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“You are all to be congratulated, you executed beautifully, flawlessly,” Adrian said. “You have won a great battle, one where you were severely outnumbered. By a combination of the element of surprise, superior fire power, pure guts and perfect execution, you and all of our troops have destroyed this enemy for years to come. One of the first actions of the new government will be to recognize all of our fallen, wounded, and unwounded. Medals will be created and I will personally place those medals on every single person as soon as possible.”

“We need to immediately locate a superior burial ground for our fallen and get them interred with respect and dignity. And we need to send the fallen enemy troops back to their people. They deserve proper burial in their own homeland. Strip their bodies of arms and ammunition, and have the prisoners carry the bodies across the river and lay them out in the sports complex. See to it immediately after our own have been properly buried. No, get a contingent started on it right away, but give them leave to attend the funeral services for our own, then have them get right back to work.”

“As soon as those duties are attended to we’ll board the train and return to Cotulla where we’ll have a final ceremony and disburse. Any questions? No? Dismissed.”

Two days later, Adrian spoke to the assembled Texas army at the memorial service.

“We are saddened beyond measure that these men and women are dead. They came here to fight, believing in something greater than themselves. They put their lives on the line for that belief. They believed, and rightly so, that the time had come for Texas to resurrect itself, to create a place in this world where men and women and children can expect to be treated with dignity. A place where law and order would offer them as much protection as it’s possible for a civilized society to grant. They believed, as we all do, that if the invasion had been successful all Texans would suffer enormously, that this deadly peril had to be stopped right here and right now.”

“They have given their lives, a gift that can’t be bought or borrowed but only freely granted. The ultimate of all gifts, the gift of absolute love. These men and women whose names we called a moment ago, shall be remembered throughout the span of time that the Republic of Texas exists. They will be honored every year on the day of their death as the first men and women of Texas. By official decree, this day shall be considered holy…in their honor. We’ll call it the Battle of the Del Rio Day. On that day each year their names will be read out by the President of the Republic of Texas in an official and public display to honor their greatest gift of all.”

“Reverend Matthew will lead us all in prayer, followed by the playing of Taps and the lowering of the Republic of Texas Flag to half-staff, where it will remain for one full year in honor of our fallen. Not until the first anniversary of the battle will the flag be lifted again to full staff, again in their honor. We will be reminded every time we see the flag flying that it was because of their greatest sacrifice and the great sacrifices of the wounded and unwounded that came to this place to keep Texans free. Reverend, if you please.”

Linda reached up with her hand and gently wiped the tears from his face.

Chapter 28

T
hey returned to Cotulla a
week later, after giving the Mexican soldiers what honors they could. Only a very few people came to claim bodies or try to.

Adrian had ordered a bull dozer to be repaired and sent to the Mexican side of the river to dig long trenches six feet deep. The Mexican prisoners carefully and respectfully placed the bodies in the trenches and then covered by hand with shovels; everyone agreed that pushing the dirt in with the bulldozer seemed disrespectful.

Every uninjured person turned out to help with the laying out of the bodies and covering them, along with the prisoners. A large steel cross was mounted above the burial site, permanently embedded in concrete, matching the monument at the Texas side. Adrian had ordered the two crosses be exactly the same. Unknown to him though, the welders had made the Texas cross a foot longer in each dimension. A flag pole was erected and a Mexican flag flown at half-mast.

A Catholic priest, among the Texans, led the main prayer; a second prayer for Protestants that might be in the group was also said by Matt. After the final memorial ceremony, Adrian released the Mexican prisoners, then the Texas army loaded up on the train and returned to Cotulla.

In Cotulla, the camp was temporarily restored. Many of the men and women left for home immediately, but the elected representatives stayed, there was still a government to finish building. There were also wounded to tend to before they would be able to return home.

For two months, the elected officials worked at crafting the new Constitution and the structural make-up of the government. It was different in several critical ways from the former Constitution of the United States. They were busy days, filled with the excitement and the promise of creating something larger than the men and women at work on it. They were heady days that were filled with debates starting at daylight and continuing until deep into the night. Slowly, but surely, the articles of the Constitution took form and shape and were agreed on.

Perry headed the Constitutional convention. In the pre-grid days he had been a lawyer with a penchant for a libertarian style of government. The basic premise of his draft Constitution was that every individual was a sovereign unto himself, and that the government wasn’t there to override or to rule him, but to create an environment where each person could live his or her life in accordance with their own beliefs, and so far as the actions of these persons did not infringe on the rights of others to be left alone to live as they saw fit.

Building on this premise, it was determined that the Republic of Texas would be a volunteer republic; it would disallow elected officials to gain any compensation for their position in any way. They would be paid no salary; they would not be able to gain by any form of business dealing while in office or after being in office that relied even partially on granting favors or giving untoward access to their voting, or inside knowledge. In effect, there would be no special interest lobbying or buying of favors.

The new republic’s government would rely on funding to support its activities not by taxes, but by fees on international trade and by voluntary gifts from citizens. There would be no standing army, but all interested citizens of eighteen years or more could be militia members, with each section of the state creating its own militia. Voting would be restricted to those that served in the militia or had served previously in the militia and left it with honor. The general consensus was that voting would not be an automatic right, but a right that could be earned by one and all, if they so chose to.

Each militia would patrol its section of the Republic. The militia would provide the hammer and the constitution would provide the anvil to crush those that acted outside the common consent of law. The justice system would act much as it had in the pre-grid days, all crimes except of a minor offense, would require indictment by a grand jury, representation of the accused by competent counsel, and a trial by jury. However, there would be no jails, there would be no prison terms. If the accused were found guilty of an offense serious enough to have received prison time in the previous world, they would be expelled from the republic on threat of death if they attempted to return. Capital offenders, if found guilty, would be executed after an expedited re-trial and upon unanimous vote by the second jury.

It was a rough-and-ready form of government, but one suited to the times.

Even after the new government was complete and the injured healed enough to go home on their own, or to be taken home by volunteers, there was still much to be done. Adrian and Linda had barely gotten back home to Fort Brazos, the capital of the new republic, when a helicopter appeared over the village.

Adrian and Linda came out on the porch at the sound of the hovering craft and watched it land gently in the open field in front of their new home, built for them by the villagers between the victory and Adrian’s return with Linda. It was a large, log structure, with a huge living room suitable for greeting official visitors and holding meetings of up to twenty people comfortably. It was a fitting symbol of the new republic: rustically elegant, setting an example that government structures should be simple and have multiple uses. The Republic flag was flying in front of the house, at half-mast.

They watched as the Admiral dismounted from the helicopter, quickly followed by Ryan, Jose, and another man in Navy uniform that Adrian didn’t recognize. Adrian greeted the men with a firm handshake and large smile for each, as did Linda who quickly followed suit.

“Welcome to our home gentlemen, it’s good to see all of you again.” A crowd was quickly forming out of curiosity at the helicopter’s arrival. “Admiral,” Adrian continued, “if we don’t satisfy their curiosity as to who you are and why you’re here they’ll be making up rumors of another impending invasion.”

The Admiral smiled and shook his head. “Just some business that needs tending to.”

“Well Admiral, since I don’t know what that business is, why don’t you say a few words to the crowd and then we’ll go inside and talk.”

The Admiral nodded and turned to the crowd, speaking to them from the raised porch. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I know you’re curious about my loud arrival, and I don’t blame you a bit. It’s simply that I’m here to discuss government business with the President, just routine business, nothing exciting or all that interesting. I’m sure that President Hunter, or should I call him President Bear as most people do, will make a full announcement after I leave. I believe in transparency in government as much as he does, so come back after I leave to get the details.” He smiled and waved and the crowd began slowly dispersing.

“Tit for tat Adrian—you threw me under the bus, so I returned the favor.” The Admiral said in a jovial tone of voice. “Now, how about some of that famous Texas hospitality?”

As they seated themselves at the dinner table, the Admiral said, “Let me introduce Jeff Parsons. He is, it turns out, an economist by avocation. He has a doctorate in the subject and wrote many papers that were well-received in the old days. His choice to be a Naval officer instead of a civilian economist comes from the desire for adventure and a life at sea. We’ve had many talks on economics, a subject I also find fascinating, although as a layman, and we’ve been discussing the future of Texas. Let me turn it over to him now.”

“Thank you Admiral,” said Jeff. “It’s an honor and a privilege to meet you Mr. President.”

Adrian stopped him with a raised hand. “Jeff, there may be official times to call me by that title, but not in my home. Here you will do me the honor of calling me Adrian, if you please. If not then we’ll have to go somewhere else to talk.” Adrian punctuated that sentence with a big smile.

Jeff replied, “Thank you sir, I mean…thank you, Adrian.” He was clearly uncomfortable addressing him informally.

“I am an economist as the Admiral has stated, and as he said we’ve had many interesting conversations about the new republic and how it will handle economic matters. I have some ideas that I’d like to bounce off you, if you have the time to allow me to.”

Adrian turned to Linda “Do we have anything pressing today? I can’t think of anything can you?”

“Nothing official, and nothing that can’t wait. We were going to visit the girls later, but we can do that after this.” Linda replied.

“The floor is yours Jeff, but be advised…don’t get jargonish on me or you’ll lose me.”

“Yes sir… I mean, Adrian…this is all basic stuff but if I start to wax unintelligible just stop me. What it boils down to is that every nation has to have some form of currency, some form of officially recognized money system. There hasn’t been a civilized nation in history that was able to avoid it, it’s a definite must-do thing. This nation is in its infancy, and frankly without a monetary system it will stay there. To advance, even an inch, beyond where it is now, it must have currency that can be traded between individuals, businesses, the government, and other nations. It cannot be otherwise.”