Rogue Element

‘I never really understood why. I mean, the place was a thorn in Indonesia’s side from the beginning, wasn’t it? Surely they’d have been pleased to be jack of it?’

Suryei was reluctant to talk. She wanted to save her breath, use it to get away from these people as fast as she could. But at the same time, talking helped them both imagine they were some place a long way from their current nightmare. ‘Back home in Australia, the media went on about how giving up East Timor offended the pride of the TNI, the Indonesian army. That was often suggested as the reason behind the army’s willingness to engage in violence and intimidation, and for arming and inciting the militias to do the same.’

‘Yeah, I remember.’

Suryei was remembering now too, and vividly. ‘The real motive for the death and destruction in East Timor was financial. There are 200 000 soldiers on the TNI’s books but Indonesia can’t afford that. They pay the soldiers a pittance. So the men are encouraged to augment what little the government pays them.’

‘Shoot people in the morning, then sell oranges and lemons to the survivors in the afternoon?’ Joe said.

‘If you’re not going to take this seriously then —’

‘Sorry. But that’s exactly what you’re saying, isn’t it?’

Suryei waved her hand dismissively in the darkness. ‘I guess so, if you want to be flippant about it. In the light of that, what happened in East Timor made perfect sense. The army was entrenched in the economy of East Timor, from the bottom up and the top down. There was no way the TNI was ever going to happily turn its back and walk away from the businesses it had built up there over the previous twenty-five years. Once Indonesia lost control of East Timor — in other words, once the army gave up control of the economy of East Timor — all the hard work put in since the invasion in 1975 was for nothing.’

‘Jesus, no wonder it got so nasty.’

‘The TNI ends up controlling everything. And they drive tanks, so very few local communities argue,’ Suryei said, summarising.

‘Sounds like a hell of a recipe for graft and corruption. Are they good soldiers despite all that?’

Suryei put her hand on Joe’s arm and squeezed gently. He stopped talking. The night creatures had suddenly fallen silent. Joe and Suryei listened hard, trying to discern the reason for the sudden stillness. Then, just as mysteriously, the night chorus chirped up again. After a while, Joe prompted, ‘The Indonesian soldiers?’

‘It depends who you ask, and on the unit you’re referring to, and, for that matter, on what the government has sent them to do,’ said Suryei. ‘But, as individuals, there are good soldiers and bad ones, just as there are good people and bad people everywhere and in every walk of life.’

Suryei paused. ‘There are some pretty awful things going on in Indonesia — Ambon, Aceh, Kalimantan and West Papua. We don’t hear about a lot of it in Australia.’

‘Why not, do you think?’

‘Your average Australian isn’t interested, for one thing, and for another, Canberra is reluctant to piss Jakarta off. I reckon the relationship between our two countries is shakier than they let on.’

Suryei suddenly felt nervous and vulnerable standing out in the open having a chat. Perhaps it was the subject matter. ‘Come on. If we’re going to get some rest, we’d better get moving. There are still a few hours left before the moon comes up and I think we should be hunkered down before it does.’

‘Why is that?’ asked Joe.

‘I met a lot of different troops in East Timor, on both sides. The best — and worst — of the Indonesians were their Special Forces troops, the Kopassus. They’re better trained and equipped than the average Indonesian foot-slogger. Meaner too. They do a lot of the real dirty work. If it is Kopassus out here, they might be carrying night vision goggles to help them see in the dark. When the moon comes out, it’ll be like daylight for them but still pretty difficult for us to see. That’ll give them a big advantage.’

Suryei threaded her way carefully across the clearing, staying low.

‘Where did you pick up all this stuff?’ asked Joe, genuinely impressed by the woman’s general knowledge, particularly about military things.

‘When I was in Dili, I had a friend. I met a soldier, a New Zealander.’

‘Oh, what did he do?’ Joe enquired, picking up on the subtle inflection on the word ‘friend’ that implied something more.

‘Who said it was a he?’ replied Suryei, distracted by the task of deciding which path through the jungle would provide the easiest passage. She quietly parted some fronds of a fleshy plant and slithered through the opening, staying low. Halfway through she stopped and quietly whispered behind her, ‘Shh. Enough talk. Keep your eyes and ears open.’

The tunnel appeared to begin again on the other side of the clearing. Suryei’s ghostly outline ignored it. She had decided to play the Nam way, disappearing into the wall of jungle.

* * *