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

Watson is on the left, by Cooper’s station. He’s bleeding from a wound on his forehead, but it doesn’t look too bad, and not nearly as bad as Cooper. She’s lying on the floor with a five inch shard of glass rising from her chest. I rush over and fall to my knees beside Watson.

When I look at Cooper’s chest, I’m both horrified and relieved. The shard is large and there’s no way to tell how deep it is without yanking it out, and I’m sure as hell not going to do that. She’d bleed out in less than a minute. My relief comes from the wound’s placement, far to the side of her lungs and heart. If she can get to a hospital, and soon, she’ll make it.

I turn to Woodstock, who followed me down with Collins. “Warm up the chopper. You need to—”

A hand grips my wrist. It’s Cooper. “Is it dead?”

I think for just a second and answer truthfully. “I doubt it.”

“Then you need the chopper,” she says.

“Horseshit,” I say. “You’re—”

“Hudson!” she says, her voice surprisingly commanding despite the grave wound. “Everything bad that has happened so far has mostly been because people are not listening to you. They’re going to wage a war on U.S. soil and I’m not sure we can win. Millions could die. Entire cities might be destroyed. If they can’t kill it, you need to stop it. It’s why we’re here. It’s your job.” She looks at the others. “And it’s your job, too.”

As I listen to Cooper’s passionate plea and see the way she’s fighting against the pain, I realize how much I have come to respect and admire her. More than that, I now know she is a dear friend. She notices the wetness forming around my eyes and takes my hand. “I’ll be fine, but you need to stop it.”

I nod. I have no idea how such a thing will be possible, but she’s right. Stopping threats like Nemesis is why FC-P was formed. I’d never taken it seriously before, but I now understand the reason for our agency’s existence. Paranormal threats do exist and it’s our job to stop them, even if it is just once every five years. And I can’t ignore that responsibility because Cooper is injured, or even if she dies.

“You’re still going to the hospital, though.” I turn to Watson. “Drive her to the hospital. It’s just five minutes by car. Make sure they know who she is and see her immediately. Go now. They’re going to be very busy, very soon.”

“Wait,” Cooper says, then to Watson. “Did you tell him?”

“Tell me what?”

“General Gordon surfaced,” Watson says.

“Where?”

“In Boston,” Watson says. “He’s on the roof of the Clarendon Back Bay building. Has a hostage.”

“Who?” I ask, continuing the game of twenty questions.

“News choppers got some pictures, which is how Gordon was ID’d, but the hostage is wearing a hood. Police tried to breach the roof, but the stairwells are all booby trapped. Two officers died.”

“What the hell is he doing?” I ask, and I’m sure no one has an answer for that, but then Collins says, “Hold on. When did Gordon show up on the roof? While we were in the chopper?”

Watson nods, and I think I know what Collins is thinking.

“Around the same time Nemesis was about to put the smack down on that condo?” I ask.

“Actually,” Watson says, “Yeah. The bulletin went out around the same time, maybe thirty seconds before. I was going to tell you when I saw Nemesis raising its arm. But...it has to be a coincidence, right? Gordon is in Boston.”

“And Nemesis has been heading south,” I say. “Once you have Cooper admitted, find out if there is a connection between the condo and something in Boston.”

“Think you also have to consider that this Gordon guy is somehow controlling the creature,” Woodstock says. “He was there when it was made, right?”

“Actually,” I say, “he had her made...and I’m pretty sure he has part of her inside him.” That Woodstock made this connection means I made the right call asking him to be on the team. It also means I need to sharpen my intellect. I don’t know if he’s right, but I should have thought of it. “Find out if Gordon has a connection to the condo, too.”

Watson nods, runs to his station and picks up a laptop bag, which he throws over his shoulder. “Our power is out, which means we have no network access, but the hospital is far enough away from the blast zone that they still might have connectivity, and even if they don’t, they’ll have backup power. I’ll be in touch.” He bends down and scoops Cooper into his arms. I have always thought of Watson as pure pudge, but the way he lifts Cooper up reveals he’s got some serious muscle hiding beneath his chubby exterior.

As Cooper is carried toward the stairs, she points to her workstation. “Hudson, on my desk.” Then they’re gone, moving down the three flights of stairs to the cars parked outside.