by Marvin Tyson
“I suspected as much. Let me get on the phone to President Barker.”
“Yes, sir,” Major Burns confirmed. “I’ll do what I can to keep things from getting worse.”
“Thank you, Major, I appreciate anything you can do on that score,” Marty told him.
He didn’t have to call. “President Barker is calling for you, sir, and he sounds like it’s urgent,” said his secretary.
As Marty picked up the phone, prepared to defend his people from an expected charge of recklessness, he was shocked when President Barker said, “Marty, first let me apologize for the lunatics that crossed into Texas a few minutes ago. I’m sure you have been made aware of the situation near Texoma, and I want you to know I have recalled the officer who approved that asinine operation. Unfortunately, I’m under tremendous political pressure here.”
“Yes, sir, I understand that,” Marty assured President Barker.
“I hope we can work together to put a lid on this before it gets out of hand,” the president said. “And I’ll have to ask you to keep this between the two of us so that politics won’t make it worse.”
“That’s fine, Mr. President, but I’m sure you understand we can’t have U.S. forces moving into Texas unopposed. That would be political suicide for me.”
“I assure you that it will not happen again, Marty. But I’ll have to leave my forces in place for a few days until this settles down.”
“That’s fine, Mr. President. I’ll do what I can to settle things down on my end.”
When the conversation ended, Marty decided he needed the advice of his old team. So he asked them to come in again.
When they’d all arrived, Marty welcomed them into his office. “Well, folks, although we haven’t made any announcements about it, I’m sure you’re all aware of the incident that happened a few hours ago near Lake Texoma.”
They nodded.
“Great,” Marty said, “I have been on the phone with President Barker and we’re both working hard to put a lid on this before it gets out of hand. I need your advice on how to handle this from our end to prevent any bloodshed. At the same time, I need to avoid making Texas appear weak.”
This time, Pat was first to speak, “Mr. President, I suggest you handle this from a position of strength. You need to put more pressure on President Barker than the radicals in his Cabinet can put on him from that end.” She paused. “I can assure you they’re telling him to whip us back into line militarily. You have to show him that you’re not going to fold. President Barker made a public announcement that he will delay separation. You should go on TV and radio to announce that we are absolutely sticking by the original timetable, and may even be able to finish it early.”
Marty was impressed by the forcefulness of her statement, but even more by the fact that she had never called him Mr. President before. That reinforced his understanding that she was deadly serious.
Raymond chimed in. “She’s right, Marty. If we appear to falter now, we will never get this done.”
The others agreed, and Marty saw the logic in what they were saying. “I agree. I’ll have Norma set up a press conference for two hours from now.”
While the television and radio stations were still setting up their microphones and cameras, Norma Harrison practically ran across the hall and whispered to Marty that Colonel Jones of the Texas Guard was on the phone, and it was important that Marty take the call.
Marty went to one of the extensions in the room. “What can I do for you, Colonel Jones?” he asked.
“Mr. President, a U.S. Army convoy of trucks and Humvees just tried to cross the Highway 79 Bridge into Texas. We blocked the road with our own fighting vehicles and tanks. It’s a Mexican stand-off, with them holding half the bridge and our troops holding the other half. There’s about a hundred yards between both forces. I have no intention of allowing them to cross as long as I can hold out.”
“Thank you, Colonel. Good job, and do not let them cross that bridge. I’ll call you back within an hour.”
Marty pulled his cellphone out of his jacket pocket and dialed the hotline number for emergency communications. A voice he didn’t recognize picked up the phone and said, “President Barker is busy right now. Can I have him call you back tomorrow?”
Marty stifled a curse. “You tell President Barker he needs to call me back immediately. If things don’t change right now, we’ll be at war tomorrow.” He punched the END button on the phone.
The hotline rang back within a minute. “What’s going on, Marty? I was in a Cabinet meeting. What’s so urgent?” President Barker asked.
“President Barker, you may not be aware, but I’m sure someone in the White House is, that the U.S. Army just attempted to cross the Highway 79 Bridge into Texas. Right now, we have trucks, Humvees, infantry fighting vehicles, and Abrams tanks from both sides faced off less than one hundred yards apart. One hothead with a pistol can start an all-out war between us. Is that what you want?”
“Marty, let me get some answers from my people on this end, and I’ll get back with you soon as possible.” President Barker sounded perturbed. “I have to give my people a chance to tell their version before I tell them to retreat.”
“President Barker, none of my people moved. No Texas forces tried to cross the Red River. My people have orders not to allow U.S. troops to set foot on Texas soil. The only way to avoid bloodshed here is to pull your army back on your side of the Red River.”
“I’ll call you back within fifteen minutes, Marty,” the president said, “fifteen minutes.”
“That’s all you have, Mr. President.”
Marty ended the call, then walked back into the room where the media was waiting.
“Ladies and gentlemen, first let me thank you for coming. I’ll make a short announcement, then take a couple of questions.
“As you all know, when the people of Texas freely voted to separate from the United States and become a free and independent republic, we established a timeline. That timeline was two years, which will be up in two months. From our vantage point, it appears we can move that up.” He paused for effect, then announced, “We now establish Texas independence to be official two weeks from today. Questions?”
He called on Sally Martin, a young reporter from CBS, first. “Mr. President, President Barker has announced that he believes the separation should be delayed, perhaps for several years. How would you answer that?”
“First, let me make this perfectly clear,” Marty said, his face set in stern lines. “Texas became a free and independent republic the moment those votes were counted. We freely entered into negotiations with the U.S. to settle such things as payment of our share of the national debt, travel, currency issues, border control, and various treaty issues, which we have made great progress on.
“For reasons we don’t fully understand, the U.S. has not agreed to any further meetings for several weeks now, and President Barker’s announcement is the only thing we’ve heard from them about our separation. Today we’ve had two incidents on our borders between the U.S. military and Texas forces. With the situation being as volatile as it is, we think that separating as quickly as possible is best for both sides. All other negotiations can take place between two equal sovereign nation states.”
A journalist from Reuters Marty had never seen was waving his hand frantically, so Marty called on him. “Mr. President,” he said loudly, “are you aware that the Secretary-General of the United Nations only moments ago called an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss the U.S.-Texas separation?”
Marty nodded. “Representatives from both Texas and the U.S. have had several meetings with UN representatives. They understand exactly what we’re trying to do, and it’s no different than the other hundred and fifty separations that have taken place around the world since World War II. However, they likely have trepidations about the potential for violence with two large militaries facing off across a small river. I’m sure this situation has more to do wit
h his announcement than the separation itself, which has the full support of the UN.”
“A follow-up question, sir?” Marty nodded, and the Reuters reporter continued, “Will you ask for, or will you allow, UN peacekeeping troops to set up a buffer between the U.S. and Texas forces?”
“I’m not going to involve myself in speculation on hypotheticals. Let’s just wait and see what the Secretary-General has to say before we jump to any conclusions.” He stepped back. “I’m afraid that’s all we have time for today. I’ll get more information to you as quickly as I can.”
The hotline phone from President Barker was ringing before the first reporter could clear the room. Marty stepped into his office, closed the door and answered.
“This is President Kert,” he said.
“This is President Barker, Marty. I have given strict orders to my people on the border to withdraw to the Oklahoma side and to make no more provocative moves. Will you ask your people to withdraw to the Texas side and clear that bridge?”
“Yes, sir, as soon as U.S. forces are off that bridge, my people will clear it.”
“Another thing, Marty,” Barker added, “the Secretary-General of the UN has called an emergency session because he thinks we’re on the verge of war here. And I understand you made some statements in a press conference just a moment ago that some of my people are going to consider provocative. I think we need to return to a more diplomatic tone, do you agree?”
“President Barker, I believe that, just as I said in my press conference, the sooner we can get this done, the better off everyone will be. Let us go ahead and separate, and sit across the table as equals for the remainder of the negotiations.”
“Marty, I’ll have to have some advice from my Cabinet and leading House and Senate members, but I agree with what you said. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Chapter 50
The withdrawal of Texas and U.S. forces along the Oklahoma-Texas border was carried out smoothly by both sides, but tensions remained high along the entire border between Texas and its neighbors.
The following day, Marty received a communication from the office of the Secretary-General of the UN, inviting Texas to send a representative to the emergency session. In spite of the fact that Texas was not a member state, they were invited as a “state where a potential for immediate violence existed.”
Marty was sure the U.S. received a similar letter. He responded that Texas would send a representative with authority to speak officially on behalf of the Republic of Texas. Then he picked up the phone and asked Pat if she wanted the job.
Although Pat was confused as to why Marty asked her to take the job, she accepted, but asked him if he could gather their old team together once more for advice.
The following day, the entire team met in Austin to discuss the upcoming meeting at the UN.
Raymond was the first one to speak. “Personally, I don’t trust the UN and never have. However, the Secretary-General has always shot straight with Texas and has always been honest and above board with us. I think we have to allow this to play out.”
“That’s right,” Sam stated. “Besides, we may need their help to settle this down. There are still a lot of hotheads in the states that would love to see this descend into bloodshed.”
“We should also understand that the U.S. will have a team of negotiators backed up by a team of lawyers when we get there. I say we should have at least three people there on our side,” said J.P.
“I agree,” said Marty.
Sammy smiled. “De and I may not be a good fit for this job; negotiations and statesmanship are not our long suits. We do think it’s a good idea to have some security there, though, even if we have to wait outside.”
* * *
President Barker had chosen a hodgepodge of young lawyers from the State Department and the Department of Justice, but he asked a well-known senator to lead the team.
As the teams from the U.S. and Texas arrived at the United Nations building, they were ushered into different rooms, each with several desks, tables, and chairs. This would make it possible for each team to meet, strategize, and confer in private without interference from anyone.
The entire floor was a beehive of activity because of the Security Council’s emergency meeting. Rapid footsteps and a cacophony of strange languages echoed through the halls. The disagreement between Texas and the U.S. had become the most important issue in the world.
They had almost two hours before the first session got underway. Neither side knew who made up the team for the other side. Pat smiled. How overconfident would a group of Washington lawyers be when they saw Raymond strolling behind her in his worn boots, carrying his beat-up Stetson?
She had stayed up almost all night the night before preparing her opening remarks and trying to anticipate how the U.S. would defend its actions. She expected to hear a rehash of all the standard statements they trotted out every time they tried to bully another nation. But she was confident that her team would be up to the task of rebutting anything they said. She felt strongly that Texas was legally, morally, and ethically on the right side.
* * *
Senator Mitchell, who was meeting with his group prior to the meeting, had no idea what to expect or even why he was chosen for this assignment. He just figured that no one in the U.S. government had any experience in negotiating with a seceding state, so he was as good as anybody. That didn’t give him much confidence, but he was a good public speaker and he had been a trial lawyer before going into politics, so he was confident in his presentation skills.
When the Council was ready, the Texas delegation was seated first. Pat didn’t know if this was a good or bad sign, but she was sure it wasn’t random.
When Senator Mitchell and his group walked in, their displeasure at seeing the Texans already seated was obvious.
After the opening formalities, Security Council President Magnus Thorson of Sweden stated the purpose of the session. “We are concerned with the volatility of the situation between Texas and the remaining United States. Our purpose is fact-finding, helping in any way we can to defuse this situation, and to attempt some physical separation between the two militaries.”
He asked Senator Mitchell if he was ready with opening remarks.
“Yes, we are, Mr. President, and we appreciate the time and effort of this body to maintain peace in our country. However, we would like to make one correction to your opening statement―the separation of Texas has not yet occurred, so they are still one of the United States, and subject to our laws and our Constitution.
“Although our government reluctantly agreed to allow Texas to hold a referendum on independence, circumstances have changed in such a way since that referendum to make it impossible to continue with the established timetable. We may even have to nullify the results of that referendum altogether.
“The security of the U.S. will be severely compromised if we allow this referendum to stand. Several more U.S. states have now decided to vote on independence and, if they go, it will result in a total, physical separation of the United States.
“We ask this Council to recognize the tenuous position that would put us in and to agree with us that we cannot allow it.”
“Although I have some questions for the U.S. delegation, I would prefer to hear opening remarks from Texas before I ask those questions,” said President Thorson. “Is the Texas delegation prepared to offer opening remarks?”
“We are, Mr. President,” said Pat. “My name is Patricia Thomas and I have been given the honor of leading the delegation of the Republic of Texas. With me today are Mr. Ramos and Mr. Thompson. Another member of our delegation who was detained will be here shortly.”
Raymond and J.P. glanced at each other quizzically. Raymond just shrugged and shook his head.
Pat continued. “It is our opinion that, in a very real sense, Texas became a free and independent nation the moment those referendum ballots were counted. Texas and the U.S. agreed there
would be a two-year period to negotiate the details of separation. However, that did not change the fact that the people of Texas had voted to be a free and independent entity. We do not believe we can be expected to relinquish our right to local self-government because of actions by other states in the Union that are beyond our control.”
Pat took a deep breath, turning her attention momentarily to the team across from her. “The United States,” she said, “which Texas was part of at that time, accepted and ratified the UN Charter that states in Article 2 that local self-government is the right of any people anywhere. We hold that is still true, and that Texas is a free and independent state.”
When Pat sat down, she turned to Raymond and asked him to contact Sheila at their hotel and tell her a car would pick her up in ten minutes. Raymond smiled and nodded, heading out of the meeting to take care of Pat’s request.
“Senator Mitchell, we are all familiar with the details of the proposed independence referendums in your Heartland states. But can Texas be held responsible for that?” asked Mr. Thorson. “Surely you must see that all the states hold the rights of any of the states. These states have not yet voted to separate, but they do have that right. Perhaps this is the time for statesmanship and serious negotiation.”
“I will certainly convey that message to President Barker,” said Senator Mitchell indignantly, “but I must tell you that the United States will never allow its security to be so compromised. I suggest a brief recess while I contact President Barker.”
President Thorson called a recess, adding that, since it was so near lunchtime, they would reconvene at one-thirty. That gave the teams an hour and forty-five minutes before they reconvened.
Shortly before they were to reconvene, there was a knock at the door of the Texas delegation. It was Craig Beck, the Washington lobbyist who had seen Sheila leaving Senator Mitchell’s room.
“I recognized Ms. Littlefeather when I saw her come in,” he said, his mouth set in a grim line. “You need to know that we will not allow her to embarrass Senator Mitchell in any way. In fact, if she is called to testify, or if her name even comes up, we will walk out and this meeting will be over.”
