She looked around. The mat was twelve feet wide and twenty feet long. “I’ll leave and give you two minutes to come up with a game plan. After the two-minute mark, I want you to ‘protect’ the…” She picked up a towel, ripping it down the middle and then tying the two pieces back together. “Flag.” She tossed the flag into the middle of the mat. “That will have to be protected, and yes you have to leave it there until I come into the room, then you can do whatever you want with it. The only other rule is you have to stay off of the mat until I enter. Agreed?”
She got nods all around, and she walked back out, pulling the Marine with her. He looked over his shoulder. “What, can’t I watch?”
She shook her head, “No, the first time is always embarrassing. They need to keep this one in the group. Unless you want to take on Pete for the right to watch?” She shut the door. He turned a little white and just shook his head no. “Got a timer?” He nodded and pulled up his watch, setting the alarm and she waited.
She considered moving through the Etheric into the room, but decided that might give them something to whine about. She wanted to make sure they got the message, again, about how dangerous Nosferatu could be. When the Marine called time, she dropped into Vamp mode and pushed open the door. Thankfully, no one had been stupid enough to try and stay behind the door or they might have become paste. She was surprised that one of the guys was in his wolf form, just off the mat.
That was smart, they were going to try and play keep away from the vampire. What a cute little Were game! She had just stepped in the door when the werewolf started moving towards the towel.
She figured that Pete would have at least two of them ready to ambush her, expecting her to move directly towards the mat to save the flag. Instead, she turned to her right and sped up, running into, on, and then over Tim who had been there to try and grab her. She cold-cocked him in the temple with her elbow for good measure. Make fun of her sexually without permission? No fucking way, even if it was a normal reaction. Unfortunately, he was going to miss the rest of this fight, as he would be out on the floor. Sucked to be him. She sped up a bit, keeping her speed within range of a very fast Nosferatu but not nearly her top speed. Spotting a ten-pound dumbbell, she reached over to grab it, twisting around to help offset the sudden weight. The werewolf was halfway to the flag. That was fine, it wasn’t like it was a problem if they moved it.
She saw Rickie step out from behind a large box, a six-foot-long bar used for free-weights in his hands. She tossed the barbell towards his head. His eyes got huge when he realized how much weight was coming at him and he tried to duck. Her hands were now free, so she slid between his legs, grabbing them and pulling him down behind her. She flinched at the sudden banging sound of the metal bar. She didn’t want to see how he made out. Unfortunately, she lost the barbell. She could have caught up to it, but not without using her best speed. She let it hit the far wall; Captain Wagner was going to hear that crash up on the bridge for damn sure.
Two down, one in werewolf form and one she was sure on the other side of the door. She darted straight towards the mat. She realized those crafty bastards were probably going to try and get the flag out of the room. She had to hand it to them, if that was the plan it was a smart one.
A second later, another Werewolf tore out of a cubby running towards the door, gaining speed.
Gott Verdammt! She changed her angle to go back towards the door. Sure enough, the first Werewolf grabbed the flag and then made a beeline to where the second was already running towards the door. Passing, the first wolf handed the flag to the second. It was beautifully executed if a little late.
She saw Joel on the other side of the door, heading in her direction. That probably meant that one of the wolves was Matthew and one Joseph. Pete wouldn’t be a runner. She glanced around, trying to figure out where he might be.
She got a bad feeling and decided to look back towards the door. She spotted Pete all in black behind it to the right. Oh fuckity fuck. If she allowed Joel to slow her down, there was a chance that they could get the flag through the door and if it didn’t become a win, because she would chase their asses down, it would be a moral victory. She wouldn’t allow a moral victory, she just wasn’t feeling very moral at the moment.
Coming up on Joel she reached out for the arm he was using to try and stiff-arm her. Pivoting, she used his momentum to bring him back around and flung him ass over appetite back into the second werewolf, both making a resounding and painful crash against the wall. Joel was out as well and it looked like the wolf was pretty messed up.
Four down, one wolf and Pete to go. The first wolf took off towards the mess of arms and furry legs to get the flag. Bethany Anne headed towards the door.
Pete stepped out when it was obvious the plan was a bust. She wouldn’t tell him how close they got for a while. She didn’t want to hurt Pete, but she wouldn’t go easy on his training, either. The problem was in his human form he was superior to humans, but inferior to vampires. Since they didn’t have many weapons for this exercise, he was actually without a lot of options.
In her Vamp state, she had lots of time to think.
TOM
Yes?
She acted as if she was going to head towards the flag, Pete’s eyes narrowed and he changed his direction to intercept her.
Why do the Wechselbalg only change between man and beast? We have stories that there is a middle form, a man-beast if you will.
It could be that the group that infected them didn’t have the scientific abilities, or it could be that they also didn’t have a way to learn how to do this.
So, you don’t think that it is just impossible?
No, I don’t think it is impossible, but I can’t tell for sure unless we research the idea.
She took a last step, making sure Pete was committed to running as hard as he could before she broke left, heading straight for the door. Pete’s eyes widened in alarm.
So, if we test one, we might find a cure?
You mean, a cure for their condition, or a cure to help them stop in man-beast form?
Well, I guess both. Maybe some don’t want this situation, but I was really discussing the option to give them a better fighting chance. Going against vampires in their human forms doesn’t work very well.
She made it to the door and slammed it shut, jumping to the side and pushing off the wall while turning around in the air. She found Pete running to get back to the door. She reached out and grabbed an arm, flinging him faster in the direction he was going. He made a resounding smack against the wall and she heard him sliding down. She didn’t think he was unconscious, but she doubted he was thinking clearly at the moment.
The first wolf had grabbed the flag and taken a few steps towards the door when he realized that Pete wasn’t going to be getting back up to open it for him, and he lacked opposable thumbs.
He bit down hard on the flag, not willing to give in to the inevitable and braced for impact. She admired his tenacity. There was no backing down in any of this team. She wished she knew if there were any sensitive spots on a wolf’s jaw that would cause them to involuntarily open it and where they might be. This certainly going to hurt the wolf a lot more than it was going to hurt her.
Reaching him, she leaned down and slowed some, not wanting to fling him very far. She turned and swung the wolf a few feet higher in the air, trying to see how many times she could cause him to flip before he landed. She watched him try and arch his back, seeking some way to get his feet under him before he crashed into the floor. Somewhere around flip number five the flag left his jaws and went flying. She used both arms to catch the wolf, getting scratched up when the nails sliced through her wrist. She then rolled him like a bowling ball across the mat in the opposite direction from the flag. She sauntered over to the flag and picked it up. She went to Pete who looked up at her dazedly from the floor, a nasty gash healing on his forehead.
She looked at the gash a little closer. “You should probably get th
at looked at. Talk to me after your AAR, ok?” Pete nodded. She opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her.
Thirty minutes later, Pete came by the hold where TOM’s craft was berthed. She had been talking with Todd when he arrived. Todd looked him up and down and cocked his head. “You don’t look good, everything ok?”
Pete pointed at Bethany Anne. “We played capture the flag and got our asses handed to us. Tim is still trying to get his wits back, what did you do to him?”
Bethany Anne smiled. “Thou shalt not snort.”
“Yes, he understood that was a bad response when it happened. I’m not sure he’s going to remember anything at the moment.”
“Well, he was in the way. Maybe I hit him with an extra elbow?” Todd winced, he had heard how Bethany Anne had used a forearm to knock a werewolf out once from Nathan. Pete nodded. He had thought it might be an object lesson. Well, Tim seemed a fast learner so Pete expected the one time should be enough.
She pointed her thumb at the craft. “Here, come with me.” She turned around and plugged in the access codes. Todd was never sure if she would show up and go in the front door, or he would be standing guard and she would suddenly exit after transporting in.
The two of them went inside and the door shut. Pete looked around. “Seems tiny.”
“Yes, TOM’s people are shorter than us. I want to show you the pod-doc area.” She took him into the white room, the medical pod in the middle of the floor. She waved at the machine. “This, as you know, is what started vampires. It’s what was used to change Michael and a thousand years later it was used to change me. It fixed Gabrielle’s sensitivity to the sun and was used for Ashur.”
Pete stopped looking at the pod and looked at Bethany Anne, “It can handle non-humans?”
She nodded. “According to TOM, it’s all about genetics. It can read DNA and figure out what the code is supposed to do. During our little game, I thought about how you guys are at a disadvantage against vampires. For weapons, you have to be in human form, for ultimate speed and to have claws and teeth, you have to be in your werewolf form. I asked TOM if there wasn’t a reason you guys can have a middle form.”
Pete said, “There are some historical stories that suggest there were Wechselbalg who could do that, but that it was lost centuries ago.”
“That’s my theory. I’m thinking the basics are there, but either the knowledge is not, or the genetic changes that allow you guys to change have mutated. Something is different.”
Pete shrugged. “Beyond me, and I don’t know of anything offhand. You’re wanting me to jump in?”
She smiled. “Am I that transparent?”
He grinned back. “Pretty much, yes. When you get an itch for something that doesn’t make sense, you use a large tool to beat it until something comes up. When that tool doesn’t work, you get a bigger one. You want to know why we can’t change and it matters for our safety. Mind you, I know we will be more powerful and dangerous and that works perfectly for my Guardians. But your first thought was that we’re at a disadvantage against vampires, so I take it you’re concerned with our safety first, our abilities next.”
“That’s… fair, I guess.”
“So, want me to jump in? How long will this take?”
TOM?
Just to run an analysis? Probably a few hours. He is human, we have most of the details already. The pod only has to figure out a few mutations, not an entire sequence like on Ashur.
“Have you back in time for dinner, at latest, breakfast?”
Pete shrugged. “Who’s going to take care of my team?”
“Who would you suggest?”
“Well, Tim if he wasn’t working on getting over a concussion. Probably Matthew next.”
“Ok, I’ll do it that way. If Tim is still out of it, I’ll have Matthew handle it until we get you back.”
Pete nodded. She explained he had to strip. It wasn’t a big deal to him, a werewolf stripped all of the time to change. She pulled out the little bench and he folded his clothes and dropped them there. As he got into the doc she said, “I’ll be here when the tests are done. Get in, put your arms by your side and close your eyes. You’ll fall asleep and wake up seconds later. Piece of cake.”
Her piece of cake comment was having the opposite effect on him than he presumed she was going for.
Once the pod-doc was working, she left and told Todd no one was to go near the craft for the next few hours. Todd nodded and she went to help Pete’s crew. Tim was tracking just fine by the time she got there. She told his crew that Pete was working on a project with her, and he wouldn’t be available until that evening.
They talked for a little while, going through the game and how she had worked it from her side. She admitted that they had a really good plan. But if they had gotten the flag out of the door, she would have tracked them down. Matthew had been wolf number two. He said he would have run out of the room and then jumped off the back of the boat. Wechselbalg could tread water for a very long time.
She stared at the guy for a few seconds and then smiled. “That was damn devious. You guys are fucking nuts, and I mean that as compliment.” The guys high-fived each other. They felt good about Pete’s plan, their effort and really good knowing that they had surprised Bethany Anne so thoroughly.
She left them as they started to figure out how they might best her next time.
19
Bethany Anne was back inside the medical room on TOM’s ship, sitting next to Pete’s clothes. She was trying to come to grips with what TOM was telling her.
You mean someone from your group changed them, too?
Well, not exactly my group. I think it was one of the seven. The missing piece is in him. He can change to a man-beast form, but it’s going to be hard to control.
How did they get here? Are they still here? What a fucking mess. You Kurtherians are worse than a soap opera. That’s what you guys are, a Gott Verdammt space opera. It’s like twelve siblings going around the galaxies stirring up shit.
TOM just stayed quiet.
She exhaled, loudly.
What’s the chance of him ever changing if we don’t modify him?
Not high at all. The nanocytes in his body are a different type. Maybe a slightly older version than yours? They aren’t as sophisticated.
Well, for not being so sophisticated, they sure seem to work efficiently with the Etheric power load.
Yes, well that’s true. I’m not positive how that works and it would take putting the computer back into the ship to possibly figure it out.
No. Fucking. Way. I am not going through that shit again.
I wasn’t suggesting it, merely explaining what it would take to understand the energy transfer and how it is accomplished. It would mean no more blood drinking.
TOM, you can be an ass, you know that? You really want to know how this works. Well, have you considered that Ashur might be a clue?
How do you mean?
How much energy do you think I pull through him when we go traipsing across the world? It has to be a huge spike. What makes him able to pull it when I can’t? The Wechselbalg all pull a huge amount of power, but they turn into a canine. At least, I think wolves are canines. Then there are bears, too. Well, ok, animals. Have you considered the animal side to this, yet?
In a word? No.
Fine, work on that angle before you start trying to bribe me with not drinking blood. For now, I’ve got Ashur the wonder battery. Not that I would use that phrase around him.
He does seem remarkably smart.
Are you sure you don’t know what happened to him?
I told you he would be smarter. Dogs are already early childhood smart, possibly. He might have gone late childhood?
How late? Are we talking out of diapers, out of cribs or, god forbid, teenagers? Because a hundred and whatever pounds of snarly teenager with teeth is not my idea of fun.
Well, he hasn’t required much in the way of blood.
Yeah
, but he eats bags of dog food. Not to mention he cleans every plate someone leaves unattended in the mess. He should weigh five hundred pounds by now.
She stood up.
This isn’t getting us anywhere. I have the answer; it just leads to more questions. I don’t know what to do with Pete, change him or keep him as is.
What would Pete want?
Balls to the wall, I bet. He’s putting everything into the Guardians. If he could learn something to make them even more badass, I’m sure he would do it. However, this isn’t Pete’s decision, it’s mine. Why am I doing it? If I knew he could control it, I would do it in a heartbeat.
What about any of the others?
Oh, God no! I only trust Pete in this situation. I don’t need a Tim with this ability if we don’t know how it is suppressed or how they control themselves. Tim is bad enough without Hulk urges.
Hulk urges?
Big green guy, grows into a mountain of muscle. Wears purple pants for who knows what reason. What was the original setting, can you tell?
Yes, it was supposed to turn on when under a substantial amount of duress.
Kind of like a Berserker warrior. Well, if Pete was ever in that situation, I can imagine it would be a good time to have a chance to change things. How long will it take?
Just a few minutes to change the settings, I don’t know how long for it to change throughout his body. I would guess a couple of days at the minimum.
Will he still have his mind when this happens?
Where would it go?
No, I mean will he have his ability to think when in this state. Will he be able to tell friend from foe?
I can’t tell from what we have seen so far, but I would be very surprised if he couldn’t.
Why is that?
Because the seven clans weren’t known for wasting their people by having them unnecessarily kill each other.
Oh, trust an enemy to be smart about it, huh?
Yes.
She tried to figure out all of the angles and finally went with the one she trusted the most, her gut.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 101