curiosity had been aroused.
‘Well?’ he pressed, annoyance creeping into his voice. ‘Who is it?’
The other man smiled smugly, leaned back as the waiter reappeared and reset the cutlery. ‘It’s Christopher Fielding, for Chris-sakes,’ he revealed, sotto voce, watching for his consultant’s reaction. Campbell frowned again, snapped a quick look at the man then nodded, as if deep in thought.
‘Well, I’ll be...’ The words fell from his lips, softly, quite taken by surprise. ‘Now what would he be doing in Jakarta?’ he asked, rhetorically, his mind switching into gear as he recalled reading of the internationally renowned geologist’s recent skirmishes with the Canadian courts. He could not resist glancing over again, his eyes locking with Alex Kremenchug’s as he did so. Campbell smiled weakly and turned to his client. ‘Oh to be a fly on that wall,’ he suggested, lightly.
‘Who are the others?’ Samuels asked. Campbell shrugged his shoulders and sampled the mineral water as their attentive waiter withdrew.
‘The short one with the anemic complexion is Eric Baird. Been around since the mining boom started. He’s Australian. The tall guy with the permanent suntan and safari jacket is Alex Kremenchug. Not sure of his origins but is quite thick with Baird. They’ve had their fingers in a number of small mining ventures but nothing of any significance.’ Campbell hesitated before continuing, reluctant to give all. ‘Word is, Baird is not overly fond of the ladies, if you get my drift. He drinks far too much but knows his stuff. As for Kremenchug, he’s suave, intelligent, but bullshits about his credentials too much for me. Rumor has it that he was asked to resign a directorship in some Aussie mining firm for dumping his shares without advising the exchange. He left the country not long after that and appeared here, sniffing around for leases. His knowledge of geology is purely empiric. A couple of years back he encouraged a group to invest in an alluvial deposit in Sulawesi based on surveys carried out by that little guy sitting alongside him.’ Campbell nodded with a tilt of his head in Eric Baird’s direction. ‘I saw the initial sampling reports and later ran across one of the drillers who had worked on the survey. Kremenchug had given one of his drinking buddies the nod to build percussion rigs for the job.
Of course, every time the hammer drove the pipe stem down, whatever gold may have been in the sample kept on falling to the bottom. There was very little recovered, Baird furious with Kremenchug at the time. The driller also revealed that they were pulled out of the field, and sent back to Jakarta. Seems that Kremenchug and Baird then used local tribesmen to complete the sampling procedures. The next thing we know is that the value of the foreign partner’s shares had multiplied fourfold, based on those results.’
Samuels considered this and again lowered his voice. ‘Well, they’re in good company,’ a thin crease suggesting a smile crossed his lips, before breaking to a smirk. ‘Fielding’s broke,’ he claimed, breaking a hot bread roll in half. ‘After that ball-breaking wife of his had finished working him over there wasn’t much left to cover his debts.’ Campbell watched as his client smothered the bread rolls with peppered pate and stuffed these in mouth, sucking the ends of his fingers as he related events leading up to Fielding’s demise. ‘A receiver was appointed and, the way I heard it, he entered into some sort of arrangement with his creditors. Considering his finances, I’m surprised he’s over here. Who would ever have thought it possible? A guy discovers one of the greatest minerals finds in history and ends up with nothing! Just goes to show you…’
****
Across the restaurant, Fielding leaned closer to his colleagues so as not to be overheard. ‘How much work-up will be required?’ he asked, pointedly, directing the question to Eric Baird. The Australian geologist had anticipated the question and was well prepared to defend the report.
‘Not a great deal,’ Baird replied. ‘I’ve walked the property extensively and the initial sampling results are very encouraging.’ Baird then went on discussing the geological aspects of the concession that both he and Kremenchug had offered the Canadian.
****
Kremenchug sat back permitting the two geologists to communicate without any further input from him, pleased with Christopher Fielding’s response so far. Kremenchug was banking on Fielding’s international reputation as a geologist to raise capital for the venture. Kremenchug had paid the Canadian’s fares and related costs, bringing him over to Indonesia to meet with Baird and discuss how they might use the recently acquired gold acreage to float a new mining entity on the Vancouver Exchange. Kremenchug had been motivated by the growing Canadian interest in Indonesian prospects, wishing to cash in when this escalated, as he believed it would, once production commenced at the larger Kalimantan sites being operated by multi-nationals.
Kremenchug looked over in Stewart Campbell’s direction. Although the envy he felt was not evident in his Slavic, expressionless face, nevertheless, it was there. Unconsciously, his hand ran over the gray, thinning scalp that once boasted a thick crop of black hair, his thoughts roaming as he heard Baird’s voice drone on. There had been no real confrontation with the American, Campbell – Kremenchug’s annoyance occasioned by the younger man’s ‘watchdog’ mentality, with respect to foreign prospecting activities in Indonesia. That, and the fact Campbell had been negative when assessing a number of gold concessions Kremenchug had offered to one of the American’s clients. The deal had fallen through, with Alexander Kremenchug taking Campbell’s recommendations as a personal attack on his integrity. Subsequently, whenever the two crossed paths their exchanges were generally brief, but polite; Kremenchug’s comments behind the other man’s back, caustic, and often vitriolic. He signaled a waitress by raising his now empty glass.
‘Gin and tonic, Tuan?’ she asked, smiling warmly. Kremenchug nodded, twirling his index finger in the air to indicate a round.
‘No, leave me out, Alex,’ Fielding interrupted Baird’s monologue. ‘Still have a lot to do here.’
‘Just these two, then,’ Kremenchug pointed at his associate’s empty tumbler, then settled back to listen to Baird’s glowing report supporting the concession’s viability to produce tonnes of gold.
****
Kremenchug was confident that Baird’s presentation would be convincing. The men were jointly responsible for delivering the government-approved concession. Under a prior arrangement, reached before inviting Fielding to Jakarta, they had agreed to equally split whatever vendors’ shareholding might be negotiated in the proposed Kalimantan gold exploration company. Fielding had jumped at the offer to visit, Kremenchug’s confidence that the company would be floated on the Canadian Exchange growing as Fielding warmed to the concession’s potential.
All three men would receive a substantial allocation of fully paid vendors’ shares in the Canadian company. Obviously, these shares would be placed in escrow, as required by law. Kremenchug had already established dialogue with Scott Walters, a Vancouver-based promoter cum financier. Walters had been receptive to providing whatever mezzanine capital might be required to take the deal public, as Indonesia had recently become ‘flavor of the month’ with Calgary and Vancouver stockbrokers. The list of Canadian mining companies vying for Indonesian properties was extensive, the huge volume of shares traded encouraging non-Canadian interests to establish new or subsidiary interests there.
Walters’ offer to provide initial funding had been conditional, requiring Fielding to place his name on the concession as senior geologist, his stamp of approval sufficient to guarantee a successful capital raising. Although Christopher Fielding’s private life had all but left the man broken, his reputation as a geologist remained intact. As a sweetener, both Kremenchug and Baird had suggested that Fielding take a position on the new company’s board. They, in turn, would not seek any directorships, content to wait until their shares could be traded once the escrow period had expired – at which time they would sell and move on.
Baird and Fielding continued to discuss the merits of the concession throughout their lunch of chili crab, steamed prawns, rice and deep-fried grouper, Kremenchug content to listen, sipping his way through a constant flow of gin tonics before