CH 10
Just behind the crest of the mountain, a strange silver being stood behind three mortars with several open boxes of rounds. The thin body stood on thin legs and sported six arms. The neck stretched out to a tree just up hill to snake it's way to the top, the small head that looked like a pair of binoculars looked out from the treetop and down the side of the mountain to the facility below. With infrared, it saw every building and the few people walking the perimeter.
Three of the thin arms were holding mortar rounds at the open muzzle of the launchers, waiting for the signal. The other three arms were holding more mortars in mid air.
In the distance a flash of orange light followed by the rise of a fireball that flared into a small mushroom cloud signaled it was time to start. Catherine Weaver watched the main gate. Tracers sped through the gate, then a bomb hit, blowing the guards up. More tracers raced though and from a building close to the gate, armed men poured out to fight the threat. She let them approach the gate, then dropped the larger mortar round into the tube, then dropped in the ones to each side. Another pack of armed men from the south building spilled out and ran towards the battle.
FHOOM Fhoom Fhoom
Three more immediately were positioned over the launchers as the empty hands grabbed three more rounds.
Watching the light path, The first long six inch round flew high and came down to strike the top corner of the target building. The round disappeared, an instant later a corner exploded out, blasting high speed debris. Every window on the top floor exploded out. A mortar dropped down between the east perimeter walls, killing a patrol and making the interior wall buckle. The third mortar landed in a parking lot, blasting a few cars apart and setting fire to the debris from spilled gasoline.
Adjusting aim slightly, three more rounds shot out, and three more rounds were set to drop into the tube.
This time, the six inch mortar hit the target center roof. Weaver kept up the bombardment, the mortar rounds exploded deeper and deeper into the building in a constant rain. From her six arms rapidly feeding the mortar tubes. From her vantage point, she could see the entry gateway was on fire. Cameron's shorts were reducing the gates and the gate houses to rubble. Men inside one of the buildings ran out to fight the threat. Some were knocked down by machine gun fire. Others took cover and fired back. A couple grenades were lobbed out past the gates to explode harmlessly. The incoming bomb that sailed in blasted a 30 foot circle clear of men.
The perimeter walls that had guarded those in the facility now became a trap as Weaver shot her mortar rounds as fast as she could load them, and Cameron's bombs also started working on the first building, tearing chunks out of it. The target building where Sky Net was housed, was now just a hollow box framing. Another round collapsed three of the four walls. Methodically, Catherine worked at destroying the targets.
.
John shot at anything he even thought was moving. Using short bursts and the back flash of explosions and fires to aim by, he kept his machine gun working. His senses were peaked, his heart was beating fast, his body filled with adrenaline. Bullets ticked off their armor plating in a rain. Some grenades went off up ahead of him. So far, nothing was effectively shooting back. He saw the multiple flashes from the constant rain of mortars landing and spewing bits of deadly shrapnel in all directions. One building collapsed from the pounding. Multiple fires lit the facility grounds in a macabre light. No one else was running across the ground. He thought he saw a few crawling. He aimed and let out a burst. The tracers ripped into the ground, then into at least one man who rolled over, flinging an arm in the air, then laid still.
Cameron shot another bomb into the first building. It went through a previous hole There was a flash inside, then half the building collapsed. Mortars took down the front of another building, exposing the floors within. Tracer rounds from high up on the mountain rained into the interior.
Catching sight of movement, John aimed and saw five men rush out in view. Two were carrying RPG's. He opened up on them with a short burst that took the men down, then his gun stopped firing.
"CAM, I'M OUT!" John yelled.
A bomb hit the place where the men had been. Bodies flew and some grenades went off.
Cameron flew up out of her hatch. She pitched the empty ammo box away and put in a full one. A star shell lit the sky over them. Mortar shells hit in between the perimeter walls, throwing debris and a few bodies over the top. She got the first round loaded.
"You're loaded," she called. Gunfire from the walls came down on them as Cameron scrambled back into her hatch. John found and took out one man, then another. One rose up to point a long tube at them. John shot him. The rocket flew down and passed just over the top of the dozer. He sprayed the walls with a stream of bullets.
"TIME! John, GO!" Cameron shouted. She then called on the radio, "JC, moving in."
John gave the dozer full gas. They rolled up the last of the incline and picked up speed. John shifted through the gears as fast as he could, keeping his hand on the joystick for the machine gun. Charging the ruined gate, he saw a man stagger out and hit him with a burst. The man dropped something as he fell. It blew up. There was something else in the road, a round disk. Crashing though the gate debris, John steered around it. The boom and back flash told him it was a charge meant to take out one of their tracks. The explosion helped him see a few mean headed for a building on his right. He sprayed them, they fell.
Heading straight for the far perimeter wall, John didn't steer very much. He was letting the dozer drive straight on, crashing into ruined cars and running them over. He only got up to maybe 25 miles an hour until they cleared the parking lot. Above him, he heard Cameron shooting with the M-14. She was shooting single shots, but close together. She dropped a clip and loaded another and kept shooting. A head came up from between some cars he was about to run over. He aimed and shot. The head dropped. He crashed into the cars, the front of the dozer came up and ran over the mess.
Bullets were still ticking off the armor. It was then John realized Cameron was partly out of her hatch, shooting back.
"CAM! Get back in here!" he yelled.
A few more shots and Cameron did drop back in and shut her hatch.
"We need more speed, John!" she called. She then shot a bomb at the perimeter wall they were charging. The round hit, the blast buckled the wall. John braced himself as they rammed the wall. His arms folded some, but luckily he kept from ramming his face into the view slit.
They slowed quickly. The rumble of falling debris was like hammer blows. John shifted down. His optical sight was gone. Looking through his view slit, he saw a body and the outer wall in front of him. He floored the gas, ran over the body and rammed the wall. The impact stopped them. The tracks still churned. John heard crackling then the wall fell in front of them. John drove over the wall that was now a ramp. It broke apart further, then he was looking at a dark tree line. The light from the burning facility was quickly dimming. He drove into the trees and tried to turn on the headlight. It didn't work.
"Shit!" he spat. He hit a smaller tree and knocked it over.
"John, STOP!" Cameron yelled.
He did. Opening his hatch, he saw they were in the woods. A chunk of concrete fell off when Cameron opened her hatch. Looking at the dozer, he saw his machine gun was bent and hanging by one strut. The launch tube of the dozer was bent down and crushed. Debris covered their dozer. Below them, it looked like the entire facility was burning. Not one building was standing whole. Another mortar came down to hit A standing wall, making it collapse.
Climbing out, Cameron had the M-14 and the sack with the spare clips over her shoulder. He also saw a crosshatch of silver across her back like she'd been raked by an animal. A few of her hairs caught in some jagged debris and ripped a chunk of her scalp off.
John got out and stared at her. On her head, more metal than flesh was showing. She still had her right eye and cheek, and most of her lips. John immediately thought about the repair plate on the back of her head. "Turn around," he said and put a hand on her bare metal shoulder.
Cameron still had hair and flesh on the back of her head. "Thank god, the repair wasn't damaged." he said in relief.
Turning to face him with her mostly terminator face, Cameron said, "We have to go, I have to drive."
"Yeah," he agreed. Cameron was torn up bad. Her left side from her neck down to mid chest, and her left arm only had bits and chunks of bloody flesh clinging on. The remains of her left breast hung low. Her right side showed plenty of silver streaks and everywhere on her upper body there was flesh, was bloody. Her had noticed her flat, terminator tone.
Cupping her face on her fleshed and metal cheek, John said, "I love you and you love me. Give me the rifle and get us out of here."
"I love you and you love me," she replied. She handed him the rifle and gave him the ammo sack. They climbed back in. Cameron drove off up the valley as the last few mortar rounds collapsed the last standing building. John kept watch out the top hatch, keeping a close eye on the branches scrapping by.
The valley moved down hill, Cameron drove them skillfully around larger trees, and slowed to a stop before they hit an ATV trail.
John got down and went to the driver's hatch. "Cam?" he asked when she didn't come out.
"We'll wait here for the others," she said, her voice heavily muffled from the steel.
John went to the view slit that was allowing him to hear anything. "Yes, but aren't you coming out?" he asked.
"I can wait in here."
"Yeah," he said slowly. "But I thought we might wait together."
"I'm ugly now, John." Her voice sounded hollow.
John let out a sigh. "I don't care, Cam. If anything, I want to look you over and patch as much as we can." There was no response, so John added, "Look, Cam, to me, you can never be ugly, got it? I've got the first aide kit, so come out so I can get a good look at you!"
The hatch slowly opened. "It's dark, John. You can't see well in the dark," Cameron said.
John looked in. With no light, it was a black hole. Cameron hadn't moved. "Cam, turn on the light."
Cameron did. She also looked away.
John took the opportunity to probe the area where her skull repair was. He spoke idly as he probed the back of her head. "OK, you're missing flesh, but the repair seems to be intact. I don't see or feel any other breaches. How about mechanical damage? Any damage coming up on your HUD besides flesh wounds?"
"My left shoulder joint is only 62 percent operational," Cameron droned.
John leaned in and looked at her bare metal shoulder. "OK, yeah, looks like bullet fragments got in there. That's not a big concern, we'll get them out," he assured her. "Face me."
Cameron turned to him slowly. He studied her left eye, The red orb looked OK, he petted a light scratch on her metal forehead. "I don't see anything too bad." he then petted her bare cheek and said, "Cam, I don't care if you are completely bare metal. You are my wife and I love you. Yes, I'm sorry you got torn up. I don't like to see you sad. All this damage though, shows me how dedicated you are to me. Understand I am just as dedicated to you." Stretching to lean in farther, he gave her a gentle kiss. "And it would be a whole lot easier if you came out so I can kiss you."
The right side of Cameron's mouth curled up into a smile. John backed out. Cameron did come out. The instant she was standing in front of him, John hugged her. She returned the hugs, splaying her silver skeletal fingers in his hair.
"I love you and you love me,' she said softly.
"No matter what," John agreed firmly, and hugged her a bit tighter.
"I'd offer you a drink but the damage has drained me," Cameron said meekly.
"Can they be salvaged, or do you have to re-grow them?"
Cameron looked down at herself. "The right breast will heal with nanites. The left one is connected only by 3 percent of the connecting flesh. It will fall off soon. I'm sorry, John."
"Let's salvage what we can. If we get it back in place, will that help?" he asked.
"Yes."
John opened the first aide kit and got out the roll of gauze. Carefully, he opened Cameron's shirt and hefted her drooping breast while she took her shirt off. The sight of the bloody orb made john want to cry, but he held onto himself. John formed a bra like bandage to support her breasts. Cameron watched him make the bra-bandage, then inspected her right arm, He bandaged the loose flesh back on, wrapping half her arm up from mid forearm to upper bicep where the flesh ran out. By the weak light from the open hatch, he couldn't see to get the bullet fragments out of her shoulder.
"Make love to me," Cameron said softly.
At first, John thought this was one hell of a time to be doing something like that. They were waiting to flee with the rest of the group, and men with guns might be chasing them. As he studied her face, John understood. Torn up like this, Cameron needed the assurance that she was still desirable to him. The only place available was the sloped front of the dozer. He took her by her metal hand and led her around to the front. He cleaned the debris off the front, then drew her close and kissed her. He kissed her lips, her fleshed cheek, then her metal cheek. He petted her gently, not wanting to do any more damage to her. He kissed her bare metal fingers with the same gentleness, then undid her pants. She sat up on the sloped front of the dozer.
If his wife needed him, he would gladly oblige.
.
In the height of the battle, Sarah didn't see anyone coming up the mountain at them. In the distance, she did see the facility and a dark patch moving. She fired down on them, watching the tracers drop around the patch, then onto it. The patch broke up. She send a few more bursts down into the facility. The mortars were flying down in a solid stream, blasting apart one building then another.
Sarah watched the dozer drove through the chaos. She fired down on the facility behind it, hoping to suppress anyone attempting to attack it from behind. Derek was also firing more at the perimeter walls towards the gate. Not long after the dozer had battered it's way out the back, the mortars stopped landing.
Weaver announced over the radio, "Mission complete, return to our rides."
Sarah folded the tripod up and took the belt out of the gun. Picking to the machine gun in one hand and the remaining box of ammo in the other, she struggled back up to her ATV. She turned her flashlight on and loaded the trailer, then got on and drove back to their meeting point.
Weaver was already there. Shortly after Sarah arrived, Derek met them. A couple minutes later, Jesse arrived. They drove down to the trail to where they were going to meet John and Cameron at an easy pace to minimize the noise they made and not race by the spot they were too meet John and Cameron. As they closed on the place, she saw movement in the dark. A hulking form drove out to block the trail.
Sarah feared for her was their dozer, just battered down like someone had pounded on it with a huge hammer. John popped his head out of the top hatch.
"Everyone make it?" he asked.
"We're fine, Are you All right?"Sarah called.
"We're good. see you at home," he called back. The dozer clanked on down the hill, crunching through the brush and knocking down small trees as it went on it's way.
The ATV group followed trails out to the east faster now. Coming to a stream, they saw the dozer again, driving down through the shallow water. They followed.
.
Agents Aldridge and Ross were called to a possible 'terrorist attack' in the hills out of town. They arrived up the road that was in state forest. Up ahead were police at a road block and a public works bulldozer clearing the road of rock and debris. Men with chainsaws were cutting up the trees were felled over the road. They got out and had to walk up to a group of officers.
Showing his badge, Aldridge asked, "What the hell happened here?"
The police captain grunted and said, "Big friggin bomb. This is just the perimeter of the blast. Come on, let me show you the hole."
They struggled through the canted over woods to the rim of a crater. Looking down, Aldridge guessed the bottom of the crater was 20 feet deep. "OK, so why blow a big hole in the woods?" Ross asked.
The Captain pointed at the bottom. "It's hard to see, but there's pipes down there. Over there, you can see a piece sticking up. This used to be a service tunnel. We got plenty of calls of an explosion. Seeing it was way up here, we thought a plane crashed, but we got no reports of one going down. By the size of this crater, We think someone got a 500 pound bomb down in that tunnel and set it off. The thing is, seeing this, we should have power outages, but none were reported."
"What does that tunnel service?" Aldridge asked.
"The power company is looking into it They had a power transformer blow in a transformer yard near the edge of town right about the same time. They were looking for the cause and are sure this was it. The thing is, they didn't even know there was a service tunnel up here" The captain explained.
Aldridge frowned. "Where does that tunnel go?"
"Looks like uphill, but there's nothing but nature trails all through this area."
Aldridge frowned in thought. A tunnel that went nowhere getting blown up. That didn't make sense. "There has to be a reason this tunnel is here," he said. "Find anything else?"
Motioning behind him the captain said, "Down that trail, we found a moving van. It's empty, no one around. Uphill there we got a tractor and a heavy equipment trailer on the side of the road. All the right side tires are flat."
"Can we see it?"
"Right after we get the road cleared."
.
It took another hour to clear the road so Aldridge could follow the police car up the single cleared lane. Getting to the truck, he saw police going over it. Aldridge walked around the truck. Why someone left it here was a mystery. He did note all the valve stems on the right side were pulled out. These tires had been deflated on purpose. Walking up to the dirt road it was blocking, he noted bulldozer tracks.
Pointing to them, he told Ross, "Someone deliberately blocked this road, then drove a bulldozer up it."
Ross nodded to the truck and said, "We're not getting up this road until that thing is moved. Think this is related to that blast?"
"Pretty sure of it. I'm also sure something is up this road. Whoever parked that truck there was doing their best to slow down anyone wanting to get up this road," Aldridge agreed.
Another officer came up to them. "Guys! We got a pair of campers here you should talk to."
Aldridge told Ross, "Work on getting that thing moved. I'll go see what these campers have to say."
.
A young couple stood by a police car, leaning on the back. The officer by them said, "We found them just up the road. They saw us coming and flagged us down."
Aldridge thanked him. The couple looked ragged. He showed them his badge. "Morning folks, what can you tell me about last night?"
"It was a friggin war going on!" the young man said, wide eyed. "I'm talking machine gun fire, explosions, and we saw a tank!"
"A tank?" Aldridge asked. "It was dark, you sure it wasn't a bulldozer maybe?"
"It had a friggin cannon and a machine gun mounted on it, it was a tank!" The man insisted.
The girl pointed and said, "It went past us and we thought maybe the army was up here, you know, doing maneuvers or something, then this big explosion happened down by the road, and then all kinds of gunfire and explosions were going off up between those mountains. We heard a few bullets flying through the trees, so we ran out of camp, and hid over there in that ditch until we saw a cop."
"You did the right thing getting out of there. You say it was between those mountains? You sure?"
The man nodded. "We saw the light from the explosions. They were going off, bang, bang. bang, one right after another," the man said.
The policeman by them said, "We got their statements. Since the road's open I was going to take them down to get checked out at the hospital."
Aldridge nodded. "Carry on. Thank you for you help," he told the couple.
.
The plan of investigating by themselves was out the window. After the truck was dragged out of the way, they waited for SWAT to show up with their armored car before they went up that road. A helicopter over flew the area and reported massive damage to what looked like an industrial complex that should not be there. The maps didn't show it, and it was on state land. Fires were still burning at the site.
Aldridge has no choice now. A fierce battle had been fought between unknown forces. He had to call in Homeland Security.
.
Since all the mortars were used, Derek and Jesse took the mortars and machine guns back to the depot. John drove the dozer there as well and towed the army truck back. He knew for the mass of destruction they'd caused, someone was going to come looking for them. Having this stuff in the warehouse was asking for police to come find it.
Despite Cameron's blank 'mood' at suffering so much damage, John didn't think she looked that bad once they cleaned her up. John had pulled the few bullets left in Cameron out, washed he and had wrapped her up. Most of the damage was on her upper body from shooting back with the M-14. Her torso was wrapped up like a Ninja in strips of bandage, as was her right arm. Wearing a long sleeve shirt hid her bare left arm and shoulders. There was no hiding her half bare metal face and the large bare spots on her head, nor that glowing red eye.
John knew Cameron didn't feel comfortable with him seeing her like this, so he made it a point to look at her, and when he kissed her, to kiss her bare metal parts as well. He did his best to show her it didn't matter to him.
Sarah, Derek, and Jesse were visibly revolted by the sight. They had to put up with it when they had a meeting for what to do now.
"I think we need to split up," John said. "Everything we took back was wiped down for prints, and we did our best to cover our tracks. Still, if we're found together, we might all go down."
Sarah eyed John. "If we each go our own way, that will make all of us vulnerable," she stated.
John shook his head. "Derek and Jesse are a couple, no one is looking for Derek Reese. They head up north, Oregon maybe. We keep in touch, but they start a new life. Us three slip over into Mexico. We can hide there for a long time."
"Costa Rica," Cameron said. "It's nice there and if we travel easy, my damage can be repaired by the time we get there."
Derek cleared his throat and said, "John, I agree Jesse and I should keep away for a while. You and Cameron have met FBI agents. They know you're here . If you take off, you will be suspected immediately. Your best bet is get rid of anything military and sit tight. Just keep the metal hidden from view until she recovers."
"He's right," Sarah said.
"Staying here is a risk to John's safety," Cameron stated.
"Fleeing is sticking a big, red flag on you," Derek countered. "That is riskier."
John let out a sigh. "Maybe you're right. We still can't say for sure if we've stopped Sky Net completely. We have to keep looking for it."
Sarah said, "Derek, if you want, you and Jesse take the trailer to live in. Your story is you're sub letting from us until you find your own place. You know nothing about us. You can also keep watch for those FBI agents to come back."
"Sure, let's slum it for a while," Jesse said with a smirk.
"I will give you a bank card," Cameron said. She got up to get to work on it.
.
Evening came and no FBI came beating down the door. John made sure Cameron had all the nutrients she could take in. She wanted to feed him from her right breast but he insisted she use those nutrients for herself. John was exhausted, they sat on the downstairs living room couch, where he fell asleep with his arm around Cameron.
.
By evening, Aldridge got up to the ruins of the facility. Bodies were everywhere, armed men, their guns strewn about. Not a building was standing. Police covered the area, some standing guard while others took pictures and collected the bodies into rows. He wondered how many bodies were in those collapsed buildings.
Looking over the scene, Ross said, "There has to be a couple hundred dead here. In a place that shouldn't exist."
"It doesn't any more," Aldridge said tightly.
An army officer came walking up to them. "Evening, gentlemen. I'm Colonel Watson from Homeland Security. I've spoken to your superiors. You may head on back to your office. There is a gag order on everything you've seen today. Nothing happened here. Is that understood?"
Ross looked around and said, "Tell that to all these dead men."
Sternly, Watson said, "If you even hint at seeing this place, you'll be rushed off to a holding facility and charged with treason. You may get a trial in thirty to fifty years. Do I make myself clear?"
"And all these police?"
"Not your concern. You were never here, they were never here, I was never here. Now get in your car and go."
"Covering up a full blown battle. Never thought I'd see the day," Aldridge said. He turned and walked towards the car parked outside the gate. Hearing helicopters, he saw wide bellied troops ships coming in to land.
"They can't do this," Ross hissed.
"If they state reasons of national security, they can," Aldridge reminded him.
"So, we will never know what happened here," Ross grated.
Aldridge cast him a smirk and thought, 'Yes we will. I know just who to go and see.'
.
Aldridge made notes on everything and cross checked them for clues. He knew now that it was Cameron who'd called Sarah Connor in the hospital before she had whisked her away. He did not forget the hints Cameron had given her. He also found out before they were ejected by the military, that only those at the facility that didn't exist had died. No bodies of whoever had attacked them were found, and no hospitals had reported people coming in with gunshot wounds. For how much shooting there had been, that seemed very unlikely, those men who'd died were armed and had been throwing a lot of lead at someone, as well as a few RPG's. shell casings were all over the ground.
Given a tank had rolled in the gate and out the back of the place, he knew John and Cameron were not living in a hotel room someplace. They couldn't hide a tank there. He took the hints and started looking at warehouses. Knowing where the trailer that was suppose to be their home was, he began narrowing down possible places.
Three days after he started his search, he was in a Quickmart on the edge of town. He bought a coffee and strolled outside to look around. In her call to Sarah at the hospital, Cameron mentioned sleeping next to John's canon. He knew now, she wasn't talking about his dick. They were staying in the place where they were keeping this tank. From here, he could see the roof of a warehouse. The only one that was visible, and the only place he'd seen that was big enough to hide a tank.
Getting in his car, he drove up to the warehouse and parked in the yard. Walking around, he studied the pavement where there was pavement. In the dirt, he saw what looked like bulldozer tracks. By all the tire tracks, it looked like this warehouse was in use. He walked over to the doors. They were side opening doors. A fresh padlock and chain locked them shut.
Aldridge walked around to the back and found a pedestrian door. He tried it, it was locked. He heard a soft noise around the corner. He announced, "I'm not on duty and I don't have a gun. I figured it would be useless. I just have some questions and information."
He waited, no one answered.
"That facility doesn't exist, the army told me so," he offered. "Nothing happened up there. The explosion everyone heard for miles around was a gas explosion, they told me that was the official explanation. The trucks we found were from thieves making off with them. They fled when the gas went boom. Just a coincidence they happened to be in the same area. I know, and you know, that story is utter bullshit. I just came to find out the truth."
Still no response.
"Whatever you were after to destroy up there, it's gone. That had to be a big risk you took, even for you. I just wanted you to know, it paid off. If I know what you're looking for, I can help. I just need to know what the truth is."
A soft voice said, "Don't move."
"You got it," he said and stared at the door. He saw someone come around the corner in his peripheral vision. He strained himself not to look. He did look when a silver, skeletal hand put a key in the lock and opened the door.
"In."
He stepped in to find a large bunch of crates filling part of the warehouse on his right, and a workshop on his left. Looking around he voiced what he didn't see. "Where's your tank?" he asked.
The door behind him shut. "It served it's purpose. Turn around."
Aldridge did and froze. It was Cameron, partially. Her face was only an eye, one cheek, lips and some chin. The rest was bare metal skull and a glowing red left eye. Her neck had a bug chunk out of it like she'd been bitten deep. The rag she had on her head showed she had some hair left. Her arm with the skeletal hand was thin under the long sleeve shirt, most likely bare metal all the way up to her bare metal collarbone peeking out between the bandages under her shirt.
"Jesus!" he said in a gasp.
"No, Cameron," she said, correcting him.
Aldridge swallowed. There was no doubt Cameron was one of these terminators. "You look like you went through hell," he offered. "Is John hurt?"
"Negative. I protect John. Follow me."
Cameron walked over to the wall of tightly stacked crates. She grabbed the edge of one. It opened to show a door. She opened the door to show the entryway into a house.
"I never would have guessed this was here," he said as he followed her into a normal looking living room.
From her chair, Sarah Connor turned her head to see him. Her eyes widened as she shot up. "Tin Miss, what is HE doing here?" she barked.
On the couch, John turned and asked, "Who's this?"
Cameron motioned to an empty chair. "Agent Aldridge, have a seat," she said.
"FBI?" John asked, looking nervous.
Cameron took a seat beside John, between him and Aldridge. "Agent Aldridge has news," she said.
"John Connor," Aldridge said. "So, you're not just a myth." He waved Sarah down. "Relax, Sarah, I'm not here to arrest anyone. My partner doesn't even know I'm here. Like I told Cameron, last night never happened by order of Homeland Security. Neither us nor the police can ever say anything or have any records of it. That facility never existed. By the damage that was done and by how quickly it was done, I am sure they suspect special ops troops from somewhere else came in and laid waste to that place. My only concern now is, if you got it."
"It?" Sarah asked.
"Sky Net, the bad AI," Aldridge clarified.
"We are hoping so. There is no way to be sure," John told him.
Looking at the walls and furnishings, Aldridge said, "You got a good place here and well camouflaged. Not by code, but like that facility, it doesn't exist. No military hardware around either. I have no reason to ever say anything about it."
"Agent Aldridge, why did you come here?" Sarah asked warily.
"I'm after the truth. Not for any official reason, but so I know," he told her. "If I'm going to be watching out for signs of this AI thing popping up, I need to know what to look for. I know you're not crazy, Sarah." Nodding to Cameron, he said, "Cameron alone proves that. I've also had collaboration with someone else who's seen these terminators. I do believe in law and order. I also believe in protecting the population. If a Sky Net gets built and nukes the planet, then I have failed in my job."
"We think Kaliba is the ones trying to build Sky Net," John said.
"Things are pointing that way," Aldridge agreed. "That attack on Zeira corporation was mercs who'd been working for them. We got that company under surveillance. The dead men we found scattered around that facility, if we could investigate it, I am sure those men were mercs working for the same company. Like I said though, that never happened."
"Kaliba stays hidden," Sarah told him. "They use satellite companies to do their work for them."
"We search for news about tech companies," John told him. "New contracts, startups that seen to be well funded, anyone working on AI projects. That's all we can do."
"We haven't turned up anything so far," Aldridge admitted. "If we do, I'd like to have a contact number so I can pass the information."
"Leave a letter in the mailbox at our trailer address," Sarah said. "Someone will be by there to pick it up."
"That works for me," Aldridge said. "I'm glad all of you got out alive. Though Cameron should probably let someone else go to the Quickmart for a while. Will all that heal?"
"It will," Cameron said.
Aldridge cast her a brief smile and said, "I'd ask how, but I'm sure the explanation is scientifically over my head. " Getting up, he added, "Just remember, I am on your side."
Sarah got up. "I will show you out."
"Thank you."
Sarah took him out into the warehouse. Eyeing him, she said, "Thank you for helping us. We've never had any help from the authorities before."
Aldridge shrugged and said, "I've never believed you were telling the truth until I met Cameron. And seeing her like that? That proves you're right. You're one brave woman, Sarah. don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. You should be hailed as a hero."
Sarah flushed at the compliment. No one had ever given her a compliment before. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
Walking to the door out of the warehouse, Aldridge said, "I know you're nervous, so I'm going to stay away from here. If I have anything, or need anything, I'll go to that trailer."
He opened the door and cast Sarah a smile. "Good luck to you." He closed the door and left.
.
Colonel Watson walked around the destroyed facility as his men collected the bodies to be disposed of. His aide, Major Barret, came over and showed him a spent shell casing. "Sir, most of the casings inside this place are .223's. outside the gate right where the road begins to drop, we found a bunch of .308 casings and belt clips. A few scattered inside, near those bulldozer tracks that ran through here."
"I take it that dozer was armored and had at least one machine gun and a good canon," Watson replied. "Whoever did this, drove a tank through here."
"That is my assumption as well. Sir, we can follow the tracks and find out where they went."
Watson eyed him. "During the day, by helicopter. "If these people were able to get their modified bulldozer up here on that flatbed and pound the hell out of this place, I'm sure they trapped their escape route to stop whoever tries to follow them. Look for tracks from the air, and with support nearby."
Major Barret nodded in agreement. "Sir, do we have any idea who it could be?"
"Not unless we find a body or any survivors. From what I'm seeing,this was a one sided fight. Whoever did this, came in hard and fast. I doubt the battle went any longer than twenty minutes or so. Mercs with a few RPG's and MP5's are no matched for an armored vehicle sporting machine guns and a canon. Besides that, I suspect when we search those mountains, we'll find they had more weapons to bring to bear." Looking around he frowned and said, "We're going to be here months digging through rubble just to find out what the hell was going on here."