Stone Soldiers: Catching Fire Read Online Free Page B

down to the pavement. He walked over to Kenslir and bent over, looking where the Colonel was pointing.
    "This looks like a piece of metal stanchion- a post or something. Might have held up a road sign."
    "Yes, yes," Dr. King agreed. "I believe you're right."
    "What's that mean?" Smith said walking over to take a look for himself.
    Dr. King's hologram stood and faced him. He noticed the rendering wasn't very life-like up close. "The metal is melted off, just above the pavement, yet the pavement itself is not marred in any way."
    Kenslir stood. "This was a very precisely controlled fire. Residual heat should have rippled the asphalt in some way- instead it just stopped."
    "As though the pavement were not to be harmed..." Dr. King mused.
    "Any luck on predictions yet?" Kenslir asked.
    "Oh, yes!" Dr. King said. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a holographic piece of paper. "The attacks do have a common denominator- they match a pattern of insurgent fatalities from nearly two years ago."
    "We have a line on where the next site will be?"
    "Unfortunately, yes. It's a hospital, about 20 kilometers from your present location."
    Beside Dr. King a map appeared, floating in the air. Two flashing indicators marked Kenslir and Smith's location and a third marked the location of the hospital the Doctor had described. Kenslir's position was marked in green as ANTAEAN, while Smith was blue and designated ATLAS.
    "Atlas?" Smith asked.
    Kenslir turned away from the Doctor and reached up to his goggles, cupping his right hand along the side of his head to block any wind noise. "Command, this is ten three-nine alpha. Put me through to CENTCOM- I need ground support ASAP."
    Dr. King turned to Smith as the Colonel coordinated ground forces with Central Command. "Yes, I hope you don't mind- I took the liberty of selecting a call sign for you. As a SEAL you wore a globe with an anchor on your uniform, so I felt that Atlas, who held the world on his back was an appropriate designation."
    "Why couldn't I just be Smith?"
    ***
     
    The hospital in Sarsink consisted mainly of tents brought by the U.S. Army and one large warehouse-like structure. Located west of the town, the hospital had seen many patients during the post invasion operations in Iraq. Many American soldiers had been brought here for treatment after fighting in the mountainous region.
    Eventually, the local insurgents had chosen to attack the hospital as a lesson to the villagers who allowed it to remain. The attack was not well planned. All four of the insurgents were killed by alert guards. American guards.
    Zaman smiled as he remembered his. He twisted the large ring on his hand as his pulse quickened in anticipation. He licked his lips and pressed his binoculars tighter against his face.
    Despite the bright noonday sun, he could see the air begin to shimmer and ripple in the small courtyard in front of the hospital complex. The shimmering condensed in on itself then began to glow the faintest of orange. Flames crackled to life and rapidly expanded- forming an eight foot tall column of fire wider than a man.
    The whirling column moved toward the closest tent, directly into a wall of fabric. Smoke escaped briefly from around the fire then it passed through- leaving a precise, black-edged hole in the tent wall where it had burnt away the fabric in it's line of travel.
    Zaman swallowed nervously and closed his eyes. He waited, then opened first one eye, then the other. Why were there no screams?
    The whirling tower of flames moved out another wall of the tent and passed into the next. In seconds it emerged from another wall. The fire wavered, swirling in place for a moment.
    Zaman swung his binoculars around, examining all the buildings near the hospital.
    He had missed it at first, but it was quite obvious now. The village was deserted. There was absolutely no sign of life present. Everyone had simply vanished- villagers and Americans.
    They knew he was coming.
    This revelation was