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When the Stars Begin to Fall
By Peg Keeley
onenerveleft59@hotmail.com
Part 5
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Providing an explanation of Mali's verbal attack was not something Lukela
wanted to do and took a direct order before he reluctantly provided McGarrett
with loose transliteration. The tall, muscular Hawaiian who looked like
he would be able to handle just about anything had been very timid as
he quietly offered: "She was telling him that he lacked in --uh--the--um--manhood
department," he started, his face flushing. "And that sexually
he was less than adequate. She went on to include all --um--haoles--non-Hawaiians
as --um--unable to perform--if you take my meaning---Sir."
"Thank you, Lukela."
Uncertain what kind of response to give, surely 'you're welcome' seemed
inappropriate, Duke escaped back to the squad room.
Steve was exhausted emotionally and physically. There were several hours
of paperwork ahead of him. He also wanted to check in on Kono who was
watching Polski. By now Polski must have come back to his apartment. He
must have realized that the police had been there. He opened the door
to the small office and stopped in disbelief.
The room was lit by dim candlelight from a single taper set into a gleaming
silver candlestick on the desk covered by a white linen tablecloth. Service
was two was laid out and a bud vase containing a single hibiscus flower
served as a centerpiece. As this initial visual image registered, his
olfactory senses reported the mouthwatering aroma of meat and gravy.
Diane turned towards him wearing a smile and a pale yellow chiffon evening
gown. "You couldn't come to dinner, so dinner came to you,"
she explained. "Hungry?"
The tired face melted into a warm smile. "Starved." He squeezed
into the office. "How did you do all this?"
"It was nothing," she said as she spooned the meat and juice
onto his plate. "I just couldn't let our evening be spoiled. You
look so tired." She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.
He reached up, hand caressing the back of her neck, and gently pulled
her downward where he returned a more passionate demonstration on her
lips. "You are a beautiful lady," he whispered quietly to her.
She blushed. "Do you say that to all the girls?"
He gave a half smile. "Most assuredly, no." Somehow the cramped
space didn't seem so dank and second hand. Maybe it was the candlelight,
then again, maybe it was Diane. Steve watched the smooth curve of her
neck as she finished serving the meal onto the plates. In this light,
her skin seemed to give off a porcelain sheen. I love her, as amazing
at that may seem. I feel as though I would give anything for her.
He slipped a hand around her waist and gently pulled her close and down
onto his lap.
She smiled quietly and kissed him.
He brushed her stray strand of hair away from her face and studied her
features, her chin cupped in his hand, while time seemed to catch its
breath. Do I dare to open my life to this angel and bring her into
all this? Can I hope to have a life devoted to her as well as to my duty?
And if I should have to choose? He closed off the voice of reason that
too often controlled his actions. We are together now and that is enough.
His lips again met hers.
--------------------------------------------------
Kono had a perfect seat for the view of Polski's apartment. The apartment
cattycorner to Polski's was vacant and not only provided a view of the
hallway to the apartment, but from the window, he could see into the apartment
as well. It was nearly nine o'clock and he had lost at solitaire for the
twenty-third time. A half-empty carton of chow-mien sat with chop sticks
poking out of the top. He had begun to wonder if Polski would return at
all. Maybe he'd been tipped off.
There were footfalls on the stairway.
Kono abandoned the cards and stepped closer to the door.
Shuffling feet had reached the top of the landing and started down the
hallway. They stopped.
From his place behind the door, Kono could see Polski had stopped in the
corridor halfway to the apartment. He was looking at the doorway.
He had a system of some kind. He knows someone was there. Kono recalled
Steve saying Polski would know. Their plan counted on him knowing.
Polski had a small caliber pistol in his left hand now as he carefully
examined the frame of the door. With a sudden quick kick, he burst through
the door, gun hand first.
Kono waited, mentally seeing the image of Polski carefully pacing the
apartment, looking for signs of the intruders and determining they were
no longer present. He has to go to the hiding place. He has to.
But the spy was cool. Kono moved to the window view and could see him
slowly circle the living room, disappear into the kitchen, and then come
back into view again. Kono ducked as Polski came over to the window, then
pulled the blinds.
Polski crossed back to the other side of the room, then entered the bath.
He moved to the secret tiles, and examined them. Nothing here looked touched.
Maybe it was not found. He gingerly used a penknife to remove the two
tiles and gave an audible sigh as the light reflected on the surface of
the small metal box. Deciding to take no further chances, he lifted the
container from its hiding place, slid it inside his jacket pocket then
hurried out of the his apartment.
Kono watched Polski hurry down the stairs, then ran to the car to maintain
the pursuit. "Kalakua to dispatch," he said into the radio.
"Give me McGarrett."
----------------------------------------
Steve was astonished when the phone rang. The peaceful, romantic atmosphere
was suddenly shattered. It rang again.
Diane rose from his lap as he grabbed for the receiver. "McGarrett."
"Polski came back. Now he's on the move. My bet is he has the box
with him, boss," Kono reported.
"Stay on him. I'll get you backup. Where are you."
"Just turning left onto Pali Highway."
Steve disconnected and called the dispatch. "I need two unmarked
cars to co-ordinate with unit two in following a suspect in the Hastings
case." This isn't fair. We should have had the evening. Will a life
of my own be possible in this job? He gazed at Diane. "I-I'm sorry."
She gave a smile and a shrug. "It's all right. We got our dinner,
didn't we? This is what you have to do. Maybe we can get together tomorrow?"
"Yes," he agreed. "I'd like that. I promised you a sailing
venture. How about I'll come by your place around twelve o'clock?"
"Twelve it is," she agreed with a smile. "And if we are
out in the harbor maybe your friends won't find you."
Steve hurried out of the office, feeling a little guilty at leaving Diane
to clean up the dinner and make her way home alone. This was not how
I thought the evening might wind up.
--------------------------------------------
The night away from the busy lights of Honolulu was dark. There was a
half moon in the sky, but it did not offer much illumination. Kono parked
his car and began to make his way down the crushed shell road he'd seen
Polski turn down. The breeze off the ocean was tainted with salt and the
waves could be heard rolling up on the beach below the cliffs. He knew
there was an old fisherman's cabin out this way. It had to be where Polski
was headed. Kono found the small hut without difficulty and carefully
crept into the thick undergrowth of bayonet and Kawai close to a window
to listen…
---------------------------------------------
…"You should not have come here," Ling Tu snapped at Polski.
"You were to wait for instructions."
"Things changed," the young man replied. "Someone was at
my place. Cleaned up pretty good, but they tossed it. They did not find
the microfilm. I decided not to let them have a second chance."
"So who is on to you?" Tu demanded. "CIA? Police?"
Polski frowned. "I'll deal with whoever it is later. I just need
to get this off my hands."
"It may not be that easy," Ling growled, "They detected
you. They may have followed you here."
"Nobody followed me," he answered. "Now I want my pay and
I'm gone."
His brows knit together. "You were to do this quietly."
"Murder is never a quiet affair, Tu. Nobody knows about your boss
and that's how he wants it. I did my job good enough for you. I want my
pay."
"Where are the plans?"
"First the money," he replied.
Ling looked apprehensive. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
He spoke in hushed Mandarin, listened, then hung up. "Very well.
Those of us in this -- profession -- must be honorable." He opened
the drawer of a small dressed and took out a black attaché. "Your
fee."
Polski gave a nod and handed the metal box over to Ling.
Ling reverently opened the seal and carefully lifted the sliver of microfilm
to the light, then returned it to the small container...
-----------------------------------------
….Kono jumped as the brush before him parted. He was staring into
the face of a stern looking white man who held a small caliber gun aimed
towards the officer.
"Out here, slow like," the man ordered quietly.
Where did this guy come from? I know there were only three guys here;
Polski, Ling, and the bodyguard on the door. Who the hell is this guy?
Kono slowly stepped out onto the walkway.
"Out here," the man whispered intently.
Hands raised, Kono moved a few steps farther from the hut, glancing back
to attempt to keep an eye on what was happening inside.
Another man stepped out, and quickly frisked Kono finding the officer's
.38.
"Who are you?" the first man demanded in a fierce whisper.
Whoever they are, they aren't with Ling or they'd already be yelling.
"Who are you?" Kono asked instead.
The man's expression of control intensified. "Don't get cute with
me, coconut boy. Who do you work for?"
Indignant, Kono stood his ground. "Who you think you talkin' to?"
he said a little more loudly than he should.
"You'd better talk, boy, you're not the one in control here,"
the man snapped.
"Want to guess again?" came a voice as Frank Kamana stepped
from the darkness, his weapon drawn on the two men.
One of them cursed under his breath.
"Guns on the ground," Frank ordered as Kono relaxed. "Now."
The first one bent down to place his gun on the ground. The second began
to oblige, then spun and fired at Frank who avoided the shot and returned
fire, hitting the man in the upper leg.
Inside the hut, the three men scattered.
Kono raced for the side of the small cottage, but was too late as Ling
and associates vanished into the night. He turned back towards Frank and
the two men, one of whom lay on the ground clutching his leg.
"Better go call McGarrett," Frank muttered showing the first
man's ID in a flashlight beam. "I just shot a CIA agent."
--------------------------------------------
"I told you to leave this to me," Marten Camp snarled at McGarrett.
"I thought you'd get the idea."
"I got your idea all right," Steve replied. "But it did
not impress me much." Anger blazed in his eyes. "Now I have
an investigation that is being conducted by the State of Hawaii and you
are in the way. I will haul your butt in for obstruction of justice just
as quick as any other civilian. You got that?"
Camp's eyes narrowed. "You are a little fish in the big pond, McGarrett.
State Police do not matter squat next to Feds. CIA takes charge and you
back out or I'll make it official through the people upstairs, you got
that?"
McGarrett never wavered. "Then you'd better make it official -- if
you can. You have a covert group here, Camp, and it is compromised. You
know that, I know that, Wo Fat knows that. I'm not certain there isn't
anyone who doesn't know it. What is Hastings? Double agent?"
Camp glared at him, flexing jaw muscles. He had just put one of his men
into an ambulance. It was a major embarrassment to have one of his agents
outwitted by these local amateur cops. Washington would not be happy.
Heads were already going to roll because of this Hastings mess and things
were getting worse by the minute. Kaye seemed to have been unable to leash
this new Island cop.
McGarrett glanced around in the dark. There were five HPD people talking
with Frank and the other CIA agent. Kono's statement had been taken first
and McGarrett had already sent him off to try and pick up the trail of
Polski. "Marten," he referred to Camp by his first name in effort
to put aside the power struggle. I guess I can afford to do that since
I possess the power and we both know it, "if we'd pooled our
efforts from the beginning, we'd be better off right now. You can either
work with me or I'll work alone. My guess is that we are already ahead
of you on this one."
He sniffed. "Not likely. All you have in conjecture."
Steve raised an eyebrow and moved even farther away from the cluster of
people. "Join me in my car." He slid into old blue Ford and
shut the door.
Camp glanced around at his surroundings, then got in the passenger side
and shut the door. "Okay, McGarrett. Tell me what you know."
Why? Because I know more than he does? So he can deny it? He is not
likely to suddenly fill in all the holes for me. He decided to give
a small piece and see how Camp responded. "Hastings is one of your
people. Chances are, he was living a new name the past few years. The
publishing house he works for is a front for your CIA post in Honolulu."
Camp stared out of the windshield in silence.
At least he did not deny it. "My guess is he turned double
agent and was going to turn something over to the Chinese for a price."
Camp now looked at him. "His real name was John Franks. We trained
together. I don't know what went wrong with his cover here, but I know
he would never have sold out his country. Never. "
Steve gave no response.
"They threatened him, must have."
"And Lynette?" Steve asked.
He nodded. "They came to the Islands because they needed to come
in from the cold. Until six years ago, they'd been working with a team
in Europe to smuggle out German rocket scientists. They'd retrieved three
of them from the Russians. In 1954 Lynette was captured, tortured---John
came apart as you might imagine. We got her back but---" he sighed,
"--well, they needed out -- she needed out. We relocated them here,
retired her. She didn't even know John was still with the agency."
He stopped talking.
"So what happened?" Steve asked.
Camp shook his head slightly. "I don't know. Honestly, Steve, I don't
know. When Natalie was killed, I thought it was a local thing -- until…"
he stopped again.
"…until the missile plans turned up missing at the same time?"
Steve finally put in.
Camp scowled at him.
"Yeah, we know it was the reason she was killed," he supplied.
"Hidden in the wall in the bedroom."
Camp gave a slow exhale.
Steve waited. "So, why, Marten?"
"Why?" He turned to face Steve. "Why what?"
"Why this whole thing. We could have brought in Polski, his contact,
the whole thing. Instead we all look like saps going after each other."
Not as much as I do for letting locals get the better of trained agents.
"You were in NIS, you know there are things we can't just blurt out
to anyone."
"Where were Hastings - Franks - when their daughter was killed?"
"Off the Island."
"Where?"
He lifted his eyebrows. "Book sellers convention in Cleveland, I
think."
"So where did you whisk the Hastings away to now? I still have questions
for them."
Camp gave a little shake of his head. "We removed Lynette during
the night last night. You won't be asking anything of her."
"And the man I knew as Roger?"
"He did not meet his contact."
"What?"
Camp pursed his lips. "He failed to meet his contact."
"This is the guy you said would never sell out his country?"
"Look, it was Lynette, okay. The Russians did something to her mind.
They triggered something in her with a phone call. Dammit, I even have
the stinking call recorded and it isn't much. All they said was 'When
The Stars Begin to Fall.' She used her top security clearance, stole
the prototype and hid it. John did not know. He was gone a lot. I won't
go into it, but he was working with Intelligence on a little affair starting
to heat up in Southeast Asia. He figured it out when he was approached
by a Chinese agent who demanded the plans. Of course, he refused -- at
first. Polski was involved and Natalie was dead before John realized what
was happening."
McGarrett glanced towards Camp. "So Polski wooed Natalie to get her
to steal the plans?"
"Maybe. Or maybe just to get into the house where it was. Clever
twist to drug the boy at the house so he'd take the fall. Nice piece of
police lab work there. We were hoping Polski and Ling would take us to
the top Chinese operative."
"Wo Fat?"
"Probably, but that isn't confirmed. Garrison's people found Ling
Tu for us and we were following him -- until tonight."
"And the Russians?"
"Front man is dead. I'm sure there is another on his way, or maybe
here, but we haven't picked up on him yet. Too bad the Chinese have the
plans, it would have been nice to pit the Ruskies against the Chinese."
Steve said nothing for several minutes. "We'll find Polski, Camp."
He snorted. "You never should have left NIS, Steve. These Hawaiians
won't ever appreciate your talents."
"Perhaps," he replied.
"It's Ling to follow now," Camp remarked. "He's the one
with the plans."
"Polski has committed a murder here. I want him for that," Steve
replied. And I know that Ling doesn't have the plans. It won't be long
before Ling knows that and he'll go after Polski whereever he is. No,
Camp, Polski is the player to watch -- but I don't think I'll tell you
that.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve went back to his second floor apartment,
but in spite of his exhaustion and the emotional drain of Saturday that
was now well into the early hours of Sunday, sleep did not come easily.
He had the nagging sense that there was something he was forgetting --
something that might make a difference. Over and over he played the pieces
of the Hastings case, but could not remember what it was. He at last fell
into a light sleep shortly past three a.m.
The phone rang at 4:30 and he lifted his
head from the dazed slumber and fumbled with the receiver. "McGarrett,"
he muttered into it.
"Kono," came the painfully alert voice. "I found Polski."
Steve sat up, alert, tingling. "Good work, Kono."
"He's boarding a plane for Hilo. You want me to take him off?"
"No, get on the plane, too."
"What?" Kono asked.
"Get on the plane."
"I -- you want me to follow him to Hilo?"
"Yes, Kono. Get on the plane. The state will pay for it."
"I -- um -- I don't like flying, boss."
"That's too bad, Kono. Get on the plane." Upon saying it, Steve
tried to ease up. Kono had been up all night and the day before, too.
"Just stay with him. I'll have Chin come after you later this morning
and you can come back and get some rest."
"Okay, Boss." He glanced a little fearfully at the gateway out
to the small prop plane that sat on the runway. He walked over to the
stewardess and flashed his badge. "Room for one more?"
-------------------------------------------------
After the short conversation with Kono, Steve lay awake again, pondering
Polski. He's running. From whom? Us? CIA? The Chinese? Probably everyone.
Why Hilo? Maybe no reason, maybe just to put distance between himself
and everything. Maybe not. Hilo is a bit remote, hard to supervise, but
strangers stick out there. His weariness won out again close to 5:30
and, just as the sun was cracking the horizon, he drifted back to sleep.
The phone rang at 8:00. Steve had a headache.
It rang a second time as he picked up the receiver and again murmured
a hello.
"Steve," came Jameson's enthusiastic voice, "I've got to
show you this! I got some people to put their heads together and -- well,
I think you'll be pleased."
His joyful excitement was painful to McGarrett's ears. It's too early
for this, whatever it is.
"Will you meet me at the Iolani Palace?" The Governor sounded
like a school child with a secret.
"Hum, yes, sir. When, sir?"
"Nine o'clock."
"I'll be there." Steve rolled out of bed, aching all over and
wishing he was asleep. Before stumbling to the shower, he called Chin
Ho to ruin his Sunday, too. He told him to catch the next plane to Hilo.
------------------------------------------------------
Jameson led Steve up the flight of mahogany stairs, chattering excitedly
all the way. "I cannot tell you what a wonderful impression you have
made on the city council with the way you handled the Palmer incident.
Even HPD is lining up behind you!"
Steve did not give an immediate response. It was just another day's work.
A lot of people were in pain and it did not seem right for him to celebrate
and profit from the tragedy.
Jameson unlocked the heavy wooden door to an office suite. "We'll
get the office logo on the door right away," he promised.
"What?" Steve felt unusually dull. Lack of sleep, no doubt.
"The new offices for Five-0," Jameson proclaimed like he was
showing off a new baby.
The outer office was large enough to contain two secretaries' desks and
still place a row of chairs for those waiting and a large file cabinet.
To the left were three cubical offices and straight ahead another thick
mahogany door with "Steve McGarrett" stenciled in gold lettering.
He paused, looking at it.
Jameson gave him a nod and a smile, then opened the second door.
The office was nearly as large as the rest of the suite combined. A large
walnut desk with several chairs facing it dominated the room. A credenza
was off to one side. The large, tall windows looked out on a lanai. Steve
noticed at there were four phone lines, a large bulletin board and, sitting
in a place of honor on a small side table was a coffeepot with a red bow
on it.
"I want to you to interview Jenny Sherman tomorrow," Jameson
added. "I stole her from the DA's office. Marvelous secretary. She's
handled six lawyers over there for the better part of three years, I'm
sure she can be den mother to you three with no trouble."
Steve looked round, recalling the dinner by candlelight in "termite
haven" last night. Just when I'd found a reason to like the place.
"Governor, I don't know what to say, this is really nice."
"Well, it does come at a price."
He turned in sudden concern.
Jameson smiled and pointed to a stack of files laying on the desk. "The
President is coming in two months. I need you to coordinate with Secret
Service. There is also an update on the Kumu from HPD. Maui has evidence
of a gun running operation. The University would like you to be guest
speaker at their Trustee's banquet." He stopped and smiled. "We
have plenty to keep you busy."
Steve carefully sat down behind the desk that would become to hub of Five-0
for years to come and picked up one file.
---------------------------------------------
At just past 11 am, two enormous tectonic plates of earth crust along
the fault off the coast of Chili shifted causing an earthquake close to
8.5 on the Richter scale. The shift resulted in a large surge of oceanic
activity that started a wall of water rushing northwestward towards the
Hawaiian Islands at nearly four hundred miles per hour.
----------------------------------------------
Steve met Diane at the dot of noon and carried the picnic basket down
to the marina where he had rented a sailboat for the day. Someday I will
own one and I will bring her sailing as often as she likes. Diane had
never seen the Island from the harbor, or been in the harbor, so he spent
a fair part of their afternoon showing her the sites.
As he maneuvered carefully around the buoys and red marker flags and warned
seamen away from where the rusting hulls of sunken ships still rested
after nineteen years Diane sighed, her smile fading a little.
"It is so sad," she whispered.
"What is?" he replied.
"All those men who died. Their bodies just stayed down there. It
must be terrible for the people who lived here and know that their bones
are just down there below the surface." She shivered.
"Actually, money is being raised for a memorial," he explained.
"Right over there." He gestured towards the resting-place of
the USS Arizona along Battleship Row. "Construction is to start next
month."
"It is so hard to believe," she commented. "It is so beautiful
here. It must have been terrible. I barely remember it at all. I lived
in Michigan and I did not even know where Hawaii was on the map. I was
only 10 at the time. I remember my mother crying. My oldest brother came
home and declared he was joining the army. It was all so confusing to
me."
"I guess Pearl Harbor is one of those events that you can always
remember where you were and what you were doing when you learned of it."
Steve recalled his own experience. I was seventeen, almost eighteen,
standing in my mother's kitchen in Norfolk, Virginia. She dropped a bowl
and it broke. He could remember the anger of youth, the righteous rage
of wanting to make the world right. I was going to do that -- make the
world right. What ever happened to that boy anyway? His mind wandered
to the young people who'd been in the conference room the night before
and to Williams. "I didn't do it for you...I did it because it
was right." He was startled by the splash of cold salty water
on his face.
Diane giggled from where she leaned over the gunwale and splashed him
again. "You look so serious!"
He smiled, feeling that heavy shroud of responsibility drop away from
his back. It's hard to think of anything but her when she is around.
And she is joy to my soul. Maybe this is just what I need in my life --
someone to help me gain the perspective that life is more than duty and
responsibility. He pulled on the tiller and turned the boat out towards
the point. The view was breathtaking out that way.
Diane scooted over in the sailboat until she sat on the deck between his
legs, her back against his chest, her head on his shoulder. "I am
so glad I came to Hawaii," she whispered. "It is so pretty here,
but it would be nothing without you."
He leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, breathing in the floral scent
of her dark hair, the softness of her skin, feeling the beating of her
heart against him. "Diane, I love you."
------------------------------------
Ling Tu stood remorseful and silent, watching
as Wo Fat contemplated the choices. Will I die for this? Certainly
I had no way of knowing that Polski would take such a foolish risk with
his life -- and mine.
At last Wo raised an eyebrow and turned towards him. "Where is our
unfortunate Mr. Polski now, Tu?"
"Reportedly he took a flight to Hilo," he replied.
"And from there?"
"I do not know. I have sent Kwong Chou to find him, but I believe
there are Americans after him as well." He gestured to the photos
on the table. "We --"
"Yes, yes," Wo said quietly, "I am aware of them."
He scowled at the fuzzy night photo of McGarrett standing beside the car
with Camp. It is with pleasure that I encounter a dangerous enemy whom
I already know. McGarrett is predictable. He will be seeking Polski, too.
He may already possess the missile plans. Polski may not even know he
delivered us a fake. Certainly he has always been reliable in the past
and he is aware of the consequences for betrayal. I should hear from Kwong
Chou shortly. I will know then how best to discuss this event with McGarrett.
Ling could see that his superior was disturbed and contemplating the next
move as effectively as one would a chess match. And is that not what
this is: an elaborate game of strategy where the winner takes all?
Wo turned with a placid smile towards his subordinate. "You are to
be commended for your resourcefulness, Tu. Recommendation will be spoken
for you in this affair. Your information about McGarrett and Polski may
have saved our mission after all. Now, go back to China and await our
next call."
Ling bowed once, then back out of the doorway.
---------------------------------------------------------
Kono met Chin's plane shortly past 4:00
PM. Compared to the hustle-bustle of Honolulu, Hilo was very quiet and
rural. Even the airport had an atmosphere that said time was not measured
too closely here and if you took your shoes off and walked through downtown
no one would even notice.
"How you doin', Bruddah?" Chin asked noting how exhausted Kono
appeared. He has probably been awake nearly three days. He needs to sleep.
"No flight back until morning. Do you have a place to sleep?"
"Under a tree will do me just fine," Kono said with a grin.
"I think Polski is lookin' for a deep hole somewhere. He ain't found
it yet. He was drinkin' a beer on Kekuanaoa Street about fifteen minutes
ago. And we ain't the only ones lookin' for him either. There's an Aisin
guy I've spotted in the area no less that five times today."
"Must be one of the China agents," Chin commented. "Dangerous
to him -- and to us. Why don't you go find that piece of grass under the
tree, I'll follow Polski and get back to you later."
Kono offered no argument . He walked away into the nearby park, sat down
under a palm, and reclined against its trunk.
Chin, feeling satisfied that he had given his partner a much needed break,
went in search of Polski. He was surprised to find him just where Kono
had indicated. For a trained spy he isn't very smart -- unless he's
waiting for someone here. Who would that be? Maybe he is expecting a contact
to get him out of here. And who is that guy Kono saw? By now Wo and his
people know the missile plan is a fake. The CIA did not think Polski was
important. Chin gave an audible sigh.
Polski left the bar, glancing around himself to see if the same face was
showing up. He'd been nervous about a large Hawaiian man whom he'd seen
several times throughout the day, but now he was gone. Maybe it wasn't
the same guy; maybe they just all look alike. He grinned inwardly
at his little joke. I need to find Masters and get his boat to get
me out of here. He was supposed to be at the bar, but didn't show.
He wandered down towards the waterfront where Masters' boat was tied up,
but Masters was nowhere to be seen. He questioned a few people, most seemed
to know who Masters was, but none knew where he had gone. Not far without
his boat. It was six o'clock, certainly the man would show soon. Polski
hung around the dock for a while, then noticed a tall oriental man he
remembered from earlier in the day. Carefully dropping behind a cart hauling
melons, he used it for cover to move away from the wharf. The maneuver
was so effective, it almost lost Chin. Needing to choose whether to confront
the other follower, or stay with Polski, he chose to stay with Polski.
He would have Kono corner the other guy later and uncover his identity.
The sun was now slowly dropping towards the sea as the time was approaching
seven PM.
A police car went by Chin with its siren blaring, headed for the beach.
Then the civil defense siren sounded. A few people stopped in alarm. Such
sirens were always paid heed to here.
Another police car went by more slowly. "Attention. Attention. This
is a tsunami warning. Please tune to your radio station for instructions.
This is not a drill. Please to not run, there is no need to panic. Gather
your important papers and move to high ground. There will be civil defense
personnel to assist you...." The car moved off down the street.
Immediately, some people began to run for their families. Others began
to argue about the need to do anything. A few clustered around the TV
in the shop window of an appliance store. There was an anchorman on the
screen in black and white describing the events and Chin stopped to listen.
"....has confirmed that there is a possibility of a tsunami on the
shores of Hilo. Civil defense is advising everyone to collect their important
papers and move their families to the high ground areas inland that have
been set up as centers. There are civil defense officers to assist people
in finding these locations. The areas are also listed inside your phone
books. The Red Cross will be there to help anyone who needs bedding or
supplies. Please remember to take all necessary medications, infant formula,
and diapers. It may be as long as two days before you can return to your
homes. Do not, repeat, do not go down to the beach area. The tsunami is
expected to strike land around midnight. There is time, but do not delay.
Move quietly and quickly."
End part 5
Part 6
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