Stone Soldiers 5: Black Knight Down Read Online Free PDF

began walking toward it.
    "Hold fast, Airman!" Hunt barked. Then he turned and walked further up the slope, trying his radio again. "Perkins! Dammit, Sergeant, answer me!"
    Crawford was right in front of the anomaly now. He slowly extended his left hand toward it. Despite the many intricate carvings in some alien alphabet, he could see his reflection in the obsidian-like material.
    His fingers brushed the surface of the Anomaly and he felt a shock. Then he fell to the ground.
    "Perk-!" Hunt was yelling- he stopped when he heard the clatter of Crawford hitting the ground. "What the fuck, Airman?"
    Hunt jogged down the slope and raced over to Crawford. "Did I not tell you to hold fast? What is your malfunc-"
    Hunt stopped when he reached down to touch Crawford. Steam was rising from the Airman's body and his face was pale, his lips blue. He looked like he had just stepped out of a freezer.
    Hunt backed away from the Anomaly, keeping his eyes on it while he put his hand on the pistol holstered on his hip. "Son of a bitch!"
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
     
    Josie couldn't help but laugh. "I love your bling," she grinned.
    Jimmy wasn't laughing. The large gold and silver collar he was now wearing- that extended out from his neck at least two inches- fit like an over-sized dog collar.
    "You don't have anything smaller?" he asked.
    "It was built in the 70s, what do you expect?" Colonel Kenslir said.
    Jimmy felt gingerly at the strange collar with its wrapped gold wire and silver prongs. "What happens when I transform- do I get impaled by these spikes or something?"
    "When you start to transform, the silver will prick your skin and draw the etheric energy out of your body and into the collar. It'll keep you from changing. And it'll hurt. A lot."
    "At least you only have to wear it once a month," Josie teased. "Now you'll get a taste of how us girls feel."
    "C'mon, Colonel- there has to be another way," Jimmy pleaded.
    "We could stick you in the vault again, but come next month, I'm sure the Pentagon would decide that's too much of a risk for the facility."
    "What about Dr. Olson?" Jimmy asked. He slumped down in a chair in the small lab they were in. It was a dusty lab, that clearly hadn't been used for years. Tables and even outdated computers filled a room lined with cabinets and lockers.
    "She won't be back from Nevada for some time," Kenslir said. "And we're not sure she could drain enough off of you to stop the transformation."
    "So how does it work?" Josie asked, touching the collar to Jimmy's consternation.
    "Silver absorbs etheric energy. Kind of like reverse radiation. Gold is magically inert. By combining the two, you can create a kind of battery to draw off power."
    "Is that what wizards do?"
    "In some cases. They can store their own personal energy in charms and amulets over time, then use it when they need it. They often combine crystals with the metals- some crystals act like superconductors."
    "How does someone even figure that out?" Jimmy asked. "I thought we didn't have wizards or witches on the payroll?"
    "We have had several scientists working on etheric energy over the decades."
    Kenslir frowned and pulled a cellphone from a holster on his belt. He read a message on the screen of the smartphone then put it back in its holster.
    "I'm needed in Command. You two get some rest- in separate quarters."
    "Colonel!" Josie exclaimed.
    "You each have your own quarters- let's try using them for once, shall we?"
    Josie glared back at her grandfather but said nothing.
    Colonel Kenslir left the lab, walking swiftly to an elevator. Once inside, he took it to the fifteenth floor and headed straight for the command center.
    Normally manned with a skeleton crew between missions, the auditorium-like room lined with work stations and gigantic monitors was bustling with activity. Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers manned the various workstations, communicating with America's many military command units.
    "What's going on?" Kenslir asked,