State of Siege

He considered me coldly. “I like you, Mr. Fraser,” he said at length; “and I am sorry to see you here. At the moment, however, I am wondering if I have a sufficient excuse for allowing you to remain alive.”

“You need an excuse? We’re no danger to you, for God’s sake!”

“As I have said, your presence is inconvenient.”

“Then let us go somewhere else.”

“I regret that that is impossible.”

I said nothing and looked across at Rosalie. She was still standing by the open suitcase. I went over to her, put my arm round her shoulders and made her sit down on the edge of the bed.

Suparto seemed to hesitate; then he beckoned impatiently to the N.C.O. and nodded in our direction.

“These two persons,” he said, “will remain in this room. Post a sentry on the terrace. They may go one at a time to the bathhouse, but they will go by the window. This door will remain locked. If either attempts to leave without permission, they are both to be killed.”

The N.C.O. saluted and eyed us sullenly.

Suparto looked at me. “You understood what I said?”

“Yes, I understood. May I ask a question?”

“Well?”

“Was I right? Is this part of a coup d’etat? ”

“The National Freedom Party of Sunda has taken over all the functions of government and assumed control of the country.”

“That is what I meant.”

“The so-called Democratic Government of the colonialist traitor, Nasjah, has proved unworthy of the people’s confidence.” He was speaking Malay now, and as if he were addressing a public meeting. Behind him, the N.C.O. nodded approvingly. “The guilty will be punished. The Unbelievers will be destroyed. Colonial influences will be eliminated. The Faithful will rally to the standard of Islam. As soon as the emergency is over, elections will be held. But order must be maintained. Hostile elements will be wiped out ruthlessly.”

“Do we count as hostile elements?”

“It might be thought so.” He lapsed into English again. “At present the decision is my responsibility. Later, it may be different. My superior officers, who will arrive here shortly, are sensitive men and the presence of Unbelievers at such a time may not be tolerated. In your own interests, I would advise you to be as silent and unobtrusive as possible.”

“I see. Thank you, Major.”

“I can promise you nothing.”

With a nod he turned and went out of the room. The N.C.O. shut the door and the key turned in the lock. A moment later a soldier appeared on the terrace outside the window, peered in and then sat down with his back against the attap screen and his machine pistol cradled in his lap.

I looked down at Rosalie and she smiled uncertainly.

“Why does he like you?”

“I don’t know that he really does. He has no special reason that I know of. That is the officer who was up at Tangga, the one with the jeep.”

“Oh. Perhaps if you explained how discreet you had been, he would let us go.”

“I don’t think so. We know too much.”

“What do we know?”

“That this is their headquarters. He spoke of other officers who will arrive. That’ll be General Sanusi and his staff, I suppose. They knew Jebb was away. Having ear-marked this place for their headquarters, they may even have arranged that he should be. It’s logical enough. There aren’t many buildings in the city as strong as this one, and Sanusi would naturally want to be near the radio station. He’ll be using it quite a bit, I imagine.”

“Do you think that they will kill us?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think they will.” Her tone was quite even and matter-of-fact.

“Why should you think that?”

“They kill very easily. During the war of liberation I saw them. Men like that major. They smile and then they kill. For them it is easier to kill than to have doubts, to be uncertain.”

She stood up and then went over and switched off the light. Outside on the terrace, the sentry turned his head quickly. Rosalie crossed to the window and drew one of the curtains so that the man could see only half the room. He stirred, and I moved across to watch him. He was waiting to see if the other curtain would also be drawn. When it was not, he relaxed.

Rosalie had taken off my dressing gown and dropped it on the chair. The strong moonlight was visible even through the curtains, and I could see her standing there running her hands over her body as if she had never touched it before. Then she realised that I was watching her and laughed softly.

“I saw the men with the parangs,” she said; “and I knew that if they killed you, they would also kill me, because they would not have been able to stop. So, I was ready to die. Now, I am alive again.”

I went over to her. I think I meant to make some futile apology for having brought her there, but instead I kissed her.