“How do werewolves fit into this grand plan?” Ori asked. “When we first began chasing Sauer, he was collecting tissue samples and blood from werewolves too.”
“And humans,” Kai added.
“I’ve been giving that some thought as well,” Lucas began. “Both vampires and werewolves are more powerful than humans, but in different ways. As a species each has slightly different skill sets than humans. A werewolf is born, unlike a vampire. They have strong family and pack ties, so recruiting them as soldiers would likely fail unless it was something an individual wanted to do. Getting large numbers to join up for a cause outside a pack would be difficult, if not impossible. Yes, there might be German packs siding with the Nazis, but there would be an equal number, or more, of packs from other regions willing to fight on the opposing side. However, if there was a way to incorporate werewolf attributes to enhance vampires, that would be valuable if the goal were to create a super soldier.”
“Werewolves have, historically, fought in wars. However, as a group they fared much better, particularly afterward. Because of their pack system, soldiers returning from battle have a phenomenal support system. They don’t have the homelessness and mental health problems many human soldiers do,” Ori chimed in. “Humans are only now beginning to catch up to werewolf mental health.”
Lucas nodded. “Another desirable quality for a super soldier. Mental and emotional stability. There’s also the possibility he was hoping to create more than one generation of super soldiers by incorporating werewolves. I’m starting to think this guy had a clear idea of what he wanted, but not how to achieve it.”
“And then somewhere along the way in his quest to create some sort of super soldier, Sauer discovers an organism that can be weaponized,” Jonas said.
“There’s a gap in the research. A jump from analyzing the three species to what we’re dealing with now,” Lucas said. “I’m guessing the biological weapon is still a fairly new idea. Eighty years ago there simply wasn’t the technology to make this thing useful. However, as a group, scientists are hoarders and packrats. We never really throw anything away.”
“And once an idea is out there, it never goes away,” Jonas added and grinned.
“Sauer became a vampire at some point, and I bet it didn’t take long for him to realize all he had to do was hang around and wait for technology to catch up to his ideas,” Sophia said. “He might’ve been a horrible and evil man, but he certainly wasn’t stupid.”
One of the computers started chirping.
“This place is annoying,” Kai grumbled.
Blair wheeled his chair away from the table to the terminal. “It’s a heat signature. A new one.”
“From where?” Ori demanded. “How would someone get into this place without us knowing.”
Shaking his head, Blair stared at one of the monitors, moving the cursor around. He did something that dulled the noise. “Whoever it is, they didn’t come from outside, they’ve been hiding. There must be pocket areas that aren’t covered by any sensors.”
“Heat signature, so not a vampire,” Declan said.
Blair nodded. “Too high for human.” He turned to face them. “The werewolf we couldn’t account for.” He swung back to the computer when it began making a different noise. “Kruger is in his office, but the werewolf and a human is heading that way.” Moving to another computer, Blair pressed a few keys on the keyboard and the quarters Kincade and Madison occupied appeared on one of the other monitors.
Madison was sitting on the side of his bed, reading. It was obvious by how he yawned and stretched he’d probably only recently woken up. Kincade’s room was empty.
Blair blinked at the monitor for a few seconds before he exclaimed, “How the hell did he get out? The door is locked from the outside.”
“Air vents, or maintenance shafts.” Declan like the others, was up and moving in seconds.
Porter started issuing orders. “Kai, Declan, Forge, with Sophia.” He turned to Ori. “You stick with Blair if he has to leave this section.”
Ori nodded. “Yes, sir.”
