Godzilla Lives!
A Godzilla fanfiction by Travis J. DeSantis
Chapter Nineteen
The East China Sea was eerily quiet today. Seagulls were common in the area, but not a single white chevron could be seen wafting through the sky. Perhaps this was because there were no fish; they were all driven away. No fish, no birds. All seemed calm and still now, but there was a fey scent on the air. Haruo Nakajima couldn't smell it through his biohazard suit.
This was the location of a titanic conflict that took place mere days before. It was here that the JMSDF had confronted not one, but two giant mutant leviathans. The mission was a failure in every sense of the term, except only that they had apparently succeeded in keeping either monster from reaching Japan. A crucial victory to be sure, but the price was high. The explosion from an SSN-class Submarine's nuclear reactor had left the area a liquid wasteland. Even without the dangerous ambient radiation that pollutes this region of sea, the dark storm clouds creeping in from the Pacific horizon left one with an ominous feeling. This was a place of Death. No other creature could possibly call it home.
These were the thoughts that were going through Haruo's mind as he went about his duties. He was an inspector from the Japanese government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. NISA had been asked to cooperate with G-Force specialist personnel in order to examine the after-effects of this disastrous sea battle. Both the scientists and ship crew wore biohazard suits as a necessary safety precaution. This didn't sit well with the surly crewmen and their assorted complaints were all that disrupted the silent ocean atmosphere.
Nakajima himself, chief researcher on this assignment, was running various water samples through the small ship's onboard equipment, measuring the levels of radiation. He fiddled with the delicate instrument, trying to make sense of the results, but something just wasn't adding up. Haruo leaned back in his seat and folded his arms, a slight frown touching his wrinkled face beneath the protective hood.
"So what's the verdict?" came the voice of the ship's captain, bringing Haruo back to the present. Captain Tezuka was a likable enough fellow, but had taken to poking his nose into the research when the ship wasn't moving. "Will all my sperm die from drifting out here too long?"
Nakajima cleared his throat, amused by Tezuka's candor. "No, you shouldn't experience any adverse effects. That's why we have these biohazard suits, so PLEASE KEEP IT ON!" he snapped at the end.
The captain, who had been tugging at the collar of his suit, quickly dropped his hand and nodded sheepishly. "That's sure good to know. But you don't look too happy about something. What's up?"
The scientist sighed, momentarily fogging the visor of his hood. "To be honest, trace amounts of radiation in the water is much lower than I expected."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Tezuka queried.
"Normally, yes. But I think it's simply too soon to have such a sharp drop-off. It took years for the levels at Chernobyl Site-4 to lower this far, and SSN-class submarines have a more powerful reactor. In fact, we're probably not in any serious danger." Tezuka started to fumble with the clasps on his biohazard suit, so Haruo added: "Keep it on, captain. We should be leaving anyway."
"Music to my ears, Dr. Nakajima. All this radioactive stuff is giving me the creeps. I'm starting to feel like a big nasty lizard myself. And I sure don't want to be out here when that storm hits," he said, jamming a thumb at the black clouds gathering to the east.
Haruo nodded his agreement. "Yes, it looks like we're in for something big," he replied, not entirely talking about the storm.
