Lone Star Rising

by Kurt Winans

  There were a handful of other important assets which Texas could access to keep her dollar solvent, but two stood out above the rest. Various types of agriculture via livestock herds or from that of plant growth had been, and would continue to be, a valuable source of exportable goods. Beyond that an asset from the scientific community would be beneficial, as continued growth within the information technology sector was considerable. Although current facilities were not on the vast scope of those located in central California’s Silicon Valley, the city of Austin had been one of several hotbeds for research and development within that industry for the past few decades.

  Not to be forgotten was one additional source of financial backing. There was a tourism trade within the republic which brought forth millions of dollars in annual revenue. Whether such visitations be for sporting events of either professional or collegiate levels, or simply to enjoy the beaches, historic landmarks like the Alamo, NASA facilities just south of Houston, or various cities or towns, a wide range of accommodations and restaurants in those areas would always be needed.

  As for placing the republic within the global trading market, those discussions had led to a proclamation of external intent. With regards to demonstrating an effective ability to import or export any number of goods and services needed for entrance into that market, Texas was not in a bad way. Aside from the obvious avenues of trucking and rail, to which Samuel had also made sure to have a significant stake in, there were the airports.

  At a minimum, Texas possessed the ability from more than half a dozen airports to easily reach anywhere in the United States, Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean. Additionally, it was also possible for direct flights to reach beyond those locations to any destination in North or South America and Europe from airports in her three largest cities of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Some flights could also reach various locations in Africa or Asia, and there had even been the availability for a truly long distance nonstop passenger service from Dallas to Sydney Australia throughout the previous decade.

  If trade via the water became the preferred choice, then there were several ports of call along the Gulf of Mexico which could be accessed for shipping purposes to anywhere in the world. A short listing of those included Port Arthur along the eastern border with Louisiana, Port Arkansas near Corpus Christi, and Port Isabel next to South Padre Island at the extreme southern tip of the republic. Finally, the largest of the group was Port Galveston. Located in close proximity to the mega city of Houston, those facilities had been equipped to handle even the most massive of cargo vessels for many years. In essence, there were very few, if any, limitations as to where and with whom Texas could do business.

  When all was said and done throughout the length of those deliberations, the Texas Legislature believed it not only could, but that it should and would establish its own currency to become a global player. Adding to the level of confidence was the belief that her currency would have an initial opening value as equal to that of the American dollar. Such action, if accurate, would lead to massive trading on the stock exchange. Those futures would become a key element in determining if the Republic of Texas could stand up financially with one of the mightiest of global economic machines on the planet.

  Once those monetary and global trade issues had been addressed and declared within the constitution, the most recent few days of deliberation within the Legislature had moved toward that of questions related to employment. Although certainly not on the same level of significance with the perceived strength of the backing currency, determining how various aspects of the current and future work force would be treated was still a matter of great importance. For the majority of those employed within the republic, they did not need to be concerned with the upcoming changes. Each of those citizens both lived and worked within the confines of Texas, but there were others who either lived or worked on one side of what had been a state line while doing the other on the opposite side. They were the employees or business owners which brought forth a potentially difficult situation, as they fell into the category of both an internal and external concern.

  For each of those souls, there were two significant factors to take into account. First, they would be paid for their various jobs in one currency, but would need the other currency for all of their daily life functions at home and in their community. As a sidebar to that inconvenience was the second issue of taxes, as once again, those employees on opposite sides would be paying various taxes on their wages in one country, while receiving a series of write-offs for their taxes in the other. Although no examples of such positives and negatives normally listed on personal tax forms would be required for filing in the upcoming months, they would need to be recognized for the following tax year. On the surface the challenge of those tax returns appeared as if they would be complex, but examples of workers along the United States border with Canada could be referenced as a guideline for addressing the issue. Of course the ultimate obstacle for all of those employees and business owners would have surfaced if the border between the United States and the Republic of Texas had not remained open. Fortunately both the Secretary of State in Washington D.C. and Ambassador Pearson had the foresight at their initial meeting to ensure, at least for the current calendar year, that it would remain as such.

  Standing next to her chair behind the podium, the Madam Speaker was happy that those past negotiations with the State Department, and those of the future, would be handled by number eleven. She realized that the man had done an exceptional job in establishing a strong resolve during his first two meetings at the State Department, and the resulting action of the United States which was due to begin on the current day was proof of that. Therefore the Madam Speaker had no doubt that her friend Nathan Pearson would continue to do his best to ensure that the republic would prosper from his efforts.

  After flashing a slight smile in remembrance of the good work that led to the various accomplishments during their first three weeks of deliberations, and for the bipartisan cooperation which had been exhibited by the Legislature in the process, the Madam Speaker was prepared to open the fourth week. Then with a series of firm downward swings of her gavel, number five said, “I hereby call this session of Monday January twenty-fifth to come to order.”

  Per the treaty whose terms had originally been discussed and then subsequently signed by Ambassador Pearson and the Secretary of State, Monday the twenty-fifth of January was tabbed as a date of tremendous significance for the Republic of Texas. The agreed upon document between newly neighbored nations required that all personnel stationed at United States military bases and installations located within the Republic of Texas would begin their peaceful and complete withdrawal on that day. That action would also include the removal of what equipment and supplies the United States deemed necessary, as long as there would be no damage inflicted upon the structural integrity of any facility. The first hint of the undertaking was visible several hours before number five called the Texas Legislature to order, as a massive migration of American military forces had begun. Depending on the type of base and their respective location, multiple cargo planes, large convoys of trucks, and a few naval vessels began transporting out the ammunition, equipment, hardware, and supplies such as food and clothing. Those shipments, with many more to follow in the coming days and weeks, consisted of virtually everything which wasn’t considered to be a permanent structure. The various personnel who had been cataloging, gathering, and then loading the cargo would begin their withdrawal as well in short order, but not until after they had verified that nothing useful had been left behind to aid Texas.

  In typical fashion to mirror many other aspects of American culture, there was what some considered as an overabundance of military installations throughout Texas which needed to be vacated. Many of those were active bases functioning as ongoing training facilities which maintained the ability for combat readiness at a moment’s notice, while other bases were inactive and possessed only the bare mi
nimum of life or equipment. Some were used solely for training purposes, and even though a great number of personnel would pass through those bases annually, the numbers of those assigned to them at any given time were not vast. Then of course there were other facilities which were little more than massive ammunition and supply depots.

  Whatever the function or location might have been, the United States government had begun clearing out the smaller, and most notably, less important of their bases with regard to numbers of personnel and the functions to which they performed for global defense. As a goodwill response toward her former parent nation, the Republic of Texas didn’t bother with sending representatives to monitor the progress at each and every base or installation. The terms of the treaty had been clearly understood by both nations, and Texas believed and trusted that the United States would honor those terms in as expedient of a manner as possible. Texas also believed that by not hovering like some form of bothersome parent or workplace superior over those who were vacating, there was always the possibility that something useful might be neglected and left behind inadvertently.

  As for what the republic hoped to gain from the United States exit migration, her main focus was on eight specific bases. Although some of those selections would be most obvious for the upcoming occupation, and therefore difficult to hide as such from the retreating American military, there were other bases which at least for the time being would remain unknown to the United States. Upon complete occupation by Texas, those eight bases would then be used in concert with the facilities on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station to form the future defense and training structure of the republics military.

  The Texas Legislature had voted to have that location serve as the republics version of West Point. The campus facilities and accompanying instructional staff were adequately suited for that task, but in truth there would soon be upgrades to enhance both. Unknown to the vast majority of American citizens, more officers commissioned into the United States army in recent decades had actually been educated in the classrooms and on the parade fields at College Station as opposed to West Point.

  Joining that location would be the Corpus Christi Naval Air Base in Flour Bluff. That facility coupled with the adjoining Texas A&M satellite campus on Ward Island would attempt to emulate Annapolis as the site for the new Naval academy. In conjunction with that plan, the republic would establish an Air Force Academy equivalent of Colorado Springs at Dyess Air Force Base on the western outskirts of Abilene. The site in northcentral Texas had been selected to educate future Air Force officers and pilots because of its proximity to a vast amount of wide open terrain which was suitable for such training. Complementing the efforts of Dyess would be the third facility of prime interest to the republic, as training flights would head southward to Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio on a regular basis. Having been used as a major training facility by the United States Air Force, the runways of that base near the Rio Grande River and the border with Mexico had seen more takeoffs and landings than any other base within America for several years.

  Of the five remaining bases to be occupied, Fort Hood Army base just north of Killeen had been tabbed for central command. Positioned in almost the exact center of the republic just sixty miles from Austin and nearly halfway between the larger cities of Fort Worth and San Antonio, the location of the massive base made perfect sense for its chosen task. However with a compliment of more than forty-five thousand soldiers who were stationed upon the two hundred fourteen thousand acres of land, the removal of them and the infrastructure would take the American military several weeks to accomplish.

  Three other bases would be incorporated into the defense plan of Texas, as their locations of strategic importance would primarily aid in the efforts of border control. The first two were located in the more northern portion of the republic and would serve no other purpose, while the third would take on a broader scope of responsibilities. Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls northwest of Fort Worth and just south of the Oklahoma border provided a nice location for monitoring the northern most panhandle region of the republic and portions of the border with New Mexico. Then there was the Red River Army Depot just west of Texarkana which would be used to address regions along areas of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma in the northeast corner of the republic. The third facility on the list, and the one carrying the heaviest load of responsibility, would be Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso. Located within the far western and most isolated tip of the republic, that base would attempt to protect a region of the republic which was pinched in by borders with both Mexico and New Mexico.

  As a fourth base responsible for border protection, the aforementioned facility of Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio would also join the mix. Its position directly west from San Antonio was vital in that it represented the only base along a vast southwestern section of the border with Mexico. The runways would offer a perfect spot for the deployment of slow flying planes in conjunction with the newest generation of drones. Once up and running, both the manned and unmanned flights out of Laughlin Air Force Base would be required to cover a stretch of the Rio Grande River which reached northwest to the eastern boundary of Big Bend National Park and southward to Laredo. The areas pegged for those patrols were mostly desolate and remote, while also offering very few established crossings for legal entry. The plans also called for a sporadic level of support via ground troops from the Texas military forces, but at the present time the bulk of those forces were already responsible for covering more populated and established regions of the border.

  During the days leading up to the onset of the American withdrawal, Texas President Marcus Stoddard had made his intentions clear to number seven. The general had done a wonderful job in command of the former Texas National Guard in the past, and had handled the situation along the border with Mexico on the night of the republics birth splendidly, but he would no longer be their leader. As the eighth and final base of interest, Camp Bowie near Brownsville would still be one of the main training facilities for the guard after the American forces departed. However number seven, as the highest ranking officer within the Republic of Texas military, would not be assigned to that base. Instead he would be relocated from his offices in Austin to the central command of Fort Hood as soon as the American forces had completely vacated that base.

  In the meantime his task would be to oversee the upcoming occupation of each desired base within Texas. There would be aspects of determining which of his former troops, or any of those who may ultimately choose to leave the American military and return home, would be stationed where, and why. Then there would be the handling of any issues concerning the thousands of civilian employees from those and other abandoned bases. Many were loyal Texans to be sure, and their expertise and familiarity with the bases could become a valuable asset if they wished to continue their employment.

  In conjunction with those and a list of other objectives, the general had also received a promotion from President Stoddard. Consequently he began the day of Monday January twenty-fifth as the commander of all Republic of Texas military forces with a second star on each shoulder board and the rank of Major General.

  President Harwell had delayed this particular speech longer than he should have, but knowing that unlike the occasion of a once every four year inauguration, there was no date for the event which was set in stone. Therefore the President had used what latitude could be applied in scheduling the date for his speech, and no one that he deemed as significant bothered to question his motives. Nevertheless, with several topics of concern to make comment upon, Jordan Harwell clearly understood that the time had come for him to give his third State of the Union address to the nation.

  On the night of Thursday January twenty-eighth, President Harwell stood just outside the entrance doors to the House of Representatives chamber within the United States Capitol building and heard a man inside loudly proclaim, “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.”

 
Then when the doors before him swung open, he entered the chamber to what could be deemed as a less than sincere yet precursory standing ovation. Jordan Harwell, in the same fashion as a long list of his predecessors, moved forward and shook the hands of a few select supposed allies while descending the gradual ramp toward the speaker’s elevated platform and podium. With the applause then quieted and those several hundred souls of elected officials and invited guests within the chamber seated, he began his address by politely stating “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for such a warm welcome.”

  At that same moment with Ms. Holloway and a few members of the family at little more than arm’s length, Samuel and Victoria Tillman watched the giant holographic screen in the family room of their mansion. As there were probably millions of people beyond those citizens living within America which could be interested in what the supposed leader of the free world would say, the Tillman clan was surely not alone as they viewed the spectacle of the ceremonial annual address.

  Samuel gazed intently at the man’s face as the monitor drew in for a close up, and a few seconds later uttered, “Just look at Harwell. We all believe him to be a buffoon and the least effective President in recent memory, but now he’s going to prove it. He will show the world just how uncomfortable he is in the current environment.”