by Kurt Winans
His comment was met with no reply, as the President of their former nation began his long awaited speech. Over the course of the next hour, Jordan Harwell spoke on a wide range of topics that were meant to inform his nation and others that he believed all was well within America. Possessing a desire to somehow hide the inescapable fact that the United States had become a fractured nation while under his leadership, the President wanted to establish a sense of strength and unity in overcoming adversity. He began with a reminder of the tragedy that had befallen the nation, when thousands of her military and civilian citizens had been killed or injured during the terrorist attacks of the previous November. Then he applauded the nation’s strength of character and resolve while placing emphasis on how America as a whole had sought retribution for those responsible.
President Harwell’s comments on the subject then led to mention of how successful the attacks upon Syria had been in that quest, and that there had been nearly zero loss of life to American military personnel throughout the process. Within the course of that dialog, the President also took a moment to recognize by name the four pilots who had been lost on the initial day of the attacks. Then he pointed out the four families consisting of parents, wives, or both who mourned the loss of those pilots. They were seated on either side or directly behind the first lady, and with a barrage of network cameras temporarily shifted to fixate upon them, the first lady stood as a show of respect. Much to the pleasure of all present, Jordan Harwell then fittingly labeled their respective sons or husbands as heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of American freedom.
Samuel Tillman reached for Victoria’s hand to calm her as she exclaimed, “That bastard! Harwell just brought the parents and wives to Washington for this event so that he could gain some notoriety, and that’s disrespectful to all of the other grieving families who have lost a son. Not only that, he’s spitting out the same old tired rhetoric that the United States government attempted to console me with after they needlessly sent Chance off to get killed.”
Samuel was irritated as well, but he attempted to ease the tension by saying, “Try to stay calm Vic. Harwell has many faults, but he isn’t the one who took Chance from us.”
Turning toward her soulmate of over four decades, she asked and exclaimed, “Why should I Samuel? Our son didn’t receive any level of public acknowledgement for his death!”
Although she didn’t utter a word which would give away her stealthy position near the kitchen, Jennifer Tillman wondered what had happened many years before. She had never met her uncle Chance, as her mother Courtney told her once that he had been away on deployment when she was born and was killed less than four months later. Jennifer had also been informed that her grandmother rarely mentioned Chance, and that he or his death weren’t subjects to be brought up in her presence.
As the President continued he touched on the topics, factual or not, which had been mentioned in seemingly every state of the union address for decades. Those included the claim of a robust and strengthening economy, how small businesses and startups were thriving, a belief in the need for increased educational funding throughout the land, and of course, that the national unemployment levels, although still unacceptable, were at a lower rate than the previous quarterly numbers.
Eventually he addressed the elephant in the room by commenting on the defection of Texas and how the separation would impact the nation at large. President Harwell assured the American people that even with losing the Texas oil reserves as a former portion of the domestic supply, a few sea ports which were used for the import and export of goods, the agricultural output, or the contribution with regard to advancements within the information technology sector, the United States could and would overcome the challenge. He pointed out that such depletions from each of those items represented only a small fraction of what America either possessed or produced, and that more jobs could be created outside of Texas to help pick up the slack in the respective industries.
The President also stated that the intent of the nation would be to maintain a friendly and allied relationship with the Republic of Texas, while continuing to strive toward positive trade relations. In the event that it had not become public knowledge, he notified his citizens and the world of the military implications. Spinning the action as an act of goodwill toward a friendly neighboring nation as opposed to any form of ultimatum, the United States had begun the complete withdrawal of all military forces and the accompanying infrastructure from every base upon Texas soil just a few days earlier. President Harwell wanted to make his point clearly understood by everyone that the Republic of Texas had expressed a desire for complete separation, and that there was no reason to believe or expect that she would be coming back to join the United States at any point in the near future.
Then expressing an act of humbleness which many did not expect, the President admitted to a level of failure on his part as their elected leader. Turning to point at the flag positioned behind the Speaker of the House and Vice President Sutherland, he stated that the symbol of America had been altered for the first time since the addition of two stars in 1959 during the Eisenhower administration. He was not proud of the fact that a star once representing Texas had been removed from the nation’s proud symbol, and that the change which had recently occurred had been a step in the wrong direction.
Still watching and listening intently, Samuel Tillman was caught flat footed by what came next. He remembered stating to number seven during the New Year’s Eve celebration that President Harwell and his actions had been predictable up to that moment, while also mentioning to that man who would lead the Texas military forces that their former President may not be so easy to read in the future. Upon reflection, Samuel realized that his statement of nearly a month before could not have been more prolific. His concern over the ability to properly anticipate the actions of his advisory had just come to fruition, as the President moved to the final topic within his state of the union address.
In a completely unexpected turn before wishing those who had tuned in a pleasant evening, Jordan Harwell closed with, “In the hope of reestablishing a nation of fifty states, I will now put forth a notion for all of you to ponder. Please exercise your constitutional rights by contacting your representatives with any thoughts or questions which you may have on the matter, and know that they will be included within the subsequent deliberation process for my upcoming request. At this time I would like to ask Congress to explore the possibility of granting a combined single statehood to the United States held Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the nearby Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas.”
As one item which had been placed on the agenda for their scheduled appointment of Monday February first, the Secretary of State reviewed the report provided to him before receiving Ambassador Pearson of Texas. The ten o’clock meeting would be their third such encounter, and the contents of a report from the Department of Defense would be of keen interest to the Ambassador as it included the status of withdrawal proceedings from each military installation within his republic.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, the Secretary pushed a button on his phone panel. A staff member picked up the line, and said, “Yes Mr. Secretary?”
“When the Ambassador arrives, please show him in right away.”
“Yes Mr. Secretary.”
A few moments later the door to his office swung open, and the same young staff member announced, “Excuse me Mr. Secretary, but Ambassador Pearson has arrived for his appointment.”
Rising and moving from behind his desk in order to properly greet the man with a firm handshake, the Secretary said to the staffer, “Thank you. Please see to it that we have no interruptions.”
Before closing the door on his way out, the young man replied, “Yes Mr. Secretary.”
Once seated and provided with an abridged version of the report, Ambassador Pearson spent the next forty-five minutes listening to all which was presented by the Secretary w
hile also visually scanning his pages for confirmation. The diplomats covered aspects of those bases which had already been vacated by the United States forces, as well as the various levels of progress at those that would take considerably more time to do so. With knowledge of which bases Texas would employ for its own military uses, Ambassador Pearson was able to recognize that one such base was now ready for occupation. Additionally, the report suggested that a second base of interest would be ready for the same offensive action in another week.
At the conclusion of the briefing, Ambassador Pearson said, “Well Mr. Secretary. First I would like to thank you for providing me with this report, as the information contained within signifies a positive step. However to be honest, this report is not as comprehensive as I thought it would be. I do understand that your military forces are in the early phases of their withdrawal, and that it represents the initial effort in this matter by the Department of Defense, but they must be moving quicker than this report would suggest. Now if you will pardon my forwardness, I recommend that you require them to provide you with more detailed reports as the military withdrawal continues. That way we can look over them together in the interest of both complete comprehension and transparency. With that said Mr. Secretary, I believe that it would be prudent for us to meet on a regular basis until the withdrawal is finalized. If such a course of action interests you and your schedule will permit it, how does meeting every Monday morning sound to you?”
Although not fully understanding the need for such reports on a weekly basis, the Secretary had been instructed by the White House to maintain friendly relations with his counterpart during the proceedings of withdrawal. Therefore he would continue to provide updated reports if that was what the Ambassador desired, but he also knew that those reports would not contain all the relevant information which the Republic of Texas obviously sought. The Secretary wasn’t concerned with whether or not President Harwell considered Texas to be a friend or foe, as he knew from the experience of dealing with other nations and their issues that an opinion toward either direction could be altered in an instant. Using that knowledge he also realized that it would be a prudent diplomatic move to keep the reports which he gave to the Ambassador as abridged, while still appearing to be completely forthcoming. Based on those thoughts, with a smile and outstretched hand the Secretary replied, “Alright Mr. Ambassador, that sounds like a good idea to me. Shall we say ten o’clock next Monday then?”
Upon returning to his office after lunch, Ambassador Pearson prepared to make a series of telephone calls. First on that list would be to contact Texas President Marcus Stoddard in Austin. The Ambassador would use one of the lines in his office for such a call, even though he knew that it would not be secure. The array of office telephone lines, as with countless others within the beltway, were probably bugged by one intelligence gathering agency or another. Upon closer reflection the Ambassador surmised that as the lone representative for a new republic assigned to a post in Washington D.C., more than one such agency was most assuredly keeping tabs on the actions of his office. After all, he spoke on behalf of a nation which in the viewpoint of the United States had exhibited the temerity to separate itself from her parent nation. That mistrusting intrusion was of little personal concern to number eleven, but he did have the responsibility of assisting Texas with her intended future endeavors. Consequently Ambassador Pearson and his staff needed to maintain a subtle ruse by appearing to those potential listeners that they were unaware such eavesdropping was taking place. To that end the Ambassador understood that if he didn’t use the office phone lines to maintain somewhat regular contact with government officials in Austin, then suspicion as to the validity of his posting could become an unwanted byproduct. The man was perceptive, and knew that in this particular instance, silence was not golden.
When President Stoddard in Austin came on the line, the Ambassador did not address his boss by the identity of number three. In response, Marcus Stoddard did not identify the Ambassador in Washington D.C. as number eleven. As had always been the case for those within the organization when communicating via a phone line which was believed to be insecure, proper names or political titles were used as a designator.
After a few exchanged pleasantries, Ambassador Pearson said to his President, and those within the American federal agencies who were eavesdropping, “I have good news to report sir. The Secretary of State, who is a very nice man in the event that you have never had the pleasure, has provided me with an extensive report. It outlines the progress with regard to the withdrawal of American military forces from bases within Texas, while also defining those facilities which have already been vacated. Although the entire process will take some time to complete, Laughlin Air Force Base is now ready for us to occupy if we wish.”
“I understand Mr. Ambassador, and thank you. Now please refresh my memory, is Laughlin the base which is near our border with Mexico?”
“Yes sir. It’s located close to the Rio Grande River, so when we have the ability to occupy the facilities, we should be able to more closely monitor many of those who wish to come into Texas illegally from Mexico.”
“Well that is good news Mr. Ambassador, and I thank you again. Although I don’t know when we will be able to occupy the base with meaningful manpower, it’s nice to know that we can when we are ready.”
“Yes sir.”
“Now could you please contact the Speaker of the House and let her know about the availability of the base? She may be able to scrape up some budget so that we can at least station a few men and planes there for border patrol purposes.”
“Yes sir, I would be happy to. I’ll get on that right away.”
“Thank you Mr. Ambassador, and please give my best to your wife when you see her.”
“Thank you sir, I will.”
Nathan Pearson smiled after he hung up the phone, as a measure of misinformation had been dangled in front of those who were undoubtedly listening in. Then as instructed, he placed another call to Austin in order to converse with the Speaker of the House. Once the Madam Speaker came on the line and heard her name as opposed to the moniker of number five, she knew how to respond. While referring to the Ambassador as Nathan, she stated to her old friend that it was good to hear from him. In the moments that followed he conveyed to her the information which had been given to President Stoddard shortly before, while also forwarding the hope of their elected leader that an amount of budget could be procured via her efforts to staff the now vacated base.
The Madam Speakers response hinted that the funding needed to hire and train more border patrol agents for ground assignments could be made available in the coming months. However in order to even moderately patrol the area along the Rio Grande by air, assistance from private citizens who were pilots would be required in the short term.
Once the call had been concluded, each of the players then pulled their secure burn phones from their respective desks. They each contacted number twenty-three, and through the use of her switchboard, were connected to various other operatives. Number three called number seven, and the general assured his President that the initial compliment of men and equipment would be ready to occupy the base within twenty-four hours. Number eleven contacted number twenty-nine so that they could set up a meeting to include his operative Kristen Royce. The Ambassador’s gut instinct developed through years of service within the beltway told him that the Secretary of State had not been, nor would he be during subsequent meetings, completely honest with regard to reports issued by the Department of Defense. However with both number twenty-nine and Lieutenant Royce stationed within the Pentagon, perhaps they could uncover more useful details.
As those conversations were taking place, number five contacted Samuel at his home office. The Madam Speaker spoke to him of the news from Washington D.C., and the seed of misdirection which had been planted by number eleven for the benefit of any American intelligence agencies. Then she asked him, “So what exactly is our plan when it comes
to occupying the required bases Samuel? We can’t control the speed with which each of the bases will be vacated.”
“That’s true number five, but as each base that we desire to occupy becomes available, number seven and his forces will be ready to act accordingly.”
Just before nine o’clock on the morning of Tuesday February second, a convoy of trucks carrying troops and equipment from the Texas military arsenal rolled up to a padlocked front gate. Seated in a jeep that led the way, the major in command of the initial occupying force turned to face a truck behind him and motioned for two men to move forward. After the first soldier used heavy bolt cutters to easily snap through the modest lock, the second pulled a now limp chain free from its clutch around two adjoining metal posts. Then each man took a swinging gate in hand and walked them outward nearly a full one hundred and eighty degrees. With a nod of approval from the major, each man was then handed an automatic weapon by another pair of soldiers and the four were ordered by their sergeant to stand guard. Their task was understood, and that they would be relieved in less than three hours when another convoy of troops and equipment arrived shortly before noon. Until then, the four sentries were to allow no other vehicles or persons access onto the base.
Once his entire convoy rolled onto the grounds of the base, the major instructed his junior officers to fan out from the trucks with squads of troops. No hostile contact was expected, but he wanted to make sure that the base was completely abandoned. Although it was unlikely, given the minimal amount of vacated time, there was a possibility that a few vagrants had moved in since the American forces departed. In order to clear the base to the major’s satisfaction a systematic search through each and every building would be required, but he believed that his compliment of nearly two hundred men could accomplish the task before the follow up convoy arrived.
