Free The Tsunami Countdown by Boyd Morrison Page B

didn’t mean that Brad couldn’t call them.
    “Try Teresa’s cell. Her battery was dying, but she still might have it on. Then call Rachel and let her know what’s happening.
     All the hotels are part of the warning system, but it can’t hurt to call her anyway.” Kai handed Brad his cell phone. “She’s
     busy this morning, so she probably won’t answer it unless she sees that it’s my phone number. If she doesn’t answer, choose
     the pager option when you get her greeting, then dial 999. That’s our code for an emergency.” Kai had instituted the code
     three years ago when Lani broke her leg playing soccer and he wasn’t been able to get Rachel to answer her phone for two hours.
    Brad took the phone and went into the conference room to make the call. Reggie almost knocked him over running into the ops
     center.
    “I got ’em!” he said.
    “The scientists? Thank God! How many are there?”
    “Seven.”
    “Do they have a boat?”
    “No, but they have a plane. The weekly supply flight from Hawaii didn’t take the holiday off. But there’s a problem.”
    Kai’s stomach sank. “With the plane? It can’t take off?”
    “Oh, it can take off. In fact, they should be getting into the air in a few minutes. But it’s just a small supply plane. It
     can only take five of the scientists. Two of them will have to stay behind.”
    At that exact moment, Kai heard the first wail of the tsunami siren.

THIRTEEN
    10:05 a.m
.
1 Hour and 17 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time
    R ealizing she could do nothing more for the Russian tour group until the interpreter arrived in about an hour, Rachel had turned
     her full attention to the most important event taking place at the hotel: the governor’s veterans brunch. The event had been
     under way for five minutes, right on time despite the ramp problem. Rachel stood at the back watching Governor Elizabeth Kalama
     give her speech, ready to make sure any potential issues were resolved quickly and quietly.
    Because Rachel’s job was all about communication, she carried a walkie-talkie and cell phone at all times. The walkie-talkie
     was for in-hotel communications with the staff, and the cell phone connected her with external vendors and clients. Either
     one could go off at any time. This time it was her cell phone. She had it set to vibrate mode so that it wouldn’t interrupt
     the speech from the dais.
    She pulled it from her belt and looked at the number. It was Kai’s cell phone. She sighed and replaced it on her belt, letting
     it go to voice mail.
    After another few seconds her cell phone’s pager feature went off. She picked it up again and looked at the number typed in
     the display, expecting to see Kai’s cell phone number again. Instead, she saw 999. Their emergency code.
    She called him back immediately.
    “Kai?” she whispered. “What’s going on?”
    “Rachel, it’s Brad.”
    “Brad? Where’s Kai?”
    “He’s busy. He wanted you to know that he just issued a tsunami warning.”
    “Oh, no! Right now?”
    “Yeah, you should be getting the official warning in a few minutes.”
    “Oh my God! I’m at a brunch in our ballroom. The governor’s here.”
    “Wait a sec.” She heard Brad in the background say, “She’s got the friggin’ governor with her.”
    Kai’s voice came on the line.
    “It’s me, hon.”
    “So, a tsunami is really coming?”
    “We don’t know for sure yet, but it looks like it.”
    “Jesus! When is it supposed to get here?”
    “In a little more than an hour.”
    “An hour? You said that a tsunami from Alaska would take five hours to get here.”
    “It’s not from Alaska.”
    “A local one? The Big Island?” Rachel knew that a tsunami caused by landslides or earthquakes in the Hawaiian Islands would
     take less than forty-five minutes to reach Oahu.
    “No, somewhere in the Pacific. Listen, Rachel, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you soon. Here’s Brad again. Be safe.”
    A raspy sound came through as the phone