Previously;

Cameron has time-jumped with good intentions but without asking John's permission. In human terms she was not subconsciously compelled to do it, she only wanted to please people. Her time in 2024 then back again should have been relatively simple but it was not. Visiting that timeline, it will change events.

John had some fun with Cameron before she went and should know that Allison is just as able to see to his needs. She will try to stand by him & be whatever she can.

I will re-read how Cameron took Garvin Dempsey back in time and killed him. Perhaps I never handled the situation and its outcome too well. Unfortunately, I have 5 chapters on my computer that need a massive amount of proof-reading and it will take me another 2 or 3 weeks to get them all uploaded. I hate my brain, I find it very hard to concentrate these days but doing this leaves me feeling very satisfied. I have to take Tegretol & Gabapentin to stop the epileptic-type discomfort.

If you are like me, I still rue the day that TSCC was cancelled, as nothing else interests me in the same manner and to the same degree.

-0-

The bubble forms in the same proximity as the previous jump in 2024. This time using the date Jan 01 2024, an ordinary area close to the parkland but no longer green – at all. The bubble did not materialize in exactly the same position. In fact it was approximately ½ a mile away. This is what Jennifer was thinking about just before Cameron was, in her words, 'TDEed away'. She will explain this later to the team.

Soon, Cameron can see the area ahead that drops down like a small cliff. She knows sand has blown up & accumulated at the base.

The abandoned car is not there – yet.

The main question is, where is Allison/Contessa/Marta/Oleg/Tilly & even Colin?

She knows the way to the Skynet camp for imprisoned workers where they are developing, unwittingly, new technology for mankind's worse enemy. Jenny now knows that they were told many lies about the Soviets firing on the USA first.

If the Zeira team have done their work, she will find that Jenny's bunker TDE is modified & will allow anything to transport through time.

She sets off with her grenade launcher & 6 shells, favoured by the Taliban.

She walks, checking the ground for metallic objects whose circumference or square is 2'. Their temperature would be different from the blown sand above them. Her Thermal imaging might barely detect them if she is fortunate, which means Skynet will have difficulty too.

A long time passes before any movement above the size of rodents is detected. In fact, Cameron has been here for 3 days.

Poking above the skyline ahead is a small HK tank & 5 endos.

'Why are they there?'

She can outrun the endos but not a HK missile & 5 plasma shots.

They are just as capable of spotting her.

To her right the ground rises up then dips down again – a tiny hill.

Heads start to appear as a group of people proceed towards a trap – a familiar story.

This is a dilemma, she did not come to endanger her life or be destroyed. She runs to the right & then forward very fast.

Now she can see them – a bedraggled group of people – 7 adults: 2 female, 5 male and approx. Only 2 adults and children ages 13, 12, 10, 7 & child in a woman's arms – quite rare – boy, girl, boy, boy, girl respectively, varying races, meaning they all met up at some stage.

One of them has a plasma rifle which has an unidentifiable amount of fuel.

With emotions still on she makes a human decision, admittedly stupid, then goes in to full terminator mode.

She runs towards them quietly.

"Look a girl".

She runs up to the man and says "ambush", pointing to the left.

Grabs his plasma & drops her rocket launcher.

She says "if they fire in my direction, fire 1 of these then keep down. Use all of them. Do you know how to fire them?"

"Yes but give that back to me".

"They will catch you with a baby & kill you. Do as I say if you want to live".

She checks the charge which appears to only have enough for 2 shots. She runs for dear life away from danger then circles around eventually appearing behind the HK tank.

She jumps on top of it and quickly fires 1 shot in to its processor.

The man sees her & fires a shell.

The termis turn back, rather like Meer cats who do not think differently when a sudden noise is heard.

She jumps down out of sight and this time fires at the tripod & empties out the plasma.

They turn as a 2nd grenade explodes, catching one of them & knocking it over.

With her strength, Cameron unclips the 4 catches then lifts the high velocity weapon off of its spindle/wheel base & starts shooting at the endos, being very careful to stay low down behind the HK which takes the blast.

Each time a shell is fired from the man, she pops up, shoots the arms & body off an endo, or 2, and then ducks down again.

One human in particular counts the reduction in plasma shots remaining as the others start rejoicing until it goes quiet.

They see Cameron run around to the endos who are like wingless flies.

She is seen picking up one of their plasmas then firing it at their necks.

Then as their heads fly off, satisfied, she turns on her emotions but definitely keeps her pain sensors turned off.

The younger human runs up to her then the one in front stops in his tracks.

The group can see silver around her head and her hair is still singeing and burning.

"She's one of them". "She's burning" (simultaneously).

Cameron slaps the side of her head to stop the burning, then smiles at them, saying "are you all OK?"

The dirty faced 10 year old boy says "yes, I think so. Wow that was quite a fight, my dad shot 2 of them".

Cameron is barraged by 4 sets of vocal chords, so just stands & smiles until they stop. After 22 seconds they have not stopped and she walks behind the HK and replaces the cannon on its spindle, then opens up a thick metal door. It appears that Cameron wanted to hear all their words of congratulations for later analysis and possibly pleasure.

Inside the lagged lid are tins with sealable lids and a label on the front. Also, there are rounds of ammo for the heavy machine gun.

A male walks slowly with the woman as the 5 young adults catch up. She is now able to speak as she reconnects the gun to its catches, thus making it more stable.

"Here are the manual controls", standing behind the control bank she presses a button & the gun turns.

Pressing another it blasts in to life & she allows 5 shots at the desert.

"Here are the drive rods, you must stand on these bars whilst everyone else stands clear, otherwise you could be run down.

Finally, it uses diesel. By the way, John Connor's resistance camp is that way (points). Does anybody have a pen knife?"

With a pen knife she removes the chips from the moving red eyed skulls. Then she asks "does anybody know Allison Young, Conny, Yuri, Marta & Tilley?"

Nobody does.

Then she says "I have to go now" and leaves the incredulous group with 2 of the plasma rifles and of course a HK tank.

With some of the tins containing the fuel & a mix of isotope solution for her 3 plasma rifles, she sets off on her aimless journey.

She finds groups of executed bodies – it can be seen that some were fleeing.

Cameron thinks about sharing her experience with Sonia in 'human' mode whilst her recorded data will be exchanged simultaneously.

She knows that 3 years from now, terminators will communicate more efficiently between each other and won't do things in unison response. In other words, they will be unpredictable in battle.

Further along, she sees the half demolished buildings of a city or large township. Stealth is needed.

Many hours pass, hardly any sign of life. America is a big country & signs of life above ground, more so in her vicinity will be rare.

Night-time comes and goes. Cameron is Skynet-programmed to be persistent. She is not sure but believes her child might benefit from rest.

Upon seeing a car close to a wall, she side-ends it and stays put behind it until nightfall in semi-standstill. At what Cameron's clock registers as 3:30am, a little band of searchers passes in the distance out of Cameron's view.

They pick things up off the ground & sometimes appear to be digging. One of them a larger person can be seen bobbing his/her head up occasionally – obviously looking for danger.

An hour later they are gone. At first light, her open eyes tell her chip that it is time to reboot & continue her search through the ruins.

Some-time later, Cameron has been down or looked down many drain & sewer access points only to find upon further investigation that there are not any signs of life. Most corpses have long since been cleaned down to the bone. All ages, as usual.

On what should be January 6th 2024, a breakthrough. In the distance, somewhere that Cameron would not expect to see humans, is a flying HK firing its plasma cannons.

She is alone & definitely must not be seen by Skynet. Should she go to the defence of any humans again?

Then it occurs to her, supposing Tilley is there – even more-so she might sustain her foot injury today. She might even be too late.

Firstly the HK must sustain damage and be rendered unable to fly. She runs up to a large pile of earth & stares from a very long distance using her excellent vision.

If it is possible for a terminator to be astounded, there is Conny firing a shot at the HK with her plasma, disabling its ability to fly.

The crash to the ground and resultant debris flying knocks her over. An endo crawls out from the wreckage, goes up to her and attempts to throw her through the air.

To her surprise she hears those famous words spoken by Marta in her recount of this moment; "check this, die you bastard and this and..".

She sees the little girl shoot the skull of the endo. It drops to the ground. Everything goes quiet.

Up rushes a dark-skinned girl whose hair sticks up like the seed-head of a leek or onion.

She has a heavy bag and walks on both of her 2 feet. It can't be Tilley, can it?

Then she speaks "hell Marta, that was brave. Are you OK?"

Marta rushes over to Conny, "mommy are you OK?"

"Si, you saved my life, you're a big girl now".

Cameron can see Marta's face beaming.

The other girl rushes up to Conny to help her up, "stop fussing Tilley, I'm OK. I should be looking after you".

"Aw come on Conny, I saw what you did. You couldn't help being knocked down by a HK. Oh god, look at your head, there's blood".

"It's OK, only a scratch. My brain aint gonna fall out!"

2 guys rush up, 1 is Oleg with a missile launcher in his hand. He says "it took a while to disable a metal bugger without a plasma rifle. We eventually shot its legs and arms off. We left it there squirming".

"Good, let's get out of… hang on where's Charlton?"

"Dead".

"Hell, come on let's go".

Cameron follows them, keeping a good distance away. Then they stop, except Oleg who keeps moving towards a pile of corrugated iron.

A body crawls out. It is Allison.

The others walk to the iron & crawl under in to a large drain hole.

Cameron heads back to find the terminator.

Upon its discovery she says "resistance is futile", pointing her plasma at it.

She takes out a knife & pliers then removes its chip.

Not far away is the corpse of Charlton.

She pulls up his jacket and cuts out a large chunk of his stomach flesh. She begins eating it. Now her mouth is red as blood drips down.

½ an hour later, she still craves other vitamins. There is no point in searching supermarkets, shops, warehouses etc. 13 years after j-day & they would have all been raided to the point of empty.

On the road nearby, is a signpost marked 'Lancaster' & further along is a very old stone ruin of a Mexican church.

It has certainly stood for a few centuries & is the only broken tooth of a toothless gum of completely burnt away wooden buildings.

Protected from the distant atomic blast is a cacti, the kind seen in the excellent panoramic views of cowboy films, such as featured John Wayne.

The cacti was probably destroyed but kept its root growth intact. She walks over & cuts out a chunk from an area near the top, with the intention of doing as little damage as possible.

Upon consuming some of it, Cameron concludes that it is unpalatable but knows her regenerator will remove anything poisonous & put things like vit. C to use in 'her factory'.

Now she has another dilemma.

How can Tilley be removed from the group intact without changing this history in the eyes of Marta? It won't matter anyway, as one way or another, this Tilley is destined to die, so this Marta's history will be the same as before. 'Time is a bugger'. Later in this timeline, events will prevent 'this Marta' from being taken back to 2009, as will become clear very soon.

When was Tilley's foot shot off? This group must be followed discretely every day.

She goes back to see what was being dug out of the ground.

Worms, ground dwelling bugs & caterpillars.

The following night a Skynet replacement party of 3 endos is in the area searching for signs of its losses.

Cameron sees Allison go out with her group carrying digging implements & bags.

She runs in the direction that they are heading to see if it is safe.

It is not.

Tilley is up ahead checking everywhere as they hide.

Then Cameron sees them, the one up front turns its red eyes to check for heat.

It raises its plasma rifle in readiness.

It spots Tilley's warm body and aims ready for a clear shot as Cameron fires at it first. (Unbeknown to Cameron, this is the shot that would have blown Tilley's foot off. The termi would have walked up to her, see the bleeding and leave her there to die. She is of no use to Skynet as they don't bother with hospitalisation or people close to death).

Bullseye.

Tilley has already seen the terminator & turned, tripped, caught her feet & ran in a staggering manner until she straightened up then hopped in agony.

The terminator drops but 2 more run to take its place.

Marta in her group stares in horror as Conny's hand is thrust over her mouth.

They can't fight again without suffering losses, they are outgunned.

They are far away enough to gain shelter behind a row of rusty buses, then on to safety.

Tilley is unarmed and Cameron is 99% sure she will be taken.

Marta breaks loose and runs back as Tilley is pulled along the ground by a leg, the bad ankle hurting as she yells.

Marta watches in silence, crying as her friend is picked up by the waist & carried out of sight.

Conny rushes back to Marta. "She's gone. We can't help her this time. She's still alive. Let's pray that the resistance free her one day soon".

Marta knows not to scream but refuses to move. Dean runs up to be beside her.

Out of view, Cameron pursues the 2 terminators. Now she has another plasma.

One terminator is carrying the endo that she shot.

She has her unborn child on her chip-mind. Also letting John down & never returning to him, not bringing Tilley back to stop Marta crying and bringing back some plasmas.

As Cameron runs alongside the terminators at a distance, she is aware they will hear her.

She uses a tactic of following them at a safe distance.

One of them stops.

The other with Tilley screaming and yelling keeps going.

They are heavy & unable to move fast.

Cameron runs as fast as she can to the left, well away from plasma shots, stepping down a ditch.

The front terminator is now pulling Tilley along by her arm, she is yelling, her foot in agonising pain with each step.

Cameron takes careful aim and fires.

The laser jet travels a very long distance & hits the terminator on the arm.

She ducks as the closest endo returns fire.

Cameron gets her 2nd plasma ready.

As soon as the firing stops she bobs up & fires at the Tilley-endo, who is approaching with plasma in one hand. She is well aware that it takes plasma rifles 30 seconds to recharge.

She hits it again – now it is armless.

Plasma fire begins again & she waits whilst crawling along the ditch.

She runs a diagnostic on her womb & foetus then realises she must grow a strong fatty-over-leathery protection between her coltan equivalent to a spine & her womb.

Indeed, she is the most advanced daemonistic computer ever invented, which makes her wonder what the hell is she doing! (Or the computer equivalent).

Just then plasma from another direction followed immediately by yelling "got-it, get-it, get-it".

Cameron hears a clack & immediately bobs up blasting at where the termi should be (not the yelling).

The bright laser light shows her that it has been destroyed.

She saw the outline of Tilley as described earlier, except of course for legs and arms, one of which holds a smoking plasma.

She says from the dim distance "lucky it dropped its plasma when you shot its arm off".

She tries to walk to Cameron but yells in pain & immediately sits.

Cameron walks close and hears "Allison, it's you. You've got new clothes on".

Cameron reverts then speaks "No, I am Cameron, her sister".

She still has one more task to perform.

Cameron says "wait there. I know where we can go to safety".

She goes over to the 3 endos & finds after extraction that 2 of their chips are intact.

Just then she hears a sound. She draws in air to examine the microbes.

It is probably a male coming from the direction of Conny's group.

She walks up slowly and casually to find Oleg.

She hushes him with her fingers.

Thinking hard, Oleg wonders why Allison is here and dressed differently.

Cameron says "I'm Cameron. My friends told me that they saw my sister here somewhere.

After a few minutes of "wow you look so much like her", "does she know about you?" etc., Cameron says

"Come with me I have friends, then I will go back for the others and see if I can rescue them. You will be with the others soon enough".

Oleg agrees after some persuasion by the convincing cyborg, having been told that Tilley needs protection. She told him that if he returns to their base, he will give their whereabouts away to Skynet who always return to the scene and might see him.

He gives Tilley a piggy back.

During their trek, Cameron asks Oleg why he was there alone.

"I wanted to find Tilley, see where they were taking her.

Anyway, Marta was crying all the time, loud. I could not stomach it. I'm sorry Tilley, she is heartbroken for you".

Tilley replies "Oh poor Marta, how long before we get to our destination so that you can go and get her?"

"2 days but we might find transport, then it will only take 2 hours".

"2 days, that's a long time, how will you know where to find them?"

"Oh I know, don't worry about that." (lie).

"Skynet might find them" says Oleg.

"It's OK, if they have moved somewhere else. I will know where they are".

"How?"

"My resistance group hacked a satellite; my colleagues can follow them without Skynet knowing".

"Are you sure?"

"Yes".

"Oh".

"What will we eat?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Always".

"OK, we will look for something".

On the way to a small village/town south of Oxnard, there are still plenty of unused vehicles with fuel in them but they are beyond repair.

Anything intact in garages for instance has long been used.

One thing that Cameron did find was a 'punch' factory which became obsolete before j-day before circuit boards were miniaturised.

She rushed in, scanning her surroundings and sure enough the equipment still lay there abandoned. Useless to anyone… except her. She scraped one of the sumps, which still contained the residue of coolant and thick iron filings beneath the high-speed grindstone.

Nearby was an old pair of jeans. She tore off a leg and tied a knot in one end. Then she scooped a big handful out and placed in to the sack. She filled it up then tied the leg using torn up shreds of the same material. She shoved the other leg down the side of her jeans to leave it hanging both inside and out.

On their journey to Oxnard, eventually, a large square metal drum was found inside a garage. Water had run in to it from the clouds above. It was not palatable for humans, as inside was rust, dirt and floating debris. Good enough for Cameron though. She placed the tied up jeans leg in the water and swilled it around, allowing the iron filings and grindstone dust to swirl around.

Satisfied that most of the coolant residue had been washed out; she proceeds to until one of the knots. The jar is still full of slush and water. She knows that John's resistance usually used a magnet of one form or another to retrieve nuts or bolts that that had fallen in to vehicle sumps. Somewhere in this factory a magnet might exist. Sure enough, after searching she finds a small pencil magnet.

She holds it over & close to the slush and moves it about with her other hand.

Very soon, stuck to the end are iron filings.

She places it in her mouth and sucks the filings off.

Watched by the others in disbelief, she swallows the whole lot, and repeats this many times.

Very soon, she places the retied jar and trouser leg filled with filings & grindstone dust in to her pocket with a few shoves.

She smiles at the pair then says "let's go, you need water and food. I will provide them for you when we get to a food store".

It would not take anyone surviving HK & terminator attacks long to realise that they are easily spotted by Skynet in a moving vehicle.

Cameron already knows about a security co. that has armoured vehicles but that was in the year 2011 of this reality.

She believes that even now, it likely that a Skynet observation post is located in the local hills and has a plan.

She goes over to a large drain cover en-route & lifts it, saying "it is safer to take this route".

Tilley & Oleg go down first, and then Cameron replaces the lid.

"Hey, what are you doing?" (bang, shove).

Cameron stands on the lid and fires a plasma lazer in the direction of the hills, followed by 10 rapid gunshots.

She stands and waits.

Her plan should work, 'should' is not a favourable cyborg word but she must get these 2 to Jenny's house quickly without too much distressing coercion.

Sure enough, a flying HK is launched.

Surprisingly, as it appears in Cameron's vision, it is a big bugger. She shouts through the gaps in the lid "MOVE AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE".

Then she transmits the familiar ID code to the HK of a t-600, thus telling it not to open fire in her direction.

Next she transmits appropriately placed sporadic data, just enough to mess up the flying coordination and simultaneous comms from Skynet.

(It will not take Skynet long to realise that this is a tactic used by the resistance that she came from before 2027).

The HK jerks constantly which causes it to lose height.

As it jerks closer to the ground she runs towards it.

She jumps up to the side panel area and grabs a foot rest then climbs up & opens a door with a big thud of her fist.

It is very noisy onboard.

Inside is a 1½" wide tube.

It begins to rise again as she pulls it hard and it twangs out the opening hitting her face. The jet fuel stains her.

The engine cuts out & very soon - within seconds, the other does the same.

A HK cannot fly with only 1 engine, so automatic run-down of the other is essential.

'Silence'.

(shove, push) the drain lid slides back.

Oleg pops his head out "what the hell is that doing there?"

"We are going to ride it to our destination".

Tilley climbs out "I heard that. You must be joking".

"No, it has manual controls inside this area". Cameron points to an area up top.

Oleg says "and you're going to sit up there I assume. By the way, how did you get it to land here?"

"I have my ways" she replies, pushing the pipe back on to its metal tube, having loosened the metal brace that holds it in place.

She taps the tube & watches the bubbles rise up to the fuel tank.

Tilley says "I'm not getting on that!"

Cam says, pointing towards the hill "if you don't, the T-800's will soon be here & kill you. They are very effective In what they do".

Tilley's face drops.

Cameron says "I will not go fast or high". (What a lie that turned out to be).

"Where do I stand?"

"Here" (opening a small door).

"What about Oleg? I'm not going without him".

"He will go on top in front of me".

Tilley puts her hands on the bottom of the small hatch & Cameron lifts her by letting her stand on her hands & lifting her.

Then she tells Oleg to climb up her and shut Tilley in, securing the catch.

He was surprised how rigid Cameron was.

Then he jumps down.

They go round the back & once again she bolsters him up.

He crawls forward a short distance and finds an air intake grill.

On each side is a suitable handhold point.

He never saw Cameron jump up and now she is removing some plastic connectors containing coloured wires.

A press of the starter motor repetitively eventually jerks the massive turbines in to life and they are ready to go.

As they accelerate, the noise is deafening.

Oleg looks back and sees Cameron holding on with 1 hand.

The machine rises amidst dust & even louder jetlike roars.

He is horrified, not by the height but the speed.

Cameron rapidly moves her hand from control to knob to lever whilst checking the hills.

Within a short space of time they arrive ½ mile from Jenny's house ruin.

She lands the machine & leaves the rotors running slowly.

Oleg crawls off and jokingly wobbles his legs in front of Cameron with a smile.

She acknowledges his smile, not registering his antic, then rushes round the front.

"Quick, climb up me".

He does, and then opens the door.

Tilley climbs down him & once on the ground momentarily holds her ears miming 'loud'.

There are 2 large plasma cannons on the underside of the HK.

She scans the size of the bolts and then runs in to a nearby house then out again.

In to the garage then the garage next door, eventually coming out with a tool box and correct size spanner in the other hand.

Reaching under the HK, she soon has the bolts undone & finds other tools suitable for the remaining nuts.

She shouts "HOLD IT HERE WHILST I REMOVE THE REMAINING BOLTS".

They come off and between them they lay the cannon on the ground, followed by the same procedure with the other one.

"STAND WELL AWAY" shouts Cam, who then rushes around the back & makes an almighty bound up to the top.

She takes off again & heads at ground level towards a tarmacked area.

She sets the controls to 'CLIMB' and jumps off.

A fall of around 20'.

Tilley & Oleg gasp as she falls, only to land like a cat.

She runs a diagnostic for the wellbeing of her unborn boy, all is predictably well.

The HK eventually loses any sense of control and starts spinning & diving. It explodes on the concrete as the fuel ignites as Cameron runs back to her group.

Now there is a lot to carry and Tilley has no choice but to limp along carrying a plasma rifle strap over each shoulder.

Oleg carries the others with Cameron taking the lead carrying the 2 big ones.

She is patient with Tilley but eventually decides it is possible to shoulder carry her.

She notes how hot Tilley's legs & crotch around her neck are from all her endeavour.

It is now 47m since the HK crash & they walk through the Beal entrance, where the wall & capstones have been knocked down.

The gravel is still barely visible through the tough weeds that survived the blast, which grow in this colder environment.

"Why are we here?" says Oleg, followed by "there's nowhere to hide" from Tilley, as Cameron bends her knees to allow her to step off.

Cameron heads to where the shed was to find something metallic & flat.

It appears that the rubble has been ransacked but a spade base is there.

She starts digging at the bunker entrance as before, thinking how different 2024 was, compared to 2027, as the nuclear winters decrease & the weeds growing here might be no more.

2011 onwards must have been very cold.

They remove the large iron sheets and soon see the flap door.

They help to remove the last of the sandy soil & Cam lifts the doors.

The first down is Oleg, who is unable to open the thick metal door.

It is metal and has multiple locks, unlike last time.

When Cameron was here the first time with Sarah, Conny etc., there was not any security. Now she would need to know how to get in to the bunker later this year. (The door entry system has changed. That being said, Conny/Marta/Dean are already in 2009, in another time-line… John's time-line).

In the centre of the door are arrows pointing to a pin-hole viewer.

She looks through it only to see darkness.

Upon changing to night vision whilst simultaneously shining her eyes blue, she sees machine code clearly displayed on a plaque 6" back but attached to the door.

Translated it says '4 explosive devices triggered by opening the door will activate timers which can easily be switched off by pressing the colour of your eyes. You will have 4 minutes & any variation will give you 1 minute to evacuate. The explosives are simultaneously on mechanical switches in case the battery or powerpack fail'.

Tilley is now downstairs with them, inquisitive to find out what they are looking at.

"The locks can be opened using keys hidden under the concrete slab that you stand on".

She lifts the slab and sure enough there is 7 keys in a plastic folder and an oil spray with nozzle.

Lots of beetles run in different directions.

Oleg & Tilley immediately bend down and pick them up, stuffing them in their mouths, crunching them with pained looks on their faces. Yellow and red blood can be seen on their lips, along with some white gunge.

After chewing the soft wing casings, they swallow as quickly as possible.

Cameron announces "please go back up and find somewhere to shelter, just in case this place explodes".

She watches them walk out through what was the drive entrance & across to where the ground dips, for an unknown reason – probably an explosion.

The locks & their holes are all squirted for lubrication, and then she inserts the numbered keys.

Opening the door, she goes inside & almost immediately sees the panels with 7 faintly varying coloured switches.

Having checked the mirror to see the terminator model tok-715 eyes are medium brown to dark, she presses the matching colour button & the LED lights stop their countdown. (She already knew her eyes colour but there's no harm in checking). (The Jens had their own way of getting in, yes a false eye picture laminate kept in their pockets at all times).

She walks back up the steps then shouts "it is safe to come in now", then goes back inside & checks the lighting & power supply, which are running on terminator nuclear power packs.

She then fills a kettle with water from a large vending water bottle & allows it to boil, whilst scanning everything to see what has changed.

She knows that her former self will arrive here after she leaves & needs to ensure that all the new safeguards and refreshments are 100% satisfactory before she travels away with Tilley & Oleg. Then she replaces the keys and spray. Now the door is ready to be pulled shut.

Oleg rushes up carrying Tilley on his back, she is holding 2 plasmas.

Tilley finds Cameron in the mildly lit room and says "WOW" & "Oleg will go back for the rest of the weapons".

Cameron does not look up from the metal box of food as she says "good" then takes out 2 dried noodle pots & 2 forks.

Tilley's eyes nearly pop out as she holds out her hand to take one.

"It is not ready yet, here, eat this" as Cam hands her a small sealed cornflake packet & proceeds to open a catering sachet of milk, then adds water, only to find Tilley has ripped the packet already & is eating.

Cam quickly whisks the milk with the fork then says "pour them in here", (pause) "that's it, now mix them with the liquid, here is a spoon".

Oleg has been hungrily watching events as he lugs the other plasma cannon downstairs.

Cameron pours the hot water in to the 2 savoury tubs as 2 pairs of eyes bulge in that direction.

She mixes more milk, pours in the flakes and hands them to Oleg.

Stirring the noodles, Cameron says "they need to stand, I will let you know when they are ready" then replaces the foil lids.

Now the setting up of the equipment is necessary, ensuring all of it is safe for reuse.

Firstly Cameron goes up the steps and does what she did before.

Place the 2 metal doors upright with a piece of wood holding them apart. Place rocks against them, then pile up as much sandy soil as possibly.

Lastly remove the wood & duck down quickly.

The weather should level the soil over the hatch quite quickly.

All things replaced and the door closed, locking automatically, Cameron is diverted to the food box again.

She takes out packets of dried fruit and hands them out.

Just then she spots a tin of corned beef & opens it with the supplied tin opener.

She chomps through ½ of it then hands the rest to Oleg, who immediately chomps ½/½ with Tilley.

She gets out hand-wipes then on to setting the TDE equipment before turning on the generator. She checks the fuel supply and the cut-off switch, so that the generator does not run until empty.

The other 2 look at the hand-wipes, smell them, examine then, then look at each other and smile before using them.

She notes that Jenny & John Henry have installed clear Perspex casing for all the delicate & corrosive equipment, thus alleviating the need to cover it up after use.

She sees another generator cut-off switch, which is set to turn off after it has run ½ hour – also good, as per past/future self will, in theory, be using it – even if Conny/Marta/Sonia are already in her 2009 present reality.

Now the noisy generator is switched on much to the consternation of the humans.

Outside, they have been seen from afar.

An android rubber tissue, although in poor condition, walks in to the vicinity after seeing the explosion.

He believes there might be living humans about.

Inside, Cameron resets the explosive devices & proceeds to place the plasmas in the middle of the room on the hardcore circle. It is far enough away from the protected equipment.

The 2 humans give a slightly puzzled look then Oleg asks "why have you shut the door & reset the explosives?"

"We are leaving this room another way".

Tilley is very frightened. She thinks Cameron is going to commit suicide.

Outside, the android is digging with his hands after seeing the disturbed soil.

Cameron checks the TDE coordinates, which she knows are accurate, as it starts its power build up.

"Please stand over here".

"Why?"

"We are going somewhere safe".

Oleg gets his gun out then points it at her.

Things are not going according to plan.

Then a bashing is heard on the door.

Tilley runs for a plasma but Cameron grabs her around her waist.

Oleg fires a shot at Cameron's arm.

Whilst still shocked, Cam shouts "COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE. THAT THING WILL KILL YOU. YOU MUST TRUST ME. I HAVE ALREADY SAVED YOUR LIVES".

Blue sparks shoot from the rods on the ceiling as Oleg stands in blind terror.

Cam shouts again above the generator and bashing noise "STAND HERE NOW OR DIE".

He looks behind him as the door moves slightly under the strain.

Tilley struggles and shouts.

"OLEG, DON'T JUST STAND THERE, HELP ME".

He stares back, turns to the door, turns back & looks at Cameron.

She shouts yet again "I'M NOT HURTING TILLEY, STAND HERE NEXT TO ME OR YOU WILL CERTAINLY DIE", as she looks at the spot the other side of the plasmas.

The bubble begins to form and Oleg wonders if it is a protective force field or something.

Whatever, he faces death.

He runs to the bubble.

"KNEEL DOWN" shouts Cam, who does the same, pushing Tilley down to her side.

The bubble fully forms then it is gone.

The door flies open & the android witnesses the bubble disappear.

It quickly processes the scenario and knows this is a TDE.

It sees the bombs and their 5 coloured buttons and the 3m2s remaining.

'Can't turn them off, check the coordinates'.

The TDE has not yet powered down & reset its coordinates.

The date is 1st March 2009, time 3:25pm. – The exact time that Cameron left Zeira. He presses the buttons to keep the settings & starts up the TDE.

It will take 2 minutes, leaving 35s.

The TDE coordinates are exactly the same as Cameron's but of course this jump is approx. 4 min later.

This is where time travel messes with you because he will actually arrive in the Zeira building in front of the Jens etc at exactly the same time as Cameron's entourage, give or take an infinitesimal amount of time governed only by the fact that the TDE equipment is now warmer.

In another time, there is a jerk. The bubble 'fizzles away' and Cameron checks her diagnostics in daemon.

Is her son OK – yes.

Is she OK and what was the jerk?

"Where are we?" Says Tilley, followed by "Yes, where are we?" from Oleg.

"I don't know. We need to find out".

-0-

5th March 2009.

The BAU team are each reviewing different aspects of the unexplainable events where deaths take place.

The sudden increase in shootings aimed at the police etc.

Then the believable evidence that suggests 'something non-human' is at work has to be considered.

No-one wants to believe it but forensics rushed through of Sonia's skin sample outside the bank at Bakersfield matches many others such as the school that Martin & Maria attended.

Even the high school in New Mexico 1999 had some blood on a small piece of fabric from Cameron's blouse, having some cells but not much else.

It is now also known that some other form of dead cells exist but they are all beyond recognition even under a very powerful microscope. Self-destructed beyond recognition and definitely not appearing to be micro-computers.

"We have to consider that who or whatever those things are, their motives are not clear to us. They appear to be fighting their own civil war and the Connor gang are on one side. Judging by the recent events we can't be sure whether they are fighting their own war either. In the case of the Dysons and Vassilievas, they appear to have good motives. Whereas history shows us that they either destroy or use computer installations for their own ends which is very bad.

Then we have the death of 2 FBI officers watching the parents of a girl who attended John's school. There was 100% unexplained communications hacking and diversion. Again, synthetic or dead blood was found on the scene, with traces of flesh which was not human or any other species for that matter".

David Rossi(BAU) adds "is it more than a coincidence that latino & black gangs have turned against the authorities with extreme vehemence recently? We can't discount this. We have to try our damn hardest to find the source of the strange blood & catch one of those things dead or alive… or destroyed. We can't bury our heads to any possibility.

J.J. & Penelope are still turfing up things that appear to be relevant.

Now we see accounts by people in 1997 of a silver man that changes shape climbing in to a helicopter for instance".

"Yes", says Aaron(BAU) "the same documented ramblings of a certain Dr Silberman appear to say the same thing. It seems his time spent with Sarah Connor at Pescadero have deeply affected him. He rambles on about Sarah being alive, as though she came to him raised from the dead as a ghostly apparition – obviously drug induced. It seems she affected him badly after finding that what she spoke of might be true".

Ashley(BAU) walks over "who's gonna do this? I assume the person doing the job will need to know what they're up against. You can't say 'listen guys', we're gonna catch ourselves a human robot!"

-0-

2009 at the ranch. John is staring in to space, obviously thinking.

Sarah says "there are important things to be done and talk about. If I was you I would have an early night to be alone. I'll bring you up some food & drinks".

She walks closer, bends down & quietly says "if you're lucky, I'll ask Allison to come up and say 'good night'."

John looks up then stands with his crutches "sure mom, give me time to think. I have bridges to rebuild", as he walks towards the stairs.

He looks in to rooms where people are, saying "sorry for the outburst, I hope to get us all busy tomorrow. We'll meet up soon & I will be more proactive. The kids won't be exempt but they must do their education first".

He sees Nancy & smiles at her then sighs, saying "I guess Sonia will have the responsibility of teaching Spanish, doing driving lessons, visiting betting offices, possibly crossing state lines to do it and guarding the ranch all at the same time. Oh and yes, raking Lesley in to her activities, possibly Conny & Riley too".

Then he walks off using the crutches to take his weight, keeping Cameron's good healing work in mind.

Up in his room, he calls John Henry.

"Hello General, how can I help you?"

"Hi, have you done any more analysis to see what might have happened?"

"If you mean Cameron. If she survived, it is possible she was pushed down the vortex created by the TDE from whence she came in 2024. That is assuming she had not travelled from another time that she went to after leaving us. I am running a high speed observation of events recorded to disc, to see if for a microsecond she appeared before the android bounced her away".

"WHAT! NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME A CYBORG IS ON THE LOOSE?" (His shouts are loud enough to be heard).

(Quietly), "oh shit" can be heard coming from the room of Jenny/Jennifer.

"We disabled it".

"How?"

CW intervenes, she knows the Jens nor JH must not be blamed, or be forced to lie. Now it will all be out in the open "it was I that disabled it. I pulled its powerpack out".

John stops shouting for a moment "what with?"

"My liquid metal mimetic arm".

"WHAT THE FUCK".

He slams his off button and calls "MOM, WE'RE IN DANGER, WE HAVE TO MOVE NOW".

Sarah jumps up just as "OH HELL" & "OH SHIT" emanate from JenJen's room.

Sarah rushes up the stairs which prompts little Dean to drop the lego bricks that he was building around 3-Ally's dolls house.

He runs down the corridor as Sarah enters John's room.

Dean says "Catherine is liquid metal".

Sarah says "what?" then says "hang on, how come the Jens always came home unharmed?"

"She's on our side".

The 2 of them turn to find Dean standing there.

"Wha'dyer mean?"

"She told me not to say anything".

"WHAT, NOW YOU".

Sarah stands in front of John and says "I think we all need to sit and discuss this – no more shouting & yelling".

"Sure, does anybody else know this secret and how'dyer know she is not a danger to us all?" says John to Dean.

"Only Cam, er Sonia. Whilst she was out saving you, Catherine came here and pretended to be her".

Sarah butts in "you mean it was her who went out the bathroom window?"

"Yes".

Jenny comes to the door, slightly red in the face, "John".

He looks over as she continues "we had no idea. Jennifer & I had the shock of our lives".

John mutters "and I made things worse".

Jenny stays silent.

John continues, looking around "all the silence has caused me to upset a LMT Catherine as well as all of you. That was the last thing I wanted to do. Cameron is gone & Sonia is in no fit state for anything unless Lesley can rein her in. I'm so bloody mad with Cameron for going, I can't even (pause), oh it doesn't matter".

Allison comes to the door holding a 6-pack of beer, "I brought these up".

He looks at her for a short while, looks away momentarily then back & says "what makes you think I need those?"

"What makes you think they're for you?"

John smiles "Fair enough, I'll watch you drink them. You'll be drunk in charge of a minor".

"I put Claire in charge of little Ally, whilst Nancy has 1-Ally for a while".

"Come in and take a seat".

Allison sits on the bed next to John & takes a can, ripping off the ringpull & takes a swig "phwoo wee, that's different".

The others leave in the hope that Allison will keep her bond with John.

For the next half hour they discuss things that he would normally do with Cameron.

"The best place to sink a tunnel at a reasonable angle to allow people to walk down the slope rather than use a ladder or elevator, if it is possible at all".

Allison listens and speaks about things like the lack of air that might ensue down there, which is her experience.

She takes the odd swig to John's gulp, whilst he agrees with her. She has definitely got some useful input for John – after all, Cameron doesn't breathe. Definitely not any mention of Cameron. He had to forget about her now.

Downstairs 3-Ally wants to know what Allison is doing.

Claire replies "did you hear John shouting today?"

"Yes, he was horrible to Jennifer".

"Oh that yes, she er, something happened to Cameron and she is not coming back. He knew she was going to Zeira and wanted to know why she did not tell him that she was not coming back. Listen Ally. She is older than you and was worried she would make John sad if she did not come back. So when John found out that his princess had gone forever he shouted at Jennifer for not telling him. He is very sorry now and wants to make it up to her but he doesn't know how".

"Ohhh, I can help".

"You can?"

"Yes, I will use my wand".

"Oh I don't know".

"Pleeaasse".

"Let me find out".

Sarah comes to the door, looks at Claire & says "I never told you I had good hearing", then looking at 3-Ally "I'm sure you can do good for John. You're just as much his princess".

As they walk upstairs, Sarah quietly says to Claire "try and get her to take it easy".

Upstairs, Claire whispers some instruction to 3-Ally "you need to be quiet. Knock gently on the door and wait for an answer. When they say come in, walk quietly & slowly, not fast, across the room. Good luck Ally, I'll go now".

Claire turns & walks, only looking back to see her walk in after hearing "come in".

3-ally says her piece to a tee, and then waves her wand.

Shirley Temple/little Hayley Mills comes to mind as John looks over to see wet pools in Allison's eyes.

He looks away & says with a forced smile to 3-Ally "you're a good girl Ally".

Then to his surprise she climbs up and pushes herself between them saying "I'll wait here until it works".

This time it is Allison's surprise as John puts his arm around Allison's waist saying "it makes Allison exceedingly happy looking after you, watching you grow a little bit bigger each day. Whatever makes you two happy makes me exceedingly happy. If I say to one of you that I love you, it means that I am saying it to both of you". He puts his hand on 3-ally's head "I love you".

"And Tiny Ally too?"

"Oh yes her too - and Claire & Keith too - everyone girl - how about that?"

"GREAAAT".

(They all smile).

Anybody with empathy in droves will know that Allison has always been & felt 2nd best, so now she is sad for another reason; her friend & protector Cameron, who she has had a fair number of adventures with, has gone.

Ever since they met & went to school together last year and how they both briefly learnt to dance. How kind-hearted John was when he and Sarah forgave Riley after she was (sort of rescued) from the future by Jesse and taken in. She knew Riley could be John's girl, were the circumstances different – Whilst conversely, she herself was forced to do whatever it took to survive in the tunnels as a filthy unattractive tunnel rat.

She often thought about how some of them had to resort to 'favours' just to have enough to eat & feed their children.

Allison snaps out of it and asks 3-Ally "do you think your mother Claire would let you stay with her tonight? - you could keep Tiny Ally company?"

John understands this to mean Allison would like to be alone with him tonight.

He says he will join her for Leila & Sunny's evening meal.

There is a big table in the dining room & as soon as most people are present he stands up.

"Listen everyone, we have work to do very soon. I will be speaking to Lesley with regard to Sonia taking Cameron's role in many things. I believe that means she will be away for much time every day obtaining more funds. Whatever she decides, might need cooperation from any of you. I will be busy with Mr Young at Zeira Corp. planning the sinking of a tunnel.

My good friends Jenny & Jennifer will accompany me, of course (smile). (looking down) that is if there is ever anything I can do to make amends (mumble) and Jennifer doesn't defect to Skynet". (deadly serious face). (Inwardly the Jens smile).

John sits to eat his meal next to Allison, looking over to speak with his head bowed.

3-Ally is with Debbie who put a settee cushion on her chair).

It is at this moment that Sarah receives a call. She listens & speaks, then closes up her cellphone.

Silence.

"Well?" says John looking up.

"Oh it's nothing, only Lesley calling to say she is bringing Sonia home".

-0-

Meanwhile, in another time, in another place:

"I can hear traffic in that direction" says Cameron.

"We can't carry all these plasmas" says Oleg.

Tilley adds "my ankle still hurts like mad".

"OK, stay here, I will get a vehicle".

She runs off before anything much else is said, carrying 1 plasma.

Upon reaching a road, it is not long before a large expensive looking car from the 60's era approaches.

She stands in the road having pushed her plasma behind her.

As it approaches, she notices it is a 2-tone light/dark brown Cadillac.

It moves to the other side of the road & passes by.

Then it stops down the road.

Using her emotions, Cameron knows this guy might want something.

She meanders down the road slightly swinging her hips and sees the door open.

As she approaches, she opens the rear door and gets in.

In Marta's anx-voice she says "please help me, my boyfriend & our foster child are stuck in the desert".

Realising his bad luck, and seeing the fuel oil staining on her hair, face and clothes, (and blood hole in her arm), he is very reluctant when asked to come and get them. That is, until Cameron shines her red eyes at him, pointing her handgun.

5 minutes later, the 2 of them reach the 2024ers.

As he approaches & sees Tilley, he says "whadya doin with a nigger girl?"

Cameron replays what he has just said with her emotions turned fully back on.

She tries to be tactful and says "she is our friend" in a calm voice.

To this the guy, aged about 30 says "she should be with her own kind, with the other golly wogs".

Cameron & Oleg stand still & predictably watch as this guy sees a litlun dive upon him & punch & kick him.

He fights back which makes the whole situation even more ferocious.

Cameron stands close & with her super-fast observation skills detects the next punch to the face might knock one of Tilley's teeth out.

She grabs his wrist and says "now you carry this" pointing to a plasma cannon in the middle of the circle.

Carrying on his tirade, he says "hell, where d'yer git her from, a bloody zoo? And she stinks like a pig in shit".

Tilley goes berserk again & kicks him in 'the family jewels', then proceeds to punch him in the chest as they both yell in excruciating pain.

This time Oleg rushes over and grabs her "you should never kick anything hard with a bad foot you silly girl. Come on, we'll get you somewhere nice (pause) won't we Cameron?"

Cameron kneels down, leans towards the guy's face and asks "what year is this?"

"Fuck you bitch & keep that thing away from me".

Suddenly, the hand around his neck is choking to the point of agony & breathlessness.

Cameron can feel & hear the noises within his neck, so she knows whether a bone is being broken or dislodged.

"What year is this?"

"Nane een ixty ooh".

"Thank you, now carry that".

With a plasma cannon in her hands, a rifle over each shoulder & Tilley on her shoulders holding a plasma, they start walking.

Oleg carries the rest, occasionally looking back to see how their new friend is fairing with the other plasma cannon.

He can see that the guy can't understand how Cameron can carry so much.

"What is today's date?" says Oleg.

"July 28". (Sunday)

"Where are we?"

"Canton".

Cam asks "which state?"

"Mississippi".

"Where's that?" says Tilley.

Cameron tells her "it is approximately 1,880 miles from where we need to be but we have to wait until March next year before we can return to 2009".

"How'dyer propose doin that?" says Oleg.

"Provided we are in the correct time line and we do not change history, I can assemble Jenny's TDE in the bank but she can never be allowed to meet us, otherwise she will carry those memories from age 25 to her 2009 self and it could cause her memory loss this time, as her memories are altered.

She is 72 years old & the regenerator nanodes can only repair her brain – they do not store or restore memories. She could die".

"So what is this TDE made of?" says Tilley.

"It is components mainly brought from 2027 on the order of John Connor.

There is nothing in this year of 1962 that is technologically able to perform any of the tasks required.

We travelled through trillions of miles of space to be on the planet earth's location in 1962".

"WOW, is that true?"

"Yes, even our galaxy is travelling through space. There are billions of galaxy's out there and each one, which is travelling away from us, is used to plot our position".

"Well that's fantastic but why are we in 1962?"

"I believe the cyborg, android or terminator that broke the door open was…"

"The what?"

"In this instance it was a robot of unknown origin, modelled in the image of a man. It might have been covered in lifelike flesh. I was unable to ascertain that. I believe it is likely to be an android".

"Oh all right, and?"

"It was probably able to jump through time using my coordinates for arrival in 2009 at the Zeira building, in the sub-basement pinpointing the active TDE for an accurate arrival.

Unfortunately we arrived a fraction of a second later and were bounced 62 years down a vortex created by the TDE".

"A what?"

"It is a way of travelling through time & space quickly. We break through the fabric of time & space, travelling through a vortex tunnel, coming out in another time. I do not know how we arrived safely. It is possible that the earth was closest to our departure point at that time".

"Oh, where did you come from?"

"If you mean what time, I was constructed in 2024 & spent 3 years with John Connor's resistance. He then sent me back to 1999 in New Mexico. From there I jumped with Younger John & Sarah to 2007. We stayed there until 2009 upon which I jumped to 2024 to fetch you. As you know, we brought Oleg & these plasmas with us".

The group reach the car and Cameron helps Tilley down and in to the front of the car (on purpose).

She goes back and takes the cannon from the guy, then carries it to the trunk & closes it.

She says "what is your name & where do you live?"

"I'm not tellin' you!"

"I can find out when we take you home".

"Anthony & I live with my sister". (He is a quick learner when pain is involved).

Tilley remarks 'you're not, 'you-know-whatters' are yer?'."

"Hell no, what the hell do you think I am. We used to be in an orphanage. She's my twin sister".

"That's good" says Cam, "we are your new lodgers" then adds with a smile "I do not want Tilley seeing you together with your sister. Take us there now. Then take me shopping".

"My sister will be in" he says, feeling insulted and really worried.

"Good, she can run a bath for Tilley". "Oh hell!"

Tilley suddenly sees the humour of Cameron's statement and starts smiling, whilst looking at Anthony.

They drive off & soon arrive at a shop front.

He points up then drives around the back & parks.

Oleg stays in the car guarding the plasmas. They are both in awe of what they are seeing.

Sure enough, as soon as they enter the flat, there is a red-headed female with calf high green skirt & socks.

She has a light blue blouse & a coloured scarf loosely tied around her neck.

Cameron quickly says "do you have a first aid box? This girl in my care was injured in a farmer's barn as we were making out. Your brother fell from the hayloft and knocked her in to a storage pit full of pigs swill. My brother was knocked in too. Her parents will kill me".

"OH MY GOD TONY, HOW COULD YOU".

"WHAT!"

Cam continues in an exasperated voice "I've got her for a week, they'll never trust me ever again", then sobs real tears.

Sylvia walks towards Tilley, who is going along with the charade by putting on a sad face, (whereas inside, she finds all this new and exhilarating… and very very funny).

Cameron hits another nail in to Anthony's moral coffin by saying "and now he won't pay me, saying it's my fault".

"WHAT THE, FRIGGIN HELL TONY, YOU'RE PAYING FOR (pause, looks at Tilley), I would never have believed it. Are you still dating Mary-Belle?"

Before Tony says much, Sylvia continues, looking at Tilley "Here, I'll run you a bath".

"Thank you, how will I clean my hair?"

"I'll find you some nice shampoo".

"Can you help me, my wrist hurts?"

"OK" (stares daggers at Tony).

Cameron inwardly smiles then says to Tony "you shouldn't have been so rough on me, and then I wouldn't have pushed you off".

(More daggers from Sylvia as she closes the bathroom door with a slam).

She turns on the bath taps and squeezes body wash in to the bath.

Tilley likes the smell & says so as she takes her filthy-stiff socks off.

Sylvia flings a flannel in to the bath & fetches a back scrubber, finally saying "OK, get every part of your body clean & be careful not to let the water get too hot.

When you're ready, give me a call and I'll wash your hair. I'm off to find you some clean clothes".

"You're a very nice lady", (smile).

Whilst Tony was concentrating on trying to hear what was being said in the bathroom, Cameron turned off her pain sensors to her arms. Then she grips a wrist and holds it exceedingly tight and twists her wrist flesh (Chinese burn), causing redness and ultimate bruising. Then the same with the other one.

She asks "can my brother have a bath too?"

"Oh, yes certainly. What's your name?"

"Cameron" (holds hand out to shake with Sylvia).

"Your wrist, how did you do that?"

"Oh it's nothing, it has happened before. Men don't realise their strength".

Looking sternly & extremely annoyed at Tony, Sylvia says "was that you? You never used to be like that".

"Now look here, none of those things are true" he replies, then looks at Cam, who replies "'whad'ya doin with a nigger girl', you said. I love that girl. Shall we forget all about this episode and start again?"

"GOD DAMMIT GIRL, YOU'RE BLACKENING MY NAME. THAT'S IF YOU ARE A GIRL".

Cameron looks down "just because I'm not clever like you and have to resort to hooking with my brother".

Sylvia says "you're brother too? What about her in there?"

"Oh no, definitely not, her parents had to work all day this week & asked me to look after her".

From the bathroom comes a shout "SYLVIA, WHICH BOTTLE DO I USE?"

"OH, HANG ON".

Very soon Cameron & Oleg have had a bath & hair wash whilst Tilley sat in a nice armchair with her leg on a poofee & a towel on her head.

Sylvia thought it strange that Cameron wanted to sit in the car until Oleg had finished bathing.

She said she wanted to listen to a different radio station from pop music from the era, citing classical composers as well.

Later, Tony wanted to go out for food, or so he said. Cameron said she would go with him too.

He changed his mind, worried that she might grab his neck again or something as of yet mystically unrevealed, like teeth that can rip flesh or banshee noises. (As if!).

A little later, Sylvia went out to buy provisions and saw Cameron by the car.

She asked her if she had any money: "no, Tony did not pay me".

"Oh, I never thought Tony was like that. Have you thought about working in the food prep. factory not far from here? I work there on shifts. They always need people".

"I would but I wouldn't be able to look after Tilley".

"Does she go to school"

"No, but I would like her to. I will home tutor her this week. Her parents can't manage her and would like me to adopt her".

"What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing, they live in a white neighbourhood. She doesn't have any friends".

"Oh I see".

"Do you have a drug store here, I need vitamin pills?"

"Yes, are you ill?"

"No, I am pregnant".

"Oh, do you know who the father is?"

"Yes, the man I love. He is away but I will be with him again next year".

Sylvia smiles but feels Cameron is in for disappointment.

Cameron then adds "tonight, I will go and get some money to pay you back".

"Oh Cameron it is very dangerous. I admit you are pretty. Can you sing?"

"Yes".

"Are you good?"

"Yes".

"Oh, that's good, there's a large saloon 5 miles from here named 'Spur Em On', it means you might be able to work in the evening. Much better than what you are doing now".

"I can dance too".

"Oh aren't you the one. You must show me when I get back. No better, we'll all go to the 'Spur Em on'.

17m later, Sylvia returns on foot with a bag of shopping.

Cameron sniffs and detects meat & vegetables.

Sylvia smiles & hands her a bottle.

Cam quickly scans the entire label & smiles "thank you.

We have things of value in the car. That is why someone stays here all the time. Can we store them in your broom cupboard before we go out tonight?"

"Sure, I'll take this bag in. Tony can prepare our meal. Then I'll come back and phone the saloon from the call box over there".

Back indoors, Tilley still has her hair in a towel but that soon changes when she is attacked by Sylvia carrying a big ray gun, as she quickly approaches her.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Too late, Tilley had dived behind the settee shouting "NOOH" and kicked it along the floor lying on her back with her shoulders against the wall.

Sylvia fell face first on to the settee.

Tilley's face looks up, her wet hair splayed everywhere, to come face to face with Sylvia.

"Oh!"

'Bonk bonk BONK BONK (only 4 steps), the door flies open.

Cameron sees that everything is OK "oh, I thought there was danger".

Tony has a dig "SEE, I told you she ain't human".

"Oh for gods' sake" says Sylvia "she has a big responsibility with Tilley. Come on girl, it's only a hair drier".

Tilley apologises, then much to the annoyance of Tony, she sits on Sylvia's lap grinning at him.

Oleg & Cameron go downstairs with their dirty clothes to get the 2 plasma cannons.

They cover them up then bring them upstairs – it is quite a struggle for Oleg.

Once upstairs they see Sylvia doing her best to dry Tilley's hair without tugging on it.

Cameron stays by the cupboard door & waits for Oleg to carry the plasmas upstairs. She hears him grunting as he climbs the steps.

She asks Tilley questions about her knowledge of maths, English etc., whilst observing Sylvia's attempt to fluff up her hair.

Tilley asks Cameron "do we have to wait until 1963 before you can go back to 2024 and get Marta and the others. If so, will you leave Oleg & me here?"

"No, Marta, Conny, Dean and Allison are already in 2009. That is where we will go".

"How can that be, I remember we left them behind?"

"Yes, that was another reality. They will join John Connor. Conversely, you will meet up with Marta who witnessed your abduction. She has bad dreams about a terminator taking you away, never to be seen again. She wakes up crying & her mom, Allison, Jenny & I, go to her room to console her. She really loves you. When you are reunited with her you will be 8 months older but she will be 14 months older – you will be closer to her age. Time travel is a paradox".

"A what?"

"It means that by going to 2024 to save your life, I have changed time. I could have left you there to be with Marta but I would still need to return to 2009 to be with the same Marta that cries for you.

The 2024 that I brought you from no longer exists in reality – it is like a ghost because judgement day did not happen, the people & armies of the Soviet Union rose up against the communist government".

"Wow so I have come from a paradox".

"Yes", (smile).

All this time Sylvia listens, intrigued. She speaks "why are you filling this girl's head with all that rubbish?"

Tilley speaks "it's not rubbish", to which Cameron says "she means our game is not rubbish. It is good to give a child an imaginative mind. She knows what is real and what is not", (looking at Tilley), "can you now show me how good you are at counting".

"Sure, one two…".

Very soon Tilley's hair is as good as dry and she could quite easily pass as a young Diana Ross, although slightly harder looking.

It turns out that Tilley can count but needs reminding about 11 & 12.

All after that to 1k & above then becomes a doddle.

"Oh, I've just remembered I must phone the 'Spur Em On', I'll be back in 10 minutes".

"I wish I could come" says Tilley "but my ankle hurts too much".

"I'll shoulder carry you down there" says Oleg.

"Oh lovely, let's go. Is that OK Cameron?"

"Yes".

Anthony decides not to share a room with Cameron and therefore readies himself & goes out to see if Mary-Belle is in. Before he leaves, Cameron has to ensure he behaves, (quietly) "if any police turn up. Tilley has instructions to say you tried to rape 'the nigger girl'.

If they search this cupboard I will kill you – guns cannot stop me".

To his horror, Cameron sticks a kitchen knife through her arm between the rods, and then pulls it out.

She walks over & hands him the knife "your turn, anywhere you like".

"YOU. YOU'RE NOT HUMAN".

"Correct, bring Mary-Belle to the 'Spur Em On' tonight, I promise not to harm either of you (smile)".

Later, Sylvia finds a decent outfit for Cameron, who makes her own improvements by sowing the waist & side darts, followed by the neck-line. She notices a plaster on her arm.

Tilley helps with her hair steam-rollers, all while the radio plays.

Sylvia gives Cameron a nice little top side hat with large white feathers on the side and some white ribbons to cover her wrists, finishing with black sandals & white ankle socks.

Instead of catching a taxi, Tony came back with 'loud giggly' Mary-Belle to pick them up.

This amuses the 2024ers, who can't really make her out.

She says to Tilley "you look real cute but I don't think it will help to get you in!"

Driving down the road, Tilley asks questions about things like "why does that car have lights on top and the men wear blue clothes" and "what are in those boxes on wheels?"

The Mississippians are surprised that she does not know about police and baby prams.

Soon enough, Tilley knows all about these things.

At the saloon, sure enough, a man inside will not let her in.

"Can't you read, 'whites only'."

Tilley gets annoyed straight away "YOU'RE NOT WHITE, AND YOUR HAIR IS BROWN TOO".

The man raises his eyes with his hand out in front of him.

Sylvia puts her hand on Tilley's shoulder blade and says "come outside with me, we need to talk about things".

"WHY SHOULD I?"

(Whisper), because Cameron needs money for food".

"I always managed without money!"

Cameron kneels down & says "when I get out of here I will take you somewhere where you are appreciated".

"Where?"

"I don't know, ask Sylvia".

Walking away, holding on to Sylvia, Tilley turns her upper torso round and raises her middle finger to the man.

He walks towards her. She says "just try it, DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DIE?"

Sylvia frogmarches the limper out of the door and it slams shut.

A male voice says "little bitch".

Cameron puts her hand on Oleg's shoulder, just in case he turns round and has a fight.

In the large room, a long bar goes down one entire length, whilst the rest of the room is filled with tables and chairs.

At the far end is a stage with a drum kit close by.

On the far left is a curtained door.

Oleg, Anthony, Mary-Belle & Cameron see a man checking that the large microphone on a tripod is working by tapping it to make an awful screech.

He goes to the back of the room, reaches up and turns off the large speaker, then comes back & taps the microphone again.

All is well.

As they approach he looks over and smiles "let me guess, the lady in red?"

Cameron knows this song has not been written yet, so he is referring to M-B.

"No, I will be singing. Do you have music for Fool number one by Helen Shapiro?" (M-B giggles at his mistake).

"Sure do liddle lady, if you can hit that one off you have the job".

The man goes across the room & rummages through a box of vinyl records, then places it on a turnstile.

Cameron takes her position and the music starts.

She begins to sing in her own A.Y. voice but is lacking much movement & expression.

M-B sees this and stands up, grabbing Anthony's hand.

They hold a hand & start to sway in in front of Cameron.

She sees this & gradually copies them without moving away from the microphone.

Oleg is mesmerised & starts swaying his head from side to side with a nod simultaneously, finally letting himself go & whoops her, standing up.

The man walks over afterwards & introduces himself as 'Call Greyson', who asks Cameron what else she knows.

"I know most of the words for You Don't Know, also by Helen Shapiro, do you have a score?"

"No, sorry dear".

"OK, I will sing 'Over the rainbow' for the children. First of all I would like to ask you a favour".

"Go ahead".

She walks up to the bossman and talks quietly.

Cameron leaves the room, passing the door-guy who told Tilley to go away. Down 2 steps and quickly to the car. Opens the door "come with me".

She checks the ignition & ensures the car is locked.

The 2 ladies & girl enter the building and Tilley looks up at the guy with a smile.

Holding on tight to Sylvia, they hobble/reach the stage.

"Oh, I don't know about this".

"OK, we'll all go then".

"No, no, just this time - please do your thing".

Cameron fetches two chairs & puts them on the stage.

Then she switches her other functions off, thus leaving her as a little cyborg lady running on emotions.

She watched Eva Cassidy many times on youtube & goes over to pick up a guitar standing up against a wall close to a drum kit.

She ushers Tilley on to the stage. "Please sit there".

Cameron strums the strings & makes the adjustments.

Everybody sits intrigued, even the man at the back of the room.

Both chairs are at 45% so that their faces can be seen by the audience.

Cameron begins whilst simultaneously thinking about how Sonia might be feeling.

As she sings in the voice and manner of Eva, who moved many people and became a massive hit, she feels her eyes becoming moist.

Tilley stares in what looks like shocked silence.

2/3 way through, Cameron's moist eyes overflow & tears slowly trickle.

Tilley blinks a few times, trying not to embarrass herself but it is no good.

The man at the back walked closer to see the reaction.

After she finishes & before the silence is broken, Cameron changes the guitar tune to that of another well-known song.

She says "this one is for Tilley & Oleg", whilst simultaneously & emotionally devoting it to her John this time.

She plays a chord which is recognisable, then sings. During this time she is able to sound so forlorn and

"Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by. If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you. Light up your face with gladness. Hide every trace of sadness, even though a tear may be ever so near. That's the time you must keep on trying. Smile, what's the use of crying. You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile. That's the time you must keep on trying. Smile what's the use of crying, you'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile".

Cameron turns her face and looks at each person, including the man at the back – plus the club manager, who stands to the side.

Finishing her song, she stands up and gives a small smile.

Everybody looks over at one another quite embarrassed at their demise & that of the others.

They praise her ability to tug at heartstrings & Tilley gives her a tight hug, holding her head in tight.

"You've got a job lady. Shall we go to my office and talk a fee & hours?"

"OK".

Putting the guitar down as Tilley lets go, Cameron walks off, hearing in sentimental tones "oh poor Tilley", "Ahh", when they see the sorrowful look on her face.

It is obvious she was thinking back to all those she had lost.

She looks at Oleg, which seems to affect him even more.

He is the next to get a hug when he goes up on stage to get her.

When they get off the stage, the guy walks up towards Tilley with a hand out and demeanour suggesting that she should leave now.

"The boss man has invited me in here and this is where I stay (pause) mister!"

23m later, which is quite a long time considering, Cameron re-emerges.

"Come on" she says, "we should go now".

"What's up?" says Oleg.

"Nothing".

"Well something must have happened. If he tried it on or even worse, I'll go in there and, and, and sumink".

On the way home, people try enthusiastically to get Cameron to speak and eventually she does.

"I will be paid $10 to work Saturday 6th August night for 1 hour. Therefore I have to learn 2 more songs before Tilley comes on stage. He said she (background "wow," "gee", "really") must put on the same performance as today and he will see what reaction I get.

You must all come & sit at the front pretending you have not seen me before". (More "wow"s etc).

"What songs should I sing?" says Cameron.

"There's a record shop on Brook Street in Little Brandon not far from here. Yell have tur go on yer own, we're both workin in the factry termorrer" says Mary-Belle in her squeaky voice.

Cameron promises to pay Sylvia some of her earnings.

Tilley sleeps that night on the settee & Oleg is on the floor next to her to make her feel safe.

He drops off before her as her mind is turning over the wonders of the day's events, starting with Cameron's arrival in 2024, the plasma fight, the incredible HK apprehension & control, flying through the air peering through a glass port hole, the incredible silver time bubble & now the saloon. Nice Sylvia too. 'Oh yes, funny Mary-Belle' she thinks, which makes her smile. Smile? It doesn't last.

During the night Oleg is woken up by her yelling which makes him jump to his feet & search for his weapon, only to stop in his sleepy haze & stare at her.

Sylvia rushes in & sees them. She is immediately suspicious & shouts at Oleg "GET AWAY".

She rushes in to Tony's room "get out here quick" and shakes him. He becomes frightened of his fete but goes in anyway.

Sylvia goes over to Tilley who is wide awake – she dare not be. She kneels down in her cotton pyjamas & Tilley sees her, grabbing her hard by the arm sleeves.

Tilley gasps out "OH HELL, I hate the nights".

"Why, what does he do?"

"They nearly always come out at night and try to kill us!"

"They do, who?"

"Skynet".

"Who's Skynet?"

Tilley sees Oleg, who puts his fore-finger over his lips. "Oh, it's a nightmare I have about killer robots coming to kill us all".

Downstairs, Cameron is skulking in the clothing shop testing the floorboards. She is listening & knows that these things happen – no danger.

She believes the board beneath the cash-register counter will be the high percentage to best undetectable storage area for the plasmas.

"Where's Cameron?" says Tony.

Nobody knows. They go back to bed.

On the way Tony whispers loud enough to be heard by his sister "I told you she's weird, probably out killing someone."

"SHUT UP" (bash on the arm).

Tilley & Oleg smile and once again go to sleep happy for a change.

½ an hour later, Cameron returns upstairs, 2 of Sylvia's long hair grips safely inserted in her pocket. She will need to pick the lock again when she visits the shop in the morning & copies the key, using Oleg & Tilley for distraction.

Now she has a bigger job to perform.

Back upstairs, she looks inside the cupboard & checks to see which plasma has the most fuel.

Tilley watches from afar, pretending to be asleep.

Cam does her hair up tight and dons her iconic female terminator attire which she wore to the future.

It is now washed & dry.

Remembering the general store up the road, she will head there first.

She turns & puts her fingers to her lips & waits for Tilley to open 1 eye so that she sees Cameron lit up by the street light outside.

Then she is gone.

Up the road, around the back of the discount camping shop, she kicks the door open & rushes in, getting a thick rain mac & hood, plus two heavy duty material tool bags.

She is aware that the alarm is making a din, so she dons the mac & hood then runs down the back alley, plasma still over her shoulder.

A short while later, Tilley hears a car roar up the road. (It is a police car). She has to get up and look, as is her norm.

Up the street, Cameron easily opens with a coat hanger, then hotwires a car & heads out of town.

Within Jackson itself, is the Wells Fargo bank.

She finds a place to park around the corner & walks towards the rear of the bank. She must be quick.

She runs up, pulls the bars from the window apart, smashes the glass, throws the bags through, lowers the plasma & climbs in.

It is the safe room.

It takes 2 plasma blasts to destroy the 2 thick hinges.

She tugs the door & it flies across the room.

Everything in the safe goes in to the bags. The noise of the alarm is quite deafening.

Outside 2 police men in a car are approaching.

She runs at the front door glass, knowing her heavy loaded bags will not fit through the rear window bars.

Smashing through, using her elbows to take the impact as she goes through backwards.

Putting the bags down, she fires 1 plasma shot at the distant police car bonnet. The engine is now useless.

Running very fast, with 1 bag over her shoulder & the other beneath it in her hand, she gets in the car, engine still running idle & heads in the opposite direction of Sylvia's flat.

A few roads away, she turns & heads back to the flat, the opposite end of the road to the shop she broke in to.

Walks the back alleys back to the flat & goes upstairs.

She checks everyone is asleep, which now includes Tilley. The swag & warm plasma are placed in the cupboard & covered up.

The following morning the siblings are up early, getting ready for work.

Cameron has cooked their breakfast, scrambled egg and toast. She has seen from the food supply & boxes that they take sandwiches with them.

Cameron informs the siblings that they will be going out to obtain food & school items, as well as going to the music shop.

Nobody asks her where the money will come from, they just assume.

Her daemon resources are still running constantly, simulating a regenerator that will work reliably for her unborn child

It even includes the DNA structure for testes in the animal production for life itself.

As the nanodes are part metal & also need insulation just like a chip, her son will not only require vitamins, but plenty of metal in her diet, as-per iron pills, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese etc. in plentiful supply.

Cameron has reached a dilemma which must be resolved before her child is too big.

She needs to test the regenerator organ that she has growing within him.

To do this, she must temporarily cut off the supply of nanodes and see if the ones inside him stay alive.

It is very dangerous as it might only be hers that are keeping him alive.

From now on she must take it easy, as any female will know.

She has estimated her gestation period to be 2 weeks & the child will be small when born. She will try to speed things up.

At 1am, the 3 have had breakfast etc., not too much to eat in one sitting.

They will heat the remainder up later and eat it, as their stomachs are quite small due to living on a sparse diet.

Cameron needs to visit the drug store to see what vitamins are available & what needs to be obtained from a metallurgist source.

She also visits a hardware store with the group to get a small crowbar, large crowbar, screws, hand drill to make screw holes & screwdriver.

They all have an ice cream then head for a park with swings for Tilley.

She likes it until women with their young kids stand & stare menacingly.

Cameron chooses this time to make her speech to Tilley standing in front of her sitting on a park bench.

Some other mothers are within earshot. It goes like this:

"Tilley, I know these situations upset you. You came from a place that people in this time could only imagine in their darkest thoughts (pause) and some.

I know you have seen women wail when their babies die and other mothers die during childbirth. I know you have had your tunnels raided by those metal monsters and nearly everybody killed by rapid gunfire.

Your parents were killed, your friends killed time & time again. I have seen you fight fearlessly – you even saved my life when you blew that terminator to pieces.

Therefore can you face this situation whilst you are here for the next 10 months?

People in the future will accept you and think nothing of it – just you wait and see. Then you can tell Marta all about your experience in this time of racism and your patience to endure".

"Of what?"

"Racism – ask the lady sitting next to you what it means". Tilley looks around.

The mother quickly gets up and walks towards the swing.

Cameron says "it means segregation of races whereby one race, in this case white, adopts superiority & control or domination over another. Plus many eventualities that go with it, such as what you are experiencing".

"Oh, so why did the man at the saloon change his mind?"

Cameron leans forward & with hands on her cheeks and fingers around her ears, kisses her on the forehead saying "because you are cute".

"I am? ha ha".

Cameron continues "there are similar areas where people with your skin colour or darker live. White people would not be welcome there".

"They would like you".

Cameron smiles, as does Oleg & the elder lady sitting on the bench the other side, who is with her grandson.

-0-

Next time, some pretty awful things happen and there is terrible heartbreak for Lesley (and Sonia of course).