Chapter Four
"Everything in place?" Elsie asked a few minutes later, joining Mendel below deck.
Mendel, kneeling next to Nigel as he prepared him for his underwater adventure, only nodded.
"Don't worry, Craven. Nigel can stand anything," Elsie said. "And even if he can't, he's got you to fix him up good as new every time."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Mendel grumbled.
"Wow, you really are upset," Elsie said dramatically. "Ignoring a compliment from me. Oh well, see if I ever try that again."
"I don't care what you do." Mendel stood, wiping his hands off on his lab coat.
"Sheesh, Mendel, anyone would think you liked that robot better than me," Elsie snapped.
Mendel rounded on her angrily. "Look, maybe I'm just tired of having me and everything I do be the butt of everyone else's joke," he spat. "You try having your life's work constantly derogated and thought so little of as to be considered disposable by the entire rest of your team. Nigel was not invented to be lizard bait. He's an extremely sensitive, sophisticated piece of machinery. And I'd appreciate it if you guys lay off him for a little while."
He flung open the hatch through which Nigel would soon be lowered, revealing the ocean beneath their feet. Then, turning on his heel, he stormed back up the stairs, leaving a surprised Elsie standing alone behind him.
Randy was sitting at the steering wheel. He turned to greet Mendel as he walked up but Mendel gave no sign as to having noticed. He picked up Nigel's controls and looked out at the barge, where the giant mushroom still sat gorging.
"Are we in position?" he demanded.
"Uhmmm—yes," Randy said, a bit taken aback at Mendel's abrupt attitude.
"Then let's get this over with." Pressing a few buttons on the control pad, Mendel lowered Nigel into the water. Glancing at the Nigel-Cam visuals that Randy had pulled up on the computer, he carefully steered Nigel through the water and away from the boat.
"So, you know where the G-Man is right now?" Randy asked.
"Nigel had him located on his sensor. He's sleeping in his cave right now. When Nigel gets over there, he'll let out a series of ultrasonic blasts that should cause Godzilla mild agitation, awakening him and compelling him to apprehend the source of the sound," Mendel said, in his science mode.
"Good ol' Nigel," Randy said.
Mendel snorted, eyes glued on the computer screen.
"What did I say?" Randy asked.
"Oh, nothing," Mendel said. "At least nothing I can remember. Oh, that's right, because I wasn't there when you said it. Hm, let's see, I think it was—YES, I WANT TO BUY THE STUPID MUSHROOM!"
Randy leaned back from the onslaught. "Hey, I had no idea," he objected.
"You never do, Randy, that's the problem!"
"Shut up, you two," Elsie snapped, joining them. She was still smarting from Mendel's previous outburst. "We've got work to do."
In a cavern below the island, Godzilla lay curled on the floor. Enormous bubbles of air streamed out from his nostrils as he breathed out slowly in his sleep. The big lizard had adapted to taking long, slow and even breaths underwater so as not to use up his supply of oxygen in his sleep. Should his oxygen levels ever grow short, it flipped a mental switch in his brain, reminding him to return to the surface for some air. But right now, he'd only just fallen asleep, and was dozing peacefully with plenty of oxygen to spare.
Squeaking blissfully into the cavern's opening was Nigel. His little propeller left a stream of bubbles in his wake as he drifted closer to the giant mutant lizard.
Subject is sleeping, Nigel reported. Breathing, regular.
Nigel crept as close as Mendel dared steer him before letting out a series of irritating noises, too high for the human ear to perceive, but annoying enough to wake Godzilla from his slumber.
Rumbling dangerously, Godzilla stirred; his tail lashed through the water, and the current that resulted knocked Nigel off-balance. Spinning upside down, Nigel beeped frantically until Mendel was able to steer him upright again. And just in time, too: Godzilla was unfolding to his full size, head scraping the stony roof of the caverns, feet spread out as he prepared to lunge at the irritating robot. He let out a sharp growl before diving at Nigel.
"Steer away, doc! He can't eat him yet!" Randy yelled at Mendel at the other end of the controls.
"Shut up, Randy, I'm working here!"
Nigel turned and sped out of the cavern, still emitting his ultrasonic screech to make sure Godzilla followed him. With an expression that was half amusement and half dark annoyance, Godzilla swam after him, his streamlined body rippling easily through the ocean in his pursuit.
"Can't Tin Man go any faster?" Randy demanded. "It won't work if the big guy eats Nigel before he gets to the mushroom!"
"You want to try steering him?" Mendel snapped. Then: "I take that back, I don't want you to even try."
Nigel sped through the water, his trail of bubbles growing thicker. Behind him, Godzilla snorted as the bubbles tickled his nose. Even more annoyed now, he gave a mighty kick with his back feet that sent him shooting forward.
Mendel screamed as he saw Godzilla's gaping mouth bear down on Nigel. With no hope of going faster than the lizard, he swerved Nigel to the right, then steered him upward as quickly as he could, dodging Godzilla's teeth. They clamped closed on empty water. Mendel wiped the sweat from his brow.
Godzilla's eyes appeared to glimmer as he curved gracefully in the water to follow Nigel. "What's tuna breath so happy about?" Mendel muttered.
"Hey, don't insult the G-Man," Randy said, crossing his arms. "Nigel's just giving him a run for his money. I think he's enjoying it."
"The thrill of the chase," Elsie chimed in. "Nick did say he could use some mental stimulation."
"Hey, you should do this more often," Randy said.
"No way am I sacrificing Nigel to Nick's fatherly whims," Mendel snapped.
"Just focus on making sure he doesn't get eaten now," Elsie advised.
Mendel accelerated Nigel's speed and steered him back towards the mushroom. He glanced at the radar he'd connected to Nigel's sensors. They were nearing the mushroom.
"This will never work," Mendel said. "What if Godzilla doesn't use his fire breath? What if he decides just to stomp Nigel or something?"
"We'll worry about that when it happens," Elsie said.
"I'm worried about it now." Mendel jerked Nigel to the right again as Godzilla aimed a chomp in his direction. "They're getting closer…"
"Just make sure Godzilla doesn't capsize us," Elsie retorted.
Still in the corner, Steve spoke up. "Uh…I don't suppose…there's any chance I could get out of here?"
"Sorry, bud," Randy said. "It's too dangerous. You're a lot safer in here. Just sit back and enjoy the show." Randy demonstrated by leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the monitor. Mendel angrily shoved the feet away, causing Randy to tumble to the floor. Rubbing his head, he rose to his feet and glanced back at Steve, who looked scared.
"Unless you irritate the Crave-Man," Randy said, "you're perfectly safe."
Back at headquarters, Nick stood on the roof, gazing out at the ocean with a pair of binoculars. He was trying to locate the others. They must have been pretty far out to sea. At least the mushroom wasn't so big he could see it from miles off. But he worried about Godzilla. If that mushroom was toxic, would Godzilla's previous exposure to radiation be enough to protect him? What if he decided to take a chomp out of it? Or what if Elsie was wrong and it actually was a sentient being? These thoughts were not unlike the ones that constantly ran through his head every time they depended on Godzilla to protect them from a mutant monster. Nick felt sure they had faced worse threats in the past, but still, he hoped he would not be surprised. He hoped their plan would go as easily as Elsie and Randy seemed sure it would. But he had to consider all the possibilities. If Godzilla was unable to neutralize the giant fungus, they would need another plan.
He couldn't help chuckling at the first thing that popped into his head. "If we could find a giant Styrofoam box…"
Monique approached him from the side and joined him in looking out. "Can you see anything?" she asked.
Nick handed her the binoculars and she peered out. "No, nothing," he said. "Which is probably fortunate, since I couldn't do anything about what would be going on, anyway."
"Yes, but should you see something we can act upon…" Monique adjusted the binoculars. She made an irritated noise and held them out, looking at them with a critical eye. "These are outdated," she said. From under her jacket she pulled out a different set of binoculars. They were slimmer looking but seemed to be electronically amplified.
"Where do you get these things?" Nick demanded.
Monique just smirked and, dropping Nick's binoculars unceremoniously to the floor, held up her own to look out.
"Can you see that?" Quickly she handed them to Nick and pointed. A bit grudgingly he took the high-tech binoculars from her and looked out. The view was much better now; he could see farther and the images were sharper. Following Monique's direction, Nick saw a grey speck on the horizon, and against it, a white dot that he immediately recognized as the Seeker. "That's the fungus!" he said in shock. "I had no idea it was that big."
"It appears to have grown," Monique said.
Nick leaned forward, as if the movement of a few inches could somehow increase his visual capabilities. Monique patiently reached over to press a button on the side of her device. Nick jumped slightly, startled by how quickly the binoculars zoomed in on the scene. Now he could see movement in the water, which he guessed was Godzilla pursuing Nigel, and the long tendrils waving in the air that Elsie said were the mushroom's mycelia. "I hope Elsie knows what she's doing."
Monique sighed. "If the idea was Randy's, I fear we are all doomed," she said helpfully.
"Don't insult my intern." Nick kept his eyes glued on the mushroom. Was that Godzilla's tail he could see in the water beside it?
Monique grabbed his arm and started pulling him away. "Hey!" he said, startled and losing his focus on the mushroom. "What's the big idea?"
"Come." Monique tugged him towards the helicopter launch pad. "We must get a better view."
"Never any warning." Nick dropped the binoculars and followed her.