Godzilla Returns

by Marc Cerasini

  "We'll never get a better shot at Godzilla than this," the admiral said. "Unless he comes onto land, of course."

  Brian, Nick, and Yoshi heard the blast of a ships horn from the largest of the warships. The Japanese fleet sped up. Soon the ships were pulling ahead of the Kongo-Maru. The navy was preparing to out-flank Godzilla.

  "We'll hang back here," the admiral told them. "But when the fighting starts, we'll switch to hydrofoil and circle around the battle." He pointed to the television monitors on both sides of the bridge. They showed images of Godzilla from various angles.

  "There are dozens of remote cameras," he said. "The cameras are mounted on helicopters, ships, small patrol craft - even high above in AWACs aircraft. Everything is being fed to us and recorded." The admiral couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

  Dr. Nobeyama, too, looked eager for the action to begin. "We'll learn more about Godzilla today than we have in the last forty years," the Japanese scientist remarked with enthusiasm.

  Yoshi tapped Brian on the shoulder. "I'm going topside," he said, "to set up my camera on the superstructure." He turned swiftly and left the bridge.

  As Yoshi departed, he passed a tall Japanese man with a shaven head and tattoos running up both muscular arms. This man stepped onto the bridge. Brian noticed that the stranger had cold eyes, and his mouth was stretched into a grim frown. Admiral Willis turned and spoke to the tattooed man in fluent Japanese.

  Brian touched Lieutenant Takado's arm. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing to the man.

  "That's Buntaro," she answered. "He's a harpooner from the Japanese whaling fleet. If the aircraft and ships fail to destroy Godzilla, then we will have to get close enough to fire the trident harpoon into the creature's body.

  "Buntaro is an expert marksman," she continued. "He will fire that harpoon from the gun on the bow."

  "I want to go on deck with him," Brian said, suddenly making up his mind. "I mean, if it comes to that..."

  "I do not think that Admiral Willis would approve. It will be very dangerous," Lieutenant Takado objected. "We will be very close to Godzilla."

  "If the monster decides to destroy this vessel, it won't matter if I'm on deck or hiding in my bunk. We'll all die just the same. And anyway, my uncle dragged me out here - he can't object if I actually do something!"

  "Hai," she answered, admiring his bravery. "That is quite true. But I'm still not sure -"

  "I'm going," Brian repeated. Lieutenant Takado heard the determination in his voice loud and clear.

  "Admiral!" one of the crewmen shouted from the radar station. "The helicopters are clearing out to give the fighters room.... Yes! We have F-15s incoming."

  * * *

  "Stalker One to Stalker Three, come in."

  Captain Reagan heard the call over his earphones. It was from one of the two aircraft that would lead the attack. He keyed his mike and responded. "This is Stalker Three, over."

  "We see the target ahead. Stalker Three," the voice replied. "We're going in with machine guns... just to test the water."

  "Be careful, Stalker One and Two," Captain Reagan said. "Come out of the sun if at all possible. Hopefully the creature will be blinded by the glare."

  "Roger, Stalker Three," the voice acknowledged. And then Captain Reagan heard the pilot cry, "Here we go!" over the radio. The first two F-15s broke formation and dived toward the monster far below.

  * * *

  Two F-15s streaked out of the sky and flashed over the Kongo-Maru. The sound of their twin Jet engines was deafening. From his vantage point on top of the bridge, Yoshi covered his ears. On the bridge, Nick whooped. "Go get 'em, boys!"

  * * *

  As Stalkers One and Two neared Godzilla, the monster's head filled their sights. "Fire!" the pilot of Stalker One commanded. Both aircraft opened up with their M61A1 Vulcan 20mm minicannons, mounted on the right side of the fuselage. The guns rained hot lead onto the target.

  Bright yellow explosions erupted all over Godzilla's face, chest, and neck. They looked tiny against the creature's vast bulk. For almost five seconds, the F-15s poured bullets into Godzilla, until their shells were depleted.

  "Break off!" the lead pilot cried into his mike. In a graceful maneuver, the aircraft separated. They both flew past Godzilla at eye level, on either side of the creature's massive head.

  Godzilla howled in rage and confusion. With a speed that belied his size, Godzilla's head turned. He followed one of the F-15s - Stalker Two - with his cold, reptilian gaze.

  Blue lightning danced up and down Godzilla's dorsal spikes. The monster opened his mouth, revealing twin rows of sharp, ragged teeth. A blast of blue-white fire shot out of Godzilla's mouth. The beam readied out toward Stalker Two and just brushed its wing.

  The whole airplane shuddered. The pilot jinked the aircraft to one side, pulling it away from the monster's blast. When his fighter was out of harm's way, the pilot examined the wing. Paint was burned away, and some of the metal was scorched and even melted in spots.

  "Wow! That was too close," cried the pilot of Stalker Two.

  Captain Reagan heard the alarm in the other pilot's voice. "Is everything all right, Stalker Two?"

  The pilot, regaining his composure, answered immediately. "Everything's okay, sir. But that was a close one. Be advised, Godzilla can shoot back!"

  As the fighter pulled away from Godzilla, the wizzo aboard Stalker Two spoke. "What was it that General McConnell asked us to do during the attack?" he asked over the radio.

  Captain Reagan smiled behind his oxygen mask. "He wanted us to observe Godzilla's visual acuity," he replied.

  "Well," Stalker Two's wizzo answered back, "I don't know about his visual acuity - but his aim is pretty damn good!"

  There was nervous laughter from the rest of the squadron.

  "Okay, folks," Captain Reagan said, taking a deep breath. "It's back to business. Let's line up for the first bombing run. All set, Doris?"

  "Ready, captain," she replied crisply from behind him. "Target in sight."

  "Break right!" Captain Reagan shouted, putting the F-15 into a steep dive. T-Bone, piloting Stalker Four, was right by his side.

  * * *

  "Those cannons didn't even dent Godzilla!" Nick said in amazement. Dr. Nobeyama nodded, his eyes glued to one of the instrument panels. "It is as we feared, Admiral," the old man said cryptically.

  "Let's not jump to conclusions, Doctor. We'll just see how the smart bombs do," the admiral replied. Though his words were hopeful, Admiral Willis's expression was grim.

  * * *

  "Keep it tight, Stalker Four," Captain Reagan said into his mike. "Just pickle your bombs and pull up, T-Bone. Remember that this S.O.B. can shoot back!"

  "Roger," the Cajun answered tersely.

  "How's it look, Doris?" Captain Reagan asked his wizzo.

  "Just keep her steady," she replied. "I got that lizard on my screen."

  Stalkers Three and Four raced over the water at less than two hundred feet above the waves. Turbulence rising from the Sea of Japan buffeted the aircraft. But Captain Day kept the creature centered in her sights.

  "Bombs away!" she cried. Two GBUs - Guided Bomb Units - leaped off the wings and streaked toward Godzilla at the speed of sound. To his right, out of the corner of his eyes, Captain Reagan saw two bombs drop from Stalker Four as well. As the guided bombs rushed toward their target, Captain Reagan squinted his eyes in anticipation of their explosive impact.

  One... two... three... four! All four GBUs hit Godzilla. Captain Day whooped into Reagan's ear. "Dead on!" she cried. "Two to the heart."

  A yellow plume of fire, then a second, and a third, engulfed Godzilla completely. The last bomb, from Stalker Four, bounced off the monsters shoulder and detonated harmlessly over the water. Red-orange fire filled Captain Reagan's vision.

  "Break off!" he commanded. If it's still standing after that, then the S.O.B. can't be killed, the captain told himself.

  Stalkers Three and Four split up, each
flying through the smoke and fire past the monster's head. In the center of the smoke, Godzilla remained standing.

  The monster turned his feral head. Faster than anyone would have believed, his eyes narrowed as he focused on one of the objects that had stung him. Again, blue lightning danced down his dorsal spikes and a jet of blue-white fire burst from his mouth.

  As Stalker Three rushed over Godzilla and rose back up into the blue morning sky, Captain Reagan saw a flash of light to his right. Over his headphones he heard terrible screams of pain and terror... and then nothing. He turned his head in time to see Stalker Four disappear in a ball of orange fire and black smoke. The fireball arced down toward the Sea of Japan.

  "Oh my God," Captain Day moaned. "T-Bone! Tony!"

  With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Captain Reagan watched the burning mass that was Stalker Four plunge into the Sea of Japan far below.

  He saw no parachutes.

  CHAPTER 12

  WAR AT SEA

  May 31, 1998, 7:01 A.M.

  Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

  Less than ten minutes after they first launched their futile attack, the F-15s from Osan Air Base broke off and returned to base. They were low on fuel and out of bombs and ammunition.

  Nothing they had launched or shot at Godzilla had seemed to affect the monster. Instead, two F-15s had been lost - one from the second wave and one from the fourth. Their crews were lying at the bottom of the Sea of Japan.

  Admiral Willis turned away from the windows.

  "It's time for the Japanese Navy to give it a try." he said, his lips tight.

  "Sir!" the man on watch called out. "The warships are moving to attack position." Far ahead of the Kongo-Maru, the navy ships were maneuvering for the attack.

  "And so will we. Go to hydrofoil," the admiral commanded.

  The hydrofoil leaped ahead in the water. As the Kongo-Maru picked up speed, Admiral Willis locked eyes with Buntaro. The muscular Japanese smiled thinly and bowed to the admiral.

  Soon the hydrofoil was streaking across the Sea of Japan at over seventy miles an hour. Buntaro turned and left the bridge.

  Unnoticed by everyone but Lieutenant Takado, Brian followed the harpooner into the bowels of the Kongo-Maru.

  The lieutenant hurried after the two, catching up with Brian in a long corridor that led to the bow. "Stop, Brian... please," she cried, grabbing his arm. "You must not do this!"

  "I have to do it," Brian insisted, yanking his arm free.

  "But you are a reporter, not a soldier!" she argued.

  "So I gotta find something to report, then, don't I?" he said. "Nick's a science correspondent, he's got the bridge covered. Yoshi's a cameraman. But I'm nothing but a sportscaster-wannabe - unless I do something!" he cried "I've got to do something!"

  Emiko saw the raw fear in Brian's young face, but she also saw his determination to defeat that fear. She hesitated. Brian turned and ran after the harpooner.

  As he rounded the next corner, Brian saw the man climbing up a ladder to an open hatch. Brian followed without hesitation. At the top of the ladder, he poked his head out of the hatchway. Brian was immediately buffeted by the winds that swept across the bow. The Kongo-Maru was skimming across the waves at a tremendous speed, making a long arc that would bring it around behind Godzilla.

  * * *

  "The American airplanes have failed," said Admiral Toyohashi to the officers assembled on the bridge of the task force flagship, the destroyer Hatsuyuki. He scanned their eager faces, then issued his order to attack. "Prepare to launch Godzilla Countermeasure Plan B!"

  "Banzai!" the Officers cried as one, then hurried off to perform their duties. The Hatsuyuki was to lead the attack against Godzilla, and the admiral's chest swelled with pride at the honor the emperor granted him.

  Klaxons blared all over the ship as the crew manned combat positions. The six warships sliced through the water, leaving the support vessels behind.

  From the helipad of the Hatsuyuki's sister ship, the destroyer Kurama, three heavily armed SH-60 Seahawk helicopters lifted into the sky. These five-bladed, twin-engine choppers, outfitted with Vulcan miniguns, missiles, and flare launchers, were meant to confuse Godzilla by launching a barrage of munitions at his face and head.

  Admiral Toyohashi knew that if Godzilla could blast a speeding jet out of the sky, he could easily hit one of these ships. Toyohashi hoped that the helicopters' flares would temporary blind - or at least confuse - Godzilla.

  As the two destroyers, and the frigates Chikugo, Iwase, Yoshino, and Chitose closed in on the monster, Godzilla turned and faced the approaching vessels.

  "Weapons systems ready!" an ensign cried. Admiral Toyohashi nodded. He strode across the bridge and peered through the bulletproof windows.

  "Launch the attack!" the admiral commanded.

  A second later, the 127mm deck guns, mounted in turrets on the destroyers' bows, opened up. The sound was deafening. Anti-aircraft guns began firing, too, pouring steel-jacketed shells onto the target.

  As hundreds of tons of munitions hit his massive body, Godzilla lifted his head and howled in rage. His mighty tail thrashed, churning up the ocean in its wake. His eyes flashed angrily, and his lips curled back to reveal his six-foot-long teeth.

  Pressing the attack, the Seahawk helicopters buzzed around Godzilla's head, firing flares, missiles, and bullets at the creature's face. Godzilla lifted his arms and blinked his eyes in a vain attempt to ward off the blinding pyrotechnics.

  Admiral Toyohashi smiled. We are winning, he told himself. Today Gojira dies!

  The monsters ear-shattering roar could be heard over the sound of the guns. As the task force moved within range of Godzilla's terrible radioactive fire, the ships slipped off into two lines. Each row of ships had a frigate in the lead, followed by a destroyer and another frigate. Admiral Toyohashi's ship, the Hatsuyuki, took the right flank.

  In minutes, Godzilla was surrounded by warships, which kept pounding the creature with tons of high explosives, shrapnel, and armor-piercing shells.

  * * *

  The Kongo-Maru sped rapidly past the battle, warily circling the monstrous creature and the ships that assaulted it.

  Clinging to a hatch, Brian watched as Buntaro prepared the harpoon. The gun itself was precariously mounted on a platform that extended forward well past the tip of the bow. A narrow railed catwalk was the only way to get to the gun.

  The harpooner had spotted Brian when he first climbed onto the deck, but ignored the youth and immediately returned to his task. For a few minutes, Buntaro ran back and forth along a narrow catwalk that led to the hydraulic harpoon gun. He adjusted instruments and activated the weapon's range-finding guidance system.

  As the hydrofoil finished circling the battle and approached Godzilla from behind, Buntaro drew a trident-shaped harpoon out of a metal box welded to the hull. Then he tilted the gun upward and carefully slid the harpoon down inside the barrel.

  Next, the harpooner pulled one end of a fiber-optic cable out of a winch mounted on the side of the bow. He attached the thin cable to a socket on the harpoon. Then Buntaro shouldered the weapon and peered through the sight.

  Brian heard louder explosions. He looked past the tattooed harpooner and could see Godzilla's back, where blue fire danced and played along the three rows of bony spikes. His tail was flailing, stirring up the sea in the path of the oncoming Japanese fleet.

  The hydrofoil was getting close to Godzilla now... very, very close.

  * * *

  Admiral Toyohashi watched with admiration as his ships maneuvered around the creature. On the left flank, the frigate Iwase led the way. As the warship drew closer to Godzilla, it launched a half-dozen Mark 68 anti-submarine torpedoes from tubes mounted on its side.

  The torpedoes streaked toward their target, leaving a white trail of bubbles in their wake as they shot through the water. In less than a minute, all six torpedoes struck Godzilla's submerged legs and tail.

  The e
xplosions blasted huge geysers of water hundreds of feet into the air. The monster shuddered and howled again, but he remained standing.

  Godzilla turned toward the source of the irritant - the frigate Iwase.

  Familiar blue lightning arced up Godzilla's dorsal spines. The monster opened his mouth and a hot jet of radioactive fire spewed forth. Fortunately, the blast that burst from his throat was undirected, but he did manage to scatter the three Seahawk choppers buzzing around his face.

  With Godzilla's vision cleared tor the first time since the sea attack began, the nuclear giant turned and focused his reptilian gaze on the Iwase, which had already sped past. The monster's spikes lit up with blue flashes, and Godzilla fired his ray once again.

  This time his aim was better.

  The glowing blast played across the Iwase's superstructure. Sailors on deck were instantly vaporized. In another second, the steel deck plates began to melt. The forward gun turret exploded first, its munitions ignited by the terrible heat.

  Then the ocean was rocked as a second blast tore the whole superstructure off the hull and flung it high into the air. Five more explosions followed, each one sending geysers of fire and smoke into the blue morning sky.

  The Iwase's hull, which was transformed into a funeral pyre for the unfortunate crew, surged ahead for a few moments more. Then the ship capsized and sank, dragging 167 souls to the bottom of the sea.

  * * *

  "Break off the attack!" Admiral Toyohashi cried. His command was instantly radioed to the entire fleet.

  But the monster was moving with a sudden speed that belied its immense size. Just as Toyohashi's destroyer steamed past Godzilla, the creature slammed his mammoth body against the ship.

  Admiral Toyohashi and the other bridge officers were thrown from their feet as the ship tilted precariously. Fire alarms were cut off and the bridge lights went out. There was darkness for a moment until the battery-powered emergency lights came on. Now the bridge was illuminated with an eerie red glow.