A uniformed officer made his way down the hall toward the office of his commander with a folder stuffed full of documents under one arm and another package under the other. He was pushing the deadline demanded of his analysis, but he knew what his commander cherished the most was substance over timeliness.
Stopping to knock at the door, the lieutenant waited only a second before hearing the deep throated "Come."
Entering the office, he noted the commander and his chief adjutant were seemingly consumed in strategy discussions. His best clue was the wall map they stood beside when he opened the door. His commander was making gestures in the direction of the Monroe Republic, which meant only one thing.
"Sir, I have the information you requested."
His commander looked at the classic grandfather clock in one corner, which reported the time as one minute past the deadline he set. His simple reaction was to stroke his dark beard and nod to the lieutenant to continue.
"This is the latest report from Tampa. Would you like me to read the update or show you?"
"Fire it up," the adjutant replied. Colonel Henry Forrest knew the update would dazzle his commander so much that he wanted to see it on the large screen. He watched Lieutenant Eddie Scott make his way to the wall where the fifty inch display slowly warmed and presented a blank screen. Scott then returned to the opposite side of the desk, retrieved his package and flipped open the top. A whirring sound accompanied a flash of light and then the screen to their right came to life, showing an overview of the Georgia Republic.
Within the borders there were five municipalities highlighted in green. Birmingham, Atlanta, Savannah, Charlotte and New Orleans shared this color status. Three other cities remained a red color. Still more localities were a gray with the bulk of the map simply white.
"This is a live representation?" Forrest asked.
"Yes sir. They are on a countdown. It should happen within the next minute."
Forrest smiled at his commander and nodded as he waited for the screen to change. As Scott predicted a portion of Jacksonville's red slowly morphed to green. Beside the city a small circle illuminated that showed a slowly incrementing graphic of the percentage complete. The graph continued to increase as the portion of the city showing the green indication steadily darkened.
As soon as the entire locality was green, the three men noticed another, New Orleans, begin to change. It took a similar amount of time to fill, and then their focus shifted to Mobile, Alabama. It was not until this icon filled with green that the man in charge of the Georgia Republic finally spoke.
"So we now have three port cities with power?"
"Yes General Jackson. The wind farm in Tampa is at 85% as of today. Combined with the Daytona facility we are now able to supply Jacksonville, New Orleans and Mobile."
General Robert J. Jackson stood and walked closer to the high definition screen. He was without technology long enough after the blackout that this was almost like new again. He had never been one to stare at a computer screen for hours, but he had to admit seeing it in electronic form was more dramatic.
"We have the personnel to staff the ports?"
"Yes sir," Scott replied. He toggled his tablet to display the latest recruitment figures for each location. "Jacksonville will be active first. We will be able to send ships to the Texas Republic within the week."
Jackson stroked his beard as he considered the plan he and Forrest concocted six months before. Trading with the neighboring republic was a calculated risk. As long as both were getting something valuable the relationship could work.
"When will the pickets be able to put to sea?"
"We expect the tankers to arrive in Jacksonville within thirty six hours after our ships are confirmed to be halfway to Houston. We will fuel up and send them out as soon as possible. The best case scenario is to have them on station by the first of next week."
"I know Monroe and Matheson are planning an offensive," Jackson said as casually as if he was discussing his choice for the evening meal. We have the overland approaches covered with sufficient force to stop them in their initial foray."
"It will be good when we get the information from Captain Dearing," Forrest mentioned. He referred to the remote video and recording devices Dearing was field testing. With the ability to command the satellites that once fueled the huge entertainment and news industry of the former U.S.A., the Georgia Republic had a technology advantage over the other three republics they planned to exploit. The expectation was that the electronic devices could supply them with much needed intelligence about General Monroe's capabilities.
Whispers from spies that made it back to the republic from operations in the Monroe Republic included scuttlebutt about a power booster developed by Rachel Matheson that gave Monroe the ability to field helicopters. No information was known about how many of these boosters were in service. Jackson knew how Monroe thought. He served with him and Miles Matheson before the blackout. During their time in Iraq they did some really hardcore things that changed all of them forever.
Jackson felt he had the greater grasp on reality. To succeed as a republic he had to provide for the citizenry. Four years previous then Captain Forrest floated the plan to harness the natural electricity capacity of the then dormant wind and solar farms on the coastal boundaries of Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. The plan was scaled back from operations in Louisiana due to the concern their neighbors in the Texas Republic might feel intimidated and threatened.
A Non-Aggression Pact opened up the Louisiana plan and provided the first power to the Texas Republic. Patterning their program on the Georgia Republic's example, the Texas Republic was lighting up their cities at a slower pace. A happy citizenry was more willing to submit to a tax when they were generating an income. It certainly was not the process of fifteen years before, but for the selected cities, the return to normal was quickly accelerating.