Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week; been off to Cornwall for a vacation. Nice place, but the weather sucked. If you've never had real Cornish Ice Cream, go there and buy some. Now. Also, there was this rock there that, I swear, looked just like Godzilla.

Godzilla is © Toho

APPROACH OF DEATH

USGDF HQ, New York

The command centre was bustling with activity; all three double-rows of computer terminals were in use, with the massive screen mounted on the wall and the three screens either side flashing with images and video feeds.

"What happened?" Jill demanded as the automatic doors slid shut behind her. She came to a stop at the railing that sat at the edge of an elevated area at the back of the USGDF command centre.

"Got a sighting," A boy in his late teens swung round at a terminal beside her, "About 50 miles Northeast of Hawaii, of, and I quote, 'a gigantic lashing tail that rose up out of the sea'. Sound like anyone we know?"

"Godzilla." Jill realised coldly. "Where's he going?"

"If he keeps up this curve in his path," The boy indicated towards the screen, "He'll hit San Francisco by morning; and I don't think he's going there to see the Golden Gate Bridge, call it a hunch."

That explanation in itself summed up Jack; a 19-year-old computer genius working for a government agency after the FBI found out he was the one responsible for hacking into the USGDF computer network… at age 12. At first, Jill doubted whether the kid took anything seriously; he was even cracking jokes about a giant mutant lizard being about to hit a major population centre. But she realised a while ago that this was just his way of dealing with things; he had an important, tough job at way too young of an age, and that was why he joked, even about Godzilla. Nothing seemed as scary when you could laugh at it, after all.

"Tomorrow?" Jill realised, "How fast is he going?"

"About 40 knots. Fast for such a big guy."

"Jesus…"

"Tough day?"

"What?"

"You're practically snapping that iron bar in two," Jack shrugged. "Or is it none of my business?"

"Tina," Jill muttered.

"Is that 'Tina's in trouble' or 'Tina is the trouble'? Or is that the part that's none of my business?"

"It's both."

"Ouch."

"She stole a car to get back at her ex."

"She knows how to get back at someone?" Jack shrugged.

"What?"

"Sorry. Wasn't meant to say that out loud," Jack cringed.

"Forget it. What's the status on the D-3s?"

"How do I know?" Jack shrugged, "I'm the computer geek, not the rocket scientist. Besides, we might not even get to use them."

"What?"

"Red tape, regulations, etc. Remember? He was detected before making landfalls, and that means the boat-jockeys get first digs at him."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas

The police cruiser slowed to a stop, tiny clouds of dust surrounding the wheels as the officer stepped out into the hot sun, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his brow.

"This better be good, Mitch," He warned the inspector who stood in front of the old farmhouse, "You know I hate getting up this early in the damn morning."

"Define 'good'," The inspector replied, "Don't even know why we're here now that the forensics boys are here; it's all freakin' forensics nowadays. Personally I blame that CSI crap," He took a sip of coffee. "CSI: Miami, CSI: New York…"

"So what've we got?"

"Two corpses and a field full of science boys. Take a look if you like," he took another sip, "But you'd better take a barf bag."

The officer walked past the figures clad in white bio-suits, to look down at the body of the farmer.

"Mary, mother of God…" He whispered in shock.

A deep, open wound was in the middle of the farmer's chest, but not a drop of blood still leaked from it. The figure's skin was a dull grey, devoid of any blood or fluids whatsoever. Even his eyes were dry and crusty, and the flesh around the wound was dull and grey. It was as though every last drop of blood had been sucked from the body.

"Looks like some sort of ritual thing," The inspector walked up behind him, "The wife's pretty much the same as this; found her inside the house with a gun in her hand. We can't do much, anyway, not until these guys clear out," He gestured to a nearby crowd of bio-suit-clad figures.

"Forensics?"

"Nope. NASA."

"The space guys?"

"Yup. Something landed here last night; meteorite, they're saying. Smashed clean through the guy's truck."

"What, so little green men?"

"Probably just some sick-ass cult. So: Suggestions, Frank?"

The officer looked down at the body, and over to the gathering of scientists.

"I suggest… that it's miller time."

"It's 11 am, Frank."

"On a day like this, that's miller time."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indianapolis, Illinois

The teenage boy and girl lay together on the double-bed, their arms around each other, the girl giggling as they kissed, before the sound of a barking dog cut through the house.

"One second," The girl groaned as she sat up, quickly heading out of the room and downstairs to the back door, whereupon she grabbed the handle and pushed it open.

But as the door swung open, there was no sign of her pet in the back yard; only a sudden, painful, frightened yelp from out of sight.

"Sparky?" The girl shouted, "Sparky, you out here…"

A mass of fur and flesh suddenly descended in front of her, falling to the ground with a dull 'thud'. The girl screamed as she looked down at the remains of the dog, a gaping wound in its side and its empty eyes still wide open.

A tiny drop of something splashed down onto her head, somehow disgustingly warm. Wiping her forehead, the red smear across her hand informed her that it was raining blood.

She looked up as the red-stained fangs of the creature above her, dripping with blood, parted, and it lunged down to attack.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USGDF HQ, New York

The vehicle slowed to a stop, the huge pair of double-cylinders on its roof pivoting up, the large caps on the end sliding open.

"The D-3's have been ready for practical application for long enough," The technician informed Sgt. Plaqueze, "But the NT-20 mirrors aren't perfected. They're ready, but they're not perfect."

"Heard you the first time," Plaqueze reprimanded him, "So get them ready."

"Within a day?"

"Can you?"

"Not a chance in hell."

"Well, try. How much damage is this tech going to do?"

"The D-3's have a Napalm payload powerful enough to send an office building up in flames. As for the NT-20's… they're still experimental. We've got about three prototypes, maybe we can build two more in the time we've got, but all we've perfected is the principle. The theory. We don't know how well they'll perform, how much they can take…"

"Right, right, and these things are designed to…?"

"The D-3's are equipped with drill-tipped warheads that burrow into the target before detonating. The idea is to dig into Godzilla's skin and then blow it apart from the inside-out."

"So it'll either kill him, or hurt like a bitch."

"Right. As for the NT-20's, they covered in reflective surfaces constructed from an artificial diamond compound. The idea is that they'll absorb the energy of Godzilla's atomic flame breath and reflect the heat and kinetic force of it."

"So what's the problem?"

"We don't know how much the compound can take, how much it can reflect… we don't even know exactly how powerful the fire breath is."

"Are we even ready at all?"

"With respect, sir," The technician explained, "Godzilla hasn't been seen in ten years; he's never attacked or been attacked in that time. We don't know what he's capable of, we don't know how thick his skin is- even the D-3's might not be able to penetrate it, for all we know; we know an absolute minimum about what we're going up against."

"Doctor," Plaqueze replied harshly, "There is a 180-foot-tall mutant about to hit San Francisco like the 25,000 tonnes of radioactive aggression that it is. We will be ready, even if we have to bomb that city into the ground."

"Sir," The technician asked as Plaqueze turned away, "Are… are they actually considering bombing San Francisco?"

"The city will be evacuated and we'll have first crack at him once he makes landfall. Beyond that, all I'm authorised to say is that the Pentagon is considering all possible options."

Plaqueze walked out of the testing laboratory, leaving the technician to his thoughts.

And there we go. The main reason I put Jack in here is because I like having comic relief characters; as I've said many times, they more or less write themselves. Anyway, starting next chapter there'll be a wee bit of political stuff, satire and otherwise, in the true spirit of Godzilla movies. By the way, this is the first chapter to be written on my shiny new laptop:D

Next Chapter: The big green guy makes his big green debut!

All Reviews Welcome!