Free Stone Soldiers 5: Black Knight Down by C. E. Martin Page A

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.
    "Dr. Kristina Parker," Dr. King read from a clipboard. "She was part of the Medusa project in Miami..."
    "The shapeshifter killed her in the assault on the Tower," Kenslir said, watching.
    The last of the petrification faded from Dr. Parker, revealing her to be a blonde with long, shoulder length hair. Beside her, Jason pulled his hands away, opening and closing them as his arms began to swell. As though he was being inflated, his body seemed to grow- huge muscles expanding under the loose surgical scrubs he wore.
    Dr. Olson checked Dr. Parker's body, feeling for a pulse. She administered a shot into the woman's arm, then stepped around by Jason.
    "No ill effects?" Kenslir asked.
    "None," Dr. King said. "Oh, this is my favorite part!"
    Dr. Olson suddenly grabbed Jason and swept him off his feet, dipping him and moving in as though to kiss him. She stopped at the last minute and looked up at Kenslir watching through the observation window.
    "Just kidding," She smiled. She stood Jason up and held both his hands instead. Bright blue energy crackled between their palms.
    "Well, she doesn't