Kay Darling knocked on Marty’s office door shortly after President Jackson’s latest foray into pot-stirring.
“Come in,” Marty called.
Kay marched into his office to announce what Jackson had spouted off about on BBC. “I think he’s trying to get Texans at loggerheads with the rest of the United States.”
“I’d like to think you were joking, but I know you wouldn’t make light of this situation.” Marty picked up the desk phone, and dialed Duncan McCarthy’s number.
“Duncan McCarthy here,” the chief of staff answered.
“Hi, Duncan, it’s Marty Kert. Any way I can talk to President Barker today?”
“Funny you called, sir. You’re on my list of people the president wants to speak with,” Duncan told him, a measure of relief in his voice. “However, he had to meet with one of the UN committees this afternoon about the financial crisis in Europe, and he probably won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“Schedule a call for as early tomorrow morning as possible, would you please?”
“Sure thing, sir. He’s usually here by seven o’clock at the latest. Would you be available at seven-thirty or eight o’clock?” Duncan asked.
“I just put the call on my schedule for seven-thirty, and I look forward to talking with him,” Marty said. “Thanks for your help, Duncan.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” Duncan replied. “Goodbye.”
Marty hung up the phone. “Well, that was easy,” he told Kay. “Seems like he wants to talk to me, too.”
“Do you want me to queue up the BBC interview so you can take a look at it?” she asked.
“That would be a great help, Kay, thanks.”
Within an hour of the interview, the phone lines in the Austin Capitol were burning up and Marty’s office foyer was full of irate Texans, most of whom were convinced that President Jackson was up to no good.
“Can we please have your attention, folks?” Bill asked. “Thank you all for coming. President Kert has a few words for you.”
Marty stood in front of Norma’s desk, leaning against it. “I know little more than you do about the former president’s statements. I have asked President Barker to call me as soon as possible, and I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon. He is working very hard on his end to see that we remain on the best possible terms with Washington, now and in the future. I’m sure he is as upset about this as we all are.”
He turned to Norma. “Can you please get a list of names, phone numbers and emails for these folks, Norma?” He looked back at the group in front of him. “If you’ll provide your information to Norma here, we will email or text each of you as soon as we have something to comment on. You’re all welcome to return at that time.”
There was a lot of nodding and murmuring going on as the group realized this would be a great opportunity to be in leadership on the issue.
“Bill,” Marty said to his chief of staff, “get the list of names and provide them to the front desk staff so they’ll know who to let in when the time comes.” He turned back to the group in front of him. “Thank you all for your interest in the happenings in the new Republic of Texas. This says a lot about Texans.” He headed back into his office to a smattering of applause.
Back in his desk chair, Marty had more to reflect on. The truth was, all world leaders had a lot on their plates. After the collapse of the Greek economy, it was clear there was no way to prevent the same thing from happening in Portugal and Spain, and perhaps more countries, in the next few months.
From reports that crossed his desk every day, Marty knew that food and medical supplies were running out quickly in Greece. People were hungry across the country and the ability of other European countries to help through resources of their own was being exhausted. When other nations in the Eurozone fell into the same financial plight, there could be people starving in the streets.
The danger of the world plunging into war loomed if something wasn’t done to get a handle on this crisis. The world was standing at the brink of a precipice unlike anything seen since WW II, and it would take the efforts of some adroit political leaders to keep it from plunging into the pit of chaos.
Marty sighed. Jackson couldn’t have picked a more dangerous time to pull his stunts if he tried. Either his timing was eerily precise or he understood exactly how dangerous his statements were.