Rogue Element

‘Jesus. Where do we begin?’ said Sharpe, shaking his head.

‘We have the names of Masri’s co-conspirators,’ said Griffin, sifting through the interview. ‘That’s a start. It explains a lot, actually. Now we know why the TNI have been exercising pretty much constantly over the past year. And of course, the unstable political situation throughout Indonesia is ripe for military unrest. What’s so bloody fantastic is the scope of the coup.’

‘We’re going to have to act fast,’ said Niven. ‘We have to assume their plans will be drastically brought forward. Things will start to unravel for these bastards very quickly now, and we can help that along. They’re going to get desperate. And the only card we have to play is surprise.’

The Commander in Chief stood and resisted the temptation to stretch. An unexpected presence in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Niven had assumed that they were alone in the darkened theatrette, but they were not. It was Parno Batuta, the Indonesian ambassador, sitting up the back in the gloom, mopping the sweat from his face.

Niven turned back and caught the PM’s eye. There was the slightest of smiles on Blight’s lips and then it was gone. He’d been told the PM was a shrewd operator. Niven examined the ambassador’s face again and knew Blight’s gamble had paid off. Batuta’s shock was transmuting to anger. The Australians would need to liaise with Jakarta on this treachery, and devise a counterattack against the Indonesian officers. In Batuta, they now had a willing emissary.

1500 feet AGL, Banda Sea, 1040 Zulu, Friday, 1 May

It all fitted together for Wilkes. The Indonesian army had been robbed of its dirty little secret and subsequent events were merely the attempts to stop it becoming common knowledge. He found the audacity of it almost impossible to believe, despite his experiences in East Timor where he’d witnessed the Indonesian military’s behaviour first hand. But that was quite a few years ago, he reminded himself. Indonesia was supposed to be a different country now. The government was far more accountable — not like the Indonesia of old — and less inclined to resolve conflicts with a big stick. Wilkes found it difficult to believe they’d be capable of such obscene behaviour.

A war against a country as powerful and resourceful as Indonesia? It would be a bloody, vicious encounter. Australia’s arsenal, if not state-of-the-art, was reasonably sophisticated. And its army was a professional force widely regarded for its fighting abilities. But it was comparatively small. Indonesia’s army, however, was large. Certainly much of its equipment was old by Australia’s standards but it could still do a hell of a lot of damage.

He pitted the two countries against each other in his head. It was a frightening thought. And if Suryei was right, it was far more than a thought. It could well be a reality.

The authorities back home must know what was coming their way. But maybe they didn’t. Perhaps that’s why he’d had such a feeling of disquiet at the briefing back in Dili — too many unasked questions, and too many questions without answers. What the hell, he shrugged. Having the extra information wouldn’t have made this gig easier, or more difficult. And maybe they didn’t know anything back home. If that was the case, then he was in charge of a most precious cargo.

Wilkes’s fingers unconsciously went to his breast pocket and felt the hard outline of the plastic inside it. The disk surrendered by the Kopassus sergeant. He’d completely forgotten about it. The soldier had thought it important — important enough to hope it might secure his life.

* * *

Joe’s side hurt badly. His body had cramped into the shape of the seat, his bones moulding to its contours. Any movement — any — was agonising. Every twitch from the aeroplane as it rode over air currents made him feel he would scream. He remembered the Australian soldier who’d fixed him up back in the jungle. That bloke had been very offhand about his wounds. He hadn’t exactly said, ‘Get up, ya bludger, it’s only a flesh wound,’ but almost. Christ. The morphine had worn off. At least, he hoped it had worn off. If he felt this bad with morphine still acting on his system, well, it didn’t bear thinking about. He wondered if he should ask for another shot, but he didn’t want to act the girl’s blouse in this company. Just bloody well grin and bear it, he told himself. He forced himself to shift his body to a different position in the hope that he would find a more comfortable place in the seat. He didn’t. The pain made him cross-eyed. Unseen by him, the wound in his back opened and a cup of crimson blood oozed out.

When Joe opened his eyes again after several minutes of keeping them squeezed shut, he saw Suryei, an Australian soldier and a black man hunched together. The soldier pulled out a disk from his breast pocket. Seeing it almost made Joe smile.