He was a hero to his family. He had faced off with a vicious dog and come out victorious. Admittedly, he had failed to mention that the dog in question had been all skin and bones and had no teeth to speak of, but it had intended to kill him. His mate and sixteen children, not to mention the other rats that made up their colony, now all treated him with new respect.

Of course, they’d refused to come near him until he’d cleaned sticky coating of saliva from his fur. It stank of death and power and ancient magic, an odd combination for a vermin human’s best friend. The most ancient of rats, a staggering five years old, had squeaked dire warnings when she’d smelled the spittle. The other rats ignored the senile, grey-furred ancient and listened attentively as he had regaled them with his tale of life and death struggle. He exaggerated a bit, of course; the small cut he’d received from one of the beast’s broken teeth, a scratch he barely felt, became a painful war wound, and his mate chittered sympathetically.

It was only later that the wound began to throb, and the rat began to wonder if he’d been hurt worse than he’d thought. The rat couldn’t understand. It was just a small scrape! He hadn’t even been going through garbage; the only thing that could have gotten into the wound was a little of the dog’s saliva!

And then the next night came. His whole body began to ache. And then, he began to change...
 
 

Entering General Hein’s office hadn’t been fun in the best of times; now that the other had become a werewolf, it had become damned uncomfortable. Dr. Sid entered cautiously, his body tense. He was all too aware that he’d entered another’s territory, and his lupine senses screamed at him to leave before the other defended his territory. Dr. Sid’s human side won out, though the fact that it was the day preceding the last full moon of the month made quelling his inner beast difficult.

The general was seated at his desk when Dr. Sid entered, but he rose to his feet immediately, an instinctive gesture. He didn’t want to be beneath the other wolf, where he would seem submissive in his own den. Sid’s lips twitched in amusement; he wondered if Hein had any idea why he’d responded the way he had.

Then again, Hein had always had a superiority complex. Now he just had a reason for it.

"Have a seat, Doctor," Hein said with a cordialness that didn’t quite veil his contempt.

Dr. Sid nearly resisted; he didn’t want to be beneath the other, either, but his old bones demanded rest, so he settled himself on the leather chair in front of Hein’s desk with a theatrical sigh. "I’m surprised you asked to see me," Dr. Sid said, ignoring the general’s posturing. He wasn’t interested in the younger wolf’s attempts at dominance; after all, he’d had to put up with it even when Hein was human. "Why didn’t you just corner me in my lab, like you usually do?"

Hein’s lips curled, which was almost a baring of teeth. "Believe me, I would have sent this with Major Elliot if I could, but he seems to be indisposed whenever I need him most."

"That’s because he’s dating Dr. Ross," Dr. Sid said, enjoying the look of horror that crossed the general’s face. "Believe me, I’ve tried breaking them up, but... they just keep getting back together." He shrugged. "So long as they confine their amorous liaisons to your office, I can live with it."

Hein’s jaw dropped, and Dr. Sid almost laughed. It seemed to diffuse the other’s tension, and the general finally sat back down across from him. "Dating? Liaisons? In here? That would explain..." He shook his head, and the horrified expression was replaced by bemusement. "Tell Dr. Ross that Major Elliot used to be a woman."

Dr. Sid gave a snort of laughter, until he saw that Hein’s expression was dead serious. Oh, my... The more he learned about the soldiers in the USMF, the more frightened he became. "Ahem... yes... anyway, why did you call me here?" He was getting horrifying images in his head, and he really, really wanted to get rid of them.

Hein frowned, clearly despising the fact that Dr. Sid was taking control. But he selected a clear disk from his drawer, and inserted into the slot of his desk computer. The holographic screen appeared, hovering half a foot above his desk, and a few swipes with his right hand brought up a blueprint of the barrier city. "I received a message this morning from the Barrier Control Center. It seems there have been a series of unusual events involving the barrier. Here, here, and here," Hein said, lighting up several points on the barrier city blueprint. They were all in the city’s deeper levels, where humans seldom went.

Dr. Sid frowned. "’Unusual events?’" he repeated. "Like what?"

"The proximity alarms you designed keep going off. But whenever they send a team to investigate, there’s nothing there."

Dr. Sid scoffed. "Vermin, probably," he said, though that couldn’t be right. The city’s underbelly was teeming with rats and the like; the alarms were programmed not to respond to anything that small, or they’d be going off all the time. "One of the alarms may have glitched and is picking up anything that moves." He bristled at Hein’s implication that his inventions were the problem; it wasn’t his fault Hein couldn’t understand them. It was almost akin to an old-timer’s contempt of ‘newfangled contraptions,’ never mind the fact that Hein was younger than Dr. Sid.

"The technicians thought of that, of course," Hein explained. "They checked every alarm that’s been tripped; there’s nothing wrong with them, as far as they can tell." He hesitated. "There’s a reason I called you here; I need you to go down there, tonight, to see what’s going on."

"What?! You know I can’t do that!" Dr. Sid snarled. "It’s the full moon – either send me now, or send someone else. He got to his feet, bones creaking in protest.

"You wouldn’t be my first choice," Hein said scathingly, "but there’ssomething I’ve noticed." Hein tapped another icon, bringing up a calendar for the past three months, with several days marked with a glowing blue X. "The last two events were last night, and the night before. When I asked the technicians, they admitted that there had been several other such incidents, possibly more they weren’t even aware of, all too small to bring to my notice. Those occurred... well, see for yourself."

Puzzled, Dr. Sid watched as Hein pulled up calendars for the previous two months. A few days out of both months were marked with X’s. The attacks had occurred three nights out of every month. Every one of them coincided with the full moon. "The timing, as you can see, is most peculiar." Hein noted. "That’s why I want you go down there tonight. Find out if this is a strange coincidence... or if there’s something else behind this." Dr. Sid was about to protest, but Hein didn’t give him the chance. "I’ll send a couple of soldiers with you." His eyes narrowed as he thought, then he grinned savagely. "I’ll send Nei- Corporal Fleming with you, too. Having a technician with you can’t hurt, in case the barrier alarms truly are just damaged. He has a knack for finding problems that others have missed."

"And how, exactly, are you going to explain to a bunch of soldiers that they’re going to accompany a werewolf into the city’s lower levels?" Dr. Sid challenged.

"Oh, Corporal Fleming knows what you are," Hein said breezily. "He’ll tell the others that you’re a dog who can be used to track a potential saboteur."

It was on the tip of Dr. Sid’s tongue to ask just how Corporal Fleming knew, then he decided this was probably one of those things it was better not to know. "Why can’t you go and be the dog? If there’s trouble, you’re more capable of dealing with it." It pained him to admit it, but it was the plain truth.

Hein was silent for a long moment. Then he said, almost too softly for even Dr. Sid’s sensitive ears to hear, "It would hurt too much... I’d never make it down there... I... I’m not feeling too well," he added, a little louder.

Dr. Sid examined the other’s face more carefully, noticing for the first time the sallow skin, the dark rings around Hein’s sunken eyes, the slight tremor in his hand. I’ve seen those symptoms before... but where? If he could only smell the man, he could determine what his problem was, but Hein was wearing a rather large amount of cologne, and Sid couldn’t get a good whiff of him.

"All right, I’ll do it," Dr. Sid said at length, resolving to look into the other man’s sickness later.

"I’ll have Corporal Fleming pick you up this evening." Hein said, turning away. He turned back after a moment, though, and snarled at Dr. Sid, "What are you still doing here? You’re dismissed!"
 
 

Sid had to admit, he was kinda looking forward to this new adventure tonight. He’d spent the last couple of full moons in his room, mostly to avoid the younger wolf, but he’d missed the action. Old bones or not, he was not a creature meant to be kept confined to a cage!

He paced impatiently, bones creaking with every motion. Really, what does Hein expect me to do with a body this battered? Anyone down there could hear me from a mile away. He sat with a whumpf, and examined his split and broken claws. Then there’re my weapons... I’m worthless without my blender. What is Hein thinking?!

There was a knock on his door, which abruptly opened with a whoosh. Sid growled in irritation; while he couldn’t actually answer the door, wouldn’t the polite thing to do be to wait a few moments before overriding the lock and coming in uninvited?

"Wow, you really are pitiful-looking, aren’t you?" Neil Fleming asked, gazing down at Sid. Sid glowered, but refrained from baring his remaining teeth at the tech. He didn’t want to give the corporal any more reason to think him pathetic... Instead, he got to his feet and began to stroll past Neil, but was halted when the tech grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Oh, no," Neil said cheerfully. "I can’t let you just wander around on your own; it would look odd." He ignored Sid’s baleful glare as he leaned over, pulling a strap of black leather from seemingly nowhere. "General’s orders," he added apologetically as he buckled the collar around Sid’s thin neck. A collar? Hein wanted him to wear a collar? That wasn’t the last of the humiliation, however; there was a leash that went with it. Kill him... I am going to kill Hein!

Despite the violence of his thoughts, Sid followed Neil willingly enough. There wasn’t any point in mauling the corporal, after all; he was wearing his Deep Eyes armor. And, Sid noticed with some relief, he was armed with at least one handgun that fired bullets. Hein suspects this is something more than a couple of malfunctioning alarms, then. The timing really is rather odd...What if it’s something from Dr. Carter’s labs? He’s been on his best behavior since we trashed his last experiments, but I wouldn’t put it past him to have something up his sleeve...

Neil led him towards the soldier’s barracks, presumably to pick up the rest of their team. His tattered ears flicked back and forth as he picked up the sounds of the occupants’ various activities; at one point, he heard a high, feminine scream through the wall nearest him, and Sid halted, wondering if he was hearing a murder. Then, mixed with the cries, he made out a woman’s voice – Corporal Proudfoot, maybe? - saying, "It’s just a spider. Honestly, Gray, is there anything in the animal kingdom you aren’t afraid of?"

They didn’t actually see any of these soldiers until Neil jerked the leash, forcing Sid to halt. "Hey, Ryan," Neil said, as the tall sergeant blocked his way. "Erm, is there a problem?"

"I’m getting tired of covering for you," Ryan said, his gaze flicking to Sid. His face was puzzled, but there was another expression there as well that Sid couldn’t place. "I’m running out of excuses for your disappearances. Jane is starting to suspect something."

"Hey, this is a special favor to General Hein!" Neil said.

"You’ve been doing him a lot of ‘special favors’ lately," Ryan said heavily. "Someone’s going to notice if you keep this up."

Neil pointed to Sid, who had sat down to watch the exchange. His tongue lolled to further the impression that he was just a harmless old dog. "This is an official favor, with the 307s," Neil said pointedly. "A mission. D’you think I’d have the dog otherwise?" From the arch of Ryan’s brow, Sid had no doubt of just what the sergeant had been thinking. "Or my armor, for that matter? Besides, I know you’ll do a good job covering for me; that’s the deal, right? You cover for my... ‘special favors,’ and I don’t tell anyone you write romance novels based on the real-life exploits of other soldiers."

The sergeant just folded his arms across his chest and grunted. "I’m starting to think you got the better end of the bargain."

Neil just grinned and pushed his way past the sergeant. Sid gave him a curious look as they passed – he wondered if Ryan had written any of that smut Aki kept leaving in the laboratory. Ryan just sighed and shook his head before he went back into his room.

Finally, beside one of the maintenance hatches that led to the city’s underbelly, they met three other soldiers, all of them fully armored. Unlike Neil, who simply wore one of the light Coronet headsets in case of Phantom excursion, the 307s wore the full helmets, making them seem like featureless clones. Sid immediately dubbed them Random Deep Eyes Soldiers numbers One, Two, and Three.

"What the hell is that thing?" Three asked, pointing at Sid. What few hackles he had left rose, and he bit back a growl.

"He’s a police dog the general got on loan," Neil said. He lowered his voice. "He’s just three days from retirement, though, so we have to be very careful with him. He’s likely to keel over dead at any time."

Sid just glowered. Soldier Number One just shrugged and said, "Let’s just get this over with." His tone made it clear he thought this whole expedition was a waste of time, and privately, Sid agreed. Four armored soldiers to take on what was likely an equipment malfunction did seem like overkill... Unless the malfunction was more severe than Hein had said, and there’d been an actual barrier breech. But if that had been the case, he would have heard of it.

Neil took the lead, jerking on the leash when Sid was too absorbed in his thoughts to follow. With a long-suffering sigh, Sid trotted after Neil, who paused only long enough to swipe a security card through the maintenance hatch lock. The hatch slid open, and a whiff of stale air made Sid halt in surprise. He’d never entered the undercity as a wolf before, and the scents in that musty air were almost overwhelming. It was an entire world of exciting new smells, and the odors of decay and corruption that tempted his nostrils seemed to enervate him. He picked up his pace, his tail wagging in delight.

"I hope you know where you’re going, Fleming," Two said, after they’d been walking for about ten minutes down the well-worn pathways. "As I recall, the last time you led a squad of soldiers somewhere, you got everyone walking in circles."

"Hey, I’d never been to Atlanta, okay?" Neil said defensively.

"There were signs pointing to the Council chamber. How the hell can you get lost when there are signs?" Two snorted.

"Which no one even bothered to point out." Neil sounded disgusted.

"Well... everyone thought it was funny as hell that you didn’t realize it, and no one wanted to ruin the moment."

"Wait... He’s gotten people lost? That’s not funny, man... My horoscope said bad things were going to happen today! OhGodohGodohGod..." This was Random Deep Eyes Soldier Three, and Sid could smell the soldier’s panic. Oh, good... this is someone I want at my back in a dangerous situation.

"Relax," Neil said, holding up his hand to show them the computer he wore on his wrist. "This is guiding us, not my own sense of direction. And if we did get lost, well, what do you think we have the dog for?" He jerked Sid’s leash, earning a nasty look from the werewolf.

"Will you all just shut up before I do something you’ll all regret?" One said, his fingers lightly brushing the hilt of his knife in emphasis. "No one is getting lost." Sid couldn’t see the man’s expression behind his blank mask, but something about him made the other soldiers obey meekly.

For the next quarter of an hour, the group walked onwards, with only the creak of armor, the bleep of Neil’s wrist computer, and the ever-present hum of the barrier to break the silence.

The underbelly of the city was a bizarre landscape of catwalks, girders, and massive load-bearing pillars suspended over the broad expanse of barrier that was the city’s first line of defense against a foe that could rise up through solid earth. Figuring out a way to defend the ground had been a nightmare; burying the barrier made repairs impossible. Were a part to fail, Phantoms would stream in through the gap in the defenses before the broken section could be dug up. The only option was an exposed stretch of barrier underlying the city itself, with catwalks that could be rotated so maintenance workers could repair any broken pieces of the barrier’s surface. It was a designer’s nightmare, and the fact that the city showed no sign of collapsing into the hollow cavity beneath it was testament to the abilities of said designers.

It was also an ideal haven for rats, Sid realized, nose wrinkling as a particularly strong scent came to him. Maybe it’s not a glitch, after all. Maybe there are whole packs of rats traveling around down here, and that’s what the sensors are picking up. It was possible; though it didn’t explain the coincidence of it only happening on the full moon.

"The first sensor is right over here," Neil said, gesturing to a slim black box fastened to a support pole. "Do you mind getting the next one while I look this one over?" he asked the soldiers. "It’s the next one over; down that way." He pointed, and all three soldiers set off after it. Neil blinked. "I didn’t mean for all three of them to go," he told Sid wryly. "I’m sure there’s a joke in this somewhere: How many Deep Eyes does it take to unscrew a sensor? Still, I’m glad they all went; I don’t want to be stuck with them, anyway." Sid just flopped down, sighing. Some adventure this is turning out to be... Surly soldiers, bad jokes... I can’t even help with the repairs, not with these paws. He examined his stubby toes with disgust. Why did you send me down here, General? he seethed. Barrier problem, only on the full moon... He wanted to smack himself for falling for such an obvious trick. That idiot just wanted to get me out of the way while he does something he knows I’d disapprove of. Damned pup, challenging my Alpha status like this... Sid’s lips curled in a snarl.

Well, there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He watched Neil pry loose the sensor’s panel and examine the wiring, but quickly grew bored of that. He glanced around, desperate to find something interesting. To his right was the vertical barrier wall, nearly close enough to touch. All the sensors that had been tripped were located along this wall, as if something had been trying to look outside, beyond the barrier.

To his left was the vast cavern of the city’s sublevel; the lurid orange glow made it look almost like a volcanic crater, with the catwalks resembling the decaying rope bridges that so often spanned them in old films.

"I don’t see anything wrong with this one," Neil said, after a moment. He bent down and offered it to Sid. "What do you think? See anything I might have missed?"

Sid thrust his muzzle forward, poking at the wires, trying to scent anything unusual or wrong. But the corporal was right; the sensor looked fine. I’m not surprised. This just confirms that Hein was trying to get rid of us this whole time.

He shook his head, and Neil frowned. Sid sank back onto his belly as Neil reconnected the sensor to its stand. He flicked his ears slightly as he heard the approach of the other soldiers, but it didn’t hold his interest. He yawned and rested his head on his paws as the three Deep Eyes arrived and handed Neil the second sensor. Tuning them out, he began to rack his mind for any hint, any clue to what Hein could be doing that would cause him to send Sid away. Could he be intending to kill someone? Destroy something?

Or... could it have something to do with Hein’s illness? No; that had to be feigned. Probably the best excuse he could come up with for not coming down here himself.

Tickticktick... Sid blinked. The sound had been at the edge of his awareness for several moments, and he’d dismissed it as noises made by the soldiers. But now that he was concentrating on it, it almost sounded like the sound was coming from... beneath them?

Sid lurched to his feet and peered over the catwalk’s edge. There was nothing down there but the barrier; the glow made it difficult to make out any shapes, but there didn’t seem to be anything.

Neil gave the leash a yank, and Sid followed the group to the next sensor’s setting. "This one seems to be okay, too," he said, frowning.

Ticktickticktick... Sid’s head whipped back, but he didn’t see anything behind them. A quick peak over the catwalk’s edge revealed nothing below. Yet... it sounded like something was following them.

With a twitch of his fingers, Neil activated the wrist computer. "I’m going to test the sensors," he explained when he saw Sid’s curious look.

"Um, why are you telling this to a dog?" Three asked.

"Because he’s obviously the most intelligent one here – besides me, of course," Neil said stiffly. Sid suddenly wondered what the history was between Neil and these three.

Scratch that. Considering some of the things Sid had found out just this day alone, he didn’t want to know what had gone on with them.

Neil’s wrist computer bleeped as interfaced with the sensor; seconds later, an image appeared with six pulsing dots that represented every living thing within the scanner’s range big enough to be detected. "It seems to be working fine," Neil said, frowning. He shut down the interface.

Tickticktickticktick... There was no mistaking it, this time. The sound was similar to that Sid’s claws made on metal, but there was nothing nearby except the soldiers. No, it had to be his imagination...

And then he realized that he, Neil, and the three soldiers made a grand total of five; yet the scanner had picked up six large living creatures. Sid leaned over the edge of the catwalk again, but this time he didn’t look straight down. He turned his gaze towards the bridge’s underside, his eyes straining to make out anything among the catwalk’s support structure.

"What are you looking at?" Neil’s voice said from somewhere above them. Sid turned to look at the tech, forgetting for the moment that he wouldn’t be able to answer... then he caught a flash of movement... a glint of yellow eyes... an impression of great size... a fleeting glimpse of gleaming teeth and claws... and then the screaming began.

Sid jerked his head back up in time to see a dark blur slam into Three, who shrieked at the top of his lungs. Number One pulled his gun and aimed, but he couldn’t get a clear shot at the creature without hitting his squad mate. The way his finger twitched on the trigger, however, suggested that was no bad thing...

Sid lunged forward, intending to attack this new threat, but yipped when he was jerked back when he reached the limit of the leash. Neil was too busy reaching for his gun to realize his other hand still clung tightly to the end of the leash, and Sid growled at him in desperation.

There was a gunshot, and the whatever-it-was rolled off Three and over the edge of the catwalk.

"Are you okay?" Two asked, helping his team mate up.

"No, man! This is exactly what my horoscope said would happen!" he shrieked.

"That you’d be attacked by a giant rat?" Neil asked blankly.

"He’s fine," One said, giving Three a quick look-over. "His armor protected him."

A rat? As soon as Sid thought it, he knew Neil was right. The smell of rat hung heavily in the air... and it was a familiar odor.

"What the hell was that?" Two asked.

"A giant rat," Neil repeated.

"How the hell can there be a giant rat down here?" One demanded.

"I don’t know! But I think that’s what’s been setting off the sensors; and no one’s seen it because it’s been traveling around by clinging to the catwalk’s underside." Neil sighed. "It hasn’t done any harm so far, but I think we’re going to have to hunt it down and kill it."

"No harm? No harm?! It attacked me! I need to get to the infirmary before I get rabies or something." Three’s voice was shrill. "I’m not going to be able to go after that thing. You go on without me."

One pointed at Two. "Take him back to the infirmary. Fleming and I will hunt this thing down." He turned towards Neil. "That... thing you have on the leash can track things down, right?"

Offended, Sid flattened his ears. Then, with a haughty sniff, he set off at a stiff-legged trot. He could smell the odor of the giant rat all around them, confusing him, but he figured it would eventually show itself again. Whatever it was... The smell was familiar; similar to that of the rat he’d failed to kill on his first night out in years. What if... what if he had managed to injure it, after all? He’d seen evidence that some animals could, in fact, be infected with lycanthropy, but it was a rare occurrence.

Great... a wererat. No; that’s not right. ‘Were’ means ‘man,’ and this thing was never a man. Well, whatever the hell you call it, I need to dispose of it before it manages to make more of its kind. If it had bitten any more of its kind, there could be a whole army of rats. We could already be too late.

His ears picked up a sound, the distinctive tickticktick from before. Sid whined, and Neil and the Deep Eyes soldier immediately went on the alert. This time, however, Neil unclipped the leash from Sid’s collar, giving him free rein. "Where is it?" Neil murmured.

Sid pointed his muzzle towards a point on the catwalk just behind them.

The two soldiers held their guns at the ready as they waited for the creature to erupt over the edge as it had before. Sid waited with them, not sure what good he would be against the creature but ready to help anyway. They waited... and waited...

And then Sid’s ears picked up the sound of breathing from somewhere behind him. He turned slowly, coming face to face with a narrow, pointed face and gleaming rodent teeth. But it wasn’t fully rat; there was something of the wolf in its size, its yellow eyes, the shape of its head, and the long legs that held its body high off the catwalk. Its long, skinny tail scraped the metal as it crouched down in preparation for a leap.

Sid barely managed to yip before the monster rat sprang, its wolf legs giving it enough power to leap over Sid and on to Neil. The corporal had been in mid-turn, and he threw up his hands in a futile effort to ward off the rat’s attack. The rat hit, and they fell backwards, hitting the catwalk and rolling almost to the edge.

Sid lunged, slamming his head into the rat’s ribcage before it could sink its teeth into Neil’s unarmored throat, though the scent of blood in his nostrils made him fear he was too late.

The rat turned its attack to Sid, and he howled in agony as its claws sank into Sid’s shoulder. But Sid used the strike to his advantage, moving his head under the creature’s leg to get a grip on the tender skin where the leg met the body. He may have had almost no teeth, but what he had was enough to maintain his grip. He was rather pleased his jaw muscles hadn’t atrophied along with the rest of his body.

The rat’s teeth snapped at Sid’s spine, and he could feel blood running down his sides. But he refused to let go; he just had to keep a hold of it until either Neil or the soldier got a clear shot.

And then there was a yank on his neck, and suddenly he couldn’t breath. The rat had caught hold of the collar and was savagely yanking at it, crushing Sid’s windpipe in the process. Sid was forced to release his grip in a desperate effort to catch his breath.

Then the rat’s grip momentarily slackened, and a moment later Sid heard the crack of the gunshot. It began to fall away, and Sid thought it was all over... until he realized the rat’s teeth hadn’t released the collar... and that they had come so close to the catwalk’s edge that the rat was going over the edge... and Sid was falling with it...
 
 

Something had broken in the fall. His left front leg was pinned under him, bent at an angle that wasn’t possible for either man or wolf. He groaned, a painful action when pushed past his bruised windpipe. He cracked one eye open, shutting it immediately as the amber glow of the barrier overloaded his optic never. Where was he? Why was he so close to the barrier? Why did he hurt?

Sid opened his eyes again, this time prepared for the sensory overload. Through the glare, he could make out the dark lines of the catwalks spanning the open space above. So far above... That’s right... I fell off. No, not fell; that rat pulled me off. Sid raised his head, searching for his attacker. There... a dark mound off to his right. It wasn’t moving, and Sid pushed himself to his feet and hobbled over to make certain it was dead. It didn’t take long to confirm it; there was a bullet hole directly between its eyes, and no werecreature could survive a gunshot to the brain, silver bullet or no.

That solved one problem, but left him with a brand new one. He was directly atop the ground-lying barrier; he could feel it against the skin, a prickling sensation that his sturdy werewolf body handled with ease. But when he turned human... well, no living thing except a shifted werewolf could survive the bio-etheric energy. And through his ties to the moon, he could sense that dawn wasn’t far away.

The catwalks were too far above him to grab onto and pull himself up, even if he didn’t have a bad leg. There were controls to move them and lower them for when the maintenance crews had to do repairs, but all the controls were on the catwalks.

So this is it, then. He couldn’t think of any way out of this. His talents as a werewolf were useless, and once he turned human, he was dead. Killed by one of my own barriers. It was a cruel bit of irony; he’d made it to protect humankind. And they didn’t even stay to help me! That was perhaps the worst of it. He’d fought to save Neil, and the tech had left him. Angrily, he threw back his head and howled, never mind that his throat was in agony from the act. He didn’t stop, not even when his cries echoed back until they drowned out the hum of the barrier, the pounding of his heart, the roar of his blood... all he could hear was his own anger and sadness.

And then he heard another howl, one he’d thought at first was an echo. But his sensitive ears were able to pick out subtle differences, enough for any wolf to recognize as belonging to a certain individual once he’d learned the distinctive cry, for it was as unique as any human fingerprint.

This was followed by silence; and then there was the sound of running, two sets of feet, one human in a pair of armored boots, the other four-footed. Sid howled again, and then a dark head peered over the edge of the closest catwalk. "Well, this is a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself in to," Hein observed, bearing his teeth in a malicious grin. But then he examined Sid more closely. "You look like hell! Are you all right?"

"Only if you get me out of here before I transform," Sid said hoarsely.

"Hang on. Neil’s going to lower the catwalk. Don’t move; I’ll come out there and get you."

Sid wanted to snap that he didn’t need the younger wolf’s help, but his body said otherwise. Now that the adrenaline rush was fading, he felt on the verge of collapse.

Moments later, there was a whir of machinery, and then the catwalk was only a few feet above him. Hein jumped down, landing awkwardly. Sid thought at first that the footing had thrown him off, but then the other wolf began to limp towards him.

Sid leaned himself against Hein, and together they walked towards the catwalk’s edge. Sid reared up, and Neil helped pull him up, then turned to help Hein. "Sorry for leaving you like that, Doc," Neil said apologetically. "I was knocked unconscious when my head hit the ground, and Martin took me up to the infirmary rather than trying to help you. He’d assumed that you would have died when you came into contact with the bio-etheric conduits down there. I did, too, actually, until the general insisted we come down here to get you."

Sid turned towards the younger wolf with surprise. "It was your idea to save me?"

Hein shrugged. "I may not like you, Doctor, but I wasn’t going to just let you die."

"You need medical attention, Doc," Neil said, eying the gouges across Sid’s shoulders with sympathy. "I’ll assist you however I can, but I hope you can walk back. Er, I brought some clothes for you, since it’s almost dawn." He pointed to a duffel bag he’d set on the floor by his feet.

"We’ll stay here until we change," Sid said. "I’ll probably manage better on two human legs, since one of my front ones seems to be broken."

Though Neil couldn’t understand them, he seemed to realize they’d chosen to wait. He used the time to reset the catwalk back at its original position, and by the time he’d finished, Dr. Sid and General Hein were human again, and trying very hard not to accidentally see each other as they got dressed in the very open space.

It gave Dr. Sid’s healing factor the opportunity to take the edge off his pain, and it also enabled him to see something else. Hein hadn’t pulled on his black leather gloves yet, and for the first time, he saw the swelling on Hein’s hand. "What is that?" he asked. Hein tried to jerk his hand away, but Dr. Sid caught it and pulled it close.

He examined the other man’s hand, frowning at what he saw. The fingers and knuckles of Hein’s left hand were grotesquely swollen, and strangely discolored. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a dark band of metal embedded in the flesh. A ring... Probably his wedding band, judging from the location. Dr. Sid could make out a band of gold, intertwined with a band of silver. "It’s silver poisoning," Dr. Sid said grimly. "This is going to have to come off."

"No," Hein said sharply, yanking his hand away with a wince. "I swore to myself I’d never take this ring off.

"I wasn’t talking about the ring," Dr. Sid said, and Hein’s eyes widened with realization. He clutched his hand tightly to his chest and backed away. "Look, you have to get it done. The poison already killed off your finger, and if you don’t remove that ring, it’ll spread. In a few months, it could be your hand that needs to be amputated."

Hein’s face adapted a curiously blank look, and he seemed in a daze as Dr. Sid staggered towards the service lift. Neil straggled behind, a worried expression on his face. All of them were so preoccupied with Hein that Sid never even noticed the bandaged rat bite on Neil’s hand...