Lycanthropos by Jeffrey Sackett Page B

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,