Rogue Wave

Chapter 28

It took Kai a minute to catch his breath again. The news report had gone on to another topic, but the video of Lani blithely kayaking, obviously unaware of the danger, still played in his mind's eye. The dizziness finally faded, but the fear didn't. It simmered just below the surface, propelling his actions. He leapt to his feet, certain about what he had to do next.

"We are leaving!" Kai said, herding everyone toward the door. "Reggie, how long would it take to transfer what we need to a laptop?"

"Again, I'm way ahead of you. I've already copied everything over the network."

"Good. You take it."

"Who's leaving?" said Lara Pimalo.

"You, me, everybody," Kai said.

"But you said we have 27 minutes left."

"We only have 27 minutes left," Kai said, "and we're on a flat section of land. It'll take a while to get to high ground. Driving, it would only take a few minutes. But you saw the traffic jams. On foot, it'll take longer. You should drive as far as you can. But when you reach a backup, get out and start walking."

"It sounds like we're not going together," said Reggie.

"We're not," Kai said, looking at Brad. "How fast could you get us to Waikiki on that thing?"

Brad raised an eyebrow, then nodded. He understood what Kai was saying. It was the only way to get Kai on that motorcycle, which was the only way to get through the traffic quickly. "It depends on the roads, but you know how I drive. We'll get there in time."

Kai had made the decision to leave his post quickly, but that didn't mean it had been easy. It was his duty versus his daughter. Kai was convinced he was the only person who could save her.

"You're going after Lani on that crotch rocket?" Reggie said, sounding incredulous. "That's suicide!"

"Maybe." He just didn't see any other option.

"We could try calling someone…"

Kai cut him off quickly. "No. With the way the phone lines are tied up, it might take half the time just contacting someone, let alone convincing them to go find her. I'm not taking that chance."

Reggie nodded in agreement. "It's what I'd do. But what about the tsunami data? What about warning the other Pacific islands? We still don't know if there are more waves coming."

"I'm leaving that in good hands. You're in charge now."

"Me?" Reggie shook his head, his eyes wide at the thought of the responsibility. His face was two shades paler than a moment before. "But I don't want…"

"Listen, I know I'm abandoning you at a critical time, and I'm sorry. But I need to do this."

"Maybe Harry should take over. I know he's on Maui, but…"

"Which is why you need to do it. Who knows what the situation on Maui is like? They may not even have phone service after the first wave hits. Come on, Reggie. You know as much as I do, probably more. What's the problem?"

"I didn't make the right call on the tsunami warning."

"Neither did I."

"But if you hadn't been here, we'd just be issuing the first warning now. What if I'm wrong again?"

"You did exactly what you were trained to do. It could have gone either way. Look, you'll do fine. I wouldn't leave if I didn't trust you to do the job." Kai honestly didn't know if that was true-he might have left in any case-but he did trust Reggie, so it didn't matter. "Use Wheeler Field as your base. You're still going to have to interpret the data coming in."

Reggie still looked like he had swallowed a live roach, but reluctantly nodded. "OK, boss. I'll do my best."

"I'm going to be on my cell phone. You go with Ms. Pimalo. We were going to have to switch control over to Palmer at some point anyway. Might as well be now. You keep in contact with them and let me know when you get new readings. You've got my number."

The Alaska/West Coast Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, would continue to get all the same readings. They would be warning the West Coast of the US by now of the danger, even though the size of the waves would be diminished by a factor of ten once they went as far as California. At least they would have the hours of warning that Hawaii didn't get.

"Should we do the transition before we go?" Reggie asked.

"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.

"Come on, boss," said Reggie. "At least we'll get the chance to build the next one in a better location."

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 it was 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 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 8 by 10 wedding photo of Kai 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 had been born 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 made them an even more tight-knit family. 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 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 as a family.

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 any more. I hope it's not too big on you."

"What about your stuff?" Kai said, picturing Reggie's brand new kitchen, 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 never realized until that point 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.

"Take Bilbo for you?"

"He 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.

Reggie 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 300-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 back seat.

"Where do I put my feet?" Kai said.

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

"And 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 breath."

"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 in the bay, and mine's in my driveway."

"I know. 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 at riding 140hp of exposed metal, where in an impact with even a Mini, the Harley would lose.

Kai was surprised at how easily his fear about riding the motorcycle could be overcome. They couldn't get in touch with Teresa to tell her where the girls were. Rachel was busy at the hotel evacuating the guests. And the police were responsible for the biggest mass evacuation in history. It was up to Kai and Brad.

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. At any other time, Kai might have been embarrassed about holding on to Brad so closely, but at that point he didn't care and concentrated on the task at hand.

Kai reluctantly loosened his right hand and felt for the keypad on the phone as they whipped through the 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 Alaska/West Coast 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 10mph. 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 needle hovered around 60mph.

Kai kept dialing on the cell phone. After at least seven more tries, he finally heard the call go through. In an instant, 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, that Manetti was now in charge of the only operating warning center. Not only that, but Hawaii Civil Defense would be deaf to any new warnings until Palmer took over. Kai hadn't taken the time to call Brian 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…"

They had been tooling along nicely on the shoulder, but someone in a Ford Explorer got the same idea. He didn't see the bike coming up from behind and swerved onto the shoulder just as the Harley passed him. Brad jerked the bike to the right and brushed the curb, almost losing control. They missed the Ford by inches, but the jerk of the bike caught Kai off guard, and in his urgency to grab Brad to keep from falling off, he dropped the cell phone. It clattered as it bounced once and then smashed into the curb, shattering into pieces.

"Damn it!" Kai yelled.

"What?" Brad shouted over his shoulder. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. I dropped my phone!"

"I've got one. Do you want me to stop so you can get 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 Civil Defense, not even Reggie's. It was all in the 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 HCD 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 70.

They approached an intersection where a policeman was directing traffic. He had the traffic on Fort Weaver Road stopped to let cars on from the cross street. Another policeman stood by his cruiser at the corner assisting with the traffic direction. He waved Kai and Brad down, and the tires squealed in protest as they stopped.

"What do you think you're doing?" the cop said.

"We need to get to Waikiki right now!" Kai yelled without taking his helmet off.

"Everybody needs to get somewhere right now. Get off the shoulder! You're going to kill someone."

Kai lowered his voice so that only Brad could hear him.

"We don't have time for this. Just go."

"I thought I'd never see it," Brad said. "My brother, the scofflaw."

Brad saluted the officer and shot forward through a gap in the cross traffic.

Kai turned to see if the officer was going to give chase. He saw the policeman move toward his car and then throw his hands toward them in disgust. Thankfully, he had too much to do to worry about them.

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 this time they cruised along at 80.