Read Online Stone Soldiers: Catching Fire by C. E. Martin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: C. E. Martin
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declared.
The Colonel pitched the finger to him and Smith caught it reflexively. Only it wasn't a finger that he caught. It was a small piece of stone. He rolled it over in his hand and was taken aback by the detail. It was a stone replica of a human finger.
"Look here," the Colonel said, holding his hand up. His stub of a finger had stopped bleeding. The bloody tip was moving now- something gray extending out from it like a worm. A worm that thickened and formed, quite rapidly into a stone finger, exactly like the one Smith was holding. The gray of the stone faded and the finger took on a flesh tone. Then the Colonel curled it open and closed.
"Ready to listen now, Sailor?"
Smith looked at the stone finger in his hand and dropped it in revulsion. "What the hell are you? How'd you do that?"
"I'm a soldier, just like you. A long time ago there was an accident and I almost got petrified."
"Almost?"
The Colonel sat down on the edge of the foot of the bed. "I have a resistance to magic."
"Magic?" Smith wanted to sound sarcastic, but this all felt too much like an incredible dream.
"We want you to undergo a similar procedure."
"With magic?"
"Do I need to cut off another finger?" the Colonel asked, frowning.
Smith considered briefly, then shook his head from side to side. He'd play along- for now. "What kind of procedure?"
"You'd be turned into a man made of living stone. You'd be like my finger, all the time. Only you'd be able to move. To walk, to talk. To fight."
Smith couldn't help but laugh. "That's crazy."
"The alternative is we turn you into immobile stone and put you in storage. You see, when I said we could only bring you back for one day, I wasn't kidding...
"The Fountain of Youth isn't like in the fairy tales. It doesn't give immortality. It gives a brief cosmetic job, then it takes back twice what it granted. At midnight of the first night after you've been immersed."
"Twice?" Smith asked. A cold chill was creeping up his back.
"In your case, you'd turn to dust."
"Why didn't you just leave me dead?"
"You weren't ready for that- if you were, you'd have moved on and this wouldn't have worked."
"How does turning me to living stone keep the Fountain from killing me?"
"Dr. King could explain better- but basically, you get stuck the way you are at petrification. Forever. The Fountain can't change that. It's sort of like fighting fire with a bigger fire- we suppress the Fountain's curse with more powerful magic."
There was that word again- magic.
"What's the catch?" he asked.
"If this works, you could be stuck that way forever. We haven't figured out how to reverse the process."
"If it works?"
The Colonel stood and walked to a table and picked up a file. "It's an experimental procedure. That's why we're using dead men. Dr. King is convinced it will work, but there's always the possibility it won't. Previous failures resulted in the test subjects being completely petrified."
The Colonel pitched the folder into Smith's lap. He hesitated then opened it up. Pages and pages of notes were accompanied by photographs- of men before and after they had been turned to stone.
"Why do this? What's it all for?"
"There are worse things in this world than terrorists, Commander."
***
Specialist Jamie Bowley adjusted the chin strap on her helmet and let out a long sigh. She still had three hours of sentry duty and she was bored out of her mind.
The soldier looked out over the desert, just as she had for the past few hours and almost wished that something would happen. Guarding a rear gate at the tiny supply depot she'd been assigned to was not what she'd had in mind when she joined the Army. She knew that every job was important, but she wished she could be on patrol, fighting insurgents and bringing stability back to the people of Iraq.
But women weren't allowed in combat roles. So she was stuck driving a truck by day, and guarding gates by night.
A breeze kicked up and Jamie felt a hot wind blow across
The Colonel pitched the finger to him and Smith caught it reflexively. Only it wasn't a finger that he caught. It was a small piece of stone. He rolled it over in his hand and was taken aback by the detail. It was a stone replica of a human finger.
"Look here," the Colonel said, holding his hand up. His stub of a finger had stopped bleeding. The bloody tip was moving now- something gray extending out from it like a worm. A worm that thickened and formed, quite rapidly into a stone finger, exactly like the one Smith was holding. The gray of the stone faded and the finger took on a flesh tone. Then the Colonel curled it open and closed.
"Ready to listen now, Sailor?"
Smith looked at the stone finger in his hand and dropped it in revulsion. "What the hell are you? How'd you do that?"
"I'm a soldier, just like you. A long time ago there was an accident and I almost got petrified."
"Almost?"
The Colonel sat down on the edge of the foot of the bed. "I have a resistance to magic."
"Magic?" Smith wanted to sound sarcastic, but this all felt too much like an incredible dream.
"We want you to undergo a similar procedure."
"With magic?"
"Do I need to cut off another finger?" the Colonel asked, frowning.
Smith considered briefly, then shook his head from side to side. He'd play along- for now. "What kind of procedure?"
"You'd be turned into a man made of living stone. You'd be like my finger, all the time. Only you'd be able to move. To walk, to talk. To fight."
Smith couldn't help but laugh. "That's crazy."
"The alternative is we turn you into immobile stone and put you in storage. You see, when I said we could only bring you back for one day, I wasn't kidding...
"The Fountain of Youth isn't like in the fairy tales. It doesn't give immortality. It gives a brief cosmetic job, then it takes back twice what it granted. At midnight of the first night after you've been immersed."
"Twice?" Smith asked. A cold chill was creeping up his back.
"In your case, you'd turn to dust."
"Why didn't you just leave me dead?"
"You weren't ready for that- if you were, you'd have moved on and this wouldn't have worked."
"How does turning me to living stone keep the Fountain from killing me?"
"Dr. King could explain better- but basically, you get stuck the way you are at petrification. Forever. The Fountain can't change that. It's sort of like fighting fire with a bigger fire- we suppress the Fountain's curse with more powerful magic."
There was that word again- magic.
"What's the catch?" he asked.
"If this works, you could be stuck that way forever. We haven't figured out how to reverse the process."
"If it works?"
The Colonel stood and walked to a table and picked up a file. "It's an experimental procedure. That's why we're using dead men. Dr. King is convinced it will work, but there's always the possibility it won't. Previous failures resulted in the test subjects being completely petrified."
The Colonel pitched the folder into Smith's lap. He hesitated then opened it up. Pages and pages of notes were accompanied by photographs- of men before and after they had been turned to stone.
"Why do this? What's it all for?"
"There are worse things in this world than terrorists, Commander."
***
Specialist Jamie Bowley adjusted the chin strap on her helmet and let out a long sigh. She still had three hours of sentry duty and she was bored out of her mind.
The soldier looked out over the desert, just as she had for the past few hours and almost wished that something would happen. Guarding a rear gate at the tiny supply depot she'd been assigned to was not what she'd had in mind when she joined the Army. She knew that every job was important, but she wished she could be on patrol, fighting insurgents and bringing stability back to the people of Iraq.
But women weren't allowed in combat roles. So she was stuck driving a truck by day, and guarding gates by night.
A breeze kicked up and Jamie felt a hot wind blow across
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