Here's another outstanding entry. This one was submitted by
Steve RaymondJune, 1926
The sound of footsteps echoed off the bare walls of the narrow white-painted hallway as the young clerk strode deliberately towards a dark stained timber door bearing a brass plaque with the words etched in black – “Government Surveyor”. Without knocking he opened the door and entered a sparsely decorated office containing not much more than a desk, two filing cabinets, a gold framed picture of King George V hanging on the wall and a vase containing a wilted posy of carnations. No one was at the desk, but a nameplate read “Secretary”. As the Surveyor’s secretary was obviously out to lunch the clerk continued on to a second door and knocked.
“Come in.”
The clerk opened the door and approached the paper-laden desk of a disinterested grey haired surveyor with reading glasses perched on the very end of his nose. The surveyor barely looked up from a document he was reading and said, “Good afternoon James. What have you got for me?”
“Just a report of the scuttling of another submarine, Mr Belfour”
“Another J-class I suppose?” questioned the surveyor.
“Yes Sir.” Answered James, as he handed the surveyor the documents.
As Arthur Belfour glanced at the document he sighed and muttered to no-one in particular, “What a waste”.
Built in 1916 and 1917 at the Royal Naval Dockyards, six J class Submarines were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in March 1919. Barely seven years later the first of the six (J3) was scuttled to form a breakwater at Swan Island in Port Phillip Bay. A second (J1) was scuttled off Barwon Heads, off the Victorian coastline, on May 26, 1926. The scuttling of the third submarine (J2) was described in the documents in the surveyor’s hands. Since 1913 an area just outside Port Phillip Heads had been used as a dumping ground for obsolete vessels and it was the Government Surveyors responsibility to keep a record of all scuttled vessels. However, records contained barely more than the vessels name and description. The exact locations of the scuttled vessels were rarely recorded.
“Why build them just to sink them? What a waste.” Continued Arthur Belfour. “Thanks James. Enjoy your lunch.”
“Thankyou Sir. You enjoy yours too.” Replied the clerk as he turned and left the office.
Arthur Belfour took one more quick glance at the documents in his hands before placing them on top of already tall pile of documents on his desk.
December, 1967
Eight days from Christmas and Prime Minister Harold Holt was enjoying a well earned break from the challenging job of running a country. He and several friends had spent the day at Cheviot Beach on Point Nepean, near the holiday resort of Portsea. As the Prime Minister who succeeded Robert Menzies as the Prime Minister of Australia he had inherited the difficult task of leading a country in the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War. Prime Minister Holt’s favourite pastime was skin diving and swimming in the ocean, fitting for a man who in his earlier years had a reputation for living a high-class playboy lifestyle. Adventure was naturally part of his personality as was evident when as the youngest member of the House of Representatives he joined the army without resigning his seat, earning him the nickname –“Gunner Holt”.
Harold Holt, although only recently having undergone shoulder surgery, sought to impress his friends by displaying his prowess in the pounding surf. He ran towards the approaching waves, hurdled the smaller shore waves, then dived under an approaching larger wall of water. Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared under the wave and was never seen again.
I
March, 2005
“Would you get that, Archie”
The mobile phone was emitting an annoying polyphonic tune that Archie Burke had recently downloaded from the internet. A tune that was allegedly from the Top 40 but to which no particular song title could be assigned. Archie was asleep, his hat strategically positioned over his face to protect from the burning midday sun, his feet perched on the side of the 16 foot aluminium hulled “Fish and Ships”.
“Archie!” Shouted Jack Verne.
“What?”
“Answer the bloody phone”.
“O.K., O.K.,” Replied Archie as he sleepily lowered his feet from the side of the boat while rummaging through his fishing tackle box. He found the phone under a semi-frozen pack of squid bait and answered it.
“Hello”.
“Is that that you Archie?” Asked the voice that sounded slightly distant yet was distinctly the voice of Roger Stein, the Director of NUMA Australia.
“Yeah.”
“Is Jack with you?” Asked the Director.
“Yeah.”
“Where the hell are you” Demanded Stein.
“Ah… “ Archie raised his head and squinted as he surveyed his surroundings, “Just near Channel Marker 10.”
“Just near what?”
“We’re in Westernport, Sir, we’re after snapper”
“Archie, we’ve got a much bigger fish to catch. Put Jack on.”
Archie passed the mobile phone to Jack, “It’s for you” and repositioned his hat to shade his already sunburnt face.
“Hello Sir.” Greeted Jack.
“Jack, I think you guys had better call it a day. I need to see you immediately.”
“Sure. Mind telling us what’s that important that it requires interrupting a completely unsuccessful fishing trip?” Asked Jack.
“Not over the phone Jack. But let’s just say it could be the biggest catch of your life.”
2
The sun had set by the time Jack and Archie walked into the Melbourne office of Roger Stein. Jack had with him a bottle of water while Archie held some greasy looking paper that contained the remnants of his dinner- chips and a piece of flake. Stein was sitting at a desk reading the briefing document for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening. He had received his own personal briefing earlier that afternoon from the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the domestic intelligence agency of Australia. Put simply, ASIO wanted the National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) Australia to aid in the solving of what was possibly the greatest maritime mystery to have occurred in Australian waters. Naturally, Stein called upon his most trustworthy and successful team, a team that consisted of the two men who had just entered his office.
The bulk of NUMA Australia’s work consisted of providing dive guides to University research departments, assisting in marine salvage, and locating and preserving Australia’s maritime archaeological heritage. The task that had now fallen into Stein’s lap was something altogether different. He hoped that the two unshaven and sunburnt men who still smelt of bait and sunscreen from the day’s activities were up to the job.
“Thanks for coming boys,” said Stein, “I’ve got a job you may be interested in.”
Jack sat and opened his bottle of water while Archie propped himself on the arm of a couch and dipped his hand into his greasy fish and chip bag, grabbing a handful of chips that he stuffed in his mouth before addressing his superior.
“What have you got?” he asked.
“Well I met with the Director General of ASIO this afternoon and he has asked us if we could do them a favour, you know, for the good of the country and all that,” Stein began.
“ASIO?” said Jack, “What do they want?”
Stein continued, “Well, normally they would use the navy or the local Police Search and Rescue, but they wanted to keep this as quiet as they can.”
“Great, ASIO doesn’t trust the Defence Force or the Police but trusts us, two guys that can’t catch a fish”, said Archie.
“I told you to use mussels for bait,” said Jack.
“Yeah, but I’ve had the squid in my freezer for months, I wanted to get rid of it.”
“Could I interrupt for a minute gentlemen,” interjected Stein. “To the task at hand. I presume you both know of our 17th Prime Minister, Harold Holt, who disappeared while swimming at Portsea back in 1967?”
“And didn’t some genius name a local swimming pool the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre?” asked Jack.
“That’s right,” said Archie, “both ironic and tacky, I love it.”
“Yes, that’s the man,” continued Stein. “And I’m sure you also are aware of the rumours that grew out of the incident.”
“Do you mean the one about the Chinese sub that was waiting off shore? Some thought he was a Chinese agent, or that he defected,” said Jack.
“Chinese agent? Apparently he didn’t even like Chinese food,” said Archie.
“Well, try this for a conspiracy. It wasn’t a Chinese sub waiting off shore to pick him up but one of ours,” said Stein.
“You’ve got to be joking?” said Jack, “No way. How could the Navy keep a secret like that for so many years? Someone would have leaked the story by now.”
“The story goes it was one of our subs, but had nothing to do with the Navy,” explained Stein, “and that’s about all I can tell you. Further information is up to you. ASIO wants you to meet with an old timer named Oscar Pearlman who lives down on the peninsula.”
Stein gave Jack Oscar Pearlman’s address and told them to go home and have a shower.
“You guys really do stink, you could have at least cleaned yourselves up before you came in,” said Stein.
“Hey, it was you who said you wanted to see us immediately,” said Jack, as he rose from his chair and headed towards the door, ‘we’ll let you know what we find.”
3
Jack and Archie arrived at Oscar Pearlman’s residence at about 10am the next morning. It was one of those blissfully warm and sunny days that makes you feel glad to be alive yet disappointed that you have to work. Oscar Pearlman’s’s house was perched on a hill overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Despite being a work day there were several sail boats and small power boats that could be seen meandering around the calm waters of the bay. Both Jack and Archie wished they were out there with them.
Jack rang the doorbell. Within a minute the door slowly opened to reveal an elderly man with grey hair wearing only a white bath robe.
“You must be the boys from NUMA. Roger said you were coming. Please forgive my dress, I feel my age affords a few little indiscretions at this hour of the morning,” said the old man.
“It’s fine by us,” said Archie, “if I had my way, I would be home in my robe as well.”
Introductions were made as Oscar led Jack and Archie to a second storey balcony overlooking the bay. After some pleasantries, hot coffee and much admiration of the view, Oscar seemed to reflect for a moment before turning towards his guests.
“I best tell you what you have come here to hear.”
Oscar explained that straight out of high school he had joined the army. Within a couple of years as an infantryman he had qualified for the elite Special Air Service. By the time he was in his forties he commanded a small group of agents attached to an ultra-secret department that acted independently of the nations official intelligence agencies. This department was formed shortly after the First World War, the first major conflict in which the young nation of Australia was involved. At the time that Oscar Pearlman was a member, the department had been in existence for over forty-five years. Often the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the day were unaware of its existence, let alone any of its missions. This was in case the Prime Minister himself needed to be investigated, as anyone could be a sleeping Communist agent during the heady days of the Cold War.
Jack and Archie sat spellbound and attentive. Oscar continued.
The group had stolen, or appropriated as Oscar described it, an old J-class submarine that was due for scuttling back in 1926.
“It meant we could do any covert marine surveillance they wanted but basically they just kept the sub for emergencies,” explained Oscar, before he paused and took a sip of his coffee.
“Emergencies? How do you hide a sub and use it just for emergencies?” asked Archie.
“We have 47,000 km of coastline, Mr Burke, it wasn’t that hard. There are plenty of secluded coves miles from anywhere, particularly along the remote West Australian Coast,” said Oscar.
The little old man with grey hair put down his cup of coffee, looked at Jack and Archie and then told them something that for the first time left them speechless.
4
Oscar Pearlman related the story of their mission of December, 1967.
“We were ordered to wait off the southern Victorian coast, barely submersed, near Portsea. Two of my team was to pick up our specified cargo from Cheviot Beach. The divers made their way to shore, hid amongst the rocky shoreline and waited for the opportune moment. They saw the target head to the water and they made their way to intercept. By the time the target had reached the water they were under the waves waiting. When the target dived under the waves they pounced. They forced a regulator mouthpiece into his mouth –they had taken a spare air bottle, you see- bound him and dragged him back to the J2. From there we travelled the short distance to the old scuttling ground just outside the heads. We surfaced long enough the inflate a dingy, then blew the hull and sent her down.”
“With Prime Minister Holt on board,” said Jack.
“With the Prime Minister –our target - on board,” confirmed Oscar.
“censored,” added Archie, “was he dead at the time of the scuttling?”
“I don’t know. I was too busy setting up the dinghy, attaching the outboard and the like,” said Oscar.
“What about the other men in the submarine, Mr Pearlman. Are they still alive?” Asked Jack.
“No. No, they’ve all gone. I’m the last. Thus my confession. I wouldn’t want to endanger anybody else.” Said Pearlman.
“So why tell us now, Mr Pearlman? What have you got to gain?” asked Jack.
“Nothing but a clear conscience, Mr Verne, nothing but a clear conscience. You see, I haven’t got long to live, I’m an old man with a bad heart. I’m the last of the abduction team alive. I just want to do one good thing before my time’s up.”
As Jack and Archie drove away from Oscar Pearlman’s home they passed a black M3 BMW driving in the opposite direction. Jack noticed two men in the front seats and an older man seated in the rear. He thought nothing of it as the local golf course was nearby and he thought they were a group of friends heading out for a round on a warm and pleasant day. Little did Jack realise that ten minutes later Oscar Pearlman would be dead.
5
If Jack and Archie could pick a day to dive outside Port Phillip heads, this would be the day. The sea was calm, the air temperature was 25 degrees Celsius, the water temperature was 16 degrees Celsius and the visibility was 20 metres. To avoid using their own vessel, which displayed NUMA’s ensignia, and to avoid an even more obvious Royal Australian Navy vessel, Jack and Archie were permitted to hire any boat they desired to carry out their designated mission. With cost no barrier they hired a Mustang 3500 Sports Cruiser. Totally unnecessary yet an opportunity they could not pass up.
“Jack, we’re at the co-ordinates now, kill the engine,” shouted Archie. Archived documents indicated that the J-class submarine J2 had been scuttled at the co-ordinates of 38 degrees 18 minutes south, 144 degrees 34 minutes east. Many other scuttled vessels in the area had no exact location recorded. Fortunately, the J2 did. Jack and Archie braced themselves as the Mustang came to an abrupt halt and settled comfortably into the water.
“Drop the anchor Arch,” said Jack. “We’re in about forty metres of water”.
“Aye, aye skipper,” muttered Archie, wondering why he was often left with the raising and the lowering of the anchor. “You know, you would think with the money we paid for this boat that it would come with some hydraulics to raise and lower the anchor.”
“The money we paid? This baby comes courtesy of the Australian taxpayer, via ASIO of course,” said Jack.
While Archie lowered the anchor into 40 odd metres of water Jack surveyed the surrounding area. He noticed three other vessels in the vicinity. The nearest was perhaps 300 metres to the west. Only a solitary individual could be seen on deck, reclined in a deck chair with the fishing rod in his hands pointing toward the sky. The two other boats were much further away, one towards the south-west and the other even further away to the north-west. Over the next fifteen minutes Jack and Archie kitted up in standard diving gear so as to appear as ordinary recreational divers. The checked each other’s kit as was their standard practice before sitting on the side and dropping backwards over the side of the boat.
They followed the anchor chain down towards the floor of the ocean. At about 20 metres depth they turned on the hand held torches and continued their descent. Once on the bottom Jack began the search by swimming in slow but gradually widening circles around the anchor with Archie not far behind. Within 10 minutes they had found the 84 metre long hulk of the J2, slightly listing to starboard with a gaping wound in her hull, but otherwise in relatively good condition. They entered the scuttled vessel via the conning tower and began their search of the interior. Oscar Pearlman could not tell Jack and Archie where Prime Minister Holt was detained in the submarine has he had his hands full piloting the vessel on the day of the abduction. Jack and Archie had decided that they would systematically search from the bow to the stern before they had entered the water and so they swam through the submarine towards the bow.
They began with the forward torpedo room before moving through the officer’s quarters, the pump room, the control room and even examined the cold storage room but to no avail. They continued on through the radio room, the galley, the crew’s mess and the crew’s quarters before squirming their way through the engine rooms and the rear torpedo room. A thorough search, from bow to stern revealed no prize. To make sure they hadn’t missed a small corner somewhere they reversed their search and made their way towards the bow. Again they found nothing. Disappointingly they made their way out of the J2 via the conning tower. Archie exited first and froze as he was confronted by two divers, both aiming spearguns at his head.
6.
Archie hurriedly made the distress signal to Jack who was only a metre below him in the conning tower. Luckily Jack was looking up at that moment and spied Archie’s rapid hand movement. As Archie continued out of the conning tower Jack unsheathed his diving knife which was attached to his calf and hid it under his bouyancy control vest. As Jack left the submarine he saw the objects of Archie’s concern.
One of the divers now had a knife to Archie’s neck while the other pointed his speargun at Jack. At a depth of 40 metres Jack knew that light was at a minimum and that if he turned his torch off he might have a few seconds of surprise on his side. As Jack switched his torch off he kicked hard and ascended a few metres above his attackers. Archie saw Jack’s movement and responded by jerking his head backward, connecting with his attackers face, slightly dislodging his captor’s mask. This gave him enough time to pull the regulator from his attacker’s mouth before kicking away in the direction of Jack.
Jack had retrieved his knife from under his buoyancy vest and quickly changed his direction towards his attacker. The diver attempted to re-aim his speargun at Jack but the drag of the water slowed his action. However, he still managed to fire the spear which struck Jack in his upper arm before glancing off his arm and floating away. Jack descended on the diver slashing at his regulator hose with his knife. A rapid stream of bubbles indicated that he had hit his mark. Jack could see his attackers fear- filled eyes stare at him before the diver kicked towards the surface in a desperate act of self-preservation.
As Archie swam towards Jack his own attacker fired his spear, which travelled harmlessly past him. With the odds dramatically now in Jack and Archie’s favour they both kicked towards the remaining diver. This diver, taking a leaf out of Jack’s book, switched off his own torch and swam rapidly towards the surface. Jack and Archie followed but in a more sedate manner. Both were aware of decompression sickness, or ‘the bends’ as it was commonly known, and impatiently waited the required time at the required depth to avoid this crippling condition. Neither cared where the two divers were as they no longer carried their spearguns and had probably risked ‘the bends’ in their attempt to escape.
7.
When Jack and Archie surfaced, about 50 metres from their own boat, they noticed a diver dragging the unconscious body of a second diver towards the fishing boat that Jack had noticed when they first arrived. The man who was fishing in the boat now leaned over the side yelling something at the two divers as they approached.
“Quick”, said Jack, “Let’s get to our boat. I want to find out why those guys wanted to kill us.”
Within minutes Jack and Archie were once again onboard their own boat, had scrambled out of their diving gear and were speeding towards the nearby fishing boat. Jack quickly checked the wound received from the spear. Although he was still bleeding the damage wasn’t that serious. By this time their quarry had also raised their anchor and were heading north at a great rate of knots. Jack and Archie were gaining rapidly as their targets as they could now see one of the divers was steering the boat while the elderly fisherman appeared to be pointing a handgun in their direction. No sound was heard from this gun but they had no doubt they were being fired at. Large chips of fibreglass were splintering off their Mustang where shells hit the hull.
“Archie, get below and see what we can use for weapons when we board them,” shouted Jack.
“Aye, aye Captain Jack. I’ve always wanted to be a pirate.” Yelled Archie. Archie went below while Jack swerved their Mustang from left to right in an attempt to throw out the gunman’s aim. The boats sudden side to side movement threw Archie around the interior of the cabin.
“Would you mind not doing that?” Shouted Archie.
“Would you mind being shot?” Replied Jack as he continued swerving the boat from side to side.
Jack and Archie drew closer until the bow of their boat was level with the stern of the diver’s boat.
“I think they’re out of ammo.” Said Jack as Archie came topside with a fire extinguisher and a couple of kitchen knives that he had found in the boat’s small galley.
“Either that or they’re saving it until later.” Said Archie.
Jack surveyed Archie’s cache of weapons.
“I think I’ll use my dive knife. No offence Archie.”
“None taken.”
“Here, take the wheel. I’m going to jump.” Said Jack.
Archie took the wheel while Jack clambered around to the bow of their boat, took a couple of steps and leapt towards the other boat. The diver at the wheel saw what was happening and spun the wheel as Jack took his leap. Jack landed heavily on the side of the boat and managed to get a grip on a metal fitting as the boat swerved back towards Archie. Archie noticed several flares stuffed in a side pocket near his seat. He pulled one out, ignited it and threw it at the other boat. It landed on the deck startling its occupants long enough to allow Jack to haul himself over the side and onto the deck just behind the diver who was piloting the boat. A quick glance around revealed the diver lying unconscious on the deck. Probably the diver who had his regulator hose cut, thought Jack. Most likely ran out of air on his ascent.
An elderly man appeared out of the cabin pointing a pistol at Jack. Jack dived to the deck, rolled and picked up the flare that Archie had thrown and in the same movement threw it at the gunman. The gunman moved sideways as the flare struck him while Jack lunged knocking the gunman to the deck. The gunman dropped the pistol and winced in pain as he held his side. Jack reached for the pistol, cocked it and pointed it at the diver piloting the boat.
“You can point that gun at me all you like, it’s empty.” Said the diver.
Just as he finished his sentence Archie rammed the boat from the side, forcing the diver to stumble in the direction of Jack. Jack raised a fist and a knee as the diver fell towards him. Without a whimper the diver fell to the deck unconscious.
Jack stopped the boat while Archie came along side and threw a rope. Jack tied the two boats together while Archie came on board with more rope with which he began to tie up the two divers, both of which were now coming to. Jack helped the older man to a sitting position before also tying him to a chair.
“Now, Old Timer, would you mind telling us who you are and what the hell you are up to?” Said Jack. As the old man looked at him Jack had a glimmer of recognition. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
“You may know me through our mutual acquaintance - Oscar Pearlman.” Said the old man, still obviously winded and in pain from a possible broken rib.
Jack then realised where he had seen the old man before.
“The Black BMW – at Oscar’s place.” Said Jack. “What have you done with him?”
“An old man with a bad heart can die anytime. At least he won’t have a chance to betray his country again.” Said the old man indifferently.
“Betray his country? Who are you?” Demanded Jack, as Archie came to his side.
“Well, I guess you have me at a disadvantage. I will tell you who I am, but you probably won’t believe me.”
8.
“I guess my appearance has changed since my last photo,” continued the old man, “and I have aged many years. My name is Harold Holt, former Prime Minister of Australia, current Director of The Australian Ultra-Secret Agency, or AUSA. Don’t worry, you won’t have heard of it.”
“No way.” Exclaimed Archie. “You’re meant to be dead on that sub.”
“That story was a cover of a cover. You see I was meant to have drowned off Cheviot Beach, then the men who assisted with my disappearance…”
“You mean the men on the J2?” Interrupted Jack.
“Yes, the men on the J2, were supposed to believe that they had assassinated me by sending me to the bottom trapped inside the J2. However, when the had left me to my fate I donned diving gear that had been secretly stored on the sub and made my way to the surface where a short time later I was picked up by a second vessel belonging to AUSA. Once back on dry land I assumed the role as Director of AUSA.”
“Being Prime Minister not enough power for you?” Questioned Jack.
“Being Prime Minister meant having your power scrutinised and accountable. Being Director of AUSA meant that I was unaccountable to anyone. I had power that was unscrutinised. It was the ultimate.”
“Why confess to us now? We’re nobodies, you don’t even know who we are?” Asked Archie.
“I know exactly who you are Archibald Burke, and you Jack Verne. Why do you think we were trying to kill you? You were out to solve the greatest mystery Australia has known. I couldn’t allow you to do that.” Explained the former Prime Minister.
“For such a secret agency you sure a spilling your guts, Mr Holt.” Said Jack.
“It won’t matter for long. I contacted another vessel of ours waiting just outside the heads. They are on their way to us now, Mr Verne, and you can be sure they won’t fail like these two.”
Both Jack and Archie looked towards the north, the direction in which Port Phillip heads lay. A boat was indeed speeding rapidly towards them.
“So you see, my secret continues with your demise. AUSA will continue, and I will continue as Director.” Said the old man smugly.
“Or not.” Said Archie just as smugly.
“What do you mean?” Asked the old man.
“While Captain Jack here was practising piracy on the high seas I was putting in a call to our NUMA base and I’ll think you will find that the vessel heading in our direction belongs to the Royal Australian Navy and has several ASIO agents on board. You’re back up, I believe, will already be in the custody of the Navy. I hope you will be as forthcoming with them as you have been with us, Mr Holt.”
“You never cease to amaze me, Archie.” Said Jack.
“I never cease to amaze myself, Jack.” Replied Archie.
“It can’t be.” Whispered former Prime Minister Harold Holt.
9.
Five minutes later and a Navy Patrol boat sat a couple of hundred metres away from the two tethered boats. A navy inflatable dinghy approached containing a heavily armed boarding party and Roger Stein. As the inflatable came alongside Stein stared at Harold Holt.
“I can’t believe it. You do resemble him but I can’t believe it.” Said Stein
“Apparently he’s aged.” Said Jack.
“I think I have too.” Said Archie. “Let’s go fishing, Jack. I’ve got some old bait I need to use up.”