by Ryan Garner
“In performing this duty, I will not attempt to debate the right of secession. It is sufficient to proclaim that my State, in its sovereign capacity, and in response to numerous unwanted and unjustified extensions of federal powers; paramount of all being the disbanding of Congress, the closure of the courts, and the suspension of the Constitution of the United States, has assumed that right on its own.”
“The clearly expressed purpose of the United States Constitution was to ensure certain ideals including the rights of the individual citizen. Most important of all these rights were the right to religious freedom, the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and the safeguard against unnecessary search and seizure. By enacting the Constitution, we as a people, sought to guarantee equality, justice, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to us all and our own posterity. The present administration has abandoned those ideals.”
“You President Jordan, your associates, and the National Governing Police have wrongfully intruded into every possible crevice of our society and so distorted it, that we ourselves had begun to believe that all were absolutely necessary to our survival…But no longer! While the agents of your administration slowly, but surely built up their power and wealth, we have come to realize that this accumulation of wealth and power was driven by a determination to destroy the very principles upon which it was drawn. I do not pretend to explain this; I refer you to history.”
“In conclusion the people of Texas, being a portion of the millions of people of these United States, have been compelled to ask themselves, is our existence as free citizens worth the struggle? Is our freedom and way of life so important that it is worth the cost at hand? Their answer to this question, I have submitted to you in the form of their Ordinance of Secession from the United States of America.”
“Dear Lord...” Todd Sorrells stated in a tone of sheer disbelief as he stared at the television.
“Que Dios nos ayude.” Ezzi Merrow muttered in her native Spanish language.
“He's gone and stirred up a hornets nest now.” Roger Faulk said almost immediately after Ezzi finished speaking, he then crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back in his chair.
“Can he do that?” Chris asked as he glanced around the room waiting for someone to give him an answer.
“I don't know if he can, but I think he just did.” Morrisey responded.
“Shit…” Corporal Bergman mumbled under his breath as he leaned forwards in his chair.
The officers watched for several more seconds in stunned silence as the usually smarmy newscaster stumbled over his words and feebly attempted to explain the circumstances at hand. In truth the current events had been months or even years in the making. While Texas and its government had been the most outspoken in opposition to President Jordan and his executive council they were far from the only ones who were more than frustrated with what was occurring within the country.
The truth of the matter was that John was surprised to see that President Jordan had allowed Governor Gabriel to remain in his position long enough to actually accomplish such a task. While the secession would certainly infuriate the president and his associates it was already more than clear to him that given the current state of affairs within the US it was unlikely that any sort of military response would happen; or at least it would not happen anytime soon. With the extreme downsizing and budgetary cuts that the military had undergone due to more emphasis being placed on vast sweeping entitlement programs and along with its resources being stretched thin across the US as the military attempted to quell riots and protests in virtually every major city while also responding to possible terrorist threats in numerous different locations; planning some sort of invasion to force the State of Texas back into the union would at the very least take some effort to organize. This in turn would buy Texas much needed time.
John also suspected that given Governor Gabriel's influential personality within his state that the majority of Texas's National Guard and law enforcement community would be backing him, John also believed that it was certainly possible that groups within the military itself that were based in Texas may even choose to align themselves with Gabriel. While that would certainly not be enough to hold off the full force of the US military it certainly made them a reputable foe. Additionally, federal resources outside those of the welfare system given to the state were now inconsequential as the Federal Government was taking nearly as much money from states as it was giving them. While it may take some reorganizing and a decent amount of lateral thinking, the monetary impact on Texas due to the ceasing of federal funds would be manageable.
All this being said however, John was also sure that the National Governing Police would immediately put forth a plan of action. There were after all countless NGP station headquarters scattered throughout Texas and John knew that Governor Gabriel would have quite a task ahead of him as he attempted to rid his state of President Jordan's devotees.
The mid-range beeping tone from the flat screen TV at the front of the room pulled everyone's attention away from the news broadcast. John immediately bristled with anger when he saw Captain Davis seated behind his desk on the other end of the video conference call. After his recent written and verbal lashing Davis was one of the last people John wanted to see and he felt his entire body tense upon seeing the commanding officer.
Coward! John thought to himself.
Davis cleared his throat before speaking, “By now I'm sure everyone has heard the news of Texas's secession. Let’s be extra sure to be prepared for anything out there tonight as I'm sure there will be groups with extreme views on both sides of the fence in regards to this issue.” He paused momentarily in between statements before continuing, “And don't forget to keep a close eye out for what could potentially become protesting activity or riots. There have been numerous reports from agencies across the country that these types of incidents have grown even worse since the “Bloody Saturday” attacks.” There was another momentary pause before Davis concluded with, “So, if none of the district sergeants have anything, let’s be careful out there tonight and go to work.”
There was another beep and the screen went blank. John felt the muscles in his arms flex, still feeling the frustration course through him. Under normal circumstances he would have vented to Karina about all of this. She would have more than likely been able to sooth him, but not now. Now, he felt utterly alone. Mental exhaustion and pain were taking their toll and he winced at the thought of still being apart from his only close friend.
“Alright guys, like the captain said, let's be extra careful out there tonight.” Sergeant Gelman said as he moved away from his podium. This pulled John from his mental daze and forced him back into reality. He stood slowly from the table where he had been seated and quietly made his way towards the exit door.
…..
It was just barely after 8:30 PM and John was already exhausted and backlogged with paperwork. Several calls occurring in rapid succession had already forced him to race from one end of his beat to the other and this had quickly worn him out. While his district and beat were normally busy, things had gotten progressively worse since the resent terrorist attacks. Everyone seemed to be terrified of everything and everyone; tensions were running extremely high. While John was no stranger to answering frivolous 911 calls it now appeared as if the slightest little thing seemed to warrant a response from the police. And while some requests did indeed seem trivial everyone knew that in the present reality a genuine threat could arise at any time or place.
Complicating matters further John had not gotten what one would have considered a full night's rest since his discovery of Karina at the Occupy Congress protest. The shock of the situation had now stayed with him for days and he found that when he did try to sleep his time was merely spent cat napping; in between those short breaks his mind was constantly bombarded with never ending thoughts of the entire situation at hand. All of this combined with a world that was seemingly spiraling out of co
ntrol. His duties demanded that he at least try and hold a part of that world together, but increasingly he felt as if he were being forced down a path to a breaking point. While he was not sure when or where that break might occur, he knew that he could easily see it on his own horizon. Something had to be done if he were going to hold himself together. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as he drove down the five lane roadway all the while fighting the urge to close his eyes. Operating a vehicle in such an exhausted state was never a good idea, but lately it seemed to have become the norm in John's life.
Just then, the Ford Explorer traveling next to him inexplicably began to merge into John’s lane of travel. He was so tired it took his mind an extra split second to realize what was happening and to react. Hitting his brakes hard and swerving to avoid colliding with the vehicle next to him, John also managed to honk the Dodge Charger's horn at the SUV which immediately weaved back into its lane of travel.
After regaining control of his vehicle John allowed his police cruiser to gradually slow down and drop back behind the Explorer. He was tired yes, but he thought that a vehicle stop might actually help to wake him up a little; plus he wasn’t about to let a possible drunk drive continue down the road. Nevertheless, he sincerely hoped that this particular encounter would be completely uneventful. Reaching down to his center console he flipped a few switches activating his vehicle's blue LED light bar and other emergency lighting equipment which immediately illuminated the area around both vehicles before he took hold of his radio's microphone in order to call in his stop.
….
John carefully pressed his fingers against the rear hatch of the Explorer as he approached the driver's side window. There was a warm breeze that was blowing and he could easily smell the salt in the air from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Shining his bright Streamlight flashlight through the tinted rear windows of the vehicle he had a little bit of trouble making out exactly who or what was in the rear passenger section of the SUV, but he could tell that there was at least one younger child seated behind the driver. As he was passing by the rear passenger's door John heard the driver's window begin to roll down.
“Hello sir...” John said to the relatively well dressed middle aged man sitting in the driver's seat. “Do you have your driver's license and registration?” He then asked.
“Yes sir, I do.” the man responded as he began to reach over to the glove box. “I'm really sorry about that officer...” he stated in a slightly nervous voice before continuing, “...I didn't see that you were next to me.”
“Obviously...” John muttered under his breath and in a slightly annoyed tone, but low enough for the man not to hear him. As he watched the driver search through the glove box he glanced at the woman seated next to him. She was probably his wife and John assumed that the child was theirs. Like her husband, the woman was well dressed, but John noticed something unusual. She was nearly white as a sheet, and even though she was desperately trying to control them, her hands were shaking. She seemed terribly frightened and more nervous than what was normal for a traffic stop. John crinkled his brow, curious as to what was going on. While you could never be sure about anything or anyone, these people did not immediately appear to be dangerous or have some ulterior motive. So why were they so nervous?
Finally, the driver managed to locate the vehicle's registration. He quickly handed it over to John before pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and fumbling through it for his driver's license. The longer the situation played out the more apprehensive the woman seated next to him seemed to be getting.
Shinning his flashlight towards the backseat John could see the little boy fidgeting about. He briefly looked at John, then over at his mother, then to his father, and then back at John. Something definitely seemed to be off here. Taking the driver's license from the man's hand John shifted his light back over to the female passenger.
“Everything okay ma'am?” he asked.
“Ye...yes sir.” The woman answered in a trembling tone.
“We're fine officer.” The man quickly added, “She's just a little nervous from being pulled over.” John nodded his head.
“Everything’s okay with your driver's license, right? I'm not gonna find anything on your record when I go back to my patrol car, am I?”
“No sir...” The man stated confidently at which point John again nodded his head and began to back away from the driver's side window. When he reached the cargo area of the SUV he turned on his heels to walk back to his patrol car, but when he did so something caught his eye. Looking through the tinted rear window with his flashlight John could see that lying in the flat cargo area of the sport utility vehicle was a red book bag that probably belonged to the young boy seated almost directly in front of it. The bag itself was partially unzipped and sticking half way out of the satchel was a book, a Bible to be more precise. John stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it. It suddenly all made sense to him; the well-dressed, seemingly middle class family, the nervousness, and now the Bible. John gathered that these people were on their way back from some sort of church service; possibly even a prayer meeting in response to the newly announced mandate from President Jordan.
It was an unsettling discovery for John to say the least. The new law ordering the detainment, search, and interview of anyone caught with religious material were just a few days old and suddenly he was right in the middle of a situation that he never wanted to be a part of in the first place. Complicating matters further were rapidly spreading rumors of National Governing Police “follow up investigations” of “religious individuals” after their detainment by local police. John had hoped that most people would have chosen to keep their religious material saved on tablet computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices while traveling, therefore making it much harder to actually “see” anything upon first glance. Unfortunately, these people seemed to prefer carrying the original leather and paper. Pausing for another brief moment with his flashlight trained on the child's bag John was fully aware that everyone in the vehicle now knew exactly what he had discovered. Finally, he broke away from the Explorer and made his way back to his patrol car.
….
John drummed his fingers on the edge of the laptop and rubbed his other hand under his chin as he sat deep in thought inside his Charger. Except for a speeding ticket and a safe movement violation from a few years ago the driver, a Mr. Peter Jansen had a completely spotless record. Nothing at all about this man or his family aroused any type of suspicion. If it had been just a few days earlier a simple verbal warning or uniform traffic citation for unsafe movement would have easily sufficed. But no, today was different, today everything had changed. The discovery of the Bible in the cargo area had severely complicated the matter.
John was at an impasse. Detaining and searching people who were simply coming back from church was such a drastic departure from the laws and values that he had sworn to uphold. Hell, it was against the constitution, but as Lance Gabriel had so eloquently pointed out just hours earlier, the constitution was no longer relevant in today's America. What, if anything was the standard for determining the rights of an individual? For that matter what was being used to determine the difference between right and wrong? Was President Jordan the answer to those questions? John certainly hoped not. It appeared that there were no longer any absolute standards to weigh anything against anymore.
Was Clarence right about all this? John asked himself as he stared out the windshield of his police car and towards the back of the SUV parked several feet in front of him. Along with his patrol vehicle's headlamps and take down lights the strobing blue LED light bar created random and eerily disturbing patterns of light and dark all around him. The shadows made him feel almost as if evil itself were surrounding him and he felt an uneasy sensation creeping over him. Nothing about this entire situation was right. John realized that he was coming dangerously close to violating his own personal moral code. It felt as if he had been thrust right into the middl
e of one of the many ethical dilemma exercises that the police training staff had presented to him during his academy days, but now the people and consequences were frighteningly real. Worse yet, he now feared that what was “right” might no longer be what he was supposed to do.
John sat motionless for another few moments as he scanned through Mr. Jansen's information as it was displayed on the computer screen in front of him. Finally, he made a decision.
“Screw it...” he said in an annoyed tone and under his breath as he snatched the plastic ID and paper registration from the top of the keyboard where he had laid them. Angrily pushing open the car door with some force John dismounted from his seated position, slamming the door behind him as he marched back up towards the SUV.
Not bothering to even touch the back of the vehicle as he approached, John quickly walked up to the driver's side window. He was met by a now even more nervous Peter Jansen and an obviously fearful Mrs. Jansen. If it were possible John thought that she was even paler than what she had been just a few minutes prior. John hesitated for a brief moment as he and Peter Jansen stared at each other, both individuals waiting for the other to make the next move.
Finally, John brought his right hand which held the driver's license and registration up to the window.
“Try to be more careful next time Mr. Jansen.” he said almost immediately seeing a shocked, yet relived look streak across Peter Jansen's face.
“Yes...yes sir I will...” he responded, followed almost immediately by, “Thank you officer.”
John nodded his head and took a step backwards. As he did he reached to his belt and flicked the off switch to the small box shaped microphone of his Mobile Video Recorder before he spoke again.
“You may want to find a better storage spot for your reading material...” he then added as he turned completely away from Jansen and began to walk back towards the patrol car.
….
“Hhhmmm...” Jennifer Fields said as she sat with her arms crossed watching the live video feed from John's patrol car on her NGP Tahoe's Heads Up Display. What was in that SUV? She thought to herself upon seeing John’s bizarre behavior on his most recent traffic stop.