by James Huber
President Ray Green, with Secretary of State Kirby on the intercom, told Contreras, “I want that ambassador in my office in thirty minutes, or he’ll be arrested and deported. Is that clear, Mr. President?”
“Yes. I’ll issue the order.”
“If I don’t have a written apology and reparations paid to the farms in Imperial Valley who lost their crops within two days, I’ll close your embassy and cut all economic and trade ties with Mexico. Don’t test me on this, Sir.”
“I understand. I’ll work on it immediately.”
President Green looked around and saw many men and women fighting back smiles. “He’ll get to it? Sure he will, right around the time Castro sails for Key West.”
He turned to his generals. “What’s the battle damage assessment?”
The only real damage was to three miles of California highway, where a helicopter launched two hellfire missiles at a fleeing Mexican armored car. No Americans were killed in the fight.
Navy medics from San Diego sorted the bodies of the dead guerrillas. Some bodies weren’t recognizable. The Marine Recon team found identification and paperwork on some of the bodies, which would help determine where they came from.
The governor of California arranged to return the bodies to Baja. He contacted the Red Cross, and soon vehicles arrived to take the bodies away.
General Burton of the NSA ordered the retasking of a spy satellite to follow the fleeing troops as they moved into Mexico. It appeared they were headed for Ensenada on the Pacific coast. He decided to keep tracking them through the mountains. They didn’t split up, which made him believe they were all one group from Baja. Maybe, for once, Contreras wasn’t lying. He might not know who commanded those men.
The Federals, the Mexican National Police Force, weren’t reliable when it came to observing movement across their country. Burton told his subordinates to keep him apprised if the group of guerrillas reached the coast.
He told President Green what he knew and said he would report more when he had the information. Secretary of State Douglas Guthrie was told to stand by for reports. When they came in, he was to give orders to the military in the president’s name.
They conferred earlier and had several different scenarios ready, none of which would prove beneficial to the invaders.
President Green ordered the military to stand down. All units associated with the action were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The Marine Recon Force would be given the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Unit Citation.
The Marine commandant smiled as President Green left the room with Aide Tony Hamilton.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Chairman Kyle Harris called the council of the Southwest Coalition to order about the recent invasion of the United States from Mexico. Unknown to officials in the US, General Joe launched reconnaissance drones to follow the invaders.
“Do you have a report, General?” Chairman Harris asked.
General Joe stood. “Mr. Chairman, Governors, we have two drones watching and reporting back to Holloman Air Force Base as we speak. It appears the remnants of the forces that invaded are moving toward Ensenada on the Pacific Coast. They may have transportation awaiting them at the docks. We’ll keep an eye on them and keep you updated.
“Until I receive intelligence from the United States, I won’t know what we’re dealing with. I can’t determine the source of the invaders. Apparently, the United States can’t, either. We’ll have to recover papers or other material from the battle site before we know. The US intelligence forces are having a hard time. The military equipment the invaders used was available from any arms- dealing nation in the hemisphere. As disorganized as the attack was, I believe it was Middle Eastern influenced or possibly eastern European.”
“That sounds rather biased and prejudiced, General,” Governor Tate said.
“Yes, Sir, I’m sure it does, but I’m a realist. I know political correctness and worrying about hurting someone’s tender feelings is one of the reasons we broke away from the United States. That country suffered an economic catastrophe because the government was frightened of being called racist or politically incorrect.
“If they said welfare kings and queens needed to get off their fat asses and gain some self-respect, the country would not have gone broke, and maybe they’d still have fifty states.”
“If we start worrying about people being displeased by a word or two we use, we won’t survive a year as a nation. Thick skins are needed. I hope you have one, Governor, because criticism will hit from all sides very soon.”
Governor Tate wanted to reply but fell silent. A few council members grinned. Tate was a smart man, but he was out of line. “It would be best to keep our eye on the current situation,”
Governor Raven said. “Taking off on tangents will make us sound like a third-world debating contest.” He was a poster child for political incorrectness. He and Tate had a contest of wills going, but Tate was a businessman and knew how to play a crowd.
Raven just said what he thought and dropped the subject.
“Can we get back on the subject?” Governor Norton, of Utah, asked.
“I believe until we capture a few of the enemy,” General Joe
said, “or find something written on paper, we’re whistling into the wind. I’d like to see what Ray Green comes up with in Washington. Maybe we can get information from him.
“In the meantime, I took the precaution of doubling our drone flights over the southern border. The Canadian defense minister has authorized us to make flights across the Canadian border. The United States secretary of defense has an impenetrable wall of Marines and soldiers along the border of California and Baja. I suggest we do the same.”
When no one had any questions, General Joe sat down.
Governors Espada, Harris, and Wilson asked for time to confer and decide when and how to activate a secure border guard.
“My state has the smallest border with Mexico,” Governor Espada said. “I have the least area to defend. I can move men and equipment where needed without hurting my own defenses. The biggest problem is Texas.”
“Kyle, your navy bases can cover the coast, and you have several tactical bases near the border. I’d suggest you make the most of the armor at Fort Bliss and Fort Hood. They might be spread thin, but they’re powerful. Drones flying over the border will help tremendously.”
She looked around for agreement. The only one who seemed disturbed was Governor Wilson of Arizona.
“I want this to be totally defensive in nature,” Wilson said. “I’d feel a lot better if the weapons we dispatch with our military forces are only defensive.”
General Joe wondered how anyone was supposed to discriminate in the kind of bullets and bombs to use, but he kept quiet. He would do whatever was needed to defend his country. The Hollywood governor could say what he wanted, but, when bullets flew and men and women died, he doubted Matt Wilson would be out there to meet them.
The governors decided New Mexico would share its inventory of weapons and soldiers to help protect other states. No hot pursuit over national borders would be allowed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
No similar agreements were made in the White House. The secretary of defense gave the order that insurgents were to be captured at the earliest possibility without infringing on foreign borders. Recon satellites tracked them as they moved down the Mexican Pacific coast to Ensenada. The group stayed together, while the rest of the forces melted away into Mexico and probably California. The larger group openly took Mexico’s Route One and turned toward the dock area just before the highway headed east away from the ocean.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s satellite constantly observed the docks around Ensenada. A Navy sub, the SSN706 USS Albuquerque, sailed into the Pacific.
When the sub cleared the harbor, the captain and watch officer came down from the conning tower.
“Chief of the Boat, take her down to 200 feet,” the captain said. “Navi
gator, put her on a bearing of 210° degrees. Diving Officer, keep her steady at 200 feet on that bearing. I want a racetrack course of two miles at 31° 45’ 40N and 117° 43’ 39.11 as my center.”
“Aye, Sir,” the navigator replied.
The captain turned to his executive officer. “Number Two, you have the conn.”
“Executive Officer has the conn.”
The captain went to his signals officer to send a final message before he reached their waiting point. He reviewed the message from the chief of naval operations, which was countersigned by the president. He was awaiting a transport ship in the 10,000-12,000 ton range. It would not be a sleek ship but would resemble a cargo vessel, and it was expected to have a large group of soldiers on its deck.
The ship would come off a heading of 120°. There would be no mistaking it for anything but an escape ship for the mercenaries or rebels who invaded the US through Mexico.
The captain was to call in a patrol plane to signal the ship to stop dead at sea. If it didn’t, he was to terminate the threat immediately without being discovered. If he had to fire on the ship, he was to clear the datum and head for Pearl Harbor.
When they arrived at their chosen position, the captain came to periscope depth and checked satellite signals for any change of orders. Receiving none, he set up his race-track pattern. All hands knew if the ship sailed from Ensenada, they would encounter it soon.
After four circuits of the race track, sonar picked up a signal from the southeast that matched a cargo ship of the described tonnage. The captain came to periscope depth and contacted the recon plane, which arrived quickly.
The weapons officer on the plane radioed the ship and ordered it to halt and prepare to be boarded. Men scrambled off the deck, and all tried to get below. Someone launched a shoulder-fired sea-to-air missile. The plane dropped to just above the waves, and the missile went ballistic and exploded. The plane flew north.
The captain watched from his periscope. “Load two torpedo tubes and flood them.”
“Aye, Sir. Ready, Sir.”
“Fire both tubes!”
Two minutes later, the cargo ship sank with all hands. A MK48, Mod 4, torpedo could ruin a captain’s weekend. Two of them would turn a ship, its crew, and the captain into fish food.
The Albuquerque turned and headed at speed for Pearl Harbor.
The captain’s last message was SSSS, Sighted Ship, Sank Same.
That was the message the commander SUBPAC, Submarines Pacific, was waiting for. Soon, the patrol plane radioed that they hadn’t been detected by radar, and no radio messages left the destroyed ship. The following day, a SEAL team would go down to the wreck and search it.
President Ray Green was glad when he learned no one saw the incident. A few people on Mexico’s west coast saw smoke on the horizon for a few minutes, but no one guessed that a US sub sank the merchant ship. He called the CNO and complimented him on a job well done.
With that crisis over, Ray went to his living quarters and called Lady Catherine on a secure line to the embassy. He told her he felt good, but she didn’t know why and would never know. She was just glad he weathered the invasion and added he would probably emerge with an unusually high public opinion rating.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
A few others knew about the sinking of the mercenary ship, but they wouldn’t talk. Ambassador Randall, Adjutant General Polk, Chairman Harris, General Joe Thompson, and Colonel Scott Roberts observed the action from a drone flying over the sea coast.
They agreed it was a slick operation. Even they couldn’t swear that a submarine was responsible, though they could say the recon plane was unarmed. At least they didn’t see any weapons on it.
The US began dealing with internal problems. Missouri had 110,000 welfare cases before the breakup of the union, and there was no way the Coalition would handle those. Because of
Coalition cuts in welfare, two neighborhoods in St. Louis burned to the ground. With winter coming, the situation was grim for Missouri and other states crushed under a welfare burden.
Normal agitators, who loved hearing themselves talk, stirred up people in Missouri, and an armed insurrection was imminent.
Late at night, one of the no church, no flock, no credentials reverends gathered a group of toughs and armed them with assault rifles and LAWS, light armored weapon systems, capable of taking out a small tank or armored car. They stormed the gates at Fort Leonard Wood, hoping to seize chemical or biological weapons.
The obvious futility of such an attack was missed. Such places were heavily guarded. Still, the men tried. They broke down the fences on the base’s northwest side and poured onto the air strip, where they met military police with heavily armed vehicles. When the attackers opened fire with assault weapons and wounded a corporal, the military police returned fire.
The battle didn’t last long. The civilian thugs were totally outgunned, outmanned, and outclassed. The wounded Corporal later commented it was funny to see one of the attackers aim his LAWS backward and blow up his own truck.
The felons not immediately killed ran off through the hills and woods, and most were caught quickly. The biggest prize was the reverend instigator. He was manacled and strapped to the roof of a personnel carrier to be brought to the stockade, where he would be held incommunicado for two years. He wouldn’t be released until the troubles were over. By then, he would have lost his mind and wouldn’t be trouble to anyone.
The toll in human lives was high. Over 700 young men died in the hour-long firefight, all in the invasion force. The fort’s public relations officer put the story in the news immediately, hoping to stop anyone else from trying something so idiotic.
The wounded corporal was the only US Army man who was injured. President Green was proud of his military for meeting the threat and turning it back.
It was also a subtle message to the Coalition that the US Army hadn’t rebelled in every state.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Attorney General Tremont met with President Green. After Green took over, the situation in the US changed. He redirected the budget to cover military expenses and infrastructure maintenance. He tried to model it after the Coalition program called the Coalition Working Cooperative. Many protested that it reminded them of the old Soviet Union, but he disagreed, as did Attorney General Tremont.
The press loved to call names. None of them understood how government worked, and it showed whenever an article was published.
Ray Green wasn’t concerned about the press. He hadn’t cared much for them after the invasion of Iraq when reporters were waiting on the beach to meet the US Navy SEALS and interview them.
Lillian Tremont was at the White House to brief Ray on the problems being encountered because of the decrease in funds available to welfare recipients. Green thought it would be better to pay them to work, but the civil rights groups were still stronger than the real government. They didn’t know or care that the government was almost broke trying to fund welfare. They just wanted more. Green needed good news.
Attorney General Tremont wasn’t able to find a law saying the government was required to offer cradle-to-grave security. She proposed terminating all welfare programs. If the former recipients refused to work or decided to riot, they would be considered terrorists and would be interned.
The attorney general and the secretary of the treasury developed a phase-out program for welfare. Implemented immediately, it would bring the nation closer to what welfare was originally meant to do—give someone a hand, not a handout. A person could work his way up. No one would have a choice unless he tried.
President Green decided to implement the plan immediately and brought in the press secretary, who was visibly skeptical.
Still, he took the details and went to write a speech.
That night, President Green went on national TV to announce the new austerity measures. Detroit, Southwest Washington, East St. Louis, most of Macon, Georgia, large parts of Birmingham, Alabama, and Jacks
on, Mississippi went up in flames. By the time riot control, police, and fire departments completed their work, 900 people were dead. Over 2,000 were injured, and thousands of homes and buildings burned.
The Coalition leaders watched in horror and disgust. They couldn’t take action. The US wasn’t a protectorate. One leading TV talking head blamed the situation on the Coalition for making people leave its member states rather than knuckle under to the dictatorial rules of having to work, not mooch. Governor Raven thought it would be a service to humanity to bomb NBC. The others agreed. Colonel Roberts made a note to watch Raven in the future.
The following morning, a massive invasion of Southeast Louisiana began. The perpetrators from Alabama and Mississippi looted and burned many miles across the land. Massed artillery and air bombardment stopped them just east of the Mississippi River. Most thought American troops wouldn’t fire on Americans, but they were wrong for two reasons. When people looted and rioted, they were no longer Americans. Coalition troops and leaders also were no longer Americans. They were Coalitionists protecting their homeland.
Chairman Harris, in Fort Worth, wondered how many more lessons people needed to learn.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Lady Catherine Blakely called the president the following morning.
“Catherine, I’m glad to speak to you,” he said. “My time is short, as you can imagine. What can I do for you today?”
“Mr. President, I’ve been ordered by the foreign secretary to meet with Chairman Harris and the governors of the Southwest Coalition of States. I’m leaving this afternoon for Ft. Worth. I
thought you should be the first to know.” She sounded distraught. “What’s wrong?”
She was falling in love with Ray and his country. She recently saw both in turmoil and crisis, and she felt something for them. Her loyalty to Great Britain was conflicted.