Chapter 7 – News From Mexico

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0600 The Next Day…

Rats scattered at the approaching sound, scurrying into their holes and lairs, fleeing the sound of a predator approaching. It turned in the junction of the corridors and made its way deeper into the underground complex, never pausing as it traveled, certain of its destination. Stopping once briefly only to listen, it reached up and brushed away the grime covering the markings on the door, making certain it had reached its final destination. Knocking on the steel door, it made a loud sound that echoed deep into the room and down the corridor.

"Sarah, are you awake? It's me Cameron."

The door flew open, revealing a sleep deprived, bedraggled Sarah, holding a wailing Hailey. Strands of her hair hung down in her face, the remains of Hailey's breakfast plastered on her clothes, face and in her hair. Hailey was dressed only in her pull-up, wearing a coating of cold oatmeal. Like Sarah, it was on her face and in her hair.

"Tin Miss, I really hope you and John enjoyed your night of conjugal bliss, because Grandma Sarah is not volunteering to babysit for an entire night again until Miss Hailey here sleeps through the night and doesn't suffer from separation anxiety."

Taking Hailey from Sarah, Cameron hugged her little girl. Immediately she checked her daughter's vital signs and followed up with a visual scan, searching for injuries.

Having watched Cameron follow the exact same procedure with John hundreds of times in their family home pre-Judgment Day, Sarah knew not to be offended. The Terminator could not help herself. Cameron's primary function, instinct, was to protect. Pleased Cameron's protectiveness had carried over to her tiny granddaughter, Sarah smiled at her cyborg daughter-in-law.

"I'm sorry Hailey's such a mess, but she's been resisting eating her oatmeal. It's been a long time since I had to feed and angry two year old, and I was never the patient mother to begin with. Come in. We'll get her cleaned up and then you can go. I need to meet with John at 0800 to debrief the Mexico negotiations."

Cameron carried Hailey to the small table in Sarah's quarters and sat down while Sarah ran some water on a clean rag. Handing it to Cameron, Sarah sat down opposite her and watched as Cameron gently but firmly cleaned Hailey. In a matter of minutes, Hailey was clean and Cameron had combed her daughter's hair with a small brush from the overnight bag Sarah had brought with her from the Connor bunker.

Setting Hailey on the floor, Cameron leaned over and in her monotone Terminator voice asked, "have we been a big girl yet this morning and gone potty?"

Hailey held up her freshly cleaned fist and held up first one finger and then two fingers. Not fooled by her daughter's tactic, Cameron asked her, "Did we go one and two in our pull-up or in the big girl potty?"

Curling her lower lip, Hailey responded by raising both arms, an admission of her refusal to work on potty training while staying with her grandmother. Cameron lifted Hailey and gave her a hug. "It is OK. These things take some time. Just tell Grandma if you have to go and she will take you potty."

Nodding she understood, Hailey squirmed to get down, escaping Cameron's grasp and ran to Sarah, again raising her arms to be picked up.

"Geema, Geema," the two-year old repeated, insisting the still oatmeal covered Sarah pick her up. Placing Hailey in her lap, and exhausted Sarah looked at Cameron seeking the Terminator's sympathy.

"I'm getting too old for this. I struggled with maternal instinct with John. I had forgotten how much work a little one is. Tin Miss, At least you have endless energy as a Terminator."

"Yes, but the constant need to maintain close surveillance places considerable stress on my CPU. I find I must run more subroutines than normal to perform all of my tasks, help John, pay attention to John, take care of John, make sure John does not do anything I deem foolish and care for Hailey. I have a great deal more respect for human mothers. The strain I experience in my CPU is similar to stress a human mother would feel. It is not pleasant."

Watching Tin Miss curl her nose up while explaining the stress she was experiencing made Sarah laugh. "I've told you before to be careful what you wish for, Tin Miss. How is it being a mother?"

"I love Hailey and will do everything I can to ensure her survival. But my becoming a mother has strained my relationship with John. I owe you many thanks for allowing John and me to have a night alone. I cannot bring myself to be intimate with him when Hailey is sleeping in our quarters or present. John resents how I feel about this. I am embarrassed to admit, but I needed to be intimate with John almost as much as he needed to be with me. Last night was our first time in three months and two days to be intimate. Am I doing something wrong Sarah?"

Touched little Tin Miss had asked her, Sarah reached out and took Cameron's hand and held it.

"No Cameron, you haven't. John will adapt. He loves you and Hailey. Remember, John is my only child and he was the focus of my attention. Then he was the focus of all of Uncle Bob's attention. Then you came along and John was the center of your world for the past eight years. John's not used to having to share the people he loves. As for the sex, having to work for it will do him some good. He needs to pay attention to the fact you need privacy. It will teach him not to take you for granted as his wife. Even in the midst of this horrible war, John needs to romance you every once awhile. He also needs to realize you're not his private sexbot, you're a person and a mother. You have many responsibilities. Lots of people in our community rely on you."

Cameron nodded as she listened to Sarah. The two sat without speaking, the only sounds coming from a happy Hailey who was clapping her hands and making sounds as she sat in Sarah's lap.

Sarah, looked down at her granddaughter and smiled, realizing she needed to clean up and get dressed for the day. "Let's get you dressed you little stinker. You need to go home and see your Daddy."

Instantly sensing a change in attire coming, the now unhappy Hailey put up a fight, resisting getting dressed but the grown woman and her mother were too much for her to overcome. Dressed in her outfit for the day, Hailey ran to the couch in Sarah's bunker and climbed up, taking a seat, crossing her arms and assuming her pouting expression. Watching Hailey made Sarah burst out in laughter as she stood up, "so help me Tin Miss, you've had her three months and she's a carbon copy of you when you're pouting at John."

Turning to face Cameron, who had stood also and shouldered Hailey's overnight bag, Sarah looked at the petite Terminator who was looking down at her own feet. Cameron raised her face slightly and tilted her eyes to look at Sarah, her face devoid of any emotion.

"Have I pleased you Sarah?"

Reaching out with both arms, Sarah took Cameron in a hug and held her tight. As Cameron gently returned Sarah's hug, she spoke, "Oh, Tin Miss, you kept your promise to me, just like you have kept all of your promises to me."

Releasing Cameron and stepping back, Sarah held Cameron at arms length, one hand on each of Cameron's shoulders, looking Tin Miss in the eye. "Oh, yes, you have pleased me. It won't be easy, but you will make it work. You are strong enough Cameron. I will help you all I can, even if it is not much. Yes, you have pleased me so much."

Hugging Cameron again, Sarah began to cry.

"You are crying because you are happy, yes?" Cameron asked with her head tilted to the right, uncertain of the reason for Sarah's unusual display of emotion.

"Yes, I am happy Cameron."

"Thank you for explaining. I am happy too."

I would never have imagined this when Tin Miss first came into our lives. My how I have changed, how she has changed. Oh, I'm getting old, I'm a grandmother now.

0800 That morning…

"The problem is not the general idea you proposed John, it's in the technical aspects of communication, coordinating strategy and controlling forces in battle. The time involved in simply traveling back in forth makes effective communication impossible. The Mexican resistance leaders are for the most part, in full agreement with your ideas and plans, they just don't see how we can coordinate the way we need to once the campaign starts, and frankly John, I agree. Until we can devise long range communications Skynet can't intercept, we can't put the plan into operation."

"But the leaders you met with Mom, they agree in principle?"

"Yes. If we can workout the communication issues, they are onboard John."

"How are they holding up?"

"Things are worse for them. They are fewer in numbers and have fewer resources to scavenge from. The damage and weather are worse there than here. Skynet has a smaller presence there though, I think, simply because the Mexican resistance is much smaller. Skynet relies more on Greys than Terminators to engage the resistance there."

"Other than food, which we all need more of, and communication technology we don't have yet, is there anything we can spare that would make a difference for them in the fight?"

"They can use everything, but then so could we. The question is what can we spare? From what little I've seen since I've gotten back, not much."

John shook his head. The news from his mother was mixed. The LA resistance, the largest known body of anti-Skynet fighters could count on the help of the Mexican resistance, but not without a reliable form of communications technology currently not in existence, allowing for real time communication without Skynet having access.

Time and resources, both something they had very little of in the fight against Skynet.

The two were sitting in John's office, located adjacent to the large meeting room used as a war planning room. Sarah watched her son slip into his far away mental place, withdrawing from her, the reality of what he faced in the room. The decisions he had to make, the problems he had to surmount, were truly taking their toll on her precious son.

John blinked his eyes and looked at Sarah, returning to the present, the here and now. "You look better than when you left Mom. Your weight seems to be the same. I didn't want to ask last night, I was so happy you were back and I wanted you to get some good time with Hailey."

"While I was in Mexico, an oncologist who has survived was able to treat me with some experimental drugs the FDA refused to allow usage of prior to J-Day. It's helped a lot and he says the cancer is almost gone. I just have two more rounds to go and I'm done. John, it's a miracle."

Laughing, Sarah tugged her hair, "look, I even kept my hair."

"Mom, that's great. Cameron and I need you more than ever now. We're clueless, well, I'm totally clueless and Cameron's only partially clueless, about what to do with Hailey."

"John, my own health aside, the doctor treating me, it's important what he's doing. Dr. Ramierez is helping the Mexican resistance in a great way, treating their people with radiation sickness and cancer. If we're going to reclaim our world, we need him and his knowledge to survive the war and be shared. This is why developing a communication network is so important. He can help so many of our people here if our medical people could communicate with him, consult on cases here."

"You're right. More healthy humans equals is a victory against Skynet. I'll talk to my engineers and tech people this afternoon and make this our highest priority."

John smiled at Sarah. "I'm still glad you're back, your health is better and believe me, Hailey needs her grandmother. We need your help Mom."

"Yes, you do, such that my help is. John, you also need to pay attention to Cameron. She's feeling a little overwhelmed and alone, like her husband doesn't seem to understand her. Son, becoming a mother was the most terrifying thing I have ever done and it still is. You never stop being a parent, even when your children are raised and on their own. You still worry about them and want the best for them. You even still get annoyed when you see them doing something they shouldn't. The problem now, for me at least, is I can't make you act the way you should."

"Mom, are you saying I not treating Cameron like I should? Things have been strained, but I guess that's to be expected with Hailey now. I haven't yelled at her or said more ugly things to her than normal. Why? Did Cameron say something to you?"

"Not in so many words, but she's worried son. Tin Miss did tell me you resent not being the center of her universe anymore. If that's true, shame on you."

"Mom! I have so much pressure, I need Cameron to…"

"Yeah, I get it John. You need to be the little Prince. Just don't forget, you have a princess who needs to feel that way too, even if she is made out of metal and synthetic skin. You also have a tiny princess who needs to be the center of Cameron's attention. Don't forget John, Hailey lost her real parents and she's adjusting to her new parents, one of whom is a Terminator."

"Mom, you don't have a right to talk to me like this. I don't live in your house anymore. No more, 'my house, my rules.'"

"My granddaughter, and this is unbelievable, my daughter-in-law. So it is my business when my son, that's you John, needs to grow up still and do what is right for his family! Cameron was right. You do need this more than her. Don't lose your humanity, your compassion John because you think you're the only person who can carry the burden of the resistance. You aren't. Let people help you. Be a husband to Cameron and a father to Hailey."

"Mom."

"Shut-up John Connor! When was the last time you took Cameron out to steal a glimpse at the stars for just a few minutes? When was the last time you watched a movie with her? You know how much she loves to watch old television! Have you offered to watch Hailey for an hour when Cameron comes off duty so she can do what she wants? John, before J-Day you always made an effort to do little things for her so she felt special. You would teach her things.

Set aside time everyday for just Cameron. Keep your hands to yourself. Make it all about Cameron, not getting her in bed. Make time everyday for Hailey. Not just to feed her or bath her, but to play with her and teach her.

John, you'll help yourself more than you'll be helping them if you do this. Trust me, I know how I messed your childhood up. I can't count the shortcomings I have as a parent they are so many. Learn from my mistakes. I'm still here to help you John, I still have some life to live, and a lot to learn about being a grandparent. Listen to me John."

Getting lectured by his mother was never a favorite of John's at any stage of his life and the diatribe Sarah was delivering was not what he wanted to listen to. Before he could speak the warning klaxon sounded, it's repeating wail ear piercing and chilling. Their tunnels had been breached.