The Fifth Season. Kerry B Collison

      Published in Australia by Sid Harta Publishers Pty Ltd, ACN: 007 030 051

       23 Stirling Crescent, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150, Australia

      Phone: [phone]

       Fax: [phone]

       Revised: February 2003

       First Published: December, 1998 as The Fifth Season

       This edition published 2009

      Copyright © 2003

      Kerry B. Collison

      Text: Kerry B. Collison

       © This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any person without the written permission of the copyright owner.

      Collison, Kerry B.

       ISBN: 9781877059179

      Digitally Distributed By

       Ebook Alchemy Pty Ltd

      www.ebookalchemy.com

      ISBN: 9781877006074 (Epub)

      Dedication

      In memory of those who lost their lives as a result of the

      tragic Bali bombings in Kuta, Saturday 12 October 2002.

      In spirit, you will always be with us.

      Kerry B. Collison followed a distinguished period of service in Indonesia as a member of the Australian military and government intelligence services during the turbulent period known as ‘The Years of Living Dangerously’. This was followed by a successful business career spanning thirty years throughout Asia.

      Recognized for his chilling predictions in relation to Asia’s evolving political and economic climate through his books, he brings unique qualifications to his historically-based vignettes and intriguing accounts of power-politics and the shadowy world of governments’ clandestine activities. Further information is available on the Internet site: http://www.sidharta.com.au

      Photo: Courtesy of Dominion Newspapers, N.Z.

      Postscript 2003

      Subsequent to the events of Bali, Saturday 12 October 2002, I revisited this story and discovered, sadly, that many of the predictions contained in the original edition had come to pass. We have witnessed the emergence of powerful, influential militant Moslem groups, such as the Laskar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiyah , both linked to Osama bin Laden (spelled bin Ladem in The Fifth Season ) and responsible not only for the slaughter of many thousands of Christians in the eastern Indonesian provinces, but the incomprehensible attack on innocent tourists and Balinese which resulted in the loss of so many lives, many of the victims Australian.

      It is now an accepted fact that Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda had established a sound network throughout Indonesia, parts of Malaysia, and in the southern Philippines, with the intention of supporting the realization of an Islamic state that would embrace all of these nations as one.

      Today, in Indonesia, hardly a week goes by without another bombing or news or yet another massacre in Aceh, Maluku, West Papua, the Celebes or Indonesian Borneo, Kalimantan, and, sadly, the burning of mosques in Lombok or the desecration of temples in Bali. Mass graves have recently been discovered containing thousands murdered by the brutal Indonesian Special Forces, whose American trained leadership will, undoubtedly, escape judgment by international tribunals such as those established to prosecute Balkan war criminals.

      Over the past two years Australia’s own political landscape has changed, influenced by the threat of a flood of refugees entering its waters via the vast Indonesian archipelago to the north. The Fifth Season’s premise that one day Australia could, as a result of the destabilization of Indonesia, be inundated with a massive wave of refugees seeking asylum is no longer a matter of fiction, but an event which has become inevitable as that great country continues to disintegrate socially, politically and economically.

      In 1998, when Indonesia’s political climate became confused, then convulsed violently, many of the Archipelago’s two hundred millions sensed that the long-awaited winds of change carried the elusive promise of reform, and a political shift towards democracy.

      Pancaroba, the brief and often erratic time which conjoins the tropical Wet and Dry, is accepted in Equatorial Asia as the Fifth Season, and is known as the transitional climatic period when weather patterns become confused and turbulent.

      Often, during these uncertain periods omens become apparent, tempting people whose cultures have been so deeply rooted in mysticism, spiritualism and animism through the millenniums to succumb to even greater superstition than would be their norm.

      This is an account based on factual events, and the men and women who struggled to survive the bitter turmoil of Indonesia’s Fifth Season.

      Glossary of Terms

      This simple glossary includes Bahasa Indonesia words used throughout the novel and may assist readers who have not yet been fortunate enough to visit the beautiful archipelago and become familiar with its multi-faceted culture and language.

      ABRI Indonesian Armed Forces

      ADRI Indonesian Army

      ALRI Indonesian Navy

      AURI Indonesian Air Force

      Allahu Akbar God is Great - (Moslem chant)

      Allah God

      ANZUS Australian, N.Z., U.S. Defence Treaty

      ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations

      Asalamalaikum welcome greeting

      babat-pedas chili tripe

      Bahasa language

      bangsat arsehole, bastard

      Bapak respectful address to an older male, father

      batik printed cloth

      becak three-wheeled pedicab

      bule derogatory name for white people

      CIA Central Intelligence Agency

      COMINT Communications Intelligence

      cukong middle-man, broker

      DIA Defense Intelligence Agency

      dukun unlicensed herbalist who casts spells

      El Nino devastating weather pattern.

      Fatwah religious statement of condemnation

      Golok field knife of sword length

      ha-Mossad le-Modiin ule

      Tafkidim Meyuhadim Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks

      Haji one who has completed the pilgrimage to Mecca

      hati goreng fried liver

      Ibu mother, respectful form for older woman

      kain batik sarong

      Kalimantan Indonesian Borneo

      KOPASSUS Indonesian Army Special