Broken Down by You E-Book

Jeremy McHarry

• Herausgeber: Bentockiz
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

She sensed this was her moment to break the icy silence. A kindness he had not experienced for some time. He saw she was the new girl in the office and by far the prettiest and smiled at her before replying. These are difficult times and sometimes the stress is difficult. It's a first test to prove her capacity to endure into such an environment.

Leseprobe

Title Page

Broken Down by You

Floods in the Spring

Jeremy McHarry

Broken Down by You / 5th of series: Floods in the Spring / By Jeremy McHarry

Published 2023 by Bentockiz

e-book Imprint: Calkden Norsh

e-book Registration: Stockholm, Sweden

e-book ISBN: 9789198826593

e-book editing: Athens, Greece

Cover Images created via AI art generators

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Introduction

Through books we come into contact with everything important that has happened in the past, analyzing also current events and putting our thoughts together to predict the future. The book is a window to the world, acquiring valuable knowledge and sparking our vivid imagination. It is a means of entertainment and is generally seen as a best friend, or as a slave that carries together all valuable information for us. The book is a friend who stays together without demands, a friend you call upon at every moment and abandon when you want.

It accompanies us in the hours of boredom and loneliness, while at the same time it entertains us. In general, a book does not ask anything from us, while it waits patiently on a dusty shelf to give us its information, to get us out of dead ends and to travel us to magical worlds.

This may be the travel mission of our books. Abstract narration, weird or unconscious thoughts difficult to be understood, but always genuine and full of life experiences, these are stories of life that can’t be overlooked easily.

This may be the start of something amazing!

Chapter One

It had been a long hard day, the Indonesian Minster for Finance sat in the centre chair he looked tired. Probo Jatmiko was on this right with his team of negotiators being spread out along the table. They had been arguing with the IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus all day over Suharto’s proposal for a currency board. Frustrated by the Indonesian’s belligerence Mr Camdessus indicated to his team leader to read the final statement for the day to reinforce his position.

‘The Indonesian Monetary system cannot adopt a Hong Kong-style currency board in which the value of the rupiah would be rigidly fixed against the dollar with the Indonesian authorities essentially abandoning control over interest rates. The imbroglio over the arcane currency issue threatens to plunge Indonesia and possibly its neighbours as well into a renewed bout of financial turmoil.

If your government implements such a move anytime in the near future the IMF Managing Director Mr Michel Camdessus will deem it necessary to urge the board of the 182-nation organization to suspend the US$43 billion bailout package for the Indonesian economy.’

Silence fell on both sides of the table as each had drawn their lines in the sand and was unwilling or unable to move. It had been decided before the commencement of the negotiations that there would be a week’s break at the completion of the final day of talks, which made further discussions impossible.

At the beginning of the week both sides had been optimistic believing that their position was the correct path that would save Indonesia and that the other side would recognize their logic and inevitably agree. After a week of arguing very little had been achieved the void between both sides remained and what was worse they appeared more entrenched in their views than ever.

At the end of the meeting all the delegates stood and shook hands with their counterparts before filing out of the room while Probo Jatmiko refused to let go of his opposite’s hand and made him wonder what was he was doing. He glanced at the others then slightly shook his head indicating he should stay.

Peter Titterton was an Ex-British Banker, he had many years of experience with international negotiations and recognized the offer for a private discussion, which from past experience had often led to the breaking of numerous deadlocks.

Deliberately he bumped his papers on the table and watched them fall to the floor. ‘How clumsy of me’ said Peter as he knelt down to retrieve them.

Probo then casually walked behind the last few delegates and closed the two open doors only to discover when he turned around Peter leaning back in his chair.

‘Well Probo is there something on your mind?’ asked Peter.

Probo said nothing at first and returned to his seat before he slightly leaned forward to consider both his words and the man who sat before him. Peter Titterton was a man that was held with enormous respect in all areas of International Finance. His hair was grey and his body showed signs of frailty while his mind remained nimble combined with his vast amount of experience, thus creating a combination that few could match.

‘Peter, I would like to clarify our position’ announced Probo.

‘Isn’t that what you have been doing all week’ replied Peter with a very relaxed posture.

Probo smiled ‘That position is not my position or anyone else’s on this side of the table. We all believe that the IMF is correct and to follow Suharto’s currency board proposal would lead to disaster.’

Peter was completely surprised by his statement and lifted an eyebrow slightly, which indicated his surprise then gestured for his opposite to continue.

‘This is what would happen if the currency board proceeds. We would set a rate which is simply too high. This would be followed by a group of high profile businessmen whom you know quite well to transfer their capital off shore. This enormous out flow of capital would destroy the currency board overnight and swallow huge amounts of the IMF Rescue Package. The Indonesian economy would collapse the next day. Not even the IMF would be prepared to help us after that disaster and the fallout for the rest of Asia is just too bleak to consider. A world depression could result. You know of what I speak!’ declared Probo.

‘You know this to be true’ demanded Peter as he sat more upright with great concern written across his face.

Probo nodded his head. ‘I was at the meeting where it was planned. I agree with you too much is concentrated in too few hands and they care nothing for their country only their personal wealth.’

‘What do you want of me?’ demanded Peter.

‘Tell Michel Camdessus what I have told you. He must force the Suharto Government to back down and accept the IMF proposal without deviation or Indonesia will fall into an abyss so dark and terrible I cannot imagine how we could possibly recover’ pleaded Probo. Probo reached across the table and gripped Peter’s hand and said with a failing voice ‘Don’t let those pig eating bastards destroy my country!’

* *

A few days later the head of the IMF wrote a private letter to Indonesia’s President Suharto and threatened to cut off the bailout money because of the deadlock in negotiations over the disputed economic policy.

In an attempt to apply more pressure the United States President Clinton called Suharto to reinforce the IMF position, which was followed by other national leaders, including Australia.

To counter the mounting pressure President Suharto told President Clinton in a weekend phone call that the IMF fund was failing to stem his country’s crisis and that only a Monetary Board was capable of solving the crisis.

To push his point even further the following day President Suharto decided to fire the Governor of the Central Bank, which many interpret as removing a major opponent to the proposed Monetary Board while also signalling to the International Community that Suharto knows what is best for Indonesia and was prepared to act.

* *

Probo walked out of a meeting, which was basically a brainstorming session with a group, which had been dubbed Suharto’s Berkeley Mafia. Personally he didn’t care about the meeting or about what it was trying to do. He was too busy gloating at what he had achieved. He had disposed of a long-time rival and he had positioned President Suharto in a position that would break his government without him even suspecting what had happened. In the end Suharto would be forced to back down to international pressure and accept the IMF package. This would make this insurmountable statesman appear vulnerable, feeble and ready to be consigned to the history books. Once the facade was gone and his vulnerability shown Probo knew his fellow countryman would do the rest.

Aryaduta Hyatt Hotel, Jakarta, February 1998.

LiFhung was waiting in her hotel room listening for the knock on the door still unsure if Abdul Raul a senior figure in the Department of Finance and a man who could measure the economic heartbeat of Indonesia better than most would appear. Stuart had done an excellent job with him by destroying his concept of the future then rebuilding and moulding him to what he wanted. This meeting would be the final step but would he actually do it that was the question she kept asking herself.

She had already decided to run him hard and extract the maximum out of him but not too hard just the right balance. She had to make him feel comfortable.

She glanced at her watch and saw it was a little past 6pm and knew he should arrive any minute. She went to the mini-bar pulled out a bottle of mineral water and took a mouth full to wet her suddenly dry throat when she heard a single knock on the door. Li put down the bottle then opened the door only to pause to look through the spy hole.

When the door opened she showed him a reassuring smile. ‘Please come in.’

Abdul appeared surprised he hadn’t been expecting a woman and for some unknown reason appeared to relax a little. On closing the door Li asked ‘would you like a drink?’

‘A Coke would be fine.’

Li could tell he was nervous. She fetched him his drink then sat at the table next to him while giving another reassuring smile. ‘My name is Li I represent the party that Mr McKennzie spoke of he said you are interested in consulting for our organisation, is that true?’

‘Subject to a few questions’ then nervously took a sip of coke.

She gave him another smile and asked ‘do you have a sample of the information you would like to share with my organisation.’

He nodded and opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder which was 20mm thick filled with documents, which he handed to her. Without saying a word she opened the folder and skimmed through to find minutes from a number of meetings, which covered the discussions with the IMF and discussion papers on tactics, which should be employed at the next meet. Finally she found a few real gems, which contained Suharto’s signature, stating policy.

‘These are excellent. I also see they are originals. You should never take original documents out of the office. Do you understand?’ She watched him return an embarrassing nod.

‘Good! This information is of great interest to my organisation so this is what I propose. We will pay you US$100K a year in monthly instalments into a bank account of your choice’ declared Lin.

After he heard the amount of money Abdul suddenly gained more confidence before he replied ‘The amount is satisfactory for the moment. Can you tell me about your organization? Who do you represent?’

Li smiled ‘that is the one question that will never be answered. Never ask it again and, whatever you do never talk to anyone else about us. Just remember we can be very helpful to your career. We can also end it!’

Taken back by her response, he replied ‘I understand.’ He saw her long hard look then repeated ‘I do understand.’

‘Good’ she replied then returned once again to her pleasant persona.

‘How can you help me’ he asked.

‘Your value to us is in your position. I understand we need to consolidate your standing in the department, would you not agree’ asked Li. ‘Do your part and we’ll do ours.’

Abdul nodded ‘I don’t what to be walking out the door carrying bundles of documents. How are we going to do this?’

Li leaned over and pulled out of her bag a small plastic envelope opening it she pulled out a USB memory stick. ‘Plug this into your computer and down load all you need. When it is removed all evidence that it was ever there will be erased.

I also what you to employ a new secretary her name is Maja these are her details. Her job will be to smuggle out and deliver new USB memory sticks. Trust her she will watch your back and be the link between us. She’s a smart girl. Talk to her and she will help. Just remember you never take anything out of the office. She does that and trust her like you have never trusted anyone before!’

Abdul thought it mightn’t be such a bad idea. ‘When do you what her to start?’ ‘Next Monday! Now are there any more questions. No! Then I need to photograph these documents before you go.’ She opened her bag and pulled out her digital camera then carefully photographed each page.

Li walked him to the door and whispered ‘just because you won’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not far away. Just remember that!

Chapter Two

Probo was sitting in the bunker looking at the other members of the committee waiting to hear the answer from the People’s Republic of China. The messenger Major General Achmad Rundi was unfortunately running late. Probo glanced at his watch and realised he had been there for over an hour which only succeeded in putting everyone on edge. The phone rang then Major General Hendarto answered. ‘What is it? He put the phone down then faced the others. ‘He just entered the front gate.’

Several minutes later Rundi entered the room breathing heavily. ‘Sorry for the delay gentlemen it was unavoidable.’ He sat at the table and found everyone silently showing their impatience for him to answer the one burning question.

‘The People’s Republic of China has agreed to the plan with the caveat that Suharto is removed from office by the middle of the year and that any following member of the Golkar Party be removed from office not long after. Golkar must be disenfranchised from the Presidency.’

Probo was about to sigh with relief when Major General Hendarto cut in ‘And the missiles?’

‘We have twelve ballistic missiles including the SAM’s. I guessed right they know the window of opportunity for reclaiming Taiwan is rapidly closing and they were desperately looking for answers. Thanks to us we have showed them the way. Now we need results. Suharto must be gone by midyear’ proclaimed Rundi.

Rundi turned to Probo and nodded for him to continue.

‘I have already stalled the IMF negotiations. The IMF has now issued their final ultimatums. The lines in the sand have been drawn. President Clinton is now talking personally to Suharto. All the world leaders are telling him to back down. Still he refuses to alter his position. He is currently being pulled between competing demands from his relative’s business interests and his group of Western trained economic technocrats that everyone else has referred to as the Berkeley Mafia. The military and a new breed of economic nationalist that havean Indonesia first agenda are making their presence felt.

The financial markets which in the past have reacted on Suharto’s whims and reactions for so long are now asking questions, questions which are not receiving answers. The markets are priming themselves for catastrophic news and when I say catastrophic I mean something that could completely destroy our economy and take every other nation in the region with it. Please understand the economy is significantly worse than last month.

Everyone in the country is waiting for Suharto to pull a rabbit out of his hat and save us. I know he can’t. To do what is necessary to save the economy would require huge personal sacrifices, which includes his family and his business associates.’ He glanced at each of their faces and could see the deep concern then Probo took a moment to sip a little water before he continued. ‘We are already seeing daily outbreaks of rioting and looting in towns and villages throughout Java and Sumatra. The ethnic Chinese minority are living in fear with some seeking refuge in police stations and army barracks while the more affluent are obtaining passports. A severe drought has left food in short supply, while in some areas the distribution system has broken down. Unemployment is mounting due to factories no longer functioning. People aren’t even bothering to pay their electricity bills.

Economically the country is primed for change! Tomorrow President Suharto plans to dismiss the Governor of the Central Bank a man known to the IMF who supports their views, which will send a clear message to Mr Camdessus to back down. This I can tell you. Swiss born Bankers don’t back down! They dig their heels in even harder. This man will force Suharto into a humiliating back down, in front of Indonesia and the world. Suharto will never recover and the people will come for him.’ He glanced at the others and could see they appeared uncomfortable about hearing what they had just heard. The thought of their country in chaos was an appalling idea. They were men who liked order and structure and now they would be standing back and encouraging the chaos.

Major General Rundi then took over from Probo. ‘Suharto is facing the gravest challenge ever to his hold on Indonesia. Next month he is set to be appointed to his seventh five-year term by the 1000 member assembly picked largely by himself. We must now whip the democracy backers such as Megawati and Rais into action so they can overcome the marginalisation they have suffered. Fortunately the military is split which will make a military coup d’état almost impossible though I still believe Suharto’s son-in-law General Prabowo may try! I am less confident with General Wiranto, but I am sure he is not prepared to let General Prabowo succeed mainly for reasons of self-preservation.

Over the next few months I will instigate a series of plans that will bring down the Suharto government on or around 13th May while he is at the G-15 summit of developing countries in Cairo. To the world’s eyes they will see it was the orang kecil (little people) that brought him down. The Americans and Australians will eat it up. Democracy in action! Just what they want to see.’

Rear Admiral Nugroho took over ‘Gentlemen that all sounds very impressive but we still have a significant number of fundamental problems. I have been reviewing our fleet of Amphibious Ships and have determined that the entire fleet will need to be refitted before June 2002 if we are to operate at full capacity. Our reserve fleet of Ex USN-LST’s which date back to World War II will need to be reactivated. Assuming we start the refitting programme next month it will be very difficult to complete the program by our target date. Believe me we are going to need every ship we have then sum if we are to carry out this mission. As for the marines’ amphibious PT-76 tanks and BTR-50 amphibious armoured personnel vehicles, we definitely need to order spare parts within the next few months. I have been advised that we are down to 38 percent of our operational units.’

Rundi turned to Probo indicating he should answer. ‘Admiral I have already organised funds and special accounts to pay for these items. You can commence your refitting programs as long as the majority is done in Indonesia. As for the spare parts you require. I will need to discuss this with your supplier. I will want to transfer the payment in a way that will not attract attention and that will take a little longer. Once you have the details send them to me.’

Major General Wirawan continued ‘I currently have my staff war gaming scenarios in different parts of Asia under the pretext of training exercises it is also allowing me to assess the current readiness of each unit. By December we will have developed a plan with a detailed list of requirements.’

Major General Hendarto complained ‘the Air force needs spare parts. We are currently installing a new inventory control program which has highlighted our low level of spares which is much worse that we thought. Our suppliers are all owed large amounts and have cut off supply. We desperately need money or our air force will be grounded within 6 to 8 weeks.

The worst of it is, unless we start training new pilots soon we will not have enough aircrews to conduct operations in four years’ time. More than half will be eligible to leave by June 2002 and the current trend is that most will leave and move overseas and not honour there ready reserve status.’

Rundi glanced at Probo again who returned him a slight nod. ‘I can have funds for you very shortly and will begin making payments tomorrow.

Major General Rundi waited for several seconds then after seeing no further questions asked ‘do we proceed?’ He glanced at each in turn and received a slight nod.

‘Send all your invoices to Probo. Remember they are to be hand delivered personally to Probo Jatmiko. We cannot afford one accidentally going through the correct channels or it would create too many questions. Questions we would struggle to answer at this time.’

Major General Rundi glanced around the table. ‘After Suharto falls we will meet again.’

Foreign Affairs Office Canberra, March 1998

‘Director General the Minister will see you now.’

Charles stood and walked into the Minister’s office and saw the Minister at his desk. To his surprise Brian Morris was absent.

‘Charles it’s good you could come over on such short notice,’ then gestured towards the green leather lounge in the corner of his office. ‘Beer?’

‘Thank you Minister.’

‘The hour’s late let’s be less formal Charles’ requested the Minister.

Charles sipped his beer and wondered what was going on. The Minister had never been this friendly before and he found it a little unnerving.

‘Charles the information you are getting out of Indonesia is exceptional. The Prime Minister personally thanked me and the Minister for Defence is delighted with the Intel you are getting from the Indonesia Air Force. At the moment I am the flavour of the month in cabinet. My stocks haven’t been this high in months. Now tell me, this business with Abdi Reza can you assure me it will never come back to haunt me?’

‘Yes Minister! I mean Stephen. As far as the Indonesians are concerned the issue is dead. We currently have a plan unfolding to blame this entire incident on the Malaysians and BAKIN, which will have everyone one looking in that direction. The fallout will be huge and they will be so busy arguing with each other it should keep them all busy for a considerable amount of time’ said Charles with a slightly smug smile.

‘Why? Charles, why bring it all up again,’ asked the Minister with obvious concern.

‘Pay back! The Malaysians tried to get you and we owe BAKIN a kick in the arse, by the time we’re finished they’ll both have haemorrhoids.’

The Minister sat back for a moment then nodded ‘Good. Very good.’ He took another sip of his beer then the Minister continued ‘you know as well as I do that Suharto has his back to the wall the country wants change. What I’m concerned about is who will be the next president; another Suharto or some extreme Muslim and heaven forbid a military junta. I’m hoping for democratic elections and a moderate government. How do you see the situation? Yes I know I’ve read a million of your reports but I want your personal view.’

Charles sipped his beer before he answered. ‘Suharto believes he is there for life and when you think about it he is still at the height of his power. The immediate problem is, he doesn’t believe or even considered the eventuality that one day he won’t be president. So he will continue to hang onto power until he is thrown out and believe me that push out the door will need to be significant, most likely violent and completely unpredictable. The problem with Indonesia is there are simply too many variables. I suspect May or June will be a critical time for him. If he gets past that period then he’s probably safe for a few months maybe a year, maybe forever. The biggest indicator will be when one of his children like Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, commonly known as Tutut starts positioning herself towards the presidency. At the moment that’s not happening, all we can do is sit back and watch.’

The Minster considered his comments before replying. ‘I have a similar view except I see General Prabowo getting involved at some stage. Damn that bloke worries me. Apart from being Suharto’s son in-law, he’s smart, ambitious and bloody determined plus he has his Kopassus Special Forces backing him. I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it. It is clearly in Australia’s interests that he does not become the next president.’

‘Fortunately the military is split and I know General Wiranto will move heaven and earth to stop him. If the worst happens Jakarta could easily turn into a war zone’ declared Charles.

‘Is there anything your people can do’ asked the Minster.

‘Not much! The only thing I can think of is maybe a personal appeal by the Prime Minister to Suharto. You know a face to face meeting but that’s a long shot after I heard his reaction to President Clinton over East Timor not to mention the IMF situation’ replied Charles.

The minister shook his head. ‘Too risky The Prime Minsters suggested that idea yesterday. I told him he had a less than 1 in 10 chance of succeeding. I feel we’re on the brink of something terrible, something that could have significant consequences for our nation and what’s worse I feel powerless to stop it.’

Silence followed with each man sipping his beer until the Minister eventually continued. ‘When I took on this job I thought I could position Australia to be more prominent in the region. So I could push the virtues of democracy and freedom now these events over shadow everything and the futurelooks murkier by the day!’

Chapter Three

Elya followed Stuarts plan, all too quickly she saw the half-hearted attempt to implement the new inventory system in the warehouse complex and knew she could easily construct a scenario to suit her purpose. The printouts showed her that the stock codes had been muddled and that stock levels were clearly all over the place with the situation getting worse much worse as the days went on which allowed her to easily manipulate the facts. Now it was time to act.

She entered Colonels Priatna’s outer office and waited till the Colonel was free and spent these few precious minutes breathing deeply composing herself for what she was about to do. Already preliminary reports had been sent to Canberra with Stuart indicating they wanted more detail. This put more pressure on her to get results. Now she was truly being put to the test. This was what spying was all about, getting answers.

Elyanoticed some movement in front of her, which drew her attention away from her own thoughts when a junior officer walked by. She looked up and she saw Colonel Priatna smiling at her and indicated she should enter. In the few short weeks she had been there she had struck an excellent repour with this military officer who greatly appreciated what she was doing for him. ‘Elya please come in.’ Then he noticed the expression on her face and asked, ‘You look worried Elya. What’s wrong?’

Elya took on the shy stance with the Colonel, which she found was very effective in getting his cooperation. ‘We have a looming problem that will rapidly develop into a disaster’ then she handed him the papers. ‘These are a few examples which show your stock codes are wrong. These show negative figures while these indicate you have more in stock than you have ever purchased. Whoever’s running your warehouse has made an absolute mess of things. This is very bad its, its’ she stopped talking then she implied her next words would be difficult.

Colonel Priatna was completely taken back he thought everything was working exceptionally well with her little performance escalating the situation. ‘What is it? Tell me? Quickly?’

‘This is bad. I can’t say it’ to give the impression she was becoming frightened.

‘Tell me what’s going on?’ The colonel was clearly showing his concern, which quickly transformed into anger after her persistent stalling.

‘Do you have enemies? What is happening here is unbelievable it has to be deliberate? Someone has turned your warehouse system into a shambles. Someone who wants you to look bad in front of the general! If you don’t believe me look at the figures?’

Sitting back in his chair he closely examined the papers for several minutes then slowly lifted his head. ‘How did you find these examples?’

‘I have been monitoring the system by picking out a number of stock items which I have been watching very closely. When I took your office staff out for a tour of the warehouse complex I personally checked those item and the stock levels and have been tracking the stock movements ever since. The figures in green are what you should have the figures in red now show what the system indicates. Yet half the items show no stock movements at all but the figures have dramatically changed. I ran a search program and found the stock numbers have been swapped but the item descriptions haven’t been changed. This sheet shows the list of people who can make the changes. No one else has access.’

The colonel read the three names, which he already knew Major Udijana, Captain Mulia and his. ‘Why did you ask if I had enemies? Could it not be a misunderstanding of the new inventory system?’

Elya lowered her head and said softly in almost a whisper. ‘They don’t show you the respect that you deserve!’

Stammered by her revelation the Colonel cleared his throat. Her words were so honest and genuine, while betrayal by his officers was something he had never considered. Then it hit him these two officers were obviously setting him up. When the General inspected the new inventory system it would be in a shambles and so would be his career. He knew time was short and that he needed to move quickly before the General found out, that’s if it wasn’t already too late. ‘Can this be fixed in time before the General’s inspection?’

‘If I start straight away I can straighten out this mess but if those two offices are still there I fear they could undo everything I’m am doing’ said Elya softly. It would be better if they weren’t around to interfere.’

‘What do you need?’ demanded the Colonel.

‘If I take the office staff over to the warehouse complex we should be able to get everything in order before the inspection as long as we receive full cooperation’ declared Elya.

‘Tell everyone to be at the warehouse in the morning. I will personally supervise this and I can guarantee you full cooperation from everyone. The first hint of a problem come to me’ demanded the colonel.

Elya stood and went to walk out when Colonel Priatna said ‘Thank you. I will never forget what you have done for me.’