The Tsunami Countdown Read online

  “There’s not enough time,” Kai said. “I’ll call Palmer on the way and tell them you’re the man now. Come on! Let’s go!”

  The five of them scrambled out of the PTWC. By now Bilbo was excited by all the commotion and barked as he followed them out. At the door, Kai stopped to take one last look at the ops room, knowing it would be the last time he saw it.

  “At least we’ll get the chance to build the next one in a better location,” Reggie said.

  Pimalo and her cameraman ran to their truck. Reggie said, “Don’t leave yet,” and sprinted to his house. Kai assumed he wanted to rescue a few mementos, and he didn’t blame him. Kai sprinted to his house too. Bilbo came running after him.

  As Kai reached the front door, he didn’t know what he was doing. He wasn’t thinking that clearly. He just knew he had to take something with him. He couldn’t let everything in his family’s life disappear.

  Kai threw open the door, ran in, and stopped, considering all the things he could and couldn’t take with him. Electronics, computers, jewelry, and other tangible objects of value didn’t occur to him. Those weren’t the things he wanted. In that moment, he knew he could only choose one, maybe two objects that he could take.

  Of course, they had souvenirs from vacations they had taken. Valuable antiques that had been passed down through both Rachel and Kai’s families, like his father’s medals from the Vietnam War, a silver set Rachel’s mother had given her, an Etruscan vase they had found at a garage sale that had turned out to be worth thousands of dollars, Kai’s old baseball card collection. All of them were meaningful and valuable to him, but each of them was also too big and bulky to carry.

  The only things that he considered truly irreplaceable were the photos from their life. The old photos of his parents when they were young and in love. Rachel’s family photos from years ago. Their wedding. Lani’s baby photos. The good times on holidays. That’s when Kai understood what was really important to him. Of all the memories in the house, photos were the only things he wanted to keep.

  Unfortunately, they had boxes and boxes of old photos. There was no way he could take them all. Kai hurried over and pulled out one of their family albums, the one they looked at the most. He gazed longingly at the rest and felt himself holding back tears because he wouldn’t be able to take them.

  Kai made his way back to the door and came to a halt when he saw the photos they had hung on the wall near the kitchen. One was an eight-by-ten wedding photo of him and Rachel. She looked beautiful in her beaded white dress, and both of them beamed with happiness. It always reminded him of their early days together: their introduction at the University of Washington Bookstore while they stood in line to sell their used textbooks; their first date at a comedy club; the awkward proposal on a Thanksgiving trip to see her parents when Kai popped the question on the plane because he couldn’t wait for the candlelight dinner he had planned.

  The other photo was a candid picture of the three of them on vacation at Disneyland. When Lani was born a little more than a year into their marriage, complications during the delivery made it impossible for Rachel to have more children. But the news didn’t discourage them. In fact, it brought them even closer together. As soon as Rachel and Kai finished grad school and started making money, their major indulgence was to take yearly trips that they could share as a family.

  Like many people, their favorite destination was Disneyland. The photo showed all three of them wearing Mickey Mouse ears and laughing, childlike in their disregard for the camera. They looked like one of those photos that you would see in a frame at the store. It wasn’t staged. It just showed what a great time they had had.

  Kai took both photos off the wall and smashed the glass against the counter. He wrenched the pictures out of their frames and inserted them in the album, tossing the frames onto the floor. The final thing he grabbed was Bilbo’s leash.

  “Come here, buddy.” Bilbo wagged as he came and sat in front of Kai, who attached the leash and gave him a pat.

  Kai took one last look around, and then he heard Brad call from outside.

  “Kai, we have to go! Now!”

  Kai sprinted with Bilbo back to the van and motorcycle, both now idling in front of the PTWC building. Reggie was just coming back at the same time. But what he was carrying caught Kai by surprise.

  “You’ll need this if you’re riding with Brad,” he said, handing Kai a motorcycle helmet. “I don’t use it much anymore. I hope it’s not too big on you.”

  “What about your stuff?” Kai said, picturing Reggie’s remodeled house, soon to be wiped away. “Don’t you have anything you want to take?”

  “Nope. They’re just things. I’ll get more. Oh, and I got you a couple of other items.”

  He pressed some kind of tote bag and a small length of wire into Kai’s hands. Kai was overwhelmed that all Reggie could think of in this disaster was helping him. He’d never realized before how thoughtful Reggie was.

  “That’s my kayaking dry bag. It’s the best thing for carrying your stuff. And that’s an earpiece for your cell phone. It’ll fit under the helmet so you can talk on the road.”

  “Thanks, Reggie,” Kai said. “This means a lot to me.”

  “Hey, I’m just lending that stuff to you. I want it back.”

  “Can you do one more thing for me?” Kai said, holding out the leash. “Bilbo won’t fit on the bike.”

  “No problem. If the news guys give me any trouble, I’ll sic him on them.” Bilbo licked Reggie’s hand as if to show how dangerous he really was.

  “You take care of yourself,” Kai said, and then hugged him. Reggie seemed a little surprised at first, but returned the hug.

  “You too. I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” Reggie said confidently, as if he didn’t want to believe Kai might be in danger. Then he held his hand out to Brad. “No hard feelings, huh?”

  Brad took Reggie’s meaty paw without hesitation. “I want you to know I don’t pick fights with three-hundred-pound football players often.”

  “I understand. Just go get her.” Reggie climbed into the news van with Bilbo, and they pulled away, headed for the front gate.

  Kai put the photo album in the dry bag and slung it over his shoulder. He plugged the headset into his phone and placed the helmet on his head. It was about three sizes too big, but Kai snugged the strap down until it didn’t float around too much.

  Brad leapt onto the bike and revved the engine. Kai tentatively threw his leg over the tiny pad of leather that qualified as the backseat.

  “Where do I put my feet?” Kai said.

  “Man, you really have never ridden one of these before.”

  “I wouldn’t be now if it weren’t an emergency.”

  “Just put your feet on the dead pedals back there and put your arms around my waist.”

  “Just tell me if you can’t breathe.”

  “I’ll be fine, but I’m going to have to do some tricky driving if we’re going to get there in time. By the way, where are we going? We need a boat if we’re going out into the bay, and mine’s in my driveway.”

  “I have an idea. Go to the Grand Hawaiian. I’ll explain on the way.”

  “With the wind noise, we won’t be able to talk much. Explain when we get there. Hang on tight. If you fall off, I’ll stop and get you.”

  Kai didn’t appreciate Brad’s sense of humor. Kai had never ridden a motorcycle and didn’t want to. But his determination to find his daughter was stronger than his terror of riding 140 horsepower of exposed metal when, in an impact with even a Mini, the Harley would lose.

  As Brad gunned the engine and roared off, Kai gripped him like a vine wrapped around an oak, the cell phone clenched in one hand. The g-forces were incredible, but surprisingly, Kai didn’t feel in danger of falling off the bike. He did feel like throwing up, but at least that was something he had control over.

  Kai reluctantly loosened his right hand and felt for the keypad on the phone as they whipped through t
he gate and turned onto Fort Weaver Road, the main drag leading to the H1. Cars packed the road, but the traffic moved steadily, albeit slowly. In a few seconds they caught up with the news van and passed it like it was standing still.

  Kai punched in the speed dial number for the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. All he got was an out-of-range beep. As he expected, the cell phone lines were stretched to the limit with people calling loved ones about the oncoming tsunami.

  The road turned north and they ran into more traffic, moving at no more than ten miles per hour. Brad swung the motorcycle onto the shoulder and rocketed forward at an insane speed only inches from the cars on their left. Occasionally they would hit a patch of sand or a bump, and Kai would feel the bike skid a little. He glanced over Brad’s shoulder. The speedometer hovered around sixty.

  Kai hit redial on the cell phone again and again. After at least seven tries, he finally heard the call go through. The director, Frank Manetti, answered. He must have had caller ID, because Kai didn’t have to say anything before Manetti spoke.

  “Kai, is that you?”

  Even with the helmet, the wind noise buffeted Kai’s ears, but he could still hear Manetti’s voice easily over the headset. He silently thanked Reggie.

  “Yes, it’s me,” Kai said.

  “What’s that noise? I can barely hear you.”

  “It’s the wind. Did you get the latest readings from the DART buoy?”

  “What?”

  “The DART buoy!” Kai shouted.

  “We sure as hell did. That’s a monster of a wave headed your way.”

  Kai had to let Manetti know that he had left the PTWC and that Manetti was now in charge of the only operating warning center. Not only that, but HSCD wouldn’t get any new warnings until Palmer took over. Kai hadn’t taken the time to call Renfro before they left to let him know that they were going off-line.

  “Listen, Frank, you need to take over now.”

  “Say that again, Kai? I didn’t get that.”

  Kai raised his voice as loud as he could. “I said you’re going to have to—”

  Brad turned his head left to look for cross traffic at an intersection. He didn’t see the Volkswagen Beetle with the enormous surfboard tied to the roof turn in front of them.

  Kai reached up with both hands and pushed Brad’s head down just as they passed under the surfboard, which barely missed decapitating both of them. The board grazed his hand, knocking the cell phone into the air. It clattered as it bounced once and then smashed into the curb, shattering into pieces.

  “Dammit!” Kai yelled as he flexed his stinging hand.

  “That was close!” Brad shouted over his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I dropped my phone!”

  “I’ve got one. Do you want me to stop so you can use it?” He started to slow down.

  Brad’s telephone was virtually useless to Kai, because he didn’t know anyone’s number from memory—not the warning center in Palmer, not Hawaii State Civil Defense, not even Reggie’s. It was all in his cell phone address book, which was now destroyed.

  The only alternative was to turn back and find the TV van again to tell Reggie that he hadn’t been able to complete the transition. It might be an hour before Reggie was able to get to Wheeler and establish contact with everyone—critical time when additional information from the DART buoy would not be getting to HSCD or other Pacific island nations.

  But if they turned around now, it would add at least ten minutes to their ride to Waikiki. They’d never get there in time.

  Kai felt Brad downshift, and the bike slowed.

  “No!” Kai yelled. “We don’t have time! Keep going!”

  Brad revved the engine, and soon they were up to seventy.

  In another minute they had reached the entrance ramp for the H1. It was clogged with cars and buses. But there was enough room for a motorcycle to get through on the shoulder, and in no time they were cruising along at eighty.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  10:59 a.m.

  23 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

  As they rounded Diamond Head, Lani’s attention was drawn to a big commotion along Kalakaua Avenue, which was even more jammed than usual. From their position a mile out in Waikiki Bay near Kuhio Beach, she could see people running in both directions. Few were left on the beach. “Mia,” she said, pointing, “what’s going on over there?”

  The two boys also followed her finger.

  “I don’t know,” Mia said tersely. Her face had turned ashen.

  “Are you okay?”

  Mia nodded, but Lani recognized seasickness when she saw it.

  “Is there a parade today?” Jake asked.

  “Not that I know of.”

  Tom shook his head in puzzlement as well.

  “Well, something’s going on.”

  Across Waikiki Bay at the Ala Wai marina, a huge number of boats streamed from the harbor at a pace that seemed frantic. In fact, it looked as if two of the boats had collided, although they were so far away, it was hard to tell for sure.

  Then there was the large number of aircraft. First, the low-flying plane that had passed over them. Then a news helicopter that seemed to be training its camera on them. That one Lani had waved to. Now it seemed like another small plane was headed in their direction. Within another few seconds she thought she heard a voice coming from the plane. It turned and began to circle them, and the voice became clearer. There was one word that was unmistakable:

  “… a tsunami warning has been issued for Hawaii. You must head for shore immediately and get to high ground. I repeat, a tsunami warning has been issued for Hawaii. This is not a drill. You must get to land immediately. The wave will reach Honolulu in twenty-three minutes. If you understand this warning, raise both your arms and wave.”

  All four of them looked at each other and then started waving their arms frantically while still holding their paddles. The plane waggled its wings and banked toward a group of surfers about five hundred yards away.

  “Why didn’t we hear the sirens?” Jake said.

  “We’re too far from the beach,” Lani said. “The wind is blowing in that direction.”

  “It doesn’t matter why!” Mia screamed. “Let’s just go!”

  “Come on!” yelled Tom. “This way!”

  Lani and the boys quickly turned their kayaks to the closest beach and began paddling furiously. Mia, who was not as skilled with the kayaks, took longer to turn.

  Mia was barely paddling at half the speed of the rest of them. At that rate, they would be in danger of not making it.

  “Faster!” said Jake. “We don’t have much time!”

  “My arms are too tired!” Mia yelled, distraught. “I can’t go faster!”

  Tom pointed at Jake. “Kayak back as fast as you can and find somebody to get a boat or something out here.”

  “Like who?” Jake said. “Your parents are gone for the day.”

  “My mom,” Lani said. “She works at the Grand Hawaiian. It’s that hotel right there.” She pointed at the distinctive double towers with the walkway between. They looked tantalizingly close until she saw the cars parked at their base, no bigger than toys.

  “You go as fast as you can,” Tom said. “We’ll follow you.”

  Jake began to paddle furiously in the direction of the beach.

  Within three minutes, Jake was already a few hundred yards ahead of them. By this time, the stress, inexperience, and rocking of the kayak was too much for Mia. She leaned to her left and threw up over the side of the kayak. Mia drastically changed the center of gravity while she vomited, and before she finished heaving, the kayak tipped over, tumbling her into the water.

  “Mia!” Lani yelled.

  Mia bobbed in the water, buoyed by her life vest. She coughed out some salt water and retched again.

  “I fell out!” she screamed. “I fell out!”

  Tom paddled over to her and stabilized the kayak.

  “We’ve got
to get you back in the kayak,” he said. He turned around and shouted, “Jake! Jake!”

  Jake, already far ahead, continued paddling, oblivious to Tom’s yells in the constantly changing breeze.

  “Don’t call him back!” Lani said. “He’s got to keep going. If he hears you and turns back, he won’t be able to get help for us.”

  Lani could see Tom measuring the distance with his eyes. “You’re right,” he said reluctantly. He let Jake keep going.

  Mia, who wasn’t a strong swimmer, dog-paddled over to her drifting kayak. When she got to it, she pulled on one of the nylon cords, but her strength was so sapped that she couldn’t lift herself more than a foot out of the water. She slumped back into the ocean, choking on more salt water in the process.

  “I’ll never get back in,” she sobbed. “I’m not strong enough.”

  “Yes, you are,” Lani said, seeing that she was going to lose Mia if she didn’t calm her down. “They make them so you can get back in. Right, Tom?”

  Tom eyed Lani and shrugged dubiously. Then he said, “We can try.”

  Tom and Lani paddled over to Mia and twice tried to lift her onto her kayak, but their awkward position made it difficult. Both times Mia fell back into the water before she was halfway on.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Tom said.

  “What am I going to do?” Mia cried.

  “What about putting her on your kayak?” Lani said.

  “This kayak’s pretty small. I’m afraid she’ll tip both of us over.”

  “Please don’t leave me!” Mia cried.

  “We’re not leaving you,” Lani said. “Tom is going to tow you.”

  “Tow me?”

  “Yes. He’s stronger than me.”

  Tom nodded. “Good idea. Mia, hang on to this strap.”

  He loosened one of the seat straps and threw it to Mia. “Tie it to your life vest. I’ll pull you.” He turned to Lani.

  “Are you okay? Can you paddle?”

  Lani nodded. “I’ll keep up. Let’s go.”