started to tell Brad to butt out from habit but changed his mind when he realized 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.”
“Okay. 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, but the region we’re talking about is nowhere near a continental shelf.”
Reggie threw up his hands. “So we have an earthquake that’s too small to generate 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. CNN was running the story of the missing TransPacific flight, the
TransPac logo prominent in the corner. 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. It was incredible, but it was the only explanation they hadn’t considered.
“It can’t be,” he said.
“What?” Reggie said.
“We’ve completely ignored one possibility. It’s crazy, but everything fits. I hope to God I’m wrong—knock on wood.” Though
not normally superstitious, Kai rapped the frame of the cork bulletin board on the wall. But it didn’t matter: he knew he
was right.
“What are you talking about?” Reggie said.
“Okay,” Kai said, “here’s the deal. Remember that discussion we had about Crawford and Mader?”
Reggie furrowed his brow for a second, then snappedhis fingers and smiled. “Right! Yeah, I said their research was fun, but it was a waste of time. You said—”
Reggie abruptly stopped, his 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.”
“No! No, no, no, no, no!” Reggie said with a look of stunned disbelief. “I just finished remodeling my house 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 house?”
“In about an hour,” Kai said, “Reggie’s house won’t be there anymore.”
SEVENTEEN
10:15 a.m
.
1 Hour and 7 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time
S ince Renfro’s call with Kai, the Hawaii State Civil Defense staffer and his two colleagues on the holiday skeleton crew, Michelle
Rankin and Ronald Deakins, had been on the phone nonstop. Renfro had the governor and the mayor of Honolulu on conference
call. Both were on their way downtown to their offices.
“What’s your ETA, Governor?” Renfro said.
“I’ll be back at the Capitol in a few minutes. The holiday traffic was already bad, and more people are getting on the road
every minute. My cabinet is spread out all over the city. We’ve been trying to get in touch with them since we left the hotel.”
“And
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.”
“Okay. 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, but the region we’re talking about is nowhere near a continental shelf.”
Reggie threw up his hands. “So we have an earthquake that’s too small to generate 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. CNN was running the story of the missing TransPacific flight, the
TransPac logo prominent in the corner. 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. It was incredible, but it was the only explanation they hadn’t considered.
“It can’t be,” he said.
“What?” Reggie said.
“We’ve completely ignored one possibility. It’s crazy, but everything fits. I hope to God I’m wrong—knock on wood.” Though
not normally superstitious, Kai rapped the frame of the cork bulletin board on the wall. But it didn’t matter: he knew he
was right.
“What are you talking about?” Reggie said.
“Okay,” Kai said, “here’s the deal. Remember that discussion we had about Crawford and Mader?”
Reggie furrowed his brow for a second, then snappedhis fingers and smiled. “Right! Yeah, I said their research was fun, but it was a waste of time. You said—”
Reggie abruptly stopped, his 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.”
“No! No, no, no, no, no!” Reggie said with a look of stunned disbelief. “I just finished remodeling my house 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 house?”
“In about an hour,” Kai said, “Reggie’s house won’t be there anymore.”
SEVENTEEN
10:15 a.m
.
1 Hour and 7 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time
S ince Renfro’s call with Kai, the Hawaii State Civil Defense staffer and his two colleagues on the holiday skeleton crew, Michelle
Rankin and Ronald Deakins, had been on the phone nonstop. Renfro had the governor and the mayor of Honolulu on conference
call. Both were on their way downtown to their offices.
“What’s your ETA, Governor?” Renfro said.
“I’ll be back at the Capitol in a few minutes. The holiday traffic was already bad, and more people are getting on the road
every minute. My cabinet is spread out all over the city. We’ve been trying to get in touch with them since we left the hotel.”
“And
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