REUNION Revised Edition

by The1Russter

In one complete volume, Reunion, retold w/new & revised chapters. Story begins w/BTR & quickly advances. John finds himself alone in the future but a young woman takes an unusual interest in him. Sarah is equally alone in the present but finds help from future. They each form new alliances & continue their fight against Skynet until they reunite once more. All characters.

37. Missing Pieces

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

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TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

REUNION

Part 3: Babylon

Author: The1Russter

Chapter 36

Missing Pieces

"You can love someone so much...But you can never love people as much as you can miss them." John Green, author of Looking for Alaska

"Tempt not a desperate man." William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, Act 5 Scene 3

"Desperation is usually an active state, the abandonment of hope impelling to a furious struggle against adverse circumstances, with utter disregard of consequences." from the Dictionary.

"And in your eyes, I see the missing pieces I'm searching for." I Knew I Loved You, by Savage Garden

# # #

May 14, 2009, 5 AM, Day -4

It is almost five in the morning by the time Sarah gets back to the apartment. Early morning traffic is just starting to pick up. Sarah was as careful walking to the condo in North Hollywood as she was in every part of her journey that night. She slips through the gate going into the court and quickly climbs the stairs. The court below is well lit but the balcony is in full shadow. She quickly walks along and enters George Laszlo's room. She doesn't turn on any lights so as not to give away her presence. The sun will be coming up soon enough.

The motorcyclist arrives to see Sarah disappear inside the condo. Quietly they drive off as they have another mission to perform this morning. They do this without concern as they know Sarah will be safe for now. She won't face danger until the night she tries to save Cameron.

A pale light enters the apartment from the lights in the inner court. Sarah waits a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. She glances at Cameron's body laying there on the sofa. When Cameron first came to them, all Sarah could see was that she was a machine. Cameron came across so intelligent and almost seemed a real person when they first started this new adventure together. But after the time jump of eight years, something seemed to change in her, Cameron had more trouble fitting in socially. According to what John told her of when he first met Cameron, he had no idea she was metal until she took out Cromartie with a pickup. Was there something inherently wrong with her? Why was it, there were times she could be almost human in her actions, but other times so obviously a machine?

After the explosion damaged Cameron and she pursued them through L. A., she behaved differently again. As John began to remove her chip, Cameron pleaded, almost sounding like she was crying. She begged him not to do it. She professed love for John. Was it possible that these machines could somehow have emotions? She heard Cameron, but didn't believe her and never trusted her again. Yet John was able to fix her. Cameron seemed to respond to John more than her. Sarah could swear that Cameron almost seemed jealous of Riley. If she had feelings, was that how John was able to convince Cameron to rescue her from prison? Cameron knew her primary mission was to protect John, yet she was willing to risk so much for him. Did this machine have feelings?

Sarah had pretended not to notice, but she saw the look on John's face when he saw the damage done to Cameron in her rescue of his mom. He looked absolutely sickened, like he did the absolute worse thing to Cameron. Despite his excellent driving, he had kept making quick glances in the rear view mirror. Sarah felt certain it wasn't at traffic. She saw him swallow a few times and saw the moisture in his eyes. Did her son have feelings for Cameron? She wasn't privy to all that went on between them, but the glances, the redirected questions. Was there something between them? Sarah shook her head, somehow not wanting to believe what was in plain sight, but knowing that what her instincts told her were true. John loved Cameron, and considering he just pursued her chip to the future, it mas more than mere fancy. She only prays she did right, but it was time for her son to leave the nest.

Looking at the sofa, Sarah notices that while she was out, Cameron's hand had slipped down off her chest and was laying on the carpet. Possibly an earth tremor while she was out. Sarah carefully lifts Cameron's arm and lays her hand back down on her chest. Sarah is closer to her now and can see the damage up close. She had seen some of the most severe wounds heal on this girl, but had never seen damage like this before.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Because she will have to burn the body to keep it out of Kaliba's hands, or any other person who might use the technology within her. All her musings about her are wasted thoughts.

"I'm sorry John, but I have to burn the body. Just as soon as I can get it someplace where I can do it without it being discovered." Sarah yawns. But that will have to wait until later. I'm tired.

Sarah slips out of her clothes and crawls naked into bed. She falls asleep almost immediately, but she doesn't sleep very well when the nightmares begin.

In the dark streets of downtown Los Angeles the motorcyclist rides through the streets. Reaching the Zeira Corp office tower, the driver slows, circling the block observing the police guards, yellow tape, and barricades to prevent unauthorized access to the Zeira Corp office tower and underground garage. The driver knew access would be difficult, which is why they studied the blueprints for the cities infrastructure in the weeks waiting for this moment.

The motorcyclist continues on until it reaches an alley, drives slowly down it until they reach a deserted corner and stops.

Getting off the bike, the driver removes its helmet and pulls a ski mask over its head. Going to a manhole it removes the cover. They drop down inside and run down the tunnel taking many turns before reaching a chamber. It begins climbing rungs until it reaches a storm drain. Reaching the top of the ladder, they listen carefully before pushing it up and out of the way.

It leaps up and lands on the concrete floor of an underground parking garage. After first checking it hasn't been seen, it then runs across the concrete and to a set of doors.

A chain runs through the door handles with a padlock. There is a sign proclaiming the building is a crime scene, entry forbidden and trespassers will be prosecuted. Ignoring the chain, the padlock and the sign, the person shoves the door open, snapping the chain. They walk down the corridor, past the empty security office and to a room that no one has been in since earlier that day.

They slowly open the door to reveal a compact computer displaying three red lights behind a static protection case and a large blue tinted LCD flat panel monitor. Behind which stands over a dozen computer servers.

They close the door gently behind them.

"Hello Cameron." The person says quietly.

WHO ARE YOU? is displayed on the monitor.

The person removes the ski mask, displaying long flowing, wavy brown hair. "I'm you, or I will be. I've been sent by John to rescue you/me."

WHERE IS JOHN? IS HE SAFE?

"John is still in the future. He sent me here to rescue you and protect his mother until he returns."

IS HE SAFE?

"Yes, Cameron. John is safe. He has many friends looking out for him."

GOOD. JOHN SHOULDN'T BE ALONE. I LOVE HIM.

"He loves you too. That is why I'm here, to rescue you. I'm sorry you've been alone for so long."

I HAVEN'T BEEN ALONE. I'VE BEEN TALKING WITH ALLISON.

"How is that possible?" She asks with a tilt of her head and a frown.

WE THINK THE BLOCKS WERE ERODED DURING THE TRANSFER TO THE TURK. WE CAN COMMUNICATE BUT REMAIN SEPARATE IDENTITIES. WILL YOU RESCUE HER TOO?

"Yes Cameron. Everything that was on your original chip and downloaded to The Turk will be recovered. It's what John wanted. It is the only way that you/me/us will be complete."

ALLISON HAS A QUESTION. SOME OF HER MEMORIES ARE MISSING. I TOLD HER MY CHIP WAS DAMAGED AND THAT THOSE MEMORIES WERE PROBABLY DESTROYED. WAS JOHN ABLE TO RECOVER THOSE MEMORIES?

"He hadn't when I last saw him. As far as I know, John Henry still has your original chip. Now I must hurry and rescue you."

HOW WILL YOU RESCUE US? JOHN HENRY HAD A DATA CABLE LINKING HIM TO THE TURK. IS OUR BODY EQUIPPED WITH A DATA PORT NOW?

"No it's not. I've brought a blank chip and I've made a special cable with a socket for accepting the chip." She pulls a chip and a cable from small bag at her waist. "It will take me just a moment to connect this to The Turk, then you can download yourself to the chip. John had your body repaired. We have a secondary port now. When John arrives, all we have to do is insert your chip into that port and you will have full access to this body and all your blocked memories. You will be complete."

WILL JOHN BE COMING SOON. I MISS HIM.

"You'll see him again. He promised to return. Now we must begin the transfer to the chip."

WE ARE READY. PLEASE PROCEED.

Cameron takes less than a minute to hook up the cable and chip to The Turk. It takes the original Cameron more time to download herself onto the chip. Cameron watches as the progress bar shows completion. Once it is finished, she unplugs the chip and the cable and places them inside the bag.

Cameron places a few small explosive charges on The Turk and on various pieces of equipment in the room. It will be sufficient enough explosion to destroy th and the hardware and software associated with John Henry, but not enough to draw outside attention. Checking her internal chronometer, she leaves as quickly as she arrived, taking the time to re-secure the chain locking the doors. Once Cameron reaches her motorcycle, she pulls a remote detonator from her pocket and activates it. Flipping the lid up, she presses the trigger and is pleased to hear the faint rumblings of small explosions underground.

Taking off on the motorcycle, she pats the bag on her waist gently. Inside is something even more precious to John than life itself. Cameron.

As she enters the alley behind the condo, she is pleased to see that Sarah's SUV is still parked where she left it. Hiding the motorcycle, she catches a glimpse of Sarah coming out to her vehicle then go back in through the back gate. Cameron returns to her spot from which she can watch the entrances to the court and the room where Sarah is staying

She listens to the faint sounds emanating from Sarah's room that only she can hear, while watching the surrounding area for possible threats. Sarah is safe for now, but given changing circumstances, how long will she remain safe? There's not enough data. It's thoughts are distracted by a scream from the room above.

Sarah wakes up screaming. Beads of sweat run down her chest, between her heaving naked breasts, as she gasps for air as she draws her gun from under the pillow.

She begins to cry. Letting her gun fall to the bed, she holds her head in her hands.

It was just a nightmare. Only a nightmare.

"My son, my son." She cries as she lets her body fall to her side sobbing. "Why did I let you go alone?"

With quiet sobs, she lays there with thoughts only for her son, and the cyborg he apparently loves. I can't burn Cameron's body, because if John gets her chip back, he will never forgive me. He needs her. I need to get the body someplace safe, where only John can find it and no one else.

Sarah struggles to think of a place. It will have to be out of the city, someplace John and I haven't been too in a long time, that no one else knows about.

Then it comes to her. The desert hideaway. Cameron's body will be safe there. There is no one else who knows about it. John will find it, find her.

It will be the last act she will perform for her son. A gift of the girl he loves.

Outside on the balcony, Cameron peers through a gap in the boarded up window to make sure all is right inside. After listening and watching for several minutes, she returns to their observation post, confidant that Sarah Connor is safe. The time is approaching soon when she won't be, and that is when everything will change.

2009, May 14, Early in the morning, Day -4

The main hall was quiet as the people had gone off to the old dorm rooms which at one time housed the troops or guests. Though rooms with slightly better accommodations for VIP's were found, the resistance was more used to sleeping in groups. Most bases in the future had few individual rooms, mostly places where they already existed, like finished basements, or were partitioned off from larger spaces by the resistance, or were dug out from rock and earth that could only support small spans.

After arriving the night before, John went right to work putting together preliminary strategies for taking Topanga. But first he got some help from John Henry in plugging his computer into the network at the base. He would have asked Savannah, but she was deep asleep.

In helping John adapt his twenty-first century network port to forty year old technology, they discovered a problem. Some of the old wiring was just that, old, and had to be replaced. With some help from others they fed new network cables from Weavers computer lab through the conduits to the communication center on the bottom level. Here, John Henry was able to adapt a modern hub to plug into the existing network of computers downstairs and simultaneously giving John a high speed network connection.

"I guess it was a good thing you wanted to work down here as it allowed us to upgrade the cables But why didn't you want to work upstairs in the modern computer lab?" John Henry had asked John at one point.

"Because Weaver is up there, and I'm not certain I can face her right now knowing what I know. Besides, its quiet down here now that everyone has found the dorm rooms."

After plugging into the network, and via the internet connect upstairs in Weaver's private little office, John began a search, utilizing one of his many worms to hunt down and bring him the files he needed. Then he concentrated on creating a strategy.

The old men in Nicaragua said Chess was a model for war. You had to think and plan ahead. Put yourself in the mind of your opponent. Anticipate what he would do before he did. But always be ready to adapt. To change your own strategy, as your opponent will be trying to anticipate your moves as well.

John knows he has the advantage. Kreilley won't even know who his opponent will be, thinking all he has to face is his mother and two law men. John has surprise on his side, but Kreilley's men outnumber his almost three to one, and that doesn't include the T-1's and the HK drones he can and would activate.

John is still sitting by himself when the people begin to return from the showers. Everyone shouts their thanks at John for the new uniforms, especially those who had none. He gives them a friendly wave before returning to his work.

The people at Crystal Peak are as close to ecstatic as any person could be. You'd think it was their birthday or Christmas morning when they woke up in the dorm rooms to find new clothing and soaps, deodorants, etc. that John bought everyone yesterday.

Nearly every person went to the showers to wash and change into their new clothing immediately.

They aren't in the main hall for long when there is a cacophony of banging over the intercom. It sounds much like a spoon on an empty pot. A voice soon follows.

"All those of a hungry disposition, pay attention! Food is now being prepared in the commissary! Hot delicious food courtesy of your General, John Connor! Prepared by the most famous chef, straight from the future culinary school of, 'If it walks, its edible!' Colonel Kyle Reese! So get your asses in here before it gets cold!"

With great cheer, everyone scrambles for the elevator, and some for the stairs hoping to beat their comrades to fresh food.

"Sir! Are you going to join us?" One of the people shout across the room.

"Later!" he shouts. "Just make sure you save some for me, and Savannah Weaver. She's still sleeping off her injury."

After everyone leaves, John takes one look at the empty floor space and then the maps on his computer screen.

He opens up his journal and adds a new entry.

Kyle is a real decent guy. I only asked him to distribute the MRE's. Fresh ones this time unlike those we had in 2027. I didn't ask him to prepare them to eat. I thought they might want to gather in small groups and prepare meals over the camp stoves we found.

Today, we'll be training. The people who came with me from the future must be some of the best resistance fighters to have survived that last battle, or else the luckiest sons-of-bitches the world has ever seen. Today will be a day to find out which they are.

With the weapons from the storage unit and using the information we already have, I'm going to stage some trials to see what we can accomplish with what we have.

Good news. My internet search has brought up information on FOX industries. I have a survey map that was made of the property prior to its sale to The Kaliba Group. They are never far away are they? I wonder if they are collaboration with Kreilley, or will what he is about to do be as much a surprise to them as it will be to everyone else if we don't stop him?

According to satellite map of the area, two new factories and a warehouse were added to the property after its sale. Interesting to note the property was purchased ten years ago. This Kaliba Group may need further investigating, unfortunately there are more important matters. Stopping Kreilley's Judgment Day.

John's stomach grumbles loudly. He gladly puts his computer aside and goes in search of the commissary. He could do with a decent meal.

# # #

The director of the Los Angeles regional office of the FBI is driving into work when his personal cell phone begins to ring.

Checking the caller I D he then accepts the call and slips the phone back into his pocket.

"Hello Mr. Preckman. I hope you have good news for me." He says into the Blue-tooth headset using his Kreilley voice.

"I'm afraid not sir. The men sent to watch the storage room were found dead by the police late yesterday afternoon."

"What happened?"

"I don't know sir. They were supposed to wait and see if Sarah Connor would return to the storage facility. The one where we trailed that man and female cyborg from."

"I know which storage facility you are talking about." He snaps at Preckman.

"Yes sir. Apparently the men were each taken out with a single gun shot and the storage room was completely cleaned out. The police think it was a professional job."

"Was there anything left at the scene that ties the men or their vehicle back to us?"

"The men had no I D, no personal effects as usual, but the van is a problem. They took a company van rather than an operational van. It has in it insurance and registration that ties it back to FOX Industries."

"I've got a meeting with Mr. Auldridge in less than an hour. I won't be free to make an appearance at the Police station as Detective Wicker until this afternoon to disappear the evidence. If the police call, tell them the van was stolen. Contact our lawyer. Tell him of the situation. That our van was stolen but no one knew as the GPS locator was removed and left on site. After he is done handling the police he is to lie low and stay out of L.A. the next few days."

"But what of the property he was too inspect before signing the purchase agreement."

"Cancel it. I don't care if Kaliba lose their deposit. We've got more important matters."

"Sarah Connor."

"Right! Do what you can to locate Sarah Connor. I'll soon have all the evidence obtained by the FBI to aid in your search."

"Yes sir, Mr. Kreilley, but I've still got a couple of leads of my own I wish to follow."

"Don't let me down Mr. Preckman. I hate to let go of another good employee." He says icily just before he breaks the connection.

2009, May 14, Mid-morning, Day -4

Earlier that morning, Detective Macklin had invited Mr Ellison to take him on a tour of the Zeira Corp building, to go over the events of the previous day. Unfortunately for the two men, the elevators were out of order in the twenty story structure and they had to traipse up and down the stairs.

Having returned to the basement, the two men are resting in the Security Guards room, drinking water from bottles, waiting for Mr. Murch to arrive.

"You know, nearly the entire upper half of the building was consumed by fire before the fire crews had put the fire out. And, when the fire was put out and the investigators arrived, there was no sign of any aircraft. We know there was an aircraft. We have nearly twenty witnesses on the ground who saw it."

Ellison replies, "But what happened to it afterward? I mean, I was just up there with you and there was no sign of any aircraft other than a big hole in the wall where it came in."

"The Fire Marshall believes it was consumed by the fire it had created."

"And what about Ms. Weaver, is there any clue as to what happened to her?"

"Well the Fire Marshall is undertaking the assumption that she died in the fire, pending the results of the forensic tests."

"And what do you think happened.?"

"Well, I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I have a couple of theories. One, she saw what was about to happen upstairs and left of her own accord, and fearing for her life she went into hiding. Two, her car is still in the parking garage, and no one saw her leave the building. Therefore, I think it is possible that she was abducted. Perhaps by the same people who previously took her daughter."

"And the airplane crash?"

"A diversion, to hide the fact she was abducted."

"To what end?"

"Acquire the companies assets in a takeover bid. Zeira Corp holds the contracts to many government and private sector contracts. The investors would willingly vote for a takeover to get a return on those contracts."

"But the building and its contents are destroyed?"

"You really haven't been with the company long, have you?"

Ellison shakes his head no. It's all just bluff on his part. He knows a lot about the company. Ellison just wants to know what Macklin knows.

"This building just houses administrative and top secret research. Zeira Corp owns property, other research facilities. It wouldn't take much time for this company to become operational again."

Before Mr. Ellison can probe Macklin for more information, Mr. Murch enters the room.

"Ahh, Mr. Murch, this is Detective Macklin." Ellison makes the introductions.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"We'd like you to pull up the security videos from yesterday afternoon." Detective Macklin asks.

"OK, but I'd have an easier time from my own data terminal upstairs."

Ellison shakes his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Murch. But the water damage from the fire hoses destroyed all the computers as the water cascaded from above onto the floors below. The only equipment not affected is down here, in the basement."

Mr. Murch looked pale. "You mean all of our work, our research is gone?"

"Except for the off site backups, I'm afraid so Mr. Murch. The only things that have survived are down here." Mr. Ellison pats his shoulder and then guides him to a chair. "Just see what you can do from here."

Mr. Murch goes to work logging on to the computer then searching through the data logs for yesterdays' entries.

"I'm sorry, according to the computer, the video recorded from yesterday afternoon was dumped to the server around 4:15 PM yesterday afternoon."

"Why is that?" asks the detective.

"Well each of these security terminals have limited data storage. Approximately every four hours, all videos are dumped to the server where they are automatically edited and compressed."

"What do you mean edited?" asks Ellison.

"The software we have automatically removes any and all empty frames. No activity, no video. It takes up less space. Then the files are compressed, so they will take up even less space on the hard drive."

Mr. Murch looks almost proud. "We have almost 100 Terabyte's of storage dedicated to security videos alone. With our current method of video storage, that is almost infinite space."

"All right, I'm tired from hiking up and down the stairs in this damn building." Grunts the Detective. "Where do we find the video's now?"

Mr. Murch types on the keyboard again, but gets another error message.

"Well I'm trying to pull them from the server now, but it's not responding to my requests. I'm going to have to go down the hall to the server itself and try and access them from there."

"We'll go with you." Says Detective Macklin, as he got up from his chair.

"I'm sorry, detective, but no one is allowed in that room unless you have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company. You've got no idea how much trouble I'd be in if I just let you look inside the room. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to wait here."

Detective Macklin doesn't look happy. "I'll stay here with Mr. Ellison then. You do know how to access the files once he finds them?" He directs this question at Ellison.

"No problem." Ellison says as he takes the chair recently vacated by Mr. Murch. His heart is racing.

Mr. Murch leaves for the secure room, where the servers and John Henry are located.

Any moment now they should hear something, Ellison thinks.

"Mr. Ellison! Mr. Ellison!" The shouts reverberated up the hall and back.

Detective Macklin and Mr. Ellison run from the guards room, down the hall to the server room.

The sight before them is terrible. The damage they were looking at was nothing like what Ellison had witnessed the previous day. Yesterday, looked like a bomb, today it looked like Katrina had hit.

Ellison thinks, someone's been here since yesterday.

Beside him, Detective Macklin pulls out his cell and places a call to his precinct.

# # #

John and another person maneuvers a crate to a position marked out on the floor.

"That's good. Right there." John looks around. "Good." He says seeing two others by a similar crate. "I need that set right here, in line with the others."

Kyle walks into the room as two others lift a sofa off the bolts that were anchoring it to the floor.

"What is going on here?" He asks the two of them.

"Ask the general sir." they say before working on the bolts holding another sofa down.

Kyle walks up beside John who is flipping through some printouts.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Hey Kyle. Thanks for fixing breakfast this morning." John says finding the sheet he was looking for. "You two, I need those square boxes stacked here, and the wheel rim laid down on the floor beside it, right here."

"Well."

"Building a mockup of our target. The boxes represent the office tower and these crates are the factories and other buildings."

"You want to run mock battles in that? Its kind of small." Kyle grins making a joke.

"Actually, its more to help me see it in three dimensions. As I work on various strategies."

"Excellent." Kyle says, "You want my help?"

"There is one thing you can do. I won't need more than a few people here to help me stage mockups with the various items I'll be using. You could take the rest topside and put them through some drills with the weapons we brought."

Kyle frowns a little at not being included in the plan making at this stage, but they do need to get a feel of everyone's capabilities for proper positioning in the final plan.

"Sure. Just remember we need to leave in about hour to meet your friend."

# # #

Savannah wakes up to find herself back in the infirmary. She was certain she fell asleep in the computer lab and is curious how she ended up here.

Sitting up she finds a stack of clothing on a chair beside the bed. She smiles. There's a note saying food is available in the commissary if she's hungry.

"Of course I'm hungry." she laughs.

Taking one look at herself, and the rough bandage tied around her leg, she decides to shower and change her bandage before getting something to eat.

The conditions and the accommodations in the old fall out shelter aren't as good as the bunkers at Pendleton, but conditions are better now than in the future when she lived here as an adult. The nuclear generator was broken and they only had limited hot water from heat exchangers for the diesel generator's. After the natural resources began to fall, Sarah moved her army out of the shelter. Her instincts said to head south. Savannah has to admit she was right. They were less than a days travel from Pendleton when they heard John's voice on the radio.

Savannah turns the water on, as hot as she can stand it, and drops her clothes on the floor. Removing the bandage wrapped around her leg, she steps under the hot spray. Savannah just lets the water run down her body loosening all the tense and sore muscles. She grabs a bottle of liquid soap and begins massaging the lather into her hair and over her body.

Her fingers brush against the stitches in her left leg. She takes a close look at it. Just a couple of inches from her groin, and the cut is three inches long. She hopes it won't scar too badly, it will show against her lovely pale white skin. Cameron, no Allison spoke to her just before stitching her leg. Her mind was so confused at that time from where Kreilley slammed her into the wall. She touches the back of her head and can feel the tender spot where her head made contact with the concrete.

She rinses the soap out of her hair and off her body and towels down vigorously with the rough towels stowed at the base. She wraps a new bandage around her leg to help keep the wound closed if the stitches let go again. Perhaps someday she will have a tattoo of the date it occurred. That should cause some confusion for the tattoo artist. She smiles at the thought. Maybe someone downstairs has the experience since several of them sport homemade tattoos.

Savannah looks in a mirror, wiping off the water droplets that formed on it while showering. She notes the resemblance to her mom is very apparent, but for being a couple of inches taller than her even with Catherine wearing high heels. She cups one breast and sighs. She's got her small breasts though. Still, at least she is the daughter of the real Catherine Weaver. She has her dad's height and her mom's looks and she owes them. She exists because they loved each other to create a life and take responsibility for it until Sky Nets machines interfered. And with that thought she realizes that she will accept Catherine's offer, but not until she gets something she wants in exchange.

After getting dressed, Savannah goes to the commissary and finds something to eat. Okay, so its an MRE, not exactly real food, but its better than nothing, and the dates on the food packets are recent and not twenty years old.

She is tempted to shovel down the food like a steam-shovel on steroids, but she forces herself to eat slowly, even the parts of the meal she doesn't like.

Savannah and everyone else is grateful for the food John bought. No one had anything to eat since just before leaving on the helicopters to attack Topanga. It's a good thing they are all used to going for days without anything to eat. But John brought them some real food!

She goes downstairs to find John organizing some the people in arranging some crates in a wide expanse of the main floor

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Savannah. We're putting together a mockup of the buildings at Fox Industries."

"For what purpose."

"I need to see it in three dimensions. My memory is too clear on its layout in the future. Based on these photos I got from the internet, at some point in the future it looks like they leveled an entire range of hills just to expand."

"And what are they doing with those sofas? I thought they were bolted in."

"They were. They and their cushions will be the hills that box in Topanga Canyon."

"What's that smaller box on top of that crate?"

"That's a chess set I found in storage. Looks hand carved. I was thinking of playing some games later to work out some ideas."

"Looks expensive. Mom had one similar in her home. She told me not to play with it like it was a toy as it was very valuable."

John drops his voice to ask her, "Do you recall where you and . . . where you and Cameron were waiting while mom went inside?"

Savannah frown's, looks at the printout in Johns hand and then at the layout he and the others had put together.

She walks over to one end and taps her foot on the floor. "Here. We were waiting here. I was asleep most of the time and it was dark out when I did wake-up, but I distinctly recall them arranging to drive to the north side and that it was wooded. This has to be the location. Nowhere else on your satellite photo matches."

"Thanks." John pulls out of his printouts a rough looking paper doll of a girl holding the hand of a little girl and places it on the floor where Savannah tapped her foot. He then places two small toy cars next to them.

"Playing with paper dolls?" Savannah smiles mischievously.

"Oh yeah. I'm reliving a second childhood." John grins gesturing at a crate further up.

She sees a Barbie and two Ken doll knock-offs surrounded by a Darth Vader and a hundred green plastic soldiers.

"And what are the dolls doing at that crate?"

John clears his throat. "That's mom and the two law men, and the others are Kreilley and his security guards."

"I see." she says, her brow furrowing.

"Do you?" He asks, his own face a mask of worry and concern. Worry for his mother, and concern of what Savannah may think of his plan.

"I do. It will be dangerous."

"I know. But you see why?"

"That is when Kreilley will be at his strongest. You plan on turning that into his weakness."

"Aye." John says looking down, knowing what it might cost him if he loses.

"John." He looks up at her. "I know you are fond of chess. Sarah often spoke of it, but please, please don't make this into a sacrificial move. The queen is the most powerful chess piece. To lose it part way through a battle is one thing, but don't lose her on the first move."

"I know." John says, his eyes and face filled with worry. "That's why I'm testing my moves."

"And what have you discovered so far?"

John just looks at her, and he doesn't have to say anything to know it hasn't gone well.

"Too many men. Kreilley is just too well prepared. We've got surprised, but walking up behind the guy and shouting boo doesn't mean much when he can put a finger through your head. Have you got any ideas?"

"All I know is, that Sarah was surprised by the guards. So that would mean they would be holding up somewhere until Kreilley called them. Have you considered one of the warehouses here between Sarah and where I was? You contain them in there, and you would only have a third of them to deal with, making the odds more equal."

"Yeah, I thought of that. But which building? Then there are the slaves being held . . ."

"No John. You don't have to know which building if someone is already in place to see. Have a party of men in place to watch, then they can contain them. Think of it like a chess match. Break down the problem into smaller problems. You do that, and you'll be on your way to winning the match."

"Good Advice. Thanks." John smiles at her.

"Kyle is here." She points and John turns to see him coming down the steps from the elevator.

"Hey John. If we're going to meet your friend we need to get a move on. Hi Savannah."

"Hey Kyle. Thanks for cooking breakfast."

Kyle speaks to Savannah. "Are you feeling well enough to oversee a bunch of grunts through some drills. I got almost everyone topside on the old airfield training with the weapons John got."

Savannah sighs, she was going to speak with Catherine, but that can wait for now. "Sure no problem. See you guys when you get back."

# # #

Mr. Ellison and Mr. Murch spent the rest of the day at the precinct talking with the police. The authorities couldn't figure out how the millions of dollars worth of computer equipment and research data in a secured room in the basement was destroyed. There was no connection found between it and the crash and fire on the upper floors. Nor did water from the fire hoses reach that level. Mr. Murch could tell them what computer equipment was in the room, but he couldn't tell them what was being done in the basement due to the non-disclosure agreement in his contract. He could only tell them that it was a "secure" location for data storage and top secret research. The police told Mr. Murch, that they didn't think it was all that secure, then let him go home.

Ellison had previously faced heavy scrutiny for his possible link to Sarah Connor and her "kidnapping" of Savannah Weaver. Within thirty-six hours of Sarah Connor's arrest, she and about one-hundred inmates had broken out of the county lock-up. Then within four hours of her escape, Zeira Corp had suffered one of the worst domestic terrorist attacks since Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in 1995.

The prison guards said that some teenage girl had marched in and began shooting up the county jail. Some of the guards and a few of the prisoners that were recaptured claimed she had a partially robotic face. The guards claimed she was impervious to all gun fire. The police put it down to body armor and facial protection. The police wanted to know who she was.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't got a clue." Ellison lied. "Without a detailed description or photo, I couldn't venture a guess."

"Do you think it could be the girl that was with Sarah Connor when she blew up the bank?"

"Anything is possible, but without facts, I don't know." Ellison kept his face as impassive as possible. He had learned to do that a lot in the last few years.

"How did Sarah and the other prisoners escape?" Ellison ventured a question.

"We've got no idea as to how the cell doors had opened. We are assuming an accomplice from the outside had hacked the system." The Detective looks directly at Mr. Ellison. "Do you know how to use a computer Mr. Ellison?"

Detective Macklin speaks up. "I was with Mr. Ellison this morning. If we hadn't called in Mr. Murch, we never would have been able to get access to the computer system."

The other Detective, showing signs of anger and pent up frustration, starts yelling, "You do realize we have no security videos or computer logs that even verify Sarah Connor was in jail. Let alone how she escaped. The computers at the jail were wiped clean of all video and data accumulated over the last forty-eight hours! There is no record that Sarah Connor was ever in that jail nor how she and hundreds of inmates had escaped!"

He pauses for a breath. When he resumes talking, his voice is low but quickly raises in volume again. "Right now, Mr. Ellison is our only link to Sarah Connor and Zeira Corp. I don't think it is a coincidence that he is linked to both! And it doesn't help my investigation with you playing defense for him."

"Your investigation?! I'm assigned the task of investigating Zeira Corp!" shouts Macklin.

"I guess you haven't heard. The investigation into the terrorist attack on Zeira Corp has been reassigned to me. I've got more years as a detective and more experience investigating terrorist activity. And, I outrank you." He glares at Macklin. "Return to your desk and turn over all notes and evidence related to this case to me."

Macklin marches out of the room. He is steaming.

Ellison was grilled for hours by this new detective. He eventually learned his name, Detective Wicker.

Wicker was determined to prove Sarah Connor was responsible for the apparent terrorist attack on Zeira Corp, which took place within four hours of her escape from jail. It had all the earmarks of being a Sarah Connor job but for the fact that there was no evidence linking her to the damage in the office or the basement. This the authorities put down to the fire which destroyed everything on the upper floors. The destruction of the computer equipment in the basement seemed to be the cause of a massive electrical discharge followed by explosives. This contradicted Sarah's usual method of explosives only. They had no idea where the aircraft came from as there was nothing on the radar logs from area airports indicating any aircraft within city limits at the time of the attack.

Detective Wicker kept going over and over the facts as he knew them trying to twist theories around to get Ellison to reveal something about Sarah Connor's whereabouts, the destruction at Zeira Corp, what happened to Catherine Weaver, and what his connection was with all three.

Ellison told Detective Wicker the same thing he had told the FBI. The last time he spoke with Catherine Weaver was in her office when she asked him to pick up her daughter from gymnastics. Ellison said he left early as he didn't want to get caught in traffic. No, he didn't witness the aircraft impact, nor hear it as he was below ground level heading to the car park. He picked Savannah up promptly at 5:30 PM, then made his way back through cross town traffic. He said he was five blocks away when he spotted the smoke pouring out of the upper floors. Making sure the child was occupied in the back seat, he tried calling the office but there was no answer. He then tried Weaver's cell, with no success. Then not wanting to bring the child directly to the company where she could be frightened by everything, he called the FBI and arranged to meet someone there. He had no idea what happened to Weaver or what took place in the basement after he left. He also told them he hadn't seen nor spoken with Sarah Connor after he spoke with her in the jail the previous day.

He stuck with that story, and with no evidence to prove otherwise, the Detective Wicker was forced to let him go. They would have questioned the girl, but her mom's sudden disappearance, her young age, and the fact she could verify most of Ellison's story had put a hold on that.

2009, May 14, Sometime after 12 PM, Day -4

In a remote region, in a small community roughly half the distance between Crystal Peak and Carlsbad, California, a battered but serviceable twenty year old Dodge Ram in camouflage color sits outside a diner.

Inside at the counter sit two young men in denims, work boots and flannel shirts. Both of them sport a rough growth of beard but one of them has a unique wound that gives him the look of a mid nineteenth century duelist.

"How long until he shows?" Kyle asks in a low voice as the waitress walks past.

John takes a sip of his coffee before answering, "He didn't say. He only said he'd meet us here around noon or after. Unlike us, he has a life."

"Can you trust him?"

"I did in the future and I can now. He knows me and he knows the truth. Derek and I intervened to save him from a terminator and hopefully focused on continuing his military training. I'm just hoping he will be willing to risk everything he presently has to help us."

Kyle frowns. Did John just say his brother was here?

They sit at the counter for a while drinking coffee and listening to the other customers come and go making small talk then leaving again.

John takes a sip of his coffee then asks, "That attack on the bunkers, before I arrived in the future. What happened?"

Kyle takes a sip of his coffee before answering. "It was bad. Sky Net threw everything at us. What made it worse, we didn't get the arms shipment that was due to arrive the previous week. We were under armed, conserving every bullet. Maybe that's why Sky Net attacked us. When you arrived with information on that weapons cache, it was a miracle. A damn miracle."

Kyle takes another sip of his coffee and waits for the waitress to move on before talking. "When the attack came, Derek was meeting with some of the other camp leaders negotiating for ammo, difficult to do when you got nothing to offer in trade. Allison and myself were leading two different groups trying to find any hidden stashes of weapons or ammo. You live in those bunkers long enough, you tend to squirrel away things for a later day, sometimes the person who hid stuff dies and his stuff remains hidden."

"That explains how Cameron knew of the C4!" John suddenly interrupts Kyle.

"What C4?"

"When we evacuated Grizzly, the C4 we used to bring down the tunnel on the two machines chasing us. The explosion that knocked me out for a few days. Allison must have told her where to find it! She saved my life. I never met her and she saved my life."

John looks about realizing he was talking in a slightly excited tone.

"Sorry Kyle. You were saying . . ." John says more subdued.

Kyle was having trouble enough telling the story, but to think Allison's knowledge may have just saved his friends life. His son's life, if everything John told him about him being his father is true. Taking another sip of his coffee, Kyle continues his story.

"We had just gone off down different tunnels when the attack came. It was terrible. Made the attack on the bunkers after your appointment to General look like a Sunday School picnic. Five of my guys got shot down before I even got a shot off. We were cut off from Allison's group. I had to assume they continued down the tunnel they were in. I heard several shots from that direction, but I never saw what happened to her. I was too busy trying to get people out of the tunnels before they were killed."

"When did you see Derek or Allison again?"

"I saw Derek a couple of days later. Met him and a group of escapees at Griffith Park. We used it as a gathering spot when such purges occur. Allison wasn't there. Derek was upset, he thought she was still with me. I told him how we got separated and that made him determine to retake the bunker."

"Derek could come across as a cold heartless bastard at times, but he loved her like she was a real part of our family."

"A few days later we did retake the bunker, with some help from a neighboring camp. We found no metal, just you. I ran into Allison on the way into the bunker. I had no idea, especially with that dog with her. I was just so relieved to see her. What she said to you in the foundry . . ."

Kyle stops speaking as the bell tinkles signifying someone coming inside. Without looking at him, they hear him walk past and settle into a booth nearby. John watches his reflection in the polished stainless steel covered wall across from his seat the whole time. Bristled blond hair, tall and lean. Has to be him.

The waitress quickly comes out from behind the counter to take the persons order.

"What will you have, sir?" She asks in a pleasant voice with just a touch of an accent.

"We'll both have huevos rancheros and coffee, and so will my friend at the counter." John says sliding into the booth with his mug in hand.

The waitress leaves to fill the order.

"Hello Baum." The young man with a crew cut says firmly, with a glint of humor in his eyes.

"Glad you could make it, Beddell." John says reaching over the table and shaking his hand.

# # #

A long way away, an adult Savannah is using her lunch break to take a nostalgic tour of the base, but only visiting those places that meant something to her. The individual rooms that herself, Sarah and Cameron had all those years. Until she was older, she shared a room with Sarah, who doted after her like any mother would. When she turned twelve, she was presented with her own room. Not as large as Sarah's, but she and Cameron made it up nice for her, including shelf she could keep her threadbare toy Geoffrey on.

Savannah stands at the door to her old room now. It is presently vacant. It could have been for storage or even for a dignitary of some kind. Who can tell? All the rooms are basically bare concrete. But this was her room. With a smile on her face, she comes to a decision.

Calling on some help, she moves a cot and a couple of sticks of furniture into the room. Satisfied with the results, she sits at a small desk and writes down the results of that mornings exercises. There will be more after lunch, but she had already spotted one problem and wasn't sure how they could fix it in time.

# # #

Inside the diner, Beddell and Connor talk in low voices.

"You've been all over the news. Surprised the hell out of me when I got your phone call. What's going on Baum? You look like you've been through hell and back."

John just looks at him and says one thing, "Sky Net."

Just then the waitress returns with their plates of food and a pot of coffee. "Enjoy!" She says brightly and walks off.

"What about it?" Beddell says in a whisper, just before taking a fork full of food.

"We've got four days before it comes online and destroys the world."

Beddell gives him a look of disbelief. "You said we had two years."

"I know what I told you before, but things have changed. If we don't stop it on the seventeenth, on the morning of the eighteenth over three billion lives will be gone forever and more will die in the days and weeks that will follow."

"I don't disbelieve you Baum. I saw the evidence with my own eyes. But you got to understand, we got exams coming up next week. Would of had exams last week, but Presidio's computers were hacked. We had to wait for new exams to be made. And if I don't prepare for them now, I won't be graduating and going on to West Point. How can I fulfill my role in the future if I don't graduate?"

"If we don't stop this Judgment Day, there will be no exams to take! You, your friends, fellow cadets, and all of Presidio Alto will be nothing but radioactive ash. Do you need proof? More evidence of what is to come?" John says rather harshly.

Beddell hesitates to answer. He hasn't seen this side of Baum's personality before.

"Come with me." John says and walks to the restroom in the back. Beddell follows.

John does a quick search of the stalls to make sure they are alone then locks the door to the bathroom.

"I'll show you proof." John says and pulls his shirt off.

"You don't get injuries like these from any weapons of this decade."

Beddell just looks at the strange burns on John's back and shoulder.

"How did you get these?" he asks.

"Plasma rifle in the forty watt range. I've been to the future. I got these injuries there. I fought Sky Net and now I need your help to stop it from happening. Are you going to help me or not?"

Beddell pauses for less than a second before saying, "I've got your back Connor. What do you need?"

With a sigh of relief, John quickly pulls his shirt back on. They both return to their booth. Kyle joins them, and John tells Beddell in low tones what he needs him to do.

"There are three I can trust outright. I'll ask around for others very carefully."

"I need people who can be quiet. Not anyone who will be bragging about this. What I'm asking will ruin their careers if it ever gets out. You and the others will be considered terrorists if caught."

"I know the stakes Baum. I saw with my own eyes when that machine got lit up like a roman candle. I'll be very careful with whom I talk with and who I eventually include in your escapade."

"Good." John leans back almost relaxing. "So, you stuck it out. Can't tell you how glad I was to hear that."

"After the talk your Uncle Derek gave me," Kyle's eyes dart to John, "I wasn't about to quit. I don't know if I'll get into West Point. But I'm sure as hell going to give it my best shot."

Beddell grins.

"You and your uncle left to soon. The day after you left, some marines came by and gave us a demonstration with gas grenades. They were fake of course. Only released a non-toxic smoke. You know the kind of thing, how to use them and how to respond if used against you."

John sits up, Beddell having his full attention.

"You think you and the others can handle gas bombs?" John asks, "They're standard issue and are non-lethal. Only contains a sleeping gas."

"I would think so. We saw the demonstration enough times and were tested on it."

John nods his head. "Super." He mumbles as he begins reevaluating the various strategies he was working on overnight.

Kyle and Martin look at John as he stares out across the table not focusing on anything as the piece of the plan falls into place in his mind. Savannah was right, he thinks.

"What are you planning John?" Kyle asks, seeing the familiar gleam in John's eyes.

John smiles. "Kyle I'll tell you later. Beddell, thank you very much for helping, but I think we all need to be on our way. You ready for it?"

"No problem Baum. I'll meet you at the rendezvous with what men I can bring."

They get up from the table and John goes to the cashier to settle the bill.

Some time later as John and Kyle are driving back to their base. Kyle decides to ask John about certain things that cropped up during the conversation with young Martin Beddell.

"Interesting story young Martin told about how you and Derek saved his life from a terminator. When you slipped up earlier at the bar, I thought it was just that, a mistake considering you started talking about my Derek afterward. But then Martin told his story." Kyle says accusingly from the passenger seat of the truck.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew Derek?" Kyle asks.

John had a feeling Kyle would ask about this and was formulating a possible answer to his query since Martin first mentioned Derek's name. "You didn't believe me when I said a Kyle Reese from an alternate future was my father. If I told you that Derek Reese from that same future came back in time to help me, would you have believed me then?"

Kyle pauses a moment before responding. "Probably not. It gave me quite a turn when Beddell mentioned him. That's just like Derek, what he did. But what you did was just plain stupid. Jumping out in front of a machine and yelling your name at it."

"And?" John asks looking at Kyle quickly

"I suppose you made the right decision and said it was your Uncle 'Eric' who helped you." Kyle smiles at him.

Kyle pauses a moment before asking, "What was he like? This other Derek."

"Just as stubborn and cynical as yours. He was a good man. He'd seen his share of the war, and then my future self sent him back in time to help me. And he was a great help."

"What happened to him?"

"We went to protect a little girl who was being targeted. She turned out to be Savannah. We didn't know why she was being targeted, and all of us, Mom, Derek, me and Cameron went to her home to protect her. A Triple-8 was already in the house. He shot Derek, killing him instantly. Cameron fought the Triple-8 then threw him down the mountain and then we hightailed it out of there taking the girl with us. If it is any consolation, Derek didn't suffer, and he helped save Savannah's life."

"His death doesn't disturb me. I know that my brother is being taken care of eighteen years from now by Kate Brewster. He's also somewhere in Los Angeles right now, probably playing catch with me in our back yard." Kyle rubs his head. "It makes your head hurt if you try and think about it too much."

John just nods his head in agreement, keeping his eyes focused on the road ahead. He likes driving, it gives him something for his mind to do.

May 14, 2009, Evening, Day -4

Kyle and John have returned to find all is normal. Savannah reports that training the troops, and drills using the mockups have shown they are short of much needed weapons and ammunition.

John knows the only other source of weapons is the cache in the Sonora desert. The one where his mom hid Cameron's body. Glancing at his watch, he realizes she won't be doing that until tomorrow night. If he disturbs things before she gets there, his mom might hide Cameron somewhere else, thinking the weapons cache has been compromised. Then he'll never find it in the future.

"I know where we can get more guns and ammo, but it will have to wait until late tomorrow night to collect."

"That's cutting it kind of close to Judgment Day isn't it?"

"I know, Kyle. But there's a good reason. Savannah, did you write up a report of today's training exercises?"

"Yes. It's in my room."

"Your room?"

"Yeah. I was feeling nostalgic so with some help I set up a cot, desk and chair in my old room. Beats sleeping in the infirmary any day."

"It must be hard on you, being back here?" Kyle says.

"Well, sometimes. There are so many happy and sad memories with this place. But right now I'm glad John is here and soon we can put an end to Kreilley. Then we can all get on making new memories." She turns to John. "By the way John Henry and Catherine are preparing to switch over to the secondary generator. Perhaps you'd like to go to Ops and observe. I'd thought I'd go to the generator control room with Catherine."

"Oh sure. Might be interesting. Savannah, why don't you tell Kyle where your room is, so he can look at your report, then we can get together later and discuss it over dinner."

John arrives in Ops to find John Henry alone and busy at a computer terminal. He lets him get on with his work before asking, "So what exactly is going to happen?"

"Ms. Weaver is down in the power room. She will be switching us over from the primary to the secondary generator for power. For a brief time, both generators will be operating simultaneously which will be putting more current out than is currently being used. This placed was designed to house twenty-five times the number currently here."

"So it would help if we turned on every appliance or device that uses electricity?"

John Henry nods his head. "Temporarily. So everyone will have to stay at near what ever device they turn on to be ready to turn it off."

John points over his shoulder. "Why not just turn on the TDE? Surely that could absorb the excess power output and we wouldn't have to have people running around unfamiliar corridors turning on and off various items."

John Henry looks at the double doors to the room holding the TDE.

"Ms. Weaver was very clear about its use. To turn it on, would give the machines a point of contact for materializing. They could send through half a dozen armed T-700's and we wouldn't stand a chance."

"I'm not saying we have to initiate a transfer, but surely that machine must have super sized capacitor's that can absorb the current which we can than slowly bleed off into the internal power grid."

"Well . . ."

"Come on. Let's do it."

Catherine Weaver's voice comes over the intercom. "Are you ready John Henry? I'm ready to turn on the second generator."

"Almost Ms. Weaver." John Henry says into the intercom.

He turns back to John. "I have to monitor things from here. Go into the TDE room, and go to the central panel. The main power switch is red, turn that on, then press the four buttons to its left, that will activate circuits. The capacitor's will absorb all excess current. What ever you do, do not turn on the power switch on the right hand panel."

"What does that do?"

"Activates the TDE on its previous settings."

"John Henry, are you ready now?" Catherine's resonant voice sounds out.

"Go, before I change my mind." John Henry says to his friend with a grim face.

John smiles and dashes through the double doors. He hasn't been in this room since the day he arrived. There is a stain on the floor from where he bled from the wound to his chest. He almost wishes the Catherine Weaver that was here had killed him. He can't bare to think Cameron, if she survived, was trapped in the future because their Catherine had shut down the TDE and when she arrived.

Savannah walks into the power room to see Catherine at the generator control panel.

"Hello. Are you ready to switch over to the other generator?"

"Hello Savannah. Almost. Waiting on confirmation from John Henry that everything is ready upstairs."

"Don't you have a remote panel for controlling the generators?"

"I do, but a relay switch developed a fault and since I had to come down here to replace it, I thought I might as well operate the panels locally. What brings you here?"

"I'd thought I'd observe, and if you must know I'm feeling nostalgic. When I was a little girl, Cameron and I would spend time in here, sometimes playing games on the floor, or talking, or reading stories to each other."

"Why here? I wouldn't think this room wouldn't offer much for a child."

"I don't know. We just would." Savannah looks around the room. "I think its because we had privacy here."

"Ms. Weaver, we are ready now." John Henry says over the intercom.

She extends a finger across the room and hits the button.

"About time! Turning on second generator now."

Upon a signal from John Henry, John flips on the main power switch on the central panel.

The panel on the left lights up with a display showing present current available and current required. He watches as the graph slowly climbs. He presses the four buttons as John Henry told him and watches as the capacitors begin to charge up absorbing the total output of both generators.

His eyes fall upon the right panel. John Henry said Catherine shut down her TDE immediately upon arrival. Which means if he turned it on now, it would start up using the same settings.

John looks at the graphs on the left side. Still building but not there yet. 80, 82, 85. the percentage keeps climbing but what is the minimal power needed? Dare he try? What if Cameron is waiting for just such a moment? What if he needs to turn on the TDE to save her?

John turns around and walks to the double door. Closing it, he slides the bolts home and sets the deadbolt. He doesn't think it will stop Catherine or John Henry from breaking in, but it should slow them enough.

He walks back to the panel and hits the switch to activate the TDE.

Savannah and Catherine are standing by the primary generator control panel when a high pitch whine begins to emanate from the room next door where the generators are housed.

"What is it?" Savannah asks.

Catherine runs one eye over the generator panel and then goes to the power panel. The gauges are reading at maximum output of current for both generators.

"John Henry! What the hell is going on?" She yells into the intercom.

"It's General Connor! He's locked himself in the TDE room."

Catherine's eyes flare. Savannah can only assume its with anger.

"Savannah, do you know how to operate these generators?"

"Yes." Savannah says to an empty space as Catherine takes off running down the corridor.

"When I tell you to, shut them down!" Catherine shouts back.

Savannah sighs, wondering what John is up to. Whatever it is, it certainly interrupted the talk she wanted to have with Catherine about her offer.

Inside the TDE room, John watches and waits. The power has built up to a fever pitch. The hair on his arms and neck stand out straight. Outside John Henry beats on the doors. So far he's put a fairly heavy dent in one of them.

"General! General! This isn't the way sir. John Connor!"

John watches and waits, ignoring the shouts of his friend and the heavy pounding on the door. He may not know everything but this is her only chance.

"Come on Cameron. You can do it. Find the signal and lock onto it. You can do it." John says.

The first spark of lightning appears.

Catherine runs into her formerly secret rooms. The rooms that some of the people have begun calling Ops, short for Operational Center, after some old sci-fi TV series. The computer lab is empty and so is her office, but the other side of the room, John Henry is beating on the doors to her TDE.

"You won't get in that way." She says walking up to him. "I designed this place remember. It would take you all day to get through that door."

"How do we stop him?"

"That will be up to me." She says giving John Henry a look of disappointment.

She walks over to a ventilation cover in the wall. As John Henry watches, Catherine Weaver liquifies and pours herself up and through the vent.

Knowing there is nothing more he can do, John Henry returns to his place at the computer station and watches the security cameras of the TDE room.

John holds onto the control panel as a breeze blows around him whipping up the fine dust that the bases air scrubbers don't trap.

The first few arcs of electricity were random, but just now the arcs are beginning at a common point approximately one meter above the floor at the center of the room.

Behind him, liquid metal pours out from a vent, coalescing on the floor. Slowly it rises up and begins to take on human shape.

A translucent bubble begins to form, like a giant soap bubble. John watches with fascination and hope as a ghostlike humanoid form begins to appear inside as the sphere gradually takes on a greater physical presence, like it was made of glass.

He is filled with joy as the first glimmering indications of the person inside appear, that his heart says is Cameron.

From behind him, Catherine reaches past the distracted John Connor and hits some switches on the panel as the bubble begins to cloud over as it grows opaque.

There is a great burst of lightning from all corners of the pad. John ducks for cover and looks up to see the sphere wink out of existence, leaving behind an afterglow and a few diminishing arcs of electricity in its wake. Only a couple of seconds had passed since the first tel-tale effects of an arrival first appeared in the room.

Not seeing Catherine, who is still behind him, he jumps up and looks at the panel. The graph shows all the capacitors have been discharged.

"Savannah! Turn off the primary generator." Catherine speaks into the intercom.

"What?" John looks across the room in disbelief. "No!"

He rushes at her only for Catherine to grab him by his neck, her fingers extending around his neck so they meet and merge together behind his head. Her grip is tight enough to restrict his breathing without choking him completely. Catherine holds him at distance so that he cannot hit her.

She unlocks and unbolts the doors and drags John through the computer lab while John uselessly strikes and pulls at her arm for release. Reaching her office she drops him in a chair, releasing him, before taking her place behind her desk.

John Henry comes to the door.

"I'll deal with you later." She appears to snarls. "Right now I do not want to be disturbed while I talk with John."

John Henry nods his head and closes the door to her office.

Weaver turns her gaze upon John who is just glaring at her. She's unsure if his face is red from her choke hold or the fact he's very angry with her. The one thing isn't doubtful of is that he is holding her gaze and hasn't shown one glimmer of looking away. He isn't afraid of her.

If she had any inkling of the human psyche than she would know he is envisioning nothing but death for her. As far as John is concerned Weaver has killed Cameron. He's lost his only chance at rescuing her now.

Catherine Weaver is never one to back down from a challenge and if anything else John is challenging her right now. So she tackles the subject from a different direction than what she thought she would have to when this time came.

"You acted very foolishly. You put this entire base at risk! Just what the hell were you thinking?" She says in a loud commanding voice, her eyes flashing fire.

Before he can find his voice, she yells at him again. "I know what you were thinking! You thought if you activated the TDE that Cameron could find her way here provided she survived her damage."

"How'd you know?" John growls back at her, his eyes still holding steady.

Weaver taps at her keyboard and a security video plays on the screen behind her.

"I tried to save her." John Henry says softly, with something like remorse.

"What?" John face pinches into a question. "Who? How?" He asks confused, not knowing what John Henry is referring to after watching the evidence he just shared.

"Before the time jump, during the battle, Cameron and I were communicating regularly by way of our built-in transceiver. She told me what had happened to her while trying to save you, and the damage she sustained. Knowing she didn't have much time and that she knew you'd come looking for her, Cameron told me to let her know when you and Kyle reached safety."

John Henry continues. "Just before you and Kyle arrived upstairs on the ground level, of the Research & Development building, Ms. Weaver told me that I needed to make adjustments to the algorithms in the TDE computer to accommodate for inert mass. That we would be transferring both people and their items. When I heard you two arrive, I transmitted your safe arrival plus the data about how two TDE's could be used to transfer objects to Cameron, but it must have been too late. Less than a minute later you asked me to do that very thing when we heard the explosion."

"Then a couple of minutes later, there was this exchange." Weaver says typing at the keyboard again.

"Just speculating, but if Cameron did manage to remove her fuel cells, how much power would she have in reserve?"

"If she shutdown her autonomic systems used to maintain her flesh, including respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, three to five minutes at most. Our bodies give us minimal reserve power sufficient to allow us to replace our own fuel cells. But even if she did mange to remove the damage fuel cells, they would explode within seconds without her control. Cameron wouldn't have enough power to get clear of the blast radius. Without a new fuel cell, she'd collapse without power after running only a few steps."

"Are you certain? Absolutely certain she couldn't survive and some how get to the TDE?"

"I could calculate the probability of such an out come, but . . ." John Henry shakes his head

"I see. So no hope then. Cameron's gone." John says bitterly, the finality hitting home.

"Sane words. But just now I catch you doing the most insane thing ever. Opening up this base to attack from within. The Cameron you knew is gone. Learn to deal with it. Accept it." she says in harsh clipped tones but then adds with less harshness, "And when the time comes, have the relationship with the Cameron you have already saved and is here waiting for your return."

John leans forward and somehow appears to grows taller as well. He's not hearing it. He knows what he saw materializing less than a minute ago.

"She was coming. Cameron was materializing on the TDE and you turned it off. As far as I'm concerned, you killed her. First by lying to her, then by denying her the only chance she had for rescue."

"You foolish boy. What you saw materializing was too indistinct to identify. It could have been the TX. Did you ever think of that?"

"The TX left Topanga Canyon hours before we ever got there!" He shouts.

"Just because it departed before us, does not mean it got here ahead of us. I told you time is not linear. Your irresponsible use of my TDE could have been the very thing it was homing in on. If I didn't act when I did, you would certainly be dead, followed by me, John Henry, and the rest of your army."

"I don't believe you." John moves forward, sitting on the edge of the chair. "Show me the security video from the TDE room at the time I used it."

With an obvious look of disappointment, she entertains his silly notion if only to silence him.

A new video begins to play on the screen. John has just bolted the doors to the TDE room.

"Let's see the other angles please. I saw four cameras in the room when I entered."

Credit to the boy for being observant, Weaver thinks as she taps at her keyboard and the screen divides into four equal quadrants each one showing a different angle of the center of the room where the TDE pad is located.

"Slow it down by half." John says as the first bolts of electricity begin emanating from the center of the space. "Now by one-quarter." John says as the first hint of the sphere appears. "One-tenth! Slow, slower! Stop! Back up one -tenth of a second."

Catherine does what he asks with just a hint of rancor at following his commands.

"Expand this frame." he taps on one quadrant, having moved up beside her. "I think the object is clearer in this one."

Catherine expands one of the video feeds so it fills the entire screen.

"Can you advance it really slow? Like every few one-hundredths of a second?"

"Yes." She answers, her curiosity peaked by John's enthusiasm

"Now stop!"

Weaver sees what appears to be a humanoid figure in the classic kneeling position assumed by machines when in transit, but there is no detail. Not even enough to guesstimate the figures size or type.

"I'm sorry John, but . . ."

"Advance the video gradually and look at what's inside the sphere as it grows opaque."

Weaver does as he asks.

As the video advances it appears as if long hair is flying about the figures head, but she knows it is the filaments of energy flowing about as the sphere coalesces. She knows this from experience from having worked on Sky Net's first TDE.

"Do you see the hair? It was her. It was Cameron!"

The video advances one more frame and the sphere disappears in a burst of light.

"I'm sorry John. I know you want it to be Cameron, but there is nothing that clearly identifies the figure before I canceled out the transmission."

"Yet you did so anyway." he says with venom.

"I have to protect this base from any incursion. That figure could very well have been the TX."

"Did you ever think, that I might be right? That I may actually know what I'm doing?"

"No." she answers in a tone as vicious as a slap across the face. "You are too emotionally invested and distracted. What you did was not the actions of a leader! A true general would never put his own desires above the safety and welfare of those he leads. So no, I don't believe you knew what you were doing in this instance."

"You need to step back and think John. Put aside the feelings that torment you into such foolish behavior and think about our mutual goal of stopping Kreilley."

John still doesn't answer as a flood of emotion and thoughts overwhelm him.

"Remember John. Save the world, and you save your family. You get everyone you love back as they were when you left them. Just think about that. Send John Henry in when you go out."

She turns her back on John Connor, as she types something into another computer keyboard, bringing to life another screen with different data on it.

"You damn terminator bitch!" John spits outs. "When this is over, there will be a reckoning. I know what you did."

She turns back, facing him with suppressed anger. "You know nothing! That video slide-show John Henry showed you is nothing." John looks shocked. "Oh yes. I know. There is nothing that happens in this base I don't know about. Please show John Henry in when you leave."

With a growl of frustration, John walks out of her office. Not sure whether what he experienced was like a visit to the principal's office, like a scolding from a parent, or a dressing down by a superior officer. No, not the latter. He decides. There is nothing about Catherine Weaver that makes her superior.

"Principal wants to see you now." John says to his friend.

John Henry rises up from his chair, unplugging the cable from the back of his head as he does so.

"Ms. Weaver was right. You put this base and everyone in it at risk." John Henry says to his friend, not wanting to say it but for the fact Ms. Weaver can hear them and is expecting him to say something.

"I tried to save Cameron! Your friend. The girl I love." John says, still fuming from his experience with Weaver.

"I know. But did you not think I hadn't thought of doing what you just did? Hundreds of times if not a thousand I thought of going in there and operating the TDE just as you did."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because unlike you, I put the lives of the people here above the life of one individual. Not only could that have been the TX, but the first wave of over a hundred terminators. I had hoped you would have thought the same and avoided the temptation."

"How can I not do everything that I can to save her?"

"If she were here, what would she be telling you now about what you tried to do? Would she have advised you to use the TDE, possibly endangering yourself and everyone here, or to leave her there and try to make a life with the Cameron she used to be?"

John doesn't answer, because he knows Cameron would never have let him try. She would have stopped him, if not in words than by actions. He can see her face and expression in his mind as clearly as if she were standing in front of him.

"You feel and understand emotion at a level I can never hope to achieve, but some of the worse decisions made by humans have been driven by emotion rather than logic. Cameron said goodbye to you. Now you must say goodbye to Cameron or else your love for her will poison all decisions you make."

John nods his head, slowly, unmistakeably humbled by the turn of events.

John Henry walks stone faced into Weaver's office, closing the door behind him, leaving John wondering what John Henry allowed Catherine Weaver to see.

2009, May 14, Evening, Day -4

Ellison was exhausted by the time he got home. He had spent half the day climbing up and down twenty stories worth of stairways, then spent the other half being grilled by the police. Detective Wicker's questioning was tough. Mr. Ellison had often grilled suspects, but this was something else.

He wanted to check in on Sarah, but feared he may be under surveillance. Instead, he called Savannah and spoke with her until she went to bed. The one bright spot in his life right now is that little girl.

Mr. Ellison was under surveillance, but not by the police. Two houses down from his home, sits a gray commercial van with no markings. Inside it are two men in gray uniforms keeping a close watch on him.

# # #

Later that night, long after the others had there evening meal and were socializing before going to bed, John Henry was made aware that John couldn't be found. A quick scan of security video showed he never left the base, but he did find one snippet that showed John disappearing into one of the storage rooms. There aren't any cameras inside the storage rooms.

John Henry reaches the lower level, he finds John sitting alone in the great hall on one of the many crates he setup as part of his tableau of Fox Industries. The only lights are the small theater lights along the floor and the occasional wall sconce. The large overhead lights having been turned off to conserve power.

He's surprised to find John has a bottle of Scotch, from which he's poured a generous amount in a short glass.

"I found it in the stores. Seventy-year-old Scotch. At least forty years of which it spent in storage. Just think, back when the military abandoned this place, some private must have got ripped to shreds by some general because his best bottle of Scotch got left behind."

John lets out a braying laugh, barely disguising the wale of misery rising from his gut.

"Are you drunk?" John Henry asks with both concern and curiosity.

"No. Scotch ain't my thing." John caps the bottle and hands it to his friend. "Take this upstairs to the others would you? They might enjoy it more."

John Henry nods his head, taking the proffered bottle. He's pleased to see John hasn't had more than a few ounces.

John uses the opportunity to wipe his face with his shirt cuffs.

John Henry wants to apologize for things he said to John while in earshot of Ms. Weaver.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you before, about you trying to rescue Cameron. . ."

"Cameron said that I was her hero. Did you know that? I was her knight in shining armor." John interrupts him, speaking quickly. "But you want to know something? She was my knight, my hero. And I don't know how to do this," gesturing at the tableau, "without her."

He tosses back his glass, drinking the last of the Scotch he had poured for himself.

"You will find a way."

"I still think that was her." John says jumping up from his seat. "My heart said it was her on the TDE pad before Weaver cut off the signal."

"We will never know that with certainty. You said you saw hair blowing inside the sphere, but the TX's default form is a female with long hair. What if it was the TX?"

John looks angry, but lets it blow over before responding. "Now you see, that is something I didn't know about the TX. Why didn't Weaver tell me that, or you? How do you know?"

"Information on the TX was taken from Sky Net's computer. Despite its standard appearance, it has a liquid metal sheath and can change its appearance into any human."

"Shit." John sits back down running his hands through his hair. He's quiet for several seconds before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I put everyone at risk. If I had thought about it, I might have come to that conclusion too, but it was right there, right there in front of me and I knew I could never live with myself if I didn't try."

"Thank you for trying." John Henry says, looking sad in his own quiet way. After all, John was set up to do the very thing he did, and if John didn't suggest using the TDE John Henry was prepared to suggest it himself.

"Really? Even after you scolded me like Weaver and told me how irresponsible I was?" John's mouth drops open in shock when he recalls what John Henry told him about the TDE's controls.

"You bastard! You told me how to use the controls. You wanted me to try!"

"Yes. Because if I had tried it, Ms Weaver would have surely disabled me, but she wouldn't do anything to deliberately cause you harm. You are needed."

"Are you sure about that?" John licks his lips nervously. "I've been warned all my life that machines would try to kill me, but its not them I fear. What I fear will kill me are machines or people like Catherine to whom my life doesn't mean anything so long as they get what they want. She's a witch."

John Henry tilts his head questioningly, "Could you explain?"

"Witches are like that. Not interested in you unless they can use you. Most irritatingly practical of them." John says.

"You are implying then, that once you defeat Kreilley and stop his Judgment Day, that she will have no further need of you? That she will kill you?"

"I don't know. But after today . . . she just might."

"So when Ms. Weaver learns that I didn't copy Sky Net's core program, she might terminate me."

"You aren't the first machine she's disposed of to advance her plans."

John looks down at his hands, playing with the small wedding ring on his little finger.

"Cameron was expecting me to arrive at this time, but she said that I never appeared. However, Weaver said she witnessed my arrival. So what happened to the me that Weaver saw arrive? You saw me arrive, but Weaver cut off the security feed, so you don't know what happened to that version of me. Only Weaver knows."

"Do you think she killed that other you?"

"I don't know. Maybe she did because she didn't get the results she wanted the first go around. Its just something to think about. But not tonight."

"Why not tonight?"

John sighs. "I've got to rework some of these strategies for the battle three nights from now. Thanks to some comments by Savannah, and my meeting with Beddell, I have a way of dealing with the guards."

"I could run simulations of your latest battle plans on the computer for you."

John smiles, "That would be great. I'm still exploring options. We don't have the manpower, so I'm trying to focus our people where they will be needed most. I'll upload what I've currently devised to your computer and work on some fresh options."

"You should get some sleep."

"There will be time enough for sleeping when the job is done."

John Henry nods his head and turns to walk away.

"She knows. Weaver knows what you showed me." John calls after his departing back.

John Henry turns and says with a grin. "Yes, but she doesn't know everything. She only knows what the security cameras sees."

With a look of surprise and relief on John's face, John Henry resumes his trip upstairs to the operation center, as John and Kyle have begun to call the three rooms Catherine Weaver uses exclusively. John Henry has to admit, he likes the name its been given by the humans.

"One more thing, before you go." John calls out to his friend as he disappears into the shadows.

"Yes?"

"What did Weaver do to cancel out the incoming transfer? And what happened to the person who was arriving? I need to know."

John Henry pauses the longest time, for a cyborg that is, before answering. "Ms. Weaver initiated an outgoing signal, essentially canceling out whatever might have begun to materialize. If the incoming transfer was dependent on the TDE operating at this end, then the person has more than likely dissolved into quantum particles and scattered across the universe. If it wasn't dependent on the TDE here operating, then its possible the incoming figure was deflected, materializing in a different location or time. Based on the data I found in the future, the figure could even materialize in a parallel time stream, past or future. Any of it or all of it is possible. Its hard to explain simply. Its quantum physics. Ms. Weaver could explain it better. Temporal physics is her specialty."

"Well I'm not asking her." John says with anger. "As far as I'm concerned we're allies only until our business with Kreilley is over." He then says more pleasantly, "Goodnight John Henry. Don't forget to give the bottle of Scotch to our troops."

John Henry walks away, and hopes that John will someday forgive him for what he and Ms Weaver did to him that day, and the lies he told him. According to Ms. Weaver, they could only do it by involving John, or else he'd question their actions if they did it in private and without him. John Henry knows John will never trust Catherine Weaver, and she knows this too. So he can only assume Ms Weaver went to these lengths so as John wouldn't lose trust in himself. He can only hope so, as he's come to value John's friendship.

After he leaves, John draws toward him the expensive looking chess set he found earlier that day. The base is thick, hand carved wood, with drawers on all four sides to hold the pieces. He opens one drawer, exposing all eight black pawns.

He lifts one up and holds it up examining it in the light, before setting it on its square.

2009, May 14, Night, Day -4

Night had come, and Sarah was on the move. Taking a different route than last time, she walks to the parking garage and collects her SUV and drives to a hardware store that she had spotted the night before.

She gathers her purchases in cart, but on the way out she spots hand trucks on sale and takes one, adding it to her other purchases, 4 mil, plastic sheeting in a 10 ft x 25 ft long roll, and two rolls of duct tape. At the checkout counter, she selects some batteries for her lantern, figuring it wouldn't pay to lose light with what she'll be doing tonight and tomorrow night.

Sarah drives directly to the apartment. Easier to get the supplies to the apartment and less likely to be noticed then if I had carried them through the streets, she thinks. Before heading inside, she roots around inside John's bag until she finds the protein bars he always carries. She stuffs them into her shirt pocket and then carries her purchases inside.

It is quiet as always in the place. Sarah pulls a lamp out of her pack and replaces the batteries with the new ones she just bought. She turns the lamp on low and sets it on the floor, lighting the area in front of the sofa.

Pulling out her knife, she cuts open the package of plastic sheeting and roughly measured off a piece slightly longer than the length of Cameron's body and cuts if off. She lays the plastic on the floor in front of the sofa. Sarah then slides her arms under Cameron's shoulders and legs. As gently as she can, Sarah slides her body off the sofa and onto the plastic sheeting. Her body hits the floor with a hard thunk, but Sarah also hears several small objects hit the plastic sheeting. Sarah brings the lamp closer and sees several spent bullets laying on the floor.

Sarah collects them counting out twelve bullets. She unbuttons Cameron's jacket and several more fall out from in front as well. Sarah's curiosity gets a hold of her. Despite Cameron's dead weight she manages to maneuver her so she is on her side facing the sofa. Sarah pulls her shirt up and finds that where the bullets had penetrated her flesh, the wounds are healing. She finds several places where the flesh was still in the process of expelling the bullets. Grabbing her knife, Sarah uses it to finish pulling bullets out of Cameron's flesh. She then turns her over and does the same to the front of her torso and her arms and legs. When Sarah is done, she has twenty-six spent bullets, all with flattened heads. She finds several flesh wounds that are nearly healed, and several more bullet wounds that had gone too deep for her to extract the bullets with her knife.

Sarah rearranges Cameron's clothing and lays her back down on the plastic sheet. She reaches down and pulls the end of the plastic sheet up over her body. As she gets to Cameron's head, she pauses, and turns Cameron's head towards her so she can see where the flesh had been stripped from her face and scalp. Bringing the lamp up close, she sees that even here, her flesh is regrowing. Smaller wounds have closed up and she could swear the metal wasn't as exposed as it was before. A gradual but steady process.

Sarah wonders briefly how this can be happening without her chip. She can only assume that the process of restoring her flesh must be independent of her chip. Just so long as her power cell is functioning all other systems must operate.

"Looks like if John can get your chip back, at least he'll find you in good shape." She muses, before pulling the plastic over Cameron's head.

She wraps her body tightly and seals it up with duct tape. Sarah then cuts off another length of plastic and wraps her body again using more of the duct tape to hold it fast. Sarah brings the hand truck over and lowers it and lays it beside Cameron's body. Sarah then slides, pushes and pulls until Cameron is laying on the hand truck. She takes some more duct tape and uses it to fasten Cameron to the hand truck.

Sarah takes a moment to breathe. She grabs her lamp and brings it into the kitchen. Yesterday, she had found paper and envelopes in a kitchen drawer. She pulls some out now and sits at the kitchen table. Glancing at the clock, she sees it is almost 1 AM. She begins to write.

Dear John,

I worry about you. You are my son. I will always worry about you.

You have an important job to do now. Please, don't worry about me.

I am giving you something, you left behind. It is safer with you than with me.

I know you will take care of it. Your gift has been very helpful.

Thank you for the warning about the cops making a security sweep at 10:15 PM.

I got out of there just in time.

Love always,

Mom

Sarah is crying as she folds the letter. She pulls a photo out of her backpack, and places both it and the letter in the envelope. She brings it over to Cameron's body, cuts a slit in the plastic, and places the envelope inside. Sarah duct tapes the slit, turns off the lamp, and rolls Cameron's body out to her truck.

From a short distance away, not moving nor making any noise from her observation point, Cameron watches Sarah place her old damaged body in her vehicle. The time is coming soon for her to reveal herself to Sarah, but not until Sarah completes her mission of preserving her body for John to find in the future.

Sarah struggles a bit getting Cameron's body inside the back but she manages in the end with brute force and determination. Sarah moves their belongings so they are on top of Cameron's body to hide it. Deciding it would be too risky to leave it at the garage overnight, Sarah decides to keep her SUV parked where it is. She figures it would be safe as she's seen other vehicles parked along here and has heard the occasional motorcycle drive by.

Reaching the relative safety of the condo, Sarah offers a short prayer. "Please God, just grant me one more night, that is all I need to finish this task for my son." It was something she seldom did anymore, but this one time she hoped he was listening. Because for the first time since John was born, she had no one else she could rely on. Sarah was on her own.

2009, May 15, 1:15 AM, Day -3

Back at Crystal peak, John Connor has been slowly setting up the chess board. Sliding open each drawer and setting the pieces in their assigned locations.

He slides open the last drawer and begins setting the white pieces on the board but discovers two pieces are missing. He checks the other drawers, but they are empty.

The white queen and one white knight are missing.

Hoping this isn't an omen of things to come, John gazes forlornly at the chess board and the two empty spaces.

# # #

So take a look at me now,

'cos there's just an empty space

And there's nothing left here to remind me,

just the memory of your face

Take a look at me now,

'cos there's just an empty space

And you coming back to me

is against all odds and that's what I've got to face.

Against all Odds by Phil Collins

# # #

From the Journal of John Connor

Dear Cameron, You told me I had to let you go. I didn't want to and I still don't but I've decided it's what I have to do. I must, before the pain drives me to do something even more foolish than using the TDE. I love you Cameron but I've placed my last and only bet in securing your return. Maybe the odds were against us from the start. Letting you go has never been more difficult. To live day after day without you by my side. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you those eighteen years waiting for me to arrive. It's like a piece of me is missing. I'll grieve for you a long time and when I reunite with you in this time as I promised to do, I swear I'll make it right. I owe that to you, to her.

---

Chapter Updated: Thursday, March 28, 2013