Kai had decided to call Rachel himself this time. He needed her to know how dangerous the situation was, especially because what he was telling her sounded so improbable.
'It's good you didn't have Brad call me,' Rachel said. 'Then I'd be sure it was joke.'
'I know this sounds crazy, but it's what the data are telling us.'
'My God! An asteroid? I can't believe it.'
'I know. But if I'm right, nobody is safe in that hotel.'
'What about the Starlight restaurant on the 28th floor? We've got lots of room up there.'
'Rachel, even if the wave doesn't reach that high, the building might collapse.'
'But we have over a thousand guests staying in the hotel. Not to mention a ballroom full of disabled veterans.'
'You've got to start evacuating them now. Do you have any buses for them?'
'I had some scheduled to pick them up and take them to the cemetery for the ceremony this afternoon, but they're not supposed to be here for another hour.'
'Look, it's at least a 15 minute walk to a safe zone from there. That means you've only got about 30 minutes left to get everyone out.'
'That's not enough time…'
'Rachel, the tsunami doesn't care if it's enough time. That's when it's going to get here. And anyone left in the hotel after that time won't make it.'
Kai could hear a pause while she tried to accept what he was telling her.
'OK,' she finally said. 'Where should they go?'
'They should use one of the west bridges off of Waikiki and then just head uphill until they can't go any farther. The best would be for them to try to get up to the Punchbowl or into one of the hillside neighborhoods. If they aren't safe there, I don't know where they'll be safe.' Punchbowl National Cemetery was an extinct volcanic crater holding vast rows of veterans' graves. The sides of it were over 400 feet high.
'What about Lani? What about Teresa and Mia?'
'I haven't heard from them. I'm sure they've heard the warnings and are heading to high ground as we speak.'
'Then why haven't they called?'
'The phone lines are jammed. I'm lucky I got through to you. Plus Teresa's phone battery is dead. She probably doesn't want to stop and call us from a landline until she's safe. Which is the right thing to do.'
'OK. But let me know the minute you hear anything. I better get going. I've got a lot of people to evacuate.'
'Rachel, promise me you'll be walking in 30 minutes.'
'I promise that as soon as I get everyone out, I'll get out too.'
'If you don't get out before that, you'll be stuck in the hotel. There won't be time to get to safety between the waves. They're too big.'
'I understand that, Kai, but I am responsible for these people. I have to do my job.'
'I know. Go do it. And honey, I love you.'
'I love you, too,' Rachel said. 'I'll see you when this is over.'
She hung up. Kai stared at the phone, hoping to hell that she was right.
Rachel immediately got on her walkie-talkie.
'Marian, come in.'
'This is Marian. Rachel, are you watching the TV?'
'No, I'm up in the ballroom.'
'They just issued a new tsunami warning. But now they're saying…'
'They're saying it's going to be a lot bigger, and they're telling us to evacuate the hotel.'
'So you are watching it.'
'It doesn't matter. We've got to evacuate.'
'I was having problems just getting people to go back to their rooms. We're swamped down here in the lobby.'
'I know. You've been sending the guests with rooms on the first, second, and third floors to the Wailea Ballroom, right?'
'Yes, that's the procedure.'
'Not any more. Go up and tell them to leave the hotel. They should head up Kalakaua Avenue. Then have them go up Manoa Road to Woodlawn.'
'Woodlawn? That's got to be at least three miles away.'
'I know. That might be far enough inland.'
'Are you kidding?'
'I'm not kidding,' she said. 'Just do it.'
'OK, but how do I convince the guests? Some of them have asked me where the best place to view the tsunami is.' Marian paused for a moment. 'What if we set off the fire alarm?'
'I thought about that,' Rachel said, 'but it might make people more confused. They might think it's an alarm for the tsunami and stay where they are.'
'Then what about the people already in their rooms?'
'First, spread the word to the staff that we're evacuating the hotel. Then after you've informed the guests in the Wailea Ballroom of what's going on, take five of the front desk staff and go room to room and make sure people know to evacuate.'
'What if they won't?'
'We can't force them to leave, but make sure they understand how dangerous the situation is. Remember, my husband is the Director of the PTWC. If he says to get out, we're going to damn well do it.'
'And what about you?'
'I've got 500 guests in the Kamehameha Ballroom. I don't leave until they do.'
Chapter 23
Captain Martin Wainwright peered through the cockpit window of his C-130H at the bright blue ocean below. The chatter coming over the radio was like nothing he had heard before in his eight years of flying for the 314th Airlift Wing. Reports were being thrown around about an immense tsunami heading towards Hawaii, but from an altitude of 31,000 feet, the sea looked as calm and flat as a pond in his native Tennessee.
The Air Force transport under his command had been flying for more than three hours on a mission from San Diego to Hickam Air Base carrying three brand new Humvees for delivery to the naval base at Pearl Harbor. He was expecting the usual milk run for him and his three crewmates: land at Hickam, secure the aircraft, get off base for a few hours of sightseeing at Waikiki, hit the barracks for some sack time, then ferry a load of equipment back to the mainland the next day. Nothing that he hadn't done a dozen times before. But the order he was now being given by the Honolulu Air Traffic Control Center was extraordinary.
'This is Air Force 547,' Wainwright said. He wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. 'Say again, Honolulu control. You're closing Hickam?'
'Roger that, 547,' the controller said, his voice clipped and strained. 'You are instructed to turn back immediately to the mainland and make for the nearest possible landing site.'
'That's a negative, Honolulu control. We're past the point of no return.' The four-engine turbo prop had already sucked up over half the fuel in its tanks. They wouldn't make it within 300 miles of San Diego before they ran out of gas. The Hawaiian Islands was one of the most remote archipelagos in the world, which meant that there weren't any other choices to land.
