Blood & Fur: On the European Front 
==================================
by Dan D'Alimonte (dsdalimo@sleet.lakeheadu.ca)
----

Late April, 1942:

Generaloberst Ulrich Kadow stood in his office, staring out
over the cityscape before him. The sky over Berlin was overcast
and a soft spring drizzle fell over the streets. With the clouds
in the sky, no bombers would be flying over the city. This left
Kadow with a sense of peace as he contemplated the scene outside.
On this day, he found himself looking back over the career he had
made for himself.

Kadow had never considered a military career. At least not
until his country needed him. Before enlisting, he had been a
typical intellectual, tucked away in his little corner of
academia. There he remained until he saw that the Reich needed
him. At the on-set of the Spanish Civil War, Kadow left the
safety and security of the university and enlisted. The
recruiter, when seeing Kadow's long background in chemistry, sent
him off to a special research unit. He spent the next several
years immersed in the science of chemical weapons. Surviving the
purges that occasionally ran through the unit, he found himself
quickly rising through the ranks. It was almost a surprise when
he was given command of the unit.

At the moment, the purges were up front in his mind. His
predecessors were all removed from their position on charges of
treason, though Kadow knew better. They were just not meeting the
expectations of the high command. In order to avoid a similar
fate, Kadow knew he had to produce something that would leave a
lasting impression. Something that would make him enough of a
name to avoid disappearing.

His teams were working on several promising projects. There
was a nerve gas that was faster acting then anything before it, a
new high-yield explosive compound, and several culturing
techniques that allowed for the production of some rare and
deadly diseases. While many of the projects were producing
favourable results, none seemed to catch the attention of Kadow's
superiors. In fact, it seemed that these break throughs were
nothing more then what was expected from him.

'Oh well.' he though with a sigh, 'Maybe today's meeting
will uncover something new. God knows it is a strange enough
situation as it is.'

Almost as if reading his thoughts, there was a knock on the
door. Turning from the window, Kadow watched his aide, Karl
Heinz, enter the office. Kadow returned the man's salute, waiting
for Heinz to speak.

"Generaloberst, the delegation you have been expecting has
arrived." said Heinz.

"Good, good." responded Kadow. "Where is the translator?"

"I was informed that one of the delegation spoke fluent
German. I did not think one would be needed."

"Understood. Please show our guests in." said Kadow as he
stepped away from the window.

Heinz retreated from the room as Kadow walked over stand
behind his desk. It was not long before the aide returned,
leading two men into the room. Kadow had to consciously stopping
himself from staring. The newcomers' oriental features were a
definite difference from what the he was used to seeing. Of
course, he had seen photographs of the Japanese, but he had never
met any of Germany's distant allies face to face before. Now he
had two of them standing before him, the alien-ness of their
faces bringing the reality of this meeting home. Walking over to
greet the two men, Kadow extended his hand in welcome.

"Hello, Gentlemen. I am Generaloberst Ulrich Kadow, the head
of chemical weapons research here in Berlin. On behalf of the
Fuhrer, I would like to welcome you to Germany."

The older of the two men, dressed in a more ornate uniform,
looked at the proffered hand. Making no move to accept the hand
shake, they instead bowed to Kadow.

"On behalf of the Emperor, I accept you welcome." stated the
man in nearly fluent German. "Allow me to introduce myself and my
associate. I am Major General Tomoyuki Kaniachi. I will be acting
as your liaison for the duration of our stay in your country. My
companion is Doctor Kuribashi Nambu, one of Japan's brightest
scientific minds."

Withdrawing his hand, Kadow gestured the two men to take a
seat. As they settled into their chairs, Kadow turned to Heinz
who had remained standing near the door.

"Hauptmann," he said, "Please go see to some refreshments
for our guests."

While his aide went to get the drinks, Kadow sat in his
chair and returned his attention to Kaniachi and Nambu.

"I hope your trip was pleasant, gentlemen?" asked the
Generaloberst, trying to make some small talk.

"As comfortable as one can be travelling half-way around the
world in a submarine." came a stiff response from the senior
Japanese. "Our trip brought us to our destination, and so
achieved its purpose."

Kadow only nodded in response. It seemed that his visitors
were not going to be talkative. Not sure what path to take with
them next, he sat in silence, watching their stiff posture and
almost arrogant bearing. Before the silence could drag out too
long, Heinz returned bearing a tray of coffee. The aide was quick
and efficient in his service, passing out steaming mugs to the
Japanese and to Kadow before retreating to stand at attention in
the corner.

"Generaloberst," said Kaniachi, pausing to take a sip of his
drink, "We have travelled a long distance to meet with you. I
would appreciate it if we could get down to business. After all,
it was your government that we meet to compare our development
notes."

"And to possibly arrange for some transfer of technology,
Major General."

"Perhaps."

"Chemical weapons are evolving so fast these days that we
need to work together to out think our enemies."

The next hour was spent as the two men discussed the various
projects that their researchers had been pursuing. The talked of
avenues that looked promising, failures they had encountered,
covering the possible applications of many different compounds
and diseases. Kadow discovered, much to his disappointment, that
the Japanese had been following much the same paths as his
researchers had. It looked like the Japanese would be getting a
process to more efficiently culture bacterial agents off of him,
but did not have anything that he wanted in return. He was now
resigned to the fact that he would be getting nothing that would
impress his superiors from the meeting.

The conversation dried up, and Kadow was about to thank his
visitors for their time. Before he spoke though, Dr. Nambu, who
had remained silent up until that point, leaned over to his
colleague and said something to him. This set of a rapid-fire
debate between the two men. Kadow, not speaking Japanese, could
not follow what was being said, but it was obviously an animated
debate.

It did not take long for the two to finish talking, with
Nambu the apparent victor if only from the smug smile that
crossed his face for a few seconds. Kanianchi returned his
attention to Kadow, a hint of a frown on his face.
"Generaloberst, my honoured colleague has just reminded me of a
project that he is involved in that may be of interest to you. I
was hesitant to bring it up before as it is highly experimental
at the moment."

"I am interested in any project, no matter how
experimental." responded Kadow. "Please elaborate."

"A team of our most accomplished scientists were working
with new, previously untried chemical compounds. One, designated
Compound 23, showed much promise. It has been classified as a
morphogenic chemical and has an effect unlike any weapon seen
before."

"Morphogenic? What does it do?" asked Kadow, intrigued.

"They are... let us just say that they are most interesting
effects. Difficult to explain to one who has not seen first hand,
and even more difficult to believe.

"I would not even venture to attempt to describe them to
you. I believe a demonstration would be more in order. I have
been informed that Doctor Nambu has brought a sample of Compound
23 with him. I trust you have the facilities to arrange for a
demonstration of a gas weapon?"

"Of course we do." answered Kadow with a renewed sense of
interest in the meeting. "Just tell Hauptmann Heinz your
requirements and the demonstration will be ready for tomorrow."

"That will be acceptable."

"I shall see you tomorrow then, gentlemen." said Kadow, as
he left the Japanese to consult with Heinz. "I expect to this to
be quite an experience."

As he was passing through the door, Kaniachi responded. "It
will be, Generaloberst. It will be."


* * *


Early the next morning, Kadow found himself sitting in one
of the observation rooms that occupied the basement of the
research center. The Japanese were talking with a couple of the
facility's technologists, arranging the final details of the
day's test. Kadow never liked these rooms. He had seen too much
transpire in them to ever be at ease in them. Staring through the
long glass window that overlooked the gas chamber, he studied the
other room. Arranged in a single row in the middle of the chamber
were ten heavy wooden chairs. Tightly bound to each chair was a
test subject. Pisoners of War and deserters all. 'More fodder to
fuel the German war effort', thought Kadow with a twinge of
regret. He studied each man in detail, noting the familiar signs
of fear and panic that he always saw in the subjects faces. They
did not know what was going to happen to them, but they knew it
was not going to be pleasant. Seeing that the arrangements had
been completed, Kadow went over to stand next to Kaniachi and
Nambu.

"So, Major General, you are still not going to tell me the
effects of this new gas of yours?" he asked.

"As I told you before, the effects have to be seen to be
believed." came the response. "I can guarantee that you will not
be disappointed. It has proven quiet effective in the limited use
it has received in the Pacific theater."

"I thought you told me that it hasn't been tested yet?"

"It has not been fully tested, Generaloberst. We are quiet
familiar with its effects, enough to know that it works. Let us
begin the demonstration and you can see for yourself."

Kadow nodded and signalled to one of the technicians to
begin the demonstration. A few minutes later a man dressed in a
heavy gas suit entered the test chamber through the heavy door
located on the back wall. Carried in the man's arms was a
metallic cylinder marked with Japanese characters. Kadow
recognized it as a typical gas canister, about three feet tall
and just under a foot in diameter. The suited man placed the
canister in the middle of the chamber, activated the timed
release on the regulator and hastily left the room. Kadow watched
the expressions of terror on the test subjects' faces as the
timer slowly counted down to their unknown fate.

Precisely a minute latter a thin stream of bluish vapour
began to escape from the top of the canister. Kadow imagined he
could hear the hiss of the gas through the thick glass as it
slowly flooded the room. He watched as the subjects struggled
hopelessly against their bonds, some screaming in horror. Soon
though, the men were too busy coughing as the air in the room had
taken on a decidedly blue tone.

Kadow watched with interest as the gas began to dissipate
enough that he could see the occupants of the room clearly again.
Though still skeptical of Kaniachi's claims, he was still
surprised to see the subjects appeared to be no worse off then
before they had been exposed.

"Your wonder gas seems to be a dud, Major General." he
quipped dryly.

"You must have patience, Generaloberst." came the Japanese's
response. "Our previous tests have shown the there is usually a
ten to twenty-four hour delay between exposure and the onset of
symptoms."

"Why did you not mention that little fact before?" sighed
Kadow.

"I apoligize for not doing so. I was hoping that we could
use this opportunity to have a look around the city. I would be
very interested in seeing the sights of the German capital."

"Very well." said Kadow, turning to his aide. "Heinz, could
you go arrange for a vehicle for my guests and myself."


* * *


"Hi, Joseph. Anything happening in there yet?"

Joseph looked up from the log book he had been filling in,
seeing Horst Trautloft, his supervisor, enter the room.

"Not much. Some of them under went a change in hair colour
soon after the Generaloberst left, but other then that this new
Japanese toy seems to do absolutely nothing." answered Joseph,
putting the book down and moving over to the window, going back
to observing the test subjects, still bound the their chairs on
the other side of the glass.

"Maybe their just trying to pass off a new form of hair dye
on us, eh Jo?" joked Horst.

"This isn't funny, Horst. Why the heck would our 'allies' be
trying to sell us on a weapon that doesn't work. I mean, look, it
has been almost half a day since we gassed them, and aside from
the hair thing, nothing has happened. No sores, no bronchial
irritation, no hemorrhaging. Nothing that we usually see with gas
exposure."

Horst picked up the log book that Joseph had been working
on. Flipping though the pages, he noted that almost every
quarter-hour report the technicians had made were for no change.

"I highly doubt our oriental guests would travel half way
around the world just to give us a dud weapon. We're still within
the time of action given by them. Just give it time." countered
Horst, still flipping through the book.

"Maybe not, but if they could get some new technology off of
us, and not have to give anything back, then...."

Horst looked up from the log to see why Joseph had trailed
off. See saw Joseph standing and staring through the window to
the test chamber. Then he saw what was happening on the other
side of the glass.

"My God!" was the only thing he could manage to gasp out as
the log book fell from his nerveless hands.


* * *


The morning had gone well. Kadow had spent the time showing
his two Japanese guests around Berlin. They toured the historical
buildings and the landmarks. Kaniachi had even spent some time
talking with a group of civilian labourers who were cleaning up
the burnt-out shell of a building caught in the last air raid.

When all the sights had been seen, Kadow decided to treat
the two foreigners to lunch, a real German meal at his favourite
restaurant. Kaniachi and Nambu seemed intrigued by the place, the
Major General commenting that it was very different then what was
found in Japan.

They had just finished ordering drinks when a waiter
approached the table with the house phone. A quick and incoherent
conversation with Horst Trautloft, on of the senior technicians
under his command, followed. Saying that Kadow should return to
the center as soon as possible, Trautloft seemed reluctant to
give any details out over the phone.

Now he found himself on his way back to the center. As soon
as the vehicle pulled up in front of the building, Kadow was
marching towards the entrance. The sentries salutes were hastily
returned as he made his way back to the observation room buried
in the center's basement. Pushing his way through the door, Kadow
was about to question Trautloft's reasons for interrupting his
meal. Before he could speak though, he caught sight of something
behind the observation window that stopped him dead in his
tracks.

Whatever it was, it was not human. Or, at least, not
completely. It was like nothing Kadow had ever seen before.
'Monster' was the first word that came to his mind as he studied
it. No other word he could think of would do it justice. The
creature stood almost six feet tall, and its thin, sleek body was
covered entirely in dark fur. Kadow could see a set of wicked
looking teeth protruding slightly from its short muzzle, and long
claws protruding from the end of its hands. Through the glass,
the weasel-like creature's questioning black eyes regarded him as
a pair of round ears perched on the top of the skull scanned the
room for sound.

For the briefest of moments, Kadow wondered where the
monster had come from. Then the truth settled into his mind. A
torn RAF uniform hanging in tatters around the creatures wiry
frame. An empty seat in the chamber that had been occupied by a
subject when he had left that morning. Seeing two more empty
chairs, he looked around the room. Kadow found two more of the
creatures huddled in the corner. One appeared to be crying, its
head held in its hands as its body was wracked with sobs. The
other was holding it, apparently trying to offer some comfort.

"Compound 23... it did this? It turned them into monsters?"
asked Kadow, disbelief in his voice.

Kaniachi's only response was a smug smile and to point Kadow
back to the window.

Following the man's finger, Kadow returned his attention to
the chamber. He watched with intrigue as one of the subjects
began to thrash about, fighting against the bonds holding the man
in his seat. Kadow was stunned as the man's frame began to shift,
as if bones and muscles were moving under skin. New muscles
seemed to be forming as the man's torso stretched out, becoming
longer and sleeker. Fur, black as night, began to spread out from
under the man's clothes, slowly becoming denser as it grew.
During this transformation, the subject's struggles became more
and more violent. Kadow took a quick step back from the window as
the bindings restraining the soon-to-be monster gave way under
the strain of the fighting. Once free to the chair, the subject
began to tear away at its clothes, as if trying to find somewhere
on its body that had not been effected. This only revealed even
more how much less human it now was. Hands explored the new
shapes as its muzzle pushed out of its face, a wet black nose and
whiskers quickly forming.

Kadow took the changes in, still not completely believing
what he was seeing. As the subject continued to shift, it actions
grew even more violent. Giving up on the panicked examination of
its new form, the creature began to throw its body against the
glass of the window, as if trying to escape. The window had been
reinforced to withstand breakage, but Kadow still found himself
taking another involuntary step back as the furry form crashed
into the glass. Within minutes the repeated blows against the
wall rendered the creature unconscious, leaving him oblivious to
his body as it completed the transformation.

The others in the chamber, both human and not, had been
watching their comrades actions, a mixture of fear, defiance, and
curiosity washing over their faces. One thing Kadow noticed about
them all, whether man or monster, they were all showing very
human emotions.

Over the next six hours, Kadow sat and watched , enthralled
as the remaining seven men in the chamber went through similar
transformations. Once all the men had been replaced with the
mustaline creatures, Kadow turned his attention from the window
to speak once more to Kaniachi.

"We are free to examine them?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, Generaloberst." came the reply. "Study them as you see
fit."

Kadow signalled to Trautloft. After the technician made a
short phone call, a green gas began to fill the room through
vents in the walls. The occupants of the chamber began to panic,
several trying to break through the window and the door. These
struggles did not last long. Soon they were coughing and choking,
and within minutes they collapsed to the floor, eyes glazed over
and swllen tongues hanging out from between stiffened lips.

Heinz leaned over, whispering so that only Kadow could hear.
"Was it necessary to kill them, Sir? We could have learned more
if we had a live specimen to study."

"Too risky, Hauptmann." responded Kadow, not bothering to
keep his voice low. "unknown. I'd rather not deal with live
samples until we have a better understanding of what the hell
happened in there. Postmortems."

"I want to see the autopsy report as soon as they are done,
Trautloft." continued Kadow, raising his voice so that everyone
could here. As he spoke, suited men entered the chamber and began
to drag to bodies off to the morgue for examination.

"After this, I need a good stiff drink." said Kadow, turning
back to Heinz. "Bring the Japanese to my office in an hour. We
need to talk."

Without even waiting for an acknowledgment, Kadow left the
room in search of a bottle.


* * *


Kadow sat behind his desk. It was the exact same spot he had
been when he had first met the two Japanese visitors. Since first
meeting them less then two days ago it seemed that his world had
been turned upside down. Something that should not have been
physically possible had happened. He did not know how, or even
why, but he had watched those people turn into monsters before
his very eyes. Kadow had finally managed to calm his nerves with
the help of a generous portion of the contents of a bottle he
kept stashed in his desk drawer. He sat there and pondered what
had happened in the test chamber, and more importantly, how he
could develop something as amazing as Compound 23 to its full
potential. He needed more information. The autopsy reports were
not expected for a few more hours at least, so Kaniachi would be
his only source.

A knock on the door announced the arrival of Heinz, leading
Kaniachi and Nambu into the Generaloberst's office.

"What the hell did you gas do to those men?" asked Kadow,
not even waiting for the two to sit down.

"Exactly what you saw, Generaloberst." replied Kaniachi as
he took his seat. "The ten subjects were exposed to Experimental
Compound 23, and after a period of ten to twenty-four hours, all
displayed the primary symptoms associated with contact with the
gas. There seems to be a biologically active component of
Compound 23 that causes a set mutation in those exposed to it,
causing them to develope animalistic features. Currently, there
are few cases that showed an effect on the subject's mind, beyond
the expected results of undergoing such a traumatic experience."

"Seems to be?"

"As I have mentioned repeatedly in the past, we have not yet
completed thorough tests yet. We believe the effects to be
specific, all similar to those you saw today. Its power is
amazing, is it not?"

"Yes, quiet amazing. Unique even. But how are you proposing
to apply this as a weapon, Major General?"

Kaniachi's face broke into a small smile at Kadow's
question. "It is a weapon of fear and confusion." he said.
"Imagine a bomber or artillery dropping a canister of Compound 23
into the midst of an enemy position? Of course, most of the
soldiers will get their gas masks on in time and be spared, but
there are always a few that do not make it. Imagine the panic of
on of these soldiers when they begin to transform. Imagine the
reactions of their companions when fellow soldiers begin to
become monsters before their eyes. It will cause untold chaos
behind their lines as they are forced to deal with the
consequences. Terrified soldiers are ineffective warriors, and
they will be held in terror, not knowing if they or their
comrades at arms may be transformed into a monster next. Their
morale will suffer tremendously"

"Morale? You plan on using something of this power to attack
the enemies morale!?" responded Kadow incredulously. " I saw the
reactions of the subjects. Yes, they were terrified, but, for the
most part still seemed in fine shape. Heck, better shape. They
were definitely stronger. No normal man should have been able to
break the ropes holding them in those chairs. Especially not
prisoners that have been weakened by a stay in a PoW camp.

"Sure, there will be fear at the onset. There is always
alarm when your enemy presents a new tactic. But they will adapt.
Once they figure out that you gas does nothing but give some of
their soldiers fur and claws. You could even be making them into
more deadly killers. How does this compound effect their
abilities?"

"An increase in strength, as you noted. Faster reflexes,
heightened night vision, sense of hearing and smell, and
increased dexterity have also been reported."

"And you want to do that to the very men that your soldiers
will be fighting against?"

"You seem to be underestimating the power that fear can have
on the enemy, Generaloberst. They will be too busy trying to kill
the monsters that emerge in their ranks to repel an assault on
their position. Soldiers, instead of worrying where the next
attack will be coming from, will be worrying whether or not they
will be the next victim."

"You seem to be overestimating the fear it will cause. As
soon as they begin to figure out that the victims are still in a
sound state of mind, then you will be facing super-soldiers of
your own creations across the battlefield. Once they figure out
what has happened, the American's and the British are going to
take advantage of the gasses' effects."

"I do not believe that they could tolerate fighting along
side monsters."

"This is war, Major General. Men will do almost anything for
victory."

Kadow watched Kaniachi sit silently for a few minutes.
Sensing that the man was not going to respond, he continued. "I
would not recommend that compound ever be used as an offensive
weapon against front-line positions. It is too risky."

"Plans for field tests were underway when I left Japan. They
should be underway by now. I trust in the effectiveness of
Compound 23 as a weapon."

Kadow sighed. "Major General, I have no doubts that Compound
23 will make a very effective weapon. I just fear that you are
not implementing it correctly. In fact, you seem to be using it
in a manner that could help the enemy in the long run."

"Then how would you implement it?" came Kaniachi's terse
reply.

"You said it yourself. This gas increases the strength,
agility and senses of someone exposed to it. It also alters their
appearance something that is frightening. Imagine the
effectiveness of elite units of commandos exposed to Compound 23,
transformed into super-soldiers and used to strike at the enemy
lines. The utlimate shock troops. Not only would we be striking
terror into the enemies heart, but we would also be hurting
them."

Kaniachi's reaction came totally as a surprise to Kadow. The
Major General almost leaped from his chair, anger spreading into
his face. "How dare you!" he said, rage contained in his voice.
"I will not stand for you to even suggest using Compound 23 on
our own men, turning them into mere animals. Japanese blood will
not be polluted in this way, Generaloberst. I was under the
impression that Germany was concerned with the purity of the
Aryan race. I see now that may not be as true as has been
claimed.

"I will see that you do not get your hands of Compound 23 if
you plan on using it to turn good men into animals."

With that, Kaniachi stormed out of the room, leaving a
startled Kadow and Heinz alone with Nambu. Looking at the door
that his superior officer had just left through, the Japanese
Doctor rose from his chair. Turning his attention back to the two
Germans, Nambu began to speak, surprising Kadow with his halting
German.

"You are unfortunate." he said. "Many in Japanese High
Command feel as Shosho... eh, Major General Kaniachi. I have
tried to pursue your suggestion, but have been 'discouraged' by
superiors. They will be reluctant to share with you now, all old
men afraid for the purity of their racial blood."

Doctor Nambu then reached into his jacket and withdrew a
small cylinder, about the size of a test tube. "Here is enough
for one dose, if inhaled directly. I will try to get you more,
but will be difficult. Good luck, Generaloberst."

As Kadow stammered out hasty 'thank you', Nambu bowed
deeply, placed the canister on the desk and then turned and
strode out of the office to rejoin his companion. Kadow picked up
the doctor's gift, holding it delicately in his hands. After
examining the canister for a few moments, he turned to Heinz.
"Hauptmann, I think we finally have something that will impress
the High Command." said Kadow with a smile.

The End