He watched in helpless horror as Godzilla cut a destroyer in half with his dorsal fins. Bombs tracked along his back; the unstoppable Titan kept coming, still swimming with his head down and his back out of the water, like an alligator. A pair of jets dropped down low over him and pounded him with missiles, which erupted in impressive columns of flame. Before they could reach safety, Godzilla’s tail lifted from the water, curling as high as a skyscraper, swatting one of the jets from the air as if it were an insect. Then he brought the tail back down, bisecting a pair of warships, sending their crews running toward the rails as flames roared up from their fuel and munitions.
And on he drove toward them, toward Kong.
To make matters even weirder, one half of the destroyer the Titan had just annihilated suddenly jerked in the water and then began racing behind Godzilla, reminding Nathan of a fishing bobber after a big fish hit the hook.
Must have caught the anchor chain, he thought numbly, watching as the Titan came on, dragging half a freaking battleship behind it. Surreal didn’t even begin to cover it; part of him wondered if it had finally happened and he was experiencing a psychotic episode.
He saw Ilene grab Jia and pull her toward the bridge elevator. Where was she going? Kong? What did she think she could do?
Then Godzilla went under, and a moment later, so did what was left of the destroyer.
Kong, meanwhile, was slamming the deck, desperately trying to tear free of his restraints. Nathan glanced at the controls that would set him free, but he was still paralyzed with indecision. Was Ilene right? Was setting Kong free the only solution? Surely not. Surely with all of the firepower the fleet commanded, they could drive Godzilla away. Maybe he was already gone; it seemed like a long time since he vanished beneath the surface.
Then Godzilla came out of the ocean like a killer whale breaching, smashing into Kong and the deck he was chained to. Nathan watched, aghast, as the entire ship tipped over. It took him an instant to realize that this wasn’t just something he was watching, that it was the ship he was on, that it wasn’t just the deck tilting but the bridge, too. And him. And everyone else.
As he fell and slid across the swiftly tilting deck, he smelled seawater, and then everything whited out.
* * *
Ilene pulled Jia into the elevator and sealed the hatch behind her. She was acting on instinct now, trying to put one more barrier between Jia and the monster outside. As much as she had studied Godzilla, as much as she thought her experience with Kong had prepared her for other Titans, the reality was terrifying. In a handful of minutes, Godzilla had shrugged off everything the fleet could throw at him, destroyed three battleships, obliterated a fighter plane, and capsized a vessel large enough to carry Kong. Now they were upside down, and water was pouring into her chosen hiding place—and into the bridge even faster. She gaped, horrified, at the sight of Kong, underwater, still in chains, fighting a losing battle for his survival. All of Monarch’s planning, all of their military might swept aside with no more effort than someone on a picnic brushing their blanket clean of ants.
They had to release Kong. It was the only chance any of them had. But the pressure outside was too great, preventing her from opening the hatch. She began banging, trying to get Nathan’s attention before the bridge filled completely with water and he drowned.
* * *
When Nathan came to, he was floating; water was gushing into the bridge, and everything was upside down. He heard muffled screaming and pounding from the elevator and saw Jia and Ilene were in it. They were above water, but like the bridge, the elevator was quickly filling. He couldn’t tell what Ilene was saying, but he followed her frantic gestures. Through the bridge window, he saw Kong, underwater, still bound and still flailing, continuing to pull the ship over.
The ship should right itself, he thought, in a weird moment of clarity. But it can’t now with Kong pulling it down. He was floating, with his head pointed at what had once been the floor. He looked down, toward the former ceiling, the controls, and the lever that would release Kong’s manacles.
He shucked off his down vest and struggled toward the controls, as spiderweb cracks formed in the glass. When that shattered, the bridge would finish filling in an implosion, and it would be too late to do anything.
He steadied himself. You can do this.
But he ran out of breath and came up short.
Gasping, he dove again, swimming back down to the lever. Outside Kong had managed to rip off one of his manacles, but it was going to be too late if he didn’t …
He felt his muscles hit their limit and knew he didn’t have it in him. His lungs ached, and he remembered his talk with Ayara, about how he and his brother used to see who could stay under longest.
It had always been Dave who won. He was the failure, and always had been.
But then he remembered something else.
You can do it, little brother. Dave had said, as he breathed, preparing himself. Another ten seconds this time. Don’t worry about anybody else. This time you’ll do your best.
Goddammit, Dave, he thought.
And he squeezed everything he had left in him into reaching the lever. His finger touched it. Now it was in his grip, and he was still afraid of failing.
But he pulled it anyway.
Then the universe tossed him aside as Kong finally freed himself. Gravity reversed again as the huge vessel righted itself and water began to drain away; as if in a nightmare, he saw
