The 13th Tablet

‘Mina? You still there? Jack? You need to contact the appropriate authorities right now. You both need get out of there with your family. There’s no way of knowing what’s going to happen and how safe you are in Thailand,’ Daniel said. He had obviously been thinking of nothing else since realising his mistake.

‘I understand,’ said Jack, ‘but are you sure this time?’

‘Yes, one hundred percent.’

‘The problem, Daniel,’ said Jack, ‘is that we still don’t know exactly what is about to happen, nor where exactly it will hit. That means I’m not sure who to contact.’

‘But something is going to happen; think of everything you’ve gone through, Wheatley, Shobai’s people scouting for this tablet through the ages… it must mean something! It must be for real!’

Jack felt his stomach churn. He had to spring into action. ‘OK Daniel. We won’t stick around to find out if it is or isn’t,’ he answered, ‘we’ll get back in touch once we land in the US. We’ll try to contact the appropriate authorities.’ Jack added, ‘Not that anyone will believe us.’

‘Alright. I’m really sorry about this,’ said Daniel.

‘It’s not your fault,’ answered Jack through clenched teeth, before hanging up the phone.

Jack reached for Mina, who was shaking violently. They held each other tightly, then stood up and returned to the restaurant, where Maureen and Jen were wondering what on earth was going on.

‘Mum, Jen, don’t freak out. We all need to return to the hotel right away and pack.’

‘Why, what’s happened?’ asked Jen.

‘I’ll explain everything later. Hopefully we’ll manage to get flights out tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning. All you need to know right now, is that something catastrophic is about to happen in this region and we need to get the hell out of here.’

‘Alright Jack,’ said his mother, trusting her son instinctively.

They left the restaurant and separated near their hotel. Jack gave his mother and sister a few more instructions and left with Mina to find an internet cafe. They located one off the main street, next to a shop selling anything and everything from telephone cards to sandals. Mina realised she was still wearing winter shoes. She hadn’t even had time to buy sandals. They sat at one of the terminals and Jack starting looking for flights.

‘Who should we contact?’ asked Mina.

‘I’m not sure, Mina. We need to work that out.’

‘Why don’t you just call your “friend” in the secret service or whoever she is?’

‘I told you. I can’t do that,’ Jack replied, ‘it would start off a whole snowball effect of questions. Believe me, we’re better off staying off their radar. No, we need to figure it out ourselves.’

‘What would be the first point of call in a situation like this? Some sort of Earthquake centre, or Seismic tremors?’ asked Mina.

‘I guess, but then again, it’s supposed to happen in the Indian Ocean, so maybe we should contact NOAA.’

‘That sounds pretty biblical,’ said Mina.

‘N.O.A.A.’ said Jack, spelling out each letter, ‘not Noah! It stands for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.’

‘Ah, where are they based?’

‘I’m not sure. Let’s look it up online.’

Mina typed the word ‘NOAA’ and ‘Indian Ocean’ into Google. Lots of results came back, but searching some more, she found their switchboard number in Hawaii.

‘Here’s their number,’ said Mina.

‘Thanks.’

‘I’ll look for flights, while you contact them.’

Jack pulled out his phone and dialled the number in Hawaii.

‘Hi, Major Jack Hillcliff here, US Army. I’d like to speak to your director.’

‘I’m sorry, he’s unavailable right now. Can I take a message?’ said a man with an irritating nasal voice.

‘It’s an emergency, please patch me through.’

‘An emergency? About what?’

‘Listen carefully, man, I’m only going to say this once. A terrible earthquake is about to happen, in the Indian Ocean,’ said Jack.

‘Where exactly Sir?’ he answered. ‘Why do I always get all the nut jobs out there?’ he thought to himself.

‘I don’t know,’ answered Jack.

‘Well, It’s a large area and we’ve had no readings so far about anything of the kind, Sir. Where are you getting your information from?’ asked the man.

‘Who am I speaking to?’ asked Jack.

‘I’m Bob Rear, the Centre’s secretary.’

‘Right, Bob. The earthquake will occur on the 26th. The source of this information is classified top secret.’

‘Classified, hey. Two days from now? Do you think I’m stupid?’ said Bob.

‘No Bob, I don’t think you’re stupid.’

‘Everybody knows it’s impossible to get seismic readings two days ahead of an earthquake. Even if it were possible, we at NOAA would certainly know about it before anyone else, especially if it occurred in the Indian Ocean, and certainly before some dubious Major from the US army.’

‘Now you’re being unnecessarily rude,’ said Jack.

‘I’m sorry Sir, but I don’t have time for crank calls.’

‘This is not a crank call. Christ!’ said Jack, losing his calm.

‘Sir, you’ve seen too many movies! What was your major in College? Conspiracy theories and UFOs?’

Jack turned to Mina. He was fuming.

‘I’m going to kill this guy,’ he said.