Breakup

by D. W. Patterson

  Jeff was different too in that he talked as if he believed in a God. Not many people in the town ever bothered with church though there was still a congregation that mostly met to do social services. Everyone thought that was a good use for church rather than the other more obvious aspects of worship.

  Where Jeff was from Church had maintained itself in some form or other even though the majority of the nation had decided religion was at best superstition. Jeff and his family had gone to church every week before they moved. They had started to go in their new town but didn't feel they fit in with the social progressiveness of the new church. So they read and worshiped at home.

  But Jeff didn't leave his beliefs at home, he would share them with anyone that would listen. He had been reprimanded several times by the school administration who claimed that he was violating federal law of separation of church and state. Jeff was too young to understand what they meant he just wanted to share.

  The other three boys had convinced Jeff to meet them after school where he could explain his beliefs to them without interference. Jeff showed up right on time, so did the other boys. Jeff started to tell them what he believed but before he got very far one of the boys worked his way around behind Jeff. Another boy came up to him and pushed him backward. Jeff fell over the boy that had bent down behind him. The other three laughed as Jeff tumbled backward.

  But Jeff wasn't laughing, Jeff was unconscious having hit his head. Almost immediately the boys heard the noise from above. It was a triage unit. The boys scattered as the copters landed. It wasn't long until Jeff was under treatment for a concussion. He was awake by the time the police arrived to take him home.

  The trial divided the town. The three boys, the same age as Jeff, were being tried as juveniles but if convicted the convictions would follow them throughout the rest of their lives. More and more as the trial proceeded the town lined up behind the three and against Jeff. The argument boiled down to individual liberty versus societal norms. Essentially the argument was that Jeff and his family flaunted the moral propriety of the town they had chosen to live in. It became generally believed that Jeff and his family had a moral obligation to abide by the norms and strictures of the town. After all, they had chosen the town, the town had not chosen them.

  The trial ended with the acquittal of the three. The verdict became widely known. A majority of the country praised the results while the rest condemned it. The news coverage polarized the country as nothing had for years.

  5

  The Aggies seemed to be at a loss to tamp down the resulting emotional release. The government was demanding that the Aggies bring order to the situation. It wasn't long until the media focus shifted to the small southern town and its nullification stance.

  Tom Johnson had never seen such a media feeding frenzy. News outlets from all over the world had shown up in his small motor repair shop to interview him. He had become the face of the nullification movement in the United States and in fact all over the world.

  A German news crew was filming when the federal government made its move. Frustrated that the Aggies had not quelled the situation the government ordered a unit of the 3rd Army to the town and the state also sent in a unit of its National Guard to back up the Army.

  Captain Mac McIntyre and a contingent of soldiers showed up at Johnson's repair shop. After the Captain introduced himself he relayed the government's demands.

  “Mr. Johnson you and your city council will convene immediately and rescind your nullification measure.”

  The German crew continued filming although being held back by some of the Army contingent.

  “I'm sorry Captain McIntyre, I don't recognize your authority here. You see nullification of federal law means that municipality law overrides.”

  As they continued to argue back and forth a crowd assembled outside. The 3rd Army contingent took a defensive position around the repair shop's front. The state's National Guard was in the rear behind the people. The citizens were sandwiched between the Army and the Guard.

  Just then Otis Lawson got into a heated argument with the Army Sergeant commanding the troops out front. Otis was claiming his right to enter any place he wanted. The Sergeant was saying the repair shop was off-limits to civilians at this time. Otis pulled his concealed carry pistol and raised it over his head and fired a shot. No one ever knew why.

  The Army opened fire. Civilians went down. As the citizens scattered the Guard was caught in the line of fire. That was when they opened up with their weapons. The Sergeant was hit and fell. Before the Captain could get to the front of the building the Army forces had been reduced to only a few soldiers. The Guard had taken heavy casualties. Captain McIntyre ordered a complete cease-fire before he was hit and killed. The rest of the episode was caught by the German film crew. The firing only stopped when the Army forces were either dead or injured.

  The German film crew linked their footage to the internet almost immediately. The massacre was seen all over the country and the world. American soldiers firing on civilians and each other. American citizens being killed by their own soldiers.

  Even though the triage units arrived promptly the sheer number of injured and dead prohibited the saving of all lives. Nearly seventy people were lost, a tremendous number of deaths in the age of Aggie management.

  The state immediately ordered more of its National Guard to the scene. The governor called for calm and an emergency meeting of the state's assembly. Partly to cover up their culpability, the assembly condemned the President and the Federal government. They immediately voted for nullification of federal laws just as Tom Johnson and the Davison city council had done.

  The President and his government were caught off guard. Lulled into complacency after years of smooth administration by the Aggies they were slow to respond. Their hesitancy allowed the dissenting forces in nearby states to mount campaigns of state nullification. Before the federal government could move to counter the rebellion twenty states had voted for nullification. It may have been possible to coerce one state into compliance but it was impossible for the federal government to force its will on so many states without great destruction and loss of life. The country would remain but the Union had effectively been broken. It had taken only weeks.

  6

  The moon base was maintained by the Federal government's space program. Though the headquarters for the space program was still under Federal control, most of its management and technical expertise existed in the separatist states. The military contingency of the lunar base felt loyalty to the Federal government while the civilians felt the emotional pull of the states.

  Jamail and Rick were discussing the events on Earth over breakfast.

  “Well,” said Rick. “Now we know why we were placed under martial law. But I don't know how Captain Wright knew ahead of time what was going to happen.”

  “Yeah Rick that's strange, as if it were planned.”

  “So, where are we?”

  “Well, as I understand it the states are negotiating for a new Constitution to address the issue of local determination. But until then I think that except for those cases where states have directly nullified Federal law, not much will change. The Aggies will see to that I believe.”

  “That is all true but almost all the management and technical expertise of the space program is located in the states that voted for nullification. There is more wealth off-world now than on Earth, how will that affect the states thinking, especially those that host a facility of the space program?

  “And the power the Federal government has, what are they going to do with it? I mean Florida has the best launch facilities in the country. The state could take over those facilities at any time.”

  “What a mess. This is what you get when you try to please so many political constituencies and place your facilities all over the country.”

  “Exactly. The centers of the space program have always been somewhat uncoordinated. An oasis of chaos in a generally well-run country
since the Aggies took over.”

  “The Aggies,” said Jamail. “I wonder what happened, they've always been able to diffuse these situations before.”

  “Human unpredictability happened, it must be hard for the Aggies to understand human behavior, although I'm sure they are learning.”

  Then there was a facility-wide announcement.

  “Attention please, this is Captain Wright. I have been empowered to inform all of you that the moon base, auxiliary sites and orbiting facilities are now under the direct authority of the State of Texas and associated states, known as the Consortium. This should impact very few of you. Those that are impacted will be dealt with on a case by case basis. That is all.”

  Rick looked at Jamail again in surprise.

  7

  The twenty states that passed nullification represented very old fissure lines of the Republic. Most of the old South including Texas but excepting Virginia, the middle section of the country including Indiana, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma and the north and west including Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas all went their separate ways. There was no talk of a new Federation among these states, they all had had enough of Federal rule.

  The Federal government at first refused the Aggies' contracts with these wayward states but relented when the Aggies forced the issue. It wasn't long until all the states that had voted nullification were represented by the Aggies. The result in effect was that not much changed economically, the Feds could still print money which the states would honor, negotiate with foreign countries for all the states, provide for the common protection and enforce Federal laws that had not been nullified, only politically was the new arrangement different. And it wasn't clear what had changed politically.

  At first, caught off guard by the rapidly changing situation the President quickly recovered and took a pragmatic approach. The Federal government was soon busy establishing agreements with the separate states to smooth economic, military, and law enforcement cooperation. With the Aggies working on both sides the agreements were reached without too much rancor and drama. And with the Aggies working the world round the pressure to concentrate power in a Federal government because of foreign threats was nonexistent. In effect, the old Articles of Confederation had been somewhat resurrected.

  But culturally, everything changed. People not comfortable with the new laws in their region looked to move. States lost and gained populations. The newly passed laws and measures that separated some states from neighboring states and the Federal government in civil and economic matters were enacted rather quickly. Without another layer of government, states could move without impediment, the changes were quite astonishing to some.

  Though there was no talk of a Federation the new states did cooperate around shared interests and formed a Consortium of states. Texas and the Consortium began an effort to gain control of the Federal government's moon base facilities. The Federal government hadn't really pursued space interests in many years, only keeping the moon base alive for prestige and to fulfill contractual agreements it had made with the Terran Federation, which was the Feds partner in space.

  But Texas as leader of the Consortium had a great interest in establishing a presence off Earth as they saw in it a way to ensure their future economically and securely without relying too much on the Feds. Texas was especially well-positioned to make a move into space since it had the seventh-largest economy in the world.

  The Consortium was able to offer the Federal government several trillion dollars for the moon and supporting facilities on Earth. The Feds made a counter-offer that would allow the Consortium control of the base, and economic responsibility to support it, while at the same time allowing the Federal government and its space partner the Terran Federation unlimited access.

  Even with the Aggies working both sides the negotiations were boisterous and drawn out. That is until the news from the moon base about the actions of a certain Captain became known. Then the negotiations collapsed.

  8

  “I don't like it,” said Lieutenant Wilson. “Josie in communications tells me no such orders came through. I think the announcement was completely the Captain's doing.”

  “Do you know what you are saying Lieutenant?” asked Sergeant Willis.

  “Yeah, I know what I'm saying. I'm saying that the Captain's a traitor to his uniform.”

  “Lieutenant, we are just a small company of construction engineers. Beyond Basic Training, we don't have the military instruction needed to do anything about it. Do we?”

  “Trina,” said the Lieutenant. “You know and I know that it doesn't matter what training we have, we've had enough to know what we have to do if we think the Captain has gone rogue.”

  “Franklin,” said the Sergeant. “I hope you know what you are doing.”

  The hopper had landed in Shackleton Crater at the south polar region on the moon. The retractable docking tunnel was engaging the hopper's hatch. Rick and Jamail were preparing for their telescope run on the South Polar Infrared Telescope. Jamail always smiled thinking of the acronym.

  Infrared telescopes and cold go together because the telescope itself can radiate in the infrared and interfere with its own observations if it is not cooled sufficiently. So the floor of Shackleton Crater, more than four kilometers below the rim, was ideal at a temperature of seventy to eighty Kelvin. The research center received its power from solar arrays on the rim's mountain peaks that were always in the sun. Power from the array was also sent to the main moon base and other locations. It was all autonomous and watched over by Ems.

  Shackleton had also held water in the form of subsurface ice but most of that had been processed, though some small quantity still existed at the old well sites. But most of the water now came from other nearby craters.

  Rick and Jamail were half-way through their observing run. By searching for excess emissions in the infrared they were looking for debris disks, a sign of planetary formation. There were other infrared observatories in space but this location allowed for the largest infrared telescope in the Solar System. The scope was usually run autonomously by its Em but Rick and Jamail were there to do some maintenance and they planned to get another run in before they left.

  Just as Rick and Jamail were pivoting the scope to another target they heard the retractable docking mechanism engage.

  “We aren't expecting anyone are we Jamail?” asked Rick.

  “Not that I know of,” was Jamail's response.

  “Okay, let's finish this pivot and we'll go see.”

  By the time they were finished and started to check out the noise the main hatch popped open and troopers flooded into the room.

  Lieutenant Wilson and some others were being carried and attended to by a couple of medics. Sergeant Willis was barking out orders. To Rick, it appeared that nearly two dozen troopers, one-third of a company, were trying to move into the room.

  Sergeant Willis walked up to Rick and Jamail.

  “Sirs, until further notice I must commandeer this outpost in the name of the United States Army. We will do our best not to interfere with your work but we will allow no interference with ours.”

  “What is your work?” asked Jamail.

  “We intend to make contact with our command chain state-side to report a mutiny.”

  “A mutiny!” said Rick. “What do you mean?”

  “Gentlemen I will discuss the situation with you later if there is time. Right now I have to get my troopers stationed and the injured treated.”

  It took more than an hour before the troops were organized and settled into their new environment. Most were camped in halls and the small rooms of the observatory. It was crowded and noisy. A small contingent was stationed in the hopper for immediate action if needed. Only the control room itself was off-limits to the troopers, except for a couple of guards, so that Rick and Jamail could work undisturbed.

  Sergeant Willis came back into the control room and walked up to Rick and Jamail.

  “Gent
lemen if I may speak with you.”

  “Very well Sergeant,” said Jamail. “The scope is on automatic. I am Jamail Jason and this is Rick Stockton, we are with the United Universities.”

  “I am Sergeant Willis, I have temporarily assumed command from Lieutenant Wilson who was injured in battle.”

  “Battle?” asked Rick.

  “Yes, really more of a skirmish. You see the Lieutenant was trying to arrest Captain Wright for mutinous actions.”

  “Yes,” said Jamail. “You mentioned that before. If I may ask, what are these mutinous actions?”

  “Well, this is really not a civilian matter but I do hope to gain your cooperation so I will tell you. We believe that when Captain Wright declared the moon base and its facilities to be under Texas law he did so without direction from his superiors. The Lieutenant could find no evidence that such an order had come through communications to the Captain.”

  “Now gentlemen, I must ask for your help in establishing a radio link with Earth.”

  Just then Sergeant Willis's comm-link went off, then they heard the sound of the retractable docking mechanism again, this time disengaging.

  9

  Warrant Officer Bennett in the hopper was on the comm-link informing the Sergeant that he was opening fire on two incoming hoppers. Bennett was the hopper's pilot and was working fast to get it off the ground so he could maneuver to meet the incoming pair. Two of his crew had opened fire with the centrifugal guns. These weapons literally spun up fifty-caliber balls of tungsten-carbide to tremendous circular speeds before throwing the munitions at the enemy at over five-thousand miles-per-hour and at up to one-hundred-twenty-thousand rounds a minute.