CHAPTER 10: "OBJECTS IN MOTION"
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 04:05 p.m.
Edwards Air Force Base
"General?" the voice asked on the phone.
"Yes, what is it, Timmons?" Catherine Weaver answered in Turner's voice.
"I'm sorry to disturb you on the weekend, Sir. But I need to inform you that we've finally got one."
"You've got one?" she asked and frowned. "What exactly have you got?"
"The team you put together," Timmons replied with unmistakable excitement in his voice, "the special unit. They caught a cyborg. And it's fully intact."
Catherine looked at James, who had been listening and looked back at her open-mouthed.
"How, where and when?" Catherine asked.
"In Needles, a small town at the California/Arizona state line, at a diner near Interstate 40, called 'Juicy's River Café'. We've incapacitated the cyborg and are currently transporting it to the new facility at Groom Lake."
"Can you arrange a flight for me out of Edwards a.s.a.p.?" Catherine asked.
"Of course, Sir, right away. And Sir?"
"Yes, Timmons?"
"There were casualties."
Catherine hesitated for a moment.
"I understand," she finally said.
"Cleaners are on the way but there have been many civilian eye witnesses with cellphones. I'm afraid it will be difficult if not impossible to contain it. We need to come up with a cover story."
"We'll talk about that later. First, I want to look at the cyborg. See you at Groom Lake."
Catherine ended the call and looked at James. Both were standing in a motel room in Rosamund, just outside of Edwards Air Force Base. She had assumed her normal shape again for the first scheduled meeting after she had begun her mission.
The past days had been dominated by getting used to being General Turner. Only so much could be learned from second hand reports. Correctly interacting with people is a major issue when you want to be believable in a role. As a T-1001, Catherine was a master infiltrator, but she struggled with human empathy at times, like she did with Savannah at first.
From the very start, it was clear that even though she knew where Danny Dyson was, what he did and where he worked, she couldn't simply go and talk to him. Generals and kidnapped young computer programmers don't usually mix. It would have raised suspicion, especially since Danny was under guard 24/7.
There were always two Marines at his side. They waited for him in the morning at the entrance to his dormitory, guided him to the dining hall for breakfast, then to the hangar he worked in and waited outside. At lunch break, they walked him to the dining hall again and then back to the hangar. Same for dinner. They always took their meals together with him and at the end of the day, they dropped him off at his dormitory again, locking him in.
He was prohibited from having a computer in his room and a cellphone was also denied. Catherine had found out that the official explanation for his presence was that he used to be a hacker who'd been caught and was sentenced for a long prison term. But the Air Force had offered him to work for the government instead. With this cover story, nobody asked any questions and none of the people he worked with sought his friendship. Danny was pretty much isolated within Area 51.
Catherine realized very quickly that it wouldn't be easy to arrange a face-to-face talk alone with him, at least not without letting her mask fall. And that was something she didn't intend to do at the very beginning of the operation. Danny Dyson had never seen a Terminator in the flesh. According to John, he was always sent off to his room when they visited the Dysons. So, he would be shocked to see one for the first time and nobody could predict how he'd react.
Catherine had scheduled herself two weeks to get him out of there and patience was a natural virtue of any Terminator. Not so much of humans, though, that's why she reluctantly agreed to have these regular meetings with James at the motel.
"Is it possible?" James asked. "Could they really have caught one? I mean alive, without destroying it?"
"It sounds unlikely," Catherine said. "But Major Timmons wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. The man is a sycophant and annoys me a lot but he's not an idiot."
"We knew Turner has put together a special unit for catching cyborgs, but I was hoping he wasn't successful quite so quickly with it."
"So did I. But we had to expect something like that, James."
"I only wish we'd know more details."
"Yes... but Cameron had only six hours to interrogate him. It would have taken much longer to get every detail out of him. No matter, I'll take care of it. Maybe this is the opportunity we've been waiting for. I want you to drive back to L.A. and talk to John Henry. See if he has finished constructing that device from Future John's blueprints. If yes, I'll have a special task for him. Can we meet here again tomorrow night?"
"Sure. Shall I inform the others?"
"Yes, James. It would be too risky for me to call them from the base."
"This doesn't sound good. What he said about the eye witnesses and the cleaners…"
"There's nothing we can do about that, James. Besides, we don't know all the facts yet."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 - 08:00 a.m. (eight hours earlier)
The Loft
"I've programmed the GPS," John stated as he left the RV again. "We're ready to go. If we leave now, we can be in Arizona in four hours."
They had already said goodbye to the rest of the family the evening before and had a quick breakfast at the loft before loading the luggage into the RV.
"I filled up the fridge as well," Allie said. "You won't have to survive on pancakes and cheese crisps only."
"What's wrong with pancakes and cheese crisps?" John asked.
"Nothing," Savannah answered, "as long as you don't live of them."
"I already have a mom that sometimes can be a patronizing pain in the ass," John replied with a smirk, "I don't need you two to follow her footsteps."
"Yeah but the difference is we are good at cooking and she isn't… dad," Allie said, emphasizing the last word.
They heard the door of the elevator opening and Cameron and Alison entered the garage, dressed up for the journey. Cameron was wearing military pants, boots, a tank top and her beloved purple leather jacket. Alison wore blue jeans, sneakers and a tummy shirt. Both cyborg girls had bound their hair in a ponytail and wore reflective sun glasses and baseball caps. In their hands, each one held a big duffle bag full of weapons and ammo.
"Looks like you're dressed to kill," John observed with a smile. "No one could say that you travel light."
Savannah and Allie chuckled.
"So, you like our outfits?" Alison asked with a smile.
"I feel so much safer now," John said with a smirk. "Nice job with the sun glasses and the baseball caps. But are you sure you don't want to put on a bra? Nobody will recognize your faces now, but they will definitely remember your boobs."
"Bras are so not me," Alison replied with a smirk as well and went past John to enter the RV.
"And me neither," Cameron added and followed her.
"Be thankful they're wearing clothes at all," Savannah said with a grin.
"Look who's talking," he remarked and considered his two butt naked stepdaughters.
"May I have to remind you of rule number one, dad?" Allie asked. "We're still inside the building."
"Suit yourself. But do I have your word that you won't go out of the house like that?"
Savannah smiled and lay her arms around his neck, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"I don't know, dad. Should we ask mom first what she thinks of that?"
"Cam?"
"Yes, John?"
"Please tell your daughters to not leave the house naked."
Cameron appeared at the door of the RV.
"Don't leave the house naked," she said tight-lipped, then re-entered the motorhome.
Everyone sniggered. Then Savannah embraced John very tight.
"Be careful, dad," she whispered in his ear. "Come back safely."
He hugged her back.
"I will."
Savannah stepped back, and Allie embraced John as well.
"Take care, dad," she said, "we'll miss you."
"No problemo," John answered, strangely touched by their apparent affection and pulled her close. "Everything will be fine."
She kissed him on the cheek as well, then she and Savannah also hugged and kissed Alison and Cameron goodbye.
"And don't forget to take lots of pictures," Savannah added.
She had bought John an expensive DSLR camera.
"I'm trying to remember," he replied with a smile and entered the RV behind his two cyborg women.
Savannah and Allie became visibly emotional after the door had been closed. Cameron took place in the driver's seat and John sat down next to her in the passenger seat. Alison stood between them. The gates opened, and Cameron carefully reversed the big vehicle out of the building, while John and Alison waved to Savannah and Allie. He could see that both of his stepdaughters had tears in their eyes and it almost broke his heart to leave them here alone.
"All right," John said after he had pulled himself together again. "Washington, here we come."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008, 11:00 a.m.
Los Angeles County Jail
"Okay, Parker. You called me. So I came - on a Saturday - because you once were a valuable informant of mine. Emphasis on 'were'. Past tense."
"I know, I know," Parker said with desperation in his voice. "But I have information, valuable information."
Doug Parker was a well-known small-timer, mostly active in and around the Port of Los Angeles. He was useful but had always had too many illegal activities running alongside. The last time Stewart had heard from him, was almost half a year ago. Until last night.
"You've been caught red-handed in a raid. Illegal arms dealing is a federal offense. There's not much I can do."
"Please, agent Stewart! Please, I need to get out of here."
Parker frantically pulled on the handcuffs that chained him to the table, looking distraught in his orange overall. Stewart considered the pitiful man with ill-concealed disgust.
"My wife is sick," Parker continued, "she needs me! You're with the FBI, surely you can do something! I beg you, please listen to me."
"All right," Lee Stewart replied and leaned back in his chair. "You have two minutes."
"Do we have a deal?" Parker asked. "I give you valuable information and you get me out of here?"
Stewart looked at his watch.
"One minute, thirty seconds, Doug. You better start talking. Then I'll decide if we have a deal."
"Okay, okay," Parker said hastily. "It was nine months ago. A guy named Carter hired us for a risky job."
"Nine months?" Stewart asked scornfully. "And you decide to tell me now?"
"I was too afraid to tell you. Please hear me out."
"One minute."
"Carter hired us for smuggling a shipment of some rare metal from the Port of L.A. to an abandoned military outpost in the Mojave Desert!"
"What kind of rare metal?"
"Ever heard of coltan?"
"Coltan?" Stewart asked.
"Yes, coltan. Short for Columbite-Tantalite. It's normally used for powerful micro capacitors in cellphones. Very rare. Very expensive."
"Are you talking about the shipment that was diverted to L.A. and then stolen from a warehouse nine months ago?" Agent Stewart leaned forward again. "The one worth about two million dollars?"
"Yes, exactly! Carter hired us to steal it, but he never paid me and then he and the three others went missing. Do I have your attention now?"
"You have it. Go on."
"We had loaded the truck and were ready to go. I was checking the perimeter, when I caught these two women spying on us through a window."
"Two women?"
"Yes, one in her thirties and one much younger, maybe seventeen or eighteen. The older one tricked me and knocked me out. When I came around, I was tied to a chair."
"Could you identify the women?" Stewart said.
"Only the older one. The sheriff showed me an album with wanted people. She was in there but marked as 'deceased'."
"What?" agent Stewart asked, "What's her name?"
"Sarah Connor."
Suddenly Stewart's eyes widened, and he felt his heart beating faster.
"Are you sure, Doug?"
"Oh yes, I'll never forget her face – or her punch. She wanted to know where we brought the coltan."
"What about the other one, the younger one?"
Parker suddenly looked nervous, a little frightened even. He licked his lips.
"The young one scared the shit out of me, she really gave me the creeps, I tell you. I've never been so terrified in my life and I'm not easily scared."
Lee Stewart pulled out his iPhone and tapped and swiped his finger on it for a moment. Parker was watching him intently.
"That her?" Stewart finally asked, showing him a picture on the screen, apparently taken by a bank's security camera. It showed Sarah Connor and two teenagers, one of them a pretty brunette, holding a gun in her hand.
"YES! YES, THAT'S THE ONE!" Parker said enraged. "That bitch! She left me in a mine field in the desert! I had to wait two days before someone found me there! I almost died!"
"So, she left you there? Is that what made you so scared of her?"
"What? No! Oh no-no-no-no. The mine field was later. First the other one, Sarah Connor, cut my ties and left me a knife, saying I was free to go… if I got past the girl. I stood up, grabbed the knife and tried to get around her. She… grabbed my arm and threw me at the wall as if I was a rag doll. Then I attacked her with the knife. She blocked my attack, took the knife from me and knocked me to the ground, never moving an inch from her spot. Then…"
He gulped.
"Then what?" Stewart asked excited.
"Then… then she grabbed me by the neck with her right arm and lifted me up from the ground. And her eyes… her eyes…"
"What about her eyes?"
"They… they suddenly glowed red. Deep red. Like some bright LED's. I looked into them and could see that they were mechanical inside, not human eyes."
"Do you want to tell me that girl wasn't human?"
"Look, agent Stewart. I don't know what she was, but she wasn't just a little girl! She held me up on her outstretched arm for several minutes without any effort. No human has that kind of physical strength!"
"What happened then?"
"She looked at me and her expression was uncaring and cold. Cold as ice. No emotion, Nothing. She observed me like a fly she had caught, contemplating whether she should pull out its wings. Can… can I have something to drink please?"
"Sure."
Agent Stewart nodded at the guard, who went out of the room. After a moment, he came back with a glass of water. Parker took and downed it with shaking hands.
"I was about to suffocate in her grip when I finally agreed to lead them to the place where the coltan should be delivered to."
"And where exactly was that?"
"A place called Depot 37."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 - 11:30 a.m.
Malibu
The doorbell rang at Cliffside Drive. Maria hurried towards the door, looked on the monitor and then opened.
"Senor Sirko!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"I need to talk to Sarah. Now!" he said urgently, pushing past her..
Before Maria could protest, Isaak had already walked by her and was crossing the hallway. He left the first house at the other end and entered the rose garden that connected the houses. As soon as he entered the second house and turned towards the pool terrace, though, he stopped dead in his tracks, looking into the muzzles of two guns.
"Whoa," he said and lifted his hands, "I come in peace."
"Never come storming in here like that, Isaak!" Derek stated and lowered his gun. "The girls are getting nervous and Sarah is quite trigger-happy."
"Cute, Derek," Sarah remarked with a smirk and lowered her gun as well.
"Listen," Isaak said, "I just got a call from Lee Stewart. They have a guy called Doug Parker in their clutches, some small-time criminal who works as an FBI informant. Apparently, he knows about you, John and Cameron."
"Doug Parker?" Sarah asked and frowned. "Never heard that name."
"Do you know a place called Depot 37?"
Sarah's eyes suddenly widened. Derek saw it but before he could ask, Sarah's cellphone rang. It was Steve Goldman. She put him on speaker.
"Yes, Steve?"
"Listen, Sarah, I don't have much time. We've been rounded up for a special operation. All the available FBI personnel. Lee Stewart is calling the shots. We're on our way to some gunnery range in the Mojave Desert, fully geared up. Rifles, helmets and bulletproof vests, the works. He mentioned something about a shipment of coltan and that you, John and Cameron could be involved."
"Yes, Isaak just told me. Listen, Steve," Sarah said forcefully. "The place you're going to, is called Depot 37, a decommissioned arms depot that double functioned as a fallout shelter. We obtained a truck load of coltan from there nine months ago and sunk it in the ocean. Whatever you do, Steve, don't open the blast doors!"
"Why not?" Steve asked uneasily.
"Because Cam, John and I locked a Triple-Eight inside. It's probably fully operational."
"Oh my God," Steve replied. "What shall I do?"
"As I said: Don't open the blast doors! You're safe as long as the Triple-Eight remains locked inside."
"I'm afraid I need to give Stewart a reason, Sarah. I cannot simply tell him 'Hey Lee, Sarah told me on the phone we mustn't open that bunker. She's my friend, you know, and by the way: I'm with the Cell'."
Sarah thought for a moment.
"We're coming after you as soon as possible," she then said. "Try to stall him. That door won't be easy to open. It's locked from the inside and we threw the key into the ocean, together with the coltan truck."
"Lee has contacts to the Air Force, I assume through his connections with the Shadow Council. What if I cannot prevent the door from being opened?"
"Throw away your weapons. Run. Hide. Take cover. Hope you won't get killed."
"Seriously, Sarah, there must be something else I can do."
"How many are you?"
"Ten."
"What are you armed with?"
"Pistols, sub machine guns, shotguns."
"Armor-piercing ammo?"
"No."
"I'm not kidding, Steve: Run and hide. Drop your weapons, don't pose a threat. Maybe he won't kill you if you aren't a threat. You're not his mission. Is Jennifer with you?"
"No, she's visiting her parents in San Diego."
"Good. I'm sorry, Steve, but if you can't stop them from opening the door, do as I tell you. Don't try to be a hero. You'll die if you do."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Sarah," he replied sarcastically.
"We'll come and get you out of there. Hold on."
"I'll try."
Sarah ended the call and looked at Derek.
"Your big gun. The one with the tungsten ammo?"
"In storage at the port," he said.
"Too much of a detour. What do we have here?"
"Guns, rifles, claymores, C4, some hand grenades."
"Pack everything and gear up. We're leaving in five minutes."
"What about the others?"
"When we're in the truck, Derek, not now! Isaak?"
"Yes, Sarah?"
"You've just become a babysitter until Lauren is back."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 11:45 a.m.
Malibu Country Mart
"This is so not you, Anne," Lauren stated. "Stop looking at all the boring stuff."
"Give her time to adjust," Sydney said.
"Yes, give me some time," Anne agreed. "I haven't even gotten used to my face in the mirror yet."
Equipped with their new credit cards, the three had decided to go on a shopping spree and have some girls fun – and they practically had to force Anne to come with them.
"You're a hot, pretty, young girl," Sydney said. "Look, all the boys are checking you out."
"Oh my God," Anne exclaimed. "Don't even think of pairing me with one of those kids."
"You're one of the kids again, too," Lauren pointed out. "Most old people would give everything to be young again."
Before Anne could utter a witty reply, Sydney's cellphone rang. It was Sarah. She put her on speaker.
"Yes?" Sydney asked.
"Where are you?" Sarah inquired.
"Um… Malibu Country Mart. Why?"
"I need you for a trip into the desert. Charley's unavailable and your medical skills might become necessary."
"What?" Sydney looked at Lauren and Anne in shock. "Sarah, what's going on?"
"No time to explain. We're going to pick you up in fifteen. Be at the main entrance."
"What about Lauren and Anne?"
"They can drive back home alone. It's too dangerous for them to come with us, I need battle-tested people."
Then Sarah hung up and left a puzzled Sydney who considered the quizzical faces of Lauren and Anne.
"What about John and the girls?" Derek asked from the driver's seat of the Dodge RAM after Sarah had hung up. "Shouldn't we tell them to come back?"
Sarah looked at her watch.
"They left at eight. They're probably already more than halfway to Arizona. The show will be over before they can return. We'll inform them later."
"At least you could call John and tell him," Derek remarked.
"No need to worry him. I'll call him afterwards. We can handle it without the cyborgs. We did before."
"You don't need to prove anything, Sarah," Derek stated. "I know you're still pissed because of that road trip and because the way you were… put out of action by the nanobots."
She didn't reply to that.
"At least call Allie and Savannah," Derek finally said. "They're experienced fighters."
"Unless they're lying naked in the sun, you mean?" she asked sarcastically.
Derek rolled his eyes, not in the mood to discuss this any further.
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 11:50 a.m.
Interstate 40
"We're making good progress," John said and checked his watch. "We're already sixty miles outside of Barstow."
Alison, who'd sat down on the plush leather sofa, stood up and walked towards John, bent over and kissed him.
"Mmmh, is this part of the catering?"
"Nope," Alison replied. "Onboard entertainment."
Both chuckled. Then she let herself sink on his lap and put her arms around his neck. He pulled her close and enjoyed the feeling of her hard nipples poking into his chest while they started making out.
"I changed my mind," he stated. "I love it when you don't wear a bra."
"Easier access for you," she said and nibbled on his ear.
"And what about underwear?" he breathed into her ear.
"John Connor," she answered in a playfully indignant tone. "How dare you asking me such a question? Of course, I'm NOT wearing panties. And if you don't get these jeans off me as soon as possible, they're going to get soaked."
Both laughed and then kissed again.
"You better move to the back," Cameron said with a smirk. "People can see you. They're getting distracted."
"Oh, sure… we don't want to cause an accident, do we? Is it okay for you, Cam?"
"Of course, John," she answered with a sly smile. "My turn's coming later, when Alison drives."
Alison rose, and John unbuckled. He bent over to Cameron and kissed her, trying not to block her view of the road for too long. She kissed him back.
"I love you, Cam."
She smiled at him warmly.
"I love you too, John."
"See you later."
Then Alison pulled him towards the back of the RV. She opened the door to the bedroom compartment, they walked through and then closed the door again behind them. Cameron switched the radio on and tuned it to a station that played music she liked.
"We never fucked in a bed while it's moving," Alison said as John removed her sun glasses and the baseball cap.
"There's a first time for everything," he replied and pulled her tummy shirt over her head.
He then started fondling her glorious breasts while suckling her nipples.
"And this won't be the last," she said, stroking his hair.
John unbuttoned her jeans while kissing and licking her nipples and shoved his hand between her legs. She was as wet as a soaked sponge.
"I'm afraid your jeans are already ripe for the laundry bin, Aunt Drippy," he pointed out teasingly.
"Someday, I'm gonna get my revenge on Allie for coming up with that nickname," she said but chuckled as John pulled down her jeans.
"We could try to cork you," John suggested with a mischievous grin and pushed two fingers inside her. She only moaned in reply and pulled him into a kiss.
He held her close and let his hands glide over her back, down to her butt cheeks and between her legs. Then she quickly stepped out of her sneakers, kicked the jeans into a corner and let herself fall onto the bed.
"So how would you like to take your cunt today, mister?" she asked seductively and spread her legs.
"I like my cunts wet and willing," John said and knelt on the bed.
"Mmmh, this cunt is always wet and willing."
"I know," he agreed and started to lick her pussy. "And may I say that you taste gorgeous again today, honey?"
"Ooooooh, thank you, my love… Mmmh… I'm always doing my best to find the perfect recipe for you."
"You're such a great chef, I'd give you three stars in my personal Michelin Guide for pussies."
He opened his mouth as wide as possible and put it over her mound, pushing his tongue inside, and was rewarded with a gush of delicious fluids directly into his mouth, which he greedily gulped down. After a couple of minutes, Alison orgasmed and again his mouth was flooded with her delicious liquid.
John undressed as well and turned Alison over, so he could take her from behind. She pushed her butt upwards and moaned loudly as he gently stroked her labia with the tip of his penis.
"Put it in, John. Fuck me please. Fuck your cunt. I need it so much."
"You're such a needy cunt, aren't you?" he teased her.
"Yes! Yes! Always needy for your gorgeous cock, John. Please! Put it in me. Fuck me!"
John finally plunged into her with one swift thrust and Alison squealed in delight.
After an hour of tender lovemaking, the two lay on the bed, entangled in each other's bodies.
"Maybe it's hard to believe," John said after a while. "But right now, I love you more than ever."
"It's not hard to believe," she replied and kissed his sweaty forehead. "I love you a bit more every day, too."
John smiled and closed his eyes while she kept covering his body in hot kisses, slowly moving down to his semi-erect cock, gently kissing it as well, noticing that it twitched and went harder again. With a satisfied grin, she took it into her mouth.
"Yes," John thought, "this would definitely not become a boring journey."
Half an hour later, Alison and John joined Cameron again in the front of the RV.
"Did you two have fun?" she asked with a broad smile.
"Can't you tell by John's face?" Alison replied, smiling as well.
"Oh yeah," Cam said after a short look and grinned. "The satisfied, vacant smile of a man who just had a good fuck."
John chuckled.
"Where are we anyway?"
"Close to the California/Arizona state line. We're entering Needles now and we need to stop and refuel."
"Take the next exit," John instructed. "I'm hungry and need to use the bathroom. Let's have some lunch after filling up."
Cameron left the Interstate and then turned left into a commercial area. They refueled at a petrol station and then drove on.
"There," John said after a moment. "That looks good. 'Juicy's River Café'. Nice name."
"There's no space to park our vehicle," Cameron observed after a quick scan. "The parking lot is full."
"Turn left. Park across the street. We won't be parched by walking a hundred yards in the sun. And take off your leather jacket, Cam. It's hot out."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 12:45 p.m.
Mojave Desert
The two vans entered Depot 37 through the open gate and stopped with screeching tires in front of the closed blast door. The hall was empty, and the ten FBI agents left their vehicles in body armor and formed a circle, holding their guns in front of them.
"Secured," one of the men shouted after a moment.
"Seems deserted," Lee Stewart remarked.
"Lee, I don't think this is a good idea," Steve said. "God knows what dangerous stuff has been locked behind those blast doors. They often store barrels with poisonous chemicals in those old bunkers. Maybe we should contact the Air Force. It's their building after all."
"I already contacted the Air Force. There's nothing in there. I've gotten their permission," Lee Stewart replied, pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number. "Every single one of those old bunkers can be remotely opened from Edwards Air Force Base. I've already informed my contact there. He will open it and then come here to check it with us."
"If we're still alive when he arrives," Steve thought fatalistically.
Stewart turned away from Steve and spoke into his phone.
"Colonel Bertram? We're here now … yes, anytime."
Steve looked around. Most members of their group were rookies, fresh out of Quantico. More experienced agents were clever enough to not be available on the weekend, especially after the stressful weeks following the Simdyne bombing. How did he end up here? How did he allow himself to get into this mess?
"Stupid, Steve, really stupid."
He couldn't do it, he couldn't simply sacrifice them. Something had to be done!
"There's a cyborg inside, Lee!" Steve said aloud.
"What?" Lee Stewart asked astounded.
"Look, no time to explain. I'm with the opposition, okay? There's a cyborg trapped inside there. Locked in by Sarah Connor. The coltan is long gone. If the door opens, the cyborg's going to attack and we're all going to die."
Stewart looked at Steve with a staggered face. The other agents were looking back and forth between Lee Stewart and Steve Goldman, having no clue what they were talking about. Stewart was about to reply something when suddenly a warning siren started blaring and the blast doors began to open.
"Oh shit, too late," Steve thought and realized there was nothing he could do. "Run! Hide! Drop your weapons, if you want to live!" he shouted, remembering Sarah's words and slowly moved backwards towards the exit.
He lay down his shotgun, his MP-5 and his semi-automatic pistol and took cover outside around the corner of the building while his colleagues stared transfixed at the slowly opening blast doors, undecided about what to do.
-0-
"Can't you go faster, Derek?" Sarah said urgently.
"And risk an accident or getting us pulled over?" he asked back. "I know it's urgent but we're no help to Steve by driving recklessly."
"Did I get that right?" Sydney asked from the back seat. "There's a Triple-Eight locked in that bunker and will storm out the moment they open the blast doors?"
"Well, if it's in standby mode, they'll have fifteen seconds but yes," Sarah replied.
"Why did you leave it there? Why didn't you destroy it?"
"We improvised," Sarah said, not mentioning that it was John who had improvised. "And we believed it to be unnecessary to go back and kill him. He was locked inside a bunker strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast. Besides, he didn't know who John was, so he wasn't a threat to us either. And we had other things on our minds back then. And yes, I know this all sounds like excuses. In hindsight, it seems rather naïve to just walk away from there."
"You could say that," Derek agreed and got a sour look from Sarah. "It was only a matter of time until somebody freed him."
"I don't know about all the other timelines," Sydney said, "but in my future all cyborgs were not only briefed with John Connor's picture but also with that of his mother, Sarah Connor. It was common knowledge that finding you would entail finding John."
"Then let's hope this one comes from a future where he doesn't know my face," Sarah replied, "because he's seen it when I leaned out of the window and shot him in the face. And he also knows we have a cyborg with us."
"… who is in an RV about two-hundred-and fifty miles east of here," Derek said bitterly.
Sarah didn't reply to that anymore. They had to do this on their own. SHE had to do this on her own, for her own peace of mind after this horrific week. They didn't need Cameron's or Alison's help for this mission. They could and would succeed alone and they would save Steve's life. They had to.
"How far is it?" Sydney asked.
"Another half hour," Sarah answered. "Turn into that dirt road over there, Derek. This way we'll bypass the guardhouse. Cameron broke the metal fence nine months ago. Let's hope they haven't repaired it."
"Can I assume you informed Allie and Savannah?" Sydney said. "Will they come and join us?"
"Didn't want to pull them away from their pool," Sarah stated sourly.
Sydney was about to say something harsh in reply but was cut short when Sarah's cellphone rang. It was Steve. She put him on speaker, and they heard screams and heavy gunfire in the background.
"Steve?" Sarah called.
"Yes, Sarah. I'm here. I'm okay. So far. I put down my weapons and am outside the building now, as you suggested. I guess my colleagues weren't so wise."
"Stay there!" Sarah instructed. "Don't move. Be harmless. Then he'll spare you."
"I'm trying, Sarah, I'm trying. But they're dying in there… I can hear it."
Suddenly the gunfire and the screams died away and there was an eerie silence.
"Oh my God. Sarah, he's coming…"
"Steve?" Sarah asked.
"Give me your cellphone!" they heard the Triple-Eight saying.
"STEVE!" Sarah called out.
A moment of silence.
"Sarah Connor?" the Triple-Eight finally asked in his monotone voice.
Sarah looked shocked at Derek and Sydney, then immediately ended the call.
Steve lay on the dirty ground next to the entrance to Depot 37. He was alive. Quite shocked and his hands were shaking but he was alive. He slowly rose. Where did the Triple-Eight go? He had snatched his cellphone and then disappeared, simply saying "Thank you for your service".
"Looks like Sarah's advice was right. They only attack people who pose a threat."
He slowly walked into the hall on unsteady feet. Lifeless bodies and empty shell cases were scattered all around. He knelt and checked several bodies for life signs. There were none. They weren't killed by bullets. Their necks were broken, or they had been thrown against the concrete pillars. Both vans were unusable, riddled with bullets or turned over. Apparently, they had tried to take cover behind them.
Steve sunk to the ground and cried. He had seen death before, he had watched Catherine kill those intruders in her home in cold blood. But those had been the bad guys, those had been callous killers. This time it had cost the lives of young FBI agents who had a future. The realization hit him like a heavy blow.
This was indeed a war.
From a distance, Steve heard the distinctive noise of an incoming helicopter. He looked up.
"That must be Lee's contact at the Air Force, Colonel Bertram. If they land and that Triple-Eight is still around…"
Steve stood up and ran out of the building to warn them. The Sikorsky UH-60 "Black Hawk" slowly touched down on a concrete landing pad about fifty yards away from Depot 37. The helicopter was empty except for the pilot and a passenger he could see through the open doors in the back.
Steve wasn't the only one who saw the helicopter landing. The Triple-Eight steadily walked towards the door on the pilot's side from the opposite direction. Steve shouted and tried to warn them, but the engine noise was too loud.
Both the pilot and the passenger were too transfixed and distracted by the wildly waving Steve, who came running towards them. They didn't notice the cyborg. The Triple-Eight opened the door, killed the pilot and threw him out of the aircraft. Steve heard two gunshots, then the passenger, a guy in a colonel's uniform, flew out of the helicopter in a high arc, hitting the still turning rotors. Steve quickly looked away as the man was sliced into pieces, then helplessly watched the cyborg lift off with the "Black Hawk".
Soon after the helicopter had disappeared into the distance, Steve saw the Connor's black Dodge RAM speeding towards Depot 37. The pickup truck came to a halt and Sarah, Derek and Sydney jumped out, guns at the ready.
"You okay?" Sarah asked while observing the vicinity.
"Yes," Steve replied with a sigh, "Yes, I'm okay. The others are dead, though."
"And the Triple-Eight?"
"You just missed him. He took the helicopter."
They lowered their guns and put them into their belts.
"What does he need the helicopter for?" Sarah asked. "His mission was to secure a shipment of coltan for Skynet."
"Maybe he's got a new mission," Derek said thoughtfully. "How did he know it was you on the phone, Sarah?"
"He… he probably saw your picture on the display when I called you," Steve admitted meekly.
They all looked at Steve.
"You put pictures of us on your phone?" Sarah asked flabbergasted.
"I'm sorry, I… I'm new to this tech stuff. I never had a smartphone before. Catherine gave it to me. I played around with it."
Everyone could see that Sarah was struggling to keep her self-control.
"And now he has a helicopter," she said. "How far can he go in that, Derek?"
"It was a 'Black Hawk', probably from Edwards. Depending on how much fuel is still left in the tank, I'd say three hundred miles, maybe four hundred."
Everyone thought the same, but it was Sydney who spoke it out loud.
"Enough to catch up with John and the girls," she concluded.
"What?" Steve asked. "How can he know where they are?"
"Because all our cellphones are equipped with a tracking system," Sarah said, "so that everyone can always see where the others are."
"He's got the best protection on the planet," Derek pointed out, trying to calm Sarah. "Alison will tear that thing apart."
Sarah pulled out her cellphone.
"I've got to warn John nevertheless."
"Not so fast, Sarah Connor!"
The voice came from behind them. They whirled around and looked into the muzzle of a Heckler & Koch MP-5, held by Lee Stewart.
-0-
Cameron and Alison still had their reflective sun glasses on as well as their baseball caps. John had put on a baseball cap, too, plus a pair of plain glasses he had bought the day before. It had to do as camouflage.
"This place is crowded," John observed as they stood at the entrance of 'Juicy's River Café', waiting to be seated.
"Needles is a famous stop on Route 66," Alison explained. "And it's the town with the hottest temperatures in America during summer."
John looked at her.
"I was studying Route 66 at the library with Eric," she explained.
"Hello, and welcome to 'Juicy's Famous River Café'", a cheerful young woman stated. "A table for three?"
"Uh… yes, please, John said."
The woman guided them to a table in the very back of the diner. The only attention they got, was from men staring at Alison's breasts.
"Jody's going to be your waitress," she young woman told them, handed them three menus and left again.
"Thank you," John replied, took a menu and started studying it.
Cameron and Alison stoically scanned the room.
"Take a menu," John instructed in a low voice. "Don't be so cyborg-ish. At least pretend reading it."
They did as he'd told them. After a couple of minutes, the waitress appeared at their table.
"Hi, my name's Jody, I'm your…" She hesitated when John looked up. "Oh my God. You're not here to bring me back to my parents again, are you?"
-0-
Sarah, Derek, Steve and Sydney stood inside Depot 37, chained together with handcuffs, forming a circle around a concrete pillar. Lee Stewart had collected their weapons and was now checking the contents of their pockets.
"I recognized you were telling the truth the moment it walked out of there, attacking us," Lee Stewart said to Steve and pointed at the open blast doors. "I saw you retreating and immediately decided to follow your example. Looks like those cyborgs don't kill when they don't consider you a threat. I suppose I have to thank you, Steve. In a way, you saved my life."
"Believe me, not intentionally," Steve replied sourly.
"I suppose those three decomposed bodies in there are Doug Parker's missing accomplices," Stewart continued, ignoring Steve's remark. "He'll never know how lucky he was that Sarah had knocked him out."
"I told you not to open the bunker," Steve said. "But you wouldn't listen."
"Well, it was a little too late for that when you spoke up, don't you think? And you could have been a bit more specific… but oh… I forget, sorry. That would have meant to blow your cover. I would have never thought you work with Sarah Connor, Steve. I always respected you. How does it feel, knowing the blood of all these young agents is on your hands?"
"Fuck you!" Steve exclaimed. "It's not me who's working for those who will bring on Judgement Day."
"Ah yes, of course," Stewart said in an amused tone. "Sarah Connor's crazy anti-high-tech bullshit. I would have thought you'd know better than to fall for that nonsense."
He chuckled and turned towards Sarah while looking through her wallet.
"I'm actually pleased to meet you. I heard so much about you, mainly from that idiot James Ellison who kept on believing you were alive and tried to convince us that cyborgs exist. Boy, if only he was here now."
He chuckled again and checked her ID.
"Real papers, huh? And Platinum credit cards." He whistled. "Looks like you're not struggling financially either. Been robbing banks again, Sarah?"
"Listen, butthead," Sarah spat. "That Triple-Eight is after my son now. At least let me warn him."
"What? So, John can bring his girlie cyborg friend with him to free you? Oh yes, I know about Cameron Phillips. Don't think I'm stupid, Sarah. I can call you Sarah, can't I?"
"Shove it!"
"Charming. However, I have no idea who you are, mister..." he looked at Derek's ID, "Derek Reese. And you, miss… Sydney Reese. I take it you two are related?"
He didn't get an answer. Grinning, Lee Stewart pulled out his cellphone.
"Plan A failed. Poor Colonel Bertram. He didn't deserve to be sliced to pieces. I told him on the phone there was a cyborg on the loose before he landed. Didn't listen, it seems. No idea how that man ever made it to colonel. I guess this calls for plan B. If Bertram followed the protocol, he triggered an alarm before he landed. If he did, they're going to send a party after that thing and maybe they catch up with it before it finds your son. But I need to take care of the bodies here as well. So, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a call."
He typed a number into his cellphone.
"Mr. Sirko? You won't guess who I have caught here at Depot 37."
Sarah looked at Derek and noticed a faint smile on his face.
-0-
The fuel gauge quickly dropped towards empty. Carter checked the cellphone again. Still fifty miles away from John Connor. He looked for a place to land in the desert next to Interstate 40 and found a spot roughly one mile off the highway to put the helicopter down.
He left the "Black Hawk" and quickly walked towards the Interstate, where he stepped right onto the middle of the right lane, facing the traffic. A white van came to a stop which screeching tires before it hit him.
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?!" the driver shouted angrily out of his window as Carter walked towards the driver's side of the van.
Then the driver saw the dozens of bullet wounds on Carter's body and the spots where his metal endoskeleton shone through.
"What the fuck?" he asked and gaped at the Terminator in shock.
Carter pulled the door open, grabbed the driver and threw him onto the road. Other cars were braking and swerving to avoid running him over, and the crashing noises of rear-end collisions could be heard. Unfazed by the mayhem he had caused, Carter entered the van and sped away towards Needles.
-0-
"What are you doing here?" John asked Jody. "I thought you were back at art college."
"Yeah, I know. Things didn't turn out as planned," Jody replied. "They rarely ever do."
All three of them remembered Jody vividly, the street girl who had seemingly befriended Cameron when she had her second chip malfunction and had forgotten that she was a cyborg. It turned out that Jody was a notorious liar and a thief and Cameron nearly killed her as a result.
Months later, Jody and her ex-boyfriend Helmut had kidnapped John for ransom. When the two of them realized what Cameron really was, it was too late. Helmut didn't survive the resulting encounter. Jody, however, showed serious remorse and both John and Cameron took into account that Jody had helped Cameron during her malfunction, so they decided to give her a last chance and returned her to her parents. She was supposed to resume art college but instead had now somehow ended up here in Needles as a waitress.
"Listen, can you wait for half an hour?" she asked. "My shift ends soon. Then I'll explain everything. I know I violated our agreement, but I had my reasons."
"You've got some explaining to do," Cameron said coldly.
"Yeah but you too… Pasadena Mystery Girl," Jody replied with a smirk, getting surprised looks in return. "Oh yes, I follow the news."
"Is this another attempt to blackmail us?" John asked annoyed. "Have you forgotten how your last try ended?"
"I'm not attempting to blackmail you," Jody assured quickly. "Your secret is safe with me. I'll explain everything when my shift is over, okay?"
John looked at Cameron and Alison and they nodded.
"Excellent," Jody said. "Can I take your order now?"
-0-
Lee Stewart paced up and down inside Depot 37, his steps echoing in the empty hall. He was becoming increasingly nervous. It'd been more than an hour now since he'd called Isaak Sirko and asked for reinforcements. He looked at his watch again.
"Waiting for someone?" Derek asked gleefully. "Has your friend stood you up?"
"Shut up!" Stewart said sharply.
Sarah looked around.
"Just out of interest, how are you going to explain all these dead bodies?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Stewart asked with a smirk. "That was you of course."
"These people died because their necks and spines got broken," Sydney said in an irritated tone. "Every medic will tell you that. How are you going to explain they were killed that way while carrying firearms? No matter what you say, it will raise questions."
"Oh, seems like we have a medical expert here," Stewart replied sarcastically. "But trust me, I have the contacts to cover this up."
"Do you mean the people you called for and who simply won't show up?" Sydney shot back.
"Have you ever considered that you're alone now, Lee?" Steve asked. "You chose the wrong side in this war. Your companions don't tolerate failure very much, do they? They prefer to cover their own asses first. You let a cyborg escape and now it's on the loose. If it kills even more innocent people, it's because of you. If I was one of your superiors in the Shadow Council, I wouldn't want to be connected to that."
"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" Stewart shouted and pointed his MP-5 at them. "I should kill you all. Here and now. You're already dead anyway, Sarah."
"I'd like to have a word with you about that!" a female voice said.
Sarah, Derek, Sydney and Steve looked into the direction the voice had come from and saw Cameron standing in the entrance. She wore her boots, her gray jeans, a gray tank top and those fingerless gloves she loved to put on.
"Oh my God, it's their cyborg," Lee Stewart thought.
He pointed the MP-5 at his prisoners.
"Don't come closer or I'll kill them!"
Cameron tilted her head in her usual manner. Sarah, Derek and Sydney looked at each other. How could Cameron be here?
Before they could contemplate about it, though, a figure in camouflage with her head covered in a ski mask appeared from behind a turned-over van and kicked the sub machine gun out of Stewart's hands. It slid across the floor and landed directly in front of Cameron's feet, where she picked it up.
Lee Stewart was surprised but reacted like his self-defense training had taught him. He took on the attacker but didn't stand a chance. His opponent was much quicker and much more agile, landing blow after blow on him and moved with the grace of a Kung-Fu fighter doing classical ballet. One final kick to the head in a stylish pirouette and Lee Stewart sank to the ground, knocked unconscious. The attacker pulled off the ski mask.
"Savannah?" Sarah asked flabbergasted.
"Next time you go on such an adventure, call us," Savannah said annoyed. "This could have ended ugly."
"But how…?" Sarah asked and looked at Cameron who had come closer.
But it wasn't Cameron, as she realized now. The hair was too short. It was Allie, dressed like Cameron, mimicking her posture and her facial expressions.
"Fooled you, haven't I?" She asked with a grin. "I have even fooled John with this trick sometimes."
Savannah knelt and searched Stewart's pockets for the keys to the handcuffs.
"Allie's job was to distract this sunshine long enough for me to sneak up from behind."
She found the keys and threw half of them to Allie who caught them. Together they started unchaining the four.
"I thought the days of everyone going on a solo run were over," Savannah said taunting and looked at Sarah. "I thought we are a family and rely on each other."
"I didn't want to pull you away from your sun bathing," Sarah shot back. "I'm surprised you managed to put on some clothes to come here."
"HEY!" Allie shouted angrily. "You're unfair! We came as soon as Isaak told Lauren and Anne what happened. They called us, and Isaak sent his helicopter, so that we wouldn't have to fight our way through the traffic of Los Angeles."
"We're here with a shitty rental car we got at Lancaster airport," Savannah continued. "We would have been here much earlier if you had let us in. The least you could have done, is giving us a chance before you start complaining about us. This is the kind of bullshit that got you killed in our timeline!"
Sarah looked at Allie in shock.
"Allie!" Savannah said sharply. "We weren't to mention that."
Sarah gaped at them.
"I got killed?" she asked.
"Yeah, on a similar stupid solo run," Savannah replied. "It broke Charley's heart. You were the second wife he lost. And all because the tough Sarah Connor had to prove that she was more than just mother and grandmother."
Sarah looked down, looking beaten. There was a moment of silence.
"Thank you for coming," Derek finally said to the girls and gave Sarah an annoyed look. "You and Sirko probably saved our butts. I have to say, I'm impressed, you have some serious combat skills."
"Savannah and Allie were trained by Cameron," Sydney explained. "They're the best fighters you can imagine. They have taken out Triple-Eights in close combat, knowing exactly where their weak spots are."
"I… I didn't know that," Sarah said and was about to say more but then simply nodded her head. "You're right of course, it was my fault. I'm sorry. It's just that… I felt so useless in the past days and…"
"… and you wanted to patch things up by falling back into your old patterns, going on this mission with as little help as possible to show everyone what a tough cookie you are," Savannah finished dryly.
"Something like that, yes," Sarah replied meekly.
"Never do that again," Savannah said and then stepped towards Sarah and hugged the completely surprised woman. "We love you and we don't want to lose you again, do you understand?"
Sarah nodded and hugged her back, unable to think about something to say, except…
"I'm sorry…"
"That's settles it then," Allie stated with a smile and put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Forgiven and forgotten."
"Okay, now let's get the hell out of here before the Air Force sends troops to investigate," Derek said.
"Where's my phone?" Sarah asked. "I need to call John and warn him about Carter."
-0-
"At first, it all seemed to work out fine," Jody told them.
She had changed into her private clothes and sat down next to Alison, facing Cameron and John who had just finished his lunch.
"Yeah, we saw you hug your mother before we drove away," he said.
"My mum was never the problem. My dad was. And he wasn't as forgiving. After he found out about my police record, he decided I needed to be put under close supervision and wanted to send me to a reformatory. Mum and dad got into a fight over it and he hit her. I tried to stop him, but he hit me as well."
"I'm sorry to hear that," John responded with honest sympathy.
"He left the house, probably to get drunk. Mum gave me money to travel to my aunt Clara in Albuquerque. I took the next bus but then I thought that I didn't want to live off someone else's money anymore. When the bus stopped here, I saw a sign that they were looking for a waitress. So, I thought 'Hey, what's the hurry? I'm young and have all the time in the world. Could as well earn some money for a change'. I called my mum and my aunt and told them I'm staying here for a while."
"Why didn't you give us a call?" Cameron asked. "We could have supported you."
"Because I didn't want any help. I wanted a clear cut. I want to save money and then resume art college because my parents won't pay for it anymore. But if you want to help me, convince my mum to leave my father. He's treating her like shit. One of the reasons I ran away in the first place."
John was to reply something but then saw that Alison's attention was suddenly transfixed on the parking lot. Two police cars had just entered it.
"Relax," Jody said to Alison. "They come here every day for lunch. Nice guys, as long as you're not giving them bullshit. Who are you anyway? Haven't seen you before."
"My bad," John remarked. "This is Alison, my, um, girlfriend."
"Cyborg girlfriend not enough, huh?" Jody asked with a broad grin, looking Alison up and down. "You're really hot, though."
"Thank you," Alison said. "It's... a long story."
"Yeah, with you folks, it always is," Jody replied.
Four police officers entered the diner and took place three tables away from them. Alison kept watching them closely.
"So, what are you doing here, if you're not looking for me?" Jody asked.
"Road trip," John answered briefly, not feeling the need to go into detail.
"Uh huh… I see," Jody commented with a skeptical face.
Suddenly, John noticed Alison stiffening. Cameron registered it as well.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Triple-Eight," Alison stated.
"What?"
He turned around in disbelief and saw a man walking across the parking lot, steering directly towards the entrance, carrying what looked like a sub machine gun in his hands. John didn't need to have cyborg sensors to recognize him as a Terminator. His body was covered in bullet wounds and the shiny metal of his endoskeleton was visible on several parts of his head and neck.
"Get down!" John said to Jody and disappeared under the table.
When Jody hesitated in confusion, Alison pushed her under.
"Hey!" she complained but complied.
Cameron and Alison stood up, determined to block the Triple-Eight's way if he should attack.
The door opened, and the Triple-Eight entered the diner. In a matter of seconds, the room was quiet. Everyone stared at the menacing-looking, armed figure in the doorframe. The four police officers three tables down were about to jump up and draw their guns.
"STOP!" Alison shouted, and they turned towards her. "Don't draw your guns or he'll consider you a threat and kill you!"
They stared at Alison for a moment, and for some reason listened to what she was saying. They didn't draw their guns. The other patrons ducked under the tables as well and the staff hid behind the counter. Some stifled cries could be heard. However, others had pulled out their cellphones and started filming.
"Great," John thought, "just great. Welcome to the age of information. So much for being discreet. At least they're still wearing their sunglasses and baseball caps."
The Triple-Eight silently scanned the room. Cameron and Alison walked towards him, careful to shield the table with John and Jody with their bodies. The Triple-Eight scanned them both and obviously recognized Cameron. He pointed his MP-5 at them.
"Where is he?" he asked. "Where's John...?"
"FREEZE!"
One of the police officers hadn't been able to contain himself any longer and had drawn his gun, apparently feeling the need to protect Cameron and Alison. The other three officers followed his example.
The Triple-Eight pointed his MP-5 at the officers.
They fired their guns, but their bullets did nothing to slow him down. The Triple-Eight was pulling the trigger as well and would have certainly killed the police officers, if Cameron and Alison wouldn't have stepped into the line of fire to catch the bullets with their bodies. They were hit several times. People cried out but then saw that despite being hit, both girls didn't go down.
There were some more stifled screams and gasps, and all the guests and the staff couldn't help but stare at Alison, Cameron and the Triple-Eight. They saw how Alison walked towards the attacker who had now emptied his magazine.
She grabbed the MP-5, pulled it from the Triple-Eight's hands and clenched her fingers. With the creaking sound of bending metal, she rendered the weapon useless and threw it behind her, where it landed directly in front of the paralyzed police officers. They stared unbelieving at the deformed piece of metal that used to be a sub machine gun. One of them talked into his radio and requested reinforcements. The Triple-Eight tilted his head and looked at Alison, evaluating the situation.
Cameron had turned around and joined John and Jody again.
"Is there a back door?" She asked, and Jody nodded.
"Through the kitchen," she said and pointed at a swing door. "That way."
Unnoticed by the guests and the police officers, the three ran ducked towards the kitchen door. However, the Triple-Eight saw them and – recognizing John – pulled out a nine-millimeter pistol. He fired but Alison stepped into the line of fire again, catching the bullets with her body, preventing John and others from being hit.
As soon as John and Jody had safely entered the kitchen, Alison pushed the Triple-Eight hard. It flew away, crashed through a window and landed outside on the parking lot.
The sound of the shattering glass mixed with more screams and gasps from patrons. Alison walked towards the broken window. When passing the police officers, she stopped and looked down at them.
"Are you unhurt?" she asked.
The officers looked at her in shock, seeing how the bullet wounds on her belly magically closed and disappeared. They nodded hastily.
"Good. STAY DOWN, EVERYONE!" she shouted and walked towards the broken window. "Let me handle him."
John, Cameron and Jody had left the diner through the back door on the other side of the building and carefully walked towards the front.
"Where's your car?" Jody asked.
"Over there," John said and pointed at a free space on the other side of the street, about a hundred yards away.
"Great. No cover. Couldn't you have parked closer to the restaurant?"
"We didn't expect to run into a Triple-Eight," Cameron pointed out, almost sounding apologetically.
"Is that what you call those… things?" Jody asked.
"It's their model number," John explained, "T-888. At least of this particular model. And just for the record, Cameron here is basically the same underneath and she is NOT a 'thing'."
"All right, all right," Jody said.
"Did you recognize him, Cam?"
"Yes, John. Carter. But we locked him inside Depot 37."
"Apparently he got out. Will Alison be able to overpower him?"
"She could rip him apart if she wanted to. But what to do with the body parts then? We have no means to destroy them here. I guess she will just make him reconsider his strategy and then join with us when he retreated."
"Right. So, we run?"
"We run. He will follow us, and we can wait for him at a place without eye witnesses."
"Alison is a cyborg as well?" Jody asked surprised.
"Yes," John and Cameron replied in unison.
"But a newer model," Cameron added.
"And this Triple-Eight, it's chasing you?"
"Actually, all of them are chasing me," John stated with a painful smile. "It's a standing order with all of those Terminators as soon as they recognize me."
"But why?"
"Because I'm the supposed leader of mankind in the future."
"Alison and I are here to protect John," Cameron added.
Jody stared at them as if they were pulling her leg.
"It's true," John assured.
"And I thought my life was fucked up," Jody remarked.
"Okay, John," Cameron said, "you and Jody run while I give you cover. On three. One, two, three…"
In the parking lot, Carter had risen again. He was reorienting himself and attempted to go back inside but as soon as he faced the restaurant again, he received a kick in the chest by Alison. Carter's body flew twenty yards through the air and landed on a parked Toyota Prius, shattering its roof. He stood up and tried to scan Alison again but to no avail.
"Superior cyborg model", his HUD showed. "Model type unknown. Threat level extremely high. Avoid, if possible."
Carter turned around and was about to run away from the scene towards his van but was facing Cameron who had just come around the corner and blocked his way. In the distance, Carter saw John and Jody run across the street, away from the diner.
Suddenly, a helicopter appeared from nowhere and hovered over the three cyborgs. Alison immediately recognized it as one of the stealth prototypes she and Cameron had encountered on Monday. Four men in body armor rappelled from the open freight doors, holding strange looking weapons in their hands.
The rotor of the helicopter blew up dirt and dust from the parking lot and the dry desert ground, covering the whole place in a thick, dusty fog. Suddenly Alison was hit by something that quickly wrapped itself around her body. A net. It immobilized her momentarily and sent a very high electrical charge through her body. She saw that two other soldiers had fired the same weapon at Carter and Cameron, rendering both inoperative.
"Keep running!" John yelled at Jody as the helicopter appeared, covering everything in dust.
Using the foggy cloud as a cover, the two quickly crossed the street and reached the RV a few moments later.
"Where are they?" Jody asked after they had entered the vehicle.
"Still fighting with Carter, I think," John replied. "But they should join with us soon."
"Let's get out of here!" Jody said. "Before the dust settles and someone sees us."
"NO!" John stated resolutely. "We wait for them."
"What if they were caught?" Jody asked. "Shouldn't we get away to prevent being caught as well?"
"Nobody catches Alison or Cameron!" John said categorically. "We wait!"
The wire rope of the net consisted of hardened steel. With a little bit of effort, though, Alison tore it apart and freed herself, the thin wire cutting into her skin. The soldier who had fired it, looked surprised at her and then at his gun, wondering why it hadn't worked on her. With two quick steps, Alison was in front of him, snapped his neck and ran towards the other soldiers who knelt at Carter's and Cameron's tied up and motionless bodies.
The forth soldier noticed that she wasn't immobilized like the other two and attempted to shoot his net gun at her. But Alison reached him before he could do so, ripped the gun from his hands and killed him. Then she looked up at the helicopter, which was still hovering over them, and aimed for the rotorhead. The net wrapped itself around the mechanical parts, sending flashes of electricity into the helicopter, causing strange mechanical noises. Then it tumbled, drifted away and finally keeled over. It crashed in the desert behind the restaurant and exploded. Debris flew everywhere and destroyed many of the parked cars.
Alison quickly killed the remaining two soldiers who had followed the scene stunned, and then went to get Cameron before the cloud of dust could settle. However, at the same moment a convoy of army trucks entered the parking lot and started to form a circle around them.
John and Jody suddenly heard a loud explosion, followed by a shower of metal parts that rained down on the street. Thankfully the motorhome wasn't damaged, but the shockwave of the explosion rocked the vehicle. From the parking lot of the restaurant, they heard the blaring noises of many car alarms.
Moments later, Alison appeared at the door of the RV and climbed inside. She was carrying Cameron over her shoulder, who was powered down and wrapped into a net. In her hand, Alison held a strange looking gun.
"Wha... what happened to her?" John asked in shock.
"They have a new weapon," Alison replied and put down Cameron on the sofa. "Drive, John! They just got reinforcements. I could get out before they sealed off the parking lot."
John accelerated and drove off towards the Interstate while the street in front of Juicy's River Café was still covered in a thick fog of dust. A tall, dark cloud of smoke rose from the back of the restaurant where the helicopter had crashed. In the distance, the blaring of police sirens could be heard. Alison put Cameron onto the leather sofa and tore the net off her body, causing it to crackle and flash before the electric charge died away.
"Will she be all right?" John asked in a worried tone from the driver's seat.
"We'll know when she rebooted," Alison answered.
The seconds ticked away as John counted down from 120. Then, finally, Cameron opened her eyes and sat up again.
"You okay?" John asked.
"I think so," Cameron replied. "But that was a heavy electrical discharge. I need to run a systems check."
Jody stood up from the passenger seat and walked into the back.
"I guess I'm gonna be sick now," she said. "Toilet's that way, right?"
Fifteen minutes later, they had crossed the Arizona state line. As far as they could tell, nobody was following them. Alison replaced John as the driver and he sat down next to Cameron, taking her in his arms and kissing her softly while she ran her tests. She smiled lovingly at him.
"What the fuck happened there?" John said when he was able to think straight again. "How did they find us?"
But before someone could answer, John's cellphone rang. It was Sarah. He put her on speaker.
"Mom?"
"John?" She asked. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, it's me, mom, I'm okay."
"Oh, thank God. Listen, there is a Triple-Eight on its way to you. He stole an Air Force helicopter – and Steve's cellphone. He's tracking you."
John, Cameron and Alison looked at each other.
"Uh… yeah mom… we know," John said. "Carter, right?"
There was a moment of silence and John could tell that his mother was taking a deep breath before she continued speaking.
"Are you all okay?" Sarah finally asked.
"Yes, we got away."
"Thank God."
"Is Steve okay?"
"Yes. Only his pride is a little hurt. We're on our way back to Malibu. Are you safe now?"
"Yes, for the moment. Nobody's following us. But Carter is in the hands of the Shadow Council now and things got a bit messy."
"How messy?"
"Prime time news messy, I guess."
"Is there a chance you could be identified?"
"I dunno, I hope not."
Sarah gave them a summary of the things that had happened and how the Triple-Eight was able to track them so easily. When she came to the part about Steve using pictures of everyone on his cellphone, John groaned, and Cameron and Alison were shaking their heads.
"Those soldiers in the helicopter," John said. "They must have been members of General Turner's special cyborg task force. They were equipped with a new weapon for disabling a Terminator. Some kind of electrically charged net. Luckily, it didn't work on Alison. It's a safe guess Steve's cellphone got fried as well when they took out Carter."
"Can you send us pictures of that weapon?"
"Sure. I suppose Cam and Alison will want to analyze it as well. The Shadow Council has Carter now, we had to get away from there before someone saw us leaving."
"So, you think they will cover this up again?"
"I don't think they can, mom. Not with so many eye witnesses. This isn't the Nineties anymore, where the Shadow Council could easily sweep everything under the rug. Stuff spreads very quickly over the internet these days, thanks to cellphones with cameras."
"Maybe that's a good thing," Cameron argued, straightening up again, apparently having finished her system check. "Maybe it starts a process of slow acceptance when the public realizes that we exist."
"Maybe," Sarah said. "Or maybe it starts a nationwide paranoia. We'll have to find a way to steer it into the right direction. Maybe Tom Novak and the Cell can help us with that. Do you still want to pull this through, John? Maybe you should forget about going to Washington and come back."
"No, mom, we won't divert from the plan. They haven't seen us leaving. They'll be busy enough keeping the news coverage under control, they cannot initiate a manhunt on top of that. And they have Carter now for studying purposes. Thankfully, we have Catherine in there now. Hopefully she can take the load off us and help us turn this into an advantage."
"You must know what you do, John. I love you."
"I love you too, mom."
He ended the call and leaned into Cameron who gently put her arms around him.
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 07:00 p.m.
Groom Lake
"And you're sure it can't get out of there?" Catherine asked, looking down into the 45-feet-deep concrete pit at the captured Triple-Eight.
Carter looked up at them with his red-glowing eyes.
"Yes, General," Timmons replied. "It could try to jump this high, but the circumferential fence is electrified. It would overload and fall down again."
"What about our losses?"
"We lost another prototype, including the pilot, and four members of the special unit. We also had to clean up Depot 37 and create a cover story for the loss of eight FBI agents, Colonel George Bertram and his pilot."
"Not a good day for us then, despite the nice catch."
"No, Sir. All things considered, not a good day. We paid a high price and there will be questions asked. Bad news from Washington as well. I heard that the Senate Committee on Armed Services is investigating money flows. Someone must have tipped them off."
"A whistleblower, you think?"
"Maybe. I already ordered an investigation to see if we have a leak somewhere."
"Good. Anything else I need to know?"
"We retrieved the 'Black Hawk' thirty miles outside of Needles. Before Colonel Bertram was killed, he triggered an alarm. A team of our special unit was sent after the 'Black Hawk' and a support force was set into motion from an army base near Needles. The 'Black Hawk' had run out of fuel before it reached the town, the cyborg landed it close to Interstate 40. We retrieved it from there. The cyborg then stopped a van on the freeway, pulled the driver out and drove into town. Witnesses informed the authorities. Our first team arrived at the diner half an hour later. So far, everything had still been controllable."
"What happened then?"
"It seems like there were two more cyborgs at the diner. The pilot of our stealth prototype reported them fighting each other. Eye witnesses confirmed that."
"Cyborgs fighting each other, Timmons?"
"Yes, and all of the eye witnesses at the diner – including four officers of the local sheriff's office – insist that it was one male and two females. The two females were being perceived as 'the good ones'. Apparently, they saved many lives by confronting the male attacker."
"Do you think that's possible, Timmons? 'Good' cyborgs?"
"No idea, sir. We know too little of them. But hopefully that will change."
"Did the location get cleaned?"
"As much as we could, sir. When the army convoy arrived, they found the male cyborg decapacitated and the special unit members dead. Luckily, our backup team could retrieve the bodies before someone noticed them. Minutes later, local news reporters were swarming the place."
"How were our men killed?"
"One of the net guns is missing. It looks like one of the female cyborgs shot the net into the rotorhead of the helicopter. The pilot died in the resulting crash."
"Creative. And the soldiers?"
"Broken necks. All four of them."
"Have the army soldiers been briefed?"
"Yes, Sir. They won't talk about what they saw. They secured the place until our backup team arrived. The crash site has been fenced off. I left a few people there to gather intelligence but it's hard to get any information. The local sheriff's office isn't very cooperative. They think most of the damage was done by our team."
"So, what exactly do you think happened there?"
"I have no idea, Sir. Things are rather sketchy. But from what we can tell, the male cyborg entered the bar and opened fire at a couple of police offers who took their lunch there. The two female cyborgs caught the bullets, though, acting as shields. People saw them getting shot several times, but it didn't bother them. They seem to have repeatedly put themselves into the line of fire to protect the other guests in the restaurant. The first videos of it are already getting viral on the internet."
"Very unfortunate."
"Yes, Sir. Should we try to track down the female ones now?"
Catherine looked down at the imprisoned Triple-Eight. Of course, she knew what had happened. Cameron and Alison had happened. James had informed her about their road trip to Washington. It looked like they ran into the Triple-Eight unintentionally. She hoped John and the girls were okay. And she hoped that the anonymous tip to her contacts in Washington about looking into the financial background of some of the operations at Groom Lake would have the desired effect. Timmons would never guess that General Turner, or rather Catherine Weaver in his shape, was the whistleblower.
"No," Catherine said after a moment of thought. "Let it be. We should turn down our efforts for now. We have what we wanted and with the Senate at the back of our necks, we better not start another operation that could cost more lives."
"Yes, Sir. By the way, our expert on cyborgs will be flying in from Los Angeles in two days. He's currently at a convention about artificial intelligence in Paris and won't be able to make it sooner."
"Excellent. Until he arrives, nobody is to go near our prisoner. He's dangerous and deadly. And very creative."
"Yes, Sir, I've already instructed the guards."
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 – 08:30 p.m.
Interstate 40
They had been driving for five hours. Jody sat in the passenger seat while Alison was behind the wheel. Cameron and John sat on the sofa in a deep embrace. He rubbed his eyes. The sun had already started setting and they would reach Albuquerque in about two hours. They would let out Jody at her aunt's place and then resume their trip.
"As soon as we dropped you off," John said to Jody, "you should call the restaurant manager and say you're safe with your aunt. Say that you panicked and fled from there. Say you'll take a couple of days off and will return next week."
"Will do," Jody confirmed. "And don't worry, I won't mention you."
John thought for a moment.
"The people working for the media aren't stupid. This will be all over the news. They will dig deeper, analyze the cellphone videos and eventually make a connection to the Pasadena Mystery Girl. Same sun glasses, same baseball cap, same girl. This time people won't forget it so easily anymore. This time there will be more questions. We need to prepare for that to happen. When we're back from Washington, we should map out a strategy with Tom Novak about how to deal with the situation. Remaining anonymous is our number one priority. If everyone knew our faces, we could kiss our resistance activities goodbye."
"Everything will be fine," Cameron said and gently stroked John's cheek.
"Are you completely okay?"
"One hundred percent," She replied.
"For a moment there, I thought I lost you."
"You're never going to lose me, John."
She kissed him very softly. Damn, her lips felt so good. He looked down at her bullet wounds.
"Should I get the pliers?"
"Yes, please," Cameron answered and smiled.
-0-
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 - 08:35 p.m.
Mojave Desert
Lee Stewart had walked for three hours on the dirt road, alone in the heat of the desert sun, trying to reach the next highway. He was parched, hungry and close to breaking down. His body moved in autopilot mode, somewhere between too exhausted to carry on and too unwilling to simply let go. Why did they leave him there alone? They took his phone, his wallet, everything. He was surprised they left him his clothes.
"All things considered, this was a very shitty day", he said to himself. "I lost eight men, Steve Goldman turned out to be a traitor who works for the opposition, the cyborg got away after killing two Air Force officers, stealing a helicopter in the process, I got knocked out, robbed and left to die in an old bunker that didn't have any food or water stored anywhere. Yeah, pretty shitty day."
Waiting for someone to get him out of there didn't seem to be an option after a while anymore. Isaak Sirko apparently never sent the help he had requested. The only question was if he had done that on purpose or if he was forced to deny him the help. He could live with the latter explanation. Maybe Sirko was dead already. He never liked him anyway. Stupid rich playboy who thought this was an adventure game.
But what if Sirko had changed sides? Olson had always considered him unreliable. But Olson was dead. Suicide. And now he, Lee Stewart, the shooting star of the Los Angeles bureau of the FBI, screwed up with his first major operation as a team leader. His boss would not be thrilled. If he made it back, that is.
Suddenly, a reflection caught his eye. Was that the sun being reflected on a windscreen? Was there a car coming his way? He stopped and looked more closely. Yes, it was a moving object and it was followed by a cloud of dust. He waved his arms.
A moment later a white SUV stopped right where he stood. The window on the passenger side was lowered.
"What are you doing alone in the desert?" a pretty young woman asked.
"Apparently," Stewart answered exhausted and looked up and down the road, "I was waiting for a ride."
The woman smiled.
"Jump in."
Stewart didn't need to be told twice and climbed on the passenger seat. The air condition was a huge relief. She offered him a bottle of water and he drank greedily from it.
"What's your name?" the woman asked.
"Lee, Lee Stewart."
"Nice to meet you, Lee," she replied and shook his hand. "My name's Jesse, Jesse Flores."
-0-0-0-
Author's notes:
- Comments welcome (like always)
- It looks like the existence of cyborgs will not much longer remain a secret, but I doubt that Cameron or Alison will end up as guests in a talk show anytime soon. However, the plan is to establish them as the "good cyborgs" ;-)
- About the Carter thing: I always thought leaving him in the bunker was neglect. Eventually he would have gotten out.