Hunters moon

33: Like rings in a tree

Ezbar grunted shifting on his one leg "You have the odassity to ask me about that!?"

"Tell me the truth Ezbar, would you under any other circumstances have handed over those blueprints?" Koos asked chuckling.

Ezbar sighed "No, not really"

"My point was made, reason I'm phoning is we need to form a mutual alliance"

Ezbar sat down to relief his leg from the weight of his body "I'm listening"

"You see, we can't go guns blazing wherever we go, sometimes well need a more, how you say, fire with fire approach"

"I was wondering if that didn't cross your mind? You gun ho bastard! And by fire with fire you mean Quintin?"

"Yes, whenever we need him, he must be available if possible. In return we'll be available whenever you need us, but lets get one thing straight, we don't work for each other, instead we work with each other"

"Very well, I can agree to that"

"Now, we found out a lot about werewolves in the past few hours, and were willing to exchange that info with you for something else"

"Like what?"

"All your research, and the tools you use to make that serum you used on Quintin"

Ezbar laughed "Oh, you want to change your selves into sabers as well? I don't think even if I give you the tech that your brains will be able to figure out how to do it"

This time Koos laughed "Don't jump to conclusions doc, we like being human, we'd like the tech so we can learn to understand werewolves better, that's all"

Ezbar rubbed his chin, then clamped the phone between his shoulder and ear "Very well, I'm making backup copies of the work, I'll send it and some extra lab equipment your way in a box. Whats the address?" He said typing away on his computer.

"Just send it to the post office in Worcester"

"Ok, it will be there in about a week"

"Thanks doc, give me an email address, I'll send you the new info about werewolves, when you have it and read it, phone me on this number again, we need to discuss it further"

"Ok" Ezbar put the phone down.

One week later

With everything on the new Ratel done, Frits finally had the chance to install the delicate computer equipment which will serve as the eyes and ears of the unit.

The double turret on top both with multiple guns, the front now sporting four twenty millimeter auto cannons. The back had a ninety millimeter anti tank gun, then two nato auto cannons from the Red buzzard on each side of it, a lot of fire power, both quick and powerful, just as Koos wanted it. When Frits finally finished the computer installation, he immediately booted it up.

"You guys go get us some beers, I've got everything I want to do stuck in my head, all I need to do is test it theoretically" He said loading discs, and typing way, it was about half an hour when he hopped out smiling. Koos had the fire going, Naledi and Piet was with him.

"Ok, I got some good and bad news" Frits said sitting down.

"Bad news first please" Koos said handing him a beer.

"Ok, Naledi... How long after a person has been bitten by a werewolf, does he become one?"

"Moon to moon, so if he gets bitten tonight, the next full moon will change him"

"Ok... What if he gets bitten tonight, and this was the last full moon of the cycle? And only maybe four or five days later the next full moon comes into view?"

"Same story"

Frits stroked his beard "So, the transformation isn't different in any way?"

"Well, not that I know of, why?"

"Well, what I figured out is; Werewolf venom are similar to parasites, bare with me, for the sake of this explanation I'm going to call the venom a parasite..."

He opened his beer and took a drink.

"As we know, a parasite would rather prefer it's host alive, or, alive for as long as possible, so, I take it the werewolf 'parasite' will slowly change the person into a werewolf? Right? This person will show signs of the wolf venom long before the moon comes, and, will get more 'wolf like' the closer the moon comes"

Naledi nodded "It's true, the bitten one starts getting hungry for meat, aggressive, anxious, and his voice would get deeper, all sorts of things happen, and when the moon comes he changes"

Frits stroked his beard again.

"How's this bad news Frits?" Koos asked.

"Well, before I can say this, I need to explain what I'm on about. It seems the venom has changed a lot, almost like it had to... Adapt"

"What do you mean adapt?" Naledi asked hearing about this for the first time in her life.

"Lets put it like this, there were certain tree moths in America, they were white of colour, the same colour as the bark of the trees they lived on.

Then humans came along and built factories that made smoke, the smoke made the tree bark black, exposing the moths, so over time the moths also turned black, it's an adaptation to survive"

Frits looked at Naledi to make sure she followed.

"Now this is what I say happened to the werewolf venom, like rings in trees I could figure out, that the venom is now more potent, it changes the person into a wolf much quicker than it should, and I think because the venom acts so quickly, the person can never control the werewolf form, whereas in the past, if Blair or Alice bit you, you'd maybe turn into a werewolf slower over time, thus you would be able to control it.

And that also aligns with Blair's story, where the wolf form was a gift if you really needed it"

"This is why you asked me if there is a difference between someone bitten who changed the next night, and someone who changed five nights later?" Naledi asked.

"Yes, exactly" Frits answered.