Disputed Sea - 6. Disp Ch 6

As Josh and I jumped to stop Grandfather from falling too hard on the ground, shocked at what just happened, with Xander quickly on his mobile calling for an ambulance, while I began to assess Grandfather, to work out what is wrong before a hotel patron announced that he was a doctor as he approached and began to examine grandfather. “Tell the ambulance, that it appears to be a stroke,” the doctor said to Xander, who was still talking to the ambulance dispatcher, and less than twenty minutes later, we arrived at the Darwin Private Hospital, where it was later revealed that grandfather had indeed suffered a major stroke.

With Joshua too upset and worried, I took on the job of notifying the rest of his family of what has happened, contacting his mother – Julia, who was actually onboard the Aquaria, and over the next few hours, Julia and her partner - Daniel Atkins arrived and spent time at the hospital, before Daniel returned to the Aquaria, which along with its defence fleet, headed for Western Australia, to get as far away as possible from China.

The Oceania was already well away and currently off the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, where it and four Poseiden D Class subs would remain, and there were several R Class subs in the area, which have already headed well away from China, remaining close to shore and within the territorial zone of several countries for protection.

The remaining 4 D Class Poseidon Subs, would remain in the region but hidden very deep in the sea, to monitor and protect the sensors of the project, that are causing so many problems to the Chinese Defence at the moment. We decided to stay put in Darwin and stay close to grandfather, as his health was a great concern to us, and we thanked our friends for their offer of assistance but informed them that we would be staying in Darwin, and a few days later, they flew out of Darwin, heading back to Perth.

Deciding that public knowledge of the ownership of the hotel would soon be known to the Chinese, we decided to relocate to a smaller hotel, but on remembering that a Chinese company owned the port facilities, we decided that we did need to get out of Darwin, so after a few days, we arranged for the Aquaria to return, and late at night Grandfather was transferred onboard, and we slipped away into the darkness, heading south-west for Perth.

Once we had grandfather settled into a private hospital in Perth, and with the majority of the submarines now out of the South East Asia region, we headed north to Ocean City, where we felt we would be safe from any possible attacks, especially with the Aquaria now in the area, along with the defence subs patrolling the Abrolhos Islands region.

Over the next few weeks, Joshua and I made regular trips to Perth to check on grandfather, who had been greatly affected by his stroke, with paralysis causing a lot of issues for him. Joshua’s Mum – has taken over managing the family business, not knowing if Grandfather will ever fully recover.

In the Spratley Island region, the Project was still in full operation, with all Chinese warships now out of the area south of the 15^th parallel, and with cargo ships collecting all valuable equipment and supplies, the islands now lay abandoned, with the four countries that legally have ownership of these seven islands, with the financial assistance of the corporation, now pulling down the majority of the buildings that the Chinese government had illegally built on this island.

As this was happening, the Chinese government issued several trade and travel sanctions on the neighbouring governments, but with the assistance of Wagner International and Lloyd Corp, the effect on trade was limited, and the travel restrictions on businesses that work in China, just simply shut down operations there.

This caused more harm to the Chinese locals who once worked for those companies, and protests were starting to be a regular event, protesting at the Chinese Government for taking such hardline decisions, which just hurt the country. Landbridge, a Chinese-owned corporation that has control of the Port of Darwin facilities, also placed restrictions on shipping going in and out of Darwin.

Julia had decided that the best option was to stay as low-key as possible to keep the family Corporation out of harm's way, and so all submarines would now be remaining out of sight at all times, and only surfacing after dark, except for in case of an emergency.

What she did do, while the submarines were remaining hidden, was put pressure on the current Australian Government to get the long-term Landbridge lease of the Darwin Port facilities terminated, to secure the shipping in the region. While we waited for something to be done, for the few months after the 15^th parallel and coastal barrier were activated, no more warships entered the region.

Except for the neighbouring nations of Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore, there were no disruptions to fishing vessels or cargo shipping passing through the region. However, there was a lot less shipping travelling to and from mainland China now, but there is still cargo travelling between mainland China and Darwin regularly via the Arafura and Philippine Seas.

When the eight nations of South East Asia that have South China Sea frontage, met formally to discuss the issues in the region, along with representatives from the United Nations in attendance, it was all agreed that the 15^th Parallel boundary should remain in place and that they relinquish all claims to the Paracel Islands to China, to try and keep the peace.

Two weeks after this meeting had concluded, in New York at the UN Security Council meeting, much to the disapproval of the Chinese Government, it was agreed that the 15^th Parallel be the most southern boundary for any Chinese claims to land, islands, reefs or seas below that point. They accepted a report that informed the UN of the seven islands that were once occupied by the Chinese government, have now been cleared of all illegal buildings constructed, the islands have been declared nature reserves and that work has begun on revegetating the islands and reefs, to a more natural state.

Reports from Diplomatic posts within China have reported a dramatic change in views within the Chinese Government, after inflation began to rise dramatically, with many items purchased regularly, now hard to acquire due to trade sanctions, plus the costs of living have soared, and protests were now a weekly event in all regions of China, as many believe that like Russia, it was now China, and its communist government who was losing control of running the country, and there were calls for a change to happen.

Back in Australia, Grandfather’s recovery has been long and very slow, and although he was now able to speak again, with a bit of slurring, his mobility has not improved much, and he is now confined to a wheelchair to be able to move around, but he can stand for short periods, while Julia has now become the Chairperson and Director of Lloyd Corporation. For Joshua and me, we were happily back home at Ocean City working in the peaceful environment of the Abrolhos Islands, with Cray Fishing and tourism working very well side by side.

When news was reported of a High Court ruling that deemed the Lease agreement between the Northern Territory Government, and the private Chinese corporation – Landbridge, a very high risk to the security of the nation, it was declared Null and Void, with the corporation given two weeks to remove all of their equipment and leave the country, with a large Customs and Quarantine team from Canberra to supervise the transition.

Just an hour after hearing this news, Joshua received a phone call from his mother – Julia, asking us to return to Darwin, to assist with this transition of the ownership change at Darwin Port, and she also stated that eight ‘D Class’ Poseidon Submarines and Oceania are already located in the area to monitor everything, including the coming and goings of all freight ships.

All ships currently in port, were stopped from leaving, with all senior crew taken off the ship before it was thoroughly searched, with a large amount of cash, weapons and drugs already found in the first three days of operations, with the news release to the public purposely delayed, to ensure that all illegal activities were stopped, and all of those responsible are caught.

“I guess we are heading back to Darwin then!” I said having overheard the discussion between Joshua and Mrs Atkins, “I am afraid so, but what you do not know is that the family has a second new hotel in Darwin, this one isn’t even officially open yet, so we will be the first to stay there,” Joshua announced. “Oh! Where is this new hotel and it is just as grand as the one out near Lee Point?” I asked.

“Yes, it is. It is 5 acres of ocean frontage land on the outskirts of the city at Cullen Bay and just a 200-metre walk to Mindil Beach and just 1.5 kilometres from Central Darwin,” Joshua announced. After quickly packing, and securing a late afternoon flight direct from Geraldton to Perth, we arrived at our Perth hotel just at dusk, and settled into our suite, deciding to just relax while there, as we had an early morning flight to Darwin the following day.

When we arrived in the tropical city of the north, a limo waiting for us to take us the 12 kilometres to Cullen Bay, with the airport located on the north side of the suburbs. The hotel was as expected, large and lavish, with spectacular gardens surrounding the buildings, of which there are three of them, with the main building, having a large reception area, administration, staff service area, a café and social lounge, an entertainment lounge, and undercover lap pool, on the ground floor, while there is a large fitness gymnasium, a restaurant, a large function hall, a library and billiards room on the first floor, and four floors of guest rooms.