Indonesian Gold (83 page)

‘And you're telling me that the test-drilling was all
above board?'

‘Yes, would I still be here if it wasn't.'

‘Are you sure?'

‘Absolutely. You don't believe me?'

‘Jesus, Eric, what can I say? You've just revealed that
Sharon deliberately misled a public company to benefit her own associates, Dominion, then expect
me to accept that this latest discovery is all its cracked up to be, with someone like Kremenchug
involved?'

‘I guarantee you, Stew, when we carry out the confirmation
drilling, you'll be pleasantly surprised.'

‘My gut tells me I'll be surprised, all right,' Campbell's
sarcasm hurt, ‘and it's going to be my name that will now be linked to whatever we
find!'

‘Hey, you can relax, Stew. Nothing's been dummied up here.
I was around whenever sampling occurred and can assure you that the results are
kosher.'

‘There's only one way to find out,' Campbell argued, ‘and
I just hope that, for the both of us, those records haven't been compromised in any
way.'

‘Stop worrying.' Baird was annoyed at the other man's
concern. ‘They're okay. You'll see!'

****

Chapter Twenty-nine

Kopassus
(Special
Forces
)
Upper
Mahakam River

 

Captain Subandi was beside himself. Having flown what he
believed to be Angela Dau's remains to Samarinda, he immediately requested leave, citing extreme
family hardship. His intention, to visit the Philippines and establish his claim with the man
Sharon called Alfredo, for when Sharon Ducay's insurers paid out. His request was ignored. And,
adding to his chagrin, new orders were cut assigning him to the
Kopassus
forward position
not twenty kilometers from the Longdamai mining camp – his mission, to fly armed reconnaissance
to establish the whereabouts of the remaining Longdamai –
Penehing
villagers. Weapons were
reinstalled, the pilot perplexed by the gravity of his predicament, wondering why so much in his
life could had gone so seriously wrong.

Charged with this duty, Subandi deliberately avoided
achieving the objective, realizing that any success would result in Sharon's capture – or worse,
her death. He flew across the target area from early morning until midday, returning to the
forward post to refuel. As the Bell 205, with its pintle-mounted machine guns skirted dangerously
close to the forest canopy with its payload of fourteen, combat-experienced
Kopassus
troops in the main cabin, he prayed that the veteran sergeant sitting alongside was not as
observant as he appeared.

Hovering at times close to four thousand feet, then
dropping down to investigate river traffic, after hours of searching the thick jungle it became
abundantly clear that pursuit from the air would be fruitless.

****

Jonathan heard the helicopter's engine change pitch,
immediately cranking his neck to search the sky.
‘Nobody move!'
he yelled at the top of
his lungs.
‘Hold the children still! They might not see us if we don't move!'

‘Yuh-Yuh, quickly, come here!'
Angela snapped her fingers and the
orangutan
sprang to her side, instantly
wrapping her body around Angela's legs. Frozen in their tracks as the aircraft crisscrossed the
forested end of the island, the villagers breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Bell 205
continued in a westerly direction towards Bukit Batubrok, and disappeared from view.

‘It could be Sharon's pilot,'
Jonathan signaled the villagers to continue sifting through the ashes.

Angela looked to her father,
‘Why would he be back,
this soon?'

‘Who knows? Perhaps he's had a change of heart. Maybe
he wants to talk.'
The chief called to Udir.
‘Best be ready in
case he returns. Post ten of the younger men with weapons, in the trees over
there.'

Udir knew what Jonathan intended. He chose men with
carbines, ordering them to take positions on the cliff across the river, overlooking the area
where their fellow villagers toiled.

‘Should I change?'
Sharon
's clothes were now part of Angela's reduced
wardrobe.

‘Might be an idea, just in case.'

Angela unrolled the bundled possessions and did as her
father suggested, Yuh-Yuh's inquisitive hands a constant challenge for Angela as she pulled and
tugged on everything there. She reached out and waved a scolding finger in the ape's face. In
response, the
orangutan
displayed a mouthful of teeth as if she didn't care, then snatched
the Akubra, and dragged it away, one hand tilling the dirt behind.

‘Damn it, Yuh-Yuh, bring that back!'
But the
orangutan
wasn't interested, enjoying the tease. Angela
returned to her task at hand, dismissing her playful friend with a flip of the hand – Yuh-Yuh,
offended by the signal, slunk off to sulk, hat in hand.

****

Throughout the course of that morning the helicopter
reappeared in the distance a number times and, with each threatening approach, the
Penehing
s repeated the earlier procedure, turning all movement to stone. Then, as the
villagers emerged from shelter where they had been resting from the midday sun, the helicopter
returned, its flight path taking the Huey directly over the waterfall, unannounced, catching all
off guard. When the Huey came into full view with weapons aimed in their direction, the chief
knew they were trapped.
‘Run for the river!'
he shouted, the staccato effect of bullets
pumping through the air strangely distant, the earth exploding all around him as machineguns
strafed the ground, terrifyingly real.
Penehing
men scrambled for their antiquated weapons
then stood their ground firing up at the helicopter, while those positioned across the river
released a barrage of fire at eye level, catching the pilot by surprise. Subandi's reflex action
was instant. He stamped on the pedals controlling the tail rotor, rotating the aircraft on its
axis. As he searched the cliffs for the enemy, simultaneously adjusting the cyclic and collective
to maintain his position over the water, the sergeant sitting alongside screamed, slumping
forward, yelling he'd been hit. Udir emptied his Steyr AUG Para submachine gun's thirty-round
magazine in seconds, the 9mm bullets puncturing holes through the Huey's engine cowling, striking
the Lycoming's intricate systems. There was a horrendous bang, followed by smoke belching from
the Iroquois, Subandi automatically pushing the collective down, the relevant autorotation
procedures flashing through his mind as he screamed
‘Mayday, Mayday, this is Alfa Hotel,
Charlie, Oscar, Oscar, we're going down, our position is…'
‘
It's hit!'
Udir screamed
exuberantly, jumping up and down with childlike pleasure. Then, as Subandi lost control, Udir's
jaw dropped, the Bell 205 sliding through the air towards where he stood on the river's edge, at
an alarming rate. He watched in fascination as the Huey fell – then, at the last moment when it
appeared the pilot

might recover from the dive and the nose lifted, the
aircraft collapsed back, crashing into the riverbank within meters of where he stood.

Jonathan hurried over to the mangled helicopter as quickly
as his wound would permit, ordering his men to cease firing as injured commandos crawled from the
wreckage – amongst these, the pilot. Udir raised his weapon and pointed the Steyr at the
Kopassus
soldiers.
‘What are we going to do with them?'
he directed his question to
Jonathan as the chief cautiously approached the smoking wreckage and checked inside where more
than half the contingent lay dead or seriously injured. He turned on the pilot.
‘Why did you
bring them here to kill us?'
Then, to Udir,
‘Collect their weapons. And get those as
well.'
Jonathan pointed at the 7.62 mm, GPMG M-60 that protruded from the ‘205s main
cabin.

Captain Subandi swayed groggily, blood pouring from a
deep, forehead gash, his concussed brain disoriented from the brutal impact. When other
Penehing
arrived, the men moved quickly to disarm the surviving commandos who were then
bound, and forced to their knees. Heads bowed, the prisoners started to shake, terrified to a man
that they would be executed. The
Penehing
warriors turned their attention to the pilot but
their chief raised his hand.
‘Let him be!'
Jonathan Dau extracted a short bladed
golok
from its sheath, raised the machete menacingly in the air and approached.
‘Did
you think that you'd save your woman's life by attacking us?'

Gripped with shock, his vision functioning in only one
eye, Subandi failed to respond. As minutes wore on and the deep resonating hum filling his ears
gradually abated, he remembered where he was, wiped his bloodied brow with the back of a forearm,
and cursed his misfortune. Then, with head raised proudly he vilified the entire Dayak nation for
good measure, and spat at the ground, to emphasize his disrespect.

The chief was unimpressed with this display of bravado.
‘You are a fool, Captain. You have brought these men here, only to die.Why is it so important
to Kopassus that they continue to target the Penehing and try to destroy my
people?'

‘Go screw yourself!'
came the insolent reply.

Jonathan nodded to the warrior closest to the prisoners.
‘Kill the man on this end.'
The soldier selected for execution was unaware that he had
been chosen to die, the man alongside fainting in terror seconds later as his comrade's head
rolled along the ground and came to rest directly under his eyes. Once more, Jonathan addressed
the pilot.
‘You have four men left. I will ask you again. Why is Kopassus specifically
targeting the Penehing?'

Subandi had never felt this tired in his entire life.
Drained by shock and the demands of past days he closed his eyes, drawing upon last reserves,
grimacing with pain when reminded of his wound. The Captain breathed deeply – he knew this was
the end. Calmly, he wiped his forehead again, inspected the smear on his suit, then glared at Dau
and snarled, truculently,
‘They come to kill because you are all savages, and deserve to
die.'

The chief's face clouded.
‘You no longer care for the
woman we captured?'

At first, the question confused the pilot. Something
niggled the back of his mind and he frowned heavily, ignoring the pain, desperately trying to
recall what had been so important about this mission. He stared bewilderedly at the villagers who
had gathered at the scene, his attention falling upon a young, Dayak woman who had appeared at
the Penehing chief's side. Dau's hoarse, whispered command in the local dialect meant nothing to
Subandi's ears, nor did he understand Angela's response that it no longer mattered, that the
pilot had already seen her.

The Captain remained glued to Angela. There was a
familiarity about the woman that remained annoyingly locked in his brain. He shuffled forward a
few steps to get a closer look, Jonathan blocking his way. With amnesiac stare he searched for a
clue, the jodhpurs finally causing the memory block to crumble. With recognition, came disbelief.
Subandi staggered back with astonishment, shaking his head, refusing to accept what his eyes
could see.
‘No!'
he gasped,
‘it can't be! You're dead!'

‘No, that would be Sharon Ducay.'
Angela brushed the air, discouraging the
orangutan,
Yuh-Yuh, from
tugging at her side for attention.

‘No… it's… not possible!'
Subandi stepped back, stumbling as he retreated in slow motion from the apparent
hallucination. Then as the Captain's world continued to disintegrate, Yuh-Yuh, tired of being
ignored, threw a tantrum and tossed the Akubra through the air, the hat falling directly at the
pilot's feet. For moments Subandi stood staring down at the familiar item, then bent down and
picked it up carefully, by the brim. Another piece fell into place as he felt the pit inside his
stomach open even wider and he asked,
‘Is she really dead?'

Jonathan knew there was nothing left to be gained by
maintaining the charade. His hopes for any share in the senior geologist's insurance had been
dashed the moment the pilot had set eyes on Angela, and recognized her.
‘Yes, she's
dead.'

‘How?'
he asked,
groggily.

Jonathan Dau couldn't resist.
‘That was the Filipino
who was given the flying lesson.'

Subandi flinched.
‘You're lying, I saw my men…'
Then, when he saw the chief's chilling smile he shook his head disbelievingly.
‘That's
impossible…I watched her fall…'
A furtive look in Angela's direction confirmed that it was
true. Dumbstruck, his mouth fell open, words unable to flow.

The chief pointed to Angela, and his voice acquired a
serrated edge.
‘It wasn't my daughter you thought you'd killed. It was the
Filipino.'