Stone Soldiers 5: Black Knight Down (7 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Josie awoke with a jolt, as Jimmy shook her arm.

"We're here, babe," Jimmy said, He seemed more confident now with his new physique.

Josie looked him up and down, again marveling at the transformation in Jimmy. Even with larger clothes- khakis and a sky blue bermuda shirt- his muscles showed. And Jimmy was relishing the change.

Josie, wearing a bright floral sundress, sat up in her chair, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looked to her left, out the window of the small jet they were riding in. She could see water below, rushing up to meet them as they came in for a landing.

"Colonel says to come up front," Jimmy said, offering his hand.

His grip was strong and he effortlessly helped Josie out of her seat, then followed her to the front of the small Learjet.

Josie swung the cabin door in and entered the cockpit, where her grandfather was piloting the plane.

"Welcome to Fox Island," Colonel Kenslir said, nodding to the empty co-pilot seat beside him. He was dressed in his normal tan, cargo pocket pants with a dark green polo shirt and tan desert combat boots.

"Where are we?" Josie asked, sliding into the seat. Jimmy stepped up, crouching slightly behind both seats to see out the front windows of the descending plane.

"Lake Michigan- about seventeen miles from the coast of Michigan," the Colonel said. He reached to the control panel and pulled a lever to lower the plane's landing gear.

Ahead of the Learjet, a pair of islands could be seen- the closest had a short runway and a lighthouse- as well as a cluster of buildings in the middle of the island.

"South Fox is about five miles long, and is the middle in size of the archipelago," Kenslir said. "The research base is there. To the north, you can make out the smallest island- North Fox. We house a security team there that rotates out with South Fox every four days by helicopter. Closest land is ten miles north of North Fox."

"What’s there?" Jimmy asked.

"Beaver Island- tourist destination that receives flights from Charlevoix on the mainland- there's a ferry as well."

"So what's this place called?" Jimmy asked.

"South Fox Island," Kenslir said, perturbed. "No special name, Jimmy- that'd kind of give away what we're doing."

Josie slipped on a set of headphones so she could hear better. The engines were picking up in throttle and the wind was loud as Kenslir angled them in for a landing.

"So what do people think it is?" she asked.

"Corporate retreat," Kenslir said. He glanced back over his shoulder for a moment. "Better strap in, Jimmy, we're about to touch down."

Jimmy stepped out of the cabin and got into the first of the plane's eight seats, buckling in quickly. He felt the nose rise on the plane and the whine of the engines pick up. The rear wheels touched down- roughly- jostling the plane. Then the front wheel touched down and the Colonel applied brakes and reversed the engine flow.

The plane slowed to an eventual halt, rolling almost to the end of the short runway.

"That was close," Josie said, looking out the windows.

Kenslir swung the plane's nose around and eased the throttle forward, taxiing the Lear back down the runway. "I don't get to fly as much as I'd like."

"So, why no crew on this flight?" Josie asked through her headset.

"This is a highly classified site. We try and keep as few people involved as possible. The security team is only twenty men. There's less than another twenty support staff as well."

Kenslir taxied to the end of the runway, turning onto a side ramp and finally coming to a stop on a large apron ringed with three small hangars. In one, Josie could see a larger, sleek, corporate-type passenger helicopter. The other held a twin engine, propeller-driven transport plane.

"Cozy," She said, slipping off her headphones and undoing her seat buckles.

"We're off the grid out here. Limited contact with the outside world- only regular visit is once a month, to deliver supplies." Kenslir took his headphones off and powered down the plane.

"So why?" Josie asked, walking out of the cockpit. Jimmy was already lowering the door at the rear of the plane.

"Keeping secrets is hard when you have too many people involved," Kenslir said, following her.

Josie, Jimmy then the Colonel finally made their way off the plane, down the folding metal stairs and onto the tarmac.

A large electric golf cart rolled up, with two men on it. They wore jeans and t-shirts, with pistol belts around their waists.

"Welcome to Fox," the driver said.

After retrieving their luggage from the plane, the trio rode the large cart away from the airfield, north, onto a gravel path that led to the cluster of buildings in the center of the island.

"This used to be part of a state park," Kenslir said. "In the 1970s, the DoD selected it as the ideal location for a research facility, due to its location on the Lake.

"In '94, a private industrialist agreed to purchase the island and develop it for his own use- the cover for the construction of the research center. Once the facility began operation, he sold the island to a shell corporation the CIA uses and the corporate retreat business was put in place."

"Corporate retreat?" Josie asked.

"That's the official cover. An exclusive vacation destination for the really, really wealthy."

"Did he know what was going on here? The developer?" Jimmy asked.

"He was hired to make the purchase and develop the island. All he knew was that it was going to be a classified facility. He was more than happy to assist."

The golfcart pulled into what was like a main square in the center of the island. The large square was surrounded with mainly one story buildings that looked like a typical beach front resort. The main building was three stories tall and was clearly a hotel.

Kenslir stepped off the cart and grabbed his duffel bag. "Most of these are empty. There's a crew that keeps the place clean year-round."

"Mark!" a woman's voice called out.

Everyone turned and saw a redhead in a labcoat standing at the short set of stairs that led up to the hotel's double doors.

In the blink of an eye, the woman was gone- moving at inhuman speed, like a blur- and appearing at Kenslir's side. She grabbed the Colonel and pulled herself up to his height, then gave him a long kiss.

Kenslir pushed the red head away, and appeared slightly embarrassed.

"I knew you couldn't stay away!" the red head said. Her hair was long and curly, just past her shoulders. She had a creamy, almost pale complexion and blood-red lips. Her brown eyes twinkled mischievously and she grabbed the Colonel's rear with long, red lacquered fingernails.

"Dr. Olson," Kenslir said, removing the hand.

"My, Jimmy, whatever have they been feeding you?" Laura Olson said, turning and grabbing one of Jimmy's arms and squeezing. She smiled widely, running the tip of her tongue over her long, fang-like canine teeth.

Jimmy seemed a little frightened, so Laura released his arm and laughed. "Relax, kid- they keep me well-fed here."

"Hey, Laura," Josie said.

"Josie!" Laura Olson said, grabbing the young girl in a big hug. "It seems like forever since I saw you!"

"It was like three weeks ago, Doc," Jimmy said.

"Oh, Jimmy, you kidder," Laura laughed, elbowing Jimmy painfully in the ribs.

"Will that be all, Doctor?" the driver of the cart asked.

"Fine, fine- I've got it from here, Harold," Dr. Olson said, shooing the guards away.

Both shrugged and drove off in the cart. Laura stepped between Jimmy and Mark and looped an arm through each of theirs. "C'mon, kids, let’s go inside and see the Wizard!"

***

The hotel's elevator carried them down several dozen feet, to the subterranean complex of labs under the island. When the ornate, gold-lined elevator came to a smooth stop, Josie turned to her grandfather.

“You don’t mean a real Wizard, do you?” Josie asked.

"Is that real gold?" Jimmy asked, pointing toward the elevator doors.

"24 carat!" Laura said, leading the way out of the elevator. The elegance and expensive trappings of the first floor gave way to fluorescent lights and cold tiles in the corridor beyond the elevator.

“And no, he’s not
really
a wizard,” Laura said.

“Why all the gold?” Josie asked.

"Magically inert, remember?" Kenslir said, stepping out. "Shields the entire facility."

The trio followed the very happy Dr. Olson down a door lined corridor, finally stopping at a metal door and keypad.

"Van Helsing!" Dr. Olson said into the speaker by the door. A green light flashed and the voice recognition buzzed as it disengaged.

"What? I read the classics, too," Laura said as Josie gave her a questioning look.

They entered the large room beyond, where a man in a labcoat was examining a statue.

Josie immediately recognized that the statue was actually a petrified person. Several more stood silently in the room.

"Dr. King?" Dr. Laura Olson called out.

"Hmm, what?" the man in the labcoat asked. He turned around and stood, revealing he was as nearly as tall Colonel Kenslir. A full face shield covered his face from view. He flipped it up and stepped forward, hands extended.

"Welcome!" Dr. King said, grinning widely. He was an old man, maybe in his sixties by Josie's estimation, with curly gray hair. And one gray eye.

Josie couldn't help but stare at the eye, which seemed to be petrified in its socket.

"Dr. King- this is Jimmy Kane and Josie-" Colonel Kenslir started to say.

"Winters!" Dr. King said, stepping close and grabbing Josie's hand with both of his. "I've got my eye on you, young lady." Then he broke out laughing.

"Uh, hello."

Jimmy stepped forward, striking his hand out for the Doctor to take.

King accepted the hand, holding it and turning it over to examine both sides. He began poking and pinching Jimmy's arm, up to the elbow with his free hand.

"Simply remarkable!" Dr. King said. "Jason told me that you had been drained..."

"There's more," Kenslir said. He set his duffel bag on the ground and opened the end, pulling Jimmy's large restraining collar from the bag. "Remember this?"

"My lycanthropic interrupter!" King exclaimed happily. He took the collar and held it close to his face, sniffing it. "What a wonderful device!"

He looked at Kenslir, then at Jimmy and his smile faded. "Oh, I see."

"We were hoping for something smaller."

"Fascinating," Dr. King said, setting the collar down beside him. He missed the table but Dr. Olson's reflexes were more than able to catch the collar before it fell.

Dr. King got up close to Jimmy, peering in his eyes almost nose to nose. Jimmy attempted to lean back, grimacing at the invasion of his personal space.

Dr. King suddenly burped lightly and blew a mouthful of air into Jimmy's face. The teen jumped back in disgust.

"Can you identify what I had for breakfast?" King asked. "Do you have all the enhanced senses of the wolf?"

"Doctor," Dr. Olson said walking up beside King. "We do have an experiment waiting."

"Yes! That's right!" Dr. King said excitedly. "We were about to start when you radioed you were on final approach. I suspended our operation until you could get here."

King walked to a wall set with a large observation window. Beyond was a surgical suite, with a large table, tilted at a forty-five degree angle, on which was leaning a petrified person. To the right of the table was a young man in surgical scrubs with blonde hair and gray eyes.

"Jason! Colonel Kenslir, Ms. Winters and Mr. Kane are here," Dr. King said into an intercom set beside the window.

"Yeah, I can see them, Doc," Jason Trumball said. The teen raised a hand and waved. "Hey, guys."

"Pardon me," Laura Olson said, moving toward the door between lab and surgical chamber. "This is my cue."

Laura quickly opened the door to the operating room then entered. She moved to the other side of the table from Jason, preparing a variety of injections.

"The process has been working?" Kenslir asked, staring at the petrified figure.

"Quite well- for those recently petrified," King said. "There doesn't appear to be any ill effects for those petrified with the Basilisk or Medusa eye."

Jason rubbed his hands together than laid one on the forehead of the reclining stone figure and the other on their arm.

Josie stepped up to the glass, looking closely. The figure was a woman, wearing what appeared to be an oversized, petrified t-shirt. "Who is that?"

Light began to crackle and flash under Jason's hands- sparks of white erupting from between the stone body and his skin. The woman's toes began to lose their stony color, turning back to flesh. The wave of de-petrification spread rapidly up her body, above her knees and thighs, and under her shirt. The shirt itself began to fade from gray to white, reverting to its natural form as well.