The F-35 was armed with both guns and missiles, which ought to be more than enough to take out the dangerous creature. “Niner-niner,” he reported over the radio built into his helmet. He aimed his cross-hairs at the MUTO, but, to his surprise, they bounced and wavered erratically, as though unable to lock onto the target. “What the-?”
The cross-hairs kept sliding off the target. It was like trying to thread a needle with a wobbly piece of thread.
“I’m getting all sorts of guidance errors,” he reported. “Switching to manual.”
He reached to flip the switch, just as the MUTO reared up on its hind legs and began glowing brighter than before. A rippling aurora charged the air around it, only a heartbeat before it slammed its upper limbs down, generating a visible electromagnetic pulse.
No! The captain’s entire cockpit display went black. He fought to maintain control of the plane even though all of its electrical systems had shorted out instantaneously. This can’t be happening. It’s just an animal…
Flaming out, the disabled aircraft spiraled down toward the jungle floor, where the Green Berets scrambled to get out of the way. The crashing fighter jet slammed into the earth with stupendous force. The impact knocked the fleeing soldiers off their feet.
Seconds later, a huge orange fireball billowed up above the trees.
All at once, the entire airport lost power.
Agitated voices filled the train as the overhead lights sputtered out, leaving the passengers in darkness. The train slowed to a stop upon the track, stalling between stations. Ford kept a tight grip on Akio as the boy pressed his face up against the window, looking out towards the mountain slopes none too far away. The hellish red glow of rising flames could be seen from the airport, lighting up the night. Confused passengers murmured anxiously as they spied the distant inferno. No one else seemed to know what was happening, but Ford had a likely idea. His memory instantly flashed back to the creature from the pit.
I think we found it, he thought.
Jenny and her family jumped as an explosion went off in the hills. Thick black smoke rose from the dark jungle, followed by bright red flames. Her father swore under his breath while her mother stifled a frightened sob and scooped the little girl up into her arms. All around them, people were acting scared and confused. Nobody seemed to know what to do or even which way to run. Their hotels were even closer to the hills where the explosions were, so there was nowhere to run except into the ocean.
I don’t like this, Jenny thought, hugging her mom. I want to go home.
Looking away from the menacing flames and smoke up in the hills, she stared out at the sand and surf instead. Her eyes bulged as she spotted something peculiar. The tide appeared to be retreating rapidly from the shore, ebbing back into the bay, as though it, too, was afraid of all the scary noise and commotion on the island. Her brow wrinkled in confusion.
Was it supposed to do that?
She tugged on her dad’s arm, calling his attention to the fleeing waters. His sunburnt face went pale at the sight. Her mom turned around and gasped out loud. She thrust Jenny into her daddy’s arms and they took off running inland, away from the shore, as fast as they could. Her mom shouted at the other grownups and children on the beach. Jenny had never heard her so scared, not even that time Jenny had accidently stepped out in front of traffic.
“Run!” her mother yelled. “RUN!”
Aboard the Saratoga, Serizawa commandeered a pair of binoculars from a passing seaman. His heart racing, he placed the long-distance lenses to his eyes and searched the moonlit sea for the enigmatic shape he had spied before. He quickly relocated the mysterious object, only to discover that the jagged protrusion had been joined by two smaller points on either side. Recognition dawned in his eyes as he grasped what he was seeing: a row of gigantic dorsal fins.
Racing straight toward the fleet.
Warning sirens sounded as observers aboard the various ships spotted the oncoming threat and braced for impact. Serizawa suspected that few aboard the vessels, except perhaps Graham and a handful of others, knew exactly who or what was surging their way, but it was obvious that something very large and solid was on a collision course with the Saratoga and the other ships. Serizawa grabbed onto a safety rail, not that he expected it would do much good, not if this was indeed what he surmised.
It must be him, the scientist thought. What else could it be?
Torn between scientific curiosity and fear for his life, Serizawa prayed that he would at least be allowed to behold the legend in all its majesty before it laid waste to the floating super-carrier. Through the binoculars, he watched as the giant fins came closer and closer.
Then, at the last minute, before the mighty battleship could even attempt to avoid the collision, the fins dipped rapidly beneath the waves, diving beneath the Saratoga and the rest of the strike group. The ship pitched back and forth as something impossibly massive passed beneath it. Baffled flight crews shouted to each other in confusion. Only Serizawa understood the awesome force that had just passed them by. Nature had spared them, at least for the moment.
Drained, he lowered the binoculars and let out a sigh of relief. Part of him was actually disappointed that the owner of the fins had not fully revealed himself, but he suspected that that fateful moment would be upon them soon. He turned toward the unsuspecting island only a few miles away. He had visited Oahu before. It was a beautiful island, full of friendly locals and vacationing tourists.
Little did they know what was heading toward them.
FOURTEEN
Piano music tinkled softly in the background as Bob and Barbara McQueen celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in an elegant restaurant on the top floor of their luxury hotel. An open bottle of champagne rested on the table between them as they finished off their entrées. Bob had ordered the surf and turf while Barb had gone for the coconut shrimp. A picture window offered a lovely view of Mamala Bay, but the elderly couple only had eyes for their meals and each other. Bob had vaguely registered some noisy planes zipping by outside, but knew they weren’t all that far from the Honolulu airport. Certainly, he had no intention of letting some inconsiderate pilots spoil this romantic dinner. He and Barb had been saving up for this Hawaiian vacation for years.
Caught up in their celebratory meal, the couple completely failed to notice as, less than a mile away, a huge reptilian beast rose up from the bay to tower over Waikiki. Torrents of cascading seawater veiled the monster’s form so that only the titanic proportions of the leviathan were revealed. Standing erect on two stout legs, the monster was nearly four hundred feet tall and solidly built, with a broad chest and brawny forearms. A pair of enormous jaws, resembling those of some prehistoric saurian, opened wide, but the creature’s roar was drowned out by the urgent wail of a tsunami warning.
Bob lifted his head irritably from his steak. Now what?
A massive tidal wave surged onto the shore. Terrified vacationers, including Jenny and her family, ran in panic, seeking higher ground, as the tsunami roared over the beach to flood the crowded streets and buildings beyond. The raging water washed over blocks of bars, night clubs, shops, and restaurants. Telephone poles and power lines snapped one after another, causing a total blackout to envelop Waikiki. Clinging desperately to her daddy and looking back over his shoulder, Jenny stared in fear as the merciless wave chased after them. Her father stumbled in the dark, but kept on running. The wave finally spent itself, only a few blocks behind them, and Jenny thought that maybe they were safe. The roar of the wave died away, only to be supplanted by a series of thunderous impacts, like the slow, ponderous footsteps of a giant, getting closer and closer. Boom. Boom! BOOM!