by Ian W Taylor
*
WEDNESDAY - CANBERRA
The next morning Jake was up early for a busy schedule of appointments with colleagues at Austrade and DFAT. He had received an email from Allan Laidley from the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade asking him to have a drink with him at 5 p.m. at Parliament House. He walked over to the Austrade building for meetings with senior management and his colleagues in the North Asia Branch. The main topic was how to encourage Australian companies to take advantage of the free trade provisions of the newly signed Japan Australia Treaty. As the Government’s senior trade representative in Japan, Jake’s role would be pivotal in rolling out a new marketing strategy for Australian companies to take up the trade opportunities provided.
After lunching with his colleagues, Jake received a call on his mobile.
A cultured voice enquired, “Is that Jake Stafford?”
“Yes, who’s calling?”
“It’s Katherine Smith, Personal Advisor to Ted Pearson, the Director-General of ASIO. The Director would like to meet with you urgently. Could you possibly come over to his office this afternoon, say at 4 p.m.?’
“Well, I have appointments with people from DFAT but I can reshuffle those if it’s important.”
“Oh, that would be super. We’ll see you at four o’clock. Just ask for me at reception.”
Jake wondered what that was all about.
He strolled over to the DFAT building where he had meetings with officers from the Asia Division starting with Jenny Antrim who had led the Australian delegation at the treaty negotiations. Jenny welcomed him warmly and discussed the plans for implementation of the Japan Australia Treaty. He spent the next hour meeting with DFAT officers until it was time to go to his meeting with ASIO.
Jake was carefully screened going through security checks at the ASIO office. A small middle-aged woman was waiting for him and introduced herself as Katherine Smith. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor. She tapped on the door of the Director General’s office.
“Enter”, floated a voice from inside and Jake was shown into the office. There were two men in the room, sitting either side of the desk. The man behind the desk facing Jake was in his mid-sixties, tall and thin with a mane of silver hair. He had a reputation of being highly intelligent but quite cold and ruthless. He was labelled in government circles as “the silver fox”. He got up from his chair and gave Jake a limp handshake.
“Nice of you to come at such short notice. You know Anthony Wiley, the Defence Minister’s Chief of Staff do you?” Jake was curious as to why Wiley was there.
“Yes Director-General, I met Mr Wiley at the conference in Yellow Water.” He shook Wiley’s hand.
“Let’s keep this informal shall we? Call me Ted. Shall we have some tea or coffee and sit around the coffee table?” They sat themselves down and gave their preferences for beverages to Katherine.
“Jake I wanted to thank you for your role in saving the life of Prime Minister Koshi. I’d like to hear your version of what happened.”
Jake gave a quick description of their escape from the Chinese.
“That’s wonderful Jake. Both the Japanese and your own Government are extremely grateful for your initiative and courage in the face of the terrorist attacks. We can’t openly acknowledge your involvement but it won’t be forgotten.”
“However, I’m informed that you are involved in some other matters which are highly sensitive to the Government and of concern to us.”
Jake blanched. “What are you referring to?”
“I’m talking about the death of Barry Buckstone and certain documents he had in his possession which were stolen. Can you enlighten me as to how you knew Buckstone?”
“My father’s partner Lizzie is Buckstone’s sister. I had met Barry through her and attended the funeral. It’s as simple as that.”
“Do you know anything about the documents he was supposed to have stolen?”
Jake framed his response carefully. “I heard rumours that he had some evidence of corruption in the Kakadu Land Council which had led to the Council’s withdrawal of its opposition to the Jabiru mine.”
“Let me stress that these documents are extremely confidential and sensitive. If they end up in the wrong hands they could pose a high level security risk. If you have any information on them you should pass it on to us immediately. Do you understand me?”
Jake nodded. He understood it to be a veiled threat.
“It would go very badly for your career Jake if you were found to have possession of these documents.”
“What makes you believe that I have these documents?”
“We don’t, but we have to check everyone who was in contact with him around the time of his death. You were seen talking to him at Jabiru while the demonstrations were going on. And you were staying at his house.”
The realisation that he had been under surveillance surprised and annoyed Jake. He responded testily “I’ve already explained that. I looked him up at Jabiru because his sister asked me to. I attended the funeral with my father and Lizzie and his widow invited us to stay overnight at her house.”
Pearson looked at Wiley who nodded.
“O.K. Jake you know how important this is to the Government. I should stress that all members of the Public Service sign confidentiality agreements as a condition of their employment. This applies to any documents which affect the government.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Pearson stood up to shake Jake’s hand, signifying that the meeting was over. “Thanks for coming over Jake.”
Wiley followed Jake out to the elevator and pressed the down button.
He sneered. “You’re in deep trouble here Stafford. You’ve involved yourself in something way above your head. I’ll have your guts for gaiters over this.”
The elevator door opened. Jake turned to Wiley.
“You’re the one who’s over-stepped the mark here Wiley” Jake said as he trod heavily on Wiley’s foot as he moved to the elevator. He gave a polite wave to a furious Wiley as the elevator doors closed.
Back out on the street, he took a taxi to Parliament House for his meeting with Allan Laidley.
At a few minute before five o’clock, Jake arrived at the reception area at Parliament House and announced himself to a security guard behind the counter. The guard rang up Laidley to advise him that Jake had arrived and issued Jake with a visitor’s pass in a lanyard which he hung around his neck. He walked through the security screen just as Allan stepped out of the elevator. He shook Jake’s hand vigorously and escorted him through the corridors of the ministerial offices until he came to the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Allan led him into his own office where he invited Jake to join him on a couch alongside a coffee table. He walked to the bar fridge and offered Jake a beer which he accepted gratefully.
After exchanging pleasantries, they discussed the work needed to follow-up from the signing of the treaty with Japan. Allan then reviewed the events over the last few weeks, including the reasons why Anna Sentoro had declined to nominate for the Liberal Party leadership. He showed Jake the damaging photos of Jake with Anna and explained how he had managed to have them deleted. Jake mentioned his suspicions about Crichton’s involvement with the Jabiru mine. He outlined the transactions which appeared to involve Crichton, O’Shea and the Japanese tycoon Takaya. Allan cried out excitedly
“That slimy bastard Crichton! Jake if this can be proven it would ruin Crichton. Have you got any documentary evidence?”
“I have but it doesn’t mention Crichton’s name anywhere. I’m pretty sure he has an interest in the company behind it.”
“Why don’t you show the material to the authorities? They would tell you whether there was a strong case or not.”
Jake responded “I’m not sure who to trust. I’ve just come from a meeting at ASIO with the Director-General and your ‘mate’ Wiley from the P.M.’s Office. They gave me a pretty stern warning about dis
closure of confidential information affecting the Government. I reckon any documents incriminating the P.M. would be buried pretty quickly. They wouldn’t expose the newly appointed P.M. to such allegations.”
“Yeah, good point, they might just hush it up. Then again, if the story came out it would destroy Crichton.”
He paused for a moment, shuffled in his cabinet and brought out a photograph. Jake studied the photo. It showed Crichton and Takaya in close conversation.
“This doesn’t prove anything but it shows Crichton and Takaya to be close buddies. It’s a spare copy, you can keep it if you like.” He gave the photo to Jake who slipped it in his pocket.
There was a tap on the door. Jake looked around to see Anna Sentoro push the door open.
Anna said “Allan have you got the press statement on…” Her words hung in the air as she saw Jake sitting with Allan.
She looked surprised “Oh, sorry Allan, I didn’t realise Jake was with you. Jake, how nice to see you again.” She came over and shook Jake’s hand.
“Hello Minister,” Jake stammered. She had dark rings under her eyes and looked stressed, obviously suffering from the pressure she had been put under over the last few days.
“Jake please call me Anna. Have you recovered from your ordeal?”
“Yes Minister, er I mean Anna. The leg has healed up nicely.”
Sensing some embarrassment, Allan chipped in.
“Anna, we’ve been discussing the follow-up to the signing of the Japan Australia Treaty. Jake has some ideas for promoting the commercial opportunities arising from the Treaty.”
“That’s great Jake. I’d like to be involved in any way I can be useful.”
“Well, over the next few months we will need to run seminars for business people right around Australia explaining the benefits of the Treaty to Australian companies and industry groups. It would make a bigger impact if you could be a keynote speaker.”
“I’d be happy to Jake, just let Allan have the details when the seminars are planned and I will make sure I fit them into my calendar.”
Allan cut in. “More importantly Anna, Jake has uncovered some information on the Prime Minister’s possible involvement in the Jabiru Mine which smacks of corruption.”
Jake repeated the information to Anna. After he had finished she thought for a moment.
“Jake this is powerful stuff if it can be substantiated. I think you should show the material to the AFP and let them judge what to do with it. If I became involved it would be seen as if I am trying to undermine the leadership out of spite.”
“I’m meeting with the AFP in the morning and will pass on the information to them.”
Anna said “Jake when you’ve finished with Allan would you like pop into my office for a few minutes?”
Jake spent another ten minutes with Allan before he knocked on Anna’s door. She opened the door and gestured towards her couch.
“Jake I wanted to let you know that I appreciate all you’ve done, not just in saving the Japanese Prime Minister at the risk of your own life but all the work you did at the negotiations. One day you’ll get the credit you deserve for this.”
“Thanks Anna. I’m not worried about receiving recognition. I’m just sorry things haven’t worked out better for you.”
“Well, that’s politics. Things can change rapidly as we’ve seen over the last few days. My turn will come. If what you’ve found out proves to be true, things could change very quickly again.”
“Oh and Jake, I’m terribly sorry that you’ve been brought in to the dirty politics that Crichton and his staff instigated with those photos.”
“Don’t worry Anna, they’re just muck-raking, nothing happened.”
“Yes, but those vultures can cause enormous harm just through innuendo.”
She looked up at him, her eyes searching his.
“To be honest I was having a good time at the party even if I had too much to drink. I like you Jake. In other circumstances……” Her voice trailed off, not finishing the sentence.
Jake took that as his cue and stood up to leave. She hugged him and he could smell her scent as she pressed her body into his. He walked out the door and Allan escorted him back to the reception area, promising to keep in touch.
Jake left Parliament House, walked back to the Austrade building and picked up his laptop and brief case. He opted to walk back to his apartment rather than catch a cab. It was nearly dusk and the night air was getting chilly. He took a short cut across the parkland onto National Circuit and crossed the road with the traffic lights. Half-way across the road he heard a roar and jerked his head around to see a large Ford bearing down on him. He launched himself sideways as the front bumper scraped his hip. He ended up tangled in a bush on the side of the road and got up to brush himself off when he saw two men jump out of the car and start running towards him. He cursed realising he was in real danger and started running across Telopea Park towards the Kingston shopping centre. One of the men picked up Jake’s briefcase and yelled something to his companion who was closing in on Jake. Hampered by the blow to the hip and the wound to his leg, Jake realised he wasn’t going to make it to the protection of the shops in time. He saw a large branch lying on the ground, snatched it up and stepped behind a large pine tree. When he could hear his pursuer approach the tree, Jake stepped out and swung the branch as hard as he could. The branch hit him in the stomach winding him as he fell to the ground. He was getting up on his knees just as Jake smashed his heel into the side of his head in a classic judo side-kick. He slumped to the ground moaning. Jake could hear the other man approaching and took off across the road to the safety of the shopping centre.
Close to exhaustion and feeling the effects of the shock, Jake saw a police station that fortunately was open and walked in the door. He spoke to the constable on duty who took details of the attack and prepared a statement. She enquired as to whether the attack might have been an attempted robbery and he advised that the only thing he had lost was his briefcase which contained his laptop and some official papers. She suggested Jake have a medical check but he assured her he was physically fine. She promised to follow-up the attack and asked him for his personal details so she could get back to him.
An hour later, Jake let himself into his apartment, helped himself to a brandy from the mini-bar and threw himself on the bed. It was only when he looked around that he realised something was different about the apartment. While everything looked to be in place, he could tell that the clothes in his case had been disturbed and the toiletries in the bathroom had been moved. Nothing seemed to be missing but it was obvious that his room had been searched.
He called for the manager of the apartment block and explained what had happened. The manager listened attentively and offered to check whether anyone suspicious had been seen in the building. Jake decided to move out of the apartment. The manager waived the bill, took Jake’s number and promised to let him know if they uncovered anything suspicious.
Jake packed his travel bag and left the apartment. He booked himself into a small motel nearby, paying cash in advance for two nights. The room was small and basic but he was too tired to care. He lay on the bed and was asleep within five minutes.
THURSDAY - CANBERRA
After a restless night, Jake woke early. He thought about what had happened the previous night. Were his assailants trying to kill him, rob him or warn him off? Was it a random attack or a deliberate one? One of his attackers went straight after his brief case. But what were they looking for? He concluded the only thing of value was his laptop but they could also be after the mining documents and the memory stick. He wondered how would they know his movements? A sudden thought struck him. He picked up his mobile phone, slid the cover off the rear, pulled out the battery and looked inside the body of the phone. He cursed when he saw a tiny silver disc in it and realised that was how they knew where he was going. But who had inserted the bug? He thought back over the last few days and remembered leaving his m
obile phone at his desk at Austrade a couple of times while at internal meetings which would have provided someone with the opportunity of placing a bug in it. He was about to destroy the disc but stopped himself and put it back in.
He went to a small café and had breakfast. At 8 am he used his mobile to ring the AFP Commissioner’s Personal Assistant and asked if he could change his appointment to 9 am rather than 9.30am. After checking Fisher’s diary she agreed to the change. He then took a cab and asked to be dropped off 100 metres past the AFP Building in Kings Avenue. He noticed a small coffee shop next to the building. He entered the café and sat down next to a window which gave him a clear view of the entrance to the building as well as the car park. He ordered a coffee and waited. At about 8.45 am he was rewarded when he saw a Ford pull up in the visitors’ carpark. There were two men sitting in it. It looked like the vehicle that had tried to run him down but he wasn’t certain. Then he saw one of them get out of the car and light up a cigarette. He had a bandage on his head and Jake was certain that he was the man who had attacked him.
Jake paid his bill, walked out of the café and slipped behind a row of bushes which bordered one side of the carpark. He worked his way carefully along the bushes until he was close enough to recognise the man with the bandaged head. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of him from between two branches. He then worked his way behind the vehicle and took a photo of the number plate of the Ford. He quickly retraced his steps until he was back on the street. He walked directly to the front door of the building looking straight ahead. He could sense that he was been observed but moved straight up to the receptionist. He asked for John Fisher and waited till Fisher’s Personal Assistant signed him in before stealing a glance out the window. He could see the two men still sitting in the Ford. The assistant led Jake up to the fifth floor and showed him into the Commissioner’s office.
John Fisher shook Jake’s hand firmly, invited him to take a seat and offered him coffee.
“Before we discuss anything John, could I ask you a favour?” asked Jake. “There are two men sitting in a Ford in the carpark outside who are following me. They attacked me last night and stole my briefcase which had some incriminating evidence in it. I have photos of the registration number of their vehicle and of the man who attacked me. Could you check them out for me?”
He showed the photos to Fisher.
“Sure Jake” responded a perplexed Fisher, taking Jake’s mobile to copy the photos.
“But what’s this all about?”
Jake quickly explained how he came into possession of the documents. He broke open his mobile and gave the bug to Fisher.
After listening to Jake’s story, Fisher excused himself, walked out of his office and briefed two of his staff, providing them with copies of the photos.
He returned to the office. “Jake, I’ve asked two of my people to check this out urgently and confront the guys in the vehicle. They should get back to me in a few minutes. Can you explain to me what these documents contain?”
Jake outlined the contents of the stolen documents, and his belief that Barry Buckstone had been killed because he had evidence of bribes paid to O’Shea to secure the Land Council’s support for the Jabiru mine development. He also explained how the documents exposed corruption by overseas based companies in the mine development including a possible link to Malcolm Crichton.
“Christ, these are serious allegations Jake, if they can be proven it would not only bring Crichton down but the Government wouldn’t survive either. We’d need to see the evidence before we could take action.”
There was a knock on the door and at Fisher’s behest a man stepped quickly into the office.
“What have you found out Gary?”
“Commissioner, we’ve found out something about the men in the Ford in the carpark. We checked the number plate at the motor registry and the identity of the man in the photo.”
“And who is he?”
“He’s a guy from ASIO and the car is also registered to ASIO.”
“What, you’ve got to be kidding. Did you talk to them?”
“Yes they said they were just waiting to pick up a colleague in the car park. They deny attacking anyone last night and have never heard of anyone called Jake Stafford.”
“O.K. thanks Gary.” Fisher waved him away.
Fisher looked bewildered. “Either you’re mistaken Jake or there’s some funny business going on. I’ll chase it up with Ted Pearson, the Director-General of ASIO and see if he can shed some light on this.”
“Have you any other information to back this up? Did you keep copies of the documents anywhere?” Fisher asked.
Jake was about to say yes when he stopped himself.
“No, I don’t have any other copies with me,” he replied, which was partially true.
Jake changed the topic. “What’s happened with the Chinese terrorists? Have you managed to track down the organisation behind it.”
“We found Blakey hiding out in Alice Springs and got a confession out of him. He claimed he was just asked to provide accommodation and transport for the group in Daly Waters and didn’t know what they were planning to do. He gave us details of a bikie gang in Darwin who arranged the logistics as well as the supply of semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles and we have made a number of arrests. We identified three Chinese on flights departing from Darwin to Beijing on the day of the terrorist attack but they seem to have disappeared without a trace. They were probably part of the support team for the terrorists. We’re still trying to establish whether this was a rogue terrorist group or whether there was some connection to the Chinese Government. I suspect we might never find out.”
“Have you found out where the Chinese received their intelligence from?”
“Not yet, we’re still chasing some leads on that. They certainly had some inside help to plan their assault.”
Jake said “Well, I can think of someone at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo who seemed to go out of his way to create problems for us.”
“You’re talking about Colonel Williams no doubt. He’s been told to stay put in Canberra while we check out his activities.”
Fisher paused for a second before adding “Oh, incidentally Jake, I’ve been informed that ASIO have arrested the Japanese woman at Daly Waters on suspicion of helping the terrorists.”
Jake exclaimed “What! You mean Shoni? You must be joking. She’s completely innocent. She actually helped us rescue Koshi and pursue the terrorists.”
“I’m just telling you what ASIO has told us. Apparently she’s been held in a police remand centre in Darwin.”
“They’ve made a huge mistake. She should be rewarded for what she’s done. The local police in Daly Waters and Jabiru can verify her part in this. Can you do something to help?”
“I’ll make some enquiries Jake and see what I can do. We owe you that much.”
Jake said “Thanks. Can you tell me who would be in charge of her case at the Northern Territory Police. I’ll contact a lawyer to try to get her out of the remand centre.”
Fisher asked Jake to wait outside his office while he made a call to Sam Popolo, the Assistant Commissioner in the N.T. police in Darwin. Popolo was a member of the Task Force set up to track down the Chinese terrorists and was also in charge of the investigation into the hit and run which had killed Barry Buckstone. After ten minutes, he hung up from Popolo and walked over to Jake, passing him a note with the name and contact details of the officer dealing with Shoni’s case. Visibly shaken, Jake thanked Fisher and shook his hand. On his way to the elevator, he picked up some scissors lying on a vacant desk and put them in his pocket. As he was leaving the building, he noticed the two ASIO officers still sitting in their car and walked over. He knocked on the passenger side window. The guy with the bandage on his head rolled down the window.
“How’s the head feeling?” Jake asked.
“Get fucked fella.”
“Yeah, well, the AFP are onto you guys. I’d
like my briefcase and my laptop back thanks. If they’re not back at the Austrade office by this afternoon I go to the ACT Police.”
He walked around the back of the car and stabbed the scissors savagely into each of the rear tyres.
He hailed a passing taxi to take him back to the Austrade building, reported the theft of his laptop to the Human Resources Section and requested a replacement. He also asked for a new mobile phone, claiming his own phone had been damaged in the robbery. He found a spare office, closed the door and started making some calls from the office phone. His first call was to Shoni and there was no answer so he left a message for her to call him. He then rang Bill who picked up the phone immediately.
“Dad, it’s Jake. I’ve got a problem and I hope you can help me.”
“You sound worried Jake.”
“I’ve just been told that Shoni’s been arrested by the cops and been taken to Darwin for questioning. Apparently ASIO have accused her of helping the Chinese terrorists.”
“But that’s absolute bullshit. She helped us to save Koshi.”
“Yeah, I know. I think they’re trying to nobble us from exposing the people responsible for Barry’s death. I’m sure the local police will exonerate her when the facts come out. Would you know of a lawyer in Darwin who I could contact to help spring her out of gaol?”
“You could use the lawyer who helped Barry, Gertrude Billson is her name. She’s pretty good and knows everyone in Darwin. Just a minute and I’ll get her number.”
He was back in two minutes and gave Jake the number.
“Jake would you like me to go to Darwin and try to help secure Shoni’s release? If I leave now I can be there later tonight.”
“That would be great, thanks Dad. I’ll ring up the lawyer now and see how quickly she can act to seek Shoni’s release. I’ll fly up to Darwin tomorrow night if I can help. Another thing, would you mind collecting her things from her room at the pub and taking them up to Darwin with you. And let her boss at the pub know that she’s unlikely to be coming back. I think she’ll want to go home to Japan after all this.”
He passed Bill the details of the remand centre, thanked him and rang off.
He then rang the lawyer’s office and was put through to Gertrude Billson. He explained who he was and his connection to Barry Buckstone. She was clearly upset over Barry’s death and was happy to help Shoni. She listened carefully to Jake’s request and promised to act quickly.
Half an hour later, the phone on Jake’s desk rang. He picked it up. A strange muffled voice came through.
“Is that Jake Stafford?”
“Yes, who’s calling?”
“Never mind that. I’ve got a simple message for you. If you want to get your girlfriend out of gaol you’d better keep your mouth shut about those papers you stole.”
“What are you talking about, I don’t have any papers. They were stolen from me.”
“You heard what I said. Shut the fuck up if you want the girl released.” The phone went dead.
Jake shivered as he digested the threat. He could feel his temperature rising at the thought of Shoni being in prison. Someone high-up in Government was pulling the strings and trying to scare him into silence. He had been nearly run down, assaulted and robbed. Now they were threatening Shoni. He was fed up and had to decide what to do. He could let the whole thing rest, hope that Shoni would be released and fly back to Tokyo with her. But then he thought about Barry’s death and reasoned that the people who caused it should be brought to justice.
On an impulse, he rang Helen Kwang and asked if he could meet with her urgently. She suggested they have dinner that evening and gave Jake details of the restaurant. Jake asked her to open up the envelope he had posted to her from Daly Waters and read the documents in it before their meeting. He suggested she make a copy of all the documents and keep the originals in her office safe.
He went back to his motel and sat in the small room, chewing over what to do. He poured himself a brandy from the mini-bar and switched on the television. He found a news station and saw the familiar face of Malcolm Crichton being interviewed on a current affairs program. He had just been officially sworn in as Prime Minister by the Australian Governor-General. Crichton announced that he had been contacted directly by the Chinese Premier to advise that the Chinese security forces had captured the ring leader of the Chinese terrorists, Lui Chen, a disgraced ex-General in the Chinese Army. Cheng had confessed to his crimes but had suffered a fatal heart attack while imprisoned. Crichton emphasised the close relationship he had forged with the Chinese Premier which had helped to bring the terrorists to justice. He then went on to make a political speech and announced a new policy to build up defence and security services to safeguard the lives of ordinary Australians. Jake switched off in disgust as he knew Crichton would do anything to maintain power and to further his own interests.
He checked his watch and saw it was nearly time to meet up with Helen. The receptionist at the motel ordered a cab for him. The taxi driver dropped him at the Dragon Palace restaurant which was located in Dickson, a northern suburb of Canberra, well known for its numerous Chinese eateries. The restaurant was elaborately furnished in typical Chinese décor with a huge fish tank adorning one wall of the reception area. He walked in and saw Helen sitting in a table at the back of the dining room. When she saw him she smiled radiantly and gave him a big hug as he sat down.
“Hi Jake, good to see you again. You’re looking jaded. Are you coping O.K.?” she asked with genuine concern on her face.
“Only just, it’s been a rough week and getting rougher.”
Helen listened intently as he explained what had happened since he arrived in Canberra, including the threat to his life, the theft of his laptop and briefcase, his run-in with ASIO and the arrest of Shoni.
“Goodness Jake, it looks like you’ve uncovered a major conspiracy involving the most senior level of government and big business. I’ve read the documents you sent me and they have some explosive material in them.”
Helen paused for a minute as a waiter brought a jug of water and left menus with them. Helen ordered drinks from the waiter.
“This place serves the best Chinese food in Canberra, Jake. My uncle owns it and you are my guest. I suggest we order the banquet for two but you can choose anything you like, even the live lobster crawling in the fish tank over there, if you would rather. You look like you could do with a decent meal and some fine wine.”
Jake scanned the menu. “The banquet looks fine to me, thanks.”
Helen waved the waiter over and ordered the banquet.
Helen opened her briefcase and pulled out the documents that Jake had sent her and laid them on the table. She opened up her iPad and started scrolling until she found her notes.
“Jake, I’ve read all the documents and have a number of questions. Firstly, are you certain these documents are genuine?”
“Absolutely, they have already cost Barry Buckstone his life and I have been nearly run down and had the documents, my memory stick and my laptop stolen. And now there is the threat to Shoni. They wouldn’t go to all that trouble if the documents weren’t genuine.”
“Fair enough, but they would claim that the papers are false or doctored.”
“You could easily verify the letterheads and signatures of the correspondence.”
“O.K. we can do that. Now can you explain what these documents mean?”
“Well the first one is an agreement between the Australian company, Energet, to supply uranium to the Japanese company Nippan Energy. It sets out normal terms and conditions of quantities, prices, timelines and looks pretty standard. The second one, marked “Highly Confidential”, is an agreement between Energet to supply rare earths to a Japanese company, Mitsustrata, out of the Jabiru mine. They have kept this agreement secret and only a few people within the companies and at the top levels of government would be aware of it. It is political dynamite as it seems the main reason for the Jabiru mine is not so much t
o supply uranium to Japan but to provide them with rare earths. They obviously wanted to keep the arrangement secret from the Chinese given China’s monopoly over production of rare earths and the tensions between China and Japan. But also, Mitsustrata stands to make enormous profits from this by supplying the Japanese Government with material vital to its defence industry.”
“Mitsustrata was one of the companies you asked us to check out?” asked Helen.
“Yes and it appears to be suspect. You will recall that Sarah found out that the largest shareholder of Mitsustrata is the Japanese billionaire Takaya who is also a substantial shareholder of Nippan Energy. He is the biggest industrialist in Japan and has huge contracts to supply the Japanese defence forces with electronics and defence materials. He is known to be dodgy and has been accused of corruption many times but because of his high level contacts in Government has consistently managed to avoid being prosecuted.”
“The interesting thing is that Sarah established that Ruby Resources is also a substantial shareholder in Mitsustrata. Ruby is an Australian company obviously wanting a finger in the rare earths pie.”
“So what’s the big deal about rare earths?” asked Helen as the first of their courses arrived. Jake realised he was hungry and helped himself to some prawns grilled in a spicy sauce.
“Rare earths are mainly used to make electronics in the defence industry and certain types are extremely rare. China has 95% of the world’s production and wants to safeguard its control of world supplies. They are close to war with Japan and refuse to supply them with materials that would make their defence industry more competitive. I suspect the real reason for the Chinese attack on the Jabiru mine was to prevent Japan getting hold of the rare earths.”
“That’s a pretty heavy accusation Jake.” She studied up her notes. “What about Northern Consulting?”
“Northern Consulting was contracted by Energet to persuade the Kakadu Land Council to drop its opposition to the development of the Jabiru mine which is on a sacred sight of the Binugy people. The Land Council serves to earn $50 million on behalf of the indigenous community from Energet in compensation for giving up its land rights. Most of the money paid over so far has ended up in the hands of a few directors, especially Bert O’Shea, and some senior executives but little has filtered through to the aboriginal communities. Thanks to Sarah we now know that Northern Consulting is jointly owned by Tim Burston, Baobab Trustees and Ruby Resources. Burston is the Managing Director of Northern Consulting and has fronted the company in conducting all of the negotiations on the land rights. However this letter shows Northern Consulting made a number of payments to a company called Baobab Trustees for “unspecified services.” We now have proof that the owner of Baobab Trustees is none other than Bert O’Shea, the President of the Kakadu Land Council. O’Shea was instrumental in gaining the Land Council’s approval for the mine development. In total he received $2.25 million in bribes from Northern Consulting.”
Helen poured them each another glass of wine as the second course arrived.
“So was that why Barry was killed?”
“Without a doubt. Barry suspected O’Shea all along of being corrupt and had discovered the incriminating letter linking Northern Consulting with O’Shea’s company. It’s going to be very hard to prove it though unless the Northern Territory Police can find the driver of the vehicle who struck him.”
“So who is behind Ruby Resources?”
“I don’t know for sure but I suspect it’s someone high-up in Government, even Crichton himself.”
Helen raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“You must be kidding Jake.”
“I’m not. Only someone at the top level of government could do this. He’s also got the Director-General of ASIO in his pocket.”
“Can you find out for sure who it is?”
Jake replied. “No, not yet. All I have on Ruby Resources is a Post Office Box Number at Manuka Post office. I’ve checked with the Post Office and they won’t divulge the name of the owner. Crichton is too smart to register it under his own name in any case. ”
“Let me see if I can find out who’s registered the post box. I’ve got some contacts in the Post Office.”
Helen thought for a minute. “What if we try to set up something? We could send a package by courier to the P.O. Box number, contact Crichton’s office to advise an urgent parcel addressed to Ruby Resources has been sent to the Post Office and wait and see who picks it up.”
Jake rubbed his hip which was still aching.
“That might work. Have you got someone who could undertake surveillance?”
“I could ask Percy, our photographer. He knows everyone in politics in Canberra and could take snapshots of anyone familiar who goes in and out of the alcove where the post boxes are kept. We could also make the parcel look distinctive so it would be easy to identify it if anyone was carrying it out.”
“O.K. let’s try it.”
After a pause Jake continued, “Are you going to run with this story?”
“I think it’s an amazing story. I’ll have to run it by the Editor-in-Chief and our solicitors but I’m sure they will agree to publish it. We could run the story line over three or four days. I can start drafting the material as soon as I get home.
Helen enquired, “Are you happy that we print this story Jake? Of course your name won’t be mentioned but they’ll guess it came from you. We don’t have to reveal our sources. But once this material is published there would be no point in them harassing you anymore.”
“Yeah, that’s why I decided to pass the information to you.”
The waiter bought over the main course and through the rest of the meal they talked about how Helen could present the articles.
Jake was amazed how much food Helen could put away. She was still eating well after Jake had laid down his chopsticks. Eventually they finished their meal with a coffee and a brandy. Helen drove him back to his motel.
Despite his concern about Shoni, he felt relaxed after the huge meal and drinks. Back in his room, he undressed, laid on the bed and drifted off to sleep.