Kenslir noted the girl’s discomfort. She looked like she might throw up. “Relax. It was like a blood transfusion, that’s all. Your body converted the serum into your own blood. That’s why you can’t track them anymore. We’ll give you a new shot and you’ll be good for twelve or so hours.”
“Have fun with that,” Keegan said, standing up. “Send me and Victor a postcard when you get done.”
Kenslir glared at the FBI agent. “Victor will be going with us.”
“Like hell he will!” Keegan was furious. It was bad enough she was ordered to accompany the Colonel to his secret office building in Florida, but he was not putting her parahuman in any danger.
“I believe your superiors were very clear on your orders. You and Mr. Hornbeck have been conscripted to my command.”
“I don’t care what my superiors said! He is my responsibility and you are not putting him in any danger!”
Kenslir considered for a moment, then turned to Victor. “Tell me, Mr. Hornbeck, how would you like to be all that you can be?”
***
The sky turned black and lightning flashed, rain began to fall. It almost hid Jimmy’s tears. The teen knelt in the sand, sobbing, his head down, his fists balled tightly.
Josie stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder. She didn’t know what to say.
Jimmy’s tears subsided and his face turned red with anger. The rain became heavier. He pounded his fists into the sand.
“No! It’s not fair!”
“The Colonel sends his deepest regrets, Jimmy...”
Jimmy leapt to his feet and grabbed Josie by the shoulders. “The Colonel? This is all his fault! If he hadn’t dragged us along on his stupid mission my parents would still be alive!”
Josie had never seen Jimmy this mad. He was enraged, seething with anger. In the background of the dreamworld, the skies were in turmoil far beyond what they could be in the natural world.
“Jimmy, if you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at the shapeshifter. He’s the one who took your parents.”
Jimmy turned away from Josie. “Yes!”
The raging storms died down, and the sky lightened. The rainfall slowed, no longer pouring like a monsoon.
“Yes, the shapeshifter is responsible?” Josie asked.
Jimmy turned around slowly. He was still fuming. “Yes, I’ll do it. Tell the Colonel I’ll be one of his damned stone soldiers.”
***
Victor and Agent Keegan were on the sixth floor now, in a lab with Colonel Kenslir and Doctor Crone. The lab had a large door leading into a room-sized freezer. From the freezer, the Doctor had wheeled out a gurney covered in a sheet.
When Doctor Crone pulled the sheet off, Victor and Keegan were equally amazed. They were looking at a dragon’s wing, neatly folded so the twenty foot long appendage would fit on the six foot long gurney.
“Where’d you get this?” Keegan asked. She had seen the giants’ bodies pulled out of the ravine. Kenslir had explained how in death the shapeshifters reverted to their natural forms.
“The Painted Desert. A little hotel called the Desert Oasis. They had an uninvited guest.”
Victor started to reach for the wing, but caught himself.
“Go ahead,” Kenslir said. “That’s why I brought you here.”
“What will I see?”
“Hopefully, everything.”
Victor swallowed, then touched the wing.
Keegan watched him as his hand laid on the wing. “How did you get this?”
“I chopped it off with a fire axe.”
Victor snatched his hand back as if it were burned. “He was a god.”
“What?” Keegan said, making a face. “I thought he was a giant.”
Victor took a deep breath and explained.
Long ago, in a land east of Florida, now sunk beneath the ocean, the giant Ketzkahtel had ruled over thousands of humans. The shapeshifter was worshiped as a god. And as a god, he demanded sacrifices. Lots of sacrifices.
Hundreds, eventually thousands of tributes were brought before the giant, each having their heart ripped out and feasted upon. Ketzkahtel survived on the hearts, eating them for power and nourishment. Occasionally, he ate an entire human body as well. He had a taste for human flesh.
Eventually, the people tired of their cruel leader. They tired of all the many women he tortured then consumed. They conspired.
Ketzkahtel was surrounded by his people. They stabbed him with torches and beat him with clubs. Individually, they were no match for the shapeshifter. He slew them by the hundreds. But they were a nation of thousands. Thousands united in a single purpose—kill the god Ketzkahtel.
Eventually they succeeded. Or so they thought. They bound the giant in chains and sealed him in a stone sarcophagus. There he lay for millennia, until divers opened his resting place and freed him.
“Right, right,” Kenslir said. “He was found by explorers off the coast of Cuba. I know this part. Jimmy already briefed us.”
“Jimmy?” Keegan asked. “Who’s Jimmy?”
“Another one of our team. He’s undergoing the transformation we talked about. Tonight.”
Victor swallowed. He still hadn’t made his mind up. Touching the dragon wing, he now knew all too well how dangerous the shapeshifter was. In this modern era it would have far more people to consume—which meant it would become even more powerful than ever.
“I still don’t see why you need Victor,” Keegan said, crossing her arms.
“We’ve got to know how many of these giants there are.”
“Then why not use a telepath?”
“We can’t turn a telepath to stone—Washington has concerns that would create an unstoppable soldier.”
Keegan smiled. “You mean an uncontrollable soldier.”
Victor looked up at Kenslir and Keegan, their eyes locked on each other. “I’ll do it.”
Kenslir was getting angry with Keegan. “We need Victor in the field, and this will ensure his safety.”
“And make him some kind of freak,” Keegan snapped back. She held up a hand pointing her finger in Kenslir’s face. “If you think for one minute-“
”I’ll do it!” Victor said again, louder.
Keegan and Kenslir stopped arguing and turned to look at the postcog.
Victor swept his hair out of his face and stood up straight. It was one of the few times Keegan had seen him do that.
“The Colonel’s right, Pam. We’ve got to stop these shapeshifters before they get too powerful. If that means I have to turn into some kind of super golem, I’ll do it. Better that than one day becoming their next meal.”
Kenslir allowed himself a smile. He’d been right about Victor. The boy had a lot of sense.
Keegan glared at Kenslir. “I’ll hold you responsible if anything happens to him.”
Victor was surprised. It was the nicest thing Keegan had ever said about him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A bright sun hung over Miami on a Monday morning. The forecast called for clear skies and high temperatures. And a full moon later in the day.
Keegan, Victor and Josie were now in the Fountain Chamber, watching the bustle of activity. The trio had each showered, eaten breakfast and changed into fresh clothes—Josie into a business suit and Victor and Agent Keegan into fresh sweatsuits.
Colonel Kenslir was present as well, wearing black combat fatigues and overseeing the scurrying lab coated techs in the Fountain Chamber.
The Chamber was large—nearly three stories high and over a hundred feet across. It was roughly circular in shape, with concrete and steel walls, observation booths high above the main floor and a metal scaffolding, bridge-like, over the Fountain pool.
The pool itself was nearly fifty feet across, filled with crystal clear water that extended deep below the floor of Sub Level 3. Several techs were on the scaffolding, checking equipment and servicing four stainless steel operating tables.
“What we’re standing in now is technical
ly the Fountain of Youth,” Kenslir explained. “It was dug down a ways is kept partially drained to hide it from public view.”
“Are we still in the building?” Victor asked. He thought the long walk from the elevator was a little too long.
“Actually, we’re under the North parking lot.” Kenslir pointed up at the high ceiling of the chamber. “There’s about fifteen feet of reinforced, hardened concrete between us and the world above. It could survive a hit from anything short of a bunkerbuster.”
“The Fountain of Youth?” Keegan was skeptical. She’d heard a lot of fantastical stuff since she’d met Colonel Kenslir, but this was at the top of the list of the not-to-be-believed. Right above the idea of turning Victor into living stone.
“I believe I already said that.” After what she’d seen, Kenslir was surprised that Keegan could be skeptical anymore.
Some female technicians walked past the Colonel and his companions, over to one of two handtrucks parked by the door. On one was Jimmy, while the other held a stone man dressed in tattered, black, cloth combat fatigues similar to the Colonel’s.
Each tech grabbed a handtruck and wheeled them toward the Fountain.
“I’m going to caution all of you. If you have a cut, an infection, even a cold—stay out of the water.” Kenslir had a grim, overly-serious look on his face as he said it.
“Why?” Keegan asked. Wasn’t the Fountain supposed to heal people? And what was with the statue of the boy and the statue dressed in clothes? For that matter, how did they get clothes on a statue? And why were the clothes on the other statue turned to stone?
“The Fountain heals all injuries, but at a price. A heavy price.”
“It takes your soul?” Keegan was tired of all the drama and mystery.
“In some cases it’ll take your life. The healing effects are temporary. At midnight, your injuries will return, twice as bad as before.”
The technicians wheeled Jimmy to the edge of the water, undid the straps holding him to the cart and dumped him in. He splashed into the water and then sank from sight. The man in torn fatigues was dumped in next.
“And you keep your garden statues here?” Keegan hoped Victor wasn’t about to be turned into a statue.
Josie was walking forward, toward the water, slowly. The water of the Fountain, still before Jimmy and the other petrified man had been dumped in, was just settling down, ripples fading from the rapid immersions.
Suddenly, the water churned again. Jimmy burst from the depths, gasping for air, and grabbing at the edge of the floor overhanging the Fountain. His gray shirt, moments before turned to stone like his body, was once again soft cloth—wet and dripping.
A second later and the man with the black fatigues surfaced. He was black, his head shaved, with thin, lean muscles like a long-distance runner. His tattered clothes hung loose on him now, several sizes too big. He climbed quickly from the water.
Jimmy was still sputtering as he clung to the edge of the Fountain pool. Josie reached down and helped him up.
The bald man stood slowly, looking at his hands, then rubbing his face. Then he noticed Kenslir and snapped to attention, saluting sharply. “Colonel!”
Kenslir returned the salute. “At ease, Atlas.”
Beside the man named Atlas, Jimmy and Josie were hugging. Then kissing. Kenslir watched them for about ten seconds before interrupting.
“Agent Keegan, Mr. Hornbeck, allow me to introduce James Kane, and Captain Daniel Smith.”
Keegan was confused. If the plan was to turn people into living stone, why did Kenslir just have two men turned back into flesh and blood people?
“This is Special Agent Pamela Keegan and Mr. Victor Hornbeck. They’ll be joining the Detachment for awhile.”
Smith stood at parade-rest, hands behind his back, feet braced a shoulder’s width apart. He nodded toward Keegan and Victor and spoke in a deep voice. “Ma’am. Sir.”
Kenslir held up his left wrist, checking a large diver’s watch. “You’ve got eight hours, then you’re to report back to here. I won’t tell you what will happen should you fail to make that appointment.”
Jimmy, still with a wet arm around Josie, gulped. “What do we do until then?”
“Eat. Watch some TV. Hit the gym. Whatever you want, as long as you don’t leave the building.”
Kenslir nodded to Smith. “Captain, with me.”
Kenslir and Smith walked slowly out of the chamber.
Jimmy looked at Josie, then at Keegan and Victor. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
James Alanis was no longer wearing his blood soaked Air Force uniform. He and the telepath Billy Dyer, were standing on the side of the road, dressed in jeans, work boots and dirty t-shirts—clothes they had taken from the oil platform after killing and consuming the entire crew.
The two lane road they stood beside was in the middle of nowhere, flanked on either side by thick forest. In the distance, a bus was approaching, headed east.
“Let me do this one my way,” Ketzkahtel said to his brother. He immediately shrank several inches, his short brown hair billowing out to form long black locks. His hips swelled and his chest expanded. He had assumed the form of a Hispanic woman he’d killed over a month ago.
As the bus approached, Ketzkahtel reached down and pulled his t-shirt up, exposing the breasts of the woman he’d killed.
The bus driver slammed on his brakes, bringing the bus to a rapid halt.
Tezcahtlip shook his head in disgust. Killing a woman and taking her heart was one thing, but assuming her form was another.
The doors to the bus opened and the driver looked out at Ketzkahtel in his female form. The driver was in his forties, balding, with a large stomach hanging down over his belt. He was sweaty and obnoxious.
“Need a ride, Miss?” the driver asked.
Ketzkahtel walked up into the bus slowly. The boots he was wearing were now several sizes too large. As the shapeshifter climbed aboard, there came several hoots and yells of praise. The bus was full of a mixture of college students, headed for spring break. Most of them were males.
The driver watched the big-chested brunette as she walked closer to him. “You can ride for free...” he said, staring at the woman’s chest.
Ketzkahtel walked right up to the driver, smiling. Then he thrust his hand into the driver’s chest.
Blood sprayed out as the hand penetrated the flabby chest. The males on the bus, all of whom had been watching Ketzkahtel recoiled in horror. Several screamed like girls.
Ketzkahtel turned his head to face them, his arm still inside the driver’s chest. He quickly transformed into the brown-haired telepath, Billy Dyer, then ripped the driver’s heart from his chest.
All the students on the bus suddenly started to convulse in their seats, shaking, their eyes rolled up in their heads. The seizures lasted only a few seconds, then the thirty-odd victims slumped forward, unconscious.
Ketzkahtel took a bite from the heart and chewed it slowly. He then turned around to face his brother, transforming into the bus driver. “Come along brother, there’s plenty for both of us.”
***
Argon Tower’s third floor cafeteria was very large, more than sixty feet across, filled with tables, TV monitors and vending machines. The east wall, all eighty-five feet of it, had floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a stunning view of Biscayne Bay.
Josie and Jimmy were seated at a table by one of the windows eating and talking quietly. There were only a handful of other people in the cafeteria, spread out, mostly eating alone.
“Where is everybody?” Jimmy asked as he chewed another mouthful of french fries. If this was the last junk food he was going to eat for awhile he wanted to enjoy every last morsel of it.
“There used to be over a hundred analysts working here,” Josie explained. “Something like six floors of them, listening to electronic transmissions from Cuba.”
“Where’d they all go?
”
“Replaced by machines. Advances in computers, that kind of thing. They only have a couple dozen on payroll now.”
Jimmy took another bite of the delicious cheeseburger on his plate. He didn’t know if the food from the kitchen was that good, or if it was because he hadn’t eaten in a month. “So this is some kind of spy building?”
“Not quite.” Josie sipped at her drink. She’d finished her salad and was halfheartedly working on an ice cream sundae. “That’s part of the cover for the Fountain—the communications monitoring here.”
“And this is where the Colonel and I will be based too?” Jimmy asked, his mouth full of cheeseburger.
“Yes. We’re right next door to Homestead Air Force Base, so we can catch a flight anywhere in the world.”
“We?” Jimmy swallowed his food and took a drink of his chocolate milkshake. It wasn’t fair that the building had such a great cafeteria and he wouldn’t be able to use it after today.
“I’m on the team too,” Josie asked. “I have a power now.”
“A power?” Jimmy was about to ask more when Victor walked up, carrying a tray with some soup and crackers on it and a can of soda.
“Can I join you guys?”
Josie looked up and smiled. She pulled out a chair beside her. “Victor!”
Jimmy didn’t like the way Josie smiled at Victor. It was a little too friendly.
“Hi, I’m Victor,” the postcog said, sitting down.
“Hey,” Jimmy said. He took another bite of his cheeseburger as he looked across the table at Victor and his weird Goth haircut.
“Victor is a postcog,” Josie said excitedly. “He can see the past in objects people have touched. And he can sense emotion in people by touching them.”
“Swell,” Jimmy said. Great. Another super powered guy for Josie to get all chummy with. At least Jimmy would have super powers soon, too.
“Give it a try, Jimmy,” Josie said, reaching for Victor’s and Jimmy’s hands at the same time. “It’s so cool how he can feel what you feel.”
Brothers in Stone (Stone Soldiers #2) Page 11