Godzilla vs. Kong by Greg Keyes (e books free to read TXT) 📗

thought she was. She was fifteen and fully convinced she could take care of herself. In a couple of years it would be over. And he had missed so much, they had missed so much together. It felt like what they had left now was gold.

“How’s work?” she asked, as she added a new batch of beaten eggs to the pan.

“You know, about the same.”

“But he’s been sighted, right? The first time in years?”

“What?” Mark said. “Where did you hear that?”

“Mad Truth,” she said. “It’s a podcast I listen to.”

“Oh, right,” he said. “The one about chemtrails and crop circles and tap water and all of that.”

“And Titans,” she said. “He claims Godzilla was sighted near Kiribati in the Pacific.”

Mark sighed. “There was a sighting. Of something. We haven’t confirmed that, and anything you see or hear on the internet is just speculation.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But Monarch is taking it seriously enough to look into it, aren’t they?”

“What’s your security clearance?” he asked. “I forget.”

“Yeah. I thought so,” she said. “You’re not denying it.”

“No,” he said. “Like I said, we’re not sure what the islanders saw. We’re trying to get to the bottom of it. You know, through observation. Facts. Not conspiracy theories on the internet.”

“Right,” she said. She flipped the omelet, placed two pieces of bacon on the plate with it, and handed it to him.

“You can go ahead and eat,” she said.

“I’ll wait until you’re done,” he said. “We’ll eat together.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, she settled down and started poking at her food.

“Something else on your mind?” he asked.

She nodded. “Sort of,” she said. “You remember you said we could talk about homeschooling?”

He sighed. “I know you’re not one hundred percent happy at your school …”

“I’m miserable,” she said. “I’m way ahead of everyone. And they all hate me.”

“Josh doesn’t hate you.”

“Josh doesn’t count,” she said. “Anyway, he and I could stay in touch.”

“Madison, if I could just stay home all day, maybe. But you know I have to work. And you, of all people, know how important my work is.”

“I know,” she said. “But I’ve looked into some online stuff. And Aunt Cassidy said she could help. All you would have to do is sign off on some things, and you could do that in the afternoons.”

“It’s a good school, Madison. I just want you to give it a chance.”

“I’ve given it a chance,” she said. “It’s not working.”

“You’re not in a position to make that decision,” he said.

“Why?” she said. “Because I’m just a kid? Because you know so much better than me?”

“Madison, these are important years for you. You’ve spent most of your life around people far older than you are. You’ve never really developed the social skills to deal with your peers. I know it’s not fun—”

“Dad, it’s Lord of the freaking Flies.”

“I know it’s not fun,” he pushed on, “but you need to try. I know you have that in you. And you are already so much in your own head, and your podcasts, and these conspiracy theories—”

“It’s Godzilla, Dad,” she said. “Something’s happening—”

“And it’s not your concern,” he said. “Look, you grew up too fast. You had to. And you have been through things I can’t imagine having experienced at your age. I know you feel … responsible. But honey, you did your part. You did more than anyone. Now you need to take a break. You have to believe me when I say Monarch’s got this. I’ve got this.”

“Like last time, you mean?” she said.

“Maddie—”

“You want me to trust you,” she said. “But you don’t trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Madison…”

She shoved her seat back and stood.

“I’ve got to get ready for school,” she said. “Make myself presentable, you know. It’s all about the clothes at my age, right?”

Before he could conjure up some magical, cure-all response, she was back in her room. He lowered his head to the table and bumped it three times.

Monarch Office, Pensacola

The Pensacola office was far from the center of the Monarch universe, and Mark liked it that way. He’d had his fill of being in the middle of the action, at putting himself and those he loved in mortal danger. At the same time, he had most of the data available to him that anyone with his security clearance had, so there was plenty to do. And what he did mostly was look for trails and patterns. He was a kind of glorified Titan analyst.

His background was in animal behavior; he had started with cetaceans—orcas, dolphins, and such. After leaving Monarch the first time, he had worked with wolf packs. The common denominator was his interest not in the behavior of individual animals, but in how groups of animals acted. That was the perspective he had brought to the attempt to understand the Titans; while it was tempting to think of creatures like Godzilla as solitary, unique actors, he was certain that none of them could be fully understood without reference to one another—and to a lesser extent, to humanity. That point of view had come in handy when Ghidorah was running amok and Titans across the globe were breaking out of confinement. Mark had recognized that despite being wildly different species on the surface, all the Titans were behaving like a pack, with Ghidorah as their alpha, calling the shots. That, in turn had led to the conclusion that they needed another alpha to confront Ghidorah. Godzilla. It had paid off, but the cost had been high. Mothra, a Titan allied with Godzilla, had given its life in that battle. So had Vivienne Graham, Ishiro Serizawa, and Emma, Mark’s wife—Madison’s mother.

And now he searched for trails and patterns, and for the past three years there had not been much to see, but that didn’t stop him from going back over old data, rethinking it, preparing for the day when they would come again. Preparing for a time he fervently hoped would never happen.

And yet, this yahoo Madison listened to through