Indonesian Gold (81 page)

The Chief of Army Staff looked weary. Days before, on 27th
July, the capital had erupted in riots after his paramilitaries raided Megawati Sukarno's
political headquarters. Sixty people had been taken away for interrogation, the Military's
crackdown and intimidation campaign against NGOs gaining far too much attention from the
international press – the main contributing factor behind the Palace's decision to revisit an
earlier decision, which would have resulted in providing greater security for Javanese and
Madurese settlers in Kalimantan.

Brigadier General Sukirno had remained reservedly composed
throughout the briefing, aware that the decision to withdraw troops from the Kalimantan provinces
would meet with derision. Major General Umar Sudopo, the Chief of Socio-Political Staff at
Defence HQ, had attempted to allay the concerns of others present, the
Kopassus
Special
Forces Commander, General Praboyo, the most vociferous in voicing his position.

‘
The decision is absurd! The Dayaks' challenge must be
met with force.
'

‘The order came directly from Jalan
Cendana.'
When Sukirno spoke, the simple statement was designed
to end debate. In his non-active status, he still wielded considerable power through Parliament,
and a long-established network of powerful friends. Although General Sukirno considered Praboyo
an upstart, he avoided alienating the man as he had the President's ear – and one of his
daughters. When the decision had been made some months before, to increase military presence in
Kalimantan, there had been no intelligence indicating that the Dayaks were planning insurrection.
First and foremost, Sukirno's role was to protect Presidential interests. Subject to that, those
of the military.

‘This will be bad for morale,'
Praboyo argued
.
Amongst his contemporaries, the
Kopassus
General was a
clear winner because of his marriage into the First Family. He scowled at Sukirno for the
inference that the President had deliberately bypassed him. Praboyo seethed, angered by Palace
siblings' inept attempts to erode his power-base amongst the military hierarchy. Praboyo was
young, ambitious, and determined to persevere until the President passed the mantel to
him

– what he perceived to be his natural ascension to the
Presidency would be realized within the next few years. His father-in-law had already indicated
that his promotion to Commander of
Kostrad,
the most senior military command position, was
imminent, and for this reason he kept his own counsel, avoiding confrontation with his wife's
billionaire brothers and sisters.

But, for the country's military leadership to initiate
such conciliatory moves in favor of the Dayaks was too bitter a pill for Praboyo to swallow. In
the recent skirmishes along the Upper Mahakam he had been severely embarrassed by the extent of
Kopassus
losses, and was determined to seek revenge, with or without the support of those
present. As Commander of the Special Forces he could secretly mount an operation without
necessarily seeking authority from any attending this meeting, including the Chief of Army Staff
now sitting across the room. He had done so before, and knew that in the event his superiors did
become aware of his actions, they would automatically assume that he had acted with the
near-senile President's blessing. However, as the
Bapak
's directive emphatically required
a withdrawal of combat forces in the Kalimantan provinces, even Praboyo's hands were tied.
Although it was not unusual for his Special Forces to be covertly deployed in areas under other
commanders' operational control, the presence of
Kopassus
troops along the Mahakam was
already known – such knowledge placing severe restrictions on whatever action he might
contemplate against the Dayak tribes.

The Chief of Staff stepped in.
‘The Army is not
effecting a total withdrawal,‘Boyo. We will maintain a presence to provide security against
further ethnic clashes, but the size of our forces will be reduced to accommodate the President's
request. Special emissaries are already on their way to each of the provinces to seek an end to
the attacks on transmigrant settlements. These representatives will be empowered to offer the
President's assurances, that the military will not take any further reprisal action if the Dayaks
agree to cease their activities immediately.'

‘
And, if they don't?
'

‘
Then we will obviously have to revisit those areas
which refuse to compromise.
'

‘We were already close to resolving the problem. I still
don't understand the sudden shift in policy.'

General Sukirno intervened.
‘We should not look at this
as something permanent, General. The President's concerns relate to an increase in international
awareness with respect to the Mahakam River area and its local population. The Longdamai gold
discovery has attracted considerable international attention over past days, and the President
wants a hold placed on all military activity that might present our country in the wrong light.We
must brace ourselves for a significant increase in the number of foreign journalists wishing to
visit the Mahakam. The President does not want anything to interfere with either his Transmigrasi
Program, or the development of Kalimantan's resources.'

‘The Dayaks are already doing that,'
Praboyo insisted.

‘
They have run their course. We believe that most will
now return to their villages, satisfied with what they've accomplished.
'

‘
How much time do we have?
'

‘Seven days.'

‘Then, it's absolutely clear to all
present?'
this, from the Army Chief of Staff whose question
appeared to be directed specifically at the arrogant General Praboyo.
‘'Boyo?'
The CAS
insisted on his response.

‘
Kopassus troops will be out within the
week
.'

****

Angered by the Army Chief of Staff's passing remark as he
departed, Praboyo remained silent, planning his next move during the drive to
Kopassus
Headquarters in Cijantung. The remark may have been
‘en passant'
but for the ambitious
young General, being of educated Javanese stock, the comment cut him to the core.
‘Ah,‘Boyo,'
he recalled the CAS taking him by the arm,
‘are you familiar with the two
legends in our (Javanese) culture relating to events pertaining to a man who marries the daughter
of a king?'
Praboyo, already well versed in the literature had simply waited.
‘According
to the legend,the groom could be like ‘Jaka Tigkir' who killed his father-in-law and established
his own kingdom. Or, he had the choice of following the footsteps of ‘Ageng Mangir' who, having
attempted a number of coups against another sultan, ended up dead.'
Praboyo recalled wishing
that it was the CAS who was dead when he then asked,
‘Tell me,‘Boyo, which of these do you
wish to be?'

Praboyo knew that Jakarta's whispering classes often
suggested that he maintained a private army to further consolidate his power, primarily because
he often bypassed the chain of command to secure equipment for his Special Forces direction from
foreign governments. He had become deeply involved with the U.S. forces when first attending
training courses in Fort Benning and Fort Bragg earlier in his career. When Praboyo married into
the First Family, the Americans had wasted no time in establishing rapport with the promising
officer. He was invited to attend courses at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg in the U.S., to forge
closer links between the Indonesian and American military.

He knew he'd have to move quickly to avoid discovery,
which would require that any new operation would have to be mounted immediately, and given the
appearance that it had been in effect for some time. Arriving at the Special Forces complex, the
General went directly to the communications center and spoke to the commander responsible for the
calamitous
Operation Clean Sweep
. He discussed the covert operation in detail, securing an
undertaking that the mission would be completed within four days. By evening, commandos were
already prepared and fully equipped for the lightning strike against the
Penehing,
the
search and destroy mission designed not only to boost morale, but also to extract revenge. Now
all that was left to do was to determine the position of their enemy. The officer in charge
radioed for heli-support, and Captain Subandi was immediately reassigned to the combat
unit.

Confident that the operation would go as planned, General
Praboyo returned to observe the covert, ‘Psy-Ops' training program provided by a special U.S.
team that had been flown in from Special Operations Command-Pacific. The training had continued,
uninterrupted, during the riots arising from the attack on Megawati's headquarters, just a few
days before. General Praboyo then addressed another potential problem – what to do with the sixty
or more members of Megawati's political movement he had incarcerated in the two clandestine,
Kopassus
detention centers in Cibubur and Bogor. Not even the Army Chief of Staff was
aware of Praboyo's private ‘jails'. He'd had no difficulty establishing his own slush fund,
supported by Megawati opposition groups, the covert centers specifically designed for detaining
and questioning dissidents that his men had abducted – or students who had simply
‘disappeared'.

****

Jakarta & Longdamai

Baird's partner, Subroto replaced the receiver and rubbed
his hands together gleefully. The call had originated from General Praboyo's offices in
Cijantung, the General's personal aide apologizing for taking so long in responding to the AVM's
request, the aide's call to confirm that the small matter Subroto had raised with the commander
had now been resolved. The officer did not need to elaborate – Subroto knew immediately that the
troublesome Mardidi was dead. He waddled into an adjacent room and instructed the operator to
raise the Longdamai camp, and summon Eric Baird to the phone.

****

The Australian geologist woke with a start, the banging on
his cabin door setting off something similar in his head. He groaned, ‘Go away!' but the
head-splitting pounding persisted.

‘Eric, it's Stewart. You've got a call.'

Baird responded with a string of muffled
profanities.

‘Eric, you'd better get up. It sounded
important.'

‘Can't. I'm as sick as a dog.'

‘Come on, I'll walk you over. When you've finished I've
got something to discuss.'

Moments passed, and Baird's unhappy face appeared under a
crown of unkempt hair. ‘Do you know… who it is?'

‘Your chubby partner, Subroto.' Anyone who moved amongst
the Jakarta expatriate mining community would have been aware of Baird's rotund
benefactor.

‘Shit,' another groan; ‘he's the last person I need right
now.'

‘Let's get it over with, then. I really do have something
important to talk to you about.'

Baird opened the door further, stretched then yawned,
Campbell instantly wincing, much closer to the other man's breath than he cared to be.

‘Give me a couple of minutes to get some gear
on.'

Baird reappeared, disheveled, laces untied and dragging
behind, his swollen eyes hidden behind shades. Recognizing the look on the American's face he
attempted a smile, the two-day, reddish-tinged stubble on the lower end of his jaw adding to his
decrepit demeanor.

‘Okay, let's go and see what the bastard wants
now.'

‘On second thoughts, I'll wait for you over in the mess.
Maybe you should consider eating something for a change.'

Baird squinted through the sunglasses. ‘Yeah, guess you're
right. I'll come over when I've finished with the call.' Reluctantly, he then continued over to
the communications room, and accepted the headphones from the operator.

‘It's Eric, Pak. Guess you've heard what's been happening
over here?'

Subroto ignored Baird's question, going directly to the
reason for his call.
‘Pipi wants to know when you plan on returning.'

Baird shuddered as an image of Subroto's niece occupied
his mind.
‘Soon, Pak, soon.'

‘I thought your contract was finished there?'

Baird was too tired to fence with his senior partner.
‘It is. I'm just tidying up a few loose ends.'

At the other end of the line the Javanese smiled.
Yes,
and one of those won't be Mardidi's!
Tempted to raise the young man's name in their
conversation, Subroto resisted doing so, eager now for Baird to return and get Pipi off his back.
‘Don't leave it too long. We have some serious matters to discuss,'
he paused for effect,
‘that relate to our partnership.'

Baird was now fully awake.
‘Our
partnership?'

‘
Yes, Eric. We've just received notice from the new
operators, Baron Mining, that they will not be requiring our offices any further. This will mean
that we will lose our main source of income.
'