Yes, Brian thought. I can see it. And so could everyone else.

When the sh.e.l.l detonated against the monster's body, there was a fountain of blood, and gouts of flesh were blasted from G.o.dzilla's neck. But before the smoke cleared, the wound was gone - healed completely - as if it had never been inflicted.

"G.o.dzilla's greatest defensive weapon is his amazing regenerative powers," explained Dr. n.o.beyama. "The radiation that created G.o.dzilla also mutated the creature's molecular structure. Whatever damage our weapons can cause actually heals in microseconds."

Admiral Willis suddenly spoke up. "That means that nothing in our a.r.s.enal - short of a nuclear bomb - can destroy G.o.dzilla."

Dr. n.o.beyama nodded, then spoke again. "G.o.dzilla is capable of complete regeneration of damaged tissue instantaneously. It seems that my theory was correct - G.o.dzilla cannot be killed unless he is completely disintegrated."

The old man slammed his fist against the table in a rare display of emotion. "If the authorities had listened to me, then all those men would not have died!" he cried, anguish in his voice.

It was Nick who spoke first. "You mean you told the military that G.o.dzilla was capable of this... regeneration?"

The old man looked at Nick and nodded.

"Then the j.a.panese and American military sent those men to die for nothing," Nick said, his voice rising. "They knew all along that their weapons wouldn't work!"

"Hold on, boy," Admiral Willis interrupted. "Don't jump to conclusions. Before today, all this was a theory. Neither Dr. n.o.beyama nor I had any proof!"

"Well, you have it now," Nick replied. "So what are you going to do to stop G.o.dzilla?"

Neither Dr. n.o.beyama nor Admiral Willis answered his question.

CHAPTER 14.

LANDFALL!.

June 6, 1998, 5:23 A.M.

Onomichi, a small town on the San-yo plain

The j.a.panese island of Honshu

"Where is Ken?" Goro asked yet again, slapping his pudgy arms on his shoulders for warmth. "He promised us some hot tea!"

"He's coming, don't worry," Shiro said, throwing another sliver of charcoal into the tiny metal stove that provided scant warmth. "And anyway," Shiro added, "with all that fat, you should be warm, at least!"

"Bah," Goro spat. He gripped the edge of the stone wall and looked over. His eyes followed the trail that led up, through the woods, to the town's century-old tower.

"Ken's not even on the trail yet!" Goro whined. "By the time he gets back with our tea, it'll be time to go home."

"This cold is unnatural," Shiro complained, looking out across the coastline. "It's rokugatsu - June - and it's freezing cold this morning!"

"Hai," Goro agreed with a nod. "Since Gojira has returned, the whole world is going crazy. What can you expect?"

Shiro nodded and scanned the horizon. Goro gazed through binoculars at the city and sh.o.r.eline that spread out beneath them.

The tiny town of Onomichi, on the sh.o.r.es of j.a.pan's Inland Sea, had been a fishing village for three centuries. But with the progress that j.a.pan had made since World War II came industrial pollution and overfishing. The fish had mostly died out, and now fishing in the inland Sea was illegal.

The town of Onomichi had withered.

But nine years ago, when Ohashi Motors had chosen the flat mud plain at the outskirts of Onomichi as the site of their new automobile a.s.sembly plant, everything changed. Ohashi Motors brought new jobs - and new residents - to Onomichi. Now the old town wasn't big enough to hold all the people who were moving there. The fishing pier had been transformed into a mall with fashionable shops and restaurants. Expensive pleasure craft rested in docks that once held fishing boats.

The old stone tower of Onomichi, built on the small, forested hill at the edge of the city, had once been used to watch the movements of the town's fishing fleet. Lately, it had fallen into disrepair. But that was before the coming of G.o.dzilla.

When the people of Onomichi heard the news that G.o.dzilla had defeated the j.a.panese Navy and was moving into the Inland Sea, they were thrown into a panic. The town officials held a public meeting and decided that emergency steps had to be taken.

As a precaution, the old stone tower was manned by volunteer spotters twenty-four hours a day. The tower was equipped with radios and a warning siren so the spotters could provide early warning to the villagers if G.o.dzilla came ash.o.r.e anywhere nearby.

In a burst of public-spiritedness, Shiro had volunteered to man the tower one night a week. Now, shivering in the cold, he regretted his decision.

"Oh, look at that!" Goro cried, pointing out to sea. Shiro saw it too.

"I've never seen fog move in like that before!" he exclaimed. "It's eerie." Goro nodded, shivering again. This time, however, it wasn't from the cold.

For the next few minutes, the two men watched in silence as tendrils of mist rolled over the town below. Soon the end of the pier, and then the sh.o.r.eline, was invisible. More fog billowed in, and the entire town was slowly covered in a gray-white blanket. It was as if a cloud had fallen to earth.

"What do we do?" Goro asked. "We're spotters, but we can't see a thing!"

"We stay?" Shiro shrugged. "At least until our watch is over and we are relieved."

Then they heard a tiny voice calling their names from the bottom of the tower. In the fog, it sounded very far off.

"Shiro... Goro..." the voice cried.

The two men peered into the mist, listening, but could see nothing.

"Shiro! I'm lost!" the voice cried again in audible panic.

"It's that idiot Ken!" Goro concluded finally. "He's lost in the fog." They shared a laugh.

"I'd better go down and get him." Goro said. He grabbed the flashlight and disappeared down the stone stairway.

Shiro gazed out into the fog. He shivered yet again, hoping that Goro would return quickly with Ken - and the hot tea. He listened for either of their voices, but the fog seemed to consume all sound. He could see nothing but the gray wall of fog. He felt like the only human in the world.

Shiro turned his attention to the stove. He opened the tiny door and threw in some more charcoal. He tried to warm his hands, but in the fog, the heat seemed to dissipate before it reached the tips of his fingers.

At that moment, Shiro froze. He was sure he heard a sound. It was far away... like distant thunder. He strained his ears. Yes! he thought. A rumble... and it's getting closer.

Oddly, the sound was not coming from the sh.o.r.e, but from inland. He turned around, his eyes vainly trying to pierce the fog. The sound grew louder.

Soon it was a steady beat - a vibration - that shook his chest. He continued to face the direction of the noise, but involuntarily took two steps backward. Now he could see a dull glow in the middle of the fog.

The glow seemed to approach him, shining through the fog eerily. As it got closer, the glow seemed to divide into two points of light, floating side by side.

Shiro was shocked to realize that the two lights were high up in the sky, even with his own line of sight. But I'm in a tower, he thought fearfully. He took another step back. Still the lights came forward. Closer and closer. To Shiro, they looked like two giant, gleaming eyes peering back at him from the murky haze.

"It's Gojira!" he screamed, falling against the desk. "The monster is here!"

Blindly, he reached out and fumbled with the radio, which was connected directly to Onomichi's only police station. Flipping the switch, he grasped the microphone. Suddenly, a powerful gust of air battered him. The wind increased, tearing at his hair and clothes. The rumbling sound grew to a roar.

While Shiro watched, open-mouthed, a Pave Low helicopter, heavy with guns, swept aside the fog. Its windows, slick with morning dew, shone like the eyes of an insect. The helicopter's twin fog lights focused on Shiro. He stood, still frozen, in the spotlights. The microphone in his hand was forgotten.

Shiro could see the pilot as he reached down and flipped a switch on his control panel. A loudspeaker outside the helicopter crackled to life.

"Sound the alarm!" the voice over the loudspeaker commanded. "G.o.dzilla has come to land... The monster is coming this way... Everyone in Onomichi must evacuate immediately!"

Just then, Shiro's own radio came to life. "Calling lookout tower," the voice demanded. "Answer immediately."

He lifted the mike. "Shiro here," he replied, shouting over the noise.

Even over the chopper's roar, Shiro could hear the fear and urgency in the policeman's voice. "G.o.dzilla is coming," the policeman said. "Sound the alarm, and then get out of there." The transmission ended abruptly.

Shiro dropped the mike and pressed the alarm switch. The moan of the emergency siren swelled, deafening him. As Shiro ran to the stone stairway, the helicopter veered away from the old tower and headed down over Onomichi, its loudspeaker still blaring out the warning.

Below, the townspeople were awakened by the sound of the tower's sirens and the blare of the helicopter's loudspeaker.

"G.o.dzilla is approaching Onomichi... Leave all your belongings and flee immediately... Evacuation routes are being established along the main highway...

"Repeat... G.o.dzilla is approaching Onomichi."

Nick's alarm clock had just gone off when he heard the telephone ring. He answered.

"Get dressed," May McGovern's voice said briskly. "G.o.dzilla has just come ash.o.r.e."

Less than half an hour later, Nick and Brian entered the INN newsroom. It was already crowded. Yoshi was there, along with May, and he waved them both over.

As always, Nick was uncomfortable in May's presence.

"The monster has come ash.o.r.e on the mainland!" Yoshi informed them both. "The Self-Defense Force is being mobilized."

"How close to Tokyo?" Nick asked.

"Very far, fortunately," Yoshi replied, pointing to the television monitor.

On the INN network, Max Hulse was reporting on G.o.dzilla's present movements.

"Sadly," Yoshi added, "the monster's rampage is taking place at the very heart of j.a.pan's industrial base."

The mood in the newsroom was grim, but Nick couldn't help himself - he had to make a crack about the anchorman whom he detested. It was practically a compulsion.

"Y'know, that guy makes a nuclear-powered, mutated prehistoric monster that breathes fire sound boring."

Brian tuned out his roommate's remark and listened to the broadcast.

"...Since G.o.dzilla came ash.o.r.e on the outskirts of f.u.kuyama, the monster's progress has been unopposed," the anchorman reported. "But there are now unconfirmed reports that the military is being mobilized -"

On the screen, Max Hulse paused suddenly, and touched his earphone. "I've just been told that we're getting a live feed from Blackthorn Adams and our INN camera team on the scene. Can you hear me, Blackthorn?"

The image shifted. Blackthorn Adams stood on a rooftop of an industrial building. He clutched a hand-held microphone. He wore a suit, but his tie was askew.

"I can hear you, Max," Adams replied. He looked into the camera. "I'm standing on the roof of the Ohashi Motors plant, less than half a mile from Onomichi."

The camera shifted position, away from Adams. The lens scanned the horizon, finally centering on a gray-black blob. Suddenly, the picture came into focus.

It was G.o.dzilla! The monster was wading through a group of industrial buildings. As Brian watched, G.o.dzilla's tail lashed out, and a factory with three huge smokestacks collapsed like a pile of dishes. Flames erupted around the monster's feet.

The image was doubly eerie because there was no sound. Then Blackthorn Adams's grim voice broke in.

"G.o.dzilla is approaching from the south," he said. "Within moments, Ohashi Motors a.s.sembly lines number three and four will be rubble."

Again the camera image blurred, then sharpened. A telescopic shot of G.o.dzilla's face filled the entire television screen. Brian almost jumped backward. He'd already had a few nightmares about G.o.dzilla since that day on the Kongo-Maru... nightmares filled with double rows of man-sized teeth, cold, reptilian eyes, and blue radioactive fire.

"There goes the Conceptia!" Nick observed, breaking Brian's concentration.

"The what?" Brian asked.

"Ohashi Motors' answer to the Saturn." Nick replied. "That's where they built it - that pile of rubble to the left."

Just then, Everett Endicott came into the newsroom and approached the four of them.

"Come with me," he said.