Expatriates

by James Wesley, Rawles

  After a brief phone call to Chuck, Ava departed the ANU at two A.M. Before she hung up, she did her best to reassure Chuck she’d make it. “My RAV4 burns about eleven liters per one hundred kilometers. So it’ll take three hundred forty-one liters to get me home. If I can just find a couple of places with fuel available, I should be good.”

  “Okay, just be very careful,” Chuck responded. “Find safe places to sleep. I’ll be praying for you. And don’t worry about calling your parents. I’ll let them know that you are on the way.”

  After all that anxiety, her drive turned out to be anticlimactic. It was just two very long days of driving. Gasoline was scarce, but she did find a few stations open, though they were only willing to take cash. And the price per liter had nearly doubled.

  Rather than renting a motel room, she simply drove off onto an unmarked rutted red dirt road to sleep once she reached the point of exhaustion, making sure her vehicle would be out of sight from the highway. After reorganizing her load, she was able to fully recline her seat, though it was still far from comfortable. Ava slept fitfully for six hours, awakening before dawn. After taking just a minute to step out to relieve her bladder and to gulp down some water, she started her vehicle and pressed on.

  She arrived in Casuarina at nine P.M. the next evening, utterly exhausted. After embracing her parents, she declared, “I’ll tell you the full tale in the morning. Right now, I need some sleep.”

  —

  The following morning, the news on the television was filled with headlines of continuing riots in all of Australia’s major cities. The entire Australian Army and Army Reserve had been mobilized or alerted to respond. The Reserve was fully mobilized, while the Standby Reserves (which consisted of older veterans who were not required to actively drill) were placed on “call up” status. News broadcasters reported heavily on the further deterioration of the economies of the United States and Japan. It was also announced that the prime minister would be giving a major televised address at six that evening.

  Ava’s parents rescheduled their dinner so that they’d be able to watch the speech. They clustered around the television in anticipation. The PM had recently been appointed, with many promises of a conservative shift in policies.

  The smiling PM exuded an air of confidence as she walked up to the podium. She began:

  “Good evening. The global financial crisis is still worsening, and its shock waves are being felt here in Australia. In consultation with the cabinet, and with industry and banking leaders, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. For the time being, to allow the Australian economy to survive, for free commerce to carry on, and for the Australian people to press on with their normal lives in peace and prosperity, we came to the conclusion that Australia needs economic independence and self-sufficiency.

  “We’ve therefore formulated a bold plan, which I’ll be outlining tonight. This plan will require the cooperation of the Australian people. We’ve always had a digger can-do spirit, a fair dinkum attitude, and our own way of doing things. The ongoing riots and the insulin supply crisis are not the key problem at present. Quite the contrary, they are merely symptoms of the massive dislocation that has taken place, and that dislocation was caused by immoderate government spending and the massive debt—both public and private. Artificially low interest rates created the illusion of prosperity and huge artificial bubbles in shares and in house prices. Clearly, the bubbles have burst. Attempting to reinflate them would be a huge blunder. The only way to restore law and order and stable supply chains is to get the economic trolley back on its tracks. For our economy to recover and to thrive, it will require some hard work and imagination.

  “I’ve directed the Reserve Bank of Australia to cease production of all banknotes for a period of four years. Unlike many other nations which are suffering the ravages of mass inflation, our people need the assurance that we will have a fixed money supply. And with the advent of polymer notes, it is realistic to think they will hold up in circulation for four years. At the end of that four-year period, new banknotes will be produced, but strictly for the purpose of one-for-one replacement. We will have zero banknote inflation. Zero.

  “The Commonwealth of Australia has the agricultural strength, the mining strength, and the industrial strength required to be fully independent. Adapting to changing circumstances will at times be painful, but we simply must prepare ourselves to go it alone. Loss of jobs and industry began with Gough Whitlam and the Lima Declaration. The exigencies of an independent economy will reverse that trend. We need a free market and a level playing field.

  “Settlement of all outstanding foreign trade contracts will be left up to the best judgment of the parties involved. If our own government is a contracted party, then we reserve the right to settle in Australian dollars, in gold, or in foreign currencies as we see fit. Our trading partners, particularly in APEC, will need assurance that they can continue to trade with Australia with confidence.

  “The assured flow of some trade goods such as pharmaceuticals will require government intervention in the short term, but in general our approach will be to let free market economics prevail. In free markets, prices reach equilibrium with astonishing speed. Let’s just let the free market work, shall we?

  “Next, I have ordered the immediate repatriation of all of Australia’s national gold reserves from the Bank of England. Our current reserves are just over eighty metric tons. A small portion of our gold will be immediately repatriated by air transport, but the rest will be coming by ship. Rest assured, it is all coming back to Australia as soon as possible.

  “We will establish a fixed rate of exchange of ten thousand Australian dollars per ounce of gold, and one thousand Australian dollars per ounce of silver. This might sound arbitrary, but it is in fact far less arbitrary, far less capricious, and far less fictitious than what we’ve witnessed with currencies and finance in recent years. We were living in a financial fantasyland, and we need to definitively set that behind us.

  “The Aussie dollar will become fully convertible to gold and silver in a program that will be phased in over a period of three years. Under our bimetallic plan, we will adopt a fixed ratio of ten ounces of silver per ounce of gold. This ten-to-one ratio will encourage the production of silver, which will be needed for the purpose of minting new silver coinage next year.

  “A variety of new gold and silver coins ranging from one-twentieth ounce to one ounce will be minted starting next year. These new coins will include a hardening alloy to make the coins hold up to the rigors of circulation.

  “Within eighteen months, every bank in the Commonwealth will be equipped to exchange gold and silver with their customers. Once in place, gold and silver can be exchanged for either polymer currency or silver or gold coins upon the demand of the customer. The minting costs for the new coins—the seigniorage—will be paid by the government. These bank metals windows will be able to accept everything from gold nuggets and gold jewelry, to soft gold koalas and silver kookaburras, to pre-decimal silver coins and exchange them directly for the new hard gold and silver coins once they are available. A new large cupronickel penny will also be produced to make small transactions more practical.

  “The present-day coinage will become obsolete in twenty-four months. But banks will be required to exchange the old coins indefinitely for either polymer notes or like value of the new coins. The defunct coins will be recycled, providing useful commodities for industry.

  “Australia has traditionally been thought of as a gold producer, but we also have reserves of seventy thousand tons of silver. We are now the world’s fourth-largest silver producer. The new currency regime will encourage an expansion of gold and silver production, with much greater profitability for miners. And with the stability provided by a fully convertible bimetallic currency, everyone wins.

  “All but one of our foreign exchange markets have been temporarily suspended. The exception
is New Zealand. We are in consultation with the New Zealand government, encouraging them to adopt a similar bimetallic standard. As for our many other trading partners, exchange rates and mechanisms will be reestablished one by one, only after thorough investigation and consultation. Most rates will be free-floating, but a few rates will be fixed for a period of two years. We will take steps to ensure that all key commodities continue to be imported to keep the wheels of industry turning.

  “We have a few immediate goals: First, we must concentrate on law and order. We have taken steps to assure that. Crime and wanton destruction of property will not be tolerated.

  “Next is national self-sufficiency. Publicly owned ground in agriculturally suitable regions will be sold off to encourage small-scale agriculture. Even some public lawn areas will be made available for community vegetable gardens for a period of six years. I most strongly encourage private landowners to also convert their lawns and flower gardens into vege gardens. Australia can and will be food self-sufficient.

  “Oil and natural gas exploration will be encouraged, as will further development of the Coober Pedy shale oil deposits. Many environmental regulations will be temporarily suspended to assure food and energy independence. Development of renewable energy resources including wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric will be encouraged through tax breaks and a few modest subsidies, particularly to encourage the development of the domestic capacity to produce photovoltaic power panels. Australia can and will be energy self-sufficient.

  “We can do this, Australia. Yes, there will be some shortages. Yes, there will be some redundancies. Yes, there will be some challenges. We merely have to set our minds to this and make it happen. I am confident that with God’s providence, we can and we will. May God bless Australia.”

  Ava’s father sighed. “Well, her economic plan sounds top-notch, but all of that gardening she mentioned will be a backbreaker. I suppose it’s time for me to sharpen my spade.”

  15

  UNFETTERED

  “God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.”

  —C. S. Lewis

  Quinapondan, Samar Island, the Philippines—Late October, the Second Year

  Because they were able to haul Tiburon out onto a beach at high tide, painting it went quickly. The entire boat, the carags, the awning canvas, and nearly all of the fittings were painted in the two blue camouflage colors.

  Not content with the glossiness of the completed paint on some of the exposed exterior of the boat, Peter used six full spray cans of Boysen brand matte lacquer paint, which made it look essentially flat, even in full sunlight. Although he knew it was necessary, Tatang was sad to see his boat lose its once bright appearance.

  During the painting and packing phase, either Peter or Tatang would sleep in Tiburon each night to guard it, with the flare pistol close at hand. The paint fumes were horrendous, but they couldn’t risk having the boat or any of its contents stolen.

  Peter and Tatang scrounged nautical charts from all over the island. They mainly needed charts of the Molucca Sea, Banda Sea, and the Timor Sea. They even managed to find a coastal waters chart for Australia’s Northern Territory and Western Australia.

  With the help of twenty villagers, they were able to get Tiburon back into the water during high tide. Only then did they begin to load fuel, food, water, and baggage. Half of the water was in plastic containers that were lashed down on the center deck and foredeck, bundled in old fishing nets. Used returnable glass soda pop bottles predominated. Some of the water was carried in blue five-gallon jugs. A few of the bottles, jugs, and plastic buckets seemed questionable to Rhiannon, like the used bleach bottles which imparted some chlorine taste to the stored water. Nonetheless, they stowed just over 400 liters—enough water for one liter per person per day, for eighty days.

  The Navarros’ food stores were mostly sacks of smoked fish and plastic buckets of rice, pancit (rice noodles), and beans. They also carried smaller quantities of mami (ramen) noodles, Ma Ling canned pork, casava, pan de sal, Kraft Eden cheese, Magnolia drink mix, and instant Calamansi iced tea. Their soap came in the form of big solid Surf brand bars.

  They packed three jars of peanut butter, but only because Tatang had it on hand. He liked making a Filipino peanut butter stew called kare kare. He never used it for making sandwiches. Rhiannon wished they had a dozen jars of the peanut butter. Not only was it a very compact form of protein, but it was also a natural cure for loose bowels.

  The Jeffords brought two cardboard boxes of food packed in jars, retort pouches, and cans from their nipa hut. These were mostly canned fruits and vegetables, SPAM, fish crackers, RAM brand tomato sauce in retort pouches, Swift corned beef in retort pouches, Century brand tuna, and peanut butter. After the refugees began to pour in from Mindanao, they couldn’t find any more canned goods at any price. The few people who had any were hoarding them for their own evacuation contingency plans. The Jeffords pledged that all of these canned foods would be used sparingly.

  The stories that the Mindanao refugees told were frightening. The ILF soldiers repeatedly forced professions of faith in Allah. Those who refused, or who seemed insincere, were immediately shot or beheaded, often with a bolo machete or a longer kampilan machete. Some of the most bloodthirsty Indonesian killers were actually in the Kopassus—the Indonesian Special Forces.

  One of the refugees, a Catholic priest, recounted to Peter what he had heard from a colonel in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP.) The ISAFP colonel told him that three ILF officers captured in separate engagements broke under pressure of intense interrogations and gave nearly identical details on the ILF’s plans. First, they would take the rest of the central islands. Then they would take Luzon, bolstered by the Indo-Malaysian Army and Navy. This would put the entire Philippine archipelago under their control. Once their grasp of the Philippines was consolidated, they planned to invade Australia within two years.

  Peter was incredulous, but the priest was insistent. “They want it all.” The priest described how they had brutalized the residents of Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay, and Leyte islands. There, he said, they were absolutely merciless, killing nearly all of the adult non-Islamic men and systematically raping the women. “They are moving faster than they did on Mindanao. Back during the long guerilla war there, they moved slowly and made political gestures in exchange for ‘autonomous regions’ because the world was watching. Now they are moving like dervishes, with amazing speed and utter ruthlessness. The world is no longer watching, and it is a real bloodbath.”

  The priest also described how the Indonesians had transitioned to overtly arming the ILF guerillas, providing them with vehicles, landing craft, night vision gear, and communications equipment. The islands of Mindaro, Masbate, and Samar were generally considered next on their list of targets. For that reason, the priest planned to continue on northward as soon as he could.

  When rumors of invasion began, local mayors and clans were seen arming themselves with homemade shotguns. Danao guns came out from hiding. Despite the official statistics, the Filipinos were fairly well armed.

  Hundreds of other refugees came from Mindanao, and the other central islands began coming to Samar, mainly in small boats. They heard of one clever young man from Dinagat Island who made a solo crossing just after the ILF landed there and all the available boats had already left. Wearing a water skiing life vest, he lashed himself to a Little Mermaid novelty children’s swimming kickboard and propelled himself with a pair of snorkeling swim fins. All that he carried with him was a plastic bag full of candy bars, a pocketknife, a pair of sunglasses, and a tube of SPF 45 Water Babies sunscreen. Trailing behind him on separate pieces of twine were seven soda pop bottles. These 1.5-liter bottles were each half full of fresh drinking water when he started out. His harrowing crossing to Samar took thirty-eight hours.

 
; Hearing these traumatic stories made the Jeffords pick up the pace of their provisioning. A week before they departed, Rhiannon made sure they all started taking daily multivitamin tablets. Her father, a veteran deer and elk hunter, had often told her that good nutrition was crucial for maintaining peak night vision.

  Typhoon season in Southeast Asia could be expected from May to November, though the peak months were September and October. Tatang mentioned that FV Tiburon had survived Typhoon Bopha in 2012 only because he wisely hauled the boat out two days before the storm made landfall. Many other boat owners on Samar who didn’t do likewise witnessed their boat hulls being shattered and sunk by the pounding surf.

  Earlier in the month, they had heard that the invasion of Samar could come as soon as November. Moving quickly, they rushed to finish provisioning Tiburon so they could put out to sea before the island was blockaded. The Navarros and Jeffords set October 25th as their departure date. It put them at risk of foul weather at the tail end of the typhoon season, but they agreed that waiting any later would put them at far greater risk of running into ILF or Indo picket ships.

  Once loaded, the combination of fuel, food, water and baggage, and passengers put Tiburon down perilously low in the water. Jeffords estimated that in all, the boat was carrying about 2,700 kilograms, which was dangerously near its maximum safe cargo capacity in calm seas. But Tatang said he was expecting good weather for at least the first week. He promised that as long as the weather held and they consistently kept the bilge pumped, they would be fine. After the first week, the boat would be considerably lighter and would sit much higher in the water. “I know this boat. I know what she can take. Magkabati. It will be all right.”

  —