"Roger's got a betting pool of what Godzilla's looking for," Eric said as he entered the Argo's bridge.

Ben snorted. "What are the options?"

"Another kaiju's lair; ecoterrorists; a mate; or Kathy's dignity," Eric said.

"Hey, now," Kathy said. "Everyone's just jealous."

"Or you can add your own," Eric continued. "But Roger assigns the odds."

Kathy narrowed her eyes. "The odds on my dignity better be pretty damn long."

Eric plopped himself into a chair next to Ben and Kathy. It happened to be at the communication console, though that wasn't his station. No one else was on the bridge, as most of the crew were on R&R. The Argo was parked in a hangar at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, drawing on the base's power to run its AC and other systems, though most were idle at the moment.

"Did you wager?" Ben asked Eric.

"I put fifty on a kaiju lair. Safe bet, low return."

"Oooooh, look at the risk-taker," Kathy said.

Ben looked thoughtfully at the live image of Godzilla on the nearest monitor. "I think something's emitting a sound only he can hear, and he's looking for the source."

"Boriiiing," Kathy said. "No one likes a normal scientific theory."

"So it is your dignity he's looking for," Ben said.

"I got plenty of dignity," Kathy said. "It's shame I lack."

"How many islands is he up to now?" Eric asked, as Colonel Foster entered the bridge.

"His fourth in six days," Kathy said. "No one could accuse him of being a slacker."

"Even so, may be a while before someone wins that betting pool," Ben said.

As she sat in her command chair, Colonel Foster glanced at all six active screens, each displaying a live view of Godzilla from a different angle. The views came from six camera drones hovering in a rough circle around the titan. Each drone was about a quarter of a mile from Godzilla, which was as close as they dared get.

The screens showed Godzilla plodding across yet another uninhabited Hawaiian island in the summer sunshine, effortlessly pushing aside the thick trees and lush vegetation. He was about 300 miles northwest of Oahu. Each island Godzilla searched was a little further northwest of the previous one.

"Can we get a drone close to anything he finds interesting?" Colonel Foster asked.

"He swats any drone which gets too close," Ben said, surprised. "You know that, ma'am."

"I didn't say I wanted a drone close to Godzilla, did I, Technician Adams?" Colonel Foster asked icily. "I clearly said, close to whatever he finds interesting."

"Sure, we can try it," Ben said, stuffing his chagrin deep inside. "But he hasn't really shown interest in anything."

"Maybe he has and you've just been too busy talking about betting pools to notice," Colonel Foster said.

"No, we've been paying attention, ma'am," Kathy said, coming to Ben's rescue. "Whatever Big G's looking for, he hasn't shown the slightest interest in anything."

"Hmm," Colonel Foster said, gazing at the screens, trying to figure out what the titan could possibly be doing.

"Maybe he's looking for his contact lens," Eric said in bored voice.

"Then perhaps you could join him in his search, Technician Garvin," Colonel Foster said.

"Nah. All due respect, ma'am, I'm no good hiking through jungles. There's never a fast food joint when you need one."

"You're off duty, anyway," Colonel Foster said. "You're supposed to be having fun. Why are you here?"

"Watching Ben watching Godzilla is how I have fun."

"Mm hmm," Colonel Foster said, clearly not buying that. "You need a hobby."

"My mom says the same thing," Eric said. "She's eternally disappointed."

"Tell your mama I feel her pain," Colonel Foster said.

Ben spoke up with some information, trying to get back into his commanding officer's good graces. "I've analyzed Godzilla's search pattern, ma'am, and for what it's worth, he is methodical. On each previous island, he walked in a spiral from the outside in, and he's doing it again here."

"Interesting," Colonel Foster said. "How far along in his current search is he?"

"About thirty, thirty-five percent," Ben said.

"Make your best guess as to where he'll end up, and land a drone in that spot," Colonel Foster said. "If we get there ahead of him, maybe the drone won't bother him and we can get a closer look."

A narrow ridge occupied the island's center, so Ben sent Drone 2 to the valley west of the ridge, and Drone 3 to the valley on its east. In each case, it was very difficult to find a surface on which to land the drone while still getting a view not blocked by trees, but he finally managed it. Ben instructed each drone to power down its motor. But just as he finished, he learned his labor was in vain.

"Well," Kathy said. "Whatever the big guy's looking for, he seems to have found it."

For the first time in almost a week, Godzilla had paused his search for a reason other than sleep. He was slowly walking around a valley about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, stretching northeast to southwest. The titan occasionally poked through the jungle canopy to prod the ground.

Eric was amazed. "What...in...the...world?"

"It's not my dignity, that's for sure," Kathy said. "I didn't put it there."

"Send a drone in close," Colonel Foster said. "Let's take a risk while his attention's on something else."

"It's only taxpayer money," Ben muttered as he set Drone 4 in motion.

Godzilla paused his inspection, seeming to look at nothing in particular, almost as if he was contemplating something. Ben piloted the drone into the valley, coming in to the right of the titan, just below his eye level.

With no warning, Godzilla's tail whipped. Drone 4's screen went dark and its GPS said it was now headed toward the ocean at a speed it was never designed to reach.

Eric whistled. "Smooth. That was a no-look hit, and he didn't even move his torso!"

Kathy's voice was full of awe. "Guys, he hit the drone so hard it broke the sound barrier."

"Even better, he's looking right at us through Drone 5," Ben said.

Everyone watched Drone 5's screen as Godzilla raised his right hand, palm towards himself, then slowly and deliberately lowered his thumb, first, and fourth fingers, leaving his middle finger extended.

"Folks, we're watching history being made," Eric said flippantly.

"And Godzilla says we're number one!" Kathy said. "Nice to be appreciated."

Colonel Foster sighed. "When Ms. Matsumura gave him language and vocabulary, that evidently included sign language. Wonderful."

"Hey, at least he's communicating," Ben said.

Godzilla turned away and resumed his exploration of the valley. At the northeastern end, he spent a minute investigating the mountainsides where they came together in a narrow cleft. For some reason, he seemed to find this spot fascinating.

Godzilla then turned to face the valley.

The first dorsal plate lit up.

"Oh, shit," Eric muttered.

More dorsal plates lit up. Godzilla crouched.

"What?" Kathy asked, her eyes wide.

Drone 6 was in the line of fire. Ben quickly moved it.

Colonel Foster sat forward, transfixed.

Godzilla opened his mouth and blasted the valley floor with atomic breath.

Hundreds of tons of trees, rocks and dirt exploded upwards, covering the valley in an expanding dark cloud which blocked the humans' view of anything further. But they could still see the glow of atomic breath coming from within the cloud, like lightning in a distant thunderhead. It continued for about ten seconds, then faded.

They stared at the screens for several moments, flabbergasted.

Finally, Eric said softly, "Unexpected."

Colonel Foster fiercely scrutinized the scene on the monitors, as if her gaze could penetrate the dust.

The cloud again lit up with the glow of atomic breath and expanded quickly, more dust billowing out under fantastic pressure. This lasted for about another five seconds, then the cloud went dark.

Nothing happened for about half a minute. The humans watched silently as the cloud continued expanding slowly.

Suddenly, from within the cloud, a third blast of atomic breath shot into the sky at a low angle, dispersing the haze. The dirt and debris blew high into the sky to drift away on the wind. Visibility was restored, though it was certain Godzilla had done this for his own benefit, not theirs.

Godzilla stood almost in the same spot he'd been when they'd last seen him, by the cleft at the northeastern end of the valley. A trench now ran about 800 feet along the valley floor, beginning at Godzilla's feet. Halfway along the trench, for about 200 feet, it widened into a pit about 200 feet across. From the angle of the drones, they couldn't see how deep the pit was. The land within fifty yards on either side of the trench was scorched free of all vegetation.

Godzilla walked about a hundred feet along the trench, lay on the ground, reached inside the trench, and scooped out more land.

The humans watched, baffled.

Godzilla rose, walked to the pit, and stood astride it, facing the middle of the valley.

Then he leaned backwards.

Godzilla lay on his back. The immense pit gave him room to maneuver his formidable tail. He ended with his head resting in the narrow cleft at the end of the valley.

Ben was dumbfounded. "He...he wants to lie on his back, but needed a space for his tail and dorsal plates!"

"Well, there's an engineering solution to every problem," Eric muttered.

Godzilla stood, dug the trench further, then lay down again. He repeated this process several times until the trench was apparently deep enough for his dorsal plates to fit comfortably. He didn't modify the pit, so it was evidently already large enough for his tail.

He stood again and climbed the mountain on the northwestern side. In seconds, he reached a section of rock which jutted up a bit further than anything around. He grasped the huge promontory and effortlessly broke it off, then shook it free of most of the dirt and small trees clinging to it.

Godzilla brought it to the cleft at the head of the trench, and seemed to measure the rock in his hand against the gap. He carefully broke off about a third of the rock, and casually tossed the smaller piece over his shoulder in the general direction of Drone 5, though it didn't hit. He narrowed the rest of the rock by scraping it down. After about a minute of this, he set it on the ground.

Godzilla tore a couple of pieces of rock away from the cleft and tossed them aside.

He then walked back to the pit and lay on his back, carefully making sure his dorsal plates fit into the trench. As he laid his head in the cleft, which now fit his head and neck perfectly, he picked up the large rock and carefully set it across the gap, above his face...

...shielding his eyes from the sun.

Seeming to give a contented sigh, Godzilla rested his arms at his sides. He simply lay there, basking in the sun's rays.

The humans just stared.

Finally, Kathy said, "Well. He's built himself a spa."

"Mad respect," Eric said.

"I guess it's not just humans who need R&R," Ben said. "He just needs some Bermuda shorts and a pina colada and he'd be all set."

"If we sent a drone in close now..." Colonel Foster mused.

"He'd be so angry at being disturbed while trying to relax that he'd come after us directly," Eric said.

"Truth," Kathy said.

"This behavior in a kaiju is amazing!" Ben said. "You know what this means?"

"Yeah," Eric said. "I just lost fifty bucks."