Indonesian Gold (90 page)

P.T. Subroto & Associates continued to function for
less than a year before it closed. In the eyes of the mining industry, Baird's association with
Sharon Ducay had left him professionally tainted and, upon cessation of activities at the
Longdamai site, he failed to secure any further employment. His wife, Pipi lost interest once she
discovered the true state of his financial affairs, and abandoned all hope that he might ever
take her to Australia. They continued living separate lives – Eric Baird, living in the shadows
of his own despair can now be found in an Indonesian shelter for the dispossessed, suffering from
AIDS.

****

General Praboyo

When James Salima, CEO of the Asian Pacific Commercial
Bank learned that the Longdamai deposit was nothing short of a scam and informed his father, Lim
Swee Giok, there was immense wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst Palace sycophants as they
bemoaned their paper losses. Bobby Djimanto (a.k.a. Tan Khu Sui) the timber and logging king,
although not involved in the mining escapade, nevertheless took advantage of the situation to
seek compensation for revenue lost as a result of the Kalimantan unrest. The First Family had
been unusually embarrassed over their involvement in the Longdamai gold project further
exacerbating existing sibling rivalry amongst the wealthy children. Concerned that family
turbulence might prompt a settling of political scores, General Praboyo was promoted to
Lieutenant General and assumed command of
Kostrad,
the Strategic Reserves.

Within the year, Indonesia's economy would falter, in
another two, it would totally collapse. Under the malevolent General's stewardship, troops would
clash with university students, shooting many in cold blood. Riots would erupt throughout the
Republic, the situation would be further destabilized by Praboyo's Machiavellian attempts to turn
the anti-government groundswell against the Chinese.
Kopassus
commandos who had served in
the Mahakam operations would be deployed, dressed in civilian attire around the capital, with
orders to target young Chinese women. Hundreds would be raped publicly in the streets, and many
murdered. The Chinese would flee the country – the ensuing flight of capital crippling the nation
economically, spiraling the world's largest Moslem population towards even greater
turmoil.

With his sights on the Presidency, the ambitious and
arrogant Praboyo would attempt a
coup d'etat
, and fail. Condemned by his ugly past, he
would flee the country to live in selective self-exile, leaving a legacy that would result in the
deaths of tens of thousands of his fellow countrymen.

****

Kremenchug & Fielding

Disbelief spread from continent to continent, plunging
gold stocks on world markets once it was revealed that the Longdamai prospect's incredible
drilling results had been fabricated. Trading was suspended in all stocks associated with the
former Borneo Gold Corporation asset, severely bruising James Salima's Asian Pacific Commercial
Bank and Baron Mining's image. Stockholders screamed foul, accusing Christopher Fielding and
Alexander Kremenchug of impropriety and fraud. The directors of BGC panicked, instructed their
banks to move funds to offshore destinations, then quickly packed their bags before the Canadian
Stock Exchange watchdogs could summon the executives.

In Vancouver, when the police finally got around to
raiding the BGC offices, they found these deserted – with all the company's records destroyed, or
removed. The BGC President, Fielding, followed his money to the Cayman Islands where he would
remain safe from extradition. Fielding purchased a most magnificent villa and retired, content to
live out his days in the style both his former wives had always wanted. Out of harm's reach, he
ceased sending alimony.

As for Kremenchug, he knew it would be foolhardy to
revisit Indonesia and, in consequence, gave the Republic a wide berth before finally returning to
Perth in the spring. There, upon arrival, he was arrested as he cleared immigration and charged
with fraud, the matter relating to his involvement in the Meekathara fiasco, of some years
before. At the end of his trial, Kremenchug was incarcerated for five years amongst other fallen
entrepreneurs, in the same prison as the disgraced Alan Bond.

****

Stewart Campbell

After an extended sabbatical, the American geologist
returned to Indonesia as the country moved to the brink of civil war, and a new president
ascended to the throne. The country fell even deeper into recession as a result of its economic
collapse, and foreign investment deserted the nation in favor of more viable destinations. The
Republic's new leadership fumbled, and within months an even greater crisis confronted the mining
industry, when autonomy was granted to provincial heads to negotiate directly with foreign
investors. Overnight, existing gold mining operations were plagued with illegal miners occupying
sites, and local communities preventing access to existing operators until excessive demands were
met. Interest in Indonesian mining opportunities waned, but, in spite of political uncertainty
and financial difficulty, Campbell still managed to survive.

When Campbell learned, with growing concern, how ethnic
violence had again erupted throughout the Kalimantan provinces, he immediately suspected that
Angela would be somehow involved. Often, he would lay awake at night in wistful mood, wondering
what might have been had Captain Subandi not shot the shaman, Jonathan Dau. Stewart Campbell had
written, but Angela had not replied. They would never be reunited, Campbell's lost love leaving
an unfillable void.

****

Angela Dau

Angela Dau's popularity increased amongst the
Penehing
and other Mahakam tribes, both as shaman and
Penehing
spokesperson. The
Longhouse had been reconstructed along the riverbank adjacent to the grotto, the new complex
incorporating classrooms for the children. A generator had been purchased and would be sent,
stripped down to enable transportation, from Samarinda. There had not been sufficient funds to
purchase a replacement parabolic dish and television – such luxuries would have to
wait.

On the fortieth day following her father's cremation
Angela had marked the occasion by celebrating
Hadui Taknaq
, a ceremony which commemorated
the passing of the deceased's spirit to the world of spirits believed to congregate on the peak
of Mount Batubrok. It would seem that even in afterlife, Jonathan Dau would continue to be
influenced by the rising, full moon, which coincided with the occasion. Carrying gifts for the
mountain repository, the young priestess had hoisted the
purun,
woven bag over one
shoulder then followed her father's footsteps through the forest, climbing the slopes to the
secluded caves where Jonathan Dau had presided over her indoctrination, six years before. There,
she lit candles and unfolded the prayer mat, placing this on the ground. Then, as her father had
done before her, Angela completed the ritual cleansing of her body and mind, stepped outside the
cavern and offered her first prayer to the rising, full moon.

Soon, she could feel the effect of weightlessness as her
induced state took hold, her body slowly lifting into the air and floating into timeless space.
As she traveled through her mind, images of her father drifted by whispering encouragement,
offering words of wisdom for Angela to abide, the journey lasting throughout the
night.

Emerging from the trance Angela experienced an
exhilaration she'd never felt before, the sensation one of final purification. With first light,
she stood, refreshed, gazing down the slopes towards the Mahakam and over her realm, savoring the
moment when a gentle morning breeze suddenly touched her cheeks. The priestess knew without
having to search the sky, that her guardian spirit, the hornbill would be there, watching over
her, as a mother does a child. Reentering the cavern, she bent on knees facing the altar, and
repeated her shaman oaths. When the ritual was finished, she rose and made her way through the
disguised passage that connected to the inner sanctum, carrying candles in each hand.

Upon entering, light chased shadows across the cavern's
walls and Angela was reminded of her first visit to this most secret place, and her reaction to
the skeletal collection. As before, she cast her eyes along the gallery lined with human skulls,
so carefully arranged in order by the generations of shamans that had preceded her. She placed
the candles where these would cast the most effective light and, after careful deliberation
removed the skull that had enjoyed Jonathan Dau's place of pride, resting atop of a pole.
‘Sorry, Father, but he has to go
,' Angela said, lifting the skull and positioning it
amongst the closest row, replacing her grandfather's prize with a trophy of her own, carried into
the mountains inside the
purun
bag. Then, she stepped back to admire her work, brushing
Captain Subandi's skull with the palm of her hand, Jonathan Dau's words reminding the priestess
of her first encounter with the gruesome contents of this chamber.

‘Why take another's head, Papa?'
she recalled asking.

‘Retribution, retaliation, revenge, honor, prestige…all
of those things,'
she remembered the chief answering.
‘Nothing
will change the way men feel towards each other. People will continue to kill each other.The
manner in which they extract satisfaction is of no consequence. And, our actions are ordained by
the spirits.'

Whereas Angela had once been shocked and saddened by her
chief's disclosure that he continued with the practice of taking enemy heads, now she was a
strong proponent of maintaining this custom as it represented an essential link to ancestral
past, and acted as a powerful deterrent against outsiders. She had assumed charge over the
collection and would not discourage its growth – providing trophies were not of Dayak
blood.

In considering her responsibilities to her people, Angela
accepted that her future would require that she marry – and that her partner be of pure, Dayak
lineage. When the time arrived she would canvas other communities to identify an appropriate
mate. As for Stewart Campbell, she deeply regretted that their relationship had advanced as far
as it did – recognizing that it had been doomed to fail from the outset. Now, she could not even
afford to have him as a friend.

Angela understood clearly that the road forward would be
arduously long. First, the Kalimantan tribal groups would need to be united – and then, autonomy,
if not independence, would no longer be out of the question. She would become a magnet for the
other Dayak tribes. Then, the billions of revenues extracted by Jakarta from the resource rich
provinces could be redirected to benefit Kalimantan's indigenous peoples – oil, gas, and
fertilizer production -they would have it all!

Angela Dau had become her father – and her presence
amongst the Dayak communities was creating a new dynamic. Blessed with Jonathan Dau's oratory
skills and shrouded in shaman mystique, the priestess had become more than a
dukun
to the
Penehing
– many amongst the elders already recognizing her potential as a future voice of
all the Dayak people. She became the leading proponent of the determination to infuse younger
generations with the religious and cultural values that had molded their ancestors – and worked
tirelessly towards encouraging dialogue amongst the indigenous, Borneo tribes so that one day,
there might be a commonwealth of Dayak communities existing together, as one nation.

Angela Dau became a powerful force for the Dayak people,
but remained incognizant of the enormous wealth held by a Hong Kong bank, in her name – the three
hundred million dollars representing what might have been, the realization of Jonathan Dau's, and
now her own impossible dream.

As for the desecrated ancestral Longdamai land, time would
heal the scarred landscape when the jungle reclaimed the site, once again ensuring that the
secret of Longdamai would remain intact. The real irony that this location had been so
arbitrarily selected for drilling by Sharon Ducay, and failed, would be lost on the
Penehing,
and the world, forever. Had the Filipino Chief of Operations only instructed her
crew to continue drilling further to a depth of another five meters, they would, in fact, have
discovered a mountain of gold, even greater than that promoted by the falsified
reports.

****

Epilogue

 

Hong Kong
– December
1996

‘Maria!' Alfredo called, now breathless, struggling to
keep up with the young, ebullient, Filipino woman. ‘Be careful, these Hong Kong drivers don't
care about pedestrians!'

Having crossed the busy Central intersection and narrowly
missed being run over by one of the British colony's manic taxi drivers, Maria slowed, but not
for long – squealing with delight as she propelled herself forward, propping in front of a window
display. ‘It's so beautiful! Please, please, Alfredo,' she begged with childish affectation,
‘please buy this for me?'

Alfredo caught his breath, and peered into the store.
‘Later.' He took her firmly by the wrist. ‘It is time to go.' He squeezed, firmly. ‘Do you
remember what to say?'