Crisis Point

Chapter Four;
Tracked

The man at the desk looked up as a smaller man entered the room, his feet shuffling along the faded carpet as he walked, and frowned. "What's the news regarding The Avalanche?"

The younger man's lip quivered. "It isn't good sir."

"Tonkins, I don't want to hear bad news right now." The man at the desk frowned at his assistant. "I need to hear that it's safely made it to Cape Island and we can expect to have the guns in our hands by noon tomorrow."

"Sir, it's…" Tonkins frowned then took a deep breath. "Sirit'sthenavy" he said in one long breath. The man at the desk frowned and waited for an explanation. Tonkins tried again. "Sir, it's the Navy."

Tonkins waited for an answer along the lines of 'someone will pay for this' but surprisingly the boss laughed. "That's it? Oh Tonkins, don't look so scared. Unless you've forgotten who we are…" He shook his head. "Bring Hucknell in. We'll have this sorted in no time." Tonkins nodded and left.

He returned with Hucknell. Hucknell turned out to be a personal computer rather than a person, a small laptop coloured a deep blue. The emblem on the front proclaimed them the 'FFA'. Sitting Hucknell on the boss' desk, Tonkins backed away and waited. He didn't have to wait long for the computer to load before the boss looked at him once again. "The ship that intercepted The Avalanche?"

"Uh, all the skipper sent through was 82. After that they gained control of the bridge."

The boss nodded. "It's enough." He tapped the two numbers into the computer and smiled as it whirred. "HMAS Hammersley, Armidale Class Patrol Boat. Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Nikki Holiday." He gave a cold smile. "They let women become captains now? What a wonderful world we live in."

"Sir?"

The boss laughed. "Nothing Tonkins, just a few choice memories." He tapped at the computer a few more times then looked back at his assistant. "I've printed out the names Tonkins. Go get them from my printer. I'll have to send them away for details. Hucknell can do a lot, but not that much." He gave the computer a loving pat then closed it. "And put him away will you?"

Tonkins nodded and took the computer. "Done and done sir. You'll have personal details in under three hours sir." Then he left, shutting the door behind him. Still sitting at his desk, the man just smiled.

At almost exactly the same time that the man was looking up her details, Lieutenant Commander Holiday was waiting for her boss to pick up the phone. Nav frowned. She'd never been made to wait this long to hear back from the Commander.

Eventually the phone rang and Scruffy picked it up. "Ma'am."

Nav grabbed the phone off her CIS. "Commander."

The voice at the Cairns end of the phone was young but stern and a voice Nav knew well. It belonged to Commander Kate McGregor, Nav's old crewmate 'the X'. "Sorry to keep you Nikki, it's a mad house here. There was another attack on the base this afternoon."

Nav frowned. "Really? What happened?"

"Not a lot, just another group of locals after any way to get into the complex. I'm not sure what they're after, but Canberra say it's the boats."

"The boats? Why would they want the boats?"

"To escape. Not that there's really anywhere to go. But with news sources on the blink there's no way of telling people that the grass isn't actually greener on the other side." Kate sighed. "Oh, and there's word Prime Minister Minchin is to resign this week."

"Another one? Ma'am, he only came in when we left port a fortnight ago. They're dropping like flies." Nav exclaimed.

"I know. It's not helping us in any way, but at least they've stopped dropping the entire government. There's no Labor vs. Liberal anymore, it's just 'which poor sucker wants to have a go this week?'." Kate made a noise that resembled blowing air through her teeth. "Anyway, your CIS mentioned you may have some good news for me."

"I don't think it's exactly good news ma'am, but a breakthrough. We've picked up a barge called The Avalanche that has been discovered to be carrying cases full of guns. Second-hand rip-offs. I think they're from the wars; Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran."

"Where were they headed Nav?" Kate asked.

"That's the strange thing ma'am. Their maps all say they're headed for Cape Island. I thought maybe it was just a drop-off point. The island is uninhabited."

"I think you're right Nav. We'll get some people up there, check it out."

"We're happy to stick with it ma'am." Nav volunteered.

"No, you're due in for shore leave in a few hours, I want you to take it. With everything going on now, you could use some time with your family. Speaking of which, how is Cassandra?"

"Good ma'am, thanks for asking." Nav's smile grew larger at the mention of her daughter. "I hate leaving her with my mother when I have to go out to sea, but they're relatively safe from all this business in Brisbane." She sighed. "What's the landscape in Sydney? I've heard it's getting worse."

Kate murmured a small reply. "Yeah." She sighed. "Eighteen more deaths this week. The police are overstretched. There's rioting and random house burnings all along the beaches and northern suburbs. They say Waverton is now nothing more than one giant fire."

"What about HMAS Waterhen?"

"They've moved all ships to Kuttabul, but with that at Potts Point it won't be long until that's under attack as well. It's out of control. The army have been called in, but they're suffering more losses in personnel than we are. They've cut about two thirds of their regiments. Oh, and the Timor Barracks were ransacked last week as well. Three trucks were stolen from the base. It's a madhouse down there."

Nav frowned. She knew the barracks well. She'd grown up in Parramatta, not far from the barracks. She felt a pang. Her home was under threat and there was nothing she could do. "They must know this isn't helping anyone. All they're doing is putting more people out of their homes."

"They aren't thinking rationally Nav. The banks have repossessed their homes, they have no money left due to the economic crisis, their children are starving and they live on the streets. As far as they know it doesn't get any worse than this. But then they have to watch the rich in their oversized homes eating fresh food and living an almost normal life. How would you feel?"

"Horrible. I'd hate them." Nav realised she could appreciate their plight after all.

"Exactly. The problem is, the population of Sydney at 7 million people now, less than one-fifth of them still have homes. The rest make up what has always made up most of the population of Sydney – the western suburbs. And I'm sure that as an ex-westie yourself you know these people had little to begin with and now have nothing."

"An ex-westie ma'am? There's no such thing. You're a westie for life." She smiled sadly. "I get it. I don't understand it, but I get it."

"That's good enough. The worst thing is, I don't think it will end in Sydney. It won't be long before the western suburbs of Brisbane or other cities begin to turn against the rich as well. The old economic divide becomes a chasm and people have only one answer – violence."

"You think those guns were meant for the streets ma'am?" Nav frowned, trying not to think of people wandering the streets of her beloved Parramatta with guns, spilling out of discarded shops on Church Street and attacking passers-by in cars on Victoria Road. "The fight in Sydney?"

"No Nav, I don't think they were for Sydney." Nav breathed a sigh of relief when Kate said that, but it was too soon. "I think they were for whatever is about to start in Queensland."