The Tsunami Countdown Read Online Free PDF

earshot and explained the problem with the dais. This guy picked the wrong
     day to mess with her.
    “The ramp is useless. Now, if you want to continue to do business at this hotel—a hotel that’s scheduled to have over a hundred
     and fifty conferences this year—you better get back up here and fix that ramp in the next twenty minutes.”
    “Just a minute.”
    Another few moments of silence. Then Chaver came back sounding much more contrite.
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Tanaka. I just checked with one of my guys. He installed the wrong ramp. We’ve got the right one in our truck.
     I’ll be there in a minute.”
    “Good.” Rachel walked back to Lateen. “A Mr. Lateen will be up here to describe exactly what he needs,” shetold Chaver. “He is a very important guest, and I expect you to extend him every courtesy.”
    “Of course. I’m on my way.”
    She replaced the walkie-talkie on her belt.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Tanaka,” Lateen said. “I appreciate your help.”
    “Not at all. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I hope this won’t discourage you from using our hotel in the future.”
    “If we get this fixed, you can consider me satisfied.” Chaver arrived, and Rachel left him with Lateen to get the ramp changed.
    As she walked away, her cell phone rang. It was Teresa.
    “Are you still awake?” she said.
    “Are you kidding?” Teresa said. “Most nights I’d kill for five hours’ sleep.”
    “Thanks for staying up late. You’ve got so many good stories about the hospital.”
    “I just told you the glamorous stuff. Tonight I’ll tell you the things I normally deal with, like strung-out junkies, idiotic
     insurance forms, and every bodily fluid you can imagine. It’s not pretty.”
    “I’m still proud of you.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m proud of you too.”
    “For what?”
    “For having such a great family. You’ve got something good going there.”
    “I know. Thanks.”
    “Okay, I gotta go. The juice on my cell is running low.”
    “Wait! The reason I wanted you to call was because I reserved you a spot in the Grand Hawaiian parking garage. Just tell them
     I sent you.”
    “You kick ass, Rachel! I’ll see you later.”
    “Bye.”
    Rachel got only two steps back into the skybridge when her walkie-talkie crackled to life. It was Max.
    “Rachel, we have a problem with the Russian tour group.”
    “What’s the problem? Something with their rooms?”
    “I don’t know. I can’t understand them. But they’re getting pretty irate.”
    “There’s no interpreter?”
    “Nope. And none of them speaks a word of English.”
    “That may be the problem. Where are they?”
    “Second-floor mezzanine.”
    “I’ll be right there.”
    Rachel stopped and leaned against the skybridge railing. She took a deep breath to gather herself as she watched thousands
     of carefree people enjoying their holiday on the beach. Then she headed to the elevators, ready to take on the day’s next
     emergency.

SIX
    9:08 a.m
.
    K ai wasn’t worried about the tsunami information bulletin Reggie had issued. It was a standard message issued whenever sensors
     picked up seismic activity in the Pacific basin that might be powerful enough to generate a tsunami. Since it hadn’t been
     a tsunami
warning
, the event must have been between 6.5 and 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale, fairly common readings that rarely resulted
     in a tsunami. Below 6.5, they didn’t even bother to issue a notification. The bulletin was sent to all of the other monitoring
     stations in the Pacific as well as the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, which served as the warning
     center for Alaska, British Columbia, and the west coast of the United States. The PTWC covered the rest of the Pacific. All
     of the emergency and civil defense organizations in the Pacific Rim were notified, including the U.S. military, which had
     extensive bases in the Pacific.
    None of these organizations had to take any action; the message was