Kaiju Preservation Society(59)

I nodded. “What did the general say?”

“He was telling me that what I did today was the stupidest thing he’s seen a civilian ever do on this side of the fence, and also that the KPS doesn’t care whose son I am or how much money I have, you guys can always find other billionaires to fund you because you have fucking Godzillas, and nerds with cash will line up at the door for that shit. ‘Fucking Godzillas’ is an actual quote, by the way.”

“I’m sure it is,” I said. “Probably also ‘nerds with cash.’”

“You would be correct!” Sanders smiled ruefully. “So, yes, not my best day.”

“It’s not the worst thing in the world to be served up some humility,” I suggested.

“I don’t know about that,” Sanders said, and then remembered something. “You lied in there today for me. About what we talked about before I offered the pilot money.”

“I didn’t lie,” I said. “I was merely selective about our conversational topics.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Well, for one, you think I’m an asshole.”

“You are an asshole,” I confirmed. “But after a certain point, I think the beatings made their point. Beyond that, it’s just piling on. I think you get it.”

“I’ve certainly learned things today,” Sanders said. “This place isn’t like I expected. Anyway, thank you.”

I nodded again. “What’s your plan now?”

“Got me,” Sanders said. “It’s not like you have a lot of activities here. I might go back and stare at a wall until dinner. Why?”

“Well,” I said. “It’s fair to say you’ve had a disappointing day, yes?”

“Yes. So?”

“Let me make it up to you.”

“How?”

“Let me deal with this,” I said, motioning to my cart. “Then let’s go for a walk.”



* * *



“Are we going to get in trouble for this?” Sanders asked, as we tromped down the stairs to the jungle floor. We could have taken the elevator, but several weeks constantly schlepping things around the base plus six months of delivering food to East Village walk-ups meant stairs were not an issue for me. Sanders was beginning to look a little winded, however, and this was us walking down.

“Not at all,” I said. “If you had stuck to your original schedule, I would have taken you down here tomorrow anyway. Since you chucked that schedule, this was no longer on it. I’m just putting it back on.”

“Maybe we should have told Tipton,” Sanders said.

“Nah. He’s been here how many times before? I think he’s probably seen this bit.” We got to the landing, and I stood before the bolted door. “For you, this is all new. Ready?”

“Ready,” Sanders said, panting. I unbolted and opened the door, turned on the screamer I had in my pocket, and we went out onto the jungle floor.

“This is amazing,” Sanders said, looking around.

“It is,” I agreed.

“Is it safe?”

“Safe is a word we don’t much use here,” I said. “But this is as safe as it gets. Just, you know. Don’t wander off too far from me, please.”

Sanders grinned. “You’re my bodyguard, then.”

“Something like that,” I agreed again.

We wandered out some distance from the door, toward the trees. As we got closer, I reached into my pocket and turned off the screamer. About ten seconds later, the first crab popped around a tree and pointed its antennae at us.

“Whoa,” Sanders said, and then the jackass actually reached out to the thing. I turned the screamer back on, and the thing scuttled away. “Did you see that?”

“I did see that,” I said.

“What are those?”

“Tree crabs is what we call them. Not very imaginative, I know.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“They’re venomous,” I said. In the time since my first encounter with them, I learned that tree crab venom is mostly harmless to humans; it’s painful, and enough of it will make you miserable for a day, but it probably won’t kill you. It’s one reason why Riddu Tagaq used them to scare the shit out of new people. I wasn’t telling Sanders that at the moment, however.

“So, I probably shouldn’t have tried to touch one,” he said.

I turned the screamer off. “You do you,” I said, and motioned toward the tree, where the crab had scuttled back around again. This time, Sanders backed away from it, and slightly away from me as well.

I quietly took a step in the other direction, away from Sanders and the tree. “Careful,” I said.

“Why?”

“They travel in packs.” I pointed to the tree, on which three more tree crabs had scuttled into view.

“Okay, I think I’ve seen enough,” Sanders declared. He wasn’t taking his eyes off the tree crabs, who, to be fair, weren’t taking their antennae off of him.

I took another quiet step away from Sanders and the tree. “Rob?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you want to land out there at the site?” I asked. “Really, I mean.”