freeing him from our control is the most likely one."

Schlacht disliked having logic interfere with his plans, and he tapped his fingers on the desktop impatiently. "Well then, we must wait until tomorrow," he muttered.

"To run tests on all twelve subjects, yes,"
Petra
said.
"But I have been preparing different combinations of the serum all day. I have four which we can use right now, if you wish."

"Four is better than none," Festhaller said. Then, looking down at his watch, he cried, "Oh my goodness! I have an appointment in fifteen minutes. I really must excuse myself." He stood up quickly, bowed curtly to Louisa and
Petra
, and rushed from the office.

Festhaller's sudden departure angered Schlacht, though he had done nothing to impede it. "Appointment!" he spat. "How conveniently he has pressing business elsewhere." He glanced at
Petra
and noted with amusement that the Professor's absence seemed to have put her at ease. He
smiled at her, understanding her relief, and she, blushing
slightly and looking down, could not help but smile in
return.

Weyrauch knew what Schlacht was saying, knew that Festhaller was merely absenting himself from the
Ragoczy
Palace
in anticipation of that evening's full moon, but he did not choose to protest his own presence in the light of Festhaller's absence. He knew it would be futile, and Schlacht seemed to be in no mood for further irritations.
Instead he said, "Helmuth, might we not be better advised to
continue our tests on animal subjects? I mean, true animal
subjects? Dogs, monkeys...?"

"We need to approximate the human metabolism as closely as possible," Schlacht said in a tone which invited no further discussion. "The Jews we are using are as close to human as anything in the world of lower life forms." He moved Petra's dossier to one side and took out a pile of reports. "Now get out of here and get to work. I have other matters to attend
to."
Petra
rose and left the room, and Weyrauch followed her slowly. Louisa remained seated, staring at her cousin with undisguised contempt. He returned her gaze with a similar one of his own and after a few moments she too rose and left the office without saying a word. Schlacht watched her go and before returning to his paper work he muttered. "It will be the camp for that one soon
enough, so help
me."

A moment later the door swung softly open and Schlacht looked up from his papers to see Petra Loewenstein walking
tentatively back into his office. "Herr Colonel," she began
just a bit delicately, "I would like to thank you for your
understanding and your help."

Schlacht chose to be generous and replied, "I was happy
to have offered both to you, Fräulein." He smiled at her. "I
hope that you do not think that Festhaller's reprehensible behavior is characteristic of the men under my command. We
aren't all animals, you know."

"Of course I know," she replied in a quiet, sweet tone. "And I hope you don't think me...well, cold or unemotional. I hope you don't think that I reject every man's advances." She realized at once how forward her words seemed to be, and she blushed deeply. "I mean...that is to say..."

"Yes, yes, Fräulein," Schlacht laughed, amused at her
unease and thinking how lovely she looked when she was
nervous and flushed, "I understand completely."

"Well, good," she responded, laughing softly through her
embarrassment. "If you will excuse me then..." and she backed
out of his office. Schlacht watched her leave and then returned his attention to his work.
Charming girl
, he
thought to himself.
Such beautiful eyes
.