Chapter 01

Author’s Note on Australian properties: The majority of the large rural properties in Australia are not freehold titles, but are long term leases of the land from the State Government. Most were ninety-nine year leases when originally leased out. People sell the lease to the land to another person when they wish to leave the property. At that time the buyer of the lease can negotiate with the State Government to pay to have the lease extended out to ninety-nine years from the date of their purchase of the lease, or they can just let it run for the remainder of its existing term. At the end of the ninety-nine years the current leaseholder is the first person to be offered a new lease on the land. When a lease changes hands people usually negotiate an extension of the lease when they buy the lease.

Most of the rural leases have an initial lease purchase price paid to the leaseholder to take over the lease, and then there’s usually an annual lease fee paid to the State Government to use the land for the stated purpose in the lease. In the past there have been different State Government lease schemes, so not all of the leases are the same. However, the basics are the same and aren’t worth going into further detail about them. The only times the State Government buys a rural lease property back from a leaseholder is when the lease is current and the government wants to use the land for their own purposes. If a person no longer wishes to work a rural lease they can surrender it up to the State Government and leave the property without paying any more lease fees to the State Government. Thus the State Government gets the lease back for free and they can then sell it again.

Heritage

A People

It’s said a people usually get the kind of government they deserve. In a democracy this is usually so, in a system of inherited authority this is not always so. Since the beginning of time human societies have tried various methods for selecting those who’ll lead and control the society. Those that work for a society continue to exist, while those that don’t work for the society vanish when that society changes the selection process or when the society ceases to exist. Sometimes the selection process ceases to exist when the society ceases to exist, usually due to outside influences. The best that can be said for any form of government is: ‘It suited the people of that society at that time.’

A country is the collective sum of its people and its lands over time. A culture is the collective sum of its people and their actions over time. A society is the collective sum of a country and its culture at a specific point or period in time, as influenced by its past. Cultures and societies change as the people change due to internal or external influences. Hunter-gatherer societies change when the people in them take up wild farming. They change again when they take up cultivated farming, and again each time the society becomes more complex. External influences like war will cause changes, as will internal conflicts like a rebellion or a major widespread change of religion within the country’s population.

One can tell a lot about a society by its myths, legends, heroes, anti-heroes, traditions, and mores. A good understanding of them can tell you about the society’s expectations of an individual, and what the society regards as the proper or ethical behaviour of the people within the society. While being a warrior is different to be being a fighter or a soldier. Being a warrior is an attitude, a way of life, a way of approaching life, and a way of dealing with certain types of problems or issues.

The existence of a Warrior Society doesn’t mean all of its members are warriors, only that they applaud and honour warriors while expecting members of the society to behave within their accepted warrior code for all or most of the time. Many members of warrior societies don’t ever have to live the life of a warrior, while others may only need to be warriors for short periods which is often at the end of their lives that are usually shortened by the need to be a warrior.

During the twentieth century the honouring of warriors by most nations around the world decreased a lot as the years passed. There were brief periods where warriors were once again honoured while those nations were involved in major military conflicts. However, it faded again after the end of the conflict.

How does a warrior society with over two thousand years of history honouring warriors and being led by pragmatic warrior kings, for most of the time, deal with the many changes required of it by the International community in the decades after the Second World War? Many countries faced the challenge at that time while they also dealt with internal and external conflicts as well as the influences brought about by the war and its end. Most of the countries had major changes to their societies and government structures. Each met the various challenges in their own way, each unique to their society and culture.

However, more important is: How do the people and the new generations deal with these times that are at variance with their heritage and traditions? Do they change a lot, or do they adhere to the old, or do they build new traditions along the lines of the principles of the old ones?

Prologue

The Amir (pronounced a-mear) Clan has ruled Berant since the sixth century AD / CE. For over a thousand years they’re the premier clan in the Amiri tribe (pronounced a-mear-e) and the largest clan in the country. The crown goes to the eldest male of the senior Amir line, usually the King’s eldest son, unless an Amir Clan Council rules that person ineligible, which is a very rare event. If the King has no sons it then goes to his eldest living nephew. If no living males can be found from the descendants of the last three generations the same process is applied to the King’s daughters, nieces, and cousins with their husband becoming the new King. This process then goes back another generation at a time until one can be found, or all of the descendants for the last ten generations are known to be dead.

Berant becomes a French Colony in the late eighteenth century by an agreement with the King who wants to avoid a losing war. Spears and arrows aren’t much good against firearms and cannon. The King sees this so he negotiates the best result he can get for his people. The country is hardly affected by this as they have no publicly known natural resources of any value. Nothing that’s worth the effort of an organised removal. The country is untouched in the Great War (later known as World War One), and the Japanese occupation in the Second World War is little more than a minor inconvenience for most of the people. The French are asked to not return after the Japanese and Allies go while leaving behind them enough modern weapons to keep the French out of the country. The French don’t see Berant as worth the cost of conquering it in the mid-twentieth century. The same is true for the neighbouring countries of Dareed and Shukra. Dareed and Shukra did have some natural resources worth taking, but most of those resources were removed by the French prior to the Second World War, and what’s left isn’t worth fighting for.

The ruler of Berant from 1922 to January 1st, 1946, was King Marshad, a wastrel. His father thought it a good idea to send him to Europe for his education in the hopes this would let Marshad fit in better with the French Colonial Government and to be able to deal with the French a lot better than he, the current King, does. However, schooling in Paris from ten years of age has Marshad attending school there at the start of the twentieth century. Instead of learning how to work hard he learns how to party hard and to enjoy life to its fullest. He’s only interested in having fun. The country is lucky his younger brothers are trained at home under the tribal laws, so they do the real running and administration of the country.

During the Second World War Japanese occupation of Berant a US officer hiding in the Amir Mountains found out about the Amir Diamond Mine. After the war he told his father who told his brother-in-law, the owner of a major arms company in the US. They decided to get control of the diamond mine to use it to become billionaires. They needed help to do this so they brought some friends in on the deal. Since most were part of U MAMA they decided to use the U MAMA resources to get what they wanted. This, in turn, involved people they knew in the OSS who moved to the CIA for help. The CIA people had some of their people approach and bribe senior members of the Berant Army to take control of the country and let the U MAMA people in to take over parts of the country for their own purposes.

Treason and Rebellion

At 7:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, 1946, a meeting is taking place in the Berana Royal Palace between Prince Nurshal, Prince Pardey, Queen Kara, and Colonel Chektar - the commander of the Palace Guard. The Colonel says, “It’s confirmed, the Army is in open revolt and it’s marching on the Palace. We haven’t got a hope of stopping the Army from taking over control of the country.”

Queen Kara sighs then says, “How long can we hold them here in the Palace, fighting? We want to inflict very heavy casualties on them, but, more importantly, we want to buy a lot of time as well.”

The Colonel replies, “An hour, possibly two, three if we’re very lucky. What good is that?”

Prince Nurshal responds, “The longer we hold them here the longer it is before they start looking for the children. We must send them away, at once! Have Captain Chesway report to me in Princess Mara’s rooms wearing civilian clothes and very well armed.” The Colonel nods yes and departs while running fast.

Queen Kara says, “We must tell everyone who can’t fight to flee, and have the rest prepare for the battle. We must buy the children all the time we can. We make Stand, here in the Palace!” The others nod their agreement. They all leave, heading in different directions at a run. None bother to tell the King because he’s still in a drunken stupor - as is usual for him for most of the day, let alone in the morning.

In Princess Mara’s rooms Prince Nurshal finds the four girls in the middle of discussing what to wear today. He says, “Quick, dress in clothes to go hunting in the forest, and wear good boots. Load your packs with similar changes. You’ve only got a few minutes to leave the Palace.” They glance at his expression before they quickly depart to do what he says.

Five minutes later the girls are back, dressed for a jungle hike with packs on their backs. Captain Robert Chesway and Queen Kara arrive at the same time. She hands the Captain a pack to carry on his back while saying, “Food, water, and some important things for Mara. Keep them safe, Captain, as The Sound of Battle goes with you.” He nods his understanding, because the knowledge of the Sound tells him how dire things are. After turning she hurries away. They’ve no time for goodbyes, not if some are to live.

Prince Nurshal asks, “Captain, your river boat, it’ll carry five with ease, yes?” The Captain nods yes, “Take the girls, head for the coast. Don’t stop for anyone. Don’t trust anyone. Get the girls out of the country. They must live, to see the country reborn.” The shocked girls are near to tears, but they hold them - for now. The Captain nods again, then he collects the girls by eye while he turns to head for the rear entrance. They all run down the hall to the sound of the Prince’s, “Good luck, God bless, goodbye.” He turns and he heads to his room to dress for the battle to come. They must keep the Rebels busy for as long as possible. Today the Amir again stand and fight for the future of their people and their country.

The Captain and his charges exit by the Palace rear entrance. They’re five amongst over a hundred palace staff and servants who don’t know how to fight, so they’re all being sent away with all of the staff children to save their lives. A few blocks away the group reaches the Captain’s home. He opens the garage then he drives his ex-US Army Jeep out. The girls get in and he drives off through the back streets as he heads for the edge of the city. While he drives he says a prayer of thanks for his wife’s decision, last week, to take their children to be with her parents for the traditional clan New Year celebrations. They’re away in the mountains, so they’re safe from all of this trouble in the city.

Forty-five minutes later they stop at a small village just north of the city. This is where the Captain keeps his fishing boat, it’s an ex-US Navy Patrol Boat that’s small, seaworthy, and very fast. After he stops the Jeep he sends Princess Lena to knock on the door of the house while he leads the rest of the girls to the boat shed. On opening the shed he’s quick to check the boat is ready to go and the tank is full of fuel, then he loads all of the spare filled fuel containers onto the boat. Princess Lena returns with the owner of the house and shed. The Captain says, “Morning, cousin. Take my Jeep, refill it, and head for the hills with your family. The Army’s gone mad and it’s hunting Falcons.”

His cousin gulps, “Thank you! Can you take Tara with you as well?” The Captain nods yes. If he takes his cousin’s eldest daughter the rest of his family will fit in the Jeep; also, she can help with the boat. It’s big enough to carry eight or nine adults, so six will be no trouble. The man turns and runs for the house. Lena passes her pack into the boat then goes with him. By the time all is ready at the boat Lena and Tara are back with a backpack and two boxes full of food and drinks. They climb aboard. Captain Chesway is careful in backing the boat out of the shed. While he does so he glances around, and he sees his cousin driving off with his family. The neighbours are loading their families in their cars too. The word is spreading fast. He wishes all of them luck in reaching safety away from the city and the fighting to come.

On the River

The Captain tells all of the girls to get into the small cabin of the boat as he wants them out of sight. At full speed he heads down the river for the sea. He hopes to stay ahead of any search. He knows they’ll search to the east and south first, despite the bulk of the Army being south and west of the city. This is because the Amiri tribal lands are to the east and south so they’ll expect the escaping Royals to go there. By using the river to go north and east they hope to gain extra hours and a clear path to safety. The news of rebellion will fly faster than the wind, then people will soon choke the roads while they try to escape to safety ahead of the fighting. The Army will block the roads to search them first because they don’t think in regards of transport by water at all, as all of their training is land based.

Mara has the radio on the local frequency listening to reports. They’re not good. 11:30 a.m. finds the escapees well along the river when the radio operator in the city declares all of the Royalist forces in the city have been defeated. A warning goes out to all of the Army units to watch out for fleeing members of the Royal Family because they haven’t yet accounted for all of them. The Palace Guards are dead, so are the few members of the Army who fought with them. The King, Queen, all seven Princes, and their wives are confirmed dead. The boat is heavy with grief as all of them have lost family this morning.

In the early afternoon Captain Chesway stops near the river mouth to refill the fuel tanks from the cans. Fifteen minutes later they’re on their way again. On exiting the river he heads north toward Shukra. They won’t be able to stay there, but he knows where he can get help from friends there. Help to go to Australia where they can get help from more useful friends there.

At 5:00 p.m. Captain Chesway pulls into a cove in an islet about three hundred metres off the coast. He moors up against some large overhanging trees before he fills the tank with the last of the fuel he has. They’ve about six hours’ worth of fuel left, and he hopes it’ll see them past the border. Hearing an aircraft they look up through the trees to get a glimpse of a plane flying slowly south down the coast. It seems the Generals may be checking the coastal waters for boats. Captain Chesway decides to wait until dark to leave so they won’t be seen by a patrolling aircraft. They all sit around the boat, and they break out some food to eat.

It’s full dark when Captain Chesway starts the motor, heads out, and goes seaward around the islet to head north. This far out from the coast his motor shouldn’t be heard on the shore, and they shouldn’t run into any patrolling boats because Berant doesn’t have much of a real navy nor does it have many boats. They sail into the dark night like a shadow as they run with no lights on while at an economical speed to get a greater range and make less noise. The cloud cover blocking the moonlight is helpful in hiding them from any eyes in the night.

Around 10:00 p.m. they see the lights of one of the few small coastal patrols boat making its slow way south along the coast, but it’s about halfway between them and the coast. Captain Chesway has one of the girls watch it while he continues north. At 12:45 a.m. he figures he’s into Shukra waters, but he isn’t sure. However, he has no choice about heading into a port because he must refuel soon. A little later he sees the lights of a medium sized port on the coast ahead. Angling west he heads toward the port with the lights guiding him in.

It’s 1:30 a.m. the morning after they started their trip when they pull up to a dock in a medium sized port. Warning the girls to keep watch Captain Chesway gets out and he goes to find out where they are. Ten minutes later he finds a shop with a newspaper banner. He’s shocked to learn they’re still in Berant. While they’re very near to the border they’re still on the dangerous side of it. He’s standing there looking at the news headlines when a police officer walks up to him.

In a soft voice the policeman says, “Two piers north of your boat is a fuel station. The owner forgot to lock it up tonight. If he’s not careful someone may steal a boat load of fuel. Anything left in the bucket near the fuel station will stay there until he finds it in the morning.” When a man walks toward them from the other end of the harbour the officer speaks aloud, “Now don’t take too long in getting yourself off to where you belong, Pierre.” The policeman walks off toward the other man and he engages him in a conversation while walking off in another direction.

A smiling Captain Chesway returns to the boat and he hops in it to quietly move it north two piers. Finding the fuel station he fills the tank and all of their empty fuel cans. Noting how much it costs he counts out the money, then he adds a ten percent tip for late service. He puts the money inside an empty can and he places the can in the bucket. He notices the bucket has quite a few late night donations in it. So they’re not the only ones getting out by boat tonight.

When they head out of the harbour he says, “We’re still in Berant. A few more hours to go. It seems there’s a few people who don’t mind helping escapees, as long as they can avoid getting caught at it.”

Shukra, In and Out

Thinking the Generals will keep an eye on all of the Shukra ports just north of the border Captain Chesway keeps heading up the coast until he’s almost out of fuel again. At 2:00 p.m. the next day he pulls into a small port a few hours north of the border and about the centre of the lower Shukra coast. Refuelling again, and paying with US dollars, they continue to head north. At 5:00 p.m. Captain Chesway pulls into a small Shukra fishing port that also does some tourist business for people diving on the many old shipwrecks just up the coast.

After docking Captain Chesway goes ashore to seek out an old friend. He finds his old friend from school, and they discuss the situation. The friend had come up here for a short term job just after finishing school. He met a girl and he married her. He now works in his father-in-law’s business. The Captain makes a deal with a cousin of his friend’s wife.

In exchange for the patrol boat, which is a very handy addition to their diving business, the Berant group is given an unlisted flight to Queensland, Australia. The plane, a Catalina flying boat, is going over to pick up a group of divers in a few days. Instead of going empty it’s taking them out of Shukra with no record of their arrival in the country nor a record of their departure from the country.

The sea plane makes an unscheduled landing in the quiet waters of a secluded cove of northern Queensland where they’re met by a boat crewed by another cousin-in-law of Captain Chesway’s friend. The plane departs to arrive in Brisbane on time. The boat takes them down the coast to its home port of Townsville where the six travellers catch a plane for Brisbane, then they connect to another flight to Sydney. All of the useful contacts they’ve got are businessmen in Sydney or Melbourne.

The girls find it hard to believe. Five days ago they woke up in their own beds in Berant and now they’re in Sydney, Australia, as refugees and illegal immigrants. It’s been a stressful five days, but they appear to be ahead of the Generals’ killers - for the moment. The only advantages they’ve got in this game of hide and seek is the lack of photos of them because few were ever taken of the very photo-shy girls, and their location is unknown - for now. They can’t afford to go into complete hiding because they’ll soon have to make a public appearance to denounce the Generals and their actions while declaring their existence means the continued existence of the legal Berant Royal Government through them.

Back in Berant

On the morning of the rebellion some of the staff leaving the Palace recognise the four Princesses also leaving. They mention the escaping Princesses to others with them. They all mention the escapees to the family and friends they hide out with, also, they all tell others of the escapees. Very soon the whole country knows a palace guard got the four Princesses out of the blood bath in time and the Princesses are safe. This news is very fast to spread across the country. The knowledge strengthens the people and it gives them courage, because all isn’t lost. There’s reason to hope, Falcons live. They fly away to grow strong so they can return when old enough and strong enough to fight the Rebels. The Falcons and the country will rise again - one day.

Australia’s Sons

In Sydney, Australia, Captain Chesway wants to make contact with an Australian he met while fighting against the Japanese, Corporal Barry Newly. He wants to get some local protective help before doing anything else. It takes the Captain most of their first day in Sydney to track Newly down. They arrive at his friend’s business just on closing time. As they walk into the shop a bell on the door jingles when Chesway opens the door. He sees Newly bending over a counter while studying some paperwork. Without looking up Newly asks, “How may I help you?”