Making straight for his seat at the head of the conference room, Scott Dixon paused only long enough to shed his web gear and helmet before pulling out his chair and plopping down. “Be seated, people,” he snapped as he reached out instinctively for the can of soda that sat on a small tray before him.

In the process of resuming his seat, Clyde Emerson asked, in a rather offhanded manner, “How was your visit with 2nd of the 13th?”

Dixon paused, looked up from his soda, and made a face. “We’ll talk about that later.”

This was not good. Had all gone well, Scott would have responded with a compliment or a bland observation. But the words “we’ll talk about that later,” had the same impact on Emerson that a child in school would feel if his teacher told him, “see me after class.” Dixon’s quick, unemotional reply to Emerson’s inquiry had a sudden, chilling effect on the assembled officers. The old man was in a bad mood.

Seeing that it was best that they press on with the commander’s conference as quickly as possible, Bob Felden leaned forward, opened the folder before him, and started speaking. “The topic for today’s discussion is the use of military force against domestic threats.” He paused so as to permit everyone seated at the table an opportunity to open their own folders and focus their minds on the subject at hand. “The Army has, in the past, been used to resolve domestic disputes, disturbances, and violence of varying intensity and complexity. The most extensive use of American military power to deal with an internal crisis was, of course, the Civil War.”

From the far end of the table, a voice that betrayed its Alabama origins interrupted. “Or, if you please, the War of Northern Aggression.”

Scott Dixon, looking up from his folder, stared at Colonel John Battle Gordon, commander of the 191st Brigade, Alabama National Guard. As the commander of the division’s round out brigade, Colonel Gordon was invited to every commanders’ conference. That he had chosen to attend this one was no accident. “Aggression,” Scott stated evenly, “is often a matter of perspective.”

“In the case of Southern independence,” Gordon replied, “the label of aggressor is a fit and proper one when discussing the collection of bandits and malcontents your Mr. Lincoln called armies. Their use to deny the southern states their right to secede from the Union was illegal and unjustifiable.”

Scott smiled. “Ah, yes. The Tenth Amendment.”