Rogue Wave

Chapter 16

Kai's frustration mounted as they failed to make much headway in deciphering the conflicting data. Although he had issued the tsunami warning, it was based on little more than the fact that they'd lost contact with Christmas Island. Kai was beginning to think he'd acted hastily, but he couldn't take the chance that a destructive tsunami was headed their way. Not with so many beachgoers out for the holiday, his daughter among them.

Reggie had been able to contact Dr. Niles Aspen, the lead scientist on Johnston Island. After Reggie explained the situation over the satellite link, the scientists made preparations to get as many people into the supply plane as they could. But two would have to stay behind. Dr. Aspen would be one of them, and they planned to talk to him again when he was at a safer location.

Brad had no more success getting in touch with Teresa and the kids. Kai just had to hope that they were following the other tourists and getting off the beach.

"Let's go over this again," Kai said. "We're still missing something."

Reggie leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head as he thought out loud.

"OK. Let's see. There is virtually no chance that an undersea earthquake that small could cause any kind of sizable tsunami, let alone one that could destroy Christmas Island."

"Why not?" asked Brad. Normally, Kai would have asked him to stay out of it, but since they were short-handed, he thought Brad's questions might help them look at the situation in a new light.

"No quake that small has ever generated an ocean-wide tsunami," Kai said, "unless the earthquake triggered a landslide."

"OK. So what about a landslide?"

Reggie and Kai looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Maybe," Kai said.

"Maybe?" Brad said. "All you have is 'maybe'?"

"Look, we just don't have any reason to suspect that that region of the Pacific would be prone to landslides. Underwater landslides usually occur near the edge of a continental shelf because sediment has to pile up over hundreds or thousands of years. The region we're talking about is nowhere near a continental shelf."

"Yeah, but are you sure it couldn't be a landslide?" Brad said.

"No. At this point, I don't think we can rule out anything."

Some of the deadliest tsunamis in recorded history were caused by landslides. In 1998, an underwater landslide off the coast of Papua New Guinea caused a tsunami that killed over 2000 beach villagers. Some scientists even theorized that a massive tsunami could be caused by the collapse of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, sending a wave over 100 feet high to devastate the entire Atlantic coast of the United States. Of course, the theory was in dispute, but the other landslide tsunamis in the past meant the threat of an avalanche triggering a tsunami in the Pacific basin couldn't simply be dismissed.

Reggie threw up his hands. "So we have an earthquake that's too small to make a tsunami, no known landslide risks, no sensor reading from Christmas Island, and no way to get in touch with anyone there."

"And," Kai said, "the earthquake was in a location where no quake has ever been recorded before."

"So you're saying the tsunami came out of nowhere?" Brad said.

At that moment, Kai happened to look up at one of the TVs. Headline News was running the story of the missing TransPacific flight. One of the anchors spoke with the TransPac logo over his left shoulder. Then the image shifted to a graphic of the Pacific Ocean. A line stretched from Los Angeles and abruptly ended in the middle of the ocean due south of Hawaii.

"That's funny," Kai said. "It looks like the plane went down where the earthquake epicenter…"

And that's when it hit him. Kai knew what had happened. All of the pieces fell into place. It was incredible, but it was the only explanation that fit.

Kai's hands started trembling. His teeth began to chatter, and he took a deep breath to get it under control. He was the director. The leader. He had to set an example, but what he really wanted to do was curl into the fetal position and pretend he was going to wake up and find out it was a dream.

Reggie saw that Kai was struggling to keep it together. "Hey boss, what's the matter?"

"We've completely ignored one explanation. It's crazy, but everything fits. I hope to God I'm wrong, knock on wood." Kai rapped the frame of the cork bulletin board on the wall. Even though he knew he wasn't wrong, he was hoping that some little superstitious ritual would ward off the inevitable.

"What are you talking about?" Reggie said.

"OK," Kai said, "here's the deal. Remember that discussion we had about Crawford and Mader?"

Reggie furrowed his brow for a second, then snapped his fingers and smiled. "Right! Yeah, I said their research was fun, but it was a waste of time. You said…"

Reggie abruptly stopped, the smile vanishing. He looked at Kai incredulously, and Kai could tell he'd struck a nerve. Kai nodded toward the TV, which still showed the map. For a moment, Reggie looked at the television, baffled at the connection. Then his expression changed to horror.

In that instant, he knew, too.

Reggie launched himself out of his chair. "You're not serious!"

"We have to consider it."

"Oh crap!" Reggie said with a look of stunned disbelief. "Well, this is just perfect. I just finished remodeling my kitchen last month. Took me close to two years."

Brad, who had been watching this exchange in confused silence, couldn't take it any longer. "Not serious about what? Who are Crawford and Mader? What's going on?"

"You don't want to know," Reggie said.

"Yes, I do! What the hell does this have to do with Reggie's kitchen?"

"In about an hour," Kai said, "Reggie's kitchen won't be there any more."