The Mandarin Code (14 page)

‘I want to reach for the stars with this one, George. I really do.'

The PM turned to his chief of staff, George Papadakis, a man who until recently had harboured a near pathological fear of physical exercise. But a medical check-up had given Papadakis a fright and for the past few weeks he'd joined his friend and boss whenever the two were in Canberra together.

It was a chance not only to walk off the previous night's dinner but to plot and scheme, to hatch a plan that might revive the dire fortunes of the Toohey Government. Or, more likely, to debrief on the latest disaster.

In a week, Toohey would address the National Press Club and his speech would attempt to reboot the government and set the tone for the election year.

‘We've got to turn things around next week, George, otherwise we'll be well and truly rooted.'

Toohey desperately needed a big cut-through statement. He wanted a speech that would stand the test of time, that would resonate through the ages like Paul Keating's famous 1992 Redfern speech which had so magnificently captured the torment of Australia's indigenous community.

The two men were walking by the edge of Lake Burley Griffin, passing the toilet block outside the Southern Cross Yacht Club, a quarter hour from the Lodge. It was 5.55am.

Two bodyguards walked ahead while a white security car, with two more guards inside, tracked a discreet distance behind. The national capital was still layered in darkness; sunrise was a half-hour off but the first hints were just beginning to paint the horizon.

Papadakis grunted as he contemplated the climb back up to State Circle.

‘I know boss, I know.' He squeezed the words out between wheezing pants. ‘James has got a first draft ready for you . . . to look at later this morning. He's taken me through a few sketches . . . and it isn't bad. Plenty of grunt for the comrades . . . and a great mental health plan for the base. Future lies to our north . . . the looming Asian century . . . the innovative hub of Asia . . . that sort of stuff. Our best Treasury man is working on the numbers in strict confidence . . . word is that everything is fiscally sound . . . which is good. Jesus, Martin, can you slow down just a touch . . .'

The PM glanced across to his friend and confidant, smiling as he eased off, allowing him to draw level. Neither man looked a picture of fitness but the competitor in Toohey enjoyed the rare feeling of superiority.

‘Sorry George. I get a bit carried away sometimes, don't I? That's what you love about me though, right?' Toohey playfully danced around Papadakis, giving his chief of staff a light jab to the arm as he skipped ahead.

The PM didn't notice that his senior security man had stopped until he was right next to him. A look of urgency was furrowing the big man's face.

‘Boss. We got to move. To Parliament. Just got a call from the office. We have a crisis.'

George Papadakis put his mobile into a locker bearing his name then punched a six-digit code into the pad by the security door. It slid open revealing an airlock and another door leading to Cabinet's hi-tech situation room.

The Howard Government had dismissed a ‘Sit Room' as indulgent but Catriona Bailey had embraced having her own Washington-style bunker, just metres from her office. So taxpayers had spent $35 million building her one.

That had caused a storm at Senate hearings with one Coalition senator describing the room as an extravagance built to ‘feed the
West Wing
fantasies of the Labor leadership'.

Seventy-two thousand dollars had bought two long ‘integrated' tables that abutted each other in the centre of the room, with inbuilt computers and communications systems. Each of the thirty German-built Wilkhahn ‘FS' armchairs, covered with specially ordered green leather, had set taxpayers back $3000.

Huge plasma television screens covered the entire length of both of the room's long walls. The screens were run by technicians in the nearby communications room. Mostly they were used for teleconferencing; there were secure locations in all the state capital cities where a minister or official could go to be beamed into the Sit Room. A dozen embassies and high commissions around the world were also fitted out for secure videoconferencing.

By convention the politicians sat on one side of the table, and the defence, police and intelligence officials on the other. But only the politicians had voting rights. The officials were there to offer expert advice.

Lining the walls behind the main table were rows of chairs for other advisers. And, just as in the Cabinet room, there was a chair in each corner for a notetaker. Every word spoken was logged; each person at the main table was fitted with a microphone.

George Papadakis took his place just behind the PM's chair. He loved the Security Committee meetings here because this was the real work of government and it was in this setting that Toohey shone.

If only the public could see how he performs when it really matters.

Toohey never wasted time, kept the meetings focused, issued orders that were clear and set realistic goals.

Now the Prime Minister strode into the room carrying a bundle of papers, the chatter about the table dying as he sat down.

‘Welcome, everyone. Okay, what do we know? Eliza?' Toohey nodded to the head of Airservices Australia.

‘Just before 6am this morning the entire air-traffic control system on Australia's east coast went down. For thirteen minutes every plane in the air vanished from our sight.'

Eliza Stubbs paused as the plasma screens lit up, displaying a map of Australia overlaid with a sketch of the air-traffic control network.

‘The TAAATS system controls twenty-three radar towers, mostly on the east coast. There are two centres, Brisbane and Melbourne. So the network's split north and south, with Brisbane controlling the northern zone, Melbourne the southern.'

The image changed to a flow chart showing Airservices' security hierarchy.

‘In each centre there are forty-two consoles, divided into groups to cover different sectors. And there are multiple backups to ensure a system failure cannot shut the whole show down. When the primary system in Melbourne failed at 5.47am the duplicate system swung online automatically. It failed. So did our third layer of defence in Melbourne. We immediately moved to the contingency plan. There are ten consoles in Brisbane which are configured to take over from Melbourne in the case of catastrophic failure, and vice versa. When we switched them on, the system froze.'

The room was silent and Stubbs continued.

‘Prime Minister, there is a one in ten million chance that all this could happen by accident. Chillingly, the crash occurred just before the 6am curfew in Sydney was lifted. So international and interstate flights into Sydney were starting their approaches to Kingsford Smith.

‘We made radio contact with every plane and told them to hold their course if they were still en route or to switch to a pre-ordained emergency holding pattern if they were preparing to land.

‘At exactly 6am all our systems returned.'

Stubbs' face was grey and there was a slight tremble in her voice as she finished.

‘Prime Minister, we have no idea how it happened.'

Toohey tapped his pen on the desk as he digested the explosive news.

‘Ted,' the Prime Minister turned to the ASIO Deputy Director-General who ran Intelligence Coordination, ‘what do you think?'

‘Well, the official line has to be we don't know – because we don't,' Spencer said. ‘But I know what it looks like. This is an attack, not an accident. And because it was so contained I can only assume it's a shot across our bow. Someone is letting us know they own us.'

That observation resonated with the worst fears of the room.

‘Who?' The Prime Minister scanned the brass, braid and suits across the table. ‘Who would do this and why?'

Thomas Heggarty, head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, spoke. ‘It's just about impossible to pin this stuff down. It could be a bored teenager in a bedroom in Tokyo. It might be a group of anarchists like Anonymous. But . . . I don't think so.'

Heggarty studied the layers of backup that had to be disabled to cripple Australia's air-traffic control system.

‘Something this sophisticated has to be state sponsored. And the disturbing thing is that this isn't trawling for information. This is an act of aggression. If this was happening in the real world under the old rules and someone had bombed these installations we would immediately declare it an act of war.'

Heggarty looked down to a note from a previous security committee meeting.

‘We can't be sure who did this, but Prime Minister, you will recall our discussion on the massive increase in cyber-attacks on the US since it declared China a currency manipulator. We also know that there have been several attacks on US banks where the intent was not just to steal but to bring systems down.'

‘Sure,' Toohey said. ‘But we have good relations with Beijing. I have publicly called on the US to moderate its language on China. We have also, deliberately, been very guarded in taking sides on the Senkaku Islands dispute.'

‘That's what we say, Prime Minister,' Heggarty continued. ‘But yesterday the Chinese would have noted that the first rotation of US marines arrived in Darwin. Two hundred men from Lima Company, Third Battalion, Third Marine Regiment. As you know they are here to stay as part of the US pivot to Asia and their ranks will swell to 2500 over time. They were welcomed by the US Ambassador and the event knocked crocodiles off the front page of the
NT News
.'

David Joyce, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, interrupted. ‘Yesterday the Chinese Ambassador made a pointed reference to the marines' arrival at a function I attended. He said it appeared Australia had made an interesting choice. When I pressed him to elaborate he pointed to an editorial from the arch-nationalist paper the
Global Times
that, intriguingly, was reprinted in the
China Daily
. It is in your papers.'

Toohey flicked through his briefs. It was a front-page editorial.

AUSTRALIA COULD BE CAUGHT IN SINO–US CROSSFIRE

Apparently, Australia aspires to a situation where it maximises political and security benefits from its alliance with the US while gaining the greatest economic interests from China. However, Prime Minister Toohey may be ignoring something – Australia's economic cooperation with China does not pose any threat to the US, whereas the Australia–US military alliance serves to counter China.

Australia surely cannot play China for a fool. It is impossible for China to remain detached no matter what Australia does to undermine its security. There is real worry in Chinese society concerning Australia's acceptance of an increased US military presence. Such psychology will influence the long-term development of the Australia–China relationship.

Toohey wasn't surprised that the
Global Times
would take such a hard line. The paper was the Chinese equivalent of Australia's radio shock jocks, always shaking its outraged nationalist fist at the world. But he knew enough about China's leadership to know Beijing was sending a serious message when this red-ragging rhetoric was reprinted as an editorial on the front page of the leading English-language daily.

‘How many of you believe that the blackout was a warning shot from China?' he asked.

Every official raised their hand.

‘Who is certain?'

All the hands went down.

‘We can't go on maybes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is now your number-one priority. Throw everything you have at it. We need to know what happened. Who did it. And how we can stop it happening again. We'll meet this afternoon at two, sooner if there are any developments.'

Toohey began to gather his papers.

‘Before you leave, Prime Minister,' the Chief of the Defence Force, Jack Webster was speaking, ‘we haven't addressed the serious situation in the East China Sea, which you mentioned in passing earlier.'

Toohey could see the usually cocksure Defence chief was choosing his words diplomatically and wondered why a matter that wasn't on the agenda was being raised. He settled back into his seat.

‘Yes, go on.'

‘I think I speak for all agencies when I say we need to stand firmly beside Japan and our ally the United States. When they act we need to act with them. Our one statement so far has simply been to call for calm. We have to speak with a stronger voice.'

Toohey ran his eyes along the line of officials. ‘You guys been workshopping?' His tone was sardonic.

‘That's our job, sir.' Webster met the Prime Minister's gaze with an icy stare. ‘And to offer our professional advice. Our advice is to back our friends and the alliance that has served us so well.'

Toohey weighed his reaction and tried to calm his rising anger.

‘You're right on two counts,' he said. ‘We, the Security Committee, do need to discuss this issue and I do need to take firm action.'

He took a breath and took a plunge.

‘Your advice has been noted. But it is my decision. So I want the officials to clear the room. This is a debate for committee members only.'

No one moved. No one could believe what was being asked. Only the Cabinet had been invited to stay. Even Papadakis looked stunned.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,' the Prime Minister's voice was cold with authority, ‘the military types among you should understand the difference between a request and an order. I said go. And I meant now.'