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  “Who, then?” Kinsly paused, then rolled his eyes. “Oh, you think it was the Consortium, right?”

  “I think it’s not just possible—I think it’s probable,” Jefferson said. He raised a message form he held in his hands. “I have an important report from Task Force TALON commander Richter…”

  “He’s not still out in the field, is he, Sergeant Major?” Chief of Staff Thomas Kinsly groaned.

  “Major Richter met with FBI Director DeLaine yesterday in San Diego, after being debriefed by the FBI and Justice Department after the incident at Rampart One. They spoke with a survivor of that attack on the Border Patrol agents.”

  “Say again, Sergeant Major?” the President remarked. “There was a survivor?”

  “A veteran Border Patrol agent, shot in the back by the terrorists,” Jefferson said. “Name’s Paul Purdy. He had the wind knocked out of him and fell into a ditch, where he was left for dead. But he’s positive that he heard some of his assailants speaking Russian, and he identified two of the individuals at the scene of the shooting: the Mexican insurgent known as Ernesto Fuerza, and…Yegor Zakharov.”

  There were a few moments of stunned silence; then: “Is he positive, Sergeant Major?” the President asked.

  “Not one hundred percent, sir, but close. It was dark, and he saw them only at a distance, but Purdy is a reliable, trained eyewitness…”

  “It’s not enough to link Mexican insurgents with the Consortium,” Chief of Staff Kinsly said, shaking his head. “It doesn’t prove anything.”

  “There was another survivor: the smuggler that brought one of the terrorists across the border, the one identified as Victor Flores,” Jefferson said. “Director DeLaine wants to go after that smuggler. Purdy thinks he still might be in the United States, where he was born, possibly somewhere in the agricultural region of southern California. If they find the smuggler, he may be able to gather information on where the others were heading.”

  “What does Richter have to do with any of this?” Attorney General Wentworth exclaimed. “He shouldn’t be involved in this operation any further.”

  “Director DeLaine has requested Task Force TALON’s assistance in hunting down Flores and the ones that were smuggled into southern California,” Jefferson said. “She wants full authority over TALON to provide the high-tech surveillance support and firepower she needs to take on the terrorists.”

  “Those robots—in the hands of the FBI?” Kinsly retorted. “No way, Jefferson.”

  “The FBI has plenty of firepower of its own already,” Wentworth said. “They don’t need TALON. TALON was designed for military operations…”

  “TALON was designed to replace a light armored cavalry unit or special ops platoon with a single, highly mobile, highly effective weapon system, General Wentworth,” Jefferson said. “The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Teams are the best of the best, but they don’t have nearly the capabilities of a Cybernetic Infantry Device. Judging by what we’ve seen in southern California and now in southern Arizona, I think CID is exactly what we need. And if the Russians Purdy identified turn out to be Zakharov and Consortium terrorists, we’re going to need all the firepower we can get out there.” He turned to the President. “This episode in Arizona could have been one massive setup. The Consortium had plenty of time to plan this ambush in order to make it look like the Watchdogs killed those migrants. They could have even jammed the transmissions from the unmanned aerial vehicle the Watchdogs used to monitor their operation…”

  “That’s really stretching credibility, Sergeant Major,” Kinsly said. “No use in speculating until we get more information from the FBI.”

  “Until then, we need to prepare in case the word does get out and it does precipitate unrest,” the President said. He turned to the one-star Army general standing in the center of the Oval Office. “General Lopez, I’m impressed you were able to deploy those troops so quickly.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the commander of Operation Rampart replied. “I had seven Army National Guard units standing by with orders to deploy on short notice. They were all units previously tasked for border protection duties with Customs and Border Protection—I just put them on a higher readiness level. The California unit was on the highest readiness level and was able to roll within two hours of the incident in Arizona. The Arizona Guard units are rolling now. We’ll have two additional Guard companies on the border in California and Arizona within eight hours, and another seven units in place in all of the border states within seventy-two hours.”

  “Outline the plan for me, General.”

  “Yes, sir. The plan is simple: reinforce Border Patrol sectors with Army National Guard infantry, reconnaissance, intelligence, and light armored cavalry forces as quickly as possible in order to better patrol the U.S.-Mexico border,” Lopez said. “Our goal is to assign one National Guard company to each sector within the next seventy-two hours. Each company is generally comprised of between seventy and one hundred soldiers, which on average is an increase in manpower of ten to twenty percent in each sector, dedicated solely to field operations.

  “Each company fields between six and twelve vehicles. To save on cost and increase maintainability, we rely mostly on reconnaissance and light mechanized infantry units that use the M-998-series Humvees. Each Humvee has two soldiers on board, although for special missions or situations it can have as many as six. They are lightly armed, mostly with infantry weapons such as rifles and sidearms. Their job is to observe, report, and act as directed by the Border Patrol sector commanders.”

  “What missiles was Maravilloso talking about, General?”

  Lopez looked down at his spit-shined tanker boots for a moment, then stood straight as he replied, “My decision was to beef up the El Centro Border Patrol sector that has those Mexican armored vehicles stationed on the border near Rampart One, sir. I sent in a platoon of Humvees with TOW antitank missiles on board. I thought it was important to counterbalance the Mexican force quickly and effectively, but not raise the ante too much.”

  “Christ, no wonder she’s pissed,” Kinsly breathed. “That’s a major provocation!”

  “I don’t hear anyone accusing the Mexican Army of a major provocation by sending in armored vehicles across from Rampart One, Mr. Kinsly,” Secretary of Defense Collier said, scowling at the President’s Chief of Staff. “General Lopez did recommend sending Humvees with TOW missiles on them, and I approved the idea, Mr. President. I was more concerned about evening the odds than what Maravilloso or the media might think.”

  “Rotate the TOW missile vehicles out of there as soon as possible, General,” the President said. “We’re not trying to start a war here. The Mexican Army isn’t going to attack us. Machine guns and rifles are okay.”

  Lopez shuffled uncomfortably and glanced at Collier. The Secretary of Defense stepped closer to the President. “Sam, do you think it’s a good idea to second-guess your field generals at this early stage of the game?” he asked in a low voice.

  “You think I’m micromanaging this thing now, Russ?”

  “That’s what it sounds like to me, yes, sir. Telling a one-star general which guns his infantrymen can carry…?”

  “I’m responsible for what happens out there, Russ…”

  “Trust your generals, sir. If Lopez thinks we need TOWs on the border to put the fear of God into the Mexican Army, let him. You put Lopez in charge—let him be in charge.”

  Conrad thought for a moment, then shook his head. “This whole operation is controversial enough, Russ—I don’t want to complicate it further by putting major offensive weapons on the damned border. I’m taking enough heat by approving those robots out there—I’m not going to repeat the mistake by putting guided antitank missiles out there. Pull them out—quietly, but get it done.” Collier nodded and stepped back. “General, what’s your next move?”

  “Sir, my staff and I feel that the activity at Rampart One has forced smugglers east into the Arizona deserts,” Lopez replied, “so we’re going
to concentrate our next deployments in western and central Arizona. The Border Patrol will intensify patrols at the most well-known trails and watering holes, and the National Guard will start patrolling the border region itself.”

  “‘Watering holes?’ Are you talking about bars and taverns?”

  “Sources of drinking water, sir,” Lopez explained. “There are hundreds of watering holes throughout the deserts in the American South and Southwest. Some are over a hundred years old, set up by miners, ranchers, and conservationists. Some are deep year-round wells; others are little more than mud holes. Over the years various human rights or immigrant rights groups have set up solar-powered wells and portable water tanks to assist immigrants traveling through the deserts. Since they are obvious destinations for immigrants and smugglers, the Border Patrol watches those locations carefully; as a result, human rights groups move the tanks from time to time to throw off La Migra—what the illegals call the Border Patrol. The groups pass the word on the new locations through the migrant information grapevine.”

  The President shook his head in frustration. “It’s damned hard to try to put a cap on illegal immigration when citizens in your own country are helping the ones we’re trying to control.”

  “We’ll deploy three companies, nine platoons, of Arizona National Guard mobile troops to this next operating area, along with unmanned aerial reconnaissance aircraft and support forces,” Lopez went on. “Each platoon is responsible for patrolling roughly one hundred square miles of the border region. It’s not much: that equates to just one Humvee, two men, patrolling that acreage on each eight-hour shift, with the other units in ready position.”

  “Seems like an impossible task, General.”

  “We’ll concentrate on known trails and rely on UAVs to spot migrants over the horizon,” Lopez said. The tone of his voice definitely indicated that he agreed, but he would never admit that to the commander in chief. “The more troops we have, of course, the better, but we think we can do the job at this current manpower level.”

  “We have very little choice, sir—we’re stretched pretty thin as it is,” Ray Jefferson interjected. “General Lopez is already talking about ten National Guard companies, about a thousand soldiers, deployed to the border region—but that’s for a maximum of thirty days, and a recommended tour of two weeks. So we need at least two thousand soldiers a month at our current manning level, which as the general said is only a ten percent increase.”

  The President thought for a moment, then looked directly at each of his advisers in the Oval Office. “What are the alternatives, gentlemen?” he asked. “Sergeant Major?”

  “In my opinion, sir, General Lopez doesn’t have enough of the tools he needs to get the job done,” Jefferson said immediately. “His plan calls for the use of only seven National Guard battalions—two from California, three from Texas, and one each from Arizona and New Mexico. Although we’d only be using each company for two weeks, and by law we can use these forces for up to sixty days on an ‘emergency’ basis, they’ll be exhausted after just one or two rotations. We need more troops to maintain even this low level of commitment.”

  “So what’s your recommendation?”

  “My previous recommendations stand, sir: transfer the Army and Air National Guard bureaus into the Department of Homeland Security instead of the Pentagon; federalize as many units as the states think they can support; and completely reinforce the northern and southern borders and the coastlines.”

  “And I’ll renew my disagreement with that recommendation, Mr. President: we can’t just yank over four hundred thousand Army and Air National Guard troops away from the Pentagon, even for something as important as homeland security,” Secretary of Defense Russell Collier said. “It would throw our entire ground military force structure into complete chaos.”

  “We’re in a declared state of war since the Consortium attacks, sir—this is the perfect time to make that commitment,” Jefferson said. “I’m positive we’re in a fight against the Consortium, but the Consortium’s activities have switched from attacks against Trans-Global Energy facilities to massive and violent border incursions in order to infiltrate large numbers of men, weapons, and supplies covertly into the United States…”

  “There’s no evidence yet of any massive incursions, Jefferson, and scant evidence that the Consortium is involved,” Attorney General George Wentworth interjected. “Yes, the incursions have become more violent recently, but I believe that’s in response to us arming the border. They’re still going to try to come across—but now they’re arming themselves and shooting back.”

  “And that is unacceptable to me, General Wentworth…!”

  “As it is to me—but adding more fuel to the fire by sending in more troops is not the answer.”

  “Then what do you suggest, George?” the President asked. “Let’s hear it.”

  “Cancel the National Guard deployments immediately; stand down the units already in the field; ask Congress for an immediate appropriation for ten thousand new Border Patrol agents over the next three years, plus increased funding for unmanned aerial reconnaissance, electronic monitoring, and support from the Justice Department for more judges and detention facilities,” Wentworth responded immediately. “We don’t need the military to secure our borders. We’ve relied on the Border Patrol to do it for over eighty years—let’s beef them up and support them better, but have them continue their work. We can get congressional approval for such a plan—they’ll never buy off on an increased military presence on the borders.”

  The President paused again, then looked at his Chief of Staff. “Tom?”

  “Putting the military on the border is going to become an increasingly tense and difficult political and foreign relations problem, Mr. President,” Kinsly said. “With all due respect to the Border Patrol agents that were killed and the Mexican citizens and the American killed last night, I believe we’re overreacting by placing troops on the border. As General Lopez and the sergeant major have said, even if we fully implement a military response to this crisis, we won’t be able to completely cut off the flow of illegal migrants—they’ll just find another way to get in. There’s a societal and cultural dynamic here that we won’t be able to solve with government or military intervention.”

  “And your recommendation?”

  Kinsly glanced at the Secretary of Defense, then said, “Politically we can’t afford to stand down those troops already deployed to the border—it’ll make us look weak, like we caved in to President Maravilloso’s demands. They have to stay, at least for a month or two, assuming there are no more serious acts of violence. But after the furor dies down, they should be quickly and quietly withdrawn. No more military forces on the border”—he looked directly at the National Security Adviser and added—“and especially not the robots.

  “I believe our policies should concentrate on fully implementing the guest worker visa program, and tougher penalties for employers who hire outside it,” Kinsly went on quickly. “We can continue to build detention facilities in the desert, but make it clear that we will follow the usual immigration and deportation guidelines. We can announce an expanded detention program for the OTMs—the ‘Other Than Mexicans,’ the ones from countries all over the world who we usually release with orders to appear, but who usually don’t. General Wentworth’s suggestion of about ten thousand more Border Patrol agents over three years is based on a legislative analysis taken not too long ago, indicating a lot of congressional support.”

  “Mr. Kinsly, none of those programs solve the problem of terrorists and killers coming across the border,” Ray Jefferson said. “We can take on illegal immigration, sovereignty, border security, and antiterrorism problems all with one move: maintaining a large paramilitary presence on the borders…”

  “We’re still not sure if we have a terrorist problem here, Sergeant Major, despite your enlightened guesswork,” Kinsly said. “With all due respect to the Border Patrol agent that survived and your
instincts and hunches, I don’t think the United States can afford to mobilize tens of thousands of troops and place them on our borders without concrete evidence.”

  It was obvious the President was quickly being swayed. He turned to the Secretary of Homeland Security. “Jeffrey?”

  Jeffrey Lemke shook his head. “I hate to be so wishy-washy, Mr. President, but I think the sergeant major goes too far, and the Chief of Staff and Attorney General don’t go far enough,” he said. “I’d sure like to see all of my border security and immigration bureaus get more manpower and funding, of course, but I don’t think putting the National Guard on the borders except to assist the Border Patrol is appropriate. And I sure as heck wouldn’t want the headaches I foresee with gaining four hundred thousand National Guard troops. Homeland Security took two years to finally integrate just forty thousand members of the Coast Guard, and that’s still not fully completed.

  “My recommendation is to use the National Guard on a limited basis to assist the Border Patrol, like we do with Customs and the Coast Guard,” Lemke went on. “My own studies, which I haven’t sent out for congressional opinion, point to the need for funding for twenty thousand more Border Patrol agents within five years. That’s a more appropriate level. That’s the same recommendation put forth by General Lopez when he was assigned command of Operation Rampart, and it’s a good one.

  “Strategically, without definite actionable information on a specific threat to the United States, we should try to find a political and legislative solution rather than adopt a defensive and clearly threatening posture. Many of Mr. Kinsly’s suggestions sound good to me: a limited guest worker program, more punishment for violators, no ‘catch and release’ for OTMs, longer detention stays, more detention facilities. I feel we’re overreacting to recent events, and we’re in danger of having this situation spin out of control.” He glanced at Jefferson, then added, “I continued to be impressed by the sergeant major’s CID robots and his ambitious plans to deploy them, and I do believe Operation Rampart was a victim of a series of unfortunate mishaps and doesn’t reflect Task Force TALON’s capabilities. But we’re hurting, plain and simple, and I see no downside in drawing down the military aspect and steeply ramping up the legislative and political responses.”