The 13th Tablet (44 page)

‘What's wrong Bob? We've had other scares in the past,' said Carson.

‘It… It… It's not that Dr Carson.'

‘Well what is it?'

‘Someone called two days ago. I thought it was a crank call.

I'm still not sure what it was.'

‘What are you talking about?' he asked impatiently.

‘A major in the US army told me he had classified information according to which an earthquake was going to occur today.'

‘Two days ago? That's impossible.'

‘I know. I tried explaining this to him, but he hung up on me,' Bob lied.

‘That's a real shame. Did you get his name or his number?' asked Carson.

‘No. He didn't say.'

‘That's not good enough. Bob, next time someone tells you a tsunami is about to occur, patch him through to me immediately. Maybe there is a classified military research project on earthquake detection that we are not aware of. We can't afford to dismiss information out of hand, especially when it turns out to be correct.

‘With hindsight, I…' Bob began.

‘Just do it next time,' said Carson cutting him off mid-sentence.

‘I'm so sorry sir.'

 

Jim Carson was furious. Until five minutes ago he thought he was at the head of one the most advanced seismic detection centres in the world. But here was a secret military researcher who had somehow managed to detect an earthquake two days ahead of the event. As a seismologist he couldn't understand how that was possible, but as a scientist he had to accept the evidence when it stared him in the face. He would make every effort to find out who had called the centre two days before and what he knew exactly.

Thailand. Patong beach. Chiang Mai restaurant.

Natasha stepped onto the terrace, pushing in front of her a dishevelled Mina, who seemed to hesitate with every step. Natasha hardly concealed her gun. Jack walked up to them.

‘Mina. Are you OK?' he asked her.

She seemed dazed, and tearful as if she'd been drugged.

‘I'm not feeling very well,' she murmured weakly.

He turned around to meet Oberon's cold gaze and asked angrily, ‘What's going on here? Did you drug her?'

Natasha took a step forward and answered for Oberon, ‘Be happy nothing worse happened to her. She's been so out of it, I haven't even had the opportunity to have her raped.'

Jack turned around to face Natasha, brimming with barely restrained anger.

‘I should've dealt with you on the yacht last night,' he spat.

‘You should have, big boy,' she answered, keeping a safe distance between her and Jack.

 

Oberon was enjoying this banter but he had more pressing things on his mind.

‘Don't you have a call to make?' asked Oberon.

Jack dialled Noi's number.

‘Hi there.'

‘Hello sir. Do you want me to come now?'

‘Yes. Don't forget the bag.'

‘I'm coming,' the boy answered and hung up.

‘It's on its way' Jack said to Oberon.

‘Good,' Oberon replied. He turned to Natasha. ‘What's going on out there? What are all those people looking at?'

‘I'm not quite sure,' she answered looking through the binoculars, ‘the water's edge, which is normally right up close to the promenade has receded far out to sea. There was some frothing and bubbling, but most people don't seem to be particularly bothered. The locals seem to be focused on trying to catch fish trapped in the remaining pockets of water.'

‘How strange,' said Oberon, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

 

Jack threw another cursory glance at the people on the shore, and turned pale as he realised what Natasha had just said. The frothing of the water and the sea suddenly receding had to be linked to an earthquake. Was it linked to the earlier tremor, or a sign of another one to come? They all looked at each other as the wind suddenly changed, and more birds, this time by the thousand flew inland. A rumbling sound like thunder seemed to roar from a distant place and the volume steadily grew. A number of people on the beach looked up for helicopters or airplanes, but the blue sky was as beautiful as it was empty.

 

The young boy Jack had called arrived at the restaurant. Oberon stood up to greet him. But Jack was quicker, and pulled him aside next to Mina. He stood in front of them. Before Wheatley had time to pull out his gun, Jack had kicked Natasha's gun out of her hand, pulled a sharp knife from his pocket and grabbed Natasha by the throat from behind.

‘Leave that gun where it is,' Jack ordered Wheatley.

Oberon looked at him with disdain. ‘You have what you want. Give me the photograph.'

‘Pass me the rucksack Noi,' said Jack to the terrified boy.

Noi handed him the small rucksack. Jack threw it over to Wheatley, still holding Natasha at knifepoint. She knew better than to move a muscle, Jack was not a man to be trifled with. One of Wheatley's men picked up the rucksack, opened it, and took out an envelope, which he handed to him.

Oberon feverishly opened the envelope and pulled out the photograph. He examined it and seemed satisfied. He put it back into the rucksack, which he slung over his shoulder.

‘I had planned a very different ending to this meeting. I don't think you fully understand who you are dealing with, Major Hillcliff.' Wheatley levelled his gun at Natasha's head. ‘I'm sorry my dear,' he said.

‘Mr W… Oberon, please!' pleaded Natasha, all her usual composure gone.

Oberon hesitated for just an instant. He lowered his gun a fraction but then he aimed and fired. Natasha was hit straight between the eyes and crumpled to the floor.

‘She's out of the picture now, so what are you going to do with your little steak knife?' he taunted Jack, aiming his gun at Mina. He raised his gun, ready to shoot, but unexpectedly faltered. That nagging thought had finally struck him, it all made sense: Jack calling NOAA and warning about an earthquake, the tremors earlier on, the birds flying inland, the water receding far out at sea, the frothing and bubbling, the thundering noise that had steadily been increasing and was now deafening. Oberon spun around and saw it. His facial expression turned to one of absolute terror. A huge, grey wall of water was advancing at an unimaginable speed towards the shore. It changed appearance as it approached, seeming both to slow down and grow in strength, shiny green then deep blue. By then everyone had turned to face the shore and stood in frozen horror, at the sight of this awesome wave racing towards them. The tsunami was moving at almost 100 metres per second and although it was slowing down as it approached the coastline, its height was growing to something like ten metres.

 

By the time Jack screamed ‘tsunami!' the wave had already hit the beach and enveloped hundreds of people. Nothing could slow down its progress. It devoured everything in its path; deck chairs, people, whatever stood in against it. Then the restaurant was hit. Windows exploded inwards under the terrible pressure of the wave and the chairs, tables, even the platform on which the restaurant was built, were swept up in a single whirl.

 

Jack and Mina were swallowed by the wave and dragged a block inland in a matter of seconds. Somehow they had managed to hang on to each other as the water hit and Jack grabbed hold of a metal railing set in a hotel's concrete outdoor terrace, which they were now clinging on to desperately. He held fast, with every muscle in his body screaming from the effort. As they fought to keep their heads above the torrent, all sorts of floating debris passed in front of them in the current. It lasted less than fifteen minutes but it felt like an eternity. Jack had seen Wheatley and his men vanish in a tangle of tables and chairs, some of them smashing against a line of coconut trees. He looked for Noi in every direction but couldn't see him, they'd been separated when the wave had first hit. Finally the wave seemed to have run its course. Jack felt his strength leaving him, he couldn't hold on much longer. Suddenly he felt Mina's grasp slacken, her head slipped beneath the water and her eyes were closed.

‘Mina! Please! Mina, wake up!'

In the distance, a young Asian man with a baby on his shoulders was frantically trying to tie himself to a palm tree. Closer to Jack, a German couple in their colourful shorts and monastic sandals, were helping one another scramble up to safety onto the balcony of a newly built hotel which, incredibly, had withstood the wave. The room was on the first floor, facing the beach. It was an absurd scene as the man stepped onto the nose of a speed boat which had somehow been thrown into the lounge area of the hotel, and was protruding from its side. His companion was pulling herself up to the balcony.

Mina stirred against Jack and looked at her lover's face, covered in cuts and bruises. She tried standing on her own, as Jack seemed at the end of his tether. She had just found her footing when something smashed into them and pushed her under water again. She could feel an object pushing into her back as she pushed up to the surface, trying to catch her breath. She turned around and a scream bubbled up in her throat – a woman's corpse, pressing into her. Her head was bent at a hideous angle and her long black hair floated on the water's surface like an old rag. A sudden current wrenched the body to one side and Mina caught sight of the woman's face. She had the most beautiful chiselled Eurasian features, high cheekbones and almost transparent skin. Faced with the wanton destruction of such beauty the scale of what had occurred hit her and Mina burst into tears. Jack was also horrified; the surrounding desolation was beyond comprehension but he would not, could not, break down. Would he have to carry Mina on his back? She was really struggling. He would have to keep life and limb together for them both. The beautiful corpse was finally swept away by the fast moving current.

Mina was sobbing uncontrollably.

‘Jack, I can't go on. I'm sorry!'

‘You must, Mina, one last effort.'

‘It's too much,' she whispered.

‘Mina, we can't stop now. I think the waters are receding but we still need to get to higher ground, fast.'

Sweeping the scene quickly, he noticed a few buildings not too far away. He suddenly recognised Noi, who was screaming to catch their attention. He waved to acknowledge he'd seen him and realised that the young boy had been lucky enough to land on a sturdily built hotel, with a high, flat concrete roof roughly forty metres away. If only they could reach it without losing their footing in the dark water they might just be out of danger, and would have time to assess their injuries.

They pushed hard, feeling submerged objects scratching and cutting their bodies under the water, as they moved through the path of the dissipating wave. The level of the water seemed to be dropping. They were almost there. Noi was on his knees and stretched out his hand for Mina to grasp. Just as their hands touched, Jack felt a sudden shift in the current of the water. By the time he realised what was happening it was too late. He gave Mina a shove in Noi's direction and the boy caught her and pulled her clumsily onto the landing.

Mina had also felt the change in the water and turned back to grab Jack, but it was too late – with an immensely powerful sucking force the waters, receded all at once to the sea. Jack was wrenched from them with an irresistible force and dragged back. He screamed at Mina to stay put. She screamed his name. Noi tried to restrain her, but she had already jumped down into the puddles and mud left by the fast-receding wave. She thought she could see Jack's head bobbing about, far away. She set off as fast as she could, trying to avoid the debris, upturned cars, smashed furniture with jagged edges that littered the way back to the shore. She barely noticed the snakes slithering rapidly down into the surrounding chaos.

 

‘It's over,' Mina thought to herself. ‘The wave has come and gone.' She shivered and pressed forward, desperately looking for any sign of Jack. Her progress was slow but she managed to keep close to a row of trees that were still standing. It seemed hard to believe that the trees could withstand God's wrath but so many man-made constructions had not.

When she came across mangled bodies, she looked away. Many people had perished but many had also survived, albeit in terrible conditions. She noticed a middle-aged couple hugging a young girl who was in a state of shock, bleeding from a large gash in her forehead. She walked on. ‘Where are you Jack?' she thought, as tears streamed down her battered face.

She finally arrived at the point where she thought she'd last seen Jack when he'd been washed out to sea. But he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a deep rumbling sound engulfed her. It was much louder than the previous wave. She froze. Was it an earthquake? But as she turned to the shore she saw to her horror a second, huge wave returning with a vengeance. It was mightier than the first and was crushing anything that had been left standing. She frantically tried climbing up one of the trees, but her shoes kept slipping off the wet bark and then it hit, blue oblivion. It ripped Mina like a rag doll from the tree she was holding on to with her last strength, and swept her into the road.