Godzilla at World's End (2 page)

Finally, Zoe Kemmering and the corpse of her father both vanished beneath the quaking ground and were sucked into the very center of the Earth ...

Saturday, November 11, 2000, 7:59 P.M.
Independent News Network, Studio B
World Trade Center Tower
New York, New York

"One minute!"

The electronic voice from the glass booth sounded hollow in the huge television sound stage. Robin Halliday knew it was the voice of the director, now in position for the live broadcast.

Robin blinked and stared intensely into the camera lens as the technicians and camera crew worked out the mechanics of the live show's opening shot.

"Camera one, go to a medium shot," the electronically transmitted voice of the director commanded. Robin shifted her eyes to a monitor near the floor. The picture on the screen changed from a close-up of Robin's face to a medium, full-body shot of her sitting in the host's chair - the
Teen Beat
logo now clearly visible behind her.

The makeup artist used the change of camera angles as an opportunity to touch up Robin's face. She dabbed some violet wet-look lipstick on the teenager's pouty lips while the hairdresser combed and separated the unruly bangs that brushed Robin's forehead.

"Robin," the director said from the booth, with a touch of sarcasm that was audible despite the electronic distortion. "Can we have a little modesty, please? This is supposed to be a
family
show."

Robin pursed her lips and rolled her eyes as she grabbed the material of her dress, pulling the provocative slit in her retro-1980s ankle-length Betsey Johnson skirt closed to cover her shapely legs. Robin then adjusted her tailored jacket - also a Betsey Johnson - while trying not to jar the microphone hidden inside her clothes.

When the makeup woman vanished, and the hairdresser stepped out of camera range, Robin checked herself on the monitor one last time.

She was fashion-conscious enough to wear retro-1980s styles on the show. Her hairstyle, too, remained true to the trends of the twenty-first century. Her once-auburn locks were now colored a deep, rich, inky black - mimicking the look made famous by MTV's "Prophetess of Doom."

Dark hair had become de rigueur among fashionable young women of the 2000s - blondes were definitely
out.
Fortunately, Robin's naturally pale skin and emerald eyes contrasted nicely with the ebony hair. The result, especially on camera, was striking.

Which was just the way Robin wanted it.

Still clutching the hem of her full-length skirt, Robin composed herself and scanned the notes she held in her hand. The list was short and simple - it contained only the names of her guests and the locations of some of the remote feeds she would have on today's show.

Robin never used a TelePrompTer. She'd never needed one. She always had something to say - to her guests, to her producers, even to the director on occasion. In fact, Robin was the only writer on
Teen Beat
these days, and she was the one who selected the guests as well.

It was Robin's show now, even though she had almost nothing to do with its creation, its corny name, the stodgy news network that broadcast it, or any of the other negative baggage that went with it.

Against all odds, Robin had returned from her first big assignment - chasing the monster Varan in Mexico - to make
Teen Beat
one of INN's top-rated broadcasts. Before Robin,
Teen Beat
was a bust. But from the moment she was hired to replace Maria Kenni-Fuego - the show's original host - and began doing things
her
way,
Teen Beat
really took off. Two weeks ago, it was the number-one program in its time slot. Last week, it slipped a little, but it was still a solid second. Robin knew she'd just have to work a little harder. One of her new chores was a special Sunday edition of the show, to air tomorrow.

Thankfully, much of that show was already in the can. The rest wouldn't be any more tiring than doing a regular episode.

But Robin knew she couldn't rest on her laurels. She had to keep the show - and herself - in the public eye. Things were tough out there. And getting tougher all the time.

So far the producers hadn't screamed about Robin's changes - much! They saw how the ratings had climbed and let Robin have her way most of the time. As far as they were concerned,
Teen Beat
was a rousing success. And that was right in line with Robin Halliday's plan.

She saw the show only as a minor stepping stone to even bigger and better things.

Suddenly, the television host's musings were interrupted by the first notes of this week's theme. Robin varied the songs that began the show, choosing from a range of current contemporary hits. She liked to surprise her audience every way she could. It kept the show fresh and new.

Robin watched as the credits appeared on the monitor.

"Ten seconds," the floor director announced.

Robin cleared her throat and gazed into the camera.

"Five ... four ... three ..."

At the "two" count, Robin opened her hand and released the section of her skirt she'd been clutching. The long slit in the side fell open again, revealing most of her shapely legs to her adoring public. Robin's smile brightened. She could imagine the director pulling out his hair inside the control booth.

Deal with it!
she mentally told him.
I've got to get more young men watching the show.
She'd seen the demographics on her audience and noticed that ESPN's football show was still holding its own with men eighteen to twenty-five.

Well, we'll just see about that!

Robin smiled provocatively as the camera light went on, signaling that she was on the air.

"Hi, and welcome to
Teen Beat,"
Robin said cheerfully. "I'm Robin Halliday, and you were just listening to the electrifying hit single from the hot new group Such a Pretty Bird ... We'll be talking with the members of this Irish musical phenomenon a little later.

"We'll also talk with Crockett and Tubbs, that new bubble-pop ratpack band from Miami, and we'll get a report from our own Fellow Traveler, INN's Backpack Adventurer Craig Weedie. This week, Craig's on the shores of the Caspian Sea, searching for the whereabouts of a recently reported sea monster ..."

Robin's voice, which had taken on a sinister, ominous tone, suddenly brightened again.

"Hey, I ought to know all about
sea monsters!
" she quipped.

Robin stole a breath and glanced at her notes.

"I want to remind everyone that tomorrow is a special day for
Teen Beat
- I'll be hosting the first in a series of Sunday editions ... Tomorrow, we'll take a tour of the many Rebuild America projects under way around the country in an effort to restore our nation after the Disaster.

"And tomorrow we'll also be getting a report from correspondent Kim Lo about the recent rash of Godzilla sightings in the Sea of Okhotsk."

Suddenly, the director switched cameras, and Robin quickly shifted in her seat. She checked herself on the second monitor.
Looking good
, Robin crowed to herself as she gazed into the lens of camera two.

"You don't want to miss that!" she cooed.

"When we get back from our break, we'll be meeting some of the winners of INN's Young Scientist competition ... You won't believe what some of these kids have accomplished.

"So don't go away ..."

The camera moved past Robin's shoulder and panned slowly in on the garish colors of the
Teen Beat
logo. Robin kept intimate eye contact with the lens as long as she could. The effect on her audience was calculated.

Guaranteed, she hoped, to bring the public back for more.

"Okay," Robin called to the director as the commercials began to roll. "Are all the remotes ready to go? I want to jump to each one as quickly as possible."

"Affirmative," the director replied. Robin nodded, confident that if the technicians kept things running smoothly, she could handle the next segment easily and quickly. Robin was well aware that most of her teenage audience wasn't interested in geeky science nerds, nor did they care about Rebuild America or about Godzilla - but Robin wanted a number of hard news stories on her shows each week. Along with the Sunday special tomorrow.
That should raise a few eyebrows in the News Division
, Robin thought.

And a good thing, too
, Robin reminded herself.
After all, I can't trade on my looks or my youth forever. I'm almost eighteen. Soon I'll be too old to host a teen show, and it will be time to move on to serious journalism.

Robin wanted to have her video resume ready. Tomorrow's episode was an important part of that resume.

"Two minutes," the floor director announced. Robin gazed into the camera and composed herself. She stole another look at the monitor.

Perfect ...

***

Thousands of miles away, on the opposite end of the American continent, a single camera was focused on a young man who felt a lot less comfortable about being on live television than Robin Halliday did. As a technician shoved a light meter in his face, the youth began shifting self-consciously in his oversized parka and boots.

Off-camera, among a knot of onlookers, an older youth snickered at the boy's discomfort. A woman in a long white coat poked the older teen hard, and he stopped laughing.

"Don't move, son," the director insisted. "You'll be on the air in less than a minute."

Peter Blackwater's pulse quickened with anxiety, but he still managed to stare daggers at his older brother Matthew's smirking face.

When puzzling noises suddenly came from Peter's earphones, the sound man nodded to him.

"Everything working?" the technician asked. Peter nodded, though he was confused by what he was hearing. Then he realized it was the end of a car commercial he'd seen a hundred times before, on the channel out of Nome, Alaska.

Finally Peter heard the familiar voice of
Teen Beat
's host, Robin Halliday.

Panic welled up inside of Peter as the director raised his hand, his fingers counting down the seconds. Then the voice in Peter's ear introduced him to a nationwide audience.

"Our first guest is Peter Blackwater," Robin announced. "Peter is a Native American member of the Inuit people, a tribe of Eskimos who originally lived on the Bering Sea. Peter still lives in Alaska, where he made an astounding breakthrough in botany and agricultural production ...

"Peter, can you hear me?"

The director's hand dropped, and Peter Blackwater was on live television. He felt his knees get weak.

"Uh ... Yeah, I can hear you ... uh, Ms. Halliday," Peter stammered.

"Oh, Peter," she replied smoothly. "Call me Robin! Now, can you tell us about your discovery?"

Robin's voice seemed to purr in his ear. It was all Peter could do to stop blushing. At fourteen, he wasn't used to girls talking to him. And none of them were as glamorous as Robin Halliday.

Peter swallowed hard and tried to reply.

"Well, it's not really a discovery ... really," he stammered on. "It's a hybrid ... a plant I grew. A new type of wheat, actually ..."

"Really?" Robin interjected, hoping to calm the nervous youth. "What is a hybrid?"

Peter swallowed again, brushing his long straight black hair away from his dark eyes.

"I, uh, combined wheat with another plant - a weed was best, they're hardy. Anyway, the result was a strain of high-protein wheat that can grow in harsher climates ... with a much shorter growing season."

"Is that a sample of the wheat behind you?" Robin asked.

Peter quickly nodded, stepping out of camera range. The second unit director groaned, but the cameraman managed to keep his lens focused on the boy's face.

"I grew the first batch of wheat in this patch of dirt right here," Peter replied, pointing proudly to tall stalks of wheat that literally towered over him. "This is a new crop, of course ..."

"So you can grow this wheat in Alaska!" Robin exclaimed.

Peter nodded. "Yeah," he answered. "You can grow it almost anywhere, I think - as long as there is enough water. This crop is only five weeks old, and it's already full grown and ready for harvest."

"That's incredible, Peter," Robin gushed sincerely. Peter blushed with pride, even though he heard his older brother snicker again.

"Thanks," Peter replied.

"Is it true that the Archer Daniels Midland Company has asked you to come work for them?" Robin probed.

Peter blinked in obvious surprise. He didn't think anyone but his parents knew about
that
.

"I ... ah, I'm too young to go to work," Peter replied when he regained his composure.

Robin quickly closed the segment with a final question.

"Well, Peter Blackwater, you've certainly earned that berth on the
Destiny Explorer
's Antarctic expedition next month," she exclaimed. "Are you excited about your trip?"

The youth nodded. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm going to try growing my wheat in Antarctica ... If it can grow there, it can grow
anywhere
."

"Well, your hybrid is incredible, and it should do much to solve the current food problems we're having in the United States and all over the world," Robin stated. "Good luck on your voyage."

"Thanks," Peter mumbled, but his microphone was already turned off. Then the earphones went silent, just as Robin was introducing the next Young Scientist competition winner.

***

"Next we'll jump from Alaska to a garage in Oxnard, California," Robin Halliday informed her viewers.

"We're going to pay a visit to Leena Sims, a fifteen-year-old inventor of a brand-new, superfast microchip."

The small round face of an intense, dark-haired young beauty with striking gray eyes filled the screen. The teenager calmly gazed into the lens. All around her were banks of computers and color monitors.

"Hello, Robin," Leena Sims said guardedly. She blinked uncertainly into the camera. Though it might have appeared to viewers that this young woman was nervous, nothing could be further from the truth.