Consulate Boy - 3. Consulate Chapter 3

“What was that your Dad just said?” Mr Lang asked, “He said to us - Stay safe in the Maori language,” I answered, “You must know a few languages if your parents are diplomats?’ Mr Lang asked, “Yes, sir, I speak fluently in Nepalese, Ndebele and I know a few words of Maori,” Kerwin responded.

“I am fluent in Nepalese, Ndebele and French and I know a bit of Maori as well,” I answered, “I see, you would do well in the language translation and interpretation area of the Australian Army Intelligence Corp,” Mr Lang said to me unexpectantly. “Sir, what does the DIO mean?” Kerwin asked.

“It is an abbreviation for Defence Intelligence Organisation, a high-security department of the Australian Government, that works with the ASIO – the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIS - Australian Secret Intelligence Service and the DSD – Defence Signals Directorate. All of which have a specific purpose and jobs to do, to keep our country safe,” Mr Lang replied.

Suddenly we heard a lot of shouting and some more shooting before it went all quiet, and we waited to see what would happen next, and a knock on the door made us all jump. “Kerwin and Mateo, are you in there?” we heard the headmaster ask through the door. “I am here with them Headmaster, it is Anthony Lang speaking,” the staff member responded.

“Mr Lang, are the boys with you and are they ok? It is safe to come out now, the intruders are all dead or wounded,” the headmaster asked. “What’s the safety password?” I called out, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” came the reply from both of the Artise boys. As I unlocked and opened the door, I saw the two most senior staff laughing, while Mr Lang behind us was chuckling at what the safe word was.

Martyn and Jonus rushed forward and wrapped us both in a group hug, “We are so glad you are both safe,” Martyn whispered to us, “Can we please change that safety password?” Jonus complained, which had my brother and me chuckling. “Sure mate, do you want it to be in Nepali or Ndebele?” I asked, and both boys groaned, which made Kerwin and me laugh.

“Glad you boys are ok and in good spirits,” Dad said as he walked into the staff room, where we now stood, and he came up to us as the boys stood back to let Dad hug us too. “Interesting safety password your family had there Mr Edwards,” the headmaster said to Dad, who smiled and nodded his head, “That was the boy’s choice on that one, which now will have to be changed, now it has been used,” Dad replied.

“What about we use Suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus?” my brother suggested and I burst out laughing, and Kerwin was smiling broadly, as was Dad. “What on earth was that word?’ the Headmaster asked. “Simple, it was the safety password backwards,” Jonus responded smiling just as broadly as my brother and his cousin. The headmaster, Deputy Headmaster and Captain Lang all groaned and shook their heads.

“All clear now Headmaster,” a new voice said from the doorway, “Ok, we can go back to the conference room now, and let’s have a bit of a talk about this,” the Headmaster suggested. “Not so fast Headmaster,” Captain Lang said as he produced his Army ID card to show his boss. “Australian Army… Defence Intelligence Organisation? What on earth is going on here?” the Headmaster asked on reading the ID Card.

“I’m sorry sir, but for National Security reasons, I cannot allow you to ask the Edwards boys or their father any questions,” Mr Lang responded, “That is true Headmaster, because of my employment in the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department, and that this incident may be linked to that, any briefings will be held at a secure location by those who have the proper security clearance, which Mr Lang has,” my Dad announced.

“Fine, in that case, you two boys are suspended for one week for disrupting the school and causing damage to school property, and you Mr Lang are on Administrative leave until the School Board has had a meeting about this incident,” the Headmaster announced. “Go ahead Headmaster, and I am Captain Lang. Just let your School Board know to expect a phone call from the Minister of Defence and Security, or the Prime Minister himself,” Captain Lang responded, as he headed out of the door and towards the front of the admin building

“Come on boys, we have a briefing to attend before we head home for the day,” Dad said to us, and we soon exited the admin building, where we saw several AFP vehicles scattered around the front yard and car park area, as well as two ambulances and two darkened vans that looked like large hearses, plus heaps of people gathered around doing various jobs.

We ended up spending three hours being debriefed on what happened at the school, and we were very tired by the time we arrived home. It was only then that I saw a heap of missed calls from Jonus and Martyn, wondering if we were ok. “Dad, my two friends, who first spotted the intruders and warned us to run, are wondering if we are ok. Can I invite them over tomorrow, since it is a Saturday,” I asked Dad.

“How about we meet them at a public location away from home, just as a safety measure,” Dad responded, which I agreed to. “How about the Boathouse Restaurant, where you took us when we first came to Canberra?” Kerwin suggested, and I nodded in agreement. “Yes, fine. Invite them both to have lunch with us at that restaurant, I will make a call to see if we can get a table,” Dad replied.

I sent a message to the guys to let them know that they were invited to lunch at the classy lakeside restaurant, and I received a reply to say they both accepted the invite, which I was happy about. As I had suspected, we had two undercover Federal Police officers at the restaurant, keeping a very close eye on us, while we had our meal, and Dad made sure that they had a nice meal as well, but they only drank bottled water, which they had brought with them.

“What is going to happen now, after all of that drama at the school?” Jonus asked, “I am not entirely sure lad, but it may put a delay on our next assignment, which was going to be Switzerland, we may be here in Canberra for a lot more than just one year, depending on investigations into this incident,” my Dad replied. “I think that may be a good thing dear, it will allow the children to get to have some friends here in Australia,” Mum added.

Thankfully things returned to normal for the family, although we had tighter security around us 24 hours a day, which was really annoying. Regarding the threats of dismissal from the headmaster, Mr Lang remained an administration staff member at the school, and it was the Headmaster who was transferred to an alternative school, and we returned to school a few days later, with nothing recorded on our files.

Security was tightened at the school as well, since my brother and I were not the only children of Federal Government staff, and after a few weeks of investigations, it was determined that a relative of a person that had applied for a residents visa for Australia, from Zimbabwe, and was refused because of a recommendation that my father made, was the reason for what took place at the school.

This relative was trying to kidnap us boys, to pressure DFAT to change the recommendation, to allow their family to move to Australia, so until this is resolved, we would be heavily protected from harm. As the mid-year holidays approached, Dad and Mum announced that we are travelling to Tasmania for a holiday, but we were not to tell anyone of this, for safety, which we happily agreed to, as by now we were getting very tired of being watched all the time.

“Have you been to Tasmania before?” my sister asked our parents, and we saw them look at each other smiling. “Yes, we are both originally from Tasmania, I am from Flinders Island in the Bass Strait while Dad is from King Island, and we both met when we were young adults, attending Teacher’s College in Hobart,” Mum replied. “You are school teachers?” I asked sounding quite surprised.

“Yes, son. We are qualified and still licenced as high school teachers. We are going to Mum’s hometown of Whitemark, Flinders Island, where she still has family, and where we will be staying for nearly two weeks,” Dad answered. “Wow, awesome, we are finally getting to see more of Australia,” my younger brother said excitedly. “My older sister Alison and her husband Grant own an accommodation business in central Whitemark, and they have offered us one of the three-bedroom apartments for our stay there.

My older brother Kyle and his wife June own a Mountain Lodge, which has eight suites, also located on Flinders Island, but a little to the south of the settlement. Our family still owns the 150-acre family farm located just behind the Mountain Lodge too, which has a spectacular view of the mountains,” Mum informed us.

“This sounds fantastic, I can hardly wait to get there to explore this place,” I commented. “We have 12 days there, so plenty of time to explore everything on the island,” Dad said to us, as I worked out in my head that we had just 9 days left of the school term, and then we are off to Tasmania. “Will we be coming back to Canberra after the Tasmanian holiday Dad?” my sister asked.

“That all depends on our stay in Tasmania. Your Mother and I are considering taking up teaching positions in Tasmania, and if all goes well, we will start there immediately after our holiday,” Dad informed us. “Where will we be living and where will we be going to school,” my brother asked. “We will be looking into where we will live, once we have arrived there, and you will all be attending Flinders Island District High School,” Mum replied.