Chapter 28

Disclaimer: Don't own TSCC

TechCom Cafeteria – Lunch Time…

Derek's grin annoyed John. "Sounds to me like Tin Miss schooled you."

"You've already said that twice."

"Yeah, but it sounds good to hear it," Derek chuckled as he chewed his sandwich. "Let's review, you had to apologize, agree she was right, let her scan you all night, hold her and no Sexbot visits till she decides you've suffered enough?" He laughed out loud again.

"Okay, I get it, Cameron's infiltration skills and ability to manipulate work just fine. I brought it all on myself. I deserved what happened. Are you happy?"

"For the moment," Derek mumbled with his mouth full. "But that could change if I think of something else. Oh, yeah, like not seeing your gorgeous wife model her sexy gown in private. Sarah's modeled hers several times," Derek added, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"That's my mother you're talking about," John warned, his face a picture of disgust.

"My wife too," Derek said, suddenly serious. "She's pretty angry with you."

"Who, mom or Cameron?"

"Both, but Sarah is pissed. Tin Miss is her third child in a lot of ways. By not listening to her, you have caused problems for Ruth, Hailey and Cameron. That's a lot of wet feathers, John."

"Can we change the subject?"

Derek watched John for a moment, realizing his nephew had been beaten down enough by his family, he decided to leave the issue alone for the moment. He could revisit the matter if necessary.

"Have you made your final decision about the strategy you plan to employ?"

"Yeah. It's just a matter of planning and hoping everything doesn't go to crap when the attack starts."

The Connor Family Bunker that evening…

Cameron peeked into Hailey's room. A frustrated Hailey was sitting at her small desk, looking at her tablet. Ruth lay flat on her back on the bed, reading aloud to Hailey from her own tablet. Sammy's tail could be seen sticking out from under the bed.

"How is studying coming along," Cameron asked.

"Mom, is ethics really necessary? I will never get to sleep tonight at the rate we're going," Hailey complained.

"Yes. It is one of the most important subjects you can study," Cameron said firmly, indicating to Hailey not to complain any more.

"Hailey's doing okay Aunt Cameron," Ruth assured Cameron. "We will only be up for a few more hours."

"If you get hungry, there is some rat jerky and a few cookies left over," she reminded the girls before shutting the door.

With her typical stealth, Cameron moved into the kitchen to retrieve the bowl of popcorn she had made. Her bare feet made no sound as Cameron returned to her bedroom where she expected to find John still reviewing the details of his plan to defend TechCom from the anticipated rogue group's attack.

"How are the girls?" he asked as Cameron slipped back into their bed, setting down the bowl of popcorn between then as she did so.

"Making progress. Hailey claims it will be an all nighter and Ruth says they will be done in a few hours."

"My money's on Ruth's estimate."

"Agreed. Our daughter likes to be dramatic and exaggerate, a trait she does not get from me."

John looked at his wife in a curious manner.

She tilted her head in response. "What?"

"Oh, I don't know. You're dramatic in your own way, Cameron. Hailey just expresses it in more human forms."

Cameron took the bait. "Are you saying I am a drama queen like our daughter?"

"No," John replied, trying to hid the smile creeping on his face by raising up a large map. "I'm saying our daughter is like her mother. Stubborn, manipulative, prone to rash actions at times, can't be reasoned with at others." He lowered the map to reveal a big smile. "Hailey is also loyal, protective of her family, especially you. She's a good friend. People like her. She's a good fighter."

"You are making fun of me," Cameron said firmly.

"No, I'm pointing out how much Hailey is like you, her mother. She just amplifies your behavior because she's human. Your being a Terminator acts to limit the more dramatic aspects of your personality, except your stubbornness. And your fighting ability. Add loyalty to the list." John looked thoughtful for a moment. "I will say this, Hailey seems to have not picked up any of your domestic skills. She can't cook rat meat to save her life."

Cameron stared at John with her emotionless expression for a moment before finally frowning. "This is not helping your cause any," she informed John.

Without another word, he folded up the map and set it on his bedside table and turned off the light. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Cameron to move in and get comfortable. John sighed in relief. Cameron was behaving normally. The last thing he wanted in the next few days was to deal with an unhappy wife. He needed Cameron to be focused on the coming attack. He would need her to be at her best for his strategy to work.

"I am going to rest now," Cameron told John before she kissed his cheek. "I will check the girls when I get up before I patrol."

John decided to take a gamble.

"Be sure to check on Rachel and Brandon."

"I had planned on it."

TechCom Central…

The entire leadership team was assembled in the planning room. John had asked a few other key personnel to attend either because their skills would be needed or they would have to be made aware of the plan.

"We know there is a spy inside TechCom. The identity of the spy has not been verified." He paused and looked at the faces of his team. "That piece of information is the cornerstone of my plan."

Surprise rippled through his audience.

"Attacking us in a conventional manner carries certain high risks. We believe a former Skynet Colonel leads the rogue force occupying Airbase S-14. The troops are all Skynet Terminators and former Greys. We know they have modified HKs to serve as bombers and troop transports.

A conventional attack will require breaching our perimeter defenses and then fighting in the tunnels in order to reach TechCom City proper. We all remember what the Battle of Los Angeles was like and I don't think either we or this rogue Colonel want a repeat."

John looked around the room. The grim expressions on each individual's face capable of having an expression told him his audience was in agreement.

"If I were the Colonel, I would look for an alternative means to capture TechCom City. First, I would want to avoid a surface battle just to reach the tunnels. Even a small skirmish would give us time to prepare to fight in the tunnels, a battle that would inflict huge casualties on the attacking force.

I would want a way to enter TechCom City with as little loss as possible. In addition, I would want to force the hand of the leaders of TechCom to surrender or suffer huge losses of life, mainly civilians. Our children in particular."

John fiddled with his tablet and a scale map of TechCom appeared on the large view screen mounted on the wall behind him.

"It would help if we were distracted. Distracted by an event that was important to our entire community. An event that would gather a huge number of our citizens and military personnel into a single central location."

John highlighted a portion of the map on his tablet and the rest of the city vanished from the map.

"I would attack us the night of the dance. I would attack when I believed the bulk of our people were in TechCom Central Park."

Major Wilhelm spoke up. "General, the attackers would still have to breach our surface perimeter and make their way inside the city through the tunnels. Wouldn't we still have plenty of time to reach our defensive positions?"

"In the second Iraq war the United States Air Force developed special munitions called bunker busters. These bombs were designed to penetrate bunkers deep under ground. It is my belief this is what the enemy will do.

They will use bunker busters to breach our fortress at Central Park. It will allow them to kill as many of us in a single strike as possible while gaining egress to the center of our city. Our perimeter forces would be rendered irrelevant. Airborne forces would simply descend into our city through the crater."

Stunned silence filled the room.

"Then we have to cancel the dance, that's all there is too it," Sarah declared.

"Actually, that's the last thing I want to do," John said firmly. "Let me explain my plan."

TechCom School…

"One minute to the bell," Hailey whispered.

"I know," Ruth whispered back, giving Hailey an exasperated look.

"Don't back down. You have to do this Ruth," Hailey reminded her cousin with an equal firmness.

Ruth rolled her eyes at Hailey, making a face to express her desire for Hailey to leave her alone.

Disgusted, Hailey shrugged and looked away, tapping the desk with the end of her pencil.

Leaping to their feet at the first sound of the bell ending the school day, the girl's classmates began to create the sound of all students, from all schools throughout all of human history as school ended for the day. The students burst into laughter and conversation as they hurried to make their way out of the school.

Deciding to go ahead with the plan, Ruth looked at Hailey on final time for reassurance. Hailey made a face and shooed Ruth along with both hands, motioning her cousin to hurry and leave with the other students.

"I'll be right behind you," Hailey promised.

Ruth looked down at the form fitting black t-shirt Hailey had loaned her. Shaking her head in disbelief that she had let her cousin talk her into this, Ruth decided she had nothing to lose. Slipping one of the straps of her backpack over her right shoulder, Ruth followed her classmates into the hall.

As she made her way down the corridor, Ruth noticed most of the older boys who usually ignored her watch as she passed. None of them were looking at her face. Sensing Hailey was behind her, Ruth turned and shot a nasty look at Hailey who responded by grinning.

Feeling self conscious, the modest Ruth folded her arms across her chest. The effort of doing so earned her a smack on the back of her head. Ruth spun around only to discover her assailant was Hailey, who took the opportunity to flash a dirty look back at Ruth.

"Work it," Hailey hissed in a low tone. "Brandon's at the end of the hall."

Turning, Ruth saw Hailey was right. She had to pause as her CPU was flooded by conflicting data from a variety of sources. Her emotion simulator sent multiple streams of data to her CPU, generating feelings of embarrassment, uncertainty, and anxiety. And strangely enough, hope. Ruth's sensors were functioning in a near combat state, collecting data on every target within striking distance.

"Just be calm. Turn on your data filters," Hailey told Ruth in a calm, even voice. "Tell yourself it's okay to feel the emotions. Give your CPU a chance to filter the data out. If you need to, shut down some programs and call up your infiltration protocols. You can do this, Ruth. I know you can."

Ruth simulated a swallowing motion and the taking of a deep breath. Reassured by Hailey's calming advice and understanding of what and how she was experiencing data at the moment, Ruth smiled and finally assumed a happy expression on her face.

The feelings of panic passed and Ruth resumed her march down the hall. As before, the males all watched as the pretty T-1000 strutted by in her tight fitting jeans and entirely too tight black t-shirt. Instead of her normal ponytail, Ruth had worn her hair like her mother's that day. To top the outfit off, Hailey had insisted Ruth wear a pair of black riding boots.

To Hailey's delight, more than one girl frowned as Ruth walked by, often adding to the frown a swift elbow to the ribs of the boy who had been talking to her.

As instructed by Hailey, Ruth marched right past Brandon, slowing only enough to flash a smile that would melt most male's hearts, human or metal, before continuing past and out the main entrance of the school.

Following close behind, Hailey enjoyed the male attention as well. Like Ruth, Hailey had changed at school, donning clothes her parents would never have allowed her out of the bunker in.

"Hey Brandon," she said with a smile, walking past the tall youth, his mouth wide open in surprise. "Ruth's lookin' good isn't she," Hailey pointed out, pausing at the schools double doors of the main entrance before vanishing from Brandon's line of sight.

Airbase S-14…

"It all comes down to the bunker buster ordnance, sir. If the bombs fail, the attack will become a bloodbath. For us."

The Colonel replayed the video file over and over. His Major had infuriated him by insisting more tests be carried out before the main strike force deployed for the attack on TechCom.

"No! We cannot risk tipping our hand to TechCom. Several scouts have been terminated recently. I will not risk more tests."

"Sir, if we cannot collapse the ceiling of TechCom's Central Park, or produce numerous breaches, we will not be able to flood the open spaces of the city with our forces, catching the defenders in the tunnels. It is the riskiest part of an otherwise brilliant plan. We must be certain the bombs will do the job."

"The tests showed our bombs are powerful and will create large craters," the Colonel had replied.

"We don't know what the make up of the earth is between the surface and Central Park. Please, Colonel, TechCom is building their city and fortress in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It might be sixty feet of granite we will be trying to blast our way through. Just a few more tests to be certain, then we can launch our attack certain of victory."

Alone in his chambers, the Colonel struggled to resist yet again the urge to have his Major terminated. He knew the Major's arguments should be considered. But in ordering more tests, the Colonel felt he would be questioning his own brilliance.

No. The initial series of tests had provided enough data. The risk of discovery was too great. There would be no further tests. Everything would continue as scheduled.

Let them plan for their big dance, the Colonel thought. They will be dead or my slaves by the next morning.

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

Cameron Grows Up

The Future Cameron

Cameron and the Black Bird

Cameron and John's Wedding

Who's the Boss?

The Storm Before the Calm