by Robert Boren
“Well, it’s good news, at least,” Maria said.
“Yeah, but something has got Nelson really worried. He tried to hide it, but I know him too well.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “I’d better get my coat on and go down there.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be here waiting.”
Hendrix put his coat on and walked to her, bending down to kiss her. “See you in a little while.”
She smiled, straightening his tie for him before he left.
The big meeting room was packed. Rows of chairs sat around the edges of the room. Hendrix saw Holly and Chief Ramsey sitting at the huge conference table in the middle. They motioned him over.
“Hey, guys,” Hendrix said as he sat down between them. “How’s it going?”
“I’m nervous,” Ramsey said. “The Governor looked worried when I was with him a little while ago.”
“I picked up the same thing when I talked to him earlier,” Hendrix said. “Anybody find Jerry Sutton yet?”
“Nope,” Ramsey said. “Sorry. I don’t have a good feeling.”
“Me neither,” Hendrix said. “Thanks for looking.”
“Of course,” Ramsey said. “Look, Generals. I think that’s Walker and Hogan.”
“Wow,” Holly said. “Gallagher and Landry too. Something’s up.”
“Well, it’s not San Antonio,” Ramsey said. “We’re just mopping up now.”
“How’d we win so easily?” Hendrix asked.
“There were a number of factors in our favor,” Ramsey said. “First of all, the tanks were about out of gas by the time they got there. Those folks that hit their supply depot did a lot more damage to them than anybody thought. All of their mobile refueling equipment was there, along with all of their fuel.”
“A couple of your officers were involved, weren’t they?” Holly asked.
“Yeah,” Ramsey said. “The two who were at that Superstore attack when this mess started.”
“I’m sorry about how we acted after that,” Hendrix said.
“Ancient history,” Ramsey said. “You’ve got my respect now. You too, Holly.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Hendrix said.
“Same here,” Holly said. “You going to bring your two men back in?”
“Walker and Hogan wanted to use them as the core for a citizen force,” Ramsey said. “Along with the other folks who were involved.”
“Who else was there?”
Ramsey chuckled. “Remember those rednecks who helped put down the initial attack in Austin?”
“You’re joking,” Hendrix said. “Good for them.”
Ramsey chuckled. “Some of those guys have rap sheets a mile long, but I’m glad to have them on our side now.”
“There’s the boss,” Holly said, nodding towards the door. Governor Nelson walked in with his secretary Brian and a few members of the Texas Legislature. A hush fell over the room.
“Thank you all for coming,” Nelson said. He sat at the head of the table and glanced at the thin black microphones hanging down from the ceiling. “Those on?”
“Yep,” Brian said. “Just speak normally. They should pick up fine.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Okay, I think everybody knows everybody except for General Hogan and General Walker.”
There were murmurs in the room, but they settled quickly.
Nelson nodded to Brian, who sat at a console and turned on the projector.
“Take a look at the gentleman on the screen there,” Nelson said. A man in Islamist garb was standing with several other men, all of them holding AK-47s.
“Who’s that?” Hendrix asked.
“General Walker?” Nelson asked.
General Walker nodded to Nelson, and then looked at the others sitting around the table. “He goes by Saladin. His real name is too hard to pronounce. He was seen in the United States last week, with some very interesting company.”
The picture changed, to a grainy long shot of three men, standing on the tarmac of an airport next to Air Force One. Several people gasped, and the murmuring was back.
“Holy shit,” Ramsey said. “I knew it.”
“I’m sure you folks recognize the two men talking with Saladin,” General Walker said.
“Governor Sable of California and the President of the United States,” Holly said. “Dammit. What does this mean?”
“It means collusion,” General Walker said. “We believe that Saladin has command of all the Islamist Forces in the western half of the country.”
“Where is he now?” Hendrix asked.
“We aren’t sure,” General Walker said. “Probably California, but it could be Arizona, New Mexico, or Utah. Maybe even Colorado. He’s hard to track.”
Ramsey chuckled. “In other words, you don’t have a clue from minute to minute.”
General Walker smiled. “Yeah, afraid so. We do know that he has an uncanny ability to direct his forces from wherever he is. We don’t know how he’s doing it.”
“What about the RFID idea?” General Hogan asked.
“RFID?” Holly asked.
“Just a theory,” General Walker said. “He might have implanted RFID chips into all of his men, which would give him a very good view of where his fighters are at any given time.”
“I think it’s more than a theory,” General Hogan said. “One of his fighters had a device implanted. The coroner found it.”
“That could have been from a stint in a prison someplace,” General Walker said, “but don’t worry, we’re looking into it. If we find more like that, we’ll know.”
“Don’t you have more than one body?” Hendrix asked.
“That’s another thing that points to the RFID theory,” General Hogan said. “These folks are very careful about removing bodies from the battlefield, unless they’re burned to a crisp or blow into mush. They seem to know exactly where the bodies are.”
“What does this creep have to do with Texas?” Hendrix asked. “Is he operating here?”
“No, we don’t think he’s been in Texas since you guys became a Republic,” General Walker said.
“Okay, I’ll take it from here,” Nelson said. “Here’s the bottom line. We’re going to lose the support of what’s left of the US Armed Forces in Texas, including the counsel of Generals Walker and Hogan. They have to put a full court press on finding Saladin and stopping his command and control structure.”
“So what does that leave us with?” Ramsey asked. “The last estimate on Islamic fighters inside Texas that I saw showed nearly half a million men.”
“We’ll retain the Texas National Guard, but we’ll have to recruit citizens. General Walker was working on that. He’s handing that job off to Gallagher and Landry.”
Ramsey chuckled. “So now I get the importance of the Austin cops and the rednecks,” he whispered to Holly and Hendrix.
“No side meetings,” Nelson said. “What, Ramsey?”
“Sorry, sir,” Ramsey said. “We were talking before the meeting started about how we’ll have to rely on citizen teams like the ones who took out that supply dump a few days ago.”
“You hit the nail right on the head,” General Walker said. “It’s exactly what we need. That attack on the supply depot was brilliant. Know where those folks are right now?”
“Some of them are in Fort Stockton,” Ramsey said. “I’ve been in contact with them almost daily.”
“Did you know they were going to blow the supply depot?” General Hogan asked.
Ramsey snickered. “No sir, they cooked that up all on their own.”
“Good,” Nelson said. “We need to get a meeting set up with the leadership of that group and Major General Gallagher.”
“Love it,” Gallagher said. “I studied what those folks have been doing. Wow. Especially that guy named Curt. He’s obviously a genius.”
Ramsey laughed. “He used to work for me. You know he had to leave his last police job for punching out a superior, right?”
�
��I looked into that,” Gallagher said. “I don’t blame him. He was right.”
“Do we know what this Saladin character is planning on doing?” Hendrix asked.
General Walker shot him a worried glance. “We think the Administration and the leadership of California are using him to justify martial law in that state, which they have no plans of rescinding. Ever.”
“It’s their pilot area,” General Hogan said. “If they can pull it off, they’ll do the same thing on the rest of the west coast, then work the east coast. Eventually they’ll push towards the center of the country from both sides.”
“You really think this war is about taking the country totalitarian?” Hendrix asked. “Sounds improbable to me.”
“I believe that’s part of it,” General Walker said. He paused for a moment, looking around the room. “Anybody quotes me on this, I’ll deny it.”
“Everything stays in this room,” Nelson said, his eyes sweeping around. “Understand?”
There was nodding of heads and murmurs of yes.
“Okay,” General Walker said. “I believe that the President and others, including the Governor of California, think they can use this guy to make a tipping point in our society. I think they’ve made some kind of deal on this, where Saladin and his forces disappear after the desired result is obtained.”
“There’s a but coming,” Ramsey said.
“Yeah, a big one,” General Walker said. “Saladin’s forces are huge, and he has more in the pipeline, coming from several directions. The President won’t be able to contain these folks. They’ll attempt to take over. If we didn’t have an armed citizenry, they’d probably succeed, and North America would turn into a giant Afghanistan.”
“You really think a bunch of un-trained civilians are gonna be able to make the difference here?” Hendrix asked.
“In a word, yes,” General Hogan said. “You remember that old saying about a gun behind every blade of grass? Well, with over 350 million guns in private hands, that’s essentially what we have. We need to augment them with more modern equipment and training. In Texas, that’s going to be Gallagher’s job after I leave.”
“And you will pursue this outside of Texas now, I take it?” Ramsey asked.
“Exactly,” General Walker said. “We can’t do anything about California right now, but we can shore up Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. That’s where we’ll concentrate. There’s several good groups to work with in those areas. I’ve already started talking to them.”
“What’s to prevent somebody else from using the citizens to take over the country?” Holly asked. “What’s to prevent them from leaping over what remains of the government, and taking charge?”
“Hell, the citizens are already in charge here, remember?” Nelson said. “We all serve at their pleasure, not the other way around.”
“But that might lead to a tyranny of the majority,” Hendrix said. “All kinds of bad stuff might happen. Revival of Jim Crow, for instance.”
“I think we need to give the US population a little more credit than that,” Ramsey said.
“I agree,” General Walker said, “but we’re in uncharted territory here, to be sure.”
“Let’s assume for a moment that Texas is successful in taking down the invaders inside our borders,” Hendrix said. “What then? If the rest of the country falls, won’t the enemy come after us?”
“Texas only needs to worry about its own state and New Mexico,” General Walker said.
“New Mexico?” Holly asked.
“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “The state government of New Mexico is rotten to the core, and they’re letting enemy fighters flood in across their southern border. Some of them are coming here. Some of them are going into Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.”
“We plan to chase them back into New Mexico and kill them off,” Gallagher said.
“That’s why the Feds are asking me about our plans for New Mexico,” Hendrix said.
“Let’s not talk about that in this meeting,” Nelson said.
“Okay, sorry,” Hendrix said.
“No problem,” Nelson said as he stood up. “That’s about it for now. I’ll be meeting with groups of you over the next couple of days to make assignments. The entire Texas Government will be on this. Think World War II – everybody will be mobilized in one way or another to support the war effort. That’s what it’s gonna take if we are to survive.”
“Sounds like we have our work cut out for us,” Ramsey said.
People started getting out of their seats and heading for the door.
“Ramsey and Hendrix, stick around, okay?” Nelson said.
“Sure, boss,” Ramsey said. Hendrix nodded.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Holly said. He left the room. Ramsey and Hendrix watched as the room emptied out.
Nelson looked at his secretary. “Brian, go outside the door and keep people out for a few minutes, please.”
“Yes sir,” he said. He left the room.
Nelson walked over and sat down next to Ramsey and Hendrix.
“Think that went over okay?” Nelson asked.
“I think you scared the crap out of everybody,” Hendrix said, “but in a good way.”
“It’s bad that we’re losing Walker and Hogan,” Ramsey said.
“They’ll still be working with us on the New Mexico effort,” Nelson said, “but you’re right, and it worries me. Those guys were valuable in ways I haven’t been able to tell you.”
“The folks on my side of the fence in the legislature aren’t going to buy the alliance of Governor Sable, the President, and Saladin,” Hendrix said. “Those grainy photos probably won’t do the trick.”
“I know,” Nelson said. “We’ll just have to do the best we can. I still want an opposition party, as long as they stay within the law.”
“Agreed,” Ramsey said.
“Yeah,” Hendrix said. “That isn’t why you asked us to stick around, though, is it?”
“No,” Nelson said. “Are the Feds still quizzing you on New Mexico, Kip?”
“Every time I talk to them,” he said, “but they haven’t wanted to talk for a couple days.”
“They will again,” Nelson said. “I want you to let them force some info out of you.”
“Force?”
“Yeah, Kip, make it sound like you really don’t want to admit it,” Nelson said. “You know how.”
“What do you want me to tell them?”
Nelson chuckled. “Tell them that I plan to annex New Mexico as part of the Texas Republic. Hint that there are other states I’m interested in, and that I’m becoming power-hungry.”
Ramsey laughed. “I think I know where this is going.”
Hendrix grinned. “You want to double check the story that Walker and Hogan are telling us.”
“That’s part of it,” Nelson said, “but I don’t really doubt those two. I think they’re both patriots who are being straight with us.”
“So what’s the other reason?” Ramsey asked.
“I want Saladin to flood the Texas/New Mexico border with enemy troops,” Nelson said. “It’s going to be a kill zone. I figure it will take us several weeks to put down the invasion here in Texas. Then we can bring our forces to bear and wipe them out.”
“What happens after that?” Hendrix asked.
“We rebuild our state, and start planning our re-entry into the union. Then we join the other states and finish this nonsense once and for all. Right now the enemy thinks we’ll leave them alone outside of Texas. We’re going to make that a fatal error.”
“We’ll have to weed out a lot of traitors from the Federal Government,” Ramsey said.
“Yes,” Nelson said. “That’s going to be the hardest part. It’s not easy to tell friend from foe.”
“Okay, Governor, I’ll plant the seeds for you,” Hendrix said. “Glad to do it.”
“Thanks, Kip,” Nelson said, reaching to shake his hand. “Ramsey, walk back to the Governor’s m
ansion with me. I want to talk to you about the team that blew up the supply depot, ahead of the meeting with Gallagher tomorrow morning.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Ramsey said. “See you later, Kip.”
“See you guys,” Hendrix said. He left the room, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Chapter 14 – Park Models
“There’s 771,” Lita said, pointing ahead.
“Good, won’t be long now,” Richardson said.
“The kids are asleep back there,” Lita said. “Think we’ll be okay?”
Richardson turned onto 771, slowing down from highway speed. “This is a dangerous business, but I’ve got a good crew. Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry?” she whispered. “This is war. People get killed all the time.”
“I know,” Richardson said. “If you dwell on that too much, you start running scared. Easiest way to get killed.”
She reached out and touched his thigh, looking at him with glassy eyes. “I meant what I said back there. We’re need to find a courthouse when we’re settled.”
“Good, I was hoping you’d stay interested in that idea,” he whispered.
“You want me that bad?”
“You’re kidding, right? I would’ve married you a year ago if you’d have let me.”
“I know,” she said. “Wish I would’ve been ready.”
“You sure you’re ready now, or is it just the times?”
“The times helped, but that’s not all of it,” she said. “My view of what’s important in life has changed a lot in the last couple of weeks.”
“War has a way of doing that to you,” Richardson said. “Pretty place.”
“It is,” she said. “I’ve been here before with my parents.”
“We almost there boss?” Juan Carlos asked as he stretched.
“Yeah, almost,” Richardson said. “We’re on the main road in right now.”
“Good,” he said. “I got to pee.”
“TMI,” Lita said.
Madison punched him in the arm. “Really?”
“I didn’t think you were awake,” Juan Carlos said.
“I’ve been dozing,” she said. “Hannah’s still out. So’s Brendan.”