“Look, if it weren’t for him, none of us would be standing here right now. You, me, your family, for God’s sake. We’d all be dead.”
“It’s not that. That chopper is on the other side of Oahu. It’ll take at least fifteen minutes to get back to Wheeler and unload.”
“Damn!”
“Do you have that kind of time?”
“No. Don’t you have anything else?”
“Look, I’ll send out an alert, but I can’t promise anything. It’s absolute chaos out there. Most of the choppers are running low on gas, and Wheeler is overloaded trying to refuel them all.” When he saw the pleading look on Reggie’s face, Johnson said, “I’ll see what I can do. But you might want to find another option.”
“Thanks,” Reggie said, looking around for ideas. He wasn’t going to give up now that he actually had a chance to save them. Who besides the military would have access to a helicopter? Then he glanced through the office window and saw his solution. He ran outside.
Lara Pimalo, the CBS reporter who had broadcast from the PTWC, was just outside the building where Reggie had his temporary office. As thanks for evacuating him, Reggie had let Pimalo and her cameraman ride in the Humvee to Wheeler after they had abandoned the station’s truck.
She looked like she had just wrapped up a report and was holding her microphone lazily at her side, but when she saw Reggie she gestured to the cameraman to start rolling. Reggie put up his hands to stop her.
“I’m not here to be interviewed,” he said. “I need something.”
“You need something from
“You have a CBS helicopter over Waikiki.”
“Well, we rented it from a sightseeing company. Cost a mint too.”
“Kai Tanaka is stranded on top of a building in Waikiki. Do you know the reporter in that helicopter?”
“There’s no reporter in it, just a camerawoman.”
“Kai found his wife and daughter.” Reggie had told her about Lani and Rachel on their ride to Wheeler.
“They’re all alive? That’s incredible.”
“But now they’re stranded, and the military won’t give me another helicopter.”
“I don’t know if I have that much pull.”
“He gave your station something no one else had. And now he has one of the best stories to tell the world about this disaster.”
Pimalo exchanged glances with her cameraman. Reggie saw the hesitation, but he knew the phrase that would push her buttons.
“Ms. Pimalo,” Reggie said, “how would your network like another exclusive?”
FORTY-EIGHT
A few minutes after Rachel hung up with Reggie, a helicopter that had been flying along the coast angled over. “Your friend is fast,” Paige said to Rachel. Rachel was surprised and impressed at Reggie’s feat. The sightseeing chopper, one of the AStars popular with the tourists in her hotel, had
“Are we glad to see you!” Rachel said. “Reggie must have gotten through to you.”
“They did say something about a Reggie,” the pilot said. “The station that hired me called to tell me to pick you up. You’re lucky. I was about to head over to Portlock when we got the call about you. Hop in.”
“Wait. There’s more of us.”
“How many more?”
“Five, including three kids.” Rachel looked at the helicopter’s cramped interior. “One of the adults is pretty heavy.”
“That would make ten altogether.”
“Can you get us all in?”
“This is only a seven-person chopper, including me. I might be able to squeeze more than that in, but one or two of you will have to stay behind.”
Rachel didn’t like the sound of that, but she guessed that he was being conservative. They’d deal with that when they were all on the roof.
“Fine,” she said.
The pilot looked around the empty rooftop. “Where are they?”
“We need you to come with us.”
“What? Where?”
“A man is injured. We can’t carry him up on our own.”
“Are you kidding?”
“What do you think?” Rachel said, wringing out the tail of her coat for effect.
“I can’t leave the helicopter here.”
“What about you?” Rachel said, pointing at the sinewy camerawoman. “He’s too heavy for three of us to lift. He’s unconscious. With four of us, it’ll only take a few minutes.”
Up to this point, the camerawoman had been silent.
“Hey, I’m not a medic,” she said. “I’m supposed to be filming.”
“We just need help carrying him.”
The camerawoman turned to the pilot. “Nobody said anything about leaving the chopper when we got the call.”
“Please,” Rachel said. “He’ll die.”
“Do you know how many people have died already today?”
“Do you want there to be one more?” Rachel pointed at the ocean, already receding from shore. “We don’t have much time.”
The camerawoman paused, and then sighed and put the camera down on the seat.
“I better get some good shots out of this. Where is he?”
“Thank you. He’s this way.”
Rachel led her down the stairs.
As they walked, she called Kai back to tell him what Reggie had said about the three-hundred-foot wave that was heading their way and that he had sent a helicopter for them.
“Are you boarding the chopper?” Kai said.
“No, we’ve got an injured man here. I asked someone to help us get him to the roof.”
“Who are you talking to?” the camerawoman asked.
“My husband. He’s on top of another building.”
“We don’t have room to take all of you, let alone another group.”
“I know. Are there more choppers coming?”
The camerawoman shook her head. “We’re it. Can you dial up other frequencies with that thing?” She nodded at the walkie-talkie.
“I don’t know. They preprogram it for me.” She keyed the button. “Hold on, Kai.” She handed it to the camerawoman, who examined it for a moment and then returned it.
“Looks like you can. Just twist that knob on the side. You should be able to get the frequency the pilot’s using. You might be able to reach someone who can get them.”
“Kai,” Rachel said, “there’s not enough room on this helicopter for you guys, so you’ll have to call another
