Blood at Yellow Water

CHAPTER NINE

  FRIDAY- JABIRU

  At the mine site, the workers arrived early in the morning busily putting together the final touches for the opening ceremony. A huge marquee had been set up in the garden outside the main building for the luncheon for the 150 invited guests with a special table set up at one end for the V.I.P’s. Security staff were everywhere, checking everyone going through the front gate. The freight train was sitting at the start of the railway track, each of its cars fully laden with yellow cake ready to be transported to Darwin for on-shipment to Japan.

  Jake drove up at midday, and was waved by a security guard into a paddock converted into a makeshift car park for guests. He was clearly one of the last to arrive and parked right at the end of the paddock as close as he could to the railway line. Out of curiosity he looked down at the track but could see nothing out of the ordinary. He walked towards the marquee and noted that the protestors had doubled in number and were shouting their slogans in full voice. The anti-nuclear group and conservationists from Japan were particularly vocal. For a moment he thought he saw Shoni’s face in the crowd but after a closer look, concluded he must have been mistaken. The aboriginal group was also very active, waving their flags vigorously in front of the media. A voice rang out calling his name and to his surprise he saw Barry Buckstone waving at him. He had a white bandage on his head. Jake walked over, shaking Barry by the hand.

  “What are you doing here Barry, you’re supposed to be in hospital in Darwin?”

  “Nah, they let me out, I had some concussion that’s all. The lawyer Lizzie arranged made some phone calls and found out there were no charges. I didn’t want to miss this so I checked out of the hospital and got a lift back here.”

  “But the cops wanted to charge you?”

  “The CCTV showed it wasn’t me causing the trouble so they had to let me off.”

  “That’s great Barry,” Jake shouted over the noise of the protesters.

  “There’s not going to be any more trouble is there?”

  “Not from our group and there’s security and police everywhere. But there’s some strange people around so who knows what might happen. I learnt a few things while I was in the cell with those others. That Bert O’Shea from the Land Council has done a deal with Energet to give up our land rights. I’m gonna dig around and see what I can find out. Are you going in there with the bigwigs?” Barry asked, pointing to the marquee.

  “Yeah, I’m invited but as soon as it’s finished I’ll go back to see Bill and Lizzie at Daly Waters. I’d better get going. Take care of yourself Barry, you’ve had a nasty whack on the head.”

  “Thanks mate. I’m as good as gold. Hope we catch up again.”

  Barry watched as Jake walked up to the marquee. He said to Larry Wilpena,“I’m taking off for a while. Back in an hour or so.”

  Barry got into his car and drove around to the Land Council Office. He knew the office would be empty for the next couple of hours as most of the Councillors and staff would be at the opening of the mine. He let himself in with his key and immediately walked to the door of O’Shea’s private office but found it locked. He pulled out a credit card and gently eased it around the lock until it clicked and the door opened. He quickly searched the office for any documents relating to the mine but most of the cabinets were locked. O’Shea’s laptop was sitting on the desk. It was locked and he tried a couple of different passwords without success. He knew O’Shea would have a written record of his password somewhere and searched around for a hiding place. He examined his desk drawers again without success. He knelt on the floor and looked under his desk. Taped on the bottom of one of the drawers was a piece of paper with a name and number on it. Jubilant, Barry copied the password down and then sat down on O’Shea’s chair.

  He quickly scrolled through O’Shea’s emails and various folders. He went through his files and was just about to give up when he saw some documents relating to the Jabiru Mine. His heart raced as something took his eye. It was a letter to Baobab Trustees from Northern Consultancy, the consultant that did the study on the land rights and environmental impact. There were also several other documents marked confidential that took his interest. He pulled out a USB memory stick from his pocket and copied the documents onto it. He was just about finished when he heard a car pull up outside. He quickly finished the transfer of the documents, pulled out the USB and walked out the door just as one of the office workers, Mary Bloom, was coming in.

  “Hi Barry, I thought you’d be at the mine?”

  Barry tried to look calm. “Yeah, but I didn’t get an invite to the big lunch so I thought I’d come back and pick up a couple of things.”

  “Oh, right, see you later then,” said Mary looking rather puzzled.

  Barry hurried out, got in his car and drove to his house.