“If he did, it was a damn fool thing.”
In his mind Tane saw the scene inside the Control Room just before Stephen had died. He saw a scientist like himself, brilliant but blind. A man who had been deceived, but whose eyes were suddenly, terrifyingly, opened.
Could this have been his last, desperate defection?
“I wish I’d known him.”
Tane looked out over the wreck of the Hollow Mountain. He saw the fiery red glow which lingered over it like the terrible glow of the tutumaiao. He saw the truncated cone, gouged out and black, like a fearful monster mutilated in its death struggle and transfixed in a pool of its own blood.
So Papatuanuku’s price had been paid. It had been paid in the destruction of that beautiful taonga of which he was the discoverer. It had been paid by the burial of the mineral which would have defiled it. It had been paid by the life of the man who, like him, had been tragically caught up in this defilement.
He knew then that in spite of the destruction the mountains were healed.
He knew also that in their healing his own healing was complete. He had done what his grandmother had hoped he would do. He had taken away the shame of Hone and his family. He had made right what was wrong.
CHAPTER 45
The events in the Raukumara Ranges were accompanied by the reinstatement of Rotorua’s power by technicians quickly flown in from overseas.
There followed a nationwide announcement by the Prime Minister. Upon that announcement Gordon Harding had pondered long and hard. Though old and tired, and a man whose values and loyalties many considered to be outworn, he did not lack courage in facing what was for him a crisis of the most ego-shattering type. Upon calling for an enquiry into the activities of the secret political group, The Brotherhood, which controlled the Hollow Mountain base, he was immediately given a list, showing as members some of his cabinet colleagues and their coalition partners who had urged negotiation with the terrorists. The realisation that they already knew of the Hollow Mountain complex and were using the base to engineer the take-over of his country by a secret racist group had a profound effect upon him.
He consulted briefly with Sir Robert Roydhouse, one of the few loyal members of Cabinet, then made his broadcast on 1YA National Radio at 6 p.m. on Thursday January 27th.
New Zealanders, men and women from all walks of life, and all those who hold our country dear, I have a vital announcement to make to you. I have this evening received a joint report from Police and Army Headquarters of the forestalling of an anthrax attack on the City of Rotorua by a terrorist group located in the Raukumara Ranges. This group was also responsible for the recent sabotage of the Rotorua power station. At the same time the army and police have captured and destroyed the terrorists’ base in the Raukumara Ranges. I would like to commend Sergeant Matthew Piriaka of the New Zealand Police personally for directly contacting me with information which led both to the forestalling of the attack and to the location of the terrorist base. I thank him and all those who were in action in the Raukumara for their courage and resourcefulness against great odds.
I have ordered a full-scale enquiry into the activities of the secret group known as The Brotherhood, who have, under cover of the Waitoa Huia Sanctuary, set up this clandestine military base. We have reason to believe that many positions of influence in industry, the professions, business, the public service and even in Parliament itself are held by its members. Their main characteristics are racial, national and ideological intolerance and incalculable duplicity. Moreover, this group have been responsible for a media campaign using fabricated acts of violence which has shown a total disregard for the truth in a deliberate attempt to promote racial disharmony and to set the scene for a racist coup. I apologise now publicly on behalf of our whole nation to our Maori citizens for the unwarrantable and baseless insinuations cast at them as a result of the malicious orchestration of the terrorist highway attacks.
It has come to my notice that two people died as a result of the engagement in the Waitoa. The first was the chief scientist at the base who assisted our military operation by destroying the base during the engagement. We understand this action which cost him his life was undertaken because of his conscientious objection to the use of anthrax, and we are pleased to honour him posthumously by pardoning his part in the conspiracy. The second was Sir Charles Hawthorne, a generous benefactor and outstanding citizen. We can only regard his part in this misguided project as a tragic and inexplicable mental aberration and trust the good he has done in our society may yet be remembered.
People of New Zealand, I love my country, and I love its people whatever race they belong to. Maori or Pakeha or any other race, we are all proud to be New Zealanders. The Hollow Mountain complex and the terrible biological weapons stored there would have become the base from which other cities would have been attacked in the same way as the City of Rotorua. Fortunately, with the destruction of the base this secret terrorist group has collapsed and New Zealand has been spared this fate.
It now remains to decide on the future of the Waitoa Sanctuary. There is no doubt that false information led to the setting up of this sanctuary. It is now obvious that the reported sightings of the huia were fabricated for political purposes, and the Government deeply regrets the disappointment that this will cause to many, especially the Maori people. However, there exists yet the hope that the huia will be rediscovered in this area. For this reason the Government has decided that plans to open the Raukumara Ranges for tourism and mineral exploration will be shelved and the Ranges will remain as a natural wilderness so that these birds if present may be undisturbed.
Finally there has been a suggestion that in memory of events of the last few days, the site of the destroyed base in the Waitoa Valley be named the ‘Valley of Peace’. Bearing in mind the naming of Hiroshima after the last war as the City of Peace, this would appear appropriate.”
CHAPTER 46
“I was very annoyed about the Prime Minister’s speech,” said Kate as she passed David a cup of tea and sat down opposite him in her flat. “It wasn’t the police and the army who defeated the Hollow Mountain.”
“What does it matter? Tane is coming back to the Department. He asked me first if they would have him back. I told him he’d have to mend a few bridges and share his research. He already had decided to do both. Apart from that no one wants him to give up his ideas. We’d all be the poorer if he did.”
“But, seriously though, nothing would have happened if it hadn’t been for you. Those people would have taken over.”
“I only started it off, but in the end, if we are honest, we would all be dead if it hadn’t been for Stephen.”
She nodded. “I’m glad he’s been posthumously pardoned. I noticed that the Prime Minister didn’t mention the uranium.”
He smiled. “Tane was relieved. Though he always knew that uranium mining was not forbidden in New Zealand law, he was never happy about it. In any case it’s now buried beyond recovery and the underground exit is blocked.”
“Did you hear about the vigilantes?” she asked.
“Donald Borrow and his mates really did disguise themselves with brown paint and tattoos. They’ve all been arrested and charged with the four highway assaults. And you were right about your conspiracy too. There was a well-known public relations firm involved, and there’s been a lot of sackings in their political team. The directors said they didn’t know what was going on. Since the PM’s announcement there have been extraordinary scenes – Maori and Pakeha hugging each other and shaking hands all over the place, in the streets and the pubs and on the beaches. I never thought that New Zealanders could be so emotional.”