TSUNAMI STORM

by David Capps

  “Run, Willa, run,” he screamed.

  She forced herself to look away from the tsunami and rushed up the stairs. Chief Dolan had stopped and slowly turned to Willa.

  “The rock has cracked,” he said. “We’re missing two steps. Do you think you can make the jump?”

  “Yes,” she replied.

  Chief Dolan backed down two steps to let her pass. Willa looked at the cleft in the rock where the steps had been. The step beyond looked solid, but she really didn’t know.

  “It’s now or never,” the Chief said.

  Willa breathed heavily three times, rushed forward and jumped. She landed on the step right at the edge of the cleft, her momentum carrying her up the next two steps. Willa turned back, holding on to the old railing.

  “It’s solid,” she said.

  Chief Dolan already looked exhausted. He was breathing hard and his face was flushed. He looked at the steps, counted back from the edge, took one step back and took a deep breath. He rushed up the steps and threw himself across the gap. His left foot landed solidly on the step, but his other foot fell short, and hung in the air. He tipped backwards. Willa grabbed the center of Chief Dolan’s shirt and pulled with all her might. Chief Dolan began to collapse with Frank’s weight on him. Willa held on to the railing with her right hand and pulled on Chief Dolan with her left. As the Chief collapsed, his right knee landed on the step. Willa pulled him forward and he gradually managed to stand.

  “Thanks,” the Chief said.

  They both looked at the tsunami closing in on Dolphin Beach and continued up the old stone stairs. As the tsunami closed in, they could hear the roar and rush of the wall of water. Before they could reach the top of the steps the tsunami hit Dolphin Beach. The wall of water didn’t slow down. It just plowed through everything, lifting and pushing cars and building debris along the front edge of the wave. The sound of the tsunami hitting the remains of the Ocean Grand Hotel sounded like everyone hitting a strike in the Dolphin Beach Bowling Alley, all at the same time. They still had a dozen steps to go as the tsunami swept past them demolishing the railing behind them. Willa recoiled as the railing she was holding was ripped out of her hand. She held close to the rock wall as she made her way to the top of Promontory Point, Chief Dolan right behind her.

  As they stepped onto the hard flat surface of Promontory Point they turned to see the water rushing up the side of the hill. Willa watched in horror as the wave, filled with debris, rose up the side of the hill and curled around and over the road that led to Promontory Point. The wave covered the parking lot with incredible speed and swept back toward them pushing a shifting wall of building debris.

  “The stairs,” Chief Dolan shouted.

  Willa and Chief Dolan made it down only three steps when the wave hit. They ducked down. Willa clung to the only remaining piece of railing and wedged Chief Dolan and Frank against the rock wall. The wave and debris poured over them, heavy objects bounced and bumped against their backs and heads. When the water stopped Willa and Chief Dolan stood and looked around. Debris was scattered everywhere. They couldn’t even get a footing to walk, there was so much wreckage from Dolphin Beach left on the large flat surface. Jason had been right about changing the safe zone to the other side of Highway 101. Had the city collected here, the vast majority of people would have been washed out to sea. They wouldn’t have survived the fall from Promontory Point after being washed over the edge.

  Willa cleared a place for Chief Dolan to set Frank down and wait for help. Many of the people up on the other side of Highway 101 had seen Willa and Chief Dolan as they made their way up the steps. They began clearing a path to her and the Chief. Within an hour Frank had been carried to higher ground and was one of the first to be examined and treated by the EMT’s who arrived in an ambulance.

  Willa looked down on what little remained of Dolphin Beach. She couldn’t imagine three more tsunami’s hitting her beloved town. But the tsunamis were coming and all they could do was watch.

  CHAPTER 59

  U.S.S. Massachusetts, Pacific Ocean, Off the Coast of Oregon

  “Sir?” one of the crew of the control center said as he handed the headset back to the Captain. “It’s the sonar room – we’re being hailed by the Boise.”

  Jacobs took the headset and put it back on. “This is the Captain.”

  “Sir, the Boise has us on their sonar system. They want to know if our situation is stable or not. They are asking for one clang for stable or two for unstable.”

  Nothing had changed in the last twenty minutes, so things at least appeared to be stable. “Radio room, con, one clang and only one clang.”

  “One clang, Sir.” The sound echoed through the hull of the sub.

  “Sir, the Boise is going to periscope depth to report our position and condition. They will return to watch over us.”

  “Thank you,” Jacobs replied.

  When the Boise returned they reported over the voice modulated sonar that the seas had calmed on the surface and that a rescue ship with a floating dry dock was on its way. There was at least some hope. The Boise remained at 1500 feet relaying messages to the Massachusetts. Because of the HY-100 armor steel used in the hull construction, the Massachusetts was able to withstand greater pressure on its hull than the Los Angeles Class submarines, like the Boise, which used the older HY-80 steel. That difference was the only thing that kept the Massachusetts from being crushed where it was.

  Twenty-eight hours later, Captain Jacobs heard noises from the hull of the sub. Something was operating outside the boat. Soon the noises stopped. Nine minutes later the Boise relayed a message: the Remotely Operated Vehicle from the rescue ship had attached a steel cable to the stern of the Massachusetts. They were aware that the boat had to remain almost vertical in the water in order to maintain its buoyancy.

  The Massachusetts gave a sudden small jolt as the steel cable became taut. Slowly the sub began to rise in the water. The crew in the control center watched intently as the depth gauge needle slowly moved away from the red line that represented its crush depth. Progress was agonizingly slow as the sub was gradually pulled toward the surface. Hours passed as the sub approached the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

  Finally the Boise reported that the stern of the Massachusetts was visible from the deck of the rescue ship and Navy divers were in the water attaching additional steel cables to secure the Massachusetts. Slowly the sub was pulled and rotated to a level position.

  “Con, radio room, we’re being hailed by the rescue ship. We have a working radio.”

  Jacobs opened the water tight door between the control center and the radio and sonar rooms. The radio operator handed the headset to the Captain.

  “This is Captain Paul Jacobs of the U.S.S. Massachusetts. Is it safe for us to come to the top of the sail?”

  It was, but for now, only the sail. All other hatches were to remain closed and latched. Jacobs quickly returned to the control center and climbed the steel ladder to the round hatch that led to the sail. He turned the wheel to disengage the latches and pushed up on the hatch door. Water cascaded down on him and then stopped. He climbed the next steel ladder to the top of the sail and emerged into the daylight.

  The back end of the rescue ship was open to the sea. Large cranes were standing at the end of each of the sides that rose four decks above the water. Two smaller cranes were at the far end of the rectangular bay. The two smaller cranes were dragging the Massachusetts into the bay in the center rear of the rescue ship. The two larger cranes supported the damaged bow. Silverton joined the Captain on the observation deck. They watched over the next hour as the submarine was slowly pulled into the bay in the middle of the rescue ship. As the bow got close to the stern of the rescue ship, the two large cranes began to move forward on their rails, moving the Massachusetts completely into the rescue ship bay.

  The rescue ship was also equipped with a system of ballast tanks, and as the water was pumped out of the tanks, the rescue ship rose in the wat
er. The Massachusetts gradually settled onto the supports that were part of the bottom of the rescue ship bay. As the rescue ship continued to rise, the water flowed out the open stern. A large door that had been under the water came into view and was raised by hydraulic cylinders to close up the stern of the ship. Once sealed against the sea, the water continued to be pumped out of the bay. One of the cranes lifted a metal walkway over to the deck of the Massachusetts connecting the deck of the sub to the side of the floating dry dock.

  The crew of the Massachusetts packed up their sea bags and exited the submarine through the deck hatches. One by one they crossed the metal walkway, paused and looked at the damaged sub upon which they had almost died. They were escorted to a berthing area where they settled into bunks. From there they were led into the mess hall where they enjoyed their first hot meal in three days.

  Jacobs, Silverton and Adams stood silently on the side deck of the rescue ship as first, an investigative team entered the Massachusetts, and then a medical crew entered. The three of them stood vigil as the bodies from the torpedo room were removed one at a time, all covered in black body bags. Eleven black bags, one of which carried the remains of Navy Lieutenant Tiffany Grimes who had given her life to save her shipmates.

  Over the next several days each of the crew members was interviewed. The rescue ship arrived at the Bremerton ship yard and the crew moved to their barracks on the Navy Base. Jacobs, Silverton and Adams attended the Court of Inquiry that reviewed the entire incident from start to finish. They left the courtroom not knowing what the final disposition would be.

  Two days passed without any word from the court. Then at 11:30 at night, Jacobs received a phone call summoning him to the Squadron 5 Commander’s office in the Bangor Naval Station. The court had reached its decision, and being summoned in the middle of the night was not a good sign.

  CHAPTER 60

  Dolphin Beach, Oregon

  Willa and Frank slowly made their way down the sloped road that led to what was Dolphin Beach. Frank’s leg was in a light blue cast as he used his crutches to navigate the scattered remnants of the city. A large front end loader was scooping up the debris and piling it into large dump trucks for removal. Most of the huge piles that remained of the buildings after the 9.1 magnitude earthquake had been washed out to sea. The people of California and the Baja Peninsula would be picking up pieces of Dolphin Beach that washed up on their beaches for the next several years.

  They stopped at what was the city limits of Dolphin Beach. The Pacific Ocean now extended farther inland than it had before. The beautiful beach that the tourists loved so much was now covered by eight feet of water. The ocean waves crashed not on sand, but on the disintegrating foundations of small motels and B & B’s that once lined the ocean shore. It was difficult to even recognize what had been where. The open land stretched the length of what was once a thriving resort town. Willa and Frank walked and talked about Dolphin Beach and its future.

  “I won’t oppose you if you want to run for mayor of Dolphin Beach,” Willa said. She was having trouble shaking the depression that had settled in since the loss of her beloved city. Frank stopped and thought about what Willa had said. She turned to him only to find him staring at the ground. When he finally lifted his head and made eye contact with her he spoke softly and slowly.

  “I thought I would have made a great mayor for Dolphin Beach,” he said. “But if I had been mayor, the vast majority of people who lived in and visited Dolphin Beach would be dead. I would be dead, except for you.”

  “And Chief Dolan,” she corrected.

  Frank chuckled briefly. “Yeah,” he said, “about that. I spoke to the Chief. He said he would have left me in the wreckage of my hotel if it wasn’t for you. He respects you a lot more than he does me. I’m beginning to see why. I would have left me, too. I wouldn’t have risked my life like you did to save someone I didn’t like. Or need,” he added.

  Willa was seeing a side to Frank she hadn’t known existed. He was finally being open and honest about how he felt. That alone was refreshing. Perhaps facing his own mortality had changed him. It had certainly changed her. She viewed life in an entirely different light. Where she had valued things, position and influence before, now she valued people, friends and life more than anything else. It was this change in her priorities that prompted her to offer Frank the unopposed election of mayor of Dolphin Beach.

  “I respected you, you know,” Frank said. “You stood up to me. You were the only one in Dolphin Beach that earned my respect.”

  “It didn’t feel like it,” Willa replied.

  Frank nodded. “I know. I can be an angry old fool sometimes. I wouldn’t have fought so hard if I didn’t think you were worth the effort.”

  Now Willa laughed. For the first time since the earthquake she could actually laugh. The release of pent up worry and concern flooded from her heart as she continued to laugh. Frank started to laugh, too. The two of them leaned against each other and continued to laugh, tears running down their cheeks. When the laughter came to a gradual end they looked at each other.

  “You were a much better mayor than I could have ever been,” Frank said. “Your love for the people of Dolphin Beach is what got you elected. I know that now. And that is what should keep you as mayor. Personally, I think you should be mayor of Dolphin Beach for life. I will be your greatest supporter in the November election.”

  Willa looked down at the ground. “I know you have always had a vision for Dolphin Beach. Years ago, when Dolphin Beach was just a sleepy little dent in the coastline, you saw a future that no one else could see. You built the Ocean Grand Hotel. I thought you were insane. How could you ever get enough tourists to come to Dolphin Beach to even pay the overhead on a building that size? No one could visualize that except you, and you made it work, not only for your hotel, but for all of Dolphin Beach as well. Everyone in this city owes at least part of their success to you and your vision.”

  Frank looked around at the stretch of empty land that was once Dolphin Beach. “Yeah,” he said, “and look at how that turned out.”

  Willa looked at the empty space. “Instead of looking at what was, we should be looking at what can be, and I don’t know anyone who can do that better than you can. I’ll agree to stay on as mayor if you will agree to become the community planner for the New Dolphin Beach.”

  “The people need your heart to give them the strength to rebuild,” he said.

  “And we all need your vision so we know how Dolphin Beach should be rebuilt,” she replied.

  Frank stood motionless for a moment. He then held out his hand. “Deal?”

  “Deal,” she said as they shook hands. “Since this has been declared a National Emergency Area, there are millions of dollars available in grants and guaranteed loans. Major contracting companies are already calling, offering to help us rebuild, mostly at the expense of the Federal Government.”

  “Plus the insurance companies will be making payments on their policies,” Frank said. “There’s more than enough to rebuild the Ocean Grand Hotel and the other buildings the city needs. I was thinking we could…”

  They walked together slowly up the hill imagining what the New Dolphin Beach would be like. Between the two of them it would all come together.

  CHAPTER 61

  Submarine Squadron 5, Bangor, Washington

  Captain Jacobs walked from the Officers’ Quarters across to the Administration Building and entered the front door. He took the elevator to the third floor, turned to the right, and continued down the hall. The only other person he saw was a seaman in dungarees swinging the floor polisher from side to side. The seaman stopped polishing the floor and allowed the Captain to pass, then resumed his task.

  The lights were on in the Submarine Squadron 5 Office. He knocked as a matter of protocol and entered the outer office.

  “In here, Paul,” the Squadron Commander said from the inner office.

  Jacobs took a deep breath, exhaled and went in
. Two men sat in the office. The Submarine Squadron Commander sat at his desk, his uniform jacket hung on a coat rack. The Squadron 5 Commander was a Rear Admiral Lower Half with the single broad gold band with a gold star above it on the cuff of his uniform jacket. The other man was dressed in a nice suit. Jacobs was caught by surprise.

  “I’m sorry, Sir, I didn’t expect the Secretary of Defense to be here,” Jacobs said.

  The Squadron Commander extended his arm toward a padded chair. “Please, sit.”

  Jacobs sat, not knowing what was about to happen. He had expected the Squadron 5 Commander, but the Secretary of Defense was a complete shock.

  “I’ve had the Court of Inquiry’s report since noon, but I wanted to wait until the Secretary could get here. He arrived half an hour ago and he will return to Washington later tonight. You are not to speak of his being here.”

  “Of course,” Jacobs replied.

  “The U.S.S. Massachusetts suffered severe damage,” the Squadron Commander said. “It’s a damned miracle you and your crew managed to survive. I’m afraid the cost to repair the Massachusetts is more than we can put into her. We can build a new Virginia Class sub for less than the cost of repairing the Massachusetts. It’s going to be scrapped. That will leave us with only three Seawolf Class subs, but that will have to suffice.”

  “Sir,” Jacobs said softly. “There were some extraordinary acts of courage and bravery that allowed most of my crew to survive. In my report I recommended…”

  “Yes, Captain,” the Squadron Commander interrupted.” I’ve made some of my own recommendations as well. I’ve approved your recommendations and passed them on up the line. I’m afraid the Massachusetts will be the last sub you command. Your crew will be reassigned to other subs.”