Q&A with Anna Walls discussion

Questions Answered

The ship-wide intercom came to life for the first time in several weeks. It had been silent since the last stop five weeks ago. They had taken on new passengers and cargo then, just as they were going to do here. There was one small difference here though. Planet Wer was a quarantine planet and they had one of its citizens among its crew.

“Attention all passengers, standard orbit around Planet Wer will be achieved at oh-six-hundred hours tomorrow morning. All passengers wishing to disembark for the surface need to have their luggage checked and be ready for boarding shuttle Alpha by oh-eight-hundred hours. We will remain in orbit for eight days while trade goods are exchanged. Planet Wer is a quarantine planet. Lieutenant Radolfuss, a native of Wer, will be in the commissary for the rest of the afternoon to answer any questions you might have.”

The message was repeated and the silence that followed magnified the clear voice of a tiny girl. “Is it true, mommy? Is it true that everyone who lives there is a werwolf?”

No one heard the answer, if there was one, because everyone chose that moment to spread any and all rumors and gossip they had heard about the mysterious planet called Wer.

Moments later, there was another wash of silence as a tall, very unusual man strode through the commons on his way to the commissary. Irresistibly, every eye followed him, and seemingly by compulsion, many feet followed those eyes, heading for the commissary in his wake.

The clear voice of the little girl echoed through the now empty commons again. “But mommy, isn’t that what a werwolf looks like?” piped the tiny girl. There was no one left to hear the response, if there was one.

Lieutenant Radolfuss made his way to the far end of the commissary where he pulled out a tall stool and took a seat in front of the counter that divided the eating area from the kitchen. It was a practiced move, but then any move he made looked practiced. That’s just the way he seemed to move, not to mention the fact that he did this same thing every time the ship was about to enter orbit around Planet Wer, his home. He sat still for a while, sipping at a cup of hot coffee Curly had brought him and allowing everyone to get a good look at him while they settled themselves. Some were still whispering, but that too soon settled into silence.

He was not a visible part of the crew. Since he was second officer in engineering, Justin’s duties kept him below the passenger level in engineering most of the time. Plus, no one liked to be stared at every day, so shipboard diplomacy permitted him to keep his low profile.

Lieutenant Radolfuss was not just tall; he stood head and shoulders above the average human male. His records said he was seven foot two and a quarter inches tall and weighed two hundred and seventy three pounds. A shiny coat of two-tone gray fur softened the powerful muscles of his bare arms. In fact, one could safely assume that his entire body was covered with the same fur, all the way from his canine-like face to his very wolfish feet.

From the top, his skull was shaped like a human’s, even though its finer details resembled the wolf. His ears were all wolf, able to swivel and tilt independently. His eyes were icy gray and held an intensity that was hard to meet. His nose and mouth had the shape of a wolf only not nearly so pronounced. His shoulders and arms, aside from being heavily muscled, were very human in appearance. His hands were big, but long enough to appear slender with the heavy curved nails of a canine. If he weren’t wearing his uniform, his barrel chest would be more obvious, but his profile showed it if you thought to look for it. His belly, hips and legs looked human too, but if you looked closer, you could see that his knees were too high and made round by the bulge of the heavy muscles above them. Hidden by loose pant legs, were his ‘heels’, located roughly half way between his wolf-like foot and his knee, and constructed in such a way that they touched the ground only when he happened to be squatting. This joint added an odd bend to his lower leg, which added a different kind of grace to his walk. And lastly, his feet looked like a five-toed wolf’s paw, also with very canine claws. No boot maker had ever managed to make a boot that would fit those unusual feet and still accommodate the way the leg moved. Justin simply couldn’t find a boot he could wear that wasn’t highly uncomfortable so he wore none.

Lieutenant Radolfuss finished his cup of coffee and set it on the counter behind him. His movement could have cast a spell over the gathering; suddenly everyone in the room froze and stopped their whispering. All eyes were riveted on him in morbid anticipation, or fascinated fear.

“Good day, citizens,” said Justin without seeming to notice the change. “My name is Justin Radolfuss, lieutenant, engineering and I was born here on Planet Wer. I am the third son of Isaac Radolfuss and his mistress Tiela of Grandell, capital city of Wer. I am here to answer all of your questions.”

In the silence that followed, he turned to get another cup of coffee from Curly, who stood behind the counter. Curly was grinning when he handed over the steaming cup. The lieutenant’s eyes sparkled in response. They both knew that if he were to smile openly, or heaven forbid, laugh outright, more than half the people who had crowded into the room would run screaming for their quarters never to be seen again until they left the ship at their destination, if not sooner. They knew this because that was exactly what had happened the first time Justin had sat here to answer questions. The captain got a chuckle out of it too, after he saw the log tapes of the incident, but that didn’t stop him from admonishing the young engineer not to let it happen again.

Justin continued speaking into the silence of the crowded commissary. He spoke softly; his voice a full-throated thrum though less than a growl. “This ship makes this stop twice in a standard year and it is my goal to be surprised by at least one new question each time. Is there anyone here who thinks they can surprise me with a new question?” Justin spoke carefully, but the challenge was a clear attempt to encourage them to ask questions. “Come citizens, I won’t bite, and I will answer all but the most personal questions to the best of my ability. Anything of a personal nature can be taken up between your husband or brothers, the captain and me in a private meeting.”

There were some gasps, a couple stifled squeaks and a buried face or two and Curly suddenly found something to do back in the freezer. Sharp wolf ears heard him laughing even in the freezer and his knew he wasn’t going to get another cup of coffee for a while.

Well, at least some of the ice had been broken. His audience could now go from ‘freak show’ to ‘amateur biology lesson’, which meant that they were ready to hear what he had to say. “For those of you who may be interested in going down to the surface, it is my obligation to remind you that Planet Wer is a quarantine planet and ‘I’ am the reason.” He began to explain. “Most of you have genetically originated from earth therefore your alter-form will also originate from earth. Man is a mammal therefore your alter-form will also be a mammal. Those of you who are from other solar systems will have alter-forms indigenous to your home worlds and genetic disposition, though I must admit that there are very few non-earthers living on Wer. Our scientists have studied the phenomena extensively, and though we know more about the change, the cause is still unknown. The effects, however, are permanent. It doesn’t matter if you are on the surface for an hour or only a moment or even if you only skim the surface in a hover car, the result is the same. It is therefore my duty to advise you not plan a trip to the surface solely for a visit. If you do, take a long look at yourself in the mirror, because the only place you will ever see that face again is on the surface of Wer. Down there the change is voluntary; up here it is for the rest of your natural life.” The room could have been a vacuum.

Oblivious to the tensions in the room, the little girl from the commons trotted up to the front of the room before her mother could catch her. With wide-eyed innocence she asked, “Are you a werwolf? Can I pet you? My dog is in cargo and I miss him.”

Lieutenant Justin Radolfuss’ whole demeanor softened and he slipped off the tall stool and down onto the floor in front of the tiny girl. He was so big that he had to sit on the floor to be close to her level. “The correct word is ‘lycanthrope’. And of course, you can pet me, little one. It won’t scare your mother too much now, will it?” He could see the woman standing in the door with her hands over her mouth, staring with wide, frightened eyes at this huge man-thing-beast so close to her little baby who was never afraid of anything.

The tiny girl reached her equally tiny hand out and ran it down his arm as she spoke. “Oh, she might be scared,” she answered then she raised her voice to be heard across the room. “Mommy, mommy, he’s real nice, and he’s warm.” The last was uttered in awe, almost as if she had not expected him to feel warm at all. The actions of the little girl won grins and chuckles from all across the room.

Justin scooped up the tiny bundle of life that now giggled with delight and approached the woman. To the little girl he said, “Maybe we can visit your dog next week when I get back, if it’s okay with your mother.”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” she said, then she took a quick nuzzle in his shoulder before she was handed over to her mother who hurried off, her fear too strong to be overcome by her daughter’s curiosity.

When Justin resumed his stool, enough ice had been broken to make room for curiosity, and the questions began to flow.

A young man near the back asked, “How old are you?”

“I am thirty five years old.”

A young woman asked, “Do you have a family?”

“If by that you mean ‘am I married’, no, ma’am, I’m not. Since I have no holdings and therefore no place to house her, it would be presumptuous of me to take a wife and ask her to have my children. Most shipboard quarters are not fit for family life.”

“Has anyone been able to determine what causes the people to...to be able to do what you do?” asked another man.

“No sir, it has baffled the best of our scientists for generations. Eating the food and breathing the air have been eliminated long since. Neither is necessary to for the change, nor are they the cause. Extensive experiments have been conducted under strict quarantine.”

“How extensive is this change? I mean, in comparison, from human to wolf exactly how deep does the change go?”

Standing to reach behind the counter, Justin flipped a switch and a holopicture appeared beside him. “This is a holo of myself taken six months ago at another stopover. As you can see, both muscle and bone structure are involved, I gain a few inches in height and several pounds of muscle mass. Other things, such as sharper hearing and sight, are also gained, as well as some added strength and agility. Other changes are insignificant.” Turning to flip off the holo projector he called, “Curly! Another cup of coffee please.”

Another woman asked, “Hypothetically, if I were to go down and become a...a dolphin. What would that be like?”

“To begin with, there are some of us who do change into an assortment of aquatic forms but only the smaller type of dolphin is represented here and they love to go fishing with or without changing. None of them would consider going off world for obvious reasons. Other than that, I don’t know much about them, but I’m sure life aboard a ship would be very difficult.”

“What about the children?” asked a young woman.

That question could be played with but he knew better; it was an honest question and he answered it as thoroughly as he could. “The change does not, and cannot, happen until after a child reaches puberty. So, as soon as a child starts exploring the world away from his mother’s lap, his parents begin to teach him what to expect and how to deal with it. It is a way of life and we do everything possible to prepare them for it. If a child were to leave the surface in infancy and grow up with an average family suspecting nothing, what can you suppose would happen when, one morning he wakes up and sees something else looking back out of the mirror at him? Or worse, let’s say the change occurs during school in front of all his friends, rivals and teachers; such a child would have to be exceptional, and even so, his sanity would be threatened to say the least.”

“What if they were born off world from native parents?” asked an older man near the back.

“Such experiments were banned early on. The birth was very difficult and even under surgical conditions, all the mothers died. Many of them took their unborn child with them. Those children successfully born with surgical assistance all withered and died within two years.”

“What’s the suicide rate?” asked a woman in the front row.

“On a global scale it is less than a quarter that of earth per capita. Most of our suicides are newcomers who weren’t as ready as they thought they were.”

“Are there any exceptions? What about orphans or low cast children or the children of criminals.”

“No, there is no exception; the orphan is adopted by neighbors if he has no other family. We all take great pride in seeing to it every child gets all the education available to them.”

“What about crime? If the children are so well adjusted, does this translate to no crime?”

“Unfortunately no, ma’am, I can’t say that there is no crime. Every society has its criminal element. Those who commit crimes, however, find it difficult to get away with it. Our police forces are extremely efficient, as is our justice system.”

“I’ll bet,” chimed in a sarcastic voice from the back. “You have blood hounds for cops and vultures for lawyers. Who can beat that?”

Handing over a fresh cup of coffee Curly commented, “Oh, I like that, vultures for lawyers, good one.”

“You probably hit closer to the mark than you suspect,” said Justin, “however, bloodhounds are a modified canine bloodline and vultures are not mammals so that’s out.”

“Is it painful? Changing, I mean,” asked a man near the middle of the gathering.

“No more painful than doing an overly strenuous exercise and being sore the next day or two. The more you do it the less painful it becomes. Myself, when I go home, I’m usually sore for about a day. The actual physical change incorporates fifty to seventy percent of the body structure depending on the species, the most noticeable being the lengthening or shortening of the bones and the shifting of muscles. The change in the skin might be considered the most visible change, and in my case, it itches a lot.”

“Why are you here? Wouldn’t you rather be planet-side so you don’t have to be this way all the time?”

“I like what I am, what I do and where I am. Who can ask for anything better than that?”

“Yes, but it sounds like you come from a prominent family. Don’t you have responsibilities at home or have you been disowned? I am expected to take over the family business when we get to our next stop.”

“I am an acknowledged son of my father; however, I am only a third son of his second mistress. That means that the children of his wife, then his first mistress all stand to inherit before me. My father’s wife has two sons and a daughter. His first mistress has three sons and three daughters and my mother has four sons and a daughter. Though I will never lack for monies or a home, my life is my responsibility to make of it what I choose, and I have always liked space travel.”

Another voice came from somewhere near the back of the assembly and asked, “It’s against custom and many times against the law to have more than one wife or to have a wife and a mistress. Your father has a wife and two mistresses. Why is that?”

“This planet was first discovered and cataloged about eight hundred years ago by drone survey craft. Being drones, they were unaffected by the planet’s one peculiar aspect which remains a mystery even today. The first colony ships arrived seven generations ago and settled about five hundred colonists and their families, stock and supplies. The transplanted stock began dying almost right away. Witnesses reported drastic mutations and deformations until the animal finally went into shock and died. This was a devastating loss to the colonists, but indigenous life was abundant and so many were domesticated to replace what was lost.

“When people started to change, at first it was like a defensive mechanism to fear or stress and it was very frightening. Some took it upon themselves to destroy the ‘animals’ and a witch-hunt began. Fortunately, this did not last long because it was soon discovered that no one was exempt from the change. The suicide rate went through the roof then. Many more simply went into hiding, living solitary lives riddled with fear of their own species.

“By the time the colonists got over the panic and started trying to deal with the problem, there were around fifty men and post puberty boys, about a hundred and fifty women and post puberty girls and close to four hundred pre-puberty children. To spread out the gene pool those men simply had to take many women into his bed and that unit had to support several children and, unless they wanted to face total extinction, the children had to be prepared. Since the Union placed Wer under quarantine, rescue or relief was simply not an option.

“Now, since we were able to make that situation work, we have kept the tradition. However it is a law that a man have only as many women in his household as he can support; he must also consider his ability to support her children. This is by no means the way everyone lives. Just as in any civilization, there are those who want no children and those who do not wish to marry. In reality, these days the number of families that have several wives or mistresses is few.”

“What is it that decides what you are? Are you a wolf because your father was, or your mother?”

“No, the change does not seem to follow genetics at all. My father is a buffalo and my mother is an elk.”

“You said your change involves up to seventy percent. Is it ever more? Is it ever total?”

“Each species has a different change requirement and it can reach as high as eighty percent of body mass, but every once in a great while there is a total change. It is usually a violent reaction to a life-threatening event. When that happens, all human identity is lost and the person becomes the animal for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, the rest of his life is very short because without the human identity to keep him whole, the planet causes him to try to change again into another more primitive creature on the evolutionary tree. He then dies of shock, like the original animals that were brought here.”

“What is it about this ‘human identity’ you mentioned, that keeps you from dying like the animals?”

“That’s part of the mystery of Wer. I don’t know.”

“How did Wer get its name?”

“You all heard the little girl that was in here a little while ago call me a ‘werwolf’ and that is correct for me. That is also where the name for the planet came from. No one has ever come up with anything we like better, so the name has stayed.”

The room was quiet for a time and Justin asked, “Are there any more questions?”

When no one came up with any more questions he closed the meeting by saying, “Well folks, it’s getting on towards supper time and we must clear out so Curly can get everything ready. I hope I have answered all your questions. I am at your service for the rest of the day. If I don’t happen to be visible, anyone can page me on the intercom. Thank you all for coming.” He turned to chat with Curly for a few minutes as he worked his way through his last cup of coffee.