Mad Truth, Titan Truth Podcast #98
Tasman Sea
Ilene watched Jia sign to Kong.
Thank you, friend, was how she would translate in English. But the Iwi concept of “friend” was deeper in every way than its English counterpart. Kong seemed to acknowledge that before he passed out.
She regarded the devastation around them. Godzilla had wrecked their seemingly indomitable fleet in minutes.
Wilcox was in conference with his aides. When he was done, he approached them.
“This vessel is no longer seaworthy,” he told them. “We might limp a little closer, but we’ll never make it to Outpost 32.”
“Can we use another ship?” Nathan asked.
The Admiral shook his head. “Anything we might have had capable of handling Kong is at the bottom of the sea or on its way there. We might make the Antarctic coast, but not all the way around to the outpost. We would founder somewhere east of there. Or we could try to make it to Australia or South Africa. Either way, I don’t like our odds. I’m looking for a supertanker or something that might be able to meet us at sea, but so far everything is too far away. We’re really in the middle of nowhere here.”
“As soon as we move,” Ilene said, “he’ll be back. So how are we going to get the rest of the way?”
But Nathan had an idea.
“How is Kong with heights?” he asked.
* * *
“You’re absolutely certain we need him? The monkey?” Maia Simmons asked. She crossed her arms and looked at Kong. “The HEAVs will make it to Hollow Earth, I promise you.”
“Sure,” Nathan said. “But once we get there, then what? Your father’s satellite imaging shows there is a power source down there. But to use it, we have to locate it.”
“How hard can that be?”
Nathan put up his hands as if holding a globe.
“If I’m right,” he said, “Hollow Earth is huge, a whole world unto itself. Think about it—if the Titans came from there—”
“Then it’s big, yes,” Simmons said. “I get that. But if we can literally see this power source from orbit, we should be able to triangulate it once we’re down there.”
“Maybe,” he conceded. “Eventually. But there is a lot going on between here and there—there’s the membrane, polarity reversal, all kinds of weird magnetic phenomena. Imagine we are going into a huge mansion, and we want to find an electrical socket to plug something into. There are wires everywhere; if we have the right equipment, we can even trace the electrical wires in the wall. But there are lots of wires, right? And in this whole three-story mansion, there’s only one socket, and we don’t know where that is.”
“And the monkey does?” Simmons said, gesturing toward the Titan with one hand. “I thought he’d never been down there.”
“Genetic memory,” Nathan said. “I think he has a map of this place built into him, whether he knows it or not. Look—when loggerhead sea turtles are born on a beach in Florida, they take an eight-thousand-mile trip around the Atlantic basin. With no one to guide them, right? The mothers lay the eggs and leave. But these little turtles, they know where to go, and they steer using variations in the Earth’s magnetic field, until they—the females, anyway—end up back up on the same beach where they hatched to lay their eggs. This isn’t learned behavior. It’s hardwired. Having the biological equipment to sense the magnetic fields isn’t enough: they have to know when to turn. Where their mothers turned, and their mothers, on back for thousands, maybe millions of years. Like recognizing a landmark you’ve never actually seen before—”
“Okay,” Simmons said, pushing one palm toward him. “You don’t have to beat it to death. I get it. You think Kong is tuned to this energy the way sea turtles are to magnetic fields. And even if it’s been a few generations since his kind came up here, he should still be able to recognize these ‘landmarks.’”
“Yes,” Nathan said. “That’s it exactly. I discussed this with your father. I thought he might have mentioned it.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“You think so?” she said. “But that would be too easy. My father thinks a lot of me. He trusts my intelligence. He trusts it so much he is always testing it. He told me where to bring the HEAVs and gave me instructions about the power source. He failed to mention our primate friend would be involved. Probably his little joke. I’m sure he knew that I would either figure it out or you would tell me. That’s my dad. Always thinking of my betterment.”
“Okay,” Nathan said. “I’m sorry he—”
“Oh, get over it,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I have. One day I’ll inherit a multi-billion-dollar empire. I can deal with a few head games for that, even if it does give me daddy issues.” She nodded, as if to herself. “So,” she continued, “you’ve got a plan to get the monkey…” He made a little face. “Fine,” she muttered. “I know he’s not a monkey, you know. To get Kong the rest of the way?”
“Yes,” Nathan said.
“Great,” she said. “The HEAVs should be in Antarctica by now. Sounds like we’re still on.”
“We’re still on,” Nathan agreed.
* * *
As Ilene zipped herself into the dark blue flight suit, Jia continued to stare at the one provided for her.
See, Ilene signed. It’s just clothes.
Looks strange, the girl replied. Tight.
We need to wear them, Ilene said. So we can stay with Kong.
Jia frowned. I like my clothes, she said. My maiden shawl…
Ilene knelt down in front of her. You can keep that on, she said, taking
