Author's notes: It never occurred to me that I might have confused many of my readers in the last chapter. I think I again should point out that this is an alternate universe which I stated in my summary.
It's about John Connor: since he was supposed to be conceived originally in 1984, I feel his existence have become completely deleted since he fell out of place in the timeline after Sarah and Kyle time-jumped ahead to 2017. In my eyes, Terminator Genisys created one big paradox which has created a whole new future and I was attempting to pick up a thread from the end of that.
What Pops first was telling Newt/Rebecca is how history looked like originally according to his documented files, but that has changed into a whole new time-line in which they are living now and in which John Connor no longer has a place. And since the war was prevented after Skynet's defeat when Cyberdyne was destroyed in the movie, John was no longer essential - especially not since his fate was to become the enemy.
Thank you to Independent Dude for pointing this out to me.
On with the story.
The 'X'-terminator were really picking up speed in the stolen police truck dragging the heavy trailer that was the mobile command center. The highway it was driving on was one of the new roads being laid to the ground during the past years - it was as straight as you could make them with no curves or any slopes. It was like traveling on the German autobahn where you could go to the country's highest recommended top-speed without risking flying off the road. What would have confused the terminator if it had been capable of feeling confusion was why it not yet had spotted the fugitives it was chasing. They shouldn't have gotten that far ahead and to avoid detection, the rogue unit would probably not exceed the speed-limit unless it had to. But if they were on this road, then the 'X'-terminator would catch up with them sooner or later.
Just then the police-radio sparked to life again: "Dispatch, this is 2-WS32 following the suspect vehicle on the old road together with two other patrol-cars. From what I can tell, the kidnapped girl is in the stolen car, but the driver is showing no hint of slowing down despite our signals. Please advice! Over."
Now the 'X'-terminator understood – it was a tactical move on the rogue unit's side. Instead of traveling on the fastest route out of the city it had taken a detour on a slower one to avoid detection. The police should in theory have expected the fugitives to get out as fast as possible on the highway, but somehow they hadn't bought it. The 'X'-terminator however had made an error, but that error might actually work in its favor.
"2-WS32, is the suspect showing any hostility? Over." The police-radio continued to report.
"That's a negative. He's just maintaining speed to keep his distance. Over."
"2-WS32, as long as the suspect is not showing hostility, you are not clear to use weapons! Repeat, do not use weapons! The hostage must not be put in any danger. Over!"
"Roger, Dispatch, we will hold fire." The police officer on the radio did not sound happy about it. "We will keep on his tail, but you had better think of something to intercept him further up the road. Over and out!"
The police weren't able to do much else, but the 'X'-terminator did not have such restrictions. The runaway vehicle needed to be intercepted and that's what 'X'-terminator was going to do. It put the pedal even further down to the metal and with the speed it was picking up, it would soon get ahead of them on this road. The mission to terminate Rebecca Jorden was soon going to be completed.
The cyborg in the stolen police truck weren't the only one who had over-heard the conversation on the radio. The two agents from Weyland-Yutani Company were also keeping themselves updated on the progress. They were still a few miles behind the fugitives.
"Fools!" young agent Humphrey spat. "How do you expect to stop a runaway car if you can't open fire on them?" He kept his eyes on the satellite linked-up padd which was tracing the bugged mobile-phone as he said this.
"You're actually being a little unfair now," the older and more experienced agent Bolton said. "Do you know what happens every time a police officer fires his gun? The citizens of America then scream 'Police brutality' and demand his head on a stick. Police may be armed, but to use them will always be considered an unnecessary use of force. And the reaction risk being much greater in this case since a juvenile is involved."
Humphrey laughed. "Ironic, isn't it? The American citizens has demanded the right to carry weapons themselves for years, but the actual law-enforcement whose job is to protect them are to be disarmed! God, you gotta love this country!"
"Do you still have a lock on the signal?" Bolton asked, indicating to the padd.
"Don't worry," Humphrey said in a dismissive tone. "Even if the cops can't do much, there's no place on this earth where the brat can hide as long as she hangs on to that phone. We'll get her sooner or later."
"That was too quick!" Pops stated.
"What was?" Rebecca asked carefully.
"I did expect them to find us, but not this quickly! It's like they knew where we are headed!" Pops used his scanners within the pickup's interior to try to find something out of the ordinary. But much of it was already out of the ordinary since there had been some modifications to the control-board since his time. An idea came to him. "Rebecca Jorden! In addition to the palm-print scanner, did the manufacturers install GPS-locator cards in every vehicle?"
"I… I'm not sure. It's… common in the public commute services, I suppose. I've heard its standard in industry transports, police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. The military use them frequently too. But I don't know if such things are installed in private cars."
"I've been out of touch for too long," Pops said in reply. He looked in the rear view mirror again – the police were on their tracks, but they couldn't do much at the moment. As long as Pops maintained present speed he could hold the distance from their pursuers. He couldn't do this forever though. "How much is that Weyland-Yutani Company involved in that system?" he asked the girl.
"They own it!" Rebecca said assured. She may be quite young, but she had picked up a lot since she had lived in one of the Company's colonies. "They've nestled their way into everything!"
"Are you carrying any electronic devices?"
"W-why do you ask?"
"That company car:" Pops looked at her in a way that the girl found sharply. She involuntarily cringed under that stare. "They arrived in the same moment I had captured this vehicle, so they couldn't have been tracking this! They already knew we were there! How could they unless you are carrying something?"
"B-but I don't have anything!" She felt she was being accused - she didn't like the feeling. "I've lost it all! The only thing I've managed to save is…" Then it dawned on her. "My phone!" she whispered.
"Give it to me!" Pops demanded. Trembling, she fished the phone out of her pocket and handed it to the cyborg. He instantly scanned it with his sensors. "This thing has been modified!" Pops declared. "It has an extra powerful locator-chip, complete with a spy-transmitter and an independent power-source! This phone is bugged! How did you come into possession of this?"
"They gave it to me!" Rebecca was ready to break down in tears. How could she have been so naïve? To think that the Company was feeling generous to provide her with a device that all kids had today for free? She should have known that there was something behind it! Keeping the steering-wheel steady with his elbows, Pops opened up the cell-phone and disconnected the tracking-device.
In the company-car, agent Humphrey could only stare in shock as the blip on his padd disappeared.
"WHAT?! NO! NO! No no no no no no noooooo!" The young agent shook the padd in frustration.
"What happened?" Bolton asked.
"I've lost the signal!" Humphrey said in disbelief.
"Weird." Bolton said, more calmly that his colleague. "She couldn't have found the tracker – she must've been careless with the phone somehow. No matter. The police are still on her tail, so we know where she is anyway."
Pops handed the now switched off cell back to its owner. "You had best keep it inactive for the time being," he told her. "In case they have other methods to track it."
Rebecca looked at it in distaste. She was ready to throw it out the window. "They've been spying on me this whole time! They must've seen everything I've written into it! Then they knew that I was mistreated by my grandparents and in school – and they didn't give a damn! Those bastards! They were fine with it as long as I was out of the way!"
"Why are they after you?" Pops asked her.
"Because I know what they did!" she spat. "The company deliberately sacrificed my whole colony to get their hands on a monster! 150 people dead! And they don't want me to tell anybody, that's why they put me with my grandparents – they didn't believe a word I was saying! I'm surprised the Company didn't just try to kill me to keep me silenced…" Then she halted, as if a thought just hit her. "Pops! Is that why the terminators are after me? To keep me silenced?"
"I don't see how that can be connected," Pops said. "Terminators are a product of Skynet, not of the Weyland-Yutani Company. Skynet should not have any interest in what the Company has done, that is irrelevant to it. It looks like there are two fractions after you instead of just one."
"Great! It's nice to be popular." She sighed and looked out in the car's mirror. The police were still following them with lights and sound. "What are we going to do about them?"
"They won't take action as long as I don't provoke them. And they don't dare do anything as long as you are in the car, you being a juvenile. But somehow I do need to lose them and I don't know how. At least not yet. An opportunity might still present itself."
On the highway that ran parallel to the old road, the 'X'-terminator had thanks to the straight line and higher speed managed to get ahead of the fugitives. It was linked to the satellites which monitored traffic situations and the machine saw that there was a junction ahead that would allow travelers from the old road to get on the new one – but the 'X'-terminator had another course of action in mind. It hit the brakes to slow down right before that junction and then it turned the wheel to the right to get over to the other roadway. Its action caused a traffic-jam as the cars behind the big rig had to hit the brakes to avoid collision – but that in turn caused the cars to hit each other instead. Horns were blaring and screams of anger came out from the vehicles. Their protests were indifferent to the machine, it only continued the u-turn off the highway and over to the other road. Once there the 'X'-terminator built up the speed again and the big police truck rushed off, against the direction of the traffic! The meeting cars had to swerve out of the way as the rig shot forwards against them, relentlessly claiming the road for itself and going on to a collision-course with one particular car that was now approaching further down ahead.
"POPS!" Rebecca screamed in warning when she saw the unbelievable danger ahead of them.
"I see it," her protector said neutrally. His long-range sensors were already analyzing the approaching truck. "It's him! The terminator that was about to kill you in the mall."
"He's going to ram into us!"
"That is most likely his plan." Pops took hold of his Winchester. "Make sure you got your seat-belt on and get down!"
"What are you going to do? You can't play chicken against that thing!"
Pops turned his head and flashed a big toothy grin at her. "Trust me," he said. If that smile was meant to reassure her, it did quite the opposite. It was the ugliest smile she had ever seen. "Ooh, I am so going to die," she muttered as she ducked down.
The distance between the two running vehicles were shortening rapidly – Pops leaned out his window with his gun in his hand and let out a burst against the big truck. The windshield to the driver's cab shattered, but it did not sway the terminator the least. Instead it retaliated and fired a round of its own against the pick-up with a 12-gage pump action shotgun. Rebecca screamed as the windshield exploded and tiny pieces of glass rained over her.
Neither cyborg deviated from their course – frontal collision would soon be unavoidable. Pops flip-cocked his Winchester and let loose another round, this time against the engine compartment. Unfortunately it had little effect. The 'X' also cocked the shotgun it carried and gave it to the driver in the approaching pick-up. Pops swerved a little just in time to avoid getting hit – the pellets passed right by his head and shattered the rear window.
"Hang on!" Pops called and fired again – but this time he aimed for the truck's right wheel. The tire blew out, but the momentum the truck was carrying was still running it forward straight ahead, so the 'X'-terminator did not notice at once what the other had done. Just before collision was inevitable, Pops threw the steering-wheel to the right, making the pick-up turn sharply to the side. "The 'X' had anticipated such move and responded with turning his wheel to the left, fully intending to ram into the smaller vehicle. But it was here that 'X' had miscalculated: since it had not noticed that the right tire had been blown off, it offered no resistance at all as 'X' attempted to turn the big rig. The truck overbalanced on the right side and the under-body suddenly kissed the ground. The metal grind against the tarmac and got caught while the momentum was still pushing it forward.
The police truck tipped over: cab and trailer both! Pops avoided and passed by the crashing body just in time and went ahead. The pursuing police cars however did not have skills which Pops possessed. The truck with its heavy load was now gliding forward on its side across the whole roadway, leaving no room for them to pass by. At least one car crashed into the trailer while the other two had to throw themselves off the road to avoid collision. After a few meters the truck finally came to a halt, blocking the whole road. As for the pick-up; it disappeared in the horizon and was soon gone.
The police officers that had driven off-road got out of their cars, rushing to the smoking wreck to see if there were any survivors. At first there was no sign of activity, but then the door of the cab blasted straight up into the air, and a monstrous machine with glowing red eyes clad in rags crawled out of the wreckage. The police officers drew their guns and were going to blast that robot into pieces – unfortunately the robot was armed. The scene of the accident now turned into a scene of slaughter as well as the machine opened fire at its adversaries.
The two agents had stopped several meters back from the crashed rig, witnessing how the machine moved the police officers down with the weapons it possessed.
"You know," Humphrey said not so eagerly anymore. "I think this might just about be a little bit out of our league."
"I completely agree with you." Bolton said and turned the car around. He took his radio and called for an immediate roadblock to this road – not for the sake of civilians traveling towards the crash-site, (although that was the official reason he gave), but so that they could drive in the direction opposite than it was meant to go so that they could get out of there without meeting any other vehicle.
"You know, the boss is not going to be happy about this." Humphrey stated. "You do realize that we have lost the girl? We have no way to know where she will take refuge now!"
"We may have to take some drastic measures…" Bolton replied, for once not so assured. He was a bit shaken up after what he had seen. What the heck was that thing that was after that girl? Whatever it was, Bolton hoped they wouldn't have to face it themselves.
