"The reptile has a prominent line of translucent, bony spikes that run in a straight line from the crest of its head to the end of its long tail.
"There also seems to be a thin webbing, or membrane of some kind, that runs along its torso, connecting the front and back legs. The creature has a leathery layer of flexible armor plating that covers its back. This plating is covered with round bubbles or knobby bumps..."
Suddenly, the creature opened its mouth and emitted an eerie, whistling roar. The noise shook the helicopter and surprised the INN news team. A swarm of jungle birds burst from the trees below, narrowly missing the chopper's swirling blades.
"I hope you heard that sound at home," Robin said, instantly regaining her composure. As she spoke, she glanced at her director. To her shock and delight, he was beaming. Once again, the technician gave her a thumbs-up.
He was beaming, too.
Meanwhile, the monster strode onto dry land on all four legs. Its massive front claws knocked aside abandoned outdoor furniture and brightly colored beach umbrellas, some of which bounced down the beach as if a terrible wind were blowing. Sand was kicked up from the beach as well, and began pelting the helicopter blades and fuselage.
At that moment, some of the people who had taken refuge inside the main hotel building began rushing out the other side. They crossed a huge parking lot and ran in a mob toward the main ribbon of highway. And not a moment too soon...
With a tremendous roar, the amphibious creature slammed into the hotel. Instantly, every window in the structure exploded outward in a shower of sparkling shards. The roof collapsed next, spilling debris, and several screaming guests, into the huge swimming pool.
From the area of the first floor near the restaurant, bright crimson flames gushed forth as a gas main ruptured. A secondary explosion quickly followed. The force of the blast sent a geyser of flames into the bright blue sky and knocked the startled creature backward.
Robin couldn't speak fast enough to describe the amazing event to her millions of viewers. Circling over the destruction, the news team was getting remarkable footage of the devastation. But in the excitement of the moment, the pilot of the INN news chopper had flown too close to the disaster.
As the creature was rolled onto its back by the force of the explosion, the helicopter was buffeted by shock waves from the blast. As the pilot struggled to regain control of the vibrating aircraft, the helicopter's blades were struck by flying debris.
Inside the aircraft, Robin Halliday, the satellite technician, and the director were thrown to one side. The cameraman, realizing that the satellite link had been broken, tried to load the camera with fresh videotape even as the chopper tumbled toward the earth.
Robin screamed. The director paled. The technician fainted.
But the pilot struggled on. Just when it seemed as if the chopper was going to strike the earth, the pilot twisted the aircraft around and landed it on the soft sand of the beach.
Despite the sandy cushion, it was a hard landing. The support struts instantly caved in and the chopper tilted to one side. Then the swirling blades struck the sand and dug in, spinning the helicopter around and slamming the fuselage against a copse of tall palm trees.
The blades shattered, and the main body of the helicopter leaped into the air for the last time and came to a rest in the middle of a huge, manicured garden - part of the resort hotel's luxurious grounds.
"Everybody out!" the pilot cried when what was left of the helicopter came to a grinding halt. The director kicked open the door and tugged the satellite man out by his collar.
The technician was out cold.
Robin, meanwhile, struggled to open her door. The cameraman, bleeding from a cut on his head, pushed past her and slid the door wide open. Then he jumped out, still clutching his camera.
"Hey!" Robin cried. "How about some help?"
The pilot rushed over to the shaken intern. Her seat belt was jammed, but the pilot cut her free with his emergency knife.
As they stumbled away from the demolished helicopter, the fortunate survivors watched in awe as the monster righted itself and moved past the burning building.
Despite a mild case of shock, the director smiled. "Attaboy, Chuck!" he shouted when he saw the cameraman shooting more footage. The director turned to Robin and patted her on the shoulder.
"You did good, kid. But that's what I call a pro!" he said, pointing to the cameraman.
Just then, the monster emitted another piercing, high-pitched squeal. Robin covered her ears.
While the cameraman filmed, the rest of the team watched as the monster reared up on its long hind legs.
"It's swelling up like a blowfish!" Robin exclaimed into her dead microphone. "The creature seems to be inflating..."
As they watched in awe, the bubbles on the armor plating dotting the monster's back and sides began to expand. The entire creature seemed to swell up. Finally, it leaped into the air like some nightmarish giant toad.
As it left the ground, the creature flew right over the cowering news team. In its wake, a tremendous wind swirled around them, kicking up sand and almost knocking them down.
The wind lasted for only a few seconds, then subsided. Suddenly, the air all around them smelled very sweet. Robin sniffed the air, then she looked at the director. He was smelling the air, too.
"Look up there!" the cameraman cried, without taking his eye from the eyepiece. The pilot, who was busy administering fist aid to the unconscious satellite technician, ignored the cameraman. But Robin and her director both looked into the sky. Far away now, they could see the silhouette of the monster as it disappeared into the low clouds over the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The monster's arms and legs were spread wide, and the membranes that ran along the beast's torso were stretched to the limit, so that they seemed translucent.
"He looks like Rocky the Flying Squirrel," the director quipped.
Robin nodded. Then she turned and looked behind her at the smoldering ruins of the hotel.
"But this flying squirrel is a lot more dangerous than Rocky," she whispered.
* * *
Sunday, May 23, 1999, 2:00 P.M.
Osborne County, Kansas
A grain field
A single foraging praying mantis crawled along the fertile and familiar land of Oswald Peaster. The creature was hungry, and it sensed sustenance was nearby, so its tiny legs moved forward until it reached an unnatural pit in the plowed earth.
Cautiously, the mantis approached the edge. At the bottom of the pit, there were many strange rocks. One of them suddenly popped open with a loud hiss. The movement and sound caused the mantis to retreat momentarily, until a thick yellowish substance leaked out of the still-smoldering meteorite and attracted the mantis's interest.
Once again, the mantis approached. This time it moved down into the pit to dip its mouth into the slime.
As soon as the insect's mandibles touched the substance, a violent biological reaction occurred. Even as the mantis stumbled away, it was changing, shifting, mutating.
The mantis soon attracted a female of its species. The two insects mated, and according to its instinctive programming, the female devoured the male mantis at the moment of consummation - ingesting the same toxic substance that had mutated the male.
In the days that followed, the infection spread through the entire mantis population of Osborne County and beyond.
As more insects were exposed, more radical genetic changes took place.
A voracious hunger was one of the many adaptations that seemed to ensure survival. Uncontrolled growth was another, so the creatures began to grow bigger and bigger and bigger...
7
ALERT!
Sunday, May 23, 1999, 3:18 P.M.
Project Valkyrie headquarters
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Klaxons blared throughout the three-story concrete and glass structure that served as the living and training area for Project Valkyrie's six-m
ember team of trainees.
The alert surprised everyone, because Sunday afternoon was technically "down" time. So nobody thought it was a drill this time. Their faces were grim, serious, and reflective as they filed out of their rooms, toward the command center.
Toby Nelson, Martin Wong, and Pierce Dillard exchanged meaningful glances as they rushed down the long white corridors. Behind them, Tia Shimura walked with Lori Angelo. They were subdued and pensive.
"Look, Lori," Tia whispered, pointing at the senior Air Force personnel who were also streaming toward the command center. "They don't know what's going on, either."
Lori, who was yawning, had just awakened from a nap. Her short hair was messed up and she was cranky.
"Trust me," she said knowingly "This is just another surprise inspection or something, or maybe another senator on a fact-finding mission..."
But Tia glanced at the hard faces of Toby and Pierce, and she wasn't so sure.
At the far end of the long corridor, a steel door flew open and Kip Daniels rushed in. He was the only one not wearing G-Force overalls. Instead, he wore battered Levis and a worn T-shirt with "May the G-Force Be with You" emblazoned across his chest. He was also flushed and out of breath.
"I was down by the flight line when I heard the beeper go off," Kip whispered to Tia when he stepped up beside her. "I ran the whole way back, so this had better be good!"
The team members reached the command center together and took their assigned seats.
Standing in the front of the room and behind the raised podium was General Taggart. On his right, Colonel Krupp gazed at his watch, timing the team's response to the red alert.
On the opposite side of the general, Dr. Max Birchwood, Valkyrie's resident kaijuologist, paced back and forth, muttering through his ragged beard.
Everyone could see that the scientist was agitated, even though he usually acted pretty eccentric, anyway.
kaijuology was the youngest of the sciences, established with the return of Godzilla. Biology, biochemistry, microbiology, astrobiology, and a host of other scientific disciplines went into making one an expert in the field of kaijuology.
The few men and women who had trained in that area of expertise were highly imaginative, brilliant, and innovative.
They were pretty weird, too. And Dr. Birchwood was no exception. Kip wondered why the professor was present. He usually skipped test alerts and visits from prominent politicians.
His presence here today was a bad omen.
When the team members were all in their seats, the alarms died as suddenly as they began. Colonel Krupp looked up from his wristwatch and faced the recruits.
General Taggart scanned the assembled team with cold eyes.
"This is not a drill," he announced. "We've got a kaiju!"
Kip felt his heart skip a beat. Tia looked excited and worried at the same time. Lori looked stunned. Pierce's and Toby's frozen features never cracked, but excitement was evident behind their calm demeanor.
"Is it - is it Godzilla, sir?" Lori stammered.
The general shook his head. "Before you start asking a bunch of questions, here's Dr. Birchwood to brief you. Doctor..."
The scientist shook his head, as if to snap himself out of a trance. Then he stepped up to the podium.
"Could we have the pictures, please?" Dr. Birchwood said to a technician in the control booth. The lights dimmed and two large panels at the front of the room slid aside, to reveal a large-screen television monitor. The monitor came to life.
Pictures of the monster in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico filled the screen. "This creature appeared less than two hours ago," Dr. Birchwood declared in a quiet, almost distracted voice. "An INN news team first captured footage of the kaiju during a routine satellite feed for a live broadcast."
The kaijuologist paused, checking his notes. "It was INN Science Sunday," he announced.
"Wow," Lori whispered with carefully measured sarcasm. "That's my favorite show!"
"Keep it down, Angelo!" Colonel Krupp barked.
Dr. Birchwood continued.
"The creature is amphibious, and appeared near the city of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico... less than seven hundred nautical miles from the Florida coast."
Tia gasped. Toby looked suddenly grim. Even Lori became serious.
"While reports are still coming in, the Associated Press wire service has issued a story that claims that this creature can fly as well as swim."
Kip stared at the image of the rampaging monster on the television screen. Try as he might, he couldn't find any wings.
"Our initial estimations as to the size, shape, and nature of the creature are as follows..." The scientist looked down at scribbled notes he held in his hand.
"The creature is reptilian. There seems to be no radioactivity in the immediate vicinity of this beast, so it may not be a mutation. It measures approximately eighty to ninety meters in length - or 275 to 300 feet long. It stands about fifty meters high, and walks on all four legs, though it can rear up on its bind legs..."
He looked up from his notes once again. "We have not confirmed that the creature can fly - that sounds like mass hysteria to me - but, in any case, we are still processing information, and further reports should be forthcoming.
"I have contacted Dr. Kajiro Tanaka, the chief archivist of G-Force Japan," Birchwood informed them. "Dr. Tanaka is running a description of the monster and its behavior through his database right now. We may have an answer shortly."
The kaijuologist shuffled his feet, then turned around and looked up at the screen. "I guess that is all for now," he said, then left the podium.
General Taggart replaced Dr. Birchwood in front of the microphone. All eyes followed the scientist out the door as he hurried to his laboratory.
When the doctor was gone, General Taggart cleared his throat.
"I have spoken with the president," he announced. "The chief executive has mobilized this unit, and we are now on full alert."
Kip felt as if he was going to faint. We're not ready! he wanted to scream, but he bit his lip instead.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Taggart continued. "Project Valkyrie is over. G-Force USA is now officially a reality, by order of the president."
A stunned hush fell over the room. Suddenly, everything that G-Force had been working for had become a reality.
"I know you are not ready yet," Taggart added. "God knows I told the president as much. But he has every confidence in you, and so do I."
Pierce raised his hand. "Are we going to Mexico, sir?" he asked.
General Taggart hesitated before answering. "The president and the State Department are speaking with representatives of the Mexican government right now. Something should be worked out in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
"What about Raptor-One?" Toby asked.
"The president has spoken with the head of the defense company responsible for the outfitting of the aircraft," Taggart said with frustration in his voice. "Raptor-One is almost finished. We are promised delivery before the end of the month."
"So how are we going to Mexico?" Lori demanded. "By train?"
"Raptor-Two is ready to make the trip," Taggart announced, "if the Mexican government permits it. The Air Force has agreed to make a second CV-22 with some special modifications available to us, if we need it."
"We can't fight a monster with observation planes," Pierce blurted.
"No, we can't, Mr. Dillard," Taggart replied. "Our mission in Mexico, should we be permitted to go, will be as observers."
Pierce's mouth dropped open. At his side, Toby muttered. "What are we training for, then?"
"I know you are disappointed," General Taggart said to the two pilots. "But as I said, this team is not yet ready, and its primary weapon, Raptor-One, is not yet completed. Until I am confident that we have the proper training and the right equipment, this unit will remain on standby alert."
The general scanned the room again. "That is all," he ba
rked. Then he strode out of the briefing room with Colonel Krupp in tow.
The G-Force team members filed out of the briefing room, each one lost in his or her own thoughts. As they headed back down the long corridor toward their quarters, Tia slid alongside Lori, who was rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Are you all right?" Tia asked.
Lori nodded. "I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping too good lately. All this excitement."
"Well, ladies," Colonel Krupp barked, "I guess we'll just have to wake you up!"
Nobody had heard the Air Force officer approach. It was as if Krupp came out of nowhere.
"Starting tomorrow morning at 0600, we begin advanced simulator training," the colonel announced with an evil little smile. There were moans and groans from the G-Force team.
Kip, who was even more disturbed than the rest, said nothing. Anxiety welled up inside him, and he groaned inwardly.
Not the simulators again...
8
THE SWARM
Tuesday, May 25, 1999, 5:21 A.M.
Peaster's Farm
Osborne County, Kansas
Oswald Peaster sat up in his bed and threw off the blanket. He turned and checked on his wife, but she was still sound asleep and snoring gently. He remembered that she'd stayed up late the night before, making cakes for the church bake sale.
I'd better let her sleep, he decided as he gently eased himself out of bed.
After pulling on his overalls in the dark bedroom, Oswald stumbled into the hallway and limped down the steps. As he walked to the kitchen, he rubbed his aching shoulder and knees the whole time. The arthritis in his joints was persistent now, and getting worse. It was especially bad in the mornings.
Oswald could never admit to his wife that he was suffering, however. As it was, Millie was making noises again about selling the farm.
"After all, you're not getting any younger," his wife had argued on Sunday afternoon while they drove home from church. It was not the first time she'd brought up the subject. Oswald shook his head as he fetched the coffee pot and filled it with water.
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