For centuries explorers have looked upon Australia as the OSouthern PearlO, a huge empty land full of riches, ripe for harvesting. There are scattered but substantial pieces of evidence that radical Islamic groups, overcoming national and geographical barriers, have maintained deep and ties with one another toward a shared fundamentalist goal. At the core of this extensive, complex, and resilient terrorist labyrinth in Southeast Asia is the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). The same organizations responsible for the invasion of East Timor and the Sandline affair have decided that the time has come to establish a caliphate in Northern Australia. The ADF in the North has wound back, there is a lack of ammunition and fuel: Defence Signals is in disarray, internal squabbling and dissension is rife. Who can protect the north ? A broad sweep of history and the characters that make the Northern Territory unique lead to an exciting climax.