Project Hyperion (A Kaiju Thriller) (Kaiju #4)

“Forget the chopper,” I say. “I’m already airborne and armed. Guy named Woodstock.”


“Yeah, I spoke to him,” Watson says. “Wasn’t sure he was going to be reliable. He working out?”

“So far,” I say. “But have the State Police still come. Just have them bring a full crew. We might need the firepower and boots on the ground. Anything else?”

“Still working on translating the text, but we I.D’d the shooter,” Watson says. “First Sergeant Steve Thompson, U.S. Army. Retired five years ago. Been off the grid since. No known last address. No family.”

No surprises there, but it confirms my suspicion that the General is recruiting his crew from previous commands. “Ted, find everything you can on General Lance Gordon. And a man named Endo.”

“Endo?”

“That’s all I’ve got. General Gordon was here. Endo is his bodyguard.”

“What did the General tell you?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I say. “The General is a hostile. Tried to kill Collins and me. Red flag him in case he pops up on someone’s radar.”

“Is Ashley okay?” Watson asks.

I glance back a Collins. She’s scanning the forest below, aiming with the machine gun. “She’s tough as nails,” I say, but think that won’t be specific enough for Ted. “She’s fine. Oh, one last name. See if you get any pings. Maigo.”

“What?”

I shout the name over the loud rotor chop. “Maigo!”

“How is that spelled?”

“No idea.”

“Okay,” he says. “Coop wants me to tell you that Stephens is in the loop. Said we’re all fired if this turns out to be a goose chase, but gave us temporary clearance to coordinate a local response.”

“Temporary?”

“FC-Boston is en route.”

“Fuck.” Ted can’t hear me. It’s just a whisper. But the headset mic picks it up, and I see both Collins and Woodstock turn toward me. I ignore them and say, “We’ll deal with them when they arrive. What’s the word on satellite coverage?”

“Couldn’t request it until Stephens gave the green light,” Watson says. “Should be available in thirty minutes.”

“Copy that,” I say, reverting to radio language. “Call me the second anything changes or you find out something. If you can’t get through on my phone, call Collins.”

“Jon,” Watson says. “Be careful.”

When I hang up, Woodstock is staring at me. He didn’t hear everything, but he heard my side of the conversation including the fact that a U.S. general is a hostile. “You going to have a problem if we face off with a general?”

He shakes his head, no. “Nah, every general I ever met was a dick. Now, which way?”

I look out the window. Trees for as far as I can see in every direction. I was hoping for a path of fallen trees or something else equally obvious, but the forest is thick. A fallen tree would simply disappear.

Then I remember the General, hand against the wall. I can feel her, he said.

Maigo.

I turn to my right, looking for any sign of the monster’s passage. Nothing. But it’s the only clue I’ve got. I point out the window and say, “That way. South.”





20



“I don’t know if this is the best place, Nick,” Jenny Hester said, as she stood on the side of a nameless dirt road.

“Its fine,” Nick replied. “I come up here to go hunting with the guys all the time. Never seen anyone else. It’s an old logging road. No one knows about it.”

“The guys know about it.”

“They’re all working.”

Jenny put her hands on her curvy hips that her father used to say would get her in trouble. Truth was, they got her spoiled rotten by every guy she dated. Her hips had power. While Nick rummaged through the flatbed of his truck, Jenny bent over and pretended to look at a rock. “I just don’t know.”

In addition to being young and attractive, Jenny was also smart. She knew she was messing with Nick, giving him mixed signals. But she enjoyed reducing men to a state of blubbering desperation.

When she looked back and found Nick’s eyes locked on target, she grinned. Then she saw the blanket in his hands and decided to go light on him. Unlike most of her conquests, Nick was a good guy. He was still a horny bastard, like all the rest, but she felt safe with him. She found this less arousing, but at the same time she had begun to wonder if she could settle down with Nick. He had a good job with the electric company. A small, but nice, house. At twenty-five, he was five years older than she was, but probably the youngest she had dated.

She found herself staring back at him when their eyes connected. Her stomach swirled. Yeah, there’s something else there, she thought.

He lifted up the blanket with a sheepish grin. “So you don’t get sap on your ass.”