CHAPTOR 2


Miki clung to the back of Emmee's chair as MechaGhidorah jumped into the time-stream. Metal panels closed over the hole in the side of the control room. Outside, where Orga's blast had hit MechaGhidorah's tail, several large chunks of golden flesh pulled loose and drifted into the time-stream, slowly fading away into the somewhere, somewhen of time.
Miki closed her eyes against the distortion the time-warp created. She was afraid. Events were moving out of control. But before despair and hopelessness consumed her, she felt a familiar presence from somewhere out beyond in the time-stream. Courage and joy filled her mind and heart.
'Godziila!' Miki was sure of it. She felt him out there, somewhere. She opened her mind and reached out as far as she could. She could not lock on to his mind, but she knew he was alive! More and more, she stretched her mental probes. Suddenly, she felt Godzilla all around her, but not in any one place. Miki tried to sort out what she was sensing. Godzilla was near, but far away too, almost an echo of his great mind. She tried to focus on the echo and it was Godzilla, but different. Not the fierce beast she had known, but a kinder, gentler Godzilla. This mind was more intelligent, nobler somehow.
Miki felt another echo and reached out, and was almost overwelmed by the savageness of the mind she touched. It was Godzilla too! BUT HOW? Other echoes began to emerge out of the time stream. It was too much. She thru up her barrier to shield herself, but it did not help. She began to tremble. The Godzilla minds grew stronger, flooding her own mind. In her desperation to find the other Godzillas, she had opened her own mind too much and now these others threatened to consume her.
Suddenly, MechaGhidorah burst out of the time-stream, and the echoes went away. The tidal wave of mental energy stopped. Mikis' mind had strained to much, endured too much. Darkness surrounded her and held her in it's comforting arms as she passed out.
Miki drifted in a timeless twilight, afraid. But there was a comforting presence close by. "Godzilla?" Then she felt, saw Godzilla near her. This was the Godzilla she had known. "I'm here," Godzilla said. "And so am I." Godzilla Junior said, standing by his father.
"No Miki, I'm over here." Another Godzilla said. She turned. This was the gentler, kinder Godzilla he had sensed. He looked at her with tender eyes. Miki felt other Godzillas near and turned to look at them. Each one was different, each mind was different.
The twilight grew darker, a darkness that swallowed all the Godzillas. "No! Wait! Come back!" she shouted. She felt the savage mind again. It was filled with anger, an evil that wanted to consume her. "No Miki. I'm HERE!" The voice thundered thru the darkness and the darkness began to take shape in front of her. Godzilla! White, pupiless eyes glared at her. Hatred poured out of them. The great mouth opened and descended on her. Miki screamed in horror as she was consumed and plunged into flames and torment.
"M-11!" Emmee almost screamed from the anguish, the utter despair and horror that poured into her mind. Miki had been sleeping peacefully for a while, but then began to moan and move fitfully in her sleep. Emmee knew Miki was having a bad dream when suddenly she screamed out Godzilla's name in her sleep and the mental assault hit Emmee.
M-11 rushed over to the other side of the bed. He looked over the readouts on the monitor overhead. He could not feel the waves of mental anguish coming from Miki, but knew something strange was going on. Emmee was holding her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. Quickly he accessed files on telepaths. There, now he knew what to do. M-11 adjusted his strength accordingly and smacked Miki sharply across the cheek. Emmee almost jumped on M-11, but quickly realized he had done the right thing. The mental blast had stopped with that slap and Miki awoke with a start, looking around frantically.
Tears began to flow as Miki saw Emmee and embraced her. "Easy Miki," said Emmee reasuringly. "You're safe with us."
Miki continued to cry. M-11 tilted his head a moment, watching, then left the room.
Miki's crying began to subside. She let go of Emmee and sat up in the bed.
"Come", said Emmee. "Let's get something to eat."
Later, Miki, M-11, and Emmee sat at a small table.
"You saved us, you know," Emmee said, smiling. "If you hadn't been there, Orga would have finished us off for sure."
"EMMEE!" pleaded Miki. "What am I doing here?"
"M-11 and I have been trying to figure that out. We left you 200 years in the past. What do you remember?"
"I was going home, when suddenly there was a bright light and then I was in that horrible place. I saw MechaGhidorah. When I climbed inside, I found you and M-11. That's all I know. Was that the future?"
"Yes", sighed Emmee. "When M-11 and I returned to our time, we discovered that there had been other missions into the past. Somehow, one of them succeeded in completely erasing Godzilla from history. With him gone, the monster Orga and it's spaceship destroyed most of the Earth's armed forces and began to change the Earth. Godzilla wasn't there to kill Orga as he should have."
"But," began Miki, "I felt Godzilla when M-11 brought us through time. In fact, there were several Godzillas, each one different. But one was - - was - -" Miki almost started to cry again. "It was like death itself! A horrible creature!"
"That was only a bad dream," said Emme, "I heard you cry out his name."
"No, no," Miki insisted. "When M-11 time-warped, that's when I began to sense Godzilla all around me. It was real."
M-11 sat listening. "More than one Godzilla." He said flatly.
Emmee looked at M-11. She knew by now when he talked like that, that M-11 was thinking, searching through his vast data base. Abruptly he said, "I must get back to work, excuse me."
As M-11 left the room, Emmee asked, "Miki, do you feel strong enough for a walk?"
"I think so." Answered Miki. "Where are we going?"
The waterfall sparkled and roared in the bright sunlight. Lush vegetation climbed partway up the rocky cliffs on either side. A rainbow faded in and out of veiw at the waterfall's base, where vast plumes of vapor billowed into the air. Brightly colored birds flew among the trees overhead.
Emmee and Miki sat on a large outcropping of rock, overlookng the waterfall. Every now and then, Miki saw small, odd-looking furry animals skittering through the underbrush near-by.
Miki smiled, soaking in the beauty that surrounded her. She really needed this.
Off in the distance, she saw one of the automatic mining machines that M-11 had built returning with metal ore. It glided over the jungle, heading for MechaGhidorah.
After a while, the sky grew dark, night was coming. Miki and Emme headed back to MechaGhidorah. Miki looked up and saw the repairs that M-11 had already made to the damaged cyborg. At the moment he was half-way up one of the necks, on a floating platform with sheets of metal piled on it. The light from his welding lazer was bright against the darkening sky. Small servo-bots worked in other places around MechaGhidorah's immense body. "It's incredible at what M-11 can do," she said as they walked along.
"Yes it is." Replied Emmee. "But I don't know if even M-11 can change what's happened to our time."
Miki saw a look of great sorrow cross Emmee's face for a moment. She could feel the loneliness and saddness that began to fill Emmee's thoughts. 'Best to change the subject,' thought Miki. "Where," Miki said haltingly. "When are we?"
"Millions of years in the past, long after the dinosaurs died out. I think where we're at will be the under the Pacific ocean in the future."
"Godzilla was a dinosaur. I wonder where his ancestors are right now?" Miki said thoughtfully.
Emmee looked at Miki. The question was a simple one, but the implications were staggering. Emmee stopped for a moment. Miki turned to look at Emmee. Miki could have read Emmee's mind, but she had too much respect for her to do such a thing. Even so, she could sense Emmee was deep in thought over something.
"Emmee?"
Emmee stood quietly, her brows furrowed, her eyes gazing off into a place only she could see. Finally she said, "It was what you said, about Godzillas' ancestors." She paused. "Come on, we've got work to do," she said excitedly and began to run to MechaGhidorah. Miki looked questioningly at her and then ran to try and catch up.
The room was cool and guiet, except for the sound of Emmee's fingers as they raced across the keyboard on the table. As Emmee typed, information, charts, and pictures flashed on the monitor in front of her. Miki was impressed at Emmee's speed. Miki sat quietly, waiting.
After what seemed like several hours, Emmee stopped. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She reached over and pressed a button on one of the panels beside her. "M-11?"
"Yes, Emmee?" A holographic picture of M-11 appeared above the panel. He was now inside MechaGhidorah. Loose wires dangled behind him.
"There's something we need to go over. I think I'm on to something."
M-11 paused a moment, then said, "Emmee, you look very tired. Get some rest and we can talk later. Remember, we have all the time in the world at this end of time." M-11 almost grinned when he said that.
Emmee looked shocked at first, then burst out laughing. "You're right," she finally said.
"Good night Emmee, good night Miki. See you both in the morning." And with that, the image faded.

Emmee lay quietly on the other bed beside Miki. Miki had slept for a time, but had troubling dreams that she could not remember. A faint light glowed softly in one corner of the room. Miki looked around and saw the robe that Emmee had provided her. Miki put it on and got up. The door was open and she went out into the hallway, not sure where she was going, but wanting to go somewhere.
Down the hall was the elevator. Miki went to it and entered. She studied the panel for a moment. Then pressed the button that would take her to the hanger deck.
The hanger deck was small, just big enough to hold the small T-Ship. The floor was made of grids, and through them Miki could see the floor below. It was filled with metal boxes and incomprehensable machinery. The hanger doors were closed, but on the floor below, Miki saw a second set of doors that were open. She walked into an open frame elevator and went down to the lower level.
The wind was blowing gently past the open hanger door. Miki stood behind a rail that ran part-way across the door and looked out into the night. Lights were strung from sections of scaffalding above her. On each side, MechaGhidorah's enormous wings stretched up and away into the night sky. The hanger was in it's back, just below where the metal wings were attached to the metallic torso. Below, the twin tails lay, their ends dissappearing in the darkness beyond the spot lights.
Miki closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaled and tried to relax. This whole experience had wound her up so much, she feared she would never be able to relax again.
Emmee had said that they were way in the past, millions of years before there were any people. Miki slowly lowered her shield and began to probe the area around MechaGhidorah. She sensed Emmee and nothing else, except for the primitive thoughts of the small animals in the forest beyond. She blocked them out and reached further, slowly getting the feel of being able to probe and not being inundated by a multitude of minds like in the city.
After what had happened in the time-stream, she was afraid to go too far. But soon, her confidence came back. Further and further she went, until she touched a bird flying in the dark, miles away. Briefly she shared the bird's flight and senses, seeing the bright stars above and the barely visible landscape below, feeling the rush of the wind over the bird's body as it glided in the empty sky.
The sense of utter freedom filled and calmed her. Miki had never been able to let her mind go like this and it was a sensation she could not describe. Miki moved on from the bird and let go comletely, her mind soaring, like no bird ever could. Then, reluctantly, she pulled back into herself. For the first time in a while, she felt refreshed and at ease.
Just as Miki was about to turn and make her way back to bed, she sensed something and looked up into the sky. There she saw a small glow that came closer and formed into a miniature Mothra. Miki stared in disbelief as it fluttered slowly toward her. As it came close, there was a small flash of light and the two twin Cosmos floated before her.
"Hello Miki," said the twins in unison.
"What, what are you doing here?" Miki stuttered. "How - -," she began.
"We're here with Mothra. She's come back in time to battle Ghidorah."
"But why? What danger is Emmee and M-11 to you?"
"Not MechaGhidorah, prehistoric Ghidorah." The twins said, reassuring Miki. She did not understand, but she knew the Cosmos could be evasive at times.
"We felt you and came to warn you. Time is unraveling and there is great danger that reality will crumble into chaos. We and Mothra have our own path to follow and must fulfill our destiny. You must bring the parting threads of the fabric of time together into a new harmony that will save the Earth and the future."
"But how?" Asked Miki, totally confused.
"Godzilla is the key Miki. Together, you will set things right." And with that, the Cosmos faded away.
"WAIT!" Shouted Miki. "Come back!" But they were gone, as if they had not been there.