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that they were close to closing a deal which would recover all their losses. Against his

better judgment, Subroto had agreed, now pleased that he had done so as Baird’s advice of that

day seemed to support this decision.
    Now, the only outstanding issue was having Eric Baird

marry Pipi, which would not only satisfy his favorite niece, but would keep her mother off his

back. With the Australian married into the family, the question of Baird’s shareholding in P.T.

Subroto & Associates could be easily addressed. When the question arose, as he expected it

would, Subroto would explain that Baird’s stock was then held in trust for his wife, Pipi, and

who could argue with that ?
    Subroto knew that there had been no offspring from Baird’s

former marriage, suspecting that neither would there be from his union with Pipi. This in no way

offended the retired General – in fact, having the foreigner marry his sister’s daughter and not

produce children resolved another family dilemma. Genetics had not been kind to Pipi’s father’s

line; the incidence of Albino children running through that side of the family unusually high.

All in all, Subroto thought, having Baird involved in business and the family, could only be a

positive factor for all.
    ****
    As Baird lay quietly contemplating his disastrous state of

affairs, he recalled not having explained to Subroto that their stock in the new Canadian mining

company would be held in escrow.
    ****
    In the months that followed, the Borneo Gold Corporation

(BGC) was launched in Canada, the shares rising meteorically as public relations’ rhetoric

grossly exaggerated results from work carried out around the Palangkaraya concession. Air Vice

Marshal (retired) Sub-roto, Kremenchug and Baird all waited with great expectations as their

stock in BGC rose to more than double their par value then hovered, filling their futures with

promise. When drilling of the Palangkaraya leases failed to produce the predicted results, the

company moved operations further afield to the East Kalimantan areas. There, independent

geologists oversaw a costly drilling program designed to substantiate earlier claims that the BGC

acreage was amongst the most promising gold fields in Indonesia. The results proved otherwise,

and before the first year of operations had come to a close and the Baird-Kremenchug-Subroto

stockholders could offload their stock, Borneo Gold Corporation all but collapsed.
    ****

Chapter Three
    December 1990
Dayak Longhouse Village – Indonesian East Borneo (Kalimantan Timur)
    Jonathan Dau watched silently, observing the young child’s

fascination with the spider’s clever weaving, the web drifting occasionally with the wind, as an

insect struggled to escape the gossamer trap. The child raised a long, thin stalk, intent on

teasing the captured prey and prodded the tiny grasshopper several times; annoyed when it failed

to move. She then turned her attention to a column of ants, creating chaos within their ranks as

she twirled the stalk amongst fallen leaves. She quickly lost interest with this game when a

giant butterfly winged its way past in majestic fashion and settled, just out of reach. She rose

slowly, enraptured by the kupu-kupu’s magnificence, the soft-beating wings casting their

mesmerizing spell over the child and she cried out in delight, calling for anyone who might hear,

to come and see.
    Away from the forest’s edge, villagers toiled in dry

fields, tilling the ladang in preparation for the rice seedlings. While younger children

played, their older siblings, bent to the knee, assisted parents with the arduous task of turning

soil and removing weed as the elderly looked on, reminiscing of more youthful times.
    The child called again, startled when Jonathan Dau swept

her off her feet and playfully tossed her into the air. She shrieked with surprise then, as