style="font-size:15px;"> Tobias remembered moving quickly to remove the child from the village. Previous contact with a highland community that had converted to Christianity drove him to take the infant there, for safety. When he arrived at Natan Tabuni’s doorstep, the baby was close to death. With a surrogate mother identified the child survived its ordeal. Prior to Tobias’ return to the Asmat community, he and Natan had christened the boy, naming him Bennie.
Upon his return, Tobias remained in the Asmat area for a further five years before being assigned to overseeing the spiritual needs of the burgeoning, mining population at the newly-created Akumuga mining village.
* * * *
Mobilisation for the Akumuga Mine had commenced within months of the US-based consortium signing with the Indonesian Government. A one-hundred kilometre road had been carved out of the challenging terrain followed by the construction of a pipeline from the newly-created port facility and airstrip on the southern coast. A township had emerged embracing the port development, aptly named Kampung Mas, which translated literally as “Gold Village”.
The entire landscape became peppered with Indonesian Special Forces KOPASSUS soldiers.
Tobias’ mind glazed back to the scene outside as another helicopter arrived disembarking expatriate engineers. He knew these foreign workers would remain on site for their two-week stint, accommodated in converted containers, before being shuttled back to Kampung Mas, where charter flights connected to home destinations.
Military barracks providing support facilities for the one hundred Indonesian soldiers were strategically placed towards the main gate entrance. Along the outer perimeter shanty-dwellings had already appeared. These were occupied predominantly by prostitutes transported to the site from poverty-stricken environments throughout the Nusa Tenggara Islands, although a small number of local indigenous women from the three Akumuga tribes also worked in the brothel.
The missionary occupied one of the converted container dwellings. The elongated structure partitioned to provide for basic living quarters at one end, whilst the remaining half was presented as a small, makeshift chapel.
Tobias managed himself upright and over to the first aid cabinet. He squinted inside the small cupboard, his brow collapsing into furrows upon discovering the bottle of arak was not in its customary hiding place. Stumbling around the cramped quarters he found the bottle lying in the sink, alarmingly empty, and he cursed aloud, raising an index finger to the heavens then sulked.
* * * *
Australia
Canberra
Director John W. Andersen returned from his one-on-one with the larrikin Prime Minister John Gorton, somewhat relieved that the former RAAF pilot shared his views with respect to the United States and, closer to home, Indonesia.
Andersen opened his briefcase, extracted a file bound with bright red tape signifying the contents’ level of secrecy, and re-read the report he had earlier tabled for the PM. The communication was headed “Secret, AUSTEO (Australian Eyes Only) — Australian Special Forces’ West Irian Cross Border Intrusions”.
Although joint members of the 1947 UK-USA Security Treaty which established an alliance of Anglo-sphere countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence, it was unusual for the Australian intelligence agencies to withhold information from their ally, the United States. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), the equivalent to both the CIA and MI6 were very closely integrated at most levels of the intelligence exchange apparatus. In fact, Andersen encouraged ASIO and ASIS agents to develop even closer relationships with their foreign counterparts, as it was undeniable that both agencies identified ideologically with the CIA’s right-wing elements. Nevertheless, Andersen and his predecessors had gone to extreme measures to protect the integrity of the existence of ASIS which, as of that time, was known only to a limited few, the exclusion including New Zealand until only four years before. ASIS members, upon sighting any communication or file that bore the heading “OYSTER” knew immediately that the contents were the product of the real Secret Service.
Since its inception, ASIS had been involved in a number of projects designed to destabilise Indonesia’s pro-Communist president, Sukarno which, inarguably, resulted in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Indonesians during the turmoil that followed. Now, undeniably supporting the recently-installed Suharto regime, ASIS continued with its clandestine operations across the archipelago, directed from the First Secretary Political Affairs office in the Australian Embassy on Jalan Thamrin, Jakarta.
* * * *
Andersen’s meeting with John Gorton had lasted just under an hour. The Prime Minister’s derogatory anti-comments during their discussion were not entirely in concert with the Director’s own position.
‘I don’t trust the bastards,’ the PM had reiterated, as Andersen recalled the somewhat undiplomatic statement being made by Gorton to the American Secretary of State, Dean Rusk on an earlier occasion. ‘And I am sick and tired of being reminded that we should be obligated to their so-called nuclear umbrella!’
The PM continued his diatribe. ‘It’s time we did something constructive about developing our own nuclear weaponry.’ Andersen remained silent, permitting the PM to vent. ‘We shouldn’t fall into the trap of believing that the Americans would keep their side of our treaty, the event of any nuclear threat.’ Andersen was aware of the heated exchange between Rusk and Gorton which had resulted in a searing recommendation by Rusk to Washington comparing the Australian PM to France’s Charles de Gaulle. The Americans were deeply annoyed with Gorton’s insistence that Australia should serious consider constructing its own nuclear arsenal at a time the USA was lobbying for a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and pressing Canberra to sign.
John Gorton scratched at a phantom itch on the side of his cheek. ‘There’s no doubt about their intentions to remain the only player in our backyard,’ he continued. ‘This business of Washington urges us to crank up our efforts in establishing military cooperation with Jakarta. It’s just so bloody obvious. On one hand they don’t wish to be perceived as having any influence over the outcome of the Irian vote, yet they have all but guaranteed the Indonesians that not only the UN, but Australia as well, will support a pro-Jakarta outcome.’
‘We all know why Washington wants it that way,’ Andersen reminded him.
The PM continued to scratch as he considered the US Navy brief he had been privy to, even before assuming the leadership from the interim Prime Minister, Jack McEwen. ‘Well, providing the Americans with free passage through Indonesian waters for their nuclear submarines has certainly come at a price.’
Andersen sensed where the conversation was heading. Unbeknown to the general public there were two deep ocean passages that joined the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, both imperative for the undetected transit by nuclear submarines. The Lombok Strait was one such channel and the other, the lesser known trenches of Ombai and Wetar which touched the island of Timor, were more frequently traversed by US warships.
The ASIS Director was au fait with US submarines and the missiles they carried. He knew that currently, these boats were armed with the Polaris A3 which could strike any target within two thousand, five hundred nautical miles which placed most of SE Asia and China within range. Operating from the nearest submarine base located on Guam, nuclear-missile carrying submarines could choose between the Ombai-Wetar or Lombok passages to access targets in the Middle East, and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, saving some eight to ten days steaming time.
The Director was also aware, however, that the
