broadcast.” He gave Reggie the
web address of the video feed.
Reggie typed it in and they saw a jittery picture of the Johnston Island runway. The twin-engine supply plane carrying their
five comrades was on its takeoff roll. In afew seconds it lifted into the air and circled the island to wait until it was clear to land again.
“Can we record what we’re seeing?” asked Kai.
In a flurry of mouse clicks too fast for Kai to follow, Reggie started a recording application. “This will let us analyze
the data later,” he said.
Kai had already told Aspen about the loss of contact with Christmas Island. The British scientist seemed remarkably composed.
“Well,” came Aspen’s voice through the speaker, “we have Charlotte and the rest safely away. I have to say, Dr. Tanaka, this
is all quite exciting for us. Just what we needed to liven up our normal routine.” A muffled voice came through behind Aspen’s.
“And Brent reminds me that we even have a thermos of tea to help us weather the storm, as it were.”
“Believe me, Dr. Aspen,” Kai said, “I hope I’m wrong.”
“I don’t know what more we could do.”
“You’ll be our first confirmation as to whether we’re dealing with a true tsunami or not. You’re on a concrete structure,
correct?”
“It couldn’t be more solid. You Americans certainly don’t mind wasting construction material. This is the safest place we
can be within walking distance. It might be the strongest structure on the island, by the look of it. We didn’t bring any
vehicles, of course.”
“How high are you?”
“I would say we’re thirty feet above the ground.”
The camera panned around to show a wide, flat roof, and then the jaunty figure of Aspen in a wide-brimmed hat, T-shirt, and
shorts, holding a large phone to his ear as he waved to the camera. The voice came out slightly ahead of the image from the
camera, so it looked like a badly dubbed foreign film.
“We are now moving the camera to the edge of the roof facing the ocean. As you mentioned, the tsunami should arrive from the
southeast, so that is the direction that you will be looking.”
After a few more seconds of nausea-inducing wobbles, the camera came to a stop atop a tripod, with Aspen now out of the picture.
A narrow road led away from the building, passing several structures before it petered out at the beach. In the distance,
breakers could be seen curling over the reef that encircled the island.
“To give you a sense of perspective,” Aspen said, “the two buildings you see directly in front of us are single-story wooden
structures roughly fifteen feet in height. I would estimate that the shoreline is about five hundred yards away. That is about
as far as we could get from the ocean and still find a strong building. I’d be quite surprised if the water got even this
far inland.”
Another indistinct mumbling in the background.
“Brent thought he spotted a wave on the horizon, but it was just another big breaker on the reef.”
“Dr. Aspen,” Kai said, “it’s likely that the first thing you’ll see is the water receding from the shore.”
“Right. We’ll keep on the lookout … Wait a minute. I think I see what you’re talking about.”
A second later Kai could see the ocean noticeably receding from the beach, visible even with the poor video. He had seen similar
video and pictures from other tsunamis, particularly the Asian tsunami, but seeing it in real time was literally breathtaking.
“It’s a spectacular sight, really,” Aspen said. “It’s like no ebb tide I’ve ever seen.”
Kai watched in wide-eyed wonder as the water went out. By the time it had withdrawn a couple hundred yards, he expected the
tide to start reversing and come back. But to his astonishment it kept going out.
“Sweet Jesus,” said Reggie. “It’s happening.”
Aspen continued to cheerfully report what he was observing.
“I’d guess the water has gone
web address of the video feed.
Reggie typed it in and they saw a jittery picture of the Johnston Island runway. The twin-engine supply plane carrying their
five comrades was on its takeoff roll. In afew seconds it lifted into the air and circled the island to wait until it was clear to land again.
“Can we record what we’re seeing?” asked Kai.
In a flurry of mouse clicks too fast for Kai to follow, Reggie started a recording application. “This will let us analyze
the data later,” he said.
Kai had already told Aspen about the loss of contact with Christmas Island. The British scientist seemed remarkably composed.
“Well,” came Aspen’s voice through the speaker, “we have Charlotte and the rest safely away. I have to say, Dr. Tanaka, this
is all quite exciting for us. Just what we needed to liven up our normal routine.” A muffled voice came through behind Aspen’s.
“And Brent reminds me that we even have a thermos of tea to help us weather the storm, as it were.”
“Believe me, Dr. Aspen,” Kai said, “I hope I’m wrong.”
“I don’t know what more we could do.”
“You’ll be our first confirmation as to whether we’re dealing with a true tsunami or not. You’re on a concrete structure,
correct?”
“It couldn’t be more solid. You Americans certainly don’t mind wasting construction material. This is the safest place we
can be within walking distance. It might be the strongest structure on the island, by the look of it. We didn’t bring any
vehicles, of course.”
“How high are you?”
“I would say we’re thirty feet above the ground.”
The camera panned around to show a wide, flat roof, and then the jaunty figure of Aspen in a wide-brimmed hat, T-shirt, and
shorts, holding a large phone to his ear as he waved to the camera. The voice came out slightly ahead of the image from the
camera, so it looked like a badly dubbed foreign film.
“We are now moving the camera to the edge of the roof facing the ocean. As you mentioned, the tsunami should arrive from the
southeast, so that is the direction that you will be looking.”
After a few more seconds of nausea-inducing wobbles, the camera came to a stop atop a tripod, with Aspen now out of the picture.
A narrow road led away from the building, passing several structures before it petered out at the beach. In the distance,
breakers could be seen curling over the reef that encircled the island.
“To give you a sense of perspective,” Aspen said, “the two buildings you see directly in front of us are single-story wooden
structures roughly fifteen feet in height. I would estimate that the shoreline is about five hundred yards away. That is about
as far as we could get from the ocean and still find a strong building. I’d be quite surprised if the water got even this
far inland.”
Another indistinct mumbling in the background.
“Brent thought he spotted a wave on the horizon, but it was just another big breaker on the reef.”
“Dr. Aspen,” Kai said, “it’s likely that the first thing you’ll see is the water receding from the shore.”
“Right. We’ll keep on the lookout … Wait a minute. I think I see what you’re talking about.”
A second later Kai could see the ocean noticeably receding from the beach, visible even with the poor video. He had seen similar
video and pictures from other tsunamis, particularly the Asian tsunami, but seeing it in real time was literally breathtaking.
“It’s a spectacular sight, really,” Aspen said. “It’s like no ebb tide I’ve ever seen.”
Kai watched in wide-eyed wonder as the water went out. By the time it had withdrawn a couple hundred yards, he expected the
tide to start reversing and come back. But to his astonishment it kept going out.
“Sweet Jesus,” said Reggie. “It’s happening.”
Aspen continued to cheerfully report what he was observing.
“I’d guess the water has gone
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