Free To Touch the Clouds : The Frontier Series 5 by Peter Watt

end to his idyllic life. He would be mobilised for the conflict and possibly sent home to serve.
    ‘Eventually,’ Kurt replied, with less than reassuring words for the German civil servant. ‘All of Europe is a vast depot of arms and armies. The British challenge our right to rival them at sea and the French hate us in Europe. All it will take will be a spark to set us all off in a war.’
    ‘It does not seem that our civilian population is as aware of the situation as we in the military are,’ Dieter said. ‘And if there was a war with France I have read that the English will possibly stay neutral.’
    ‘That it may be,’ Kurt replied, swigging at the schnapps. ‘They traditionally have no love for the French. If that is so, my friend,’ he continued, ‘you will not have to worry about your position out here in the wilds of our Pacific frontier.’
    ‘I will drink to that,’ Dieter said, raising his glass. ‘To peace in the Pacific and a glorious victory to us – if we eventually fight the French.’ Kurt did not want to disappoint this very likeable reservist officer and so joined him in his toast. ‘Oh, I almost forgot,’ Dieter said, reaching into the pocket of his trousers and retrieving a telegram. ‘This arrived a few hours ago.’ He passed the slip of paper to Kurt. ‘It appears that we are to expect an Australian trading steamer in portnext week with a passenger who is related to you, a Mr Alexander Macintosh from Sydney. He is currently visiting with Herr Schumann in New Guinea. Schumann is one of our more influential plantation owners.’
    Kurt scanned the inked words on the paper and folded it neatly. It appeared that his country’s intelligence services were well and truly active in this backwater of the Kaiser’s empire and he guessed that his distantly related Australian family were aware of his whereabouts in the Pacific from his itinerary posted at the German consulate in Sydney. It was not a military secret that he had been tasked by Berlin to make a tour of German defence outposts on behalf of the Imperial German Army. He had been chosen as he had a good grasp of the English language and the culture of the European settlers of the Australian continent. He was also tasked to end his tour with a goodwill visit of German settlements in Australia. He had a vague idea about his relations in Australia from the letters his brother Karl had written to him. There had been an interesting story about a trek his brother had undertaken in the company of the legendary Michael Duffy when Alexander was only a boy. It seemed that Alexander had not known that Michael Duffy was in fact his grandfather. Now he was about to meet the young man who he also knew held the King’s commission with an Australian militia unit.
    ‘I hope that the visit from Mr Macintosh will prove to be a happy one for you, Herr Major,’ Dieter said.
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Kurt replied. ‘I have not had the pleasure of meeting him before. It will be interesting to catch up on the English side of my family.’
    When the glass was empty Kurt rose to excuse himself. He had much to do to record his findings for the overall analysis required by his superiors in Berlin. In the light ofwhat he had read it would be a scathing report as required by document twenty-two. How in hell did Germany expect to win the war in the Pacific if the English used their Australian allies to strike first at the vitally important radio stations that were scattered throughout the German islands and which supported the Imperial German Navy ships operating out of their China base? Kurt shook his head, placed his cap on his head and stepped into the blaze of the tropical sun.
    Alex woke slowly to the sounds of the copra plantation stirring for the day’s work. He rubbed his eyes, pushed aside the mosquito net covering his bed and reached for his trousers hanging on the brass knob of the bed end. The chatter of Melanesian workers trudging to the rows of coconut