No! Not a box... it"s the elevator. For a second, hope surged. He grabbed a piece of concrete and banged on the side of the shattered elevator.
"May!" he screamed. "Are you in there?" He dropped the chunk of concrete and put his ear against the steel door.
Yes! He almost cried out loud. Someone is definitely inside.
Nick put his fingers on the door frame and tried to slide the doors open. It was impossible. The doors were partially crushed, and seemed to be frozen in place. He kicked the door in frustration.
And someone cried out from inside. It was a woman"s voice, m.u.f.fled and indistinct... but alive!
He thought fast. There must be an escape hatch on top of the elevator!
Nick jumped to the roof of the steel box. He kicked dirt and debris away and searched for something that looked like a door.
Yes! There it was!
The hatch was secured in place by four screws in each corner. Nick didn"t have a screwdriver - and he didn"t have time to look for one. He fumbled inside his pocket until he found a coin. He fit it into the groove of one screw and began to turn. His fingers were soon sore and b.l.o.o.d.y, but one by one, the screws were coming off.
Lieutenant Ogata"s Apache attack helicopter dived out of the sky toward the lumbering monster called G.o.dzilla. He depressed the b.u.t.ton on the control stick and the whole aircraft shuddered as the chin-mounted chain gun erupted. A stream of steel-jacketed sh.e.l.ls slammed into G.o.dzilla"s body.
Behind the lieutenant, the weapons officer depressed a trigger and, one by one, all sixteen missiles left their pods and struck.
G.o.dzilla bellowed in rage. Fire danced across the creature"s chest as the missiles. .h.i.t his hide. There was no explosion - nor did Ogata expect any.
When the missiles reached their target, Ogata swerved the Apache and shot up and over a row of buildings. He put the skysc.r.a.pers between his aircraft and the monster.
But G.o.dzilla would not be stopped once he had spotted his prey. Without hesitation, he slammed against the steel-and-gla.s.s structure and crashed right through the center of the block-long building.
But G.o.dzilla was too late. Lieutenant Ogata had flown his Apache out of harm"s way.
As the monster roared and bellowed, another Apache took the first one"s place. It too fired its missiles, all of which struck G.o.dzilla"s thick hide. But this time, G.o.dzilla opened his mouth. Blue fire shot up his dorsal spines and a hot jet of flame engulfed the second Apache. It vanished in a huge fireball.
Undeterred by the fate of their comrades - or the fact that the tranquilizer was having no noticeable effect - the pilots of the third and fourth Apaches dived down for the attack.
His fingers slick with sweat, Nick Gordon ripped the emergency hatch off the top of the elevator car. "May!" he screamed as he peered down into the dark elevator.
"Nick," a voice from the darkness sobbed. "Is it really you?"
Nick scrambled through the hatch and lowered himself into the elevator car. As his eyes got used to the darkness, he saw a form huddled in the corner. He reached down and lifted May in his arms. For a few moments, they did not move, they did not speak. They just held each other.
"Hey!" Brian cried from outside the hatch. "Is anybody in there?"
"Yeah!" Nick replied, relief in his voice. "It"s May... and she"s all right. Help me get her out of here."
Over Tokyo, and between the high buildings, a battle raged. It was human and machine against monster. The monster was winning.
"Situation report!" Lieutenant Ogata demanded from his Apache high over Tokyo.
"We lost Two and Five," a voice crackled in his headphones. "We"ve fired all of our missiles into the monster. The tranquilizer is not working."
Lieutenant Ogata cursed.
"Should we attack with machine guns?" the other man asked his commander. Lieutenant Ogata shook his head bitterly.
"No!" he cried into his microphone. "Break off the attack and regroup over the city. There is nothing more we can do now."
As Brian and Nick helped a shaken and bruised May down from the ruins, the Apaches flew overhead again. This time they were going in the opposite direction.
The two youths exchanged glances.
"Another attack has failed," Nick said. "I guess there is really no hope now..."
But Brian did not reply. Instead he c.o.c.ked his head. He could swear he heard the sound of an engine. Yes! As he turned his eyes to the sky, a light aircraft flew overhead, heading directly for G.o.dzilla"s location.
"Maybe we do have a chance, after all," Brian whispered cryptically. Nick and May both looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Let me tell you about a letter I got earlier today." Brian said.
Inside the private airplane over Tokyo, Admiral Maxwell Willis peered out the window at the city far below. He banked, dipping his wing. The airplane turned and flew right over the location of INN headquarters. The admiral could see that the whole block was in ruins.
"It"s time to activate the lure," Dr. n.o.beyama said from the seat beside him.
The admiral smiled at his old friend. "Are you ready to do this?" he asked.
The j.a.panese scientist shrugged his shoulders. "It"s bushido - our duty," he replied.
"And our honor, too," the admiral said simply.
The airplane banked low and made a pa.s.s over G.o.dzilla"s head. The monster seemed oblivious to their presence.
"I will activate the lure." Dr. n.o.beyama flicked a switch. "Now!"
A keening, high-pitched wail that was barely audible to human ears filled the air from a dozen speakers embedded in the fuselage. The admiral banked the aircraft again and made a second pa.s.s over the monster.
To his amazement, G.o.dzilla froze in mid-stride. The monster looked up, scanning the sky for the source of the sound. As the aircraft turned again, G.o.dzilla turned with it.
"It"s working!" the admiral cried.
"You are surprised?" Dr. n.o.beyama said, lifting one eyebrow.
The admiral chuckled. "And why shouldn"t I be?" he said. "I remember that little wind tunnel experiment a few years back..."
"Your design was all wrong!" Dr. n.o.beyama insisted.
"Oh, no." Admiral Willis shook his head. "My design was fine. Your calculations were wrong!"
"Never!" the j.a.panese scientist said indignantly.
As they argued good-naturedly, the admiral banked the airplane, turned, and headed toward Tokyo Bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond. And like a fish on the end of a fisherman"s line, G.o.dzilla followed.
Nick shook his head in disbelief. May, too, had a look of wonder on her pretty face. Everett Endicott, still suffering from a mild case of shock, stared vacantly at the sky as the airplane, carrying Admiral Willis. Dr. n.o.beyama, and the lure, flew over their heads.
Like a docile lamb, G.o.dzilla walked along behind. The ground shook as the creature, drawn compulsively to the lure devised by the two men, increased his pace to keep up with the airplane.
"I can"t believe it worked!" Nick exclaimed.
"That"s my uncle," Brian replied.
"You"ve got to tell the world!" May insisted.
"I sure would like to," Brian agreed. "But all communications are out."
"Unless you"ve got a satellite truck, the hottest story of the year is going to remain our little secret," Nick said with disgust.
At that moment, a most amazing thing happened. Brian heard another engine - a truck engine. Nick, who was whispering to May, looked up when he heard the sound. Even Endicott snapped out of his stupor.
They looked down the block as a huge white van with big INN letters on the side rounded the corner. Behind the wheel sat Yoshi Masahara; the blond network producer from Alabama was in the pa.s.senger seat.
The van pulled up to the curb and the side door swung open. Six technicians hopped out and stretched. Yoshi and the woman also jumped out. Yoshi ran up and greeted them.
There was much backslapping, and high fives all around. Brian told everyone about his uncle, the airplane, and the lure that even now drew G.o.dzilla farther and farther from the sh.o.r.es of j.a.pan.
The mood of celebration was suddenly shattered as a commanding voice broke through the conversation. All eyes turned to see Everett P. Endicott on his feet and glaring at them.
"What is going on here?" he demanded. "We have a satellite truck, a power generator, uplink capability, a d.a.m.n fine cameraman, and a producer - and two honest-to-G.o.d reporters - here."
He paused. "Let"s get to work, people! We have news to report."
Everyone jumped into action. Within minutes, they had established communications with INN stateside and established a satellite feed. Yoshi manned the camera, and Brian and Nick prepared statements.
The woman from Alabama cleaned the two youths up as well as she could. She even produced some makeup from her purse.
Finally, all was in readiness.
"Okay, we"re going on the air worldwide - live - in sixty seconds," the woman said. "Get to your places."
"You"ve got the big story." Nick said to Brian. "I"ll go on first and set the stage... Then you can tell the world about Dr. n.o.beyama"s invention - and your uncle"s courage."
"It"s a deal," Brian said, feeling a little nervous.
"Ten seconds!" the woman shouted.
Nick took his place in front of the camera. He gripped the microphone and cleared his throat. Then he stole a glance at May and Brian.
"Three... two... one... go!"
Nick stood up straight, looked into the camera, and spoke.
"The ruins you see behind me were once a great city," he said in a somber tone.
"The creature that caused the destruction is gone for now, but the damage G.o.dzilla left in his wake will take decades to rebuild..." Nick paused dramatically.
"This is Tokyo..."
EPILOGE.
June 19, 1998, 9:11 A.M.
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
High above the Pacific, hundreds of miles from the nearest sh.o.r.e, the tiny airplane"s engine sputtered and died. Its fuel exhausted, the plane glided for a few more miles, then drifted down until it finally hit the waves and broke apart.
The pieces floated for a few minutes, then sank.
The lure that compelled G.o.dzilla to follow the airplane continued to function. Powered by batteries, the device was designed to emit the sound for many, many weeks - perhaps even months.
As the lure sank beneath the waves, G.o.dzilla happily went with it. Soon, the monster was following the machine to the very bottom of the deepest part of the ocean.
Perhaps the monster will rest there forever. Or perhaps, at some future time, G.o.dzilla will return again...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.