Godzilla Returns Part 3

"I wanted to be a scientist, but I'm not good at math," Nick admitted frankly. "I can sure talk the lingo, though, and that's all a good science correspondent has to do!"

"Oh, it's that easy," Brian said dubiously.

"Hey, Mister He-shoots-he-scores, allow me to demonstrate."

Then Nick launched into a live, on-the-spot science report of the activities of the group of chic j.a.panese women they'd been scoping out since they'd arrived. "As you can see, those females are well-adapted to their environment. Their bright plumage attracts members of the opposite s.e.x."

Brian watched as a j.a.panese salaryman - office worker - tried to engage the prettiest girl in conversation. Brian noticed that another man was circling the women.

"But nature can be capricious," Nick continued in a serious tone. "The bright plumage that attracts potential mates also attracts predators from other territories."

Unfortunately for the j.a.panese man, a tall, muscular U.S. Marine was also trying to talk up the women.

"It becomes a question of survival," Nick intoned. "Can the male of this species protect his potential reproductive partners against the predatory behavior of other wild beasts?"

Just then, the girl turned her back on the man in uniform. She reached out and took the salaryman by the arm. He led her to a table in the crowded dining area.

"In this case, the predator was driven back," Nick said. "Or, as my esteemed colleague would say..."

"He shoots, he scores," Brian said. They both laughed. At that moment, the hostess tapped Nick on the shoulder and they followed her to a table.

Brian found he enjoyed Nick Gordon's company. By the end of the evening, Brian realized that Nick knew a lot about him, but Brian still knew little about his roommate. It really didn't matter, though. Nick was funny, straightforward, sincere, and easy to talk to.

Brian knew he'd made a friend. A good friend.

CHAPTER 4.

THE OCEAN BOILS!.

May I2, I998, I I:47 P.M.

East China Sea

With powerful binoculars, Captain Koh scanned the dark ocean that surrounded his s.h.i.+p - a Korean commercial vessel bound for Los Angeles. The East China Sea was calm, the night still. The dark mantle of sky twinkled with the lights from a thousand stars. It could not be clearer. The weather could not be more fair.

But Koh was edgy. His nerves tingled and he could not relax. That he could find no reason for his agitation only made it worse. After sixty years of seagoing experience, Koh's instincts were seldom wrong.

Koh crossed the dimly lit bridge of the Azure Dragon and scanned the ocean on the opposite side.

Nothing.

Koh s.h.i.+vered, though the night was balmy. "Perhaps some tea," he said aloud.

"Pardon me, Captain?" asked the young ensign who manned the wheel.

"It is nothing, Rhee," Captain Koh replied. "I only wished for some hot tea."

"I'll call the galley," Ensign Rhee said, reaching for the horn. While the ensign spoke, Koh brought the binoculars back up to his eyes and scanned the horizon once again.

Old habits die hard, Koh thought. I should remember that I am a civilian now - that I command a freighter, not a fast attack boat.

"The tea will be here momentarily," Ensign Rhee said, interrupting his commander's thoughts.

"Thank you," Koh replied. He continued to scan the horizon.

"Are we on course?" Koh asked after a moment.

"On course, and ahead of schedule," Rhee barked back proudly. Despite his misgivings, Koh smiled. Rhee was a conscientious officer, and Koh enjoyed commanding such men. It's a shame that Ensign Rhee did not pursue a career in the Republic of Korea's Navy, he mused.

The steel door opened and the galley mate entered the bridge. He was a short, squat man - a former factory worker from Inchon. The galley mate smelled of kimchee, the powerful pickled cabbage the sailors of the Azure Dragon ate on a daily basis.

"Tea, sir?" the fat man asked.

Koh nodded. "Pour some for Rhee, too," the captain said. Soon the two officers were sipping steaming mugs of strong green tea.

"The weather is fair," Rhee said, his spirits high. "It is a good omen! Perhaps we will finish our route early."

Koh was silent. Rhee rattled on nervously. "It would be good to get back to Seoul before Independence Day."

August 12 was South Korea's Liberation, or Independence, Day - the biggest holiday of the year, next to Chusok, Korea's version of Thanksgiving. Independence Day commemorated the day in 1945 when the j.a.panese occupation of Korea ended and the nation was reborn. Koh did some mental calculations.

"I do not think our three-month schedule will rob you of the pleasure of Seoul's parades," Koh said dryly. "Or its women."

"It is not that," Rhee said hesitantly. "It's my wife. She is due to give birth to our first child around that time."

"Ahhh," Koh said, nodding. "A child born on Liberation Day. That is a good omen. I toast your unborn child, Ensign Rhee."

The two men clinked mugs and drank. Rhee beamed with pride. For the first time that night, Captain Koh relaxed.

I'm getting old, he thought. My instincts are not as sharp as they were. It seems that tea was all I needed.

Koh stifled a yawn, and glanced at the s.h.i.+p's clock.

But suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Koh caught a flash of light. Ensign Rhee grunted. He saw it, too - off the starboard bow.

There it was again. "It looks like lightning," Rhee said But Koh was not so sure. He had never seen lightning that came from under the ocean itself!

Again! This time Captain Koh was sure of it.

He heard voices from the deck. Others had seen the eerie blue lights. The horn squawked. Ensign Rhee answered.

"Bridge," he said, his eyes never leaving the starboard horizon.

"It's Tae, on watch, sir." Rhee could hear the fear and uncertainty in the voice that came over the microphone. "There's something strange to starboard."

"Yes," Rhee replied. "We see it. Stand by."

Captain Koh searched the area where he last spotted the blue light. Even through his binoculars, he could see no other s.h.i.+p. Perhaps it's some natural phenomenon, Koh mused, though he knew otherwise. With a start, Koh realized his instincts had been right!

"Ensign," he barked. "Contact headquarters!"

Rhee grabbed the radiophone and began speaking. Koh watched the horizon tensely. There! Koh practically cried out. Another flash of light - and this one much closer.

Suddenly, the ocean underneath the s.h.i.+p seemed to catch fire. Blue light surrounded the Azure Dragon, bathing the s.h.i.+p in an eerie glow. Captain Koh opened the door to the bridge and stepped out onto the walkway. He heard voices. Members of the crew were rus.h.i.+ng on deck to see the strange lights. Even Ensign Rhee strained to see the display of eerie lights, though he never let go of the wheel.

The wide patch of ocean surrounding the Azure Dragon was luminescent. It was a strange, unearthly spectacle. But not without beauty, Koh thought philosophically as he leaned over the railing to get a better look.

The glowing lights seemed to come from far under the water. This display of unearthly brilliance was like nothing Koh had ever seen or heard about. As the seconds ticked by, the radiance grew in intensity.

"Captain, look!" Seaman Tae shouted from the deck above. He was pointing down at the churning ocean. Koh looked down. The light was now so intense that it was difficult to stare directly into it. Koh blinked - his eyes were watering. Squinting against the glare, Koh examined the water that lapped against the hull.

Finally, he noticed that dark objects were floating up from under the surface of the bubbling ocean. The shapes were silhouetted in the blue brilliance.

Fis.h.!.+

Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Fish of all sizes and shapes. And they were all dead.

Koh clutched the railing. His mind reeled. And then he felt a moist heat against his exposed skin. Koh sniffed a strange odor. A rich, salty. briny smell, not unlike fish soup.

"The ocean!" Koh screamed as the realization hit him. "It's boiling!"

Koh turned to Ensign Rhee. "Full speed ahead," he cried. "Get the s.h.i.+p out of here!"

Rhee grabbed the throttle and pushed forward. The engines coughed, then sputtered. Then died. Rhee grabbed the horn. "Engine room!" he screamed. "ENGlNE ROOM!"

Just then, fire alarms went off all over the s.h.i.+p. As the klaxons blared, the sailors and officers of the Azure Dragon rushed to their emergency fire stations.

Captain Koh ran back onto the bridge. "Have you made contact with headquarters yet?" he demanded.

"Yes, sir!" Rhee replied "They are standing by."

Captain Koh grabbed the radiophone. "Mayday, mayday," he called. "This is Captain Koh of the Azure Dragon, requesting a.s.sistance. We have a fire aboard. Our location is -"

At that second, a m.u.f.fled explosion rocked the s.h.i.+p. The whole vessel shuddered once. Then the lights faded.

For a tense moment, the bridge went dark. Then the battery-powered emergency lights came up. In the dull illumination, Koh could see the fear on Ensign Rhee's face.

Suddenly, the s.h.i.+p was rocked by a thousand lesser explosions. The noise sounded like thousands of firecrackers going off. Rhee grabbed the horn. "What is happening?" he cried in panic.

"Sir," an unidentified voice said over the speaker. "It's the cargo hold. There is heat, and fire -" Then the speaker went dead.

Of course! Koh understood at last. That sound came from the containers stacked in the s.h.i.+p's cargo hold. where thousands of Korean-made televisions being exported to the Americas were stored.

The heat below the hull must be tremendous, Captain Koh realized. The explosions were the sound of thousands of cathode ray tubes bursting apart.

Seaman Tae rushed onto the bridge. His clothes were scorched and he smelled of smoke. "Captain," he gasped. "There is something... something horrible! It's outside!"

"Make sense, sailor!" Rhee shouted.

At that second, a rolling, bell-like, feral roar slammed against their eardrums. The clamor reverberated through the entire s.h.i.+p. Koh covered his ears. Tae cowered in the corner, his arms covering his head.

The terrible sound emanated from the ocean underneath the Azure Dragon's decks. Then the cacophony slowly faded and died. The ocean around the s.h.i.+p churned and bubbled more violently.

Someone on deck screamed.

While Koh watched, a dark ma.s.s the size of a mountain rose up from the ocean alongside the freighter. Its tremendous motion rocked the s.h.i.+p, and the awesome vision stunned the onlookers of the Azure Dragon.

Koh's mouth dropped open as he stared at the apparition before him. Ensign Rhee screamed in shock and fear. He clutched the s.h.i.+p's wheel as if it were his only link to sanity.

Now I understand, Koh thought.

With the calmness that comes with the knowledge that death is imminent, Koh lifted the radiophone and spoke.

"Headquarters, this is Azure Dragon," he said. "We are under attack... by the monster G.o.dzilla."

The mountain of flesh and bone that stood before them roared again. The sound split eardrums as it echoed throughout the hollow steel sh.e.l.l of the Azure Dragon.

Koh turned to Ensign Rhee. The young man's face was pale and sweaty. As he clutched the wheel with white knuckles, his mouth twitched and moved. But no sound came out.

Koh, taking pity on this young man, reached out and touched Ensign Rhee's arm. Slowly, mechanically, Rhee's head turned and he faced his captain with unseeing eyes.

At that moment, a blast of blue fire rained down upon the Azure Dragon. The powerful, burning energy blasted right through the windows of the bridge, showering the occupants with droplets of molten gla.s.s.

A nanosecond later, Koh felt the terrible heat.

He watched in horror as the flesh bubbled and melted off Ensign Rhee's face. He heard Seaman Tae screaming, but the sound seemed far away. Then Koh felt at burning sensation. He looked down at his own body.

My clothes are on fire, he realized numbly. Then his flesh began to melt, too.