I shook my head. “It’s Japanese, right?”

“It’s Japanese for ‘harbor wave.’ Way back in Japanese history, there were stories of fishing boats going out and coming back to find whole villages gone because of the wave that hit the harbor. Speaking of which, look to the left.”

I looked down and over. I didn’t really see anything.

“See that little inlet?”

“Yeah?”

“Three days ago there was a nice little fishing village down there.”

“But I can’t see anything.”

“There’s nothing left of the village to see. The whole thing was just picked up and washed away. It’s like some giant just grabbed it, stuck it in his pocket, and walked off with it. The only hints are in the trees. Maybe you can pick something out.”

I strained my eyes. “I can’t see anything.”

“Look farther in, well away from the water.”

I looked, scanning back and forth, and…I could see colors but I couldn’t make out exactly what they were. “Are those boats?”

“About half a dozen. Some are caught up in the trees. They were tied up when the wave hit and washed that far inland. Gives you an idea about the wave. You know, there were over two hundred people in that village. I don’t know if any survived.”

I couldn’t comprehend how a village could simply vanish, how boats could be washed into trees, how two hundred people could cease to exist. If that was what happened here, could it have been any different at the resort? How could my family possibly have survived?

“Strange,” Steve said, “a little harbor, an inlet—what makes it safer for boats during a storm makes it worse when there’s a tsunami. It only amplifies the waves, makes ’em higher.”

“So it wasn’t that bad everywhere?”

“Not everywhere. The height of the waves depended on the depth of the water and the contours of the land.”

I tried to think of the beach in front of the resort. I could picture it in my mind. It was long and straight, no inlet, no contours. And you could walk out a long way before it went over your head. It was shallow, which meant the waves would pile even higher.

“There’s Phuket right up ahead,” Steve said.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The helicopter dropped and banked toward my side, and I was practically pinned against its Plexiglas canopy. Thank goodness for the seat belt.

“That’s where I’m landing,” Steve said as he flattened it out again.

Straight ahead here was a large open area of green and in the middle, crudely drawn, a giant X. We were close enough that I could see that there was already another, bigger helicopter on the ground. I could also see trucks and skids and tiny figures all bustling around.

“Remember, when we land, if anybody asks, you’re a nurse.”

“But what if they ask me to help somebody?”

“That could be a problem. Fake it the best you can and tell them the person needs to see a doctor.”