circuit court judge or the Supreme Court decide who has jurisdiction. Until that time, the words you need to remember are ‘We’re investigating, so I have no comment.’ Understood?”
“Of course, Mr. President,” Wentworth said. “But we can’t keep those task force members out there any longer. The operation can continue—there’s no legal reason I can surmise that prohibits us from patrolling our own borders—but the presence of those robot contraptions will only terrorize the citizens on both sides even more.”
“That’s part of the plan, isn’t it, General Wentworth?” Ray Jefferson asked.
“You know very well it isn’t, Jefferson…!”
“I know nothing of the sort, Mr. Wentworth,” Jefferson retorted. “First of all, we can put anything we care to on the border to perform whatever tasks we wish, especially homeland security and border protection. I’m not saying Richter’s or Falcone’s action with your agents was proper, but if the sight of those manned robots and detention facilities forces illegal migrants to sign up for a guest worker program, it’s done its job.”
“So that was our plan, Jefferson—
“Look at the televisions, Mr. Wentworth,” Jefferson said. “We have thirty U.S. soldiers at Rampart One, plus two CID units and two Condor unmanned reconnaissance airships. The Mexican Army has just deployed a similar number of troops in that same area, with armored personnel carriers and patrol helicopters instead of CID units and airships. I don’t think any illegal migrants will be crossing the border at this location for a while, do you?”
“You’ve got to be
“All right, all right,” the President said, raising a hand. He turned to Brigadier General Lopez. “Okay, General, let’s hear it. What’s going on with you and TALON?”
“Sir, it was my decision to leave TALON completely in the hands of Major Richter,” the one-star Army National Guard flag officer responded. Ricardo Lopez was a bear of a man, six feet two inches in height, broad- chested and imposing, with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, square jaw, a perpetual five o’clock shadow, and dark features. “My staff is directing the construction of forward operating bases in California and deploying support personnel, but I’m not up to speed on those Cybernetic Infantry Devices or their capabilities.”
“Didn’t Major Richter brief you on their capabilities, General?” the President asked.
“Yes, sir, he did. But getting briefed on them and knowing enough about them to deploy them effectively are two very different things. Given the short time frame given to have the first base set up, I decided the best way to handle it was to assign Major Richter the task of directing his men and equipment as he saw fit. I approved his rules of engagement orders; he coordinates all his movements with my staff on a regular basis; and he personally delivers a status report four times a day.”
“Do you think turning over control to Richter was a smart idea, General?” Attorney General Wentworth asked.
“Major Richter is a fine officer, and he has an enthusiastic and dedicated staff behind him,” Lopez said. “Richter may be…unconventional, to put it mildly, but he gets the job done. He’s not the problem.”
“Oh?”
“No, sir. The crazy idea here was using those CID robot things in the first place. But I believe I was not given a choice in making that decision.”
“So you’re not taking responsibility for what’s happened out there…?”
“No, Mr. Wentworth, I take full responsibility for whatever happens with Operation Rampart,” Lopez said immediately. “I’m just explaining my decision-making matrix, as I’ve already explained to Sergeant Major Jefferson.”
Wentworth turned to Jefferson. “You never told us that the commander of Rampart objected to using the robots, Jefferson.”
“I noted his objections, Mr. Wentworth,” Jefferson said, “but given the time constraints, TALON’s capabilities, and the problems associated with mobilizing the required number of National Guard forces, I directed General Lopez to utilize TALON to the utmost extent possible anyway. General Lopez assured me he would educate himself and his senior staff on TALON’s capabilities as quickly as possible. That was good enough for me.”
“What’s your plan, General?” the President asked.
“Very simple, sir: augment National Guard troops into regular U.S. Border Patrol operations, just like we do with Customs Service port inspection assistance teams,” Lopez said. “Each Border Patrol sector gets a National Guard infantry or cavalry platoon and a helicopter element for support, along with their equipment, for deployments that last no more than a week. We can augment other forces such as reconnaissance, communications, or intelligence as necessary, but I feel that wouldn’t be necessary—the Border Patrol has all of that already. All our units deploy from Border Patrol offices and travel under the direction of Border Patrol field units—we wouldn’t have to build any bases, jails, detention facilities, or anything else. The Guard gets on-the-job training by the Border Patrol, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Plus, since the National Guard works in a support role, there are no Posse Comitatus conflicts.”
“And this was rejected…
“It wasn’t rejected—in fact, the plan is being put into motion,” National Security Adviser Jefferson replied. “An urgent request has gone out to every state governor and adjutant general requesting support for the plan. We’ve received requests for more information—mostly on who’s going to pay for it—but so far no takers.”
“What do you mean, ‘no takers’?” Kinsly asked. “Why can’t we just order them to give us the forces we need?”
“We need a presidential directive ordering the federalization of the National Guard if we wish to put those forces under our direct control,” Jefferson said. “Otherwise, we can only
“How long would it take to implement the program General Lopez has described, Sergeant Major?” Secretary of Homeland Security Lemke asked.
“The governor of California tells us that he is in favor of the proposal but he wants to feel the pulse of the legislature and the people before he commits the California Guard,” Jefferson replied. “Initial polling results suggest that most Californians wouldn’t want their National Guard involved, that it’s a job for the FBI and Homeland Security, not the military.”
“That’s not surprising,” Kinsly interjected. “California is almost thirty percent Hispanic, and they aren’t minorities in all of the counties in southern California.”
“Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas haven’t responded officially, but the governors are generally in favor of the program as well, with reservations,” Lopez said. “They are all in favor of Rampart if it means bringing their Guardsmen home from overseas duty.”
“The Pentagon won’t like that notion,” Lemke pointed out. “We’re stretched to the breaking point already— removing the Guard from overseas deployments will hurt.”
“So if the request is denied, our only option is to federalize those forces,” Jefferson went on. “General Lopez has current data on each unit’s readiness and deployability—some units could be ready in days, while others might take weeks. Integrating the forces with Border Patrol sectors would take a few weeks at best, mostly to cut orders, reroute units scheduled for overseas deployment, arrange transportation and lodging, and set up a training program.”
“The bottom line, sir: we can do it, without the help of Richter and his robots,” General Lopez said, giving Jefferson an exasperated glare. “They should be pulled out of there right away and Rampart turned over to the Border Patrol for operational control. The reconnaissance stuff is great: we are getting good support from those big sensor airships, but the robots are overkill…uh, excuse the pun, sir.”
“Looks like we may have pushed Rampart into existence too quickly, eh, Sergeant Major?” the President asked. “Maybe Richter wasn’t up to it.”
“Rampart has detained hundreds of illegal migrants in just a few days’ time, Mr. President,” Jefferson pointed out. “Last night’s incident was unfortunate, but an aberration—and it happened on the U.S. side of the border, with
