Chapter 10 –

Disclaimer: Don't own TSCC

Airbase S-14 – The Wastelands…

Twelve Greys led by a single T-800 quickly made their way into the Wastelands. Each carried an empty pack. Heading south, the speed and lack of reconnaissance seemed to indicate this was a scavenging mission and the group knew exactly where they were going.

"This will be an easy takedown," The Assassin told his two scouts. "I will terminate the T-800 once they are scavenging and spread out. Grab two prisoners. If the rest pursue us, they will be terminated. Otherwise, we are going to just fade away."

His scouts nodded. Stealth was their best weapon and defense. There was no doubt in their minds the T-800's hours were numbered. It was a simple matter of following and waiting for the group to start scavenging. As the patrol moved by, the three TechCom soldiers faded into the scenery.

Skynet St. Louis…

Seven HKs sat waiting. The T-888 looked over the forces allotted to his expeditionary force. Skynet had allotted 70 T-800s and 200 Greys, not all of whom were combat troops. Beyond the HKs for air support, there was no heavy weaponry.

It makes sense, he thought to himself. If the virus works, I don't need more personnel. If the virus does not, it is a minimal loss of personnel. We will all be slaughtered.

He gave the order for his troops to board their assigned HK. Calmly, the T-888 watched as his personnel quickly and professionally boarded the aircraft. His processor kept pulling up his HUD with the same pesky question. The T-888 kept closing his HUD.

No matter how many times he closed his HUD, his processor still wanted him to process the question. Was it right for him to lead an assault against fellow Skynet personnel?

TechCom School…

School let out and the students quickly left, heading to their quarters or to their half-shift for duty. Ruth separated from Hailey who made a beeline for Rachel and her posse. Within seconds, Hailey was engaged in a pointed war of words, giving better than she got, insulting Rachel with creative digs, not allowing the blonde to get a word in edgewise.

Taking advantage of the planned diversion, Ruth slipped unnoticed into a new restroom for female students where she morphed into a plain appearing brown-haired female, plain in appearance, hard to notice and easily forgotten.

Ruth exited the restroom just in time to see Thomas, pulling Hailey away from Rachel, both girls casting glares at the other that would be lethal if looks could kill. Hailey wrapped her arm around the twin's and looked over her shoulder to give Rachel on final death glare. Ruth smiled. Her mother had laughingly told Ruth stories of how Cameron would behave in the exact same manner when dating John in high school. More than once Sarah had seen Cameron entwine her arm around John's and as the pair left, turn her head to hatefully stare down her competition for John's affections.

Mary and a very pregnant Grace stood outside the entrance to the school, waiting for the last of their young students to be picked up by a parent or their T-600 protector. Ruth walked by unnoticed by her aunt's friends but made optic sensor contact with The Old Man and nodded slightly. Her protector left to follow Hailey and Thomas to the TechCom Cafeteria where they would eat their evening meal.

Following Rachel and her friends at a reasonable distance, Ruth looked down at the floor as she passed others, making sure nobody got a good look at her assumed face. Ruth noticed the group she was following stop at the junction of the corridor. Rachel's friends took the passage to their dormitory but Rachel turned right and hurried in the opposite direction.

Ruth sped up, reaching the junction quickly. Carefully peering around the corner, Ruth managed to just catch a glimpse of Rachel making another turn into a side corridor and disappearing from view. Rather than follow Rachel and take a chance on being spotted, Ruth pulled up her file of the blueprints for TechCom's passageways. There were only so many places Rachel could go from that tunnel, several of them not good.

TechCom Holding…

He picked at the food on his tray. Tired of the same boring food, meal after meal, it occurred to Trevor the monotony of his menu was deliberate on the part of his jailors. The knock on the cell door indicated it was time for his tray to be picked up. He placed it by the door and moved back to the far corner and looked up at the camera aimed down at him.

The door opened and a T-600 picked up the tray and slammed the door shut. Trevor rubbed his arms and stared at the door. Each day he spent in the confines of the cell increased his anxiety level slightly. After all the time spent in the Wastelands or the tunnels below what had been Los Angeles, he had grown accustomed to moving about when and where he wanted. Like all prisoners confined to a cell, as Trevor grew to hate the four walls that served as his prison, he vowed to himself he would never return to a cell again. He'd rather die first.

Lying down on his cot, Trevor pulled his thin blanket over his eyes, blocking out the light from the single bulb in the cell. As he did each evening, Trevor imagined slowly disrobing the beautiful metal in front of her husband before doing the various things to her body that he so desired. And then the fun would start.

TechCom Hydroponic Farm No. 14…

Workers busily tended to the wide range of plants growing in trays in the hydroponic farm. Sweat from the humid air ran off all the workers, including the spy who made his way down the main pathway in the middle of the hollowed out cavern. Stopping to look at the clipboard, the spy found it necessary to wipe sweat off the page. Spotting the area supervisor, the spy hurried over and handed the small package to the supervisor who signed for it.

Slowly, the spy began the return trip, stopping to talk to the workers and ask questions. Genuinely curious, it was easy to act interested. Taking advantage of the human desire to talk about one's work, the spy slowly extracted the information demanded by superiors. The recording device caught every word of every answer.

At the far end of Hydroponic Farm No. 14, Cameron entered and spoke with the supervisor. Spotting the TOK-715, the spy quickly thanked the worker for answering questions and hurried to depart through the nearest entrance.

Cameron noticed the box the supervisor held. A strange set of data coursed through her processor, causing Cameron to scan the box. She had learned this experience was what humans called a hunch. The box appeared to hold a part commonly used to repair the water pump in the humidifiers used.

"May I see the box?"

The supervisor promptly handed Cameron the box. Being blonde, she had learned, like all blonde females in TechCom to never give Cameron a reason to take offense. Cameron had always been polite and respectful to the supervisor, but it paid to do what the second in command of TechCom wanted, especially when it was a blonde hating Terminator.

"Another pump part."

"Yes, Commander Connor. I don't know why, but John Henry's engineers keep sending me this exact same spare part. None of my humidifiers have had any issues with the pumps. I just sign for it and store it. I'd rather have spares on hand and be able to make the repair immediately than deal with requisitioning the part and then waiting for it."

"May I ask, is it always the same courier?"

"No Commander. There is one other courier now that you mention it. But it is always one of those two."

Cameron nodded. "I was passing by to inspect the quarters for the Military Police that will be housed in this area and stopped to pick up the report John Henry wanted."

Relieved Cameron had a valid reason to be in her farm, the Supervisor reached into her pocket and retrieved a USB drive and handed it to Cameron. Without a word, Cameron pocketed it and departed via the same exit as the courier.

TechCom Medical…

Tired from her duty shift, Savannah cut off her computer and put her feet up on her desk. Feeling a gnawing indicating she was hungry, Savannah decided she'd eat dinner before visiting Catherine that evening. She rubbed her face with both hands in a vain effort to relieve the tiredness her facial muscles felt from squinting. Savannah added having her eyesight checked to her long list of things to be done.

Having spent the last five hours performing a tricky repair to a cervical vertebra in the neck of a T-888, Savannah was ready to unwind and go to sleep. The repair had been tricky, involving replacing a steel vertebra with a replacement Savannah had handmade, recalibrating the servomotors and making certain the wire nerve harness and DSL line had not been damaged.

Happy with the results, the T-888 had thanked Savannah profusely. She no longer suffered from any interference in her data feeds and had full range of motion again. Pleased to be able to give her patient relief, Savannah had spent another half hour recording her notes on the design for the replacement vertebra for Doctor Johnson's newly assigned engineer. Too many of the T-888s were having the same issues and Savannah wanted to have the part mass produced, allowing her to treat the Terminators who needed the repair before the faulty design began interfering with data transmission.

"Ahem."

Savannah snapped out of her reverie and looked up. She sighed inwardly. It was the shy young 2nd Lt. who served in her stepfather's airborne reconnaissance unit. Wilhelm had become almost as big a nuisance as her mother, Catherine over the issue of Savannah not having a potential mate on the hook. Savannah had gotten wind of the fact Wilhelm, who in the past had stayed out of her personal life, had decided the problem with her boyfriends was they were civilians.

And now, this young man stood before her, no doubt intending to ask her to the dance which had grown from the first ever school dance to the first ever community dance.

"Yes, Lieutenant, is there something I can do for you?" Savannah snapped at him, letting her irritation shine through.

"Oh, ah, well," he stammered, his uniform cap in his hands. "I was, oh, don't worry about it. It was not my intention to irritate you Miss Weaver."

The Lieutenant bowed slightly and turned to go. Savannah noticed he was sweating in the cool air of her facility and his face was flushed. He stopped, turned and opened his mouth as if to speak, seemed to think better of it and turned again to leave.

Stopping to put his cap on, the young soldier turned again and looked at Savannah, a look of determination growing in his eyes. He shrugged as if telling himself to at least give it a try even though rejection was the likely outcome.

"Actually, Miss Savannah, ahem, I was…"

"Wondering if I had a date to the community dance?"

Removing his cap again, the Lieutenant looked puzzled. "How did you know?"

Savannah sighed in exasperation. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Blushing again in embarrassment, the young man considered her question before replying.

"Actually, I would. I've never been real smooth at talking with girls and I always feel like I'm twenty steps behind. It's even worse when it's a pretty girl I like that I'm trying to talk to. I just say and do the dumbest things. I need to learn somehow what it is girls think, so if you don't mind, could you fill me in?"

"Did Wilhelm send you to ask me to the dance?"

"No, what gives you that idea?"

"The good Captain is my step-father."

"I know."

"My mother is stressing out over the fact, as she puts it, my child bearing years are decreasing in number and I have not found an acceptable mate to marry and produce offspring with." Savannah laughed a single, mirthless laugh," Who would have thought a T-1000 would worry about having grandchildren?"

"Yeah, strange I suppose, but the Captain, you know he's my C.O. right? He didn't order me to ask you to the dance, though I did ask his permission to do so."

"What is it with you men," Savannah complained, rolling her eyes. "I'm a grown girl. I will decide who I wish to pursue or go out with."

"Yeah, I'm well aware of that. You have every right to turn down my request. But I am not about to go behind my C.O.'s back," the Lieutenant replied indignantly. "I respect your step-father. You have no idea what an honor it was to be hand picked by Captain Wilhelm to serve on his recon unit."

Tired and wanting to eat and go home, Savannah decided she'd skip her nightly visit with Catherine and simply go to her bunker, read some and go to sleep early for a change.

"Look, Lieutenant, what did you say your name was?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. Dan. Lieutenant Dan Williamson."

Savannah laughed out loud. "You've got to be kidding me? Lt. Dan, like the Lt. Dan in that old movie Forest Gump they show once a month?"

Red faced in anger and embarrassment, the Lt. put his cap back on but remained silent.

"I'm sorry," Savannah said, realizing the shy officer had probably heard that comment one too many times. "Look, like I was going to say…" Savannah just stopped. Clearly angry, the young man was now staring down at his feet, his hands shaking and once again, he had his cap back in his shaking hands.

Savannah realized she had seen him approach her more than once in the Cafeteria only to stop and walk away or to be seemingly distracted by others. She'd never thought about it before, but now it occurred to her how difficult it had been for him to approach her.

"You know, this hasn't gone well for either of us. It couldn't have been easy for you to ask me and I've been very rude to you." Savannah smiled politely, hoping to ease the sting of her earlier words. "I promise I'm not like this normally."

"I know. Not to be creepy, but I've watched you a lot. You're nice to everyone."

Savannah frowned, "that's creepy. I don't need to be stalked."

"Look, I'm just embarrassing myself and irritating you," Lt. Dan said while looking at his boots. "I'll just leave and you can pretend this never happened. I promise not to bother you again and I won't watch you, not that I was stalking you," he added. "I just didn't know how to talk to you. I watched so I could try to learn what to say."

Without another word, he turned and left. This time the Lieutenant didn't stop at the door to her area.

Way to go Savannah. That was just downright mean. A simple polite no would have been enough and he'd probably spend five or six years working up the nerve to ask another girl out.

TechCom Cafeteria…

Ruth followed Rachel at a distance. She had not been able to catch up with the blonde in the tunnels and had given up. As Ruth made her way towards the Cafeteria to work on her latest sketch and wait for Brandon to come eat, she had spotted her blonde nemesis making her way into the community dinning area.

Spotting Hailey sitting with Thomas, Ruth realized a confrontation was about to happen. Rachel had not headed towards the serving lines but instead was making a beeline for Hailey and the twin.

Ruth sighed and looked for the Old Man. Spotting him standing in a side exit; Ruth motioned for him to not intervene. He glared at her for several seconds before folding his arms and returning his unblinking stare in the direction of Hailey.

This had been brewing and it was better for Hailey to just get it out of her system Ruth thought. Hailey was too much like her mother. This Rachel had made a serious mistake flirting first with Brandon and then Thomas. The blonde had challenged Hailey's cousin and Hailey herself. Over a male a Connor female was pursuing. Toss in the fact Rachel was blonde and a confrontation was inevitable. Stupid girl, never mess with a member of the Connor family.

Silence fell over the entire eating area as the words heated up between the two girls. As usual, Hailey's smart mouth was delivering stinging verbal wounds the blonde was having difficulty parrying. And then it happened.

Rachel brought up the fact Hailey's mother was a metal.

Tossing her sketchbook on a table, Ruth took off in the direction of her cousin. Not to save Hailey, but to keep Rachel from getting killed.

Hailey was speechless. She usually was before she cut loose. Whatever it was that held Hailey back snapped and in the blink of an eye she sprung out of her chair, on to the table and jumped on top of Rachel, knocking the blonde down.

By the time Ruth arrived, Hailey was straddling the blonde, raining down blows, most of which Rachel blocked. The Old Man arrived and yanked Hailey right off Rachel, holding his charge up in the air screaming to be let go.

Wasting no time, Rachel was on her feet and delivered a kick to Hailey's mid-section. That was all it took, the Old Man dropped Hailey in order to attack Rachel. He just wasn't quick enough as the Connor tornado struck again in a full fury.

Grabbing the Old Man, Ruth jumped up on his back yelling at him to let Hailey fight. She resorted to morphing her hands to cover the T-600s optic and auditory sensors, preventing him from being able to locate the fighting girls and finish the conflict himself.

Pressing her attack, Hailey alternated kicks with jabs, hooks and the occasional haymaker. Rachel repeatedly blocked nearly every kick or blow Hailey threw at her, even getting in an occasional jab or kick. Hailey's forward momentum forced Rachel to back her way down the long aisle between the rows of tables.

Ruth finally let go of the Old Man and hurried past him. Concern had crept into Ruth's CPU. There should be no possible way a Tunnel Rat like Rachel could defend herself from Hailey. Her cousin had a natural fiery personality. Hailey was not just tough as nails, she was a survivor. Throw in the fact her adoptive family was some of the most lethal warriors alive, that Hailey had been trained by experienced Terminators since childhood in hand-to-hand combat and something was wrong.

Finally, the unrelenting ferocity of Hailey's attack combined with her superior conditioning was Rachel's downfall. The blonde let her guard drop for just a second and Hailey stunned her with a mean right cross followed up by a roundhouse kick. Just like that, the fight was over.

"Hailey, back off," Ruth shouted. "It's over. You finished her. Now back away."

Ruth's voice penetrated the red mist that had descended over Hailey, bringing reason back to her thought process.

"She called my mom a metal whore."

"I know."

"I don't take that crap off anyone, not even you," Hailey said huskily, the anger still in her voice.

"Everyone knows that," Ruth said soothingly. "Now come on, the Old Man is about to blow his chip. I had to jump on him and blind and deafen him in order to let you finish Rachel and keep him from terminating her."

"I should have terminated her," Hailey hissed.

"Hailey, think about the Old Man," Ruth urged. "Let him take you home so he does not get in trouble terminating some innocent person to relieve his stress."

"Okay," Hailey said finally, opening and closing her left fist, relieving stress just like her mother.

Without another word, Hailey turned and began making her way towards the exit that would take her home. The Old Man scanned the entire area, searching for any other threats. With a quick glance at Ruth, the Terminator turned and was gone.

Once Hailey and her protector left, people slowly began eating. Ruth watched and listened as the murmuring picked up to a normal level. Heads were shaking in disapproval. Filtering through the conversations, Ruth realized nearly 90% of the witnesses either felt Rachel was an idiot for challenging Hailey or were amazed the blonde had lasted as long as she had. Ruth didn't care about the other 10%.

Ruth was worried about the fact Rachel was a well-trained fighter.

Reviews are always appreciated. If you liked this story, you might want to consider my other TSCC stories:

Cameron Grows Up

The Future Cameron

Cameron and the Black Bird

Cameron and John's Wedding

Who's the Boss?

The Storm Before the Calm