Indian Ocean Invasion - 30. IOI Chapter 30

“Spot on their bro, it is exactly that, also to do with my time on Christmas Island during the invasion” maybe young Mitchell should have been awarded this one, or a similar award, oh, there is one last thing, my full title now is Sir Lewis Shaw, Baron of Rottnest, KCB, CVO, VC, SC, DSC” I announced.

“Baron, you are now a Baron?” Jeremy asked, “Yes, I have a life peerage, apparently someone recommended to Her majesty, that I receive something higher than a kinghood, and she bestowed a baron life peerage” I commented casually.

“What do we do now Uncle Lewis, bow or something?” Mitchell asked, and I smiled, “I think the correct thing at official events, is a slight head bow that is all, watch your dad as he does it” I said to my nephew, and my brother turned to face me, snapped to attention and gave me a perfect head bow.

“Your Excellency, I am at your service” Jeremy said to me, which had Mitchell laughing so badly that he ended up rolling around on the floor.

I sat down, and waited for my nephew to calm down, and the look on Jeremy’s face was one of embarrassment and annoyance at his son’s antics.

When Mitchell was finally calm, Jeremy stood up and stormed off towards the door, Mitchell looked at him then back at me, before shrugging his shoulders, and grabbing one of the suit cases, he headed outside, and I followed with my second suitcase, briefcase and backpack.

“If I had known earlier, I would have ordered a limo, instead of getting a taxi to the airport” Jeremy said softly to me as we exited the hotel, “yeah great for trying to keep my identity low key” I growled back at him. I had to book the flight in your name, but the accommodation on the island is booked under my name” Jeremy said to me as we loaded our luggage into the taxi and climbed in.

“Just as well you two had small suitcases, or we wouldn’t have fitted it all in” I commented as I sat in the back with Mitchell, leaving Jeremy to take the front seat. Twenty minutes later, we are walking into the terminal two for my flight, luckily my brother and nephew were flying with the same airline, so their departure was in the same terminal.

When I was checking in, two large suitcases, the staff member was about to complain, so I pulled out my passport and presented it to her, when she noticed that it was a diplomatic passport, she returned it to me with a smile, and checked in my two large suitcases, and handed me my boarding pass, and wished me an enjoyable flight. “What’s with the red passport” Jeremy whispered to me, as we left the counter.

“Diplomatic Passport, gives me a few perks of the job” I whispered back, as I looked at the boarding pass, which read “Business Class 3G” on it, “thanks for the upgrade, I was dreading the four hour journey in Economy” I said to my brother.

“You are most welcome bro, I thought you might enjoy a bit of comfort for the trip” Jeremy replied. “I thought we had the A320 for flights to Christmas Island, it looks like I’m going to be on a A330-200 for this flight” I commented after looking at the boarding card a lot closer.

After saying farewell to Mitchell and Jeremy, I approached the security screening, and as I passed through the screening gate, I was asked to open the suitcase and the briefcase. I showed them the laptop computer, printer and satellite linkup, then the three small medals cases.

“Can I see your passport please, and what is in those three things?” the Federal Police officer demanded, “service medals, I am a former Commander in the Navy” I replied as I produced the passport, and the officer looked at me suspiciously, when he saw the colour of the passport, and grabbed it out of my hand.

I knew that it didn’t contain my official title, thank goodness, so I was hoping to be given the all clear and allowed to continue, but that was not to be. Come with me please sir, I need to check this passport” the officer demanded, and he escorted me through a door and down a long corridor, till we entered what looked like a plain interview room.

“Empty your pockets and take a seat please sir” the security officer said, as I removed a handkerchief, my wallet, and mobile phone out of my pockets.

“What is going on here, am I under arrest? If so I want to make a phone call, or better still call the number under the name of Kylie” I asked, with a small smile. The officer looked at me suspiciously, then looked at the phone for a bit, before picking it up and searching the directly till he found the name Kylie, and pressed he call button.

“Officer Kylie Sanders” I heard Kylie say as she answered the call, “Hello, this is Officer Peter Groves at the Perth Airport, what department are you an officer of?” I heard the officer say, “Wait who is this, and why do you have Lewis’s mobile phone, I am Federal Police Officer Peter Groves at Perth Airport” I heard the officer say.

“I hope you have done nothing to Lewis Shaw, Mr or you are in a big heap of trouble, what interview room are you in and which terminal?” I heard Kylie demand, “err Terminal 2 departures Room 16” the officer replied,
Stay put, I will be right over” I heard Kylie say then I heard the call end.

“Who is this Kylie Sanders?” the officer asked me as he put his phone away, “Your worst nightmare mate, you better hold onto your belt, cos you are going to be in trouble” I commented, and my smile broadened, as I pictured Kylie coming to the terminal a breakneck speed, to come to my rescue.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Kylie and two senior Federal officers entered the room. “Are you ok, you’re not hurt or injured?” Kylie asked me in a concerned voice, I am fine thanks mate, no need to get in a panic” I replied softly, “would someone care to fill us in on what the hell is happening here” one of the senior officers demanded.

“Sorry sir, may I introduce, His Excellency Commander Lewis Shaw VC, SC, DSC, Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territory of Christmas Island” Kylie announced proudly, and we saw the federal officer who had detained me, go ghost white.

“Right, now Groves, what was your reason that you detained this gentleman?” the senior officer asked, “He has a brand-new Diplomatic passport, and he said the three small cases contained Service medal’s, but it just didn’t feel right” the officer responded.

By now Kylie had her arms crossed across her chest and she was frowning at the Federal officer and tapping her left shoe. “Off course he has a brand-new passport dummy, he is going to his new posting, if you had asked him these questions, then maybe you wouldn’t have your knickers in a twist” Kylie said which has me laughing out loud, and the other officers looked at me in an annoyed manner.

“Sorry, it’s just a few hours ago at Government House, a similar statement was made by me to Kylie” I commented as I tried not to laugh. “If you don’t believe us sir, I have video footage of an awards ceremony held this morning by our big boss, His Excellency the Governor General of Australia, at Government House” Kylie commented, as she retrieved her mobile phone and quickly retrieved the footage, but instead showed them some photographs.

“Well that is definitely the Governor General, and this state’s Governor, and that looks like the Federal Minister of Defence, if I am not mistaken, plus this looks like a genuine Diplomatic Passport… I think this officer has made a judgment mistake and that it won’t happen again” the senior officer said, as he was facing the officer who detained me, then turned to me and gave a bow.

“Your Excellency, on behalf of the Federal Police Service, allow me to apologise for this mistake in judgment, and I will assure you that some retraining will be done, to ensure that it doesn’t happen again” the senior officer said, “the apology is accepted thankyou Superintendent, now may I please go and prepare for my flight to Christmas Island?” I responded, and the superintendent nodded yes, and opened the door for me.

Kylie picked up my backpack and brief case, and led the way out, as I gathered my belongings from the table and followed her out. “You idiot, he is a war hero, don’t you know what those initials are…” I head the superintendent say to the officer, as I was leaving, and I just smiled, as the door closed stopping me from hearing the rest of the comment.

“Come along my hero, you have a plane to catch” Kylie said to me as she stopped to let me catch up to her. “Thanks for not giving away my newest full title, I am still battling to get used to it” I commented, as we exited the hallway, and made our way up the escalator to the upper level of the terminal.

“Can you mind my luggage, I just need to take a pee” I asked Kylie once we arrived in the departure lounge, “yes hurry up, I have to get back to work soon, I have a report to fill out thanks to that idiot” Kylie replied, and I chuckled as I headed to the bathroom.

When I returned, I sat down neat to Kylie, who was looking at the plane at gate 7, I looked at the sign above it, and I noticed that it was my flight. “Would business class passengers for the flight from Perth to Christmas Island, please make their way to the boarding gate” an announcement said, and Kylie stood up just after I did.

“I will miss you, make sure you keep in touch, and remember to give Margaret a call once a week at least, she worries a lot about you” Kylie said as she leaned in for a hug.

“I will miss you too, great big softie, and you also take care. I hear this job can get quite dicey sometimes” I replied, “Not as bad as your former job in the Navy” Kylie said, as I gave her a kiss on the cheek and picked up my onboard luggage and pulled out my boarding pass.

After presenting my pass, I turned and gave Kylie one last wave, before heading down the boarding ramp to the plane. This was the first time I had travelled business class in a commercial aircraft, and it looked very grand, like my own little pod with everything in it.

With my luggage stowed away, I sat in my pod seat, leaned back and closed my eyes. “Excuse me Commander Shaw, can you please secure your seatbelt, and would you like a drink before we take off?” a stewardess asked me, “Yes, a bottle of straight water please” I responded, and the stewardess set off to the galley.

Once all the economy passengers were seated, we soon taxied to the end of the runway and took off, and turned as we climbed, till we were over the ocean and heading north west to Christmas Island.

The flight went surprisingly fast, with lunch served soon after we took off, and I watched a movie for half of the flight, before dozing for the last part of the flight.

When we stepped off the plane, it was warm and quite humid, as we walked into the terminal from the tarmac, where I went in search of my checked in luggage, then grabbed a taxi to take me to my accommodation.

At the meeting that I has earlier in the day, I knew that my new official home and office, will be Tai Jin House, the former Colonial Office for the British Administrator, which is quite fitting that it is to be my home and office.

I knew that it was built around 1900, and that it over looks Flying Fish Cove, and for many years it has been a permanent museum, but after the invasion force had left, looting a lot of what was in the museum, the Governor Generals Office in Canberra decided to return it back to its’ original use, and that for the past six weeks, work has been underway to restore the house and have it fully furnished, ready for my arrival.

In the meantime, Jeremy had booked me into a two-bedroom villa, which will give me complete privacy for the next two weeks, and calling into the tourist information centre, I checked in and collected the key for the villa, and a street map how to find it, which wasn’t too far away.

Once I had settled into the villa, which was nice and roomy, with a small lap pool in the back, and lots of thick tropical garden, I decided to take a walk down to the settlement, to get use to the surroundings, as I didn’t get a chance to have a proper look, last time I was on the island.

Returning to the tourist information centre, when the lady said “Hello Mr Hughes, how may I help you” I almost forgot that was the name I was using for two weeks.

I asked if I can arrange for a 4WD vehicle to hire for the two weeks that I will be on the island, and not needing to show any ID, the lady organised for the vehicle to be delivered within the hour, at my accommodation, once I had made the payment for the rental.

Happy to soon have wheels to get around the island, I headed back to the accommodation, where I took a quick dip in the pool to cool off, then showered and changed.

About half an hour later a vehicle pulled up in the carport, and I went outside to see if it was hire vehicle. “Mr Hughes, this is your hire 4WD, the fuel station is just down the road, and it was recently serviced, so you shouldn’t have any troubles” the man said as he handed over the keys, waved and walked back down the road.

Grabbing my wallet, and my newly purchased camera, which I bought yesterday, I locked up again, and drove down to the main shops in the settlement, where I was able to find an average sized hiking backpack, plus I bought some snacks and six 600 ml bottles of water. Once I had paid for everything, I put everything into the backpack and returned to the vehicle.

Setting off along the coast at Flying Fish Cove, I crossed over a narrow bridge, and moments later I came across the huge colonial building which will be my home. I parked in the carpark and walked around the front and to the other side of the building, before coming back to the front, and looking through the double glass doors.

“Can I help you?” a women’s voice said which startled me, “Yes, can you tell me a bit about this place, and what is all the activity happening at the moment” I asked, as I pointed to the number of contractor vehicles in the carpark.

“This was the original Colonial Administrators office and home, and it has been a museum for about 22 years, until the invasion, sadly the place was stripped of most of its museum items, and now it is being fixed up for the arrival of our new Island Administrator, who is coming in two weeks.

We don’t know much about him, except, that he is fairly young, and he is a Naval hero, and that he was formerly the administrator of the Chagos Archipelago” the lady replied, “I see that sounds interesting, have you seen much of the inside of the building, it looks to be quite a grand place” I said to the lady.