Tsunami: Ghost Eagle 1

By James Wallace

On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, ex-SEAL Coby MacKenzie is training a secret special-operations unit called Ghost Eagle 1, Team Kamehameha.

On the team are Shane Waters, Will Bottoms, and Kalee Jourden. They are 16 years old. Also on the team are Eiji Ahana and Roby MacKenzie, ages 14 and 13.

They were warned that they might face extreme danger. Now it's here.

Black Dragon agents have slipped onto Kauai to take possession of a stolen, high-value package. Team Kamehameha's mission: intercept the package.

If they fail, the Hawaiian Islands could be wiped off the face of the earth.

Time is running out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781469723716

James Wallace

James Wallace began his GHOST EAGLES® adventure series for young adults with his acclaimed novel TSUNAMI Ghost Eagle 1, set in Hawaii. He now brings the action to the majestic Rocky Mountains in FRYINGPAN Ghost Eagle 2. James and his wife, Nancy, have five children (including three teens) and formerly lived in Estes Park, Colorado.

Book preview

All Rights Reserved © 2003 by James Wallace

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

iUniverse, Inc.

For information address:

iUniverse

2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100

Lincoln, NE 68512

www.iuniverse.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover photo © Jim Guthrie

ISBN: 0-595-27372-6

ISBN: 978-1-4697-2371-6 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AUTHOR’S NOTE

GLOSSARY OF HAWAIIAN WORDS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

FRYING PAN

A FINAL NOTE

DEDICATION

First, to my wife, Nancy, and to my mother, Sandra Wallace, both of whom gave unwavering support to this endeavor. Also, to my son Josh, of whom I am very proud. Finally, to all our real special-operations forces. They get the job done.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to my mother and my sister for reviewing and critiquing several drafts of my manuscript, and for encouragement along the way.

I very much appreciate Jim Guthrie letting me use his photograph of the Na Pali Coast at sunset. This photograph richly portrays the scene in the opening chapter of the book. Of the many photographs I reviewed, his was at the top of the list. You can see his work at www.panoscapes.com.

Thanks also to any one else who answered a question or provided a tidbit of information.

And thanks to the personnel at Hunter Army Airfield for a look inside the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). That visit (in 1998) was the basis for my use of the Night Stalkers in TSUNAMI.

Image271.JPG

AUTHOR’S NOTE

For readers who wish to follow the action on the ground, I have included this map of Kauai showing locations in the storyline. Please excuse my simplistic rendition of the beautiful Garden Island.

GLOSSARY OF HAWAIIAN WORDS

I know not what course others may take. But as for me, give me liberty—or give me death.

—Patrick Henry, Virginia Revolutionary Convention, 1775

Liberty, precious and profound, rides on wings of the eagle. Any who threaten her shall suffer the swift fury of mighty talons.

—Author

We are Ghost Eagle 1.—Coby MacKenzie

CHAPTER 1

July 16, 6:52 p.m. Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii

Into the mouth of the beast. Shane Waters stared at the jagged cliffs. The butterflies in his stomach fluttered as the Bell JetRanger III made the final turn toward the drop zone.

Shane had been enjoying his summer break. But now he was in camouflage fatigues, loaded with gear, about to rappel into a jungle campsite. And there was a very good chance that people were still at the campsite—dangerous people who would kill him without hesitation. I have my junior year at Kauai High coming up next month. This is insane.

A big lump had fixed itself inside Shane’s throat, just above his Adam’s apple. He started making throat-clearing sounds. He coughed a few times. Nothing worked. He couldn’t get rid of it. He thought of the huge bass that he caught last March in California. The fish had hit his frog lure like a thunderbolt. Swallowed it whole. He had to use extraction pliers to pull it loose.

Shane, you ok? Coby MacKenzie asked.

Oh…yeah…I was just clearing my throat. Shane glanced at Will and Roby. They looked just as bad. He wouldn’t have recognized them on the street. Of course, they wouldn’t have been out in public looking like this.

A black, knit skull cap and black, brown, and green camo face paint hid Will Bottoms’ short, curly, reddish-brown hair and his freckles. Roby MacKenzie’s jet-black, perpetually-messed-up hair, and his bronze skin, were likewise obscured.

Boys, get ready! Coby barked. Three minutes to drop zone! Coby was thirty-nine years old, six feet tall, with straight, short, brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was one-hundred eighty-five pounds of sinew and muscle. Coby had been the name of a Scottish ancestor. Coby was proud of his heritage, but he was so often called Cobby (which made him think of a chewed-up corn cob) that he had taken to saying it’s ‘Ko Be,’ like the basketball player.

You don’t have to yell, Dad, Roby said. We’re all wearing SECCOMM headsets, remember? As far as Coby knew, Roby wasn’t a family name, but Coby had liked it. But he had created the same problem for his son. Everyone kept trying to call him Robby. So Roby used the same tactic, telling people that it was Ro Be, like Kobe.

Sorry, Roby. Boys, we only have one chance to get this operation off the ground. If we blow it tonight, the consequences could be deadly for a lot of people, including us. You’ve got about forty minutes of daylight left—you’ll have to move fast.

Shane snapped into action. Adrenaline pumped through his body. His mind focused on the mission at hand. This is real. Let’s do it.

Roby, gear check one, Shane said.

But we did it before we took off, Roby said. Shane’s blue eyes bored into Roby. Uh oh, Shane has his steely-eyed look!

Rappel and belay ropes, in separate bags, Shane said.

Check, Roby said.

Rappel equipment bag one.

Check.

Rappel equipment bag two."

Check.

Survival packs.

Check.

Ok, good, Shane said. He turned to look at Will. Will, gear check two. TRANQ pistols.

Check, Will said.

Ka-Bars.

Check.

Nightvision goggles, three pair.

Check.

Eavesdropper.

Check.

Coby, we’re clear, Shane said.

Ok. Good luck boys. One minute to drop zone. Shane and Will, it’s up to you from this point on. Neither of you has done a rappel under conditions as extreme as those you’re about to face. Stay sharp on your descent. This rain will make for a slippery rappel, especially with all that gear. Roby, give them a good belay.

We’ll be fine, Coby, Will said. Shane looked at him. Will was crouched over, holding his stomach. He sure didn’t look fine.

One final order, Coby said. The Eavesdropper will let you pick up and record the conversations from the bogeys’ camp from a safe distance out. Don’t try to go in too close.

Roby, Shane, and Will looked at each other. No one spoke. Will quickly felt the pack containing the Eavesdropper.

I’ll be with Kalee, with the Zodiac, at the exfil point, Coby said. Boys, be careful. I won’t be in much of a position to help you if something goes wrong…drop zone!

Coby eased the helicopter down to within five feet of the top of the cliff. They had selected this spot on a reconnaissance trip earlier in the day. They knew from their helo recon that this spot was the lowest cliff available with a large enough staging area to anchor their rappel lines and permit Roby to camp until Coby returned tomorrow morning. And it had a ridge just high enough, they hoped, to prevent anyone on the valley floor from seeing them.

Go! Coby yelled.

Shane quickly put his arm through the strap on the bag containing the Eavesdropper and pushed the bag up to his shoulder. Then he tossed the other gear bags out of the helicopter. He followed the last bag out, landed cleanly, and scrambled clear.

Will jumped next. He hit the ground off balance and fell sideways. He was coming up slowly, holding his shoulder, when Roby jumped and landed on him. Both of them crashed to the ground, arms and legs flailing. They staggered up and flashed feeble A-OK signs to Coby.

Coby hesitated, and then gave a thumbs-up sign. The helicopter turned into the sunset and blended in with the sightseeing helicopters headed back to the airport at Lihu‘e.

Shane watched the words on the side of the Bell 206B JetRanger III fade from view. Kauai Hawaiian Helicopter Tours. He bit his bottom lip. Some tour we’re on tonight.

Geez, Roby, Will said. Weren’t you watching your drop?!

You’re the one who—

Hey, guys, cool it, it wasn’t anybody’s fault, Shane interrupted. It just happened. Are you ok, Will? Shane and Will were almost eye to eye. At six feet, Shane was just under an inch taller than Will, and almost ten inches taller than Roby. Roby reminded Shane of Mowgli in the Jungle Book cartoon.

Yeah, I think so. My shoulder’s a little sore.

Nothing seems to be broken or dislocated, Shane said, as he checked Will’s shoulder. Probably bruised. Can you still rappel?

Yes, Will said.

Sorry, Will, Roby said quietly.

Forget about it, it was an accident. I’m just glad it was you and not Shane crashing down on me.

They were in a light rainfall in a small, bowl-shaped depression at the top of a Na Pali Coast cliff. The Na Pali cliffs were remnants of volcanic mountains formed eons ago, when the Hawaiian island of Kauai rose violently from the sea. Constant rains and erosion had carved these mountains into jagged, razor-sharp ridges. The ridges reached out into the ocean like moss-covered dragon claws.

Wow! Roby said, as he turned a full circle. I bet no one else has ever seen Kauai from this exact spot, and no one probably ever will again.

Will picked up Roby and moved him aside. I just did, Will said.

Let’s get the anchors in place, Shane said. We’ll use that lava outcropping for the left anchor. He motioned toward a rock jutting up about ten feet behind Roby. Roby, be sure the rope protector stays on during our descent. If it slips, that lava will cut the rope. Will, wrap around both of those trees for the other anchor.

Will quickly wrapped the rope around two small Mokihana trees and then joined both anchors in the middle to form a V for the sling to connect to the rappel rope. The trees were a rare find this high up the cliffs.

Shane, we have a problem, Will said. These trees are only about an inch and a half in diameter, at best, not two to three like Coby thought, and our anchors are too far apart. We’ll have a lot more tension on the lines than we would with parallel anchors.

I know. There’s nothing we can do about it now. Just keep your movements going down as smooth as possible. This rain is no good either. Our rappel rope is soaked.

Shane thought about what they had learned in rappel school. Two summers ago, on Oahu, he, Will, and Roby had taken an intensive, two-week training course by Hawaii Mountaineering Company. A normal rope lost up to twenty-five percent of its strength if it got wet. A chemically-treated waterproof or dry rope—like they were using—usually lost less than ten percent of its strength. We should be ok.

Let’s take a quick breather, Shane said, as they finished rigging all the ropes.

For a moment, the three of them paused to absorb the magnificence of their surroundings. The lush greenery of the Na Pali cliffs. The misting rain. The wispy clouds moving like ghosts through the valley. The scores of streamlets hurrying silently down the mountain sides toward the deep, blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

Shane pulled off his knit cap and used it to wipe the sweat and rain from his face.

Hey, Shane, get your cap back on before all that blond hair gives us away! Roby hissed, in mock panic. The three of them made a good team. Their occasional bickering was pretty normal stuff. They were still able to kid around, even when things were tense.

Shane and Will met when their families transferred from California three years ago. Will’s dad worked for Triton Development Group, a real-estate development company headquartered in San Diego. Triton was building a large resort in Poipu, on Kauai’s South Coast. Shane’s mom had worked for one of Triton’s main subcontractors. Shane and Will were the same age, and they had immediately hit it off. Shane’s mom and Will’s mom had also become good friends.

Shane’s parents divorced when Shane was eleven. His dad was still in San Diego. Shane and Megan, his six-year-old sister, flew there once a year to visit, and their dad flew to Hawaii once, sometimes twice, a year. When the subcontractor had finished its work on the Poipu resort, neither Shane nor his mom had wanted to leave Kauai. Shane’s mom, an engineer, had quickly convinced Triton that she would make a great addition to its resort-management team.

Coby had a house and rental shop near Poipu. He called it Hoolaulea, which meant happy event in Hawaiian. He rented out sailboats and windsurfing and scuba gear. Shane met Roby and Coby two months after he moved to Kauai, when he and Will stopped by the shop to rent windsurfing boards. Roby, then only a scrawny ten-year old, had bugged them to let him tag along. Shane and Will had tried to ignore him. But Roby had been persistent, like a pesky mosquito. Within five minutes after they had hit the water, Roby had been flying, catching air off the biggest waves. Shane and Will had been doing good just to stay upright that day.

Coby had gathered Shane, Will, Roby, Kalee Jourden, and Eiji Ahana together at Hoolaulea six weeks ago—a week after the beginning of their summer break—to ask them to become guinea pigs for an idea that he had been working on for two years. He had hand-picked each of them. Their parents had already been briefed and had given the go-ahead.

Darkness smothered the last light. Shane, Will, and Roby turned on their mini lights. Shane began shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Then he stretched a few times. He put on his nightvision goggles.

I’ll go over the edge first, Shane said. Will, you follow as soon as I tell you on SECCOMM that I’m on the ground. Roby, do a rappel check with Will while he’s waiting his turn.

Aye, aye, captain, all ahead full, Roby said, as he saluted Shane.