The Tsunami Countdown Read online

  THIRTY-ONE

  11:11 a.m.

  11 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

  When Brad and Kai reached the exit for Waikiki, the roads were packed, with all lanes going in the direction of the mountains. Even using the shoulder, they got bogged down by the traffic as they neared downtown Honolulu; but thanks to Brad’s breakneck driving, they’d been able to make the trip in a record twenty minutes. Kai noted with surprise that they didn’t seem to be the only ones headed down to Waikiki. Some were misguided tourists intent on saving luggage or money that had been left behind on their day out, and others were locals heading to workplaces to save materials that they thought were vital. Like the man in the Lexus on TV, still others were trying to make it to the marina to get to boats they didn’t want destroyed by the wave.

  The thought of all those people blatantly disregarding his warnings appalled Kai. The vast majority of them would not live to see the end of the day.

  The traffic coming from the shore was at a standstill. Hundreds of abandoned cars lined the side of the road, but Kai saw plenty of other vehicles filled with people desperately trying to make headway through the gridlock: a family of four in an SUV crammed with suitcases and other bric-a-brac; a lone woman in a small Toyota, her two border collies jumping back and forth between the windows; a wizened hippie in a scuba shop van; the driver of a Coca-Cola truck shouting into his radio handset. Kai wished he could stop and tell each of them to get out of their vehicles, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good even if he had the time.

  Throngs of people were on foot, and Brad had to slow to avoid hitting them. Most walked calmly but briskly on the sidewalk or the side of the road, but some in the horde were screaming or running or otherwise panicking. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to it. Many called out names of those they’d been separated from. The scene reminded Kai of old photos showing refugees fleeing bomb-ravaged cities during World War II.

  As they approached the hotel, Kai was relieved to see that the crowds thinned until there were just stragglers and the police who were trying to gather them up. One of the policemen tried to flag them down, but Brad simply passed him.

  He screeched to a stop in front of the Grand Hawaiian lobby. Brad leapt off the bike and tossed his helmet onto the ground. Kai dropped his as well and ran with Brad to the front door.

  Before Kai could go into the hotel, a clap of thunder ripped the air, visibly shaking the glass in the hotel’s window. It was so loud that the few people still around halted where they were, searching the clear blue sky for the source of the din. Brad stopped as well, and Kai looked toward the ocean with dread. The sound continued to peal like a battleship’s cannonade for more than ten seconds before it finally faded.

  “What the hell was that?” Brad asked.

  Kai had read stories about how islanders thousands of miles from Krakatoa had heard the blast of the eruption, so he knew what it was instantly.

  “The asteroid impact. That’s the shock wave.”

  “Jesus!”

  Traveling twelve hundred miles, it had taken more than two hours for the sound of the explosion to reach them. But what really scared Kai was that in open ocean, tsunamis traveled only slightly slower than the speed of sound. The wave wouldn’t be far behind the sonic boom.

  “Come on,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”

  They sprinted into the hotel. Kai yelled Rachel’s name as they entered the lobby. It was deserted, with the few TVs in the lobby showing either the EAS broadcast or video from the other islands, including Johnston Island. Then another picture came on the TV with the word live in the upper right corner and lahaina, maui at the bottom. Kai recognized the waterfront from several visits there. As he watched, every building—none bigger than five stories tall—was washed away by a gigantic tsunami. He sucked in his breath as he saw one of his favorite places destroyed. Their time was running out.

  On the far end of the lobby, twenty people, some of them in wheelchairs, were making their way toward a bank of elevators. Kai recognized Rachel’s red hair cas-casing down the back of her business suit. He called her name again, and she turned. When she saw that it was Kai, her eyes went wide with surprise, and she ran to him.

  “Kai!”

  She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Then she pulled away. The people in the group she had been leading stopped, appraising them from across the lobby.

  “What are you two doing here?” Her voice rose an octave when she realized they wouldn’t have come without good reason. “What’s wrong? Oh my God! Lani! Where is she?”

  “Have you seen Teresa?” Kai asked. “Brad told her to come here.”

  “No. Where are they? Didn’t they get away?”

  “We saw Lani and Mia. They’re in the ocean, kayaking off Waikiki somewhere.”

  “What! How do you know that?”

  “There’s no time to explain. We need to get to them before the tsunami arrives. We’ve got about ten minutes—”

  As Kai spoke, Teresa blew into the hotel lobby. She had been running and was obviously frantic. The girls weren’t with her.

  “Thank God you’re here!” Teresa said. “Have you seen Mia or Lani? I can’t find them anywhere.”

  “They’re on kayaks somewhere in the bay.”

  “What? Did they call you?”

  “Where in the bay?” Rachel said.

  “I don’t know,” Kai said. “The recreational equipment—is it still out?”

  Rachel immediately understood what he meant. “Yes, down by the beach—”

  A boy who was about fifteen years old ran into the lobby. Kai had never seen him before, but he looked exhausted.

  “Lani’s mom!” the boy yelled. “Lani’s mom!”

  For a moment they all stood stock-still, their mouths agape. Brad was the first to go over to him.

  “You’re the kid from the video,” he said. “On the kayaks.”

  In his shock at seeing Lani and Mia on TV, Kai had barely registered the boys with them, but Brad had always been more observant than he was.

  Teresa, Rachel, and Kai rushed over and began to pepper him with questions.

  “Where are they?”

  “Aren’t they with you?”

  “Can you show us where they are?”

  The boy looked befuddled. He was tired and his chest was heaving.

  “They’re still out there,” he gasped. He could barely get the words out between breaths. “In the bay. Mia was paddling too slow, so I went ahead. When I got to shore, I could only see two of them. I don’t know what happened.”

  Kai grabbed his arm. “You’re going to show us where they are.”

  “What?” Rachel said. “This kid can barely walk.”

  “Rachel,” Kai said, “without him, we may not find Lani in time.”

  “I’m fine,” the boy said. “How are we going to get them? Do you have a boat?”

  “The hotel rents Jet Skis down at the beach. Let’s hope they’re still there.”

  “Then what?” Rachel said. “The wave—”

  “I’ve got a plan.” Kai nodded at Rachel and Teresa. “But you two need to leave now. Rachel, take the hotel’s rental bikes—”

  “I’m going with you,” said Teresa.

  “I don’t have time to argue—”

  “Then don’t. That’s my daughter out there. You can’t stop me. I’m going.”

  Kai didn’t waste time on it. She was coming.

  “And I’ve got to stay with my guests,” Rachel said.

  Kai pulled Rachel aside.

  “You can’t stay here,” he said. “The biggest wave might be over two hundred feet high. This hotel is right on the beach. I don’t know if it can stand up to a tsunami that big.”

  “I’ve got to help these people. I’m responsible for them. I’ll get them out. Somehow.”

  Kai felt his heart skip a beat, and his eyes welled with tears. He couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing her again. He d
idn’t know what was going to happen, but he was never more proud of her. In those few seconds, Kai could see the same thing flashing through her mind.

  Rachel slipped her walkie-talkie off her belt and tucked it into Kai’s dry bag.

  “I’ll use Max’s. I may not be able to get through to you on the cell phone. I want to know that you’re all right.”

  “Thanks.”

  They shared a tender, warm kiss, the one they had missed earlier in the morning. Kai wanted to hold her longer, but neither of them could linger another moment.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  He looked at her one last time and then sprinted for the door, following Brad, Teresa, and the boy.

  Rachel yelled after Kai, “Call me when you’re safe!”

  On hearing that, Kai’s mind flashed back to Lani eagerly waving to the camera on the news chopper, and it became clear to him how Rachel should get her guests out of the hotel. Just before he dashed out into the sunlight, Kai stopped and shouted one word to her:

  “Helicopter!”

  THIRTY-TWO

  11:14 a.m.

  8 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

  Brad, Teresa, the boy, and Kai tore down to the beach as fast as they could. The sun neared its apex, and the bright blue sky and perfect temperature posed an odd juxtaposition to the panic Kai felt. The path was littered with objects people had tossed aside as they made their mad dash to escape. Beach towels, various types of clothing, sunglasses, a volleyball, pool chairs— the kinds of items that would normally signal a fine day of vacation were now useless, even a hindrance. “What’s your name?” Kai asked the boy between breaths.

  “Jake.”

  “Thanks, Jake. Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem.”

  “I’m Kai, Lani’s dad.”

  They huffed to a stop in front of four Jet Skis that rested on the beach undisturbed. Because all the beaches in Hawaii were public, the Grand Hawaiian couldn’t build an outbuilding or pier on its property, so they rolled the Jet Skis down to the beach every morning on trailers and left them there all day to be used by the guests. The Jet Skis would typically be watched over by someone from the hotel, but now the beach was nearly deserted.

  Three of the four in front of Kai were the smaller, two-person variety, the other a larger, three-person craft. The staff had left in such a hurry that they hadn’t bothered to get the trailers to move all of them back to the hotel—just as Kai had hoped.

  “Where are the girls?” he said to Jake.

  Jake pointed toward Diamond Head. “That way. I came ashore near the Marriott.”

  “Can you see them?” Kai said.

  “I think so,” said Brad, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun.

  “Do you know how to ride one of these?” Kai said to Teresa. He didn’t have to ask Brad, who Kai knew had one of his own sitting in his garage.

  “No,” she said. “I’ve never ridden one before.”

  “I do,” said Jake. “I know how to ride one.”

  When Kai had said that he wanted Jake to show them where the girls were, he only intended for Jake to point them out. Then Kai was going to send the boy back to the relative safety of the hotel.

  “No,” Kai said. “I don’t want you out there. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Kai, we need him,” Brad said. “We don’t have time to teach Teresa how to drive one of these things. And if she comes with you or me, we won’t have room for everyone.”

  “And I am coming,” Teresa said, her eyes fierce with determination.

  Kai wanted to argue, but they had no time.

  “You sure?” Kai said to Jake.

  “Yeah. My dad takes us on them every summer.”

  “Okay, you take that one,” Kai said, pointing to one of the small ones. He jumped on the three-person Jet Ski, and Teresa got on the back with him. Brad pushed a third out into the water.

  When they got them afloat, Brad was the first to notice a potentially fatal problem.

  “Holy crap, Kai!” he said. “None of these Jet Skis have keys!”

  In their haste, they had forgotten to check whether the keys were still in the ignition. Normally, the keys would stay with the Jet Skis all day because they were always attended by the hotel staff. But some enterprising employee had decided to take the keys in case someone tried to go joyriding during the evacuation.

  “Dammit!” Kai said. “Stay here. I’ll get them.”

  He jumped off and splashed up to the beach in a mad scramble to find the recreational shack where the keys would be kept. But as he raced from the water, Kai heard a yell from the direction of the hotel.

  “Kai! I’ve got them!”

  Rachel ran toward him, waving a handful of keys.

  “I remembered that I told Craig to take the keys when he said he didn’t have time to get the Jet Skis back to storage. I brought them all.” She thrust one into Kai’s hand and threw two more to Brad and Jake. The key was labeled with the number on the Jet Ski.

  “You’re amazing,” Kai said.

  “Just get our daughter.” She put a hand on his cheek, and then sprinted back to the hotel.

  They fired up the Jet Skis and roared off at top speed.

  The few people remaining on the beach ran in different directions, but the masses had by this time left. Some small groups and individuals stood on the shore, looking out to sea. Many others had gathered on balconies to watch the wave come in. Kai noted with distress that most of them were no higher than the fourth floor.

  “Idiots!” he said under his breath. There was nothing he could do for them now.

  They soon reached the group that Kai thought Brad had been pointing to. It turned out to be four surfers paddling idly, chatting among themselves. Kai slowed, and Brad and Jake followed suit.

  “You guys need to get to shore right now!” Kai shouted at the surfers. “There’s a tsunami coming.”

  “We know,” one of the surfers shot back. “Just like last year!”

  The other surfers laughed at that. Kai looked at his watch, then at Brad, and shook his head.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Leaving them went against Kai’s urge to save everyone he could, but there simply wasn’t time. His first responsibility was to save his family.

  As they throttled back up to full speed, Brad called out, “You morons are going to die!” The surfers just laughed again.

  A minute later they passed another small group of surfers, and this time Kai didn’t even slow down. He didn’t have time to convince people who didn’t want to be convinced.

  Before they had gone another two hundred yards, Jake shouted, “There’s Tom!”

  Up ahead, Kai could make out two bright yellow kayaks. They were still three hundred yards from shore.

  The kayakers heard the noise from the Jet Skis and turned. Kai and the others all started waving at them. At first they didn’t recognize Kai, but as they got closer, Kai heard Lani shout:

  “Daddy!”

  With that one word, Kai knew how desperate Lani felt. She never called him Daddy anymore.

  They slowed so that their wakes wouldn’t swamp the kayaks. By this time they could see Mia’s head bobbing above an orange life vest behind the boy’s kayak.

  “Oh my God!” Teresa said. “Get Mia!”

  Kai pulled his Jet Ski up to the stern of Tom’s kayak.

  “Brad, get Lani,” he said. He untied Mia from the nylon rope, and Teresa grabbed one arm while Kai pulled on the other. They lifted her onto the Jet Ski and placed her between them. Teresa hugged her tightly.

  “I’m so glad I found you. Are you okay?”

  In response, Mia threw up over the side of the Jet Ski, but all that came up was salt water. Apart from her pallor and exhaustion, she seemed all right. She wiped her mouth and swiveled in the seat to hug her mother.

  “Mom!” she said, weeping uncontrollably. “You’re here.”

  “You’re safe now, honey
. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Kai knew that Teresa’s response was reflexive, but her promise was empty. They were all in grave danger.

  Brad pulled Lani onto his Jet Ski, and Tom climbed on with Jake. Brad circled around to them, and Kai held out his hand to Lani, who grabbed it and held it like a vise.

  “Are you all right?” he said.

  Lani sobbed with relief and nodded.

  Kai checked his watch; they had less than three minutes left.

  “Let’s go!” Kai yelled to everyone. “Hold on, guys!”

  He goosed the throttle, and Brad and Jake did the same.

  “Where are we going?” Brad asked over the roar of the Jet Skis.

  Kai pointed at a new twenty-story hotel next to Kapi‘olani Park. It was only a block from the beach, right behind a condo building half its height. As long as it didn’t collapse, the shorter building might provide a buffer against the tsunami.

  “But the third wave …!” Brad yelled.

  “I know!” Kai yelled back.

  They had no confirmation a third wave was coming, but their calculations made one likely. If the first wave was really eighty feet high, they would be able to survive as long as the building remained standing. It wouldn’t hold up against a two-hundred-foot wave, but Kai was worried that they weren’t going to make it to the hotel as it was, and he didn’t want to take the chance that they would be caught on the ground when the wave came in. At ground level, even a twenty-foot wave would be deadly.

  They were making good progress, coming in just south of the Kuhio Beach breakwater, when Kai’s Jet Ski inexplicably started to slow down. He already had the throttle pushed to the limit, but they were still losing speed. He thought he had a mechanical failure, but the other Jet Skis seemed to be slowing as well.

  “Something’s wrong with my ride!” said Jake.

  “Mine too,” said Brad.

  Kai looked at Waikiki and realized that they weren’t slowing down. Their speed in relation to the beach was indeed slowing, but it wasn’t because their Jet Skis were decelerating. It was because the water was receding, and they were struggling to maintain forward motion. The tide was ebbing, the classic trough preceding the wave.