Kaiju Preservation Society(38)

“You could do it,” I said.

“I could, but I’m an asshole,” Tom said. I smiled at this. “Also, I’ll be busy enough coordinating the lab presentations and other things. Don’t worry, I’ll have your back.”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. Just promise me Val won’t toss me over the side because I’m adding to her workload.”

“She’ll understand,” Tom said. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll just tell her if you turned down the gig, I was going to ask her next.”



* * *



“Do you trust that I will allow no harm to come to you?” Riddu Tagaq asked me, in the foyer of the jungle floor elevator. Both the foyer and the elevator were open air but screened. The elevator and the adjoining, zigzagging staircase that was part of its support structure were the only direct ways down to the jungle floor from the base proper; another such elevator existed out on the airfield. Both elevators were large enough to accommodate vehicles and operated through hydraulics I couldn’t even fathom. “Do you trust?”

“Uhhhh, sure?” I said.

Tagaq nodded and pointed to what looked like a thick, quilted beekeeper suit. “Then put that on. Over your clothes is fine.”

I hesitated. “That’s going to get hot pretty fast,” I said.

“You won’t be in it long,” Tagaq said.

“Define long.”

“Only as long as it takes to make a point.” Tagaq waited, silent. I shrugged and put on the beekeeper’s uniform.

As I suspected, I immediately began to sweat. “This thing is gonna kill me,” I said to Tagaq.

“Just the opposite,” she said, and motioned me into the elevator. I got in. She followed and pressed the button to take us down.

Riddu Tagaq’s position at Tanaka Base was base facility and security manager; it was the latter of these hats that she was wearing with me now. “You know the reason our base is in the trees,” she said, in a tone that indicated she did not expect it to be a question.

“Yes,” I said. “The jungle floor is dangerous.”

“It is dangerous,” Tagaq agreed. “But it’s one thing to know it in your head and another to know it in your heart. I know you know it here.” She pointed to my head. Then she pointed to my heart. “Now it’s time to know it here.”

“I mean, I believe it,” I promised.

Tagaq shook her head. “Not yet you don’t.”

The elevator came to a stop; we had made it to the jungle floor.

“What now?” I asked.

Tagaq pointed. “Get out. Take a walk.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“In a minute. Go on.”

I looked at her through the impermeable plastic visor of my suit doubtfully; she stared back with an expression that suggested she was ready to wait until the mountains wore down for me to do what she told me to do. I sighed and got out of the elevator.

I was immediately swarmed by all manner of small insects. That was just par for the course. I kept walking, looking down at my boots as I did so. They sank down slightly with every step; the jungle floor was damp to the point of wetness. With every step, creatures skittered up from the jungle floor, some flying away in alarm, others hopping over or onto my boots. A few of these decided that I would make for good aerobic exercise and started climbing up my suit, heading straight, or so it seemed, for my eyeballs.

“Oookay, so this is terrible in every possible way,” I yelled back to Tagaq, who said nothing. Something big landed on my plastic visor, blocking my view. I cursed and swiped away, nearly tripping as I did so. I reached out to the nearest tree to stabilize myself.

Something large and pale skittered around the tree toward my hand.

I pulled my hand back like it had landed on something hot.

The skittering thing stopped and started waving a series of antennae around. I looked at the thing, and some part of my brain was trying to place it. After a second I knew what it reminded me of: a coconut crab, those big Pacific Island monsters that could grow a meter long and were smart enough to crack open coconuts by dropping them from trees.

Except you’re uglier, I thought to the thing. By a lot.

The thing swiveled all its antennae to me like it could hear my thoughts.

“Fuck,” I said, out loud.

It chittered, making a sound like a dove being strangled mid-coo.

“Fuck,” I said again.

From around the tree, several other of the things skittered into view.

“Fuck!” It was time to go back to the elevator. I turned just as the first of the things leapt to me, hooking onto my suit.

I tried to brush it off and failed, looked up, and saw that nearly every tree was now festooned with the things, all of them looking at me run, or so it seemed.

I tripped, because of course I did. I was immediately swarmed, because of course I was. I looked up into my plastic visor and saw one of the creatures opening an orifice and something both serrated and spiky shoot out, hitting the visor. Where it hit, some sort of liquid spattered out. I was reasonably sure it was a venom. I heard but did not feel other similar attacks as the spiky tongues made zzzzip sounds across the fabric of my suit. It seemed inevitable that sooner or later one of those would get through.