Stone Soldiers 4: Shades of War (2 page)

The punch had shattered his body, radiating out from his chest and plunging Victor Hornbeck into a deep, black void. Then he opened his eyes and felt the sting of water- he was surrounded by water. It was warm and bubbly as it swirled around his body.

When he had been punched he had been standing in the plaza of Chichen Itza, in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, battling a nine foot-tall, prehistoric giant. He had closed his eyes as an enormous six-fingered fist had crushed into his chest. But now, in what seemed only a split second later, he opened his eyes and found himself submerged in water. It was a puzzle he might have cared about, had he not been too busy being terrified.

Victor could not swim.

The water around him was not dark- dim light shone down from above, revealing a stony, tan and gray blur all around him. His feet were in something soft- like mud or clay.

Victor panicked, gulping in a huge lungful of the water that was pressing in on him. It was warm, fresh water that seemed to fill Victor's body with a warm feeling- like that of laying out in the sun.

He didn't enjoy this sensation though, as he was sure he was drowning. He thrashed in the water, clawing at it, trying to swim. He pushed off from the silt-covered bottom and moved up a few feet. But his thrashing was uncoordinated and he felt himself falling back down.

Two things then dawned on Victor. First, he was flesh and blood once more. He could feel the warm water all around him and the warmth on and in his skin. He had forgotten what it was like to be flesh during his short time as a man made of living stone.

Secondly, Victor realized he was naked. The combat fatigues, assault boots and many harnesses and holsters he had been wearing just seconds ago, in the jungle, were gone. He was bareass naked, drowning in a pool of warm water.

Victor redoubled his panicked thrashing, failing to notice that his limbs were feeling stronger and his senses sharper- something that should not be happening if he was swallowing lungfuls of normal water.

At least twenty feet above Victor, the surface of the water was suddenly broken- someone had dove in. The figure knifed down through the water rapidly, a hand outstretched, reaching for Victor. He grabbed at the hand, grasping it tightly in a panic. It was a woman's hand.

Victor felt himself pulled up from the silt floor by his rescuer, who turned in the water, moving around behind Victor. The woman then looped one arm under his, and around his chest. Then she began kicking with her legs and propelled them both upwards effortlessly.

Victor's head broke the surface and he tried to gasp for air. Instead he coughed up warm, tingling water.

A hand reached out for Victor and he took it. It was another woman’s hand- jutting out from a white labcoat. With the woman who had rescued him pushing uncomfortably on his buttocks and another woman pulling on his arm, Victor managed to extricate himself from the water. He collapsed onto a hard, metal floor, beside the water's edge, laying face down, coughing and gasping, expelling the warm water from his lungs.

The woman in the labcoat quickly knelt by Victor and rolled him onto his side as he coughed, helping him to get the last of the water out.

"I told you he couldn't swim," a young woman's voice said. Victor recognized it as Josie Winters.

Victor sat up on the floor, the lab coated woman kneeling beside him, a hand on his back, supporting him. He wiped the water from his eyes so he could see better.

Josie Winters was being pulled from the pool herself- by a man in black military pants and shirt, who's skin was made of gray stone.

Victor immediately recognized him- Captain Daniel Smith, former Navy SEAL and the most experienced member of the stone soldiers that Victor had become a part of. A soldier Victor had accompanied to Mexico to put down a giant who had been posing as Kukulcan. The same giant that had killed Victor with one inhumanly strong punch. Moments ago.

"You're not supposed to drink the water, Hornbeck," Smith said as he effortlessly pulled Josie from the water. His entire body, from its bald head to the toes in his black boots, was made of living stone- just as Victor had been. Just moments ago?

No, he knew it couldn't be moments ago. It was more on the order of weeks. There was no point in using the Fountain of Youth to revive him unless there was a full moon. His third full moon since he'd become a stone soldier.

It had been a strange summer for Victor. Working for the FBI, solving missing persons cases and tracking down killers had become normal for him over the past few years. Then he'd been assigned to the Valentine Killer case. A psychopath ripping out the hearts of victims all over the southwest.

Or at least the Bureau had thought it was a psychopath. The truth had been far worse.

Victor found himself recruited into a small joint forces unit comprised of special people like himself and soldiers made nearly indestructible- like Captain Smith.

The man of living stone set Josie carefully on the steel deck beside him as Victor watched. She was dripping water, her gray sweat pants and black athletic bra soaked- as well as the white socks she was wearing. Long black hair, nearly reaching the small of her back, hung against her in a thick, dripping braid. She was a beautiful, young woman, just over eighteen years old.

She often made him wish he hadn't volunteered to be turned to stone.

"You okay?" Josie asked, walking over and crouching in front of Victor. Her bright green eyes glanced down at his waist for a split second then back up.

Victor’s cheeks turned bright red as he realized it had been Josie that had pulled him from the water. Naked. He hastily covered his groin with both hands while his cheeks continued to glow in embarrassment.

Victor imagined he was a pitiful sight right now. His head shaved, his skinny arms and legs, his sad, brown eyes- he wasn't anything special. Not anymore, anyways. He was just an unremarkable-looking twenty four year old of average build- again. He suddenly missed the powerful stone body he had grown accustomed to over the summer.

"Here," Captain Smith said, throwing him a towel. The man of living stone was now towering over and behind Josie, and offered her a towel as well.

"What happened?” Victor sputtered as he covered himself with the towel.

"You died," Smith said.

Victor had guessed as much. Still, he wondered about the strangeness of it all. He had seen no bright light, had no dreams- he had just felt the giant punch his chest and had closed his eyes reflexively. When he opened them, he was back in Miami, underwater, drowning. It had seemed like no time passed between the two events. It had happened in literally the blink of an eye.

Victor turned to his left, staring out over the water of the Fountain of Youth- it was finally starting to settle, the ripples from Victor and Josie's swim fading out. It was a large pool, fifty feet across, in a vast chamber with a three-story-high ceiling. Stretching across the Fountain was a steel platform that could be lowered into the water, covered with operating tables and medical apparatus. All around the chamber there were cabinets and work stations- the trappings of a working laboratory.

Victor glanced up at the observation booth that looked down over the subterranean chamber. It was apparently empty, the lights off.

"Did we win?"

"The giant's dead," Josie said grimly. She was wringing out her braided hair, and stood slowly, her sad eyes looking away from Victor.

Victor had seen that look in the past, when he worked for the FBI. "Jimmy?"

Josie forced a smile. "He's fine. So's Colonel Phillips."

"Doctor?" Smith asked.

The woman in the labcoat behind Victor was listening to his back with a very cold stethoscope. She nodded an affirmative and stood up. "He's absorbed the rest of the water- he'll be fine."

"Where's the Colonel?" Victor asked.

Despite being made of stone, Smith's face was still able to convey his inner emotions. He looked grim. He shook his head from side to side.

Josie was slipping back on her Army sweatshirt- she had apparently kicked off her sneakers and discarded the shirt to dive into the Fountain and help Victor after his reanimation. "There were... complications." She pulled off her socks and began to wring them out.

Victor briefly wondered if he hadn't been the only casualty of the mission in Mexico- but that seemed impossible. Colonel Mark Kenslir was nearly unkillable. And when he had died in the past, he had always come back to life.

So where was he now?

***

It had been far too long since he had breathed. He took in a long, deep breath and savored the sensation. His new eyes opened, and even though the bright, reflected light of the arctic snow and ice was painful, he relished that too.

He pulled off his gloves and then unzipped and removed his new body's parka. Then he pulled off layer after layer of sweaters and fleece and finally a bloody flannel shirt, until he stood bare-chested in the cold.

Steam rose from this new body- mainly from the dried blood on the chest and back where there had been moments before a wound from the rebar that had punctured it. But he had repaired that damage- mostly.

He flexed his new hands, noting they and his new toes were frost bitten. Even with his healing powers, this body could only be repaired so much.

He looked around at the crater that had been his home all these years. He would not miss it.

Bending his legs at the knees he crouched a little, then straightened them, springing into the air. The micro leap gave way to flight as he took to the air, arcing up and away from his island prison. Now that he was flesh and blood again, the frozen sea could no longer confine him. He was free.

Turning south, toward America, he streaked through the air, enjoying the sensation of flight once more. It had been far too long. As he flew, he smiled, anticipating the revenge he would soon have.

But first, he would need a new body. A healthier body that could contain his power far better. Then he would have his revenge on the man who had killed him.

Josie had changed into clean, dry clothes and joined Victor for a brief dinner. After being dead for nearly a month, he'd been surprisingly hungry. Josie wondered what it would be like to give up eating- trading a body of flesh and blood for one of living stone.

After their meal, the two had parted ways, Victor headed toward a formal debriefing and Josie headed for the basement of their headquarters.

She walked quietly down the hallways of the sub-basement, carrying a small duffel bag in one hand. She was nervous, almost sweating and felt herself filled with fear. Fear this wasn't going to work.

She shook her head, trying to dispel her fears. She was surprised that she was feeling this way. Before his death, she and Colonel Kenslir had not been close, despite the fact he technically was family. Family she had known for only a few months.

At last she came to the heavy blast door to one of the storage vaults. She placed her hand against a palm scanner set in the wall. It flashed red as it scanned her, and a small robotic arm emerged from behind a panel above it. A tiny camera at the end of the arm watched her.

"ACCESS GRANTED," a mechanical-sounding voice responded. "GOOD EVENING, MS. WINTERS."

The massive security door slowly cycled open and Josie hurried through it. As always, she briefly wondered who or what was behind that mechanical voice. It was attached to nearly every system in the building, even the phones. Most times, it sounded like nothing more than a synthesized voice. At other times it seemed to hint at consciousness- as though someone were controlling the words.

"Josie?" a woman's voice asked, breaking her train of thought.

Josie smiled and waved a hand as she entered the thirty foot by thirty foot square storage room.

The room had thick steel and reinforced concrete walls, with lighting recessed in the ceiling. It was a secure vault, built to withstand bombing or to keep just about anything in. In the middle of the vault there was a small children's type wading pool, only a foot deep. In the pool, there was what looked like a statue of a man, kneeling, with his hands in front of him, as though he were holding something.

Beside the statue in the tiny pool, a redheaded woman sat in a folding beach chair, reading a magazine. Her long, wavy red hair hung down past her shoulders. She had creamy skin, without any imperfection. Full red lips were set beneath a small nose and piercing brown eyes. She wore makeup and an almost-sheer, dark green dress- something Josie would have expected to see in a formal occasion- not in the underground vault of a super-secret government building.

"Dr. Olson," Josie said, walking over and setting her bag down beside the pool. She checked her watch. She had barely made it in time.

"Why are you here?" the Doctor asked, setting her magazine down. Josie noticed her finger and toenails were painted a bright red and she had thin black high heels set on the floor beside her chair, next to her purse.

"I wanted to be here when he wakes up."

Dr. Laura Olson seemed genuinely surprised. "Been rethinking the whole grandpa thing?"

Josie looked over at the statue of the man, or rather, the petrified form of Colonel Mark Kenslir, super soldier, patriot and yes, her grandfather. Sort of. Josie frowned at the sight of the stone man's nakedness.

In Mexico, when he had been electrocuted and turned to stone, the Colonel had been covered with a thick layer of burnt soot and ash that helped conceal his modesty. But once transported back to Florida, and placed in this storage vault beneath headquarters, Dr. Olson had scrubbed the statue clean. It was far more of Kenslir than Josie had wanted to see.

"Why are
you
here?" Josie asked.

Laura smiled, revealing the fangs set in her mouth. "Admiring the view... and waiting for my next meal."

Josie bent down and removed a towel from her bag. She wrapped it around the Colonel's waist, covering him.

"Well, you're no fun," the vampire said, frowning. "And here I thought I'd finally get him alone, in the flesh."

Josie glanced at her watch again. They were less than a minute from sundown. "Don't you ever stop?"

Dr. Olson didn't need a watch. She could feel the sun setting even here, underground, surrounded by all this concrete and steel. She stood up, slipped on her shoes and picked up her small handbag.

"If he'd let me, I never would, dear," the vampire said. She pulled a compact from the handbag and checked her hair and makeup.

Josie noticed the dress was more than a little sheer. She could almost see through it. And as always, the vampire didn't believe in undergarments.

"His wife is right down the hall!" Josie said.

Laura smirked. "Turned to stone."

The vampire smoothed out her dress and adjusted her breasts. "I don't consider that competition.”

Josie was about to say something else, but Laura held up a finger, pointing to the petrified Colonel.

A faint green glow was coming from the statue- radiating out from all over it. Josie looked down at the water in the pool. The level was dropping. The stone man was absorbing the water.

"You know why he's in here- in the vault, right?" Laura asked. "In case he goes full wolf. Maybe you ought to leave."

Josie frowned. "No way am I leaving him in here alone with y-"

She stopped talking because the stone man was moving.

Kenslir's fingers began to flex, then his body trembled slightly. He stood slowly, lowering his arms and rising to full height. Josie could see the gray stone of his body swelling slightly, his muscles growing larger as he absorbed the water needed to undo the cellular damage of his most recent death. Soon he would be back to his six-foot, four-inch frame, with broad shoulders and muscles like a body builder.

The green glow brightened and the Colonel was now standing still, arms at his sides. The gray stone softened, smoothing, then began to lose its color- the gray fading out, replaced by slightly tanned flesh tones. The green glow faded out.

The Colonel's eyes opened, revealing strange, green, almost-black irises similar to Josie's. He opened his mouth and drew in a great lungful of air.

"What'd I miss?" he finally said.

Josie breathed a sigh of relief. The Colonel had never died from electrocution before. The powers that be were concerned the weird collection of curses that kept him immortal might not be able to return him to life on this full moon. But once again, his curses were more powerful than death.

Mark Kenslir stepped out of the empty wading pool. He was immediately tackled by Dr. Laura Olson.

"Honey! You're home!"

Josie had heard the expression of women throwing themselves at men before, but this was the first time she'd actually seen it. The vampire had leapt forward, moving with inhuman speed and grabbed Kenslir in a tight embrace. Then she'd locked her full lips on his.

On top of Kenslir's bald head, hair and eyebrows were was quickly growing as his healing abilities finished their work. He pushed the vampire away just as his hair had finished reforming into the out dated flattop he'd worn when he first died, over fifty years ago.

"Laura!" he snapped angrily.

"Oh, look," the vampire said, running her hands down over her dress. "You've got me all wet."

Her dress was indeed wet, from the thin film of water that covered Kenslir like perspiration. The dress was now completely transparent in spots.

"Can I borrow your towel?" the vampire asked, pointing with one hand and grinning devilishly.

"Status?" Kenslir asked, turning to a blushing Josie and ignoring the vampire.

"Mission accomplished, sir," Josie said handing over a folded stack of pants, shirt and boxer shorts. "The giant is dead and the team rounded up all the remaining insurgents."

Josie hoped that was the right word for it.

"All of them?"

"Oh, Mark," Laura chided, undressing him with her eyes. "I do good work for you, you know that. We got them all."

Kenslir nodded to both women. Josie immediately turned around to give him privacy. The Colonel watched Dr. Olson, waiting for her to turn.

"What? I'm a doctor- I've seen it all before," Laura said, smiling.

Kenslir glared and the vampire made a fake frown but finally turned away.

"What's Victor's status?" Kenslir asked, removing his towel and starting to get dressed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Josie saw Laura unfolding a compact and looking at it. Or rather, looking over her shoulder, watching the Colonel putting on his boxers in the reflection.

"He's been restored and should be undergoing the transformation once more," Josie said. She glared at Laura and concentrated. A thin sheen of frost formed on the mirror, blocking out any view the vampire might have had.

"Any other casualties?” Kenslir asked, slipping on his khaki pants. Laura frowned and cast a genuinely angry glance at Josie.

"No, sir," the vampire said, turning around to face Kenslir. "Colonel. Sir."

Kenslir ignored Olson and slipped on the shirt Josie had brought him- a dark blue polo shirt.

Josie turned around also and handed Kenslir a pair of socks with one hand, while holding onto a pair of size 14, tan leather, desert army boots with the other. "But there has been a development."

"Oh?" Kenslir asked, slipping on one sock, then the other.

"Yep. They're waiting in the briefing room for you," Laura chimed in. She slid her chair over for the Colonel to sit in while he put his boots on.

"What's up?"

"Captain Smith said it was a Pandora Event..." Josie said. She didn't know any details beyond that, and judging from the look on Kenslir's face, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Head on upstairs," Kenslir said, quickly putting on his boots and tying them. "I want to check on Victor first."