Searching for a carcass of a dead Pteranodon was an uninteresting sideshow for the back pages. But at dawn on Thursday, July 1, that sideshow took center stage once again.
As one of the Marine detachments was getting ready to launch their sonar vessel, the waters of Lake Oahe began to churn and bubble. One of the Marines pointed, and soon everyone was watching. The first lieutenant grabbed his video camera and pointed it at the frothing, churning turmoil.
Cackling wildly, Rodan burst from the lake. With each 175-foot wing flapping wildly, the bird monster took to the air. The force of the winds generated by Rodan struck the Marine detachment, blowing the men offs the dock and nearly capsizing their vessel.
As they watched helplessly, most of them from the cold waters of the lake, Rodan circled once overhead. Then, with a burst of speed, the creature flew off in the direction of Rapid City.
* * *
As a precaution against Rodan's unlikely resurrection, a battery of Patriot missile installations had been placed around Lake Oahe. The moment the creature took to the air, sophisticated targeting radar began tracking it.
Inside the Patriot missile control vehicles, U.S. Army technicians watched the approach of the monster. The order was sent out to all missile batteries to fire at will.
In seconds, the boxlike missile launchers aimed at the sky, and twenty Patriot anti-aircraft missiles arced upward. Inside the mobile command center, the technicians watched the missiles streak toward their target. First one, then another struck home against Rodan's belly. They were followed by four more, which exploded on, or near, the still-moving target.
The radar screens were lit up with repeated detonations, which should have obliterated Rodan. But, unknown to the military, Rodan's underbelly was protected by a thick, bony armor that withstood the first few blasts. Rodan dispatched the rest of the missiles with its beam of destructive fire.
Now, confused and enraged, the creature dived toward the earth once again. It was searching the ground for prey - for something to lash out against. Suddenly, Rodan spotted a huge, snakelike object moving through the hills of South Dakota.
With an echoing cackle, Rodan dived headfirst toward its target.
* * *
Slowly, the train carrying a thousand head of cattle to the Chicago stockyards wound its way through the South Dakota hills. Near a town called Cherry Creek, the freight train slowed down as it moved onto a high bridge that was suspended over a deep gorge. At the bottom of the gorge flowed the Cheyenne River. The bridge consisted of a steel framework with a single track running along the top.
When fourteen of the twenty-two railroad cars had moved onto the steel bridge, Rodan struck.
With a wild, cackling screech, the gigantic mutant Pteranodon twisted in the sky and struck with its hind legs.
Clutching the stock cars packed with live cattle in its mammoth claws, Rodan literally carried away nine freight cars - along with a huge section of the steel bridge. The front three cars, including two locomotives, were thrown into the gorge. Their crews died screaming as the engines crashed into the shallow Cheyenne River.
Some of the remaining freight cars continued on through sheer momentum until they reached the shattered section of the bridge. Then they, too, plunged into the gorge, pulling the rest of the train down with them. Cattle howled in fear and panic as the cars carried them to an early grave.
In the caboose, two railroad workers witnessed Rodan's attack. When they saw the remains of the train being dragged to certain doom, they rushed out the back door.
The first man leaped immediately, jumping onto the tracks. He landed hard on the wooden ties, shattering his collarbone.
The second man hesitated - and was lost.
As the man on the tracks looked on helplessly, the caboose tumbled over the edge of the demolished bridge and disappeared into the gorge.
The second man still gripped the railing on the back of the caboose, too afraid to jump. He plunged with the train to his death.
Rodan, still clutching the stock cars packed with pathetic, bleating cattle, circled the sky until it found a suitable landing place. Finally, it spotted a line of low hills rising in the distance.
Wheeling in the air, Rodan turned and headed for the mountains. As it banked, a single stock car broke loose and plunged thousands of feet to the earth below.
* * *
Four hours after the attack on the cattle train, klaxons blared once again at G-Force headquarters at Nellis.
The team assembled in the command center to find Colonel Krupp filling in for General Taggart, who had gone to Washington.
Most of the G-Force team were already frustrated. So far, despite their success against Varan, they had been denied the chance to go up against Godzilla.
There would never be a better time to fight the monster, either. Godzilla was entering a remote area of Utah, where lives and property would not be endangered by an attack.
Still, as he had done for weeks, the president held them back. Kip, Toby, and Pierce all thought General Taggart had traveled to D.C. to convince the timid president to turn G-Force loose. So far, they had heard no news.
As the colonel briefed them, the G-Force team understood that they would never be sent to fight Rodan. The kaiju simply flew too fast, and too high, for the Raptors.
Raptor-One and Raptor-Two were built to fight land-bound kaiju - no one had suspected such a creature as Rodan could exist.
When Colonel Krupp completed his briefing, Dr. Max. Birchwood took the podium.
"It looks as if the creature has evolved since it first appeared," Dr. Birchwood announced.
On the center monitor, footage of the creature taken by U.S. Marines was projected. The image froze, and the kaijuologist pointed to the creature's chest.
"This bony armor plating has proved to be impervious to Patriot missiles," he informed them.
"This indicates to us that the previous attack may not have harmed Rodan at all. Perhaps what drove the creature into Lake Oahe was pure instinct, a course of action made during, or because of, a particular biological event."
"A biological event?" Lori asked. "A hibernation period, maybe?"
Dr. Birchwood shook his head. "No. That's what we thought, until an hour ago, when we got this footage..."
The image on the central monitor changed. It now showed a familiar landmark - Mount Rushmore, with the faces of America's four most revered leaders carved into its cliff face: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
The G-Force team all noticed a black silhouette on top of Washington's head.
"Magnify the image," Dr. Birchwood instructed the projectionist. The image expanded until it was plainly visible.
It was Rodan. And the creature seemed to be sitting in a tremendously large nest, made out of twisted railroad track, parts from a shattered bridge, a tour bus, and tons of unidentifiable debris.
"The creature constructed this nest in under twelve hours," Dr. Birchwood said. He paused before he delivered his bombshell.
"I've just examined satellite photographs and real-time images transmitted to us," he said grimly.
"That nest contains an egg."
* * *
Late that same night, General Taggart returned to Nellis in an Air Force jet. Under his arm, he carried orders from the President of the United States. The orders activated G-Force, instructing them to attack Godzilla as soon as possible - preferably while the creature was in a remote region of the country.
As General Taggart climbed down from the cockpit of the F-4 Phantom he'd flown back from Washington, he planned his next move. He decided he would alert Colonel Krupp, Dr. Birchwood, and even Dr. Markham - whose counsel he had come to trust and respect - that the attack had been given the green light.
He would wait until morning to tell the G-Force team that all that they trained for was about to take place.
And may God protect them, he thought as he crossed the dark airfield.
&
nbsp; 24
G-FORCE VS.
GODZILLA!
Sunday, July 11, 1999, 7:23 A.M.
Gunnison County Airport
Gunnison, Colorado
In the end, the attack against Godzilla was delayed for many weeks, mostly because of the actions of the governor of Utah. In a political and constitutional battle, the governor forbade military action within the borders of his state. Editorial writers and television journalists all over the country sided with Governor Constable, and the attack was finally postponed until Godzilla left Utah.
G-Force used the time to hone their skills. But there was dissension within their ranks as well. Lori Angelo did not want to fight Godzilla at all. She told General Taggart that Mothra told her, in her vision, that Godzilla was an ally, not an enemy.
Though Dr. Markham and General Taggart were both inclined to believe her now, the general felt that G-Force should make an attempt to stop Godzilla's trek through America's heartland. It was what they had trained, and sworn, to do.
For the good of the team, Lori was convinced to keep her visions to herself and go along with the attack. She relented. In her heart of hearts, Lori believed that Godzilla was unstoppable, anyway. Nothing that G-Force could do would harm him.
On July 10, the day before the first wave of nuclear missiles was to strike the asteroid swarm in deep space, Godzilla passed through the suburbs of Grand Junction, Colorado, causing massive property damage. Fortunately, few lives were lost, since the military had previously evacuated the area.
As spy aircraft filmed the creature's movements from high in the stratosphere, Godzilla surprised the experts. Instead of traveling in a straight line, which would lead him to the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountain range, Godzilla turned.
As if guided by some higher power, Godzilla avoided the most rugged terrain and moved instead toward the Gunnison National Forest.
After Godzilla's turn southeast was confirmed, G-Force departed Nellis for Gunnison County Airport in Colorado.
* * *
On a beautiful Sunday morning, when the eyes of the whole planet were turned toward the heavens, G-Force prepared to make war on Earth's most dangerous monster.
As the team assembled in the mobile command center, they each watched the drama that was unfolding in the depths of space.
In two hours, at 12:21 P.M., local time, the first wave of nuclear missiles would strike the Reyes-Mishra asteroids. It was hoped that the nukes would obliterate the space rocks, but if they failed, there was still a second wave of missiles that would strike in another week. The G-Force team would learn the results of Project EarthFirst only after their mission was over.
If everything went as scheduled, they would be attacking Godzilla just as the missiles struck the asteroid cloud.
As he crossed the hot tarmac toward Raptor-One, Kip used the meditation techniques he had been taught to empty his mind of chaos and concentrate on the battle ahead. Pierce Dillard walked silently at his side, concentrating on his own doubts and fears.
Only Tobias Nelson and Martin Wong seemed unperturbed by the coming battle. Pierce wondered if they'd let their easy victory against Varan cloud their judgment.
He worried that they were too overconfident.
As Tia Shimura approached the aircraft, she was troubled by doubts of her own. Late the night before, Lori had knocked on the door of her tiny cabin inside the C-130 Hercules. The older girl had looked distraught, and Tia admitted her.
She wished now that she hadn't.
In violation of a direct order from General Taggart, and the wishes of Dr. Markham, Lori told Tia about her disturbing dreams and about the vision of Mothra she saw over San Francisco Bay.
"I wanted someone to know," Lori told her. "In case something happens to me..."
Tia wished she didn't know, for now she was racked by the same doubts as Lori. Now she wondered if the monster they were about to attack was mankind's deadliest foe - or greatest friend.
* * *
The forests of Colorado were green with the fullness of summer. As Pierce flew Raptor-One toward Gunnison National Forest, he couldn't help but admire the forest's natural beauty.
Behind and above them, the Raptor-Two broadcast rock music to her sister ship. Martin had slipped Toby the tape before they lifted off. The music of Blue Oyster Cult blared into their ears. The tape began with "Don't Fear the Reaper," and now had moved on to the Cult classic "Godzilla."
"Is this Toby's idea of a joke?" Kip asked Pierce. The pilot turned and noticed Martin snickering beside him.
"I don't think so..." Pierce replied, staring hard at his giggling co-pilot.
Despite the weak attempt at humor, tension was thick inside the cockpit. Kip felt it too. But he also felt an adrenaline high, along with the rest of his teammates. After their first battle, and the weeks of inaction, the G-Force team was more than ready. They were pumped.
But Kip noticed that Tia and Lori were strangely silent, which was odd. Especially for Lori. He was about to remark on it when the music vanished, and the headphones in his helmet crackled to life.
"Target ahead," Lori announced.
* * *
Sunday, July 11, 1999, 1:55 P.M.
Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas
At NASA's Deep Space Observation Station, Dr. Carl Strickler and Dr. Ramon Reyes watched the computer-enhanced images of the Reyes-Mishra asteroids as they appeared on a huge monitor in the front of the room.
Above the screen, a digital clock ticked down the minutes before the first wave of nuclear missiles reached its targets. In less than two minutes, the cloud would meet Earth's first line of defense.
The two men exchanged meaningful glances as a hush fell over the technicians and scientists who were there to witness humanity's salvation - or its most perilous failure.
At the back of the room, a group of journalists selected from a pool of all the networks stood, watching the monitors. By their sides, each journalist had a cameraman poised to capture the dramatic scenes. Pictures of this most momentous event were being broadcast live, all over the world. It was the most-watched television event in the history of the planet.
Carl turned and glanced up at the digital clock. One minute, forty-three seconds, and counting...
* * *
Godzilla loomed like a black shadow over the pine forests of Colorado. The creature moved with surprising grace, Kip thought, and not with the lumbering, clumsy stride of the computer-generated virtual monster they'd fought for months on end.
The difference served to remind Kip that this was the real thing. It was a sobering revelation.
As Kip waited for Pierce's final approach, when the pilot would turn over command of the Raptor to him, he studied the monster below.
To his surprise, Godzilla raised his head and stared right at the oncoming aircraft. Kip's heart seemed to stop beating. Suddenly, he had a flashback to that day in the video arcade when Godzilla's roaring face appeared on the BATTLEGROUND 2000 machine and he froze. And again, doubts about his mission assailed Kip. Is it right to attack Godzilla? he wondered.
A moment after the monster's mouth yawned open, the sound of a faraway roar battered their ship. Again, Lori's voice crackled in his headphones.
"Okay," she said. "Attack low and from the rear. Let's avoid Godzilla's rays for as long as we can..."
"Roger," Pierce replied as he dipped Raptor-One and swung around and behind the kaiju.
"Ready, Daniels?" Pierce asked.
Kip swallowed hard. Then he gripped the joystick with both hands. "Roger," he said calmly.
* * *
The temptation was just too great. Every tabloid news show had sent the word out to their freelance photographers, photojournalists, and cameramen. Pictures of the top-secret G-Force team battling Godzilla in Colorado would be worth big money. Really big money.
Dozens of them set out in cars, on horseback, even on foot, to the area around Gunnison. Of course, it was a restricted ar
ea, and the military was there, too.
By the morning of the battle, almost all of the freelance photographers had been caught and removed from the area. Two of them, however, had so far eluded capture, despite the fact that they were amateurs. Their names were Billy and Zelly Whitman, fifteen-year-old twins, who hailed from nearby Grand Junction. They'd "borrowed" their dad's video camera and two of their grandma's horses. They had sneaked away from home and entered the restricted area two days before.
They had waited, listening to reports on their radio and eating army rations rather than risk a fire that could be spotted by patrols. Billy was an Eagle Scout, so he knew how to live in the wilderness. Zelly wasn't happy living in the woods, but it had been her idea to try this stunt. She got it while watching America's Funniest Home Videos.
Now their wait was almost over. As she and her brother climbed a peak to find a good place to watch the action, they heard the monster's roar echoing through the hills.
"Wow!" Zelly cried. "Godzilla sounds so cool!"
In the valley below, Godzilla crashed through the trees and stomped through a small stream. Deer scampered among the trees at his feet. His thunderous tread shook the forest.
"There he is!" Billy cried, focusing the camera.
As Billy and Zelly watched, the roar of a strange engine rumbled toward them until the sound battered their ears. Suddenly, a huge flying machine popped up from behind a hill and rushed toward Godzilla.
"Wow!" Zelly screamed over the sound. "This is amazing!"
Billy pointed the camera at the aircraft.
The machine was drab gray and blended with the sky. It had two huge horizontal rotors that looked half the size of football fields. The thrumming of the blades beat the ground and shook the trees.
* * *
Kip popped the Raptor over the low hill. The forest and verdant hills rushed past their cockpit with dizzying speed. Godzilla's spines filled Kip's HUD, and he nudged the aircraft to one side and targeted a point under the monster's right ear.
That should get his attention, Kip thought.
Godzilla 2000 Page 18