CH 4. Allison Kaeda Connor

"Still nothing from Sky Net," Cameron said as she came in the house from her visit to the Weavers.

"Mommy!" four year old Allison cried and ran to greet her mother, her favorite stuffed monkey clenched tight in one hand and her pink hair flying behind her. Little Allison then bounded up to leap into her mother's arms.

Cameron recoiled from the impact and smiled at her daughter as she held her.

"Mommy, Daddy is doing colors and stickies with me," Allison cried happily. "Come do colors and stickies with us!"

"Allison, you don't greet Gramma like that, do you?" Cameron asked.

"Oh no! Gramma is frail, we have to be careful with frail people," Allison said in as firm a voice as a four year old was able. Turning to her father, Allison asked, "Right, Daddy?"

"Right, sweetie," John agreed from his spot on the floor in front of a plastic sheet filled with coloring paper, glue and crayons.

"And no touching people with the hands no one can see! Right Mommy?" Allison announced.

"Right, Allison," Cameron replied. "You could hurt someone really bad if you did that."

John winced and said, "Speaking of that, doors don't do too well either. We need a new kitchen door. Allison opened it a little too hard." He quickly added, "But she is doing better at being gentle."

"With pre-school coming up, that's a good thing," Cameron told him. Allison was highly intelligent and thrived on learning new things. They had decided to send her to pre-school a year early so she could learn more, and give them a break from the constant barge of questions their little girl had about everything. She only hoped pre-school could handle Allison.

"Can I do colors and stickies at school?" Allison asked.

Cameron knelt down to see the numbers John had cut out of the colored paper. "I don't know, Allison, but I am sure there will be fun things to do. You were counting with Daddy today?"

"Yup!" Allison said and hopped down to point at the numbers. "One, two, three, four, five,..."

As Allison counted each number, the number lifted off the floor to hang suspended in the air.

"... six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" Allison proudly announced as the numbers all hung in the air over them.

"Very good," Cameron said and clapped.

"Ahh, sweetie, you can't lift things up like that at school, OK?" John cautioned.

"Why not?" Allison asked innocently.

Struggling to come up with a reason, John said, "Because ... none of the other kids can, and they would feel bad if they knew you can do it and they can't."

"They don't have invisible hands like you do," Cameron told her.

"Oh. That's sad. How do they reach up and get cookies off the top of the refrigerator?" Allison asked.

"They don't," John said. That was one thing they learned quickly. Putting things up out of reach didn't work with Allison. The last time they played 'try to reach this', Allison got the Frisbee of the roof of their two story house while she was standing in the front yard. There was no such thing as 'out of reach' with Allison.

John was very grateful for a couple things. Allison was a well mannered child and she was smart. They would have been in big trouble if she was the average whinny brat. When Allison did make a mistake or did something wrong, all it took was explaining to her what she did, and why she couldn't do that. Allison listened. He couldn't even imagine the chaos if she pulled a temper tantrum. He doubted they'd have a house left.

Cameron played colors and stickies with Allison and John for a while before she got dinner started. Much to Cameron's joy, when Sarah came home, she too played on the floor with her granddaughter. Besides sticking pieces of paper together with glue, Allison graduated to making three dimensional shapes. It was only squares and circles she and John made, but another small step in her education.

.

Allison helped her Daddy put away the colors and stickies before they washed up for dinner. Seeing Sarah get up, Allison ran over to her and held out her hands to her. "Hold my hand, Gramma," Allison said.

Sarah took the child's hand. With a smirk, she said, "I'll walk you to the dinning room, sweetie."

"Be careful not to trip," Allison said seriously.

"I won't hon," Sarah assured her.

"OK, Gramma, because it would be bad if you fell."

Sarah eyed the child. "Why would I fall?" she asked.

"Daddy says you're frail so we have to be careful," Allison said innocently.

"I'm frail, huh?" Sarah growled as she eyed John with daggers.

"We just want Allison to be careful ... with people," John said quickly.

"So, I'm frail?" Sarah asked heavily. She let go of Allison's hand and strode towards John. "Want me to show you frail?"

Backing away, John held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, Mom, wait. Not in front of Allison!" he cried as he backed around the dinning room table.

"Maybe she needs to see what a frail old woman can do," Sarah growled.

Cameron pulled out a chair behind John and guided his fall into a sit. She eyed Sarah. "Behave." she said crisply. Sarah glowered at Cameron, then plopped down in a seat.

Allison giggled at the sight. "Gramma's funny," she said with a giggle.

"Come on Allison, up in your chair," Cameron told her.

Allison got her booster seat and put it in the chair next to Daddy, then leaped up to sit beside him.

As always, Mommy made them a tasty meal. Allison swung her feet as she chewed happily away. Not everything Mommy made was tasty to her, but she understood that each of them liked something a bit different, and since food was energy for your body, each of them needed a bit different part of the meal.

It was the same with breakfast. Mommy drank the same juice she did, but Gramma needed her black coffee and Daddy needed his lighter brown coffee that had some milk and sugar in it. The light toast was for Daddy and Gramma, the medium toast was for mommy, and she needed the really crunchy black toast that Gramma winced at. Everyone liked the berry pancakes and eggs, but only she liked the 'metal shaker' mix in the big salt shaker to put on her food. It gave her a 'tingly' taste.

After dinner, Allison helped clear the table. Being careful like Mommy told her to, she picked up the plates and set them on the counter top by the sink while she stood in her chair. In catching an errant spoon the tried to fall to the floor with an invisible hand, she bend it. She tried to straighten it out, but it broke.

"Sorry, Mommy," she said in a tiny voice.

"You did well, Allison," Cameron assured her. "It was only one spoon. Soon you will be skilled enough to not drop anything."

Sarah had been watching. It amazed her that her granddaughter could levitate things like that. Cameron was right, one spoon was nothing compared to the stack of plates she crushed in mid air a couple weeks ago.

After dinner was picked up, Allison had her 'tubbie time' and played in the bath with her ducks while Bip had to watch from his place atop the toilet. Bip couldn't take a bath, he got all soggy and drippy, then mommy would have to take him away for a day or two so he could dry out. That make Bip sad, Allison knew, because it made her sad too. So no tubbie time for Bip.

Once tubbie time was over, Mommy helped Allison get dried off and into her PJ's and fuzzy robe. She cuddled up into Daddy's lap so he could read her a story. Sometimes she had Daddy re-read the stories that she liked. She loved the story of the Sneeches and Green Eggs and Ham, Daddy did the voices really good.

Allison liked reading some parts with him. "I do NOT like Green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam-I-am!"

After story time, Daddy carried her up to bed and tucked her in. After Daddy left, Allison used her Hands to make Bip dance and do silly walks. When she got tired, she had Bip climb under the covers with her, and she tucked Bip in for the night, kissing him on the forehead, just like Daddy did with her.

.

The day came when Allison was getting ready for her first day of school. As her Mommy got her dressed in the pink and white shirt and skirt outfit, Mommy put a pink fuzzy hat on her head.

"Allison, what are the rules for going to school?" Cameron asked.

"Don't take my hat off, keep all my hands close to me except for the two everyone can see, run and jump only as fast and far as other kids can ..." Allison stopped and bit her lip. "There's one more, isn't there Mommy?"

"Eyes on full spectrum visual at all times," Cameron stated.

"Right... ahhh, keep my eyes ... normal seeing," Allison concluded.

Cameron nodded. "Normal seeing for humans," she agreed.

.

With the proper instructions verified, Cameron took Allison out and down to the preschool a block outside the community gates. The building looked to be a larger ranch style house with a fenced in play area and colorful animals on the windows.

Allison smiled at all the colors and new things she saw. She held her arm out, touching the wire mesh fence as they walked by, and stopped to be sure Mommy saw the bright yellow ducks lined up along the edge of the walkway. School was going to be a fun place.

At the door, a teacher guided them in to get Allison registered, and had her sit for a picture. Allison beamed a big smile at the camera as her picture was taken.

"This is for safety reasons, in case the unthinkable happens," The teacher told Cameron.

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "Unthinkable?"

"Well, it has never happened here, but children do go missing from kidnappings, mostly parental ones."

"I don't understand. Why would a parent kidnap their own child?" Cameron asked.

"Cases of divorce, family separations, these things happen," the teacher said in a sad tone.

"John was going to pick Allison up. We planned it, he will not be kidnapping Allison," Cameron said firmly.

"We know that, and that's fine."

"And Sarah may have to bring her, or pick her up. Sarah would not kidnap Allison."

"Yes, Mrs. Connor, we have then both on the authorized pick up list. I'm talking about other families not as stable as yours, or strangers," the teacher explained.

Cameron turned to Allison and said, "Allison, if someone you don't know tries to make you go with them, kick them in the shin and run home."

Allison nodded.

"There will be no need for that, we watch the children closely," the teacher assured Cameron.

.

Cameron got a tour of the small school and met the teachers and aides with Allison. Finishing at Allison's classroom, Cameron waved goodbye and left Allison to go in and play with the other children.

Allison had a fun day at school. They sang an alphabet song, listened to a story about a rabbit, had snacks then a 'nap time'. Allison wasn't tired so she lay awake and studied the ceiling. Seeing movement, she noticed a man in the doorway. He was dressed in a dark suit like one of the men who stood around the gate that lead to the road to their house.

The teacher went over to him and whispered to him. Allison adjusted her hearing up.

"Miss Flanders, you have an Allison Connor here?" the man asked.

"Excuse me sir, who are you?" Miss Flanders asked.

The man pulled out a badge and said, "Army Intelligence. Which child is Allison Connor?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to go to the front desk, Sir," Miss Flanders said firmly.

"We just want to be able to identify her."

"Sir, you will have to take the matter up with administration. As you can see, I have a class here." Miss Flanders said firmly.

Allison turned her head towards them, closing her eyes most of the way so they would not notice she was watching them.

"Ma'am, just point her out please."

"Sir, if you don't leave, I am calling the police."

The man looked over the students on the blankets and called out, "Allison Connor?"

Heads popped up to stare at him. Allison got up and faced him. She stayed quiet, eyeing him.

Miss Flanders pulled out her cell phone. The man grabbed it away from her.

"You better go," Allison said in the same flat tone her mother use when she wasn't happy.

The man came into the room, causing other kids to move out of his way. "You are Allison Connor?" he asked.

Allison stayed quiet.

"Miss Flanders, I need to borrow Allison for a short while," the man said.

Allison wondered what she should do, then her mother's words came back to her.

"Come on, let's go," the man said and reached down to grab Allison's hand.

Allison turned and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. The man's leg flew back, he screamed as he hit the floor. Allison ran out of the room and down the hall. The glass entry doors were shut. Allison ran at them, pushing on with a Hand, meaning to open it. The glass exploded outward. Allison charged through the opening, glass falling to the ground in her wake. She didn't slow down until she got home.

.

The 'gated community' that was normally quiet became a hive of activity. The gate guard was doubled and the perimeter was ringed with men carrying automatic weapons. The man with the broken leg was taken into the health center instead of a hospital. There, more attention was paid to who he was, than his injury.

Outside the room where the man lay strapped down to a stretcher and had a guard with an M-16 standing over him, Major Franklin stood with John, Cameron, Mrs. Weaver, and a pair of Army Captains.

Major Franklin held up the fake badge the man had. "He's not one of ours, which means he's a spy working for someone else," he stated.

"I will interrogate him," Cameron said. She went in followed by Major Franklin and one of the Captains.

Seeing them behind her, Cameron said, "It will be more effective if I speak to him alone."

Major Franklin considered it, then waved the guard and the other Captain out. "We need to know who he is and who he works for," he stated firmly.

"I will get that and more," Cameron promised.

.

Initially, the man would say nothing. Cameron started low, breaking toes, then his other shin. By the time she got to his knees, he tried telling her a story. Slowly twisting one arm closer and closer to the breaking point got out his real name. Simon Levy. Releasing it and reapplying pressure, she got him to admit he'd come to see the 'cyborg' child. Straining the arm far enough to tear some ligaments got out more answers. At first, he was an Israeli spy. A few broken fingers and pulling his shoulder from the socket got out he worked for a gangster. He was to kidnap the child and take her home. A bit more abuse to his other arm and he admitted they did not care if she was alive or not when he returned with her.

Cameron let him rest for while so he wouldn't pass out. Once that danger was past, she kept at him. He'd yet to admit what she wanted to hear.

Sobbing, Simon said, "Please, I've told you everything! Just kill me!"

"You are still not being honest with me," Cameron said, staring at him. "Who sent you on this assignment?"

"I told you! Prime Minister ...AAAHHHH!" he ended in a scream as Cameron yanked and twisted his broken fingers.

"You are hiding something. You better tell me, I can keep this up for weeks. 91 percent of your body has yet to have active pain sensors," Cameron said flatly.

"This is inhuman! Torture is against the law ... AHHHH!"

Cameron let the broken wrist drop. Speaking in her flat tone, she said,"You are right. I am not human. You tried to take my daughter. You will now be honest, or die very slowly and extremely painfully."

"Please stop," the man wailed, and burst out crying.

"Why do you resist when you know I will make you suffer more?" Cameron asked. She let him cry for a moment, then put pressure down on his right hip. "This is the next to go," she intoned.

"STOP!" he wailed. "They will kill me if I tell!"

"I will do worse if you don't."

"ALL RIGHT, All right! I'm from just outside Boston. I worked for the mob boss there. He got the contract, he sent me here. Look, I don't know anything else except for a description of what the girl looks like and where to find her. The boss has all that."

"Who's your boss?"

"Gino, that's all I know him by. Big house, I got the address," the man cried. He was quivering and twitching in pain. He rattled off the address.

Cameron watched him with a blank stare. She waited until he asked if she believed him, then said, "You are a liar. If you lied to me about this boss, everything I've done so far will seem like foreplay when I come back." She walked out and left him alone.

.

Major Franklin had the address checked out. It was owned by a suspected mobster who dealt in many rackets, and was not above kidnapping little girls. With the sensitive nature of the attempt as well as how fast Simon had arrived to try and take Allison, the Army wasn't taking any chances.

It wasn't a police raid on the large, walled house in the suburbs of Boston, but a full blown attack by Army Rangers with helicopters and machine guns at one AM. The guards didn't even try to shoot back, they dropped their weapons and surrendered. Moving swiftly inside, the Rangers arrested everyone and grabbed up every document and computer they could find.

Coming up with ties to several terrorist attacks planned at this location got NSA permission to treat 'Gino' and his gang as terrorists. Straight to a secure facility, no lawyers, no judge, no legal recourse to plead their innocence or make a deal.

Cameron and Catherine Weaver were waiting for them.

The first thing Weaver did was go over every electronic device to search for a Sky Net presence. The only thing she found were a few communications that gave the location of Allison, her description and the pre-payment for the contract. She also got the location of where the 'body' was to be brought to.

Cameron took the other route, thrashing several 'tough guys' before moving into the cell with Gino to confront him. By this time, seeing his hired muscle turned into limp, bleeding bodies by a thin girl, he was more than eager to tell her anything she wanted to know. The only extra information Cameron got from him was a phone call he'd gotten from 'Mr. X', and a number to call when the job was done.

It was time to go to deliver the goods.