James Wong’s voice softened. “Kubi, the tidal wave coming your way is massive. The experts have never dealt with anything like it before. Their best guess is that a tsunami will also hit Japan sometime early Saturday morning, your time. The wave height may be as great as five hundred feet—it could be more. I fear for you, my old friend. Every coastal city will be obliterated. Surely your own experts have briefed you fully and you have seen the television news.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, then, “Our government has kept most of this from our people, James. What else can you tell me?”

“We’re having earthquake activity in California at this moment. You can expect the same. Seismic activity and the tsunami will hit like a one-two punch. There’s even a chance that, in your area, the earthquakes will hit first.” There was a long silence on the other end, but James Wong continued, “Kubi, our markets are chaotic, but the U.S. is still intact. All those government bonds you have been buying will be good. You won’t lose anything if you hold onto them. They’ll give you something to rebuild with.”

“James,” Kubi Nomura whispered, “I fear this will be the end of Asia.”

James Wong was a naturalized American, but in his heart he was Asian. Only two hours before, he had suffered the loss of countless dear friends, not to mention his wife’s massive family fortune. Now, the horror confronted him that in just over twelve hours, tens of millions of his fellow Asians—including Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians, Malaysians, and Filippinos—would perish in the churning sea.

“Kubi,” he said in a voice that lacked conviction, “this is not the end of Asia. We who are left will rebuild together.” Then he paused, “For now, you have more advance warning than we had. You must mobilize immediately. Throw in all your resources to save as many lives as you can. Tell the prime minister to take steps this very hour to move key parts of the government to a secure place in the mountains.”

There was no answer on the other end, but James Wong continued to plead his case. “If you will have your assistant call back in one hour, I will arrange to have a battery of top-secret computers on-line to store any financial records you want to transmit for safekeeping here. They will be kept safe and secure for you. You have my word.” Then, with strained emotion, he said, “Please, Kubi, listen to me. You must get a government helicopter and take your family out of Tokyo to some place high, where there are no volcanoes. Do you hear me?”

“You are a great friend, James,” Japan’s finance minister said hoarsely. “We will rebuild together.” James held the phone to his ear until the line went dead.