quake more precisely. I'm also scanning the NSN database to check our readings against theirs.' They had a direct feed from the National Seismic Network, the data source for the NEIC estimations.
Kai nodded in appreciation for how fast Reggie moved. 'Good work. You should also do some data analysis on the seafloor in that region. Make sure the earthquake didn't trigger a landslide. After Christmas Island, our next tide reading won't be until the wave reaches Johnston Island.'
Then Kai remembered something and snapped his fingers.
'Hey, isn't the
Reggie tapped on his computer. 'Yeah, they started setting it up two days ago. They should be there for another week.' He overlaid the ship's location on the earthquake map. Before the Asia tsunami, there were only six operational DART buoys: three off the Alaskan coast, two between Hawaii and the west coast of the US, and one about 2000 miles away from Chile. But more were scheduled to be activated around the Pacific, one of the few positive outcomes of the Southeast Asia disaster. The buoy they were currently testing was intended for the coastline of Russia.
'Is the buoy active?'
'The buoy itself is operational, but the satellite uplink wasn't scheduled to be tested for another couple of days. There's no reason that we couldn't radio them to switch on the uplink.'
'This might be a good test for them. At their location, they should be getting a wave reading just about the same time Johnston Island does.'
'I'll call NOAA and have them radio the ship.'
'What do you need from me?'
'You need to handle the tour group,' Reggie said, pointing toward the reception area.
The buzzer for the front gate sounded. The tour group was here.
'Looks like it's show time. Come find me when we get the tide readings from Christmas Island.'
Kai took a deep breath and steeled himself for the tour. It looked like it was going to be a busy day after all.
Chapter 6
Only a couple of miles from Waikiki, Teresa and the girls sat in the Jeep, frustrated by an accident ahead of them on the H1 that had slowed traffic to a crawl. It looked like everyone who wasn't working that day was heading down to Waikiki.
The whole purpose of Teresa and Mia's visit was to see the Tanakas, so when Teresa had found out how far the Grand Hawaiian was from their house, she asked to bunk at their place even though Rachel could have gotten them a room at the hotel. Teresa thought it was a small price to pay for staying with Kai and Rachel. Still, she could have done without the traffic on her vacation. She got enough of it in Seattle.
Teresa had been a nurse when she met Kai and Rachel during Lamaze class. She had hit it off immediately with Rachel, but the lout she was married to at the time didn't get along as well with Kai. However, since he traveled constantly for his sales job, leaving Teresa at home alone all the time once Mia was born, she and Rachel became inseparable.
They got even closer once Rachel, after years of whittling away, finally convinced Teresa to follow her dream and go to med school. Teresa's husband, who wanted her to give up nursing and medicine altogether and become a stay-at-home mother with five children, filed for divorce. Of course, it turned out that he'd been having serial affairs on his business trips. Teresa had been humiliated and left virtually penniless. The only consolation had been full custody of Mia. During that difficult period, Rachel had been a rock, and Lani and Mia spent a lot of time together.
When Kai decided to take the post of Director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Lani was devastated at the thought of leaving Mia. So as soon as Teresa had a week off from her third year of residency, she planned a trip to Hawaii, and the Tanakas happily agreed to host them. Now it looked like the visit was causing some friction.
Teresa remembered the look on Kai's face before she had left earlier. She hoped Rachel and Kai weren't having problems themselves. Probably just a little spat. She couldn't imagine Kai doing anything like her husband did. He was always so supportive of Rachel's career. Teresa would remind Rachel at the luau how lucky she was to have a guy like Kai.
'When are we going to get there?' whined Mia, who fidgeted in the back seat.
'What are you, six years old?' Teresa said.
'That was rhetorical.'
'That's good. Next, I thought you were going to say we had to stop so you could go tinkle.'
'Yeah right, Mom!'
'It looks like a pretty bad accident up ahead.' Teresa turned to Lani. 'Do you know a better way to the beach?'
Lani shook her head. 'We don't go to Waikiki much. We don't go anywhere much.'
Teresa could hear the resigned disappointment in Lani's voice. She tried to lift her spirits.
'Well, we have lots planned this week,' Teresa said. 'But first, Waikiki. Maybe your dad knows a different route.'
As she continued to creep forward at little more than five miles an hour, Teresa took her cell phone out of her purse and flipped it open to dial Kai's cell. The battery power indicator was nearly empty.
'Oh, great!' Teresa blurted out.
'What?' both girls said simultaneously.
'My phone's almost dead. I guess I forgot to charge it last night.'
'See, Mom. I told you I should have a cell phone.'
'One situation where it might be useful does not constitute a need for you to have a phone. Besides, I probably have a couple of minutes of talk time left. Lani, what's your dad's cell phone number?' Teresa dialed Kai's number as Lani rattled it off.
The phone rang once before it went through to voice mail.
'His phone must be off,' she said as Kai's greeting played. 'He's giving that tour.' The tone beeped.
'Hi Kai, it's Teresa. We're still in the car. There's some kind of backup on the H1, and I was just calling to see if you knew an alternate route. Unfortunately, you won't be able to call me back because my cell phone battery is dying. I'm going to turn it off to save what's left. But we're still on target for tonight. Hope you're having a good day. See you later.'
As Teresa powered her phone off, Mia leaned forward in the back seat.
'Mom, can Brad come scuba diving with us on Thursday?'
Teresa furrowed her brow at Mia through the rear-view mirror.
'Don't you think he has work to do?'
'He seemed interested in coming with us today.' She grinned at her mom. Teresa knew when somebody was setting her up.
'We'll see.'
'I don't think he'll go,' Lani said. 'He had a scuba diving accident a long time ago.'
'Did he get the bends?' Teresa asked. 'By the way he was driving that bike, it looks like he wasn't permanently injured.'
'Well, maybe not an accident. He didn't get hurt. He was diving with my dad somewhere in the Caribbean. He got locked inside a shipwreck, and his oxygen got really low before they could get him out.'
'I'm not sure I want to go now,' Teresa said. She had never been diving before. The thought of being stuck underwater was not pleasant.
'Me neither,' Mia said.
