Blood at Yellow Water (3 page)

Jake enjoyed every moment of the
entertainment; it was such an iconic performance which you would
never see anywhere except in the Australian outback. The band came
back on the stage and started playing some rock and roll and
couples started to move onto the floor. Lizzie dragged Bill onto
the floor and they started moving easily to the music. Jake had
never seen Bill dance before and was surprised how well he and
Lizzie danced together.

Jake spotted Shoni walking across the room
to clean up some tables only to be grabbed by Lizzie who spoke in
her ear, pointing to Jake. Shoni took off her apron and walked to
Jake smiling and swaying to the music. Jake got up stiffly, feeling
the bruises courtesy of Blakey and his mates, took her hand and
walked onto the dance floor. The band had switched to a slow
number, Jake took her in his arms and they started moving
rhythmically around the dance floor. Jake loved the way Shoni moved
so easily in time with the music and felt the smooth silkiness of
her body as she moved closer to him. He felt an instant attraction
to her and they talked easily as they danced. The band finished the
bracket and Shoni broke away from their embrace to continue her
cleaning-up duties. Jake let her go after getting her to promise to
meet him for a drink when she finished her work.

Jake headed out the back door to the men’s
toilet and noticed two Chinese men talking intently in the corner
table. The older, taller one was clearly the leader while his
companion was short and muscular. Jake wondered what they were
doing in such a remote town as they didn’t seem to be tourists. He
walked into the toilet and could just catch their conversation. He
found that if he pressed his ear close to the thin plasterboard
wall he could just overhear fragments of their conversation.

The older Chinese was saying in Mandarin

“……… the explosion in the mine will go off
first and a second later the other one will blow up the…” The words
became indistinct.

“What will be the damage, will it kill…?”
Jake assumed this was the younger Chinese man talking.

“The uranium plant and the engine will be
destroyed. There will be no survivors in the……”

“What time are the explosions set for?”

“They will go off at………”

As Jake strained to hear the answer, two men
walked into the toilet talking loudly and seeing Jake against the
wall stared at him angrily. Jake recognised them as mates of Blakey
and quickly pretended to wash his hands at the hand basin before
walking out. He tried to get closer to the two Chinese to take a
photo of them with his mobile phone but the older one looked up at
him at the exact moment he was taking his mobile out of his pocket
so he moved on to avoid suspicion.

Jake was bewildered by what he had just
heard. He wondered if he had interpreted it correctly. It sounded
like they were planning on blowing up a mine but why would they
want to do that? Then it occurred to him that the Japanese and
Australian Prime Ministers were proposing to jointly launch the
inaugural shipment of processed uranium known as yellow cake from
the new uranium mine immediately following the treaty negotiations
next week. Could it be that they were planning on sabotaging the
mine while so many people would be in the vicinity; ministers,
officials, mining employees and journalists?

Jake wondered what to do. Should he tell the
local police, the secret service, the Australian Federal Police
(AFP)? Would they believe him from overhearing such a short
conversation in a foreign language? What would be the motive for
such a terrible action of devastation?

He went back to his table and said goodnight
to his father and Lizzie who were in the process of leaving. Bill
shook his hand and Lizzie gave him a big hug.

“We’ll let you sleep in till 9 am in the
morning and take you out to Lizzie’s special place. Bring Shoni if
she wants to come.”

Jake sat down and waited for Shoni to finish
her work, pondering what action to take if any. He picked up his
phone and tapped in the mobile number of Jim Williams. Williams had
reached the rank of colonel in the Army when he resigned to join
the staff of Malcolm Crichton, the Minister for Defence.
Subsequently he was appointed to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo as
Defence Attaché. He maintained close contact with the AFP and the
Australian Security Information Office (ASIO). Jake had had a few
run-ins with Williams in the past and disliked his arrogance but
couldn’t think of anyone else he could tell about the conversation
he had overheard with the Chinese. He knew Williams was already at
the Yellow Water Resort and involved in the security arrangements
for the conference.

Fortunately Williams answered his mobile
immediately. Jake explained what he had heard. Williams listened
intently to his story and then responded

“What the hell have you been drinking
Stafford? You really think these people would be planning a major
hit like that from a pub in the middle of nowhere? This is all
bullshit!”

“But I heard these guys talking about an
explosion at a uranium plant.”

“What you probably heard was them talking
about another explosion at the refurbished uranium plant at
Fukushima in Japan. They’ve just had an accident in the maintenance
area which caused a minor explosion. Stop worrying us about
conspiracy theories and get on up here where there is real work to
be done.”

After a few more terse words Jake hung up
feeling frustrated by Williams’ reaction. His respect for him
dropped even further.

He looked up to see a smiling Shoni standing
in front of him.

“Are you all right Jake, you look
worried?”

“No I’m fine, just tired and a bit sore.” He
stood up and his hip gave way where he had hit the bar stool in his
fight with Blakey and his cronies. Shoni grabbed him under the arm
and helped him straighten up.

“Come on, I will help you walk to your
cabin.”

They walked to the cabin, Shoni supporting
him. Jake said “Would you like to come in for a quick drink? I
always carry Japanese green tea with me.”

Shoni smiled as she nodded assent as they
entered the cabin.

Jake shuffled around the kitchen, pulled out
a packet of green tea-leaves and started making a brew. He asked
her whether she knew anything about the Chinese men he had seen but
she shook her head. They talked for a long time, sipping their tea
before they both started getting tired. Shoni stood up to go. Jake
took her in his arms and wished her good night and kissed her
gently on the lips. She kissed him back and suddenly they were in a
deep embrace. His weariness dropped away as he felt her body
through the thin cotton of her dress. He led her towards the
bedroom and laid her gently onto the bed.

SATURDAY - BEIJING

5,000 kilometres away in Beijing, the Chinese
Minister for Defence, Zhang Wei, was having lunch with General Lui
Chen in a corner of the dining room of the Grand Palace Hotel.
General Chen had recently lost favour with the Politburo and had
been forced out of his position as head of China’s military.
Nevertheless he maintained considerable influence and was a close
and loyal colleague of the ambitious Minister.

Zhang was sipping his third cup of green tea
after a sumptuous meal.

“Is all in readiness for our plan
General?”

“Yes, Captain Xu and his men are in position
and everything is ready for the assault at the mine opening on
Friday,” said Chen.

“Are you confident that it will
succeed?”

“Xu is our best man and an explosives
expert. He has a professional team with him. He has never failed in
the past.”

“Good, because there can be no mistakes and
no evidence to link either of us with the action. Let the world
believe it is an attack from an Islamic State organisation. In
three weeks’ time the Party Congress is convening to elect a new
Politburo which will decide China’s future. I must be elected to
the leadership of the Politburo if China is to assume its rightful
place as the world leader. I have the support of the Committee
Secretary but he will deny all knowledge of it if the plan fails.
If our plan works, the members of the Politburo will have no choice
but to elect me as their leader.”

The General sipped his whisky. “And the
Japanese will be set back years in their quest to become a world
power.”

“Yes, they think they have fooled us into
believing that the Jabiru mine is just supplying them with uranium
when our informants tell us their real intention is to secure
supplies of rare earths which they need for their military
technology. China controls 95% of the world market for rare earths
and we have refused to supply the Japanese with these materials
because of their actions to take over the disputed territory of the
Senkaku Islands. Our intelligence says that the Jabiru mine holds
the richest reserve of rare earths in the world and we must stop
the Japanese from getting access to them. The Australians refused
our offers to buy the mine and they will pay a huge cost for
playing favourites with the Japanese. Without these materials Japan
will be prevented from carrying out their plans to build up the
technology capability to make them a military power. Most
importantly we must prevent the Japanese from expanding their power
in the Pacific and put an end to their claims over the Senkaku
Islands. It will take them a long time to recover from this
set-back.”

“It will be an interesting couple of weeks
Minister. Japan will be a spent force after this and you will be
directing China’s new path in the world,” stated the General.

They discussed their plans for another ten
minutes before leaving the hotel.

SUNDAY - DALY WATERS

Jake woke up with the early morning sun shining in
his eyes through a crack in the blinds. He rolled over to Shoni who
was lying on her side with her naked back to him. He studied her
thinking that he had never seen anything more lovely in his life.
She stirred and reached out to him. He caressed her as she moulded
her body into his. He pushed her onto her back kissing her body all
over until she could bear it no more and pulled him on top of
her.

Over breakfast Jake asked Shoni about her
background. She was born in Takayama, a small town in the foothills
of the Japanese Alps, and had a typical Japanese upbringing. She
had hard-working parents and was the youngest of three sisters.
Shoni was educated at local schools, excelling in English, and
decided to move to Tokyo University to study for a communications
degree. On graduating, she joined a small public relations company
which worked with a number of companies involved in conservation
and new energy. She always had an interest in conservation because
areas of national parks in Takayama were constantly under threat
from developers. As her interest grew in environmental issues, she
joined the Tokyo office of the World Conservation Council as their
Public Relations Manager. The nuclear explosion at Fukushima
Dai-ichi plant in March 2011 had shaped her views on energy and
conservation, particularly as it had affected the lives of her
grandparents. They had lived near the plant and had to move out of
their home for twelve months until the area had been
de-contaminated. Consequently she was vehemently opposed to the
building of new nuclear plants in Japan.

Shoni was twenty-eight years old and faced
continual pressure from her family to follow the Japanese tradition
of marrying and establishing a family like her sisters. But she was
not ready to settle down into married life. She had a number of
relationships with men and the last one had ended badly so she
decided to leave her job and travel. Her first trip was to Europe
where she and a girlfriend spent six weeks backpacking around
England, France and Italy. On her travels she met and became
friendly with a group of Australians who had encouraged her to
visit Australia. She returned to Tokyo and found a temporary job
but quickly became restless and applied for a twelve months holiday
working visa to Australia.

She had started her trip in Sydney and
gradually moved north up the east coast, working occasionally as a
waitress to help pay for her accommodation, usually at a
backpackers’ hostel. After touring seaside resorts on the New South
Wales and Queensland coasts she had decided to see the outback,
travelling by bus across western Queensland to the Northern
Territory and eventually stopped at Daly Waters. Having spent the
first night in the backpackers’ room at the Daly Waters Hotel, she
noticed the hotel was seeking a barmaid/waitress, and on enquiring
with the manager, was immediately offered a job for two months. She
was now two weeks into her job. At the end of her employment at
Daly Waters she planned to travel to Darwin before returning to
Tokyo.

Jake suggested she must visit Kakadu
National Park which was a unique heritage listed park famous for
its waterways, plant species, crocodiles and bird life. A loud
knock on the cabin door interrupted their discussion.

“Come on Jake, time to rise, we’ve got
something special to show you.”

Jake put on some shorts and struggled to the
door to see his father standing there.

“Oh, did I interrupt something? Not to
worry, we’ll pick you up in ten minutes for our little
excursion.”

“Right, Dad, I’ll be ready.”

“You can bring the young lady with you if
you want,” said Bill smiling and wandered off.

Jake looked quizzically at Shoni.

“I can make it as I don’t start work till
4pm today.”

Fifteen minutes later, Bill and Lizzie
arrived in a battered jeep and Shoni and Jake climbed into the back
seat. Bill accelerated and headed off.

“Where are we going?” asked Jake.