Edge of Battle

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.”

“Sir, it sounds to me like we have a meeting of the minds, if not a full consensus,” Chief of Staff Kinsly said to the back of the President’s head. “Defense says he can’t support a major mobilization or move of the National Guard for border security; Homeland Security doesn’t seem to want them anyway, at least not as part of their roster, but suggests some limited assistance; Justice is in favor of increased Border Patrol manpower. I suggest we draft resolutions and start putting together a plan of action to push these resolutions through Congress. In the meantime, we gradually draw down the National Guard forces on the border in order to quiet the tension ratcheting up around here.”

“I’m in favor of drafting resolutions to support more detention facilities, additional funding for the Border Patrol, a guest worker program, more sanctions against employers who hire undocumented aliens, and all the rest, Mr. President,” National Security Adviser Jefferson said, “but I feel we need to make those moves in an atmosphere of strength and resolve, not weakness. General Lopez’s move to put those Guard forces on the border so quickly after the Arizona incident was a bold, audacious, resolute one—we shouldn’t lose the advantage of surprise and shock it gave us.” He paused for a moment, then added, “And if FBI Director DeLaine thinks she can use Task Force TALON to help her track down any terrorists that may have sneaked across the border, I think we should give it to her.”

“Your loyalty to that group astounds me, Sergeant Major,” the President said. “They’ve done nothing but be a royal pain in the ass to everyone involved ever since that bastard Chamberlain put them together—a move, need I remind you, designed from the beginning to make the government look bad. They’ve done nothing but look bad since day one.”

“Sir, they may look bad, but they’ve been highly successful in their given mission,” Jefferson said. “They may not do the job neat and pretty—no truly effective combat unit or special ops team is known for their tidiness—but they get the job done. They took on the Consortium and other terrorist groups all around the world, and they caught three hundred percent more illegals crossing the border than the Border Patrol.”

“Mr. President, I’m not going to try to support or condemn TALON,” Kinsly said. “I have to admit they’ve had some spectacular successes—unfortunately, their heavy-handed blunders have only served to obscure those successes, at least in a political and public relations sense.” He swallowed when he noticed Jefferson’s glare, but went on: “Speaking as your chief political adviser, sir, I believe TALON is a much bigger liability than they are an asset, because it makes you appear as if you’re not in total control.”

“Well, sir, I’m not a political adviser,” Jefferson said, “but let me try to approach this problem from a political direction: should TALON be placed in the control of the FBI? Right now TALON reports directly to me, which means they report to you. If that’s too politically distasteful, then putting them under Director DeLaine’s authority might be a good thing. It’s an added layer of political insulation from this office.”

“You sure are sounding like a political adviser, Sergeant Major,” the President remarked.

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult, sir,” Jefferson said.

“It’s a warning: don’t get in over your head.”

“Message received, loud and clear, sir.” Jefferson looked at Kinsly and asked, “Does Director DeLaine suffer from the same adverse political appearance as TALON? My guess is, she does not.”

Kinsly shook his head. “In fact, Director DeLaine polls out extremely well with the public, Congress, and the media,” Kinsly said. “She’s talented, knowledgeable, well spoken, professional, experienced, articulate, and considered a team player by a majority of respondents.”

Jefferson rolled his eyes at the mass of polling data being so easily regurgitated by the White House Chief of Staff—he couldn’t help worrying if that’s what he spoon-fed the President on a daily basis, and how many decisions were made from this office on that basis. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt that she’s young, good-looking, curvy, and unmarried,” Jefferson added sarcastically.

The Chief of Staff looked uncomfortable. “In fact, she tested out well in all those areas too,” he admitted.

Jefferson shook his head sadly. “Goes to show you what the American public really cares about.”

“Point taken, Sergeant Major—now drop it,” the President said irritably.

“Sorry, sir.”

The President fell silent again, but only for a few moments this time: “Tom, issue instructions to General Lopez that he should plan for a complete withdrawal of National Guard forces from the border within sixty days,” the President ordered. “I’ll leave the decision as to which weapons he wants to use to him, but it is my clear desire to use the absolute minimum firepower necessary for self-defense. We’re trying to secure the borders from illegal entry, not defend against a massed armored invasion.

“I want to see a draft resolution for a temporary worker program on my desk by the end of the day today, ready to present to Congress for sponsorship,” the President went on. “I want the bill to include tough penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers after the law goes into effect. I also want draft resolutions for emergency funding for twenty thousand additional Border Patrol agents, a greater number of detention facilities and judges to hear immigration and deportation cases, and more provisions for detaining more OTMs and making sure they appear for immigration hearings. I’m going to table discussions—for now—on having the Guard transferred to Homeland Security and changing the Constitution to prohibit granting citizenship to children born in the U.S. of illegal immigrants, but you can leak it to the press that the White House is looking into those two topics for near- future legislation.”

Kinsly had his PDA out and was wirelessly transmitting notes furiously to his staff. “Got it, Mr. President,” he said.

The President then turned to Ray Jefferson. “Okay, Sergeant Major: convince me that the FBI needs TALON.”

“One name: Yegor Zakharov,” Jefferson responded immediately. “Agent Paul Purdy may not have made an absolutely positive ID, but I believe that’s who we’re dealing with. I think forensic evidence from the shootings in Arizona will reveal Zakharov’s handiwork—as we know, he’s an expert marksman, with a rare and easily identifiable Russian sniper rifle as his weapon of choice. If Zakharov and the Consortium are still in the U.S., it’ll take more than