Godzilla Returns by Marc Cerasini Page A

remembered parts of This Is Tokyo vividly.
    The three videotapes were identified by labels. One tape was of the Godzilla episode of the PBS show Nova . Brian remembered seeing it when he was a teenager. The show featured documentary footage of Godzilla and interviews with the survivors of the monster's first attack.
    The second tape was a commercial videocassette of the l956 docudrama adapted from Stephen Martin's book. The movie, sensationally retitled Godzilla, King of the Monsters , featured studio footage of actors mixed with real documentary footage of the actual destruction of Tokyo. Brian recalled seeing this film as well. Raymond Burr portrayed Stephen Martin. That same actor had later played Perry Mason and Ironside on television.
    The third tape was more personal. It was a copy of some of Uncle Maxwell's home movies, including Brian's and his sister's high school graduations and shots from his sister's wedding. Brian put this tape aside for now.
    "What's in the box, Brian?" Nick asked, yawning.
    "Just some stuff Uncle Maxwell sent over." Brian replied. "Stuff about Godzilla."
    Nick picked up the book. "Oh, man," he said. "I read this Martin guy during my freshman year in journalism... This Is Tokyo , or how not to write a book. What a hack!"
    "Yeah, well, he won a Pulitzer Prize, you know," Brian observed.
    Nick nodded. "Sure he did. But those were the good old days of broadcast journalism. All you had to say was, 'Oh, the humanity' or 'That's the way it is' or some other vapid cliche, and you were enshrined as an immortal god of journalism. That was then. This is now," Nick argued. "Stephen Martin is just too weepy and sentimental for modern tastes."
    Leafing through the pages, Nick shook his head.
    "My God, just listen to this guy's prose..." He began to read from the book in a pretentious voice.
    "'This is Tokyo,'" Nick intoned, "'a smoldering memorial to the unknown. An unknown that at this very moment still prevails, and could, at any time, lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world. There were once many people here who could have told what they saw. Now there are only a few...'"
    Nick held his nose theatrically. "Stink-a-rino!" he snorted. He flipped through more pages.
    "How about this one?" Nick continued. "'I'm saying a prayer, George. A prayer for the whole world.'" He slammed the book shut in exasperation.
    "Yeeesshhh, what crap!" he concluded.
    "You're right. Times were different then," Brian replied. "Journalists had much different standards. They weren't supposed to be totally Objective - they reported the news, but they were allowed to show a little bit of emotion."
    "Whatever," Nick replied. He glanced at the digital clock on the front of the VCR.
    "We're supposed to get briefed at ten-thirty," he said. "I'm gonna take a shower." Nick dropped the book, turned, and headed for the bathroom.
    When his roommate was gone. Brian picked up the book and began reading.

CHAPTER 10
NIGHT FLIGHT

    May 30, 1998, 7:55 P.M.
Aboard a U.S. Navy MH-53E "Sea Dragon" helicopter
Somewhere over the Sea of Japan

    The ride was bumpy, the noise was horrendous, but the smell was the worst.
    Nick had been heaving into a sickness bag for the past hour. Unfortunately, in the jittering chopper, which was buffeted about by winds coming off the ocean, he was missing the bag more than he was hitting it. The mess was beginning to nauseate everyone else riding the helicopter.
    Brian lifted his eyes from the book he was reading and exchanged an amused glance with Yoshi. The Japanese cameraman sat opposite Brian in the metal hammocks that passed for chairs in the military helicopter. His cameras, packed in steel cases, were strapped in next to him.
    Sitting beside Brian, across from Yoshi, was Dr. Nobeyama's assistant, Lieutenant Emiko Takado. She wore the dress uniform of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, and the three men couldn't help but notice that she wore the uniform very well. They wondered if her skirt