by Kurt Winans
“Fair enough Samuel, fair enough.”
After moving into the Governor’s private office with the door closed behind him, Samuel asked, “So how is everything on your end number three?”
The Governor responded with, “Right on schedule number two. The Lieutenant Governor has been briefed under an oath of secrecy, and he understands his role.”
“That’s very good number three, and the appropriation of funds?”
“Number seven will get whatever finances he needs should we move forward.”
An hour later, Samuel stood and emerged from the Governors private office after their lengthy and productive conversation. They had covered all that needed to be discussed for the moment, but there was much more to be done. Keeping that in mind, he turned his attention to the upcoming meeting with number five.
With some time to kill before his eleven o’clock meeting, Samuel decided to take a little head clearing stroll. He was soon at the edge of the University of Texas campus, and although he would never admit it publicly to any of his fellow Texas A&M Aggies or his youngest grandchild Savanah, the supposed enemy territory was pleasant to view. After a few minutes Samuel began his return to the State Capitol complex, and then entered the outer office of number five. His conversation with the staff member who greeted him was less relaxed and familiar than what he had experienced in the Governors outer office, and this man offered up no personal family information.
With the initial awkward greeting behind them, the staff member said, “Mr. Tillman, Madam Speaker has been able to clear her schedule for you. I have been instructed to inform you that after she meets with you in her office, she will have time for your planned lunch in the House of Representatives dining area.”
Samuel replied, “Well thank you, that’s good news. Besides, I didn’t want to eat in there all by myself.”
The relatively new staff member, who had met Samuel Tillman only a few times during recent months, was momentarily baffled by the statement. He was unaware that an ordinary civilian, no matter how wealthy or connected, would be allowed to eat in the formal dining area without being the guest of an elected house member. He soon learned however, that Samuel Tillman was no ordinary civilian.
Emerging from her office, the Texas State Speaker of the House gave her guest a hug and said, “It’s always good to see you Samuel. How are Victoria and the family doing?”
“They are well Madam Speaker, thank you for asking.”
“And how is Savanah?”
“She is doing well. Kyle and Ashley are optimistic, as test results have shown promise. But we all know that she is far from out of the woods.”
“Well Savanah is a fighter. Now, shall we step into my office?”
Once behind closed doors with instructions for her staff to not interrupt unless the building was on fire, the two old friends could address each other by their designations of number two and number five as given by the organizational head. They began their discussion of what was to come, when certain events would transpire, and the continued role of number seven. At the conclusion of the hour long meeting Samuel said, “Very well, that should cover everything for now. We can communicate with each other after today via number twenty three once more of the situation is known. For now, we must focus on becoming fully prepared in the event that we can move forward.”
After a nice lunch with her old friend that included a brief visit by several House of Representative members, number five walked with him back toward her office and said, “Well Samuel, this has been great, but I must get back to work.”
In re-establishing their respective cover, Samuel replied, “Very well Madam Speaker. I must get back to my responsibilities as well. Thank you for the time, and please give your family my best.”
“I will Samuel, and may you, Victoria, and the rest of the family have a happy Thanksgiving.”
Samuel, like on every other Saturday during college football season when his beloved Aggies played on the road, had arranged his schedule so that nothing would interfere with him watching the game on the giant holographic screen. Seated in his favorite chair with Savanah on the nearby couch, they waited for the game to begin. Although security measures had most surely been heightened in stadiums throughout the country, which probably included the temporary absence of parachute drops into them, Samuel was glad to see that scheduled games for this day were actually taking place.
As the final regular season game of his favorite team unfolded, and it appeared that Texas A&M was on its way to a rather easy victory, Samuel smiled at Savanah and said, “Well, even though we can’t win the conference championship, at least the team is playing better than they did last week.”
She nodded with a smile and replied, “Yes they are grandpa. They played really bad last week, but I heard you say that at least they lost to a really good L.S.U. team.”
“That’s right sugar.”
“Well I want to watch us beat them next year if we are good enough?”
Recognizing that the most important aspect of her statement was the optimism that Savanah expressed about being able to watch a game in another year, Samuel replied, “I’m sure the team will try real hard, and you and I can watch them win together.”
As she turned back to watch the current game, Samuel mulled over what information he received earlier that morning. Number twenty three had communicated to him that she had received a report from numbers thirteen and seventeen less than an hour prior. They had both stated that things appeared to be leaning in the right direction, but deliberation for both sides of the argument had been hotly debated for the entire week. As a result, nothing would be determined until after Thanksgiving. Then she continued by stating that she had received a rare report from number twenty nine the previous evening. His information conveyed that military leaders were posturing for a retaliatory strike, but he had no idea if and when such an event would transpire.
Samuel was intrigued by the information on all counts, but especially from number twenty nine. His cover was deep and established more for the future than at the present time. But still, he had been in his current capacity for more than a year, and the reason that the man rarely reported was because he had to be more cautious about communication than other operatives. His mention of the military leadership posturing for retaliation was good news though, as it implied that at least some of the diversionary bait with regard to Syria was being looked at and nibbled upon.
At the Tillman family home, the usual Thanksgiving activities were underway with football to watch and anticipation of the oncoming feast. However during this particular year, the collective mindset of the nation toward the day had taken on a different feel. Although sympathetic to how others may perceive the day of thanks, or lack of it, in the current worrisome climate, Victoria Tillman had no desire to take on the collective emotional weight of the country. She was not however completely unfeeling toward the situation, as she had known firsthand what the sudden and unexpected loss of a child or other loved one could do to a person. With this in mind, Victoria’s idea was to expand her normal traditions of the day, so she mandated that each person sitting at the table verbally list a few things for which they were thankful before any food would be served.
Ms. Holloway, who for many years in order to fully enjoy the time with her adopted family had been relieved of her duties by a catering staff on Thanksgiving Day, was first to volunteer. She stood with raised glass and said, “I’m thankful for many things each and every day that I’m with the Tillman family, and hope to continue for as long as my body and mind will allow me to do so. You are all so special to me, and I have enjoyed watching each of you blossom into the people that you have become. It’s always a pleasure for me to see most of you together for a holiday or any other occasion, and I’m especially thankful that none of you have ever treated me as anything less than a member of your family.”
When the elderly lady sat back down next to Samuel, he smiled in her direction while she in turn smile
d across the table toward Savanah. Then Samuel looked down the length of the table toward Victoria and asked, “Well that may be difficult for any of us to match, but we must try. Who would you like to go next dear?”
Before Victoria could reply, Savanah spoke up by asking, “Is it alright if I go next grandpa?”
Noticing the smile on the face of his wife that the youngest member of the family had brought forth, Samuel reached for Savanah’s hand and replied, “I think that would be wonderful sugar, so please, go ahead.”
Rising to a standing position she began with, “I’m thankful that almost everyone in our family is here tonight, because we don’t get to spend the whole day and then eat together very often. I’m also thankful for my brother and cousin that aren’t here, and I hope that Jason and Beau are safe and with friends.”
Seated next to her daughter, Ashley said, “That’s very nice honey, you did great. And thank you for thinking of Jason and Beau.”
When everyone else in the family had spoken, Samuel stood and completed the mandate of his wife. He said, “You have all expressed wonderful thoughts, and I too am proud to have all of you, including Ms. Holloway, as members of this family. I must also say that we are all incredibly thankful for the one thing that has not been mentioned, as Savanah is beginning to get better. Now with that said, I can only add one more thought.”
After a long silence while those around the table pondered her ongoing battle, Savanah reached for Samuels hand and asked, “What else did you want to say grandpa?”
Smiling down at her precious face with those big green eyes he replied, “Well Savanah, I think that we should eat!”
Later that night after Savanah and the two teenagers of the family had gone to bed; Samuel sat enjoying another piece of pie and a strong cup of coffee. Then looking at those within the room, he asked Victoria, “Have the three caterers left?”
“Yes they have. You can speak freely.”
“That’s good. I wanted to say something before when verbalizing what we were each thankful for, but with the kids at the table and the caterers possibly within earshot, I thought it would be prudent to wait until now. Aside from all that was mentioned before dinner, I’m also thankful for the safe return of many who have given of themselves in behalf of the cause and the overall plan. Our friends in Mexico have provided a portion of our group with protection and safety while in their hands, and I have been informed that all eighteen of them have now completed their undetected passage back into Texas and are without harm. To that end, I would also like to express my thanks to the continued successful progress of the overall plan.”
To that several coffee cups were raised into the air as a show of respect for those that Samuel had mentioned. Then Victoria replied, “That’s nicely said dear, and I liked that part before dinner about Savanah too.”
There had been much deliberation over the matter at hand since President Harwell addressed the joint session of Congress on the Monday following the attacks, and it would surely continue on into the future. Of course the most vocal in favor of the proposed declaration were the Senators and House of Representative members from the three states that had been attacked, but they were certainly not alone. Although none of the elected officials from New York were in office twenty-five years prior when the September eleventh terrorist attacks had occurred, the memory of that day still burned within each of them. Now with the psychological wound reopened by another terrorist attack upon their state, those elected men and women led the charge that screamed for vengeance. With the same level of distain toward the perpetrators of the current attacks, and an understanding of pain over the former attack as neighboring Washington D.C. had also been impacted that day, Maryland stood resolute in her intent for vengeance as well. Not shying away from the flood of emotion, Colorado was ready to go fight on the soil of whoever was determined to be ultimately responsible. Many other members representing states from coast to coast within both wings of the Capitol had similar feelings of a need for retribution, but they were not as vocal as their brethren who were leading the charge. Sympathetic to what had transpired; those men and women also understood that land in their own states had not been attacked. Therefore the impact upon the people they represented could in no way be considered equal. Aside from a few of the current cadets, active military personnel, or random civilians that were in attendance at any of the sites, no citizens of their respective states had been killed or injured.
On the flip side of the argument, there was a belief that no military action or economic sanctions should be carried out until more defining evidence was gathered. It was true that during the now more than two weeks since the attacks, several pieces of evidence had been obtained which could point toward Syria in the Middle East as the underlying culprit. Unfortunately, much of that evidence was tenuous at best and some maintained that it wasn’t as concrete as many believed. That voice of doubt was minimal within the chambers, but some still cautioned of advancing upon Syria without truly knowing what the United States would be getting itself into. There was the memory of what had transpired after the attacks of September eleventh to consider, as that administration had been able to prey upon the American citizens and their elected officials after the attacks by pushing through a plan with ulterior motives while everyone was still raw with emotion. In time it was discovered that the war which ensued had been ill advised, as those ultimately responsible were not the same people that the administration wanted to wage war against, nor were they even in the same Arab country. In essence the American people had been misled by the highest office of leadership into financially backing a military incursion for another purpose under the guise of retaliation, and many within the military ranks had been killed or severely injured as a result. With that in mind, a few Federally elected officials questioned the wisdom of voting for a war against Syria in the current climate.
It could be argued that both sides of the debate had a strong case, but as the vote was due to be cast in short order; there was no more time to do so. The answer to the question of America’s next move would be answered soon enough, and some felt that opportunity had not come quickly enough. In the minds of the American public, each member of the Senate had been granted more than enough time to reach a decision on the matter. First there was the initial nearly two full days after the attacks before President Harwell’s address and the entire five day week of deliberation that had followed. Then there were the nine days of the Thanksgiving Holiday break, and finally the following Monday when back in session to choose a side. Now on this Tuesday morning any final thoughts on the matter had been delivered, so as the last few elected officials entered the chambers to take their seats, the process of the nationally televised vote could finally commence.
Seated comfortably within his family room while staring at the giant holographic screen, Samuel Tillman asked those members of the family in attendance if anyone wanted to wager on how lopsided the vote would be. Mason, who had returned from El Paso on the day before Thanksgiving, smiled and said, “Sure dad, what are you thinking? Something like an eighty to twenty margin?”
Before he could answer, Victoria elbowed her husband gently in the ribs and said sharply, “Don’t you answer that question Samuel!”
To which Samuel looked at her playfully and replied, “You are no fun.”
Victoria returned the smile with another softer elbow while reminding everyone to ignore her man as this was a potentially serious moment in history. Then as the verbal votes from each man and woman on the Senate floor were tallied and listed in the upper right hand corner of the screen, Samuel smiled. Before long it was obvious, the United States would soon be going to war against Syria.
At that moment President Harwell was also watching the same live coverage while inside the oval office with his Chief of Staff Christopher Westin and Mrs. Dawson. All three were intently focused on the early results and the obvious direction to which the vote was headed. Meanwhile agent Bishop, still on special assignmen
t for the president, stood no more than twenty feet away. While hearing and viewing the results of the incoming tally, his stomach churned with discomfort. Although he would never outwardly express toward the President his displeasure in the now obvious pending declaration of war, he could also not agree that it was the proper course of action to pursue. For Heath Bishop, something about the entire chain of events just didn’t quite add up to condemn Syria with such ease, but he couldn’t put his finger on why just yet. Although aware that his feelings were irrelevant because he possessed no power to stop what would soon be set in motion, agent Bishop resolved within himself that he would continue to dig for a reason to eventually halt it.
Armed with news of the event he had witnessed via the television broadcast of December first, Samuel immediately contacted number twenty three that morning to set the wheels for the next phase in motion. She had in turn contacted numbers three and five who were also aware of the declaration of war against Syria, so that they could begin the necessary process. The result of that process was now currently underway, and for the moment, had been met with resounding agreement and success. Unaware of how each individual state conducted business within their respective legislatures, Samuel Tillman could easily be considered as normal with regard to most citizens’ general lack of knowledge in that area. He, like most, was simply too busy or concerned with other important matters involving impact upon their own lives, so keeping tabs on how any of the other forty-nine states did things was generally irrelevant. However, when it came to his native land of Texas, Samuel understood the political structure quite well and had been manipulating it to his or the organizations advantage for years.
In the structure of Texas, the Lieutenant Governor presided over the Senate wing of the legislative branch. With assistance from the current Governor who Samuel and the organization had helped to retain office on more than one occasion, the former was pleased to help in any way that he could. A special session of the legislature, far later into the calendar year than on most other such instances, had been decreed and was currently in progress. Under strict secrecy number three had previously briefed the Lieutenant Governor of his intent, and as such an unusual event transpired within the agenda of the special session. Samuel Tillman was granted the right to do something that few, or perhaps no others, had ever done by addressing the Texas State Senate as nothing more than an ordinary everyday nonelected citizen. In so doing, he brought forth to them an extremely important message, and Samuel’s words resonated with clarity and conviction among the elected body. Now that he had completed that task to a round of applause, Samuel would attempt to do the same in the House of Representative Wing. However before he could do so, house protocol demanded that he be announced to the Madam Speaker and those of the elected body to which she presided over.
