Godzilla Returns (19 page)

As the bridge shook, everything on it was bounced violently around. Men and machines were tossed into the air. Helpless soldiers were thrown over the edge of the bridge. They plunged, screaming, into the waves that lapped against the foundation hundreds of feet below.

Godzilla flailed again. This time one of the towers cracked. When he slammed the bridge once more, several trucks exploded, spreading fire and burning fuel along the entire span. The screams of frightened men mingled with the sound of Godzilla's roar.

Again Godzilla struck, and, at last, the bridge gave way. It literally split into two, spilling vehicles and men into the Inland Sea.

In less than a minute, the entire span of the Seto Ohashi Bridge came tumbling down.

With a mighty roar of triumph, Godzilla moved past the tangled wreckage of steel cable, concrete, and vehicles. The frigate
Noshiro
's path was blocked by the shattered bridge, but still the warship futilely fired missiles at Godzilla's retreating back.

As Brian watched from his vantage point on the shopping mall roof, Godzilla moved slowly away from the destruction. Smoke still poured off his body where the napalm had scorched him. But as Godzilla departed, he did not look back.

The battle at the bridge was over.

Sickened by the destruction he'd witnessed, Brian sank to the roof. He hung his head and blinked back tears. He sat, motionless and speechless, for a few moments. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Ian stood over him. "We're going," he said. "Max is staying behind to wrap things up and give a final, on-camera report. But we've been ordered back to Tokyo."

Brian nodded dumbly and struggled to his feet. Without saying a word, he walked slowly toward the service elevator.

* * *

Forty-five minutes after the Blackhawks departed for Tokyo, Max Hulse and two technicians were loading the INN helicopter in preparation for their own departure.

Two Marines, including the stern-faced sergeant, served as their bodyguards. They were almost ready to lift off when three ragged figures appeared on the other end of the parking lot. The strangers began to shout and wave at the helicopter.

The figures began running toward the INN aircraft. The sergeant, wary of trouble, dropped to one knee in a defensive position. He pointed his M-16 at the strangers.

"Halt!" the Marine cried, raising his hand. Two of the figures slowed down, but the third kept coming. He was shouting something now, but the Marine couldn't hear him over the sound of the chopper's engine. Max Hulse turned and saw the man approaching.

"Halt and drop to the ground!"
the Marine cried again, still pointing his weapon at the trio.

Now the youth in the lead slowed, but still approached warily. He continued to shout something. Finally, they understood what he was saying.

"Mr. Hulse!"
the man shouted. The newsman heard his name being called. He reached down and touched the barrel of the sergeant's weapon.

"Let them come closer," the newsman said. Then he waved the three dirty figures forward. The tallest youth reached the helicopter first. He stopped when he saw the soldier, who still held the M-16 at the ready.

"Whoa," the man said. He wore a dirty safari jacket and tattered pants. He was covered in mud, as were the two who remained behind.

"I'm an American," he said. "Look!" He offered them his plastic I.D. card.

"I work for INN," the man insisted. Max Hulse took the plastic card out of the youth's grimy hand. The other two figures cautiously approached. The Marine was surprised to see that one of them was a woman.

"My name is Nick Gordon," the youth said. "And that's Yoshi Masahara and Lieutenant Emiko Takado. We've been following Godzilla for days - since the rocket attack on the San-yo plain - and boy, do we have some great footage for
you!
"

Max Hulse smiled at the three of them. "Hop in," he said. "We'll take you hack to Tokyo."

"Gee, thanks, Mr. Hulse," Nick said as he climbed into the chopper.

As he settled into his seat, Nick leaned over to Max Hulse.

"You know, Mr. Hulse," he said with a grin, "I'm a really big fan of yours..."

June 18, 1998, 10:27 A.M.
INN network headquarters
Tokyo, Japan

Brian sat in his cubicle, watching the monitor in front of him, which was tuned to CNN. The world was still on emergency footing, but things had been a bit calmer in the last few days.

After the terrible attack at the Seto Ohashi Bridge, Godzilla had moved through the Inland Sea virtually unopposed. When he hit the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, he vanished from sight. Even the submarines that were detailed to follow the creature soon lost track of him in the silent depths of the ocean.

For over a week now, the people of Tokyo had lived in fear - waiting for the attack that they were sure would come.

After the debacle on the San-yo plain, the Japanese government was reluctant to order a city-wide evacuation of the capital. There was nowhere they could send the millions of people who lived in the Tokyo metropolitan area, anyway. All of the rail lines and highways southwest of the capital were smashed already. Many of the cities were leveled as well.

Despite the reluctance of the government to move people out of Tokyo, many citizens left on their own. The NHK network estimated that fully one-third of Tokyo's population had already fled. More were trying to leave. Airports and docks were jammed. Prices for airline tickets at first doubled, then tripled. Now you couldn't get a ticket out, at least not legitimately - they were available only on the black market, for exorbitant prices.

Godzilla's present location was still unknown. The one bright light in all the darkness was Nick and Yoshi's triumphant return to INN headquarters. In his heart of hearts, Brian had nearly given up hope of ever seeing his friends again. But they had defied the odds and happily returned from the dead.

The two men were given a heroes' welcome. News executives - including the ever-skeptical Everett P. Endicott - were thoroughly impressed with the massive amount of footage and verbal reports they brought back with them. Nick and Yoshi had assembled a unique record of a society devastated by a force unlike any other.

For days, Yoshi's hours of taped footage was aired on INN. Nick's verbal reports - kept on audiotapes - were also broadcast. No one had any doubt that Yoshi would win an Emmy Award. There was even talk that Nick might win one, too. He had already been offered a very lucrative book contract by Random House.

In the days alone in the "wilderness," Yoshi and Lieutenant Emiko Takado had grown very close. After their return, Emiko had been called back to Japanese Self-Defense Force headquarters and reassigned. Now Yoshi just moped around the INN offices, missing her terribly. But at least he knew that, after the crisis was over, he would be reunited with her.

On the other hand, Brian noticed no progress between May McGovern and Nick. She still gave him the cold shoulder, and he still seemed to pretty much ignore her.

"Hey, Brian!" Nick greeted his roommate. "What's new?"

"Not much," Brian shrugged. "Still no word on Godzilla, even though the U.S. submarine fleet and the Russian Pacific fleet have both joined in the hunt."

"Don't worry," Nick replied. "Godzilla will show up. I've got a feeling in my gut."

Just then, an intern handed Brian an envelope. It had been hand-delivered (the Japanese postal service had suspended operations in Tokyo the day before - the same day the Japanese stock market had suspended trading). Brian saw his name scrawled on the white envelope, along with the address of INN, but nothing else.

Brian tore open the envelope.

Inside, he found a single sheet of paper. It was a letter from his still-missing uncle.

Dear Brian,

Dr. Nobeyama and I have decided to act on our own. We've developed a lure, and are now installing it in a small private airplane somewhere on the main island - I'm sorry I can't tell you exactly where.

Since the Japanese government - and the governments of the world - seem helpless to act, or are determined to do the wrong thing, we are preparing our own plan of defense.

Watch the skies. If Godzilla attacks Tokyo, we will try to lead the monster to the deepest part of the ocean. Then we'll crash-dive our aircraft and sink, with the lure, to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. We hope that Godzilla will follow us to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.

We are both fully aware that this is a one-way trip. There is no way to carry more fuel on such a small plane - and, as I say, we are on our own in the belief that this lure will be successful.

Whatever happens, remember that I'm proud of you. Don't mourn for me or for Dr. Nobeyama. I've spent my entire life defending our country, and we are both ready to die to defend the world - and for what we believe in.

Remember, son, keep watching the skies.

Uncle Maxwell

Brian felt sick. Tears filled his eyes.
I've got to find them... stop them
! Brian thought. But he knew it was impossible. Even if he found his uncle and the Japanese scientist, what could he say to convince them not to throw their lives away on an untried theory?

As Brian's mind raged, Nick looked down at his stricken friend.

"Hey, buddy," Nick asked. "What's the matter?"

But before Brian could reply, a commotion broke out in the newsroom. Brian and Nick rose to their feet to see what was going on. Everyone was staring at the television monitors. The regular programming had been replaced by an emergency broadcast.

"Emergency!" the voice on the television said.

"Godzilla is in Tokyo Bay... repeat, Godzilla is in Tokyo Bay! Please evacuate the coastal areas in and around Tokyo. Repeat... Godzilla is in Tokyo Bay."

Outside, civil-defense sirens began to wail. Their shrill sound echoed through the streets of Tokyo. The eerie blare was a herald of disaster - Godzilla had returned!

* * *

While Tokyo prepared to wage war against a prehistoric monster, a war of another kind was brewing in the INN newsroom. This particular war began when a memo appeared on Nick's and Brian's computer screens - courtesy of electronic mail.

The memo, in essence, fired them both. And it was signed
Everett P. Endicott
.

The two young men met each other in the hallway outside the bureau chief's office. Without knocking, Brian and Nick stormed past a startled May McGovern and burst into Endicott's inner office.

"What's
this
all about?" Nick cried, waving a printout of the memo.

"Yeah," Brian sputtered, his indignation temporarily stealing his vocabulary.

Endicott rose ponderously from his chair and raised his arms. "I know you're upset, boys -"

"Don't give me that 'boys' crap, Chief!" Nick interrupted. "We 'boys' gave this network top news ratings for the months of May
and
June..."

"Which is why I issued that memo," Endicott shouted. His words temporarily silenced their protestations. The bureau chief stared at the two youths. "Sit down," he said.

When they were all seated, Endicott defended his actions. "Both of you have done enough," he told them. "You both have bright futures here at the Independent News Network - or anywhere else you choose. But I want you out of harm's way... I want you out of Tokyo."

"Well, that's not what
I
want," Nick replied. "I want the chance to go up on the tower and get some real, live air time!"

Endicott understood their disappointment. Using the last of their clout with the Japanese government, INN reporters were being permitted to observe Godzilla's attack - if it happened - from the observation deck of Tokyo Tower, the highest spot in the city.

Endicott himself had just assigned Max Hulse to do live, on-the-spot coverage of the event, which would be fed through a satellite uplink.

The bureau chief shook his head. "No," he said. "I won't permit it."

"Why not?" Brian asked.

"Because it's too dangerous," Endicott said simply.

"We've both faced danger before!" Nick cried.

Endicott nodded. "Yes, you have... but think about this. Max Hulse and those other men are going to be trapped on that tower if anything had happens."

Nick's mouth snapped shut. He remembered his experience in the tiny factory tower. It was not something he wanted to repeat. "Max Hulse covered the Gulf War and the Middle East bombings in 1997," the bureau chief continued. "He
knows
the risks. You two seem to have forgotten that you're only interns... and you're young. I remember my youth well enough. You both think you're invincible."

"Okay" Nick relented. "But you can't just send us away."

"You're wrong about that," Endicott said with a thin smile. "In fifteen minutes, a private helicopter is landing on the helipad outside. I expect everyone to be on that aircraft and out of here. We'll leave behind a skeleton crew - one or two technicians - to man the uplinks, but the network wants everyone else out -
tonight!
- especially interns. It wouldn't look good for INN to put interns in harm's way."

When Nick and Brian left Endicott's office, the wind had pretty much been knocked out of their sails. As they headed back to their dorm rooms to pick up a few personal belongings, Nick looked around, trying to spot May.

She's probably getting packed, too
, he told himself.

When the two youths reached the apartment they shared, Nick fumbled for his key. He pulled a car key out of his pocket instead.

"What's that?" Brian asked.

"Ahh, I used an INN car this morning," Nick replied. "I parked it in the basement garage, but I forgot to give the key back to Mr. Takao."

"Yeah, well, he won't be needing it now," Brian muttered. Then he froze, and so did Nick. They looked at each other.

"We have a
car!
" they said in unison.

* * *

While tanks and armored personnel carriers of the First Airborne Division - the unit traditionally charged with the duty of protecting the capital city - rushed to the shores of Tokyo Bay, mobs of frightened people fled the city.