“There’s very little doubt he’s coming here,” the director said. “And so far, he hasn’t caused any trouble on the way.”
“And idea what’s drawing him there?” Mark asked.
“There’s no evidence of any other Titans,” Guillerman said. “But—have a look at this.”
He tapped a keyboard, and a window appeared on Mark’s screen, displaying a signal.
“As you can see, the signal is weak,” Guillerman said. “And we don’t know quite what to make of it.”
Mark studied the signal for a moment.
“It looks like a Titan,” he said. “A little. In fact, this segment of it seems familiar, although if I’m remembering right that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Could it be a manufactured call?” the director asked. “Like the sort of signal the ORCA put out?”
“If I had to guess,” Mark said, “I would say that’s exactly what this is. It almost looks like an attempt to synthesize Ghidorah’s call, although it’s wrong in some key ways. What’s the point of origin?”
“Here,” the director said. “Hong Kong. But we’re not sure from where in the city.”
Mark frowned as the signal repeated itself on a loop.
“Isn’t that where Apex headquarters is?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I think you should focus your efforts on them,” Mark said. “Monitor any signal coming out of there. Walter Simmons has sworn to destroy Godzilla. He did it on international television. Nathan—Dr. Lind—he’s off on some Hollow Earth boondoggle for Simmons as we speak, something about a power source he says can control or destroy Godzilla, right? None of this seems like a coincidence. Maybe Simmons is trying to lure Godzilla here for some reason. Maybe he’s set a trap, and Pensacola was practice for it.”
“Lure Godzilla to a city of eight million?” Guillerman said. “He’d have to be insane.”
“Simmons wouldn’t be the first person to have an insane reaction to Godzilla,” Mark said. “Hell, I’ve been there myself. No telling who Simmons lost back in 2014 or 2019. Or maybe it’s something else. Maybe he has a plan to stop him before he gets to the city. But we’d better be ready for anything.”
“I’ll start an evacuation as quietly as I can,” Guillerman said. “And we’ll see what we can dig up on Apex. I will see you soon.”
Mark nodded as the screen went blank. He was starting to feel like he owed Madison an apology, not to mention telling her he was significantly more out of town then he’d thought he would be.
He checked his phone and found Madison still hadn’t answered any of the four texts he has already sent her. He tried to call her, but she didn’t pick up.
“Damn it, Madison,” he murmured under his breath.
He knew he had disappointed her, but he also knew he was doing the right thing. He had lost a son and a wife to these monsters. Madison was all he had left, and he did not intend to put her in harm’s way. If that meant she sulked for a while and ignored his texts, he could deal with that. It was far better than the alternative.
Checking again, he saw he had missed a text from his sister. Several, in fact.
He read through them as they grew increasingly more panicked. Maddie hadn’t been home when Cassidy had dropped by to pick her up, and she hadn’t called or texted. Eventually she’d learned that Maddie’s friend Josh was also missing, along with his older brother’s van.
“What the hell are you up to, Madison?” he muttered. He should have known this would happen. Should have seen the signs. This was Madison backward and forward, off to try to save the world again. And poor Josh, it was easy to imagine her bullying him into this. But where were they going?
His laptop made a noise. Guillerman again.
“We just got eyes on Godzilla,” he said. “He’s under a hundred klicks out now, headed straight for us. I’ve scrambled jets, for as much good as it will do. Maybe we can distract him while we evacuate.”
Mark nodded, finding it difficult to concentrate, knowing Madison was running around—in a van, no less.
But Godzilla was in Hong Kong, not Pensacola, and there was no way for Madison to reach Hong Kong by van. How much danger could she be in? His sister was doing what could be done to find her in Pensacola. And the fact was, as much as he hated to admit it—and even more hated to rely on it—Madison could handle herself. She had run off on her own because he hadn’t believed her, and he hadn’t trusted her. That wasn’t an excuse, but it was a reason. And it was something they were going to have to talk about. Perhaps while she was grounded for the next year or so.
That would be fun. Right now he only had an angry Godzilla to deal with.
Hollow Earth
The HEAVs followed Kong down the now right-side-up mountain, across a rocky, rather lifeless landscape. But as on the mountain, the blue energy was bleeding through everywhere. Kong’s course seemed more certain with every bounding step.
Their destination appeared to be a mountain with a single large peak in the middle flanked by smaller ones one either side. The steepness of the mountain and the symmetrical proportions suggested to Ilene that it wasn’t a natural formation—or at least not entirely natural. It reminded her of the structures in Angkor Wat, in Cambodia.
Directly above the central peak, a lightning storm flashed and fumed, but it wasn’t moving, as though it was created by the mountains, which had more of the blue phosphorescence than anything they had seen thus far. But along with the blue light, there was a red glow as well.
Look at that! Ilene signed to
