“Bella would rip apart any other kaiju she felt was threatening her eggs. If one of our helicopters goes in and tries to get her to move, she’s going to see that as a threat and try to destroy it. And she’d likely chase it until she did destroy it, which would risk leading it back to Tanaka Base.”
“We’d like not to get stomped by Bella,” MacDonald said, dryly.
“So, we think it’s better to let her stay where she is for now,” Tom continued. “We have those cameras and equipment monitoring her, and we do live observations with the helicopters as well. If something happens that we need to worry about, you’ll know.”
“How much longer is she there for?” Sanders asked.
“Until she stops producing eggs. She’s due to lay more soon, and she’ll probably have another session after that.”
“So, weeks? Months?”
“Probably another month at least.”
“I understand you’re curious about these creatures, Mr. Sanders,” MacDonald said.
“Of course,” Sanders said.
“Enough so that you tried to bribe my pilot to land near Bella,” MacDonald continued. “You do understand that Dr. Satie filed an incident report not long after you landed. As he’s obliged to whenever something unusual happens on a flight.”
Sanders looked uncomfortable but not unduly so. He was back on land and in a conference room environment, which was his usual playing field. “Dr. MacDonald, I realize now that I let my enthusiasm get away from me—”
“Yes, you did,” MacDonald said. “Please tell me why.”
“It’s my first time here,” Sanders said. “Seeing this. Seeing all of this. I got carried away. It was wrong of me. I’m sorry.”
MacDonald looked at Sanders levelly. “You understand your family has a less-than-shining reputation with regard to Tanaka Base.”
Sanders appeared confused about this. “I … didn’t, actually.”
“In the sixties, as the KPS was getting underway, your grandfather pushed your company’s radioisotope thermoelectric generators as a way to power our bases, including the first version of Tanaka. There was a report noting the kaiju here seemed especially attracted to that version of RTGs and would go looking for them, but his counterpart at the time”—MacDonald motioned to Tipton—“approved it anyway, in no small part because your grandfather bribed him. Would you like to guess what happened next, Mr. Sanders?”
“I’m guessing a lot of kaiju visitations.”
“Yes, including the one with a defective reactor that destroyed the base,” MacDonald said. “The old Tanaka Base was by the water, and kaiju with defective reactors often try to get to water, maybe as a way to cool themselves down before they go critical. This one went to the water and then went to the base. Even in the middle of a critical event, it couldn’t help looking for what it thought was food. Dozens of people died, Mr. Sanders. Ironically, those RTGs are still there, under the rubble. Not active, of course.”
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” Sanders said, after a minute. “Except to say I’m not bribing General Tipton.”
“I can vouch for that, I still have a mortgage and school tuition for three kids,” Tipton said.
“You’ve never struck me as the bribable type,” MacDonald said to Tipton.
“Thank you,” Tipton replied, sardonically.
MacDonald turned her attention back to Sanders. “But we know you are the type to bribe. Just like your grandfather. So, one more time, Mr. Sanders, tell me why you tried to bribe my pilot to let you land.”
“Dr. MacDonald, I swear to you that it was just personal curiosity,” Sanders said. He sighed, exasperated. “Look, I know I can come across as an asshole sometimes. Just ask Jamie.” He pointed at me. All eyes swiveled in my direction.
“Yes, he can,” I affirmed. “If I remember correctly, I told him so the day he fired me.”
“Yes! Thank you,” Sanders said to me, then looked back to MacDonald. “I was in smug asshole mode earlier this morning. I got called out for it. Fair enough. And also, I’ve learned my lesson. Being a smug asshole here doesn’t fly. Literally, in the case of your helicopter pilot. I’m sorry. I can promise it won’t ever happen again.”
MacDonald stared at Sanders and then looked over at Tipton. “General?”
“Well, having spent the last two days with him, I can vouch for him being an asshole,” Tipton said. “I can also say I was as taken by surprise by his request as your pilot was. I have no reason to believe it was anything other than a spur-of-the-moment thing.”