The ballroom was on the sixth floor, so she wouldn't have to evacuate anyone at the brunch. Procedure called for the first, second, and third floors to be evacuated, and for all guests to be moved to a level higher than that.
She spotted the governor's assistant, William Kim, the one she had coordinated the banquet with. He had been an annoyance to her for a week now. Giving him this news wasn't going to be pretty.
"Mr. Kim," she said in a low whisper. "I need to talk to you. Right now."
She pulled him to the side of the room.
"What is it? I'm missing the governor's speech."
"A tsunami might be coming."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. The tsunami warning should come out any minute. You have to tell the governor."
"In the middle of her speech?"
"Don't you think it might be something she'd like to know as soon as possible?"
"So the tsunami warning hasn't been issued?"
"Not yet."
"Then how do you know…"
"My husband told me. He's the…"
"Your husband?" he said with a snotty tone. "Mrs. Tanaka, the governor is running for the US Senate next year, and there are some very important donors in the room. If I interrupt her, and you're wrong…"
"Please, Mr. Kim, I'm not an idiot. As I was trying to say, my husband is the Director of Pacific Tsunami Warning Center."
"Fine. Come back when we get the actual tsunami warning. The governor can at least finish the speech."
"Look, I don't have time for this and neither does the governor." With that, she strode onto the stage with Kim following her. He stopped short of holding her back, not wanting to make a scene. Rachel put her hand lightly on the governor's shoulder. The governor stopped her speech to look at who was interrupting her and put her hand over the microphone.
"Yes?" she said. "Who are you?"
"Governor, I tried to stop her…" Kim began.
Rachel talked over him. "Governor, I'm Rachel Tanaka, the hotel manager. A tsunami warning is about to be issued."
"About to be issued?"
"Ma'am, my husband is Kai Tanaka, the…"
"Kai Tanaka? The head of the PTWC?"
"That's right, ma'am. You know him?"
"I met him three months ago during a tsunami drill."
"Governor, he told me that there's a good likelihood that a tsunami is heading this way and will be here in a little more than an hour."
"An hour?" Kim said, startled. Then he went on the defensive. "Governor, she didn't tell me that…"
"Be quiet, Bill," the governor said. The hush of the crowd was starting to give way to murmurs. "Mrs. Tanaka, you're sure about this?"
Kai might be forgetful about personal matters sometimes, but he was one of the smartest people Rachel had ever met. He wouldn't have issued the warning if he didn't have a good reason.
"Ma'am, my husband knows tsunamis. If he says there might be one coming, then we need to get ready."
"I agree. Bill, get my car. I'll tell the audience what's happening and then turn it over to Mrs. Tanaka."
"Certainly, ma'am," Kim said and hurried off the stage. If he'd had a tail, it would have been between his legs. Rachel stayed on the dais.
The governor turned back to the crowd with a somber face, and the audience silenced immediately.
"I apologize for the interruption. I have just been informed that a tsunami warning is about to be issued for the Hawaiian Islands." A buzz ran through the crowd, and the governor raised her hands to quiet them. "Now as you might have guessed, this will require me to cut the speech off here so that I may attend to the emergency…"
Rachel's walkie-talkie squawked to life, and she stepped off the dais to answer it. It was her assistant, Marian.
"Rachel, are you there?"
"Marian, did we get a tsunami warning?"
"It just came in a few seconds ago. How did you know?"
"That's not important. Get the book out and start following the emergency procedures. Make sure you notify the staff first. They need to keep the guests from panicking. I've already informed the governor."
"Got it."
"Hopefully, it's just a false alarm, so let's make sure this goes as smoothly as possible. I'll be down when I can."
"But…" Marian sputtered.
"The governor's wrapping up. I've got to go. Just keep calm." She replaced the walkie-talkie and stepped back onto the dais next to the governor.
"…so I urge you to stay where you are, and Mrs. Tanaka, the hotel manager, will see to it that you are well taken care of. Let us all pray that this is a false alarm so that we can continue with our holiday remembrances at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery later this afternoon. I hope to see you there. God bless us and God bless the United States of America."
The crowd applauded as the governor left with her gaggle of assistants, and Rachel took the podium. Hundreds of concerned faces looked up at her. She paused and then, making sure to keep her voice calm and professional, she addressed the group.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Rachel Tanaka, the hotel manager. This tsunami warning is an unpleasant development, but we'll try to do our best to make you comfortable until this is over. This hotel has been designed with the latest in tsunami safety design elements, and you are more than 60 feet above the ground here. Of course, you are free to leave if you desire, but we recommend that you stay where you are, enjoy our hospitality, and wait for the all-clear to sound. We will inform you about further developments as we get them. So sit back, relax, and I'm sure this will all be over quickly."
Chapter 14
10:07 AM
1 hour, 15 minutes to Wave Arrival Time
Teresa Gomez had just dozed off, soothed by the warm sand and light breeze from the ocean. When the warning siren went off, it startled her so much that the book resting on her hand went flying and landed next to an elderly couple sitting in beach chairs five feet away.
She sat up and looked around to see where the sound was coming from. After a few seconds, she spotted a bright yellow siren atop a pole a few hundred feet along the beach. The wail rose and dropped in pitch, not unlike the air raid sirens she had heard in movies.
The man in the chair rose and picked up the book. Although he wore a hat and had slathered his nose with zinc oxide, the man was only another hour from a severe sunburn on the rest of his body. He handed the book to her.
"Here you go," he said with a thick southern drawl. "You look pretty surprised."
"I was taking a nap," she said. "I wasn't expecting something so loud."
"Yeah, I wonder what the heck is going on. We getting bombed by the Japs again? And on Memorial Day, too." He laughed at what he thought was a good joke.
Teresa smiled wanly at the politically incorrect statement.
"I'm sure it's just a test," she said. "They probably do it every month."
"Oh yeah, I read about that on the plane over here from Mississippi. Hattiesburg is where we're from. Never been out to Hawaii before. Wanted to read all about it. Couldn't get Eunice here to read a bit of the book. Said she just wants to relax."
"So it's for the tsunami warning?"
"I guess. Thought the book said it was sometime around the beginning of the month. Maybe I didn't read it right."
The siren continued to wail. Teresa thought it would go off after just a minute, but the minute passed. It didn't stop.
"Darryl," Eunice said, "what is that siren?" She picked up a radio that had been at her side and nervously twiddled with the knobs.
Darryl patted her reassuringly. "It's a tsunami warning. Don't worry about it Eunice."
Teresa scanned the beach, and few of the other beachgoers even seemed to notice the siren. Most of them went on with whatever they were doing-playing, sunbathing, swimming. The siren seemed to have no affect on them, except that she saw several small children with their hands over their ears.
"That's funny," said Eunice. "The radio just said th
ere was a salami warning. I thought that meant there was something wrong with the lunch meat on the island."
"It's just a test. And it's tsunami, not salami. You know, a tidal wave."
"They didn't say it was a test. It just keeps repeating."
Teresa walked over to the radio to hear it for herself. An even, measured male voice issued from the ancient-looking device. She supposed the voice was intended to convey a sense of calm about the situation, to prevent panic, but she thought it seemed mechanical, too detached, as if he was describing the potential for afternoon showers.
"…warning for the Hawaiian Islands. This is not a drill. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has advised that a destructive tsunami may be approaching the coastline of Hawaii. Evacuation procedures are under way. It is recommended that you move to high ground immediately. All Hawaii telephone books include maps that show evacuation routes and safe areas under the section called Disaster Preparedness Info. The earliest arrival time for the tsunami is listed as follows: For the Big Island, the wave arrival time is approximately 10:44 AM. For Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, the wave arrival time is approximately 11:14 AM. For Oahu, the wave arrival time is approximately 11:22 AM…"
Teresa fumbled through her purse to get her watch. 10:08 AM. Only an hour and fourteen minutes until the tsunami arrived.
"…For Kauai, the wave arrival time is 11:35 AM. Please follow all instructions given by your local authorities." A brief pause, then, "This is a tsunami warning for the Hawaiian Islands. This is not a…"
After that, the message began to repeat.
"At least we know this isn't a test," said Teresa.
"Are you sure?" Darryl said.
She shook here head. "It wouldn't repeat. It would end with a message saying that it was only a test. And the siren would have stopped a while ago."
"You mean there's a real tidal wave coming?" Eunice said, alarmed at the prospect. "What should we do?"
"Is your hotel nearby?"
"Yeah," Darryl said, "it's that big one over there. The Hilton." He pointed to a thirty-story building.
"What's your room number?"
"2037."
"The twentieth floor. That's good. I think the best thing is to just go back to your hotel room until they say it's over."
"You should come with us. Got plenty of room. Maybe even order up some room service."
"I can't. I have to find my daughter and her friend."
"Oh my goodness, dear," Eunice said. "You don't know where they are?"
Teresa felt stung by the comment, even though she knew she didn't mean it as an indictment of her parenting skills.
"No. They went to go shopping."
"What store?" Darryl said.
Teresa shook her head. She pointed towards Diamond Head. "They went that way."
"How will you find them? They have a cell phone?"
Teresa was feeling worse as a mother by the minute. She had let her daughter go off to who-knows-where without any way of communicating with her. She didn't do anything different than a thousand other parents on this beach must have done. But the thought that she wasn't the only person who had lost track of her kids didn't make her feel any better.
Teresa put on her sarong and tank top. Her voice was strained at the thought of what to do next. "No, they don't have a cell phone. And my cell phone battery is almost dead anyway."
Eunice put a hand on Teresa's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll come back now that they've heard the sirens. We still have over an hour."
Teresa nodded in agreement. The best thing for her to do was stay calm and stay where she was. If she left in search of them, she would surely miss them. And if they returned while she was gone, they might do something stupid, like go in search of her.
She just had to hope that they would be back any minute.
Chapter 15
10:09 AM
1 hour, 13 minutes to Wave Arrival Time
Lani paddled her kayak next to Mia and the two boys that they had met only 30 minutes ago. By this time, they had to be at least a half-mile from shore. Lani was still bewildered at the sequence of events that had gotten her out there.
After they had left Teresa to read her book, she and Mia had wandered along the beach, looking at the vast horde of sunbathers, the families playing in the water, the surfers paddling out to take on their first attempts at waves, the college students playing Frisbee, the vendors of all sorts hawking snacks and kitschy souvenirs. Lani loved it. She didn't know anywhere else you could find such a cross-section of humanity.
As they walked, she noticed how Mia kept eyeing the boys that passed them. The day was glorious. The strong smell of suntan lotion complemented the salty breeze coming off the ocean. A raucous crowd of boys played beach volleyball, and Mia waved at one of them. Lani pulled Mia's arm down and raced forward giggling. But inside, Lani could only wish for that kind of confidence.
Of the two of them, Lani had always been the tomboy, excellent at athletics, ready to try any sport. She played soccer and volleyball, surfed, loved any kind of water sports. She even played star shortstop on the otherwise all-boy little league baseball team, where some of her teammates would barely talk to her because they resented her athletic skills. And because Lani was shy, making friends with girls was even harder.
Mia, on the other hand, was a girly girl. Girls wanted to hang out with her because she was so cool and pretty and seemed to know the latest trends in fashion, even though her mom still didn't have much money to spend on clothes. She danced on the drill team, took ballet lessons, and had even been out on a date. Her mom had driven her to the mall movie theater and back, but Mia had kissed the boy. Lani felt like she was falling behind Mia.
When she and Mia were about half a mile from Teresa, Mia pulled her to a stop.
"Look."
Mia pointed at the two boys that had passed them earlier when they had been looking for a spot on the beach with Teresa. Now that she had a better look at them, Lani thought she recognized one of them. He was taller than the other boy and seemed more sure of himself. His mocha-colored hair tousled in a mop, he sported the deep brown skin of a native islander, while the other boy, blond and three inches shorter, still had the remnants of a farmer's tan. Both boys were walking ahead of them and to the side, listening to iPods.
"What about them?"
"Let's go say hi," Mia said, pushing Lani forward. Lani dug her feet into the sand.
"No. I don't want to."
"Come on. It'll be fun."
"But I know one of them."
"Really? Which one?"
"The one on the left."
"The tall one? He's cute. But not as cute as the other one. Introduce me."
"What do I say?" Lani was no good at that kind of thing.
"Say my name," Mia said.
"I don't know."
"Well, if you really want, I'll talk to them. Come on."
Mia kept pushing, and Lani reluctantly went along. They cut in front of the boys, who took out their earbuds when Mia practically stopped them in their tracks.
"Hi!" the tall boy said in recognition. "Where are your boogie boards?"
"We're not boogie boarding right now," Mia said. "We're going shopping."
"Hey, don't I know you?" he said, looking at Lani.
"Me?" Lani said, gulping silently. He had actually noticed her!
"Yeah, you go to my school, right? IPA?"
The boy looked different out of his school uniform, but it was definitely him. He was a couple of grades ahead of her at Island Pacific Academy, so she never thought she'd actually meet him, that he'd just stay a hallway crush.
"Yes. I'm a freshman."
"Her name is Lani. I'm Mia."
"Cool. My name's Tom. This is Jake. He's visiting from Michigan." Jake nodded at them. "Hey, we were thinking of heading out onto the water."
Lani felt herself uncharacteristically speaking up, perhaps in competition with Mia.
"Surfing?"
Jake ju
mped into the conversation. "We rented some sea kayaks for the week," he said. "Have you ever been on a kayak?"
"Sure," Lani said. "We both have." Lani had paddled sea kayaks six or seven times since moving to Hawaii, but as far as she knew, Mia had never even seen one.
"Sweet," said Tom. "You want to come with us?"
Mia turned and shook her head at Lani. When Mia had suggested talking to the boys, Lani was sure that doing something athletic was the last thing on her mind. Lani beseeched her silently, and this time, it was Mia that relented.
"Yeah," Mia said with little enthusiasm. "We'd love to."
"Awesome. The kayaks are just up the beach." He started walking, and the girls and Jake followed.
"You both from around here?" said Tom.
"Mia's just visiting from Seattle."
"Must be good to get out of the rain."
"Yeah," Mia said, "it's pretty cool here." And for the first time since she'd moved there, Lani felt like it was cool. "Are the kayaks big enough to fit two people?"
"They're single-seaters, but we have four of them," Tom said. "My parents are away for the day. Some Memorial Day ceremony."
After a few minutes of walking, Tom stopped on the beach next to a large condominium.
"OK," he said. "You wait here."
"I thought you said we were going to kayak," Mia said.
"The kayaks are back at our condo," Tom said. "We were going to go this afternoon when my parents got back."
"They're sit-on-tops," Jake said. "And we've got life jackets and paddles."
"We'll be back in a minute."
While Tom and Jake sprinted across the street and disappeared into a parking garage, Lani quickly explained to Mia about the kayaks. Instead of enclosing the kayaker inside like a river kayak, the plastic shell of a sit-on-top kayak was molded so that the seat perched on top. Although sit-on-tops were better for warm weather because you didn't get as hot, they were also less stable. Mia wasn't happy to hear that given her inexperience, but Lani tried to reassure her that paddling in them was easy.
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