by Robert Boren
“For those of you who don’t know, Carlson has been promoted,” Nelson said. “He’s taking over Landry’s duties with the Texas Air National Guard.”
“Yes, and none too soon,” Wallis said. “I need to pay more attention to the DPS.”
“Congratulations,” Hendrix said.
“Thank you, sir,” Carlson said.
“Okay, let’s get started,” Nelson said. “The battle between Amarillo and the New Mexico Border is just about over.”
“Judging by your expression, we won,” Hendrix said.
“It was a rout,” Gallagher said. “Pretty scary at first though.”
“What happened?” Hendrix asked.
“The enemy sent some fighters in to take out our F-16s.”
“Oh, crap,” Hendrix said. “They’ve got fighters? Those Migs we heard about a while back?”
“Worse, they had Su-30s,” Carlson said. “They’re much more effective than our old F-16s.”
“How many did we lose?” Hendrix asked.
“Four,” Wallis said. “We would’ve lost all of them if not for the US Airforce.”
“Oh, they came to the rescue again?” Hendrix asked.
“They sent Raptors in,” Carlson said. “Su-30s are no match for F-22s.”
“So what’s happening now?” Wallis asked.
“There’s too many captured enemy fighters to execute,” Nelson said.
“I think we ought to shoot them all anyway,” Gallagher said.
“The world would never stand for that,” Nelson said. “We need to relieve our citizen army of the responsibility of watching them. Gallagher, how quickly could you get enough National Guard troops to escort them to the train station in Amarillo?”
“Few hours,” Gallagher said, “but we don’t want to use the troops to watch prisoners.”
“We won’t,” Nelson said. “We’ve got a large county jail in Waco that has plenty of space. We’re going to move them there. Lock them up.”
“Why Waco?” Wallis asked. “Isn’t there a facility in Amarillo that we could use?”
“There is, but we don’t want these folks so close to the border. We want them right in the center of the state. Waco is a better choice, and we can take them there by rail easily.”
“You talking about McLennan County Jail?” Wallis asked.
“Yeah,” Nelson said.
Wallis chuckled.
“What’s funny?” Gallagher asked.
“Don’t you guys know your Texas history?” he asked.
“I know it pretty well, but not sure what you’re talking about here.”
“McLennan County Jail was where Clyde Barrow was taken in 1930,” Wallis said.
“Clyde Barrow as in Bonnie and Clyde?” Maria asked.
“Yep,” Wallis said, “and by the way, he escaped from there.”
“Wonderful,” Gallagher said.
“Oh, I’m sure they’ve made some improvements since then,” Nelson said with a smirk. “I want those prisoners in box cars and on their way before nightfall. Think you can handle that, Gallagher?”
“Yeah, boss,” he said, getting up. “I’ll go make some phone calls. Be right back. You can go on with the next step for the Fort Stockton group. I already know about it.”
“Okay,” Nelson said as he left the room.
“How many enemy prisoners we talking about?” Hendrix asked.
“Just under four thousand,” Ramsey said. “Should we get Jason and a few of the others on the line for the next part?”
“They know the plan already, right?” Nelson asked.
“Yeah, basically,” Ramsey said.
“Then no, let’s just chat amongst ourselves for a few minutes,” Nelson said.
Gallagher came back in. “Okay, the troops are on their way. When’s the train going to be there?”
“Very soon,” Nelson said. “There was one nearby that fits the bill.”
“The citizens gonna start loading them?” Gallagher asked.
“We’ll see,” Nelson said. “On to the next topic. Wallis, you make contact with the folks in Adrian yet?”
“Yep, Governor,” Wallis said. “They’ve got facilities to house everybody for at least a couple days.”
“Excellent,” Nelson said. “Here’s the plan, everybody. The Fort Stockton group and the citizen fighters who joined them will spend the night in Adrian, which is the town at Midpoint 66, where we blew the bridge over I-40. We’ve already got a team there working on a new on-ramp past the broken bridge. The entire group is moving into New Mexico in the morning.”
“The entire group?” Hendrix asked. “How many is that?”
“Thirty thousand, give or take,” Gallagher said. “We’re still meeting there with more armor, and National Guard troops, correct?”
“Yes,” Nelson said.
“It’s gonna be too late to take out that depot,” Carlson said. “You know those guys are gonna high-tail it, right?”
“I’m working with my contacts in the US Airforce,” Wallis said. “They’re going to strike the depot. That’s no longer our objective.”
“It’s not?” Hendrix asked. “Then why are we sending our people across the border? We’re gonna lose a lot of them.”
“We’re going to make a mess out of I-25,” Nelson said, “and we’ll be coordinating with General Hogan to insure that I-40 is no longer available through New Mexico either.”
“Basically we’ll be locking down New Mexico,” Gallagher said.
“Then why aren’t we sending our military in there to do that, instead of these civilians?” Hendrix asked.
“Several reasons,” Nelson said. “One of the biggest ones, though, is that it won’t look like an official move from the Texas Governor’s Office.”
“Oh,” Hendrix said. “So you’re still worried that we’ll get a response from DC if we send Texas National Guard in there.”
“You got it,” Nelson said. “Might be the Feds. More likely there’ll be calls for the UN to get involved. I don’t think they’ll actually do that, but I’d rather not go there.”
“How are these folks gonna live in New Mexico?” Hendrix asked.
“The US Airforce is gonna airdrop supplies to them,” Gallagher said. “We’ve been working that with General Hogan.”
Hendrix chuckled. “The Feds have no control over the air force anymore, do they?”
“Nope,” Nelson said. “They’ve lost the Navy too. I don’t know if they’re aware yet. We’ll see navy ships in the gulf pretty soon, to protect our flank.”
“The US Navy will be protecting Texas?” Maria asked.
“Yep,” Nelson said. “We won’t have to worry about the Gulf Coast anymore. Our objectives are simple, and they’re the ones we’ve been trying to follow for a while now. Cut off the enemy supply routes into New Mexico and beyond, and root the traitors out of Texas.”
“The first objective will be the easy one,” Gallagher said. “By far.”
“Won’t the feds get a little tired of Texas using their Navy and Airforce?” Hendrix asked.
Nelson eyed the others in the room. “This stays between us. Understand?”
“Sure, boss,” Gallagher said. The others in the room nodded.
“You can trust us, Governor,” Hendrix said.
“Okay,” Nelson said. “General Hogan’s man made a breakthrough on the RFID chips.”
“How big of a breakthrough?” Wallis asked.
“They can track the enemy using them,” Nelson said.
“How?” Hendrix asked.
“Cell phone applications that this person has developed. Their team is already using them, as are select personnel on Hogan’s team.”
“Why don’t they just release the apps wide, then?” Gallagher asked.
“There’s one more piece they’re trying to break,” Nelson said. “And they need that piece in order to root the bad guys out of our institutions, governmental and otherwise.”
“What’s that
?” Wallis asked.
“The RFID Chips hold data which can be access remotely, but it’s coded.”
“What kind of data?” Hendrix asked.
“Name, rank in the organization, and country of origin,” Nelson said.
“Holy shit,” Hendrix said. “That’s the whole ball game.”
“It certainly could be,” Nelson said. “Hogan’s asset is trying to finish this now. We don’t want to tip our hands before he figures it out.”
Gallagher laughed. “We don’t want the bad guys in the Federal Government to find out and protect themselves.”
“You got it,” Nelson said. “There is a dead-man’s switch already in place, though.”
“What’s a dead-man’s switch?” Maria asked.
“The enemy is doing everything they can to capture or kill this asset. They’ve come close a couple of times. Hogan’s asset has set up the apps on servers all over the country. They’ll be released wide on a certain date, and he’s got it set up in such a way that neither him or anybody else can stop it.”
“So he’s racing against the clock to figure out the last piece,” Hendrix said. “Is that why the Airforce and Navy are helping us now?”
“They don’t know about this yet,” Nelson said. “Too many plants still active.”
“Then why are they helping us?” Hendrix asked.
“They view Texas as an ally now,” Nelson said. “We’ve proven ourselves to their leadership.”
“That news conference helped a hell of a lot,” Gallagher said.
“So it would appear,” Nelson said. “An unexpected but welcome benefit.”
“It was a work of genius,” Wallis said.
“No, I didn’t know this was going to happen,” Nelson said. “It was pure blind dumb-ass luck.”
“I don’t agree, but let’s save that conversation for later,” Wallis said. “What about the UN and the EU? They still rattling their sabers?”
“Yes, they are, and they’ll get support if Texas makes moves which can be viewed as expansionist.”
“Hence the plan with the civilians,” Hendrix said. “Brilliant.”
“Just remember that lots could go wrong, and there is likely terrible things on the horizon.”
“What kind of terrible things?” Hendrix asked.
“Hogan has a source who believes there’s at least half a dozen more nuclear weapons in the country,” Nelson said.
“Shit,” Maria said. “Oops, sorry.”
Gallagher and Wallis laughed.
“Don’t worry, Maria.,” Nelson said. “I had a similar reaction.”
“Chances of them going off in Texas are probably slim,” Wallis said.
“That’s true, but we need to keep in mind that our Republic is temporary, and that the USA is still our country,” Nelson said. “Any additional nuclear attacks would be a tragedy for all of us.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” Hendrix said. “Do we have any estimates on how many people we’ll lose in New Mexico?”
“Not really,” Gallagher said. “We don’t know the strength of the enemy. Could be that it’s the wild west for them as much as it is for us.”
Nelson smiled. “I’ve got a negotiation going on with General Hogan on that now, but I’m not ready to discuss it.”
“I think I know what it’s about,” Wallis said.
“Save it,” Nelson said. “We’ll know soon enough.”
“We should be able to use the DPS boats we have left in the Dallas lakes now, right?” Wallis asked.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Nelson said. “We’ve still got issues down by South Padre Island, though. Still a lot of enemy movement down there. We’ll want to button that up.”
“Let me talk to my folks about that,” Wallis said. “See who we have left.”
“Yes, do that,” Nelson said.
Chapter 17 – New Orders
“You’re awake,” Hannah said, watching Brendan sit up in bed. She was standing by the window.
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight,” Hannah said, walking back to the bed. She slipped under the covers. “Still a little cold.”
“I can take care of that,” Brendan said, moving against her.
“Not here,” she whispered. “I’ll get too loud.”
“Ah shucks,” Brendan said. “Don’t worry. I’ll behave.”
“You’d better,” she said, snuggling tighter against him.
“You aren’t making it easy,” Brendan said.
“What’s up today?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “Richardson will probably hear something from Jefferson.”
“Think they’re still gonna send us to Houston?”
“I don’t know,” Brendan said. “This boat is messed up now. Took a shot into one of the outboards. I heard the other boats got blown up when Galveston was attacked.”
“Yes, I remember,” she said. “I’m not anxious for you to go back on duty.”
“Neither am I,” he said. “Listen. Is that Madison?”
“Oh, crap.” Hannah giggled.
“That’s kind of turning me on.”
“Forget it,” she said as his hands started to roam over her.
“I can be quiet,” he whispered.
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she said, getting out of bed. “Time to get up.”
“You’re no fun,” Brendan said, faking disappointment.
“We got to play in the waiting room back in San Antonio, remember,” Hannah said as she got dressed. “They didn’t.”
“It’s okay, sweetie,” he said, getting out of bed. “Maybe Richardson’s up. I want to know what’s going on.”
“You don’t think we’re just going to camp out here?”
“No,” Brendan said. “I’d be surprised if we do that.”
“Let’s go downstairs, then,” Hannah said. She opened the door, and the two of them left. Richardson and Lita were sitting in the living room.
“Look who’s finally up,” Lita said. Richardson nodded to them.
“Good morning,” Hannah said.
“Where’s Madison and Juan Carlos?” Lita asked.
“I’m sure they’ll be along in a few minutes,” Hannah said. Brendan snickered, and Hannah kicked his foot.
“I got a text from Jefferson,” Richardson said. “We’ve got a conference call coming up with him and some other folks. Should be starting in about half an hour. We’d better warn Juan Carlos.”
“Want me to go tap on their door?” Hannah asked.
“That would be good,” Richardson said. “I think Director Wallis will be in the meeting.”
Hannah got up.
“Want me to go with?” Brendan asked.
“No, you stay here,” she said as she hurried towards the steps.
Lita snickered. “Oh, I get it.”
“What?” Richardson asked.
“Never mind,” Lita said. “You sleep okay, Brendan?”
“Perfect,” he said. “You two?”
“The tossing and turning didn’t help me,” Lita said.
“Sorry, honey,” Richardson said.
“You worried, boss?”
“Of course I’m worried,” Richardson said. “We didn’t have any humans watching the place.”
“We had the next best thing,” Roberto said, walking into the room. “Coffee?”
“That sounds excellent,” Lita said, getting up.
Hannah bounded down the stairs. “They’ll be down in a minute.”
Brendan shot her a grin. She shook her head. “They were almost dressed when I got there.”
“Good,” Lita said. “There’s coffee. We were just going to the kitchen.”
“Hey, guys,” Juan Carlos said as he came down. Madison followed, her face flushed.
“What’s up today?” she asked.
“Conference call coming up,” Lita said.
“You girls don’t have to be there if you don’t want to,”
Richardson said.
“I think I’d rather know what’s going on,” Lita said. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”
“Where we gonna do it?” Brendan asked.
“Back in here, perhaps,” Richardson said.
“We can make ourselves scarce,” Roberto said.
“Don’t worry about that,” Richardson said. “I already mentioned you might be there. It’ll probably be boring, though. It’ll just be about our next assignment, I suspect.”
The group went into the kitchen and got coffee. Richardson’s phone rang when they were on their way back to the living room.
“Perfect timing,” Lita said as they took seats. Richardson answered the phone, then put it on speaker and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Good morning,” Richardson said. “We’re all on.”
“Who’s we?” Jefferson asked.
"My guys, our wives, plus Roberto and his wife Kris.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Jefferson said. “Director Wallis will be on in a second.”
“You know that we’ve got a shot-up outboard, right?” Richardson asked.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it. You won’t be using that boat for the next assignment.”
“Hello,” said Wallis. “Everybody on?”
“Yep,” Jefferson said.
“Good,” Wallis said. “First of all, let me commend you guys for what you’ve done. All of it, even that posting you guys did.”
“Thank you, sir,” Richardson said.
“I’ll bet you’re wondering where you’re going next.”
“Yep,” Juan Carlos said.
“You’re going back to South Padre Island.”
“What?” Lita asked.
“Isn’t that still dangerous?” Madison asked.
“We’ve made a lot of progress there,” Wallis said, “and there’s new developments that will help you a lot.”
“What new developments?” Brendan asked.
“I can’t talk about them over the phone,” Wallis said. “You’ll be briefed when you arrive.”
“Port Isabel was blown up,” Lita said.
“Yes, but you won’t be living there. We’ll be putting you someplace else, and the office won’t know where, just in case.”
Madison and Hannah glanced at each other, fear in their eyes.
“Why are we going there?” Richardson asked. “Who’s protecting the infrastructure around Galveston?”