Godzilla let out a content growl as he chomped down another school of fish before following another one. This behavior was normal for a hungry animal but unfortunately -
"I still don't get why he's out like this" Cordula muttered a she rubbed her eyes "Subject Maintaining Speed" N.I.G.E.L beeped " And I still can't see through all this silt" Nick said as he squinted his eyes.
"Subject Altering Vector. Along Course Of Three Seven"
From up above, The H.E.A.T Seeker with only Monique and Randy in it, followed the giant lizard "I don't get why he's foraging around out here with all of the fish we bring him from Cordula's stash" Randy commented.
"System Error" N.I.G.E.L beeped alarmingly as the cam on Godzilla began to see static "Guys, we've lost visual. We need a vector on Godzilla" Nick said as Cordula gradually closed her eyes only to jolt back awake "You know you could have stayed back at headquarters, you have school tomorrow" Nick said and Cordula shook her head as an answer.
Cordula tapped her finger on the cam repeatedly until the static cleared out "Subject Reacquired" N.I.G.E.L beeped "Found him" Nick said before the two of them wondered on why his head was sticking out.
"We found him too-and he found dinner" Randy said and Cordula felt her blood drop as well as he sleep when she saw a fisherman's boat dangling above water as the net was latched onto Godzilla's jaw. Godzilla let out a roar which was accompanied by the fisherman's screams of terror.
Godzilla saw the H.E.A.T Seeker and knew when it was there, his father and female were there too and they weren't going to be happy when they caught him like a kid catching a late night snack.
He dove back down with the net in his jaws as he tried in vain to drag the boat down "If we don't stop Godzilla, those fishermen are gonna be pulled under" Nick called out through the radio "Can't you call him off?" Monique asked "Not if he can't hear us" Cordula stated.
"I'm on it jefe, chica loca" Randy said as he began rapidly typing onto the recordings of N.I.G.E.L's database. Godzilla let out an annoyed grumble as he tried to pry the fishnet away from the boat. He was unaware when N.I.G.E.L swam up right beside him.
"Godzilla! Back away! Back away!"
The sound of his father's voice made Godzilla's eyes widen a fraction as he released the net "Way ta go Randy, it's working" Nick said as Cordula sighed as N.I.G.E.L, with the use of Nick's voice through N.I.G.E.L, Randy tried to lead Godzilla away from the fishermen.
"Follow me, follow me"
Godzilla tilted his head at the odd way his father sounded but followed him anyway. It was then that N.I.G.E.L began to malfunction. Godzilla let out a confused growl before he literally smashed N.I.G.E.L with his tail. The poor bot let out its final scream before it shut down.
"What happened?!" Nick asked through the cam "Don't look at me, this is a hardware problem that's Craven's department" Randy explained "Well whatever happened made the big guy annoyed" Cordula said she and Nick let out yelps when they collided against an unsuspecting Godzilla.
Nick quickly turned the sub to the surface before anything could get damaged. The two unlatched the lid just in time for Godzilla to come up and face the terrified fishermen "Not good" Cordula commented.
Nick grabbed the nearest horn honk and blew it loud enough for Godzilla to hear "Back Away!" Nick cried out as Godzilla's attention went back to Nick "Godzilla! Back Away!" Godzilla let out a low coo "Come on big buy! Move Away! Go Home!" Cordula joined in "We'll get you something to eat later" Promising of food, Godzilla immediately dived back down.
Cordula sighed with relief that none of them were hurt as Nick stared on ahead.
***
The four of them arrived back at headquarters when the sun had already risen and they all were tired and suddenly angry at the whole situation "Mendel, can I see you for a second please?" Nick asked a little to harshly. Cordula snuck a glance at Dr. Sopler and frowned for a moment.
Ever since he arrived, everyone had been on edge almost to the point of snapping at each other constantly. However as that thought settled into her mind, Cordula winced when she felt someone probing her mind before that thought she was thinking of disappeared completely.
What-
A wave of irritation suddenly filled her "I know you've been busy with Dr. Sopler but you still have duties here at H.E.A.T" Nick said before Randy intervened "We almost got swamped by Godzilla...Because of You!" Randy shouted the last part "Did you even check N.I.G.E.L's wiring?!" Cordula found herself saying out loud.
"Randy! Cordula! I didn't ask for any help and who's always tampering with N.I.G.E.L anyway huh?!" Nick said sternly with his voice slightly raised "Did something happen to N.I.G.E.L?" Mendel asked as he glared at Randy accusingly
"Forget that tinker toy, something almost happened to us" Randy emphasized "Eh rêt!" Monique said loudly in French as all eyes turned to her "The incident was not Craven's mistake, it was mine. I should have eliminated Godzilla long ago" That sent a new whirlwind of anger around the team.
"You arrogant..."
"Hey! leave the big guy out of this okay?!"
Before any of the team knew it, they began throwing insults and complaints at each other. From the corner of her eye, Cordula looked at Dr. Sopler who had a smug grin on his face.
"If you ever look at Godzilla funny..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Now kids, don't make me turn this car around"
Elsie'a joking voice made them stop their rant and all eyes turned to her "Dr. Chapman I presume" Nick spoke sternly "Sorry. Can't stick around. Just gotta pick up a few things" Elsie said just as Nick walked up to her.
"You mind letting me in on this extracurricular activity that's keeping you so busy?"
Nick asked "Oh...why the sudden interest in my personal life Nicky? Jealous?" She crooned playfully "Now is not the time to be playing seduction Dr. Chapman" Cordula said sternly, her eyes narrowed in controlled frustration.
Elsie eyed Cordula with a confused look on her face. She knew the girl was sweet enough and sometimes sarcastic but never was she one to say words like that.
"I asked you a question doctor, you owe me an explanation!" Nick's voice went up a notch as Elsie continued to walk away from him. Finally having enough of Nick's sudden character change, Elsie turned to face him with anger clearly on her face.
"No I don't think so, I don't owe you a blessed thing! What I I do with my time is my business!" She snapped, grabbing the boxes she had placed down and walked passed Nick "Tomorrow on Jerry Springer, my job is ruining my relationship" Randy said with a grin and Cordula blinked when the anger she felt suddenly disappeared in a flash.
Weird.
Nick's gaze caught unto the computer that was suppose to be monitoring any tachyon signals Ï thought you were monitoring tachyon signals" Nick said in confusion "We are" Mendel replied, equally confused "The settings all wrong" Nick replied back as he sat down on the chair and began typing on the keyboard.
"What?!" Mendel asked in shock as Nick tapped on one key and immediately the signals went up to high red "What do you know, looks like a huge tachyon pulse to me" Nick said before Mendel took control "I'm locking in on the source" Mendel said as a small dot of the map blinked and Mendel zoomed in the screen.
"New Jersey?" Randy read out loud in question. What would tachyon signals be doing there in New Jersey?
"I want a manual trace on that pulse" Nick said "You're wasting your time Doctor Tatopoulos" Dr. Sopler suddenly said and that made the hackles on Cordula's back raise up in suspicion. The way Dr. Sopler glared down at Nick almost looked like a guy would look when he was hiding something...something big.
I've been watching too many mystery movies
Cordula thought with a shake of her head "Is there some reason we shouldn't triangulate the signal doctor?" Nick asked with his voice raised in suspicion. Almost immediately, Dr. Sopler's cold look became on of panic "Uh...of course not. In fact I'd be happy to help you" Dr. Sopler's panicked voice immediately drew to a note of calm indifference.
"Thank you but this H.E.A.T business. We'll do it ourselves" Nick said before the others closed in on him to look at the computer, never knowing the glare they were given behind their backs by Dr. Sopler.
***
Kano, Nigeria
Stars shone down on the country tonight as the residence prepared themselves to sleep for the night when the animals suddenly let lose a cacophony of panicked sounds loud enough for the man to run out of his room and out the door in confusion.
"Why are they so agitated?" He asked in confusion just as his wife went out to have a peek. The bulls suddenly began stampeding out of the pens as the husband and wife watched with shocked eyes before they covered their ears when they heard a high pitch screech that was too painful for a human ear to hear.
The couple's house crumbled under the sound and they both looked up just in time to see a dark shadow fly over them as they hugged one another in comfort.
***
"Is it just me or does it really feel good to get out of the lab?" Mendel asked everyone with a huge sigh of relief as the tension between the team seem to disappear the moment they left the lab "That's new for you Mendel, you always loved the lab. Any geek would think of it as safe haven" Cordula said with a smile in a joking manner "Everyone's been on edge lately but I'm not exactly sure why" Nick said in all seriousness with a slight hint of confusion.
"American Coffee?" Monique asked "Tachyon Signal Intensifying" N.I.G.E.L beeped all of a sudden as Randy immediately looked at the scanners "Huh...this isn't good. The tachyon pulse is the exact same frequency as the old Leviathan Transmission" Randy stated and everyone began to slightly tense up when the situation became apparent to them.
"Well, why would aliens land in Jersey?" Mendel asked in confusion "That's why" Nick said as he pointed to a sign that said "Sandy Point: Military Base" and Cordula could already feel her insides twist "Tachyon Signal 2.6 Kilometers South, Southeast" N.I.G.E.L beeped.
"Sandy Point, why does that sound familiar?" Mendel mumbled "Uh...Maybe because the Military Base is just written in the entrance sign" Cordula said, pointing to a random sign. They stopped the vehicle just as security walked up to them "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to turn this vehicle around" The security guard said sternly.
"Doctors Tatopoulos and Craven to see Major Hicks" Nick said, showing them his card "Of course, Hicks was just stationed here" Mendel said as he handed the guard his own card. The security guard looked them over "These...clearances expired moths ago" The guard said stonily with no indication of giving away anything.
"It's very important that I speak with Major Hicks" Nick tried again to ask politely but the guard shut him down "I'm afraid I can't allow that sir" Just then, N.I.G.E.L made a sound that startled Cordula sitting from behind ""Tachyon Surge Detected. 300 Meters Due South" Nick looked at N.I.G.E.L before making a groan of anger as he pressed the gas on and off they sped.
The passengers were nearly thrown back from the speed Nick was exerting from the car "HALT!" The security guard screamed. Cordula grabbed the handle of the car as Nick evaded oncoming military cars "Have you lost your mind?!" Mendel screamed in a panic.
"We are going to be fugitives I tell you!" Cordula shouted as she looked back to see military right on their tail. Randy let out a whoop for joy as if they were in some car chase in a movie "Hang on!" Nick shouted as he drove the car to a tent, covering it.
"N.I.G.E.L, get in here" Cordula said, unbuckling the seatbelt of N.I.G.E.L and passing it to Mendel who immediately went to send him a command. Nick quickly got out of the car with the others following behind him and they managed to hide just before the military surrounded the vehicle.
When they opened it, the men were in shock to see nothing but a yellow bot who beeped at them "Ah...You'll Never Take Me Alive Copper!"
***
"Man, that was a rush" Cordula sighed with relief as they all walked into the base with Mendel checking to see where the tachyon signal is located "We cannot evade them for long" Monique commented "All we have to do is find Hicks" Nick said sternly.
"Signal's coming from in there" Mendel said as he pointed to a building. They searched for an entrance until Randy found one that was unlocked and was the first to enter only to stop short in shock "Um..is that what I think it is?" He asked with uncertainty and Cordula gasped in shock while the others stared at what was in front of them in shock.
"The Leviathan"
"What's it doing here?" Cordula asked both to herself and to the others surrounding her who have no idea "Tatopoulos!" A commanding voice made them turn around to see Major Hicks with a stern expression on his face "What are you doing here? This is a restricted area" Major Hicks said.
"Major, do you have any idea how dangerous this alien technology is? How did you find it?" Nick asked "I told him where to look?" A familiar voice told them from behind and it was to their shock to see Elsie looking at them from her stand on the Leviathan.
"Elsie?"
"Okay...something is definitely wrong with this picture" Cordula muttered. It was so unnatural for Elsie to show Major Hicks and the military an Alien Technology which by the way, they all agreed to never let anyone know for its existence in the bottom of the ocean "We agreed to leave this alien technology where it belonged, at the bottom of the ocean" Nick said in frustration.
Elsie looked at him blankly before she turned around and spoke to someone who was hiding behind the Leviathan "Told you he wouldn't understand" The person stepped out of hiding as soon as Elsie finished.
"Dr. Hoffman?"
"Does this get any worse?" Cordula groaned "You did the right thing Elsie" Dr. Hoffman said before nodding at Major Hicks who nodded back "Welcome to the first reunion of Leviathan Survivors" Randy joked which fell flat even for him "I assume Dr. Sopler is part of this insane project as well" Monique stated with her hands on her hips.
"This ship is an unprecedented scientific find" Dr. Hoffman said "Did that alien mind probe extracted all of your common sense? Our visitors were trying to take over the planet?!" Nick shouted as he grasped the doctor's shoulder which prompted both parties to tense up.
"Yes Nicky and we destroyed them, remember?" Elsie said reassuringly "All I remembered is them shutting down and not getting killed" Cordula said "But there's so much we could learn from this ship, I couldn't just ignore it" Elsie said exasperatedly "But you could ignore the potential threat to humanity" Nick said with his arms crossed.
"Until we figure out what to do with Leviathan permanently, this should remain at the bottom of the ocean, safe from unfortunate humans stupid enough to even test it" Cordula said with a final tone in her voice which was backed up by the group "Didn't you ask me to trust you regarding a certain oversized lizard?" Elsie asked.
"There's a difference between studying an intelligent over-sized lizard that is probably is part of the Animal Kingdom than a being that didn't literally come from this world!" Cordula said, pushing Elsie away from Nick. Unknown to the group, Dr. Hoffman's eyes glowed red and Cordula felt her anger suddenly spike up rapidly.
"Stay out of this Cordula. I asked, you had no right going behind my back" Elsie glared back at him "Listen Nicky boy, I may work but that does not mean you can tell me what to think or who to talk too" Cordula piqued up "It is when that 'who' is someone who is carrying a giant alien ship that threatened the entire world!"
"And maybe you shouldn't be working for me anymore"
"Fine!"
The rest of the group stood in shock at what just transpired in a matter of minutes, even Cordula was shocked at the proclamation. She thought that Nick would have given her a short leave but not this.
"You two wanna work this out a family therapy?" Randy asked, pulling both Nick and Elsie back just as the two turned to walk away from each other "You Stay Out Of This!" Elsie shouted "This Is Between Us" Nick said harshly at the same time.
"Geez, I was tryin' to help" Randy said with a frown "Leave him alone!" Mendel shouted, rushing in to defend Randy who was beginning to get upset "Ugh...this is a waste of time!" Monique joined and before any of them could realize it, H.E.A.T team all began to argue at each other. Dr. Hoffman smirked at them before he turned his gaze to Cordula who blinked in confusion and shook her head.
He frowned and tried to instill anger on her but the stubborn human had closed her eyes and began breathing deeply. Cordula remembered an exercise her grandfather used when he had her and her cousins in for a visit and what a rowdy bunch they all were and they always tested to see if they could actually make their grandfather mad.
No success on that
"Everyone should just calm down and think about this first" Cordula said calmly through all the shouting until Major Hicks came in with back-up. All that ended with being kicked out of the military camp with no success of convincing Major Hicks to remove the Leviathan.
***
"You have got to be kidding me" Cordula said when she saw a young boy, merely 10 years of age, looking at her with a grin on his face. Of all the cousins she had to see, there were 5 at least in the maternity line, it had to be "Rebellious" Rambo Irving. She had requested to leave H.E.A.T when she got a notice from her father that someone was here and it was someone she did not like at all.
"Nope, my ma wanted me to have a fresh change in scenery from the countryside and I decided 'Hey, why not reunite with my darlin' elder cousin'. Doesn't that sound nice?"
Cordula looked at her father who shrugged his shoulder and continued to smile. Cordula had to give her father credit for a convincing fake smile "Please don't speak country here. Things are bad as it is" Cordula said, eyeing her father.
"What's bad about your fishery? Business going down?"
Joe coughed "Our business is doing well. It's just that there is another bad thing that is not related to this business" He explained and Rambo let out a "hmm..." sound before turning his attention to Cordula.
"Since I am here and this is my first time here in the big city, why don't you give me a tour around this place?"
Cordula quickly took a step back "Actually I got work to do-" A hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her back "Of course, Cory would love to show you around!" Cordula looked at her father in shock as he placed both hands on her shoulders.
"You've been working to hard, you need a little vacation. I'll call your friends about this situation" Rambo perked up "You have friends? Can I meet them?" The image of Godzilla looming down on poor Rambo made Cordula shake her head.
"They're just...uh...friends from work. No need to bother them!" Cordula said with a smile and literally dragged Rambo out of the warehouse. Joe sighed and picked up his phone to call in the H.E.A.T team to let them know about his daughter's situation.
There was no answer in the receiving end.
***
It was only a few hours but to Cordula...it felt like half of her whole life had been wasted and she aged 50 years more!
My feet are so tired...HOW IS THIS DUDE STILL MOVING?! To think my body has gotten use to all the running from my adventures these past few months.
Cordula looked at Rambo glancing at the shops with an odd look in his face and Cordula concluded it must be the countryside energy in his body. Rambo turned to Cordula "I heard a rumor about this lizard monster that helps protect this city" Cordula forcefully gulped down her drink and looked at him in shock.
"What lizard monster? All I heard was that monsters were monsters and they're tearing up each city"
Rambo stared at her with a 'Do you think I'm dumb' look "I've heard on the news about him. He usually stays in here with a group of people called H.E.A.T" Rambo said as he took out his phone and showed her an image of the H.E.A.T team with Godzilla out in the water and she counted her lucky stars that the image was slightly blurry and the shot was taken somewhere far away.
A sudden vibration from her pocket made her lightly jump before grabbing hold of the phone and picking up her father's worried tone "Cordula, there's something wrong with H.E.A.T, they're not picking up any calls" That made Cordula frown.
"That's odd, their line is almost always open. Did you call them again?"
"Around five times already"
Cordula nodded "Sit tight, I'm gonna send Rambo back. I'll call you as soon as I get there" Cordula ended the call and turned to a confused Rambo with a smile on her face "Something came up on work. My colleagues need me" She explained as she hailed a cab.
"Oh great!, let me come with you" Rambo said excitedly and Cordula raised a hand to object "No way, I don't think they're ready to meet other people outside from work...when they're in work" Cordula added lamely before she pushed Rambo in the cab and instructed the driver where to take him before hurrying along the street.
It wasn't long before she got to H.E.A.T Headquarters. Making a quick mental note to bring spare change, she entered the back door without knocking and saw Mendel busily doing something to N.I.G.E.L and didn't think anything else as she asked.
"Mendel, where are the others? Why is it so dark here?" She flicked on the light switch and froze when she realized that Mendel wasn't fixing or upgrading N.I.G.E.L, he was erasing all data files stored inside.
"Mendel what are you doing?!" She shouted as she shoved Mendel back. She checked N.I.G.E.L to make sure there was no further damage before heading to the computer to check in on where the others were only to see tachyon signals rapidly increasing.
What...
A groan made her turn to see Mendel crouched down and clutching his head "Mendel, you alright?" Cordula asked. Mendel looked up at her in bewilderment "When did you get here?" Mendel asked and Cordula looked at him, dumbfounded.
"You mean you didn't notice me going inside while you work like there is no tomorrow on N.I.G.E.L?" Mendel tried to wrap his head around everything but all he got was a blank memory. What was going on?
"By the way, what were you doing on N.I.G.E.L?" Cordula asked "I have no idea, I suddenly felt the need to do something on N.I.G.E.L after the fight" Mendel explained "There was a fight?" Cordula blinked. Mendel quickly recapped the fight between the team up until his sudden work on N.I.G.E.L.
"Okay...we need to contact Nick and the others. Do you have any idea what data you deleted inside N.I.G.E.L?" Cordula asked and Mendel shrugged his shoulders, confusion and slight worry on his face.
Why do I suddenly feel uneasy?
***
Nick had arrived back at Headquarters and Mendel quickly filled him in on what had happened while he and the others were gone while Cordula had contacted her father to ask if Rambo had gone back safely "He's fine but he's annoyed at you in the meantime" Joe said and Cordula grumbled about secrets that others can't find out before ending the call.
"Everyone's been acting strange. First we're at each other's throats and then we're all in Nigeria, working together as if nothing ever happened"
"Almost sounds like something was controlling us and we were not ourselves" Cordula added "Tempers always seem to flare up when Sopler was around!" Mendel exclaimed, rubbing his chin "We know the aliens downloaded information from Sopler and Hoffman when they were held captive but what if the aliens implanted something at the same time. Something that could control the doctors later" Nick said with a pondering look.
"That seems far-fetched and one that can only be seen through movies but based on what we are up against...I'm not excluding that concept" Mendel let out a frustrated sigh as N.I.G.E.L turned to him "N.I.G.E.L if you could just tell me what they're using Leviathan for now" Cordula sighed.
"Monique's surveillance camera!" Nick perked up "Sometimes...I love that French spy for this occasion" Cordula said with a smile as Nick turned on the computer and clicked on the surveillance camera only to find that-
"The ship!" Mendel cried as they stared at the blank space where the ship was suppose to be "It's gone"
***
With that, the three of them along with N.I.G.E.L, headed back to the Military Base Camp. They hid within the woods in front of the camp. They sure have a lot of armed soldiers all of a sudden" Cordula said as she lowered down her binoculars.
"There must be something in there they don't want us to find" Mendel said "Nobody could get pass all that, not even Monique" Nick stated "Now that is a strong case and point" Cordula answered in disbelief.
Mendel looked at N.I.G.E.L who gave a small beep "Nobody human anyway" Mendel said before he proceeded to take something out of N.I.G.E.L "Cool upgrade" Cordula said as she watched a small micro-bug blink open.
Mendel quickly sent it to the entrance as we all huddled on the minicam that was showing us a live feed on what was going on. Nick noticed familiar looking clothes and quickly spoke up "Pivot up!" Mendel quickly pivoted the controls up and they held their breaths to keep them from gasping when they say Sopler.
"His eyes are green" Cordula said with narrowed eyes.
"The last of the Leviathan Technology has been transferred to Site Omega"
That word made the three of them look at each other, intrigued by the soldier's words "Site Omega?" Nick repeated, memorizing the name before storing that information at the back of his head "That sounds like a secret base and I have a bad feeling when I think about it" Cordula said, barely able to control a shiver that went through her spine.
"We need to further dig into this"