Free Jupiter Fleet 1: Werewolves Don't Purr by JS Rowan

deliver.”

CHAPTER 4
    Werewolves for Sale or Rent
    November 6, 2038, 1:24 a.m.
    On Board Alien Ship
    “I can’t believe you sold me. I’ve only been a wolf for a week and you sold me!” thought Thor. The thought-amplifier picked up his aggrieved emotional tone. “What happened to ‘til death do us part’?”
    “More important than even that is, to whom did you sell us?” thought Commander Gupta.
    Leona decided to ignore Thor’s complaints and answer the commander. That was hard. She chewed on her lower lip.
    “I sold you to a ship that’s orbiting Jupiter. They have a space station being built there. This ship is gathering fuel there for the run to Alpha Centauri.”
    “So in ten days you expect us to leave this ship for another Mind-Breaker ship? My men and I will not welcome a life of servitude to the aliens, madam.”
    “No, I expect that in ten days we will control this ship,” said Leona.
    “Wow, dear, when you plan—you plan big,” thought Thor.
    “How do you expect that we can execute a plan to take this vessel?” thought Commander Gupta.
    Leona noticed that Thor and all the commando werewolves had their ears pricked forward. The Canadian fighters were also looking very excited.
    “I don’t know. I got you the guns, I managed to get you access to most parts of the ship, and I got your meat-stock status removed by buying and selling you. The rest, my dear military commander, is up to you,” said Leona.
    Thor sent her a private thought-message of a passionate kiss. Leona blushed, but no one else seemed to have perceived it.
    “Actually, I do have an idea that I considered when we were locked up. Can you rent a large room near here with an auto-feeder? Also, I am going to need a very large quantity of thought-helmets,” replied Commander Mukesh Gupta, with an exceedingly wolfish grin.

    The next afternoon, Thor and Constable Chatterjee were casually hiding in a side hallway. That is, they were hiding while trying not to look like they were hiding. They saw some of their prey approaching, a pair of green-collar werewolves. When the pair were almost at the hallway, Thor stepped out in front of them.
    “You two! Who are you attached to, and where are you heading?” he growled.
    The appearance of a large command wolf startled the two green-collar wolves. They froze.
    Thor bellowed in their minds and growled out loud. “Well, answer me, you misbegotten curs!”
    If the green-collar wolves could have paled, they would have. One of them lost control of his bladder and peed on the floor.
    “Constable, come over here,” thought Thor.
    Constable Chatterjee came from where he had been peeking around the corner.
    “Take these two to the holding facility with the others,” thought Thor to the commando. He fixed his gaze on the two wolves, and glowered with menace and bared fangs. “Put these helmets on, and don’t give this other wolf any trouble.”
    Thor handed over the thought-helmets and the two wolves could not put them on fast enough.

    Two days later Arjun stared intently at a werewolf after Ashley removed his collar. They were using empathy to evoke emotions that would trigger memories. The memories would unlock the werewolf’s humanity, which had been buried in the conversion process.
    The process only worked on green-collar wolves. Werewolves that had “graduated” out of their collars were too far gone to be anything resembling human again. They were still excellent fighters, though, and could still be useful—but as werewolves only.
    With green-collar wolves, the empathic procedure only worked about 60 percent of the time. So Arjun said nothing to the subject. He blocked any attempt that the werewolf made at verbal telepathic communication. This meant that if the green-collared wolf did not respond to the treatment, there was no risk of the subject reporting this project to the Supes.
    As far as the green-collar wolves knew, this was just another of the confusing tests on their way to