NB New Direction - 15. NB ND Chapter 15

“Chopper to Captain Kingsley, over” I heard in the distance, and I began to walk back towards the captain, “Go ahead chopper” I heard the Captain reply, as he walked closer to me. “I am over the spot now, the object is about 600 metres due east of the ship, and moving slightly north slowly, my guess is that this is a naval submarine sir?” came the response, as we heard the sound of the patrol boat starting up. “Patrol to Administrator, I am ready to go and investigate, over” Chris said over the radio, and the captain handed it over to me.

“Administrator to patrol, go ahead but with extreme caution, and stay well away to the south of it, over” I replied, “Chopper to Administrator, sir it appears that the submarine maybe surfacing, over” the pilot announce, “Very well, keep monitoring it from a safe distance, over” I replied, as I handed the radio back to the captain, and I followed Kyle to the end of the peninsular, which is the closest view point to the ship.

A few minutes later the water just north of the ship began to bubble, and soon a mast appeared then a coning tower, and the rest of the submarine, and on the side of it was the distinct markings of RAN with an Australian flag, on the coning tower. “Chopper and patrol boat, stand down, it is an Australian naval submarine, I repeat, stand down, chopper return to the ship and patrol boat stay near the ship for the moment, over” the Captain said, and we watched as the helicopter landed on the ship and wound down its motors, while the patrol boat moved to behind the ship, out of site of the submarine.

“This is HMAS Avon, calling Deepdale Island over” we heard come from a VHF radio that Kyle was holding, and he handed it over to me, “This is Huon Devonport, administrator of Deepdale Island, over” I replied, “Permission to come onto the island, over” came a request, “How many and do you have anything to declare, over” I replied, “Err, three officers, and no nothing to declare” came a response, “Standby, our patrol boat will be there momentarily, over” I said, hoping that Chris was monitoring this VHF channel.

“Administrator, we are on our way, over” Chris said on the UHF radio, “Very well Chris, check for weapons, and be sure there is no plant material on their boots before they step onto the boat, over” I said. Kyle appeared by my side, and handed me a pair of binoculars, and I looked through them to get a closer look of the submarine, which looked impressive close up, as a hatch opened and three men stepped onto the deck.

I watched at the patrol boat appeared from behind the ship, and this is when I saw the signage on the side of the patrol boat, “Deepdale Island Border Patrol” which made me smile, and I watched at the patrol boat approached the submarine, and side cushions were deployed to stop any hard collision damage, as it approached, and mooring lines were thrown to two sailors now standing on the deck.

I adjusted the binoculars, directing my view at the three officers, and as soon as I spotted the offending items, I also noticed Shawn arguing with one of the Submarine officers, “Administrator to HMAS Captain, over” I said into the VHF radio, “This is Captain Whittaker speaker” came a harsh sounding reply, “Captain, I can see from my position on the island, that you and your officers are carrying side arms, if you wish to come onto the island, you are to remove them, and have them returned below, as you failed to declare them” I announced.

“Until I can determine, that it is safe for me and my men to be on the island, then we will be keeping them on” came the reply, “In that case, permission to the island is refused, you have twenty minutes to leave the area, goodbye captain” I said, and I saw Chris move the patrol boat away from the submarine, and back towards the ship. Turning the VHF radio off, I handed it to Kyle and he handed me the UHF radio, “Administrator to Patrol over” I said into the radio, “Yes sir, receiving you, over” Chris replied.

“Chris, are you and Shawn armed in any way, over” I asked, “That is a positive sir, the patrol boat has a small machine gun, and we have 5000 rounds, Shawn has a valid firearms licence, as do I, and we both have handguns secured in the patrol boats gun locker, over” came a reply, “Very well, do not use the firearms, unless you have been directly fired at first, and I have given you permission to fire back, is that understood” I said into the radio, “understood sir, over” Chris replied, just as Kyle came rushing towards me, holding up the VHF radio.

“I repeat, this is HMAS Avon, you have no right to refuse us entry onto the island, we will be boarding the island by force if necessary, over” I heard on the radio, “Captain, this is the administrator, I suggest that you check with your superiors in Canberra, before you take any such action, although this island is declared Australian Territory, you have no legal powers over this island at this point in time. This is a private island, and is in International waters, and as such any infringement onto the island will be deemed as illegal and a threat to the island, over”, and Kyle handed me that satellite phone.

“This is Sebastian, what is going on that is urgent, I was in the middle of a staff meeting” I heard Seb said over the phone, “I am sorry cousin, but we have a major issue here, an Australian Submarine has popped up out of nowhere, and is demanding access to the island, and I am refusing it, because the officers are carrying sidearms” I explained, “oh, that doesn’t sound good, just a moment, while I go to my office across the hallway” Seb said in reply, and I waited as I listened to Seb walking.

“I am not to be disturbed, I am in a high-level conference call” I heard Seb say, I presumed to the school receptionist, before I heard the door close and Seb sitting down. “Right I am all ears now” Seb said to me, “I was giving Captain Kingsley and his navigator, a tour of the village when the was a three-blast warning, from the ships horn, a quick radio check, revealed that the ships sonar had picked up a large object approaching that was far bigger than a whale.

I sent the chopper pilot into the air to get a high up view, while Chris and Shawn headed to the patrol boat. The chopper reported that it looked like a submarine, and that it looked like it was surfacing, and when it did, the coning tower markings, revealed it to be the HMAS Avon, submarine. The captain on VHF radio, requested permission to come onto the island, I asked if he had anything to declare, and how many people were coming onto the island, his reply was three officers and nothing to declare.

I sent Chris in the patrol boat to check and if all ok to bring them to the beach, but when I saw them arguing via the binoculars, that is when I saw the firearms on their belts. I radioed the captain suggesting that the firearms be returned to down below, then they could come onto the island, but he refused, so I refused him permission to step onto the island, and I had Chris backed away from the submarine” I explained.

“Very well, leave it with me, I will make a few phone calls and get back to you, keep the sat phone close to you, bye for now” Sebastian said, and he ended the call. About half an hour later, we noticed the submarine back away from the ship and island, but it remained on the surface, and stopped about a kilometre away. Soon after the Sat phone rang and I answered it, “Hi Seb what is happening, we have noticed the Submarine has backed away, but it isn’t leaving the area” I said when I answered the call.

“I have spoken to the defence minister, after a lot of difficulties to speak to him, anyway he informs me that the submarine was suppose to make a discreet pass, and return to base, and not create a full on diplomatic incident, apparently if followed the Southern Explorer, so that is how it was able to find the island, and now it has been ordered back to base at Rockingham” Sebastian informed me. “Well its not leaving, it is just sitting out there, about one kilometre away from the island” I said.

“Keep an eye on it, and maybe move the ship closer to the island near the beach, ask the captain for as many crew as he can spare, to go to the island, to patrol it, and get those signs put up, which I sent to you” Seb said to me. “Ok, will do, talk to you soon” I said and we ended the call.

Moving to the village square, I unstrapped the bikes, and checked the oil and fuel before turning the key and pressing the button, I jumped on and putting it into gear, I headed off down the village street towards the helipad. When I arrived, I found a pile of signs attached to steel pickets, laying on the ground, and I began to stack them onto the cargo rack behind the seat.

When Kyle arrived with the second bike, he too started to load up his bike, and he found two spades and steel mallets, which he handed me a mallet. We counted twenty signs in total, and we decided to split up and go in opposite directions, and to put the signs in any area, where access to the island is possible from the ocean.

Just over an hour later, Kyle and I met up again at the helipad, and we both had on sign each left, which we decided to place on the beach, one near the track, and another near where the spiral stairs will be. Just as we were finishing the signs, we heard the helicopter starting up again, and we saw it lifting off the deck, and noticed the spiral stair case attached, as it continued to lift, till the stairs were well off the deck, before moving over to the island and the beach.

As the spiral stairs were lowered, to the location, where the stairs will be, Kyle and I marked the area, where a hole and some concrete needs to be placed, while up in the village, were some of the staff were busy putting up the barrier fencing, Judy marked the spot on the edge with some spray paint she had with her, as she had been making the locations for the barrier fence posts.

When this was done, I waved to the chopper, to indicate that the location had been marked, and the chopper moved away a little before laying the stairs on the beach. Kyle disconnected the cable and the chopper returned to ship, while I began to dig the large hole, after I retrieved the spades from the bikes.

The chopper returned a few minutes later, this time with a crate attached to the cables, and in the crate was four backs of concreted, two bags of blue-metal gravel, and two containers of water. We unattached the cables from the crates, and the chopper returned to the ship, where we heard it winding down its motors, while Kyle and I, continued to dig the metre-deep hole for the foundation footing for the stairs.

Once this was completed, we had a closer look at the stairs, which have a number of support anchors one metre apart, up the side of the stairs, for securing the stairs to the cliff wall. Climbing back up the track to the bikes, we rode back into the village, where we noticed progress on the barrier fence was going well, and going into the administration office, which Judy now had connected to the communications and weather station, I picked up the UHF radio, “Administrator to Ocean Explorer, over” I said into the mic.

“Receiving you sir, James speaking” came the reply, “James can you ask your engineer, to find two hammer drills, extension cords and some long ¼ inch dyna bolts, to secure the stairs to the cliff side please” I asked, “Yes sir, I will get the patrol boat to deliver the items and the engineers to the beach, over” James replied. “Get them to come over straight after lunch, over”, I added, after glancing at my watch.

When we arrived back in the village, Judy was looking through the binoculars, towards where the submarine is, “What are they up to?” I asked as I approached. “Mischief, by the looks of it” Judy replied as she handed me the binoculars, for me to take a look. I saw a number of submariners scrambling around on the decks, and it looked like they were inflating some inflatable dinghies, with engines.

“I agree with on that” I said as I grabbed the radio off my belt, “Huon to Kyle are you there, mate” I said into the radio, “Yes receiving, I am in admin, over” Kyle replied, “Can you grab the VHF for me please, I am at the north end of the village, over”, “I will be there in a moment” Kyle replied. By the time I had the VHF radio in hand, I also had made a call to Sebastian, “I want you to hear this conversation, with the Submarine captain, standby” I said to Seb when he answered the call, before I checked the volume, before pushing the button, “Deepdale Island to HMAS Avon, over” I said clearly.

“This is Captain Whittaker, what do you want, I am busy” came a grumpy response, “I can see that clearly captain, I see activity on your deck, that appears to be preparations for coming to shore. I am also aware, that you have been ordered back to you base at Garden Island. If you are preparing for land on the island by force, be warned that we are prepared to defend ourselves as any cost, over” I said in the VHF radio.

“I do not care what you say, you are a small group of civilians, with no defences, I will land on this island no matter what idol threats you make” the Captain replied, “I say again, we are prepared to defend ourselves if you attempt to illegally land on Deepdale Island, over” I said into the radio, but I received no reply. “Huon, what defences do you have exactly?” Sebastian asked in the phone.

“What don’t you know? The patrol boat has a machine gun and 5000 rounds of ammunition, plus the Lt Commander and C & Q officer both have firearm licences and have handguns” I replied, “I did actually, I was just checking to see if you knew, I also know that Captain Kennedy and 1st Officer Andrews also have firearm licenses and have handguns, and two rifles” Sebastian replied.

“Ok, so what are your recommendations with this matter?” I asked, “I will telephone the Naval base at Garden Island, to let them know what is happening, and I recorded that conversation you had with the Submarine just now, so I will play that to them, I suggest you go ahead with how you are going so far, you are doing everything right, I suggest you use all of your resources that you have to defend the Island, but make sure none of your people get hurt, bye for now” Sebastian said and he ended the call.

“Captain Kennedy, are you receiving me?” I said into the UHF radio, “Yes, receiving you sir” came a quick response, “Have yourself and 1stOfficer Andrews kitted up with all of your items, that I am now aware of, and board the chopper, to come to the island, over” I said, “Very well sir, we will be there shortly” the captain replied, “have your Navigator, place the ship just fifty metres off the beach, it should be just deep enough to stay idle there” I added, “Very well sir” the captain replied.

“Administrator to Patrol Boat, please meet me on the beach as soon as possible, over” I said into the UHF radio, “Very good sir, we too have retrieved all of our items, and am ready” came the reply from the Lt Commander. I turned to Kyle who was not looking too happy about all of this, “mate I need you to get too a high point and video record everything on your phone, keep the UHF radio and this sat phone with you, to stay in contact with me on the radio and Seb will be calling soon on the phone” I said to my best friend.