Chapter 1348

One Time

Savannah moved into the lead. She was surprised at Young Allison's actions. She seemed unfazed at having just killed three people first hand. The fact that she just shot them all in the head as they passed was the real shocker. She made sure they were dead. It was clear Young Allison was very aware of what she'd done. The people that Young Allison shot were armed. She was sure Young Allison could kill in cold blood too without remorse. Cameron's handiwork was very evident.

She signaled for Young Allison to hold up. They were at the approximate location of where the men appeared. The room that looked like it might have a fire in it was just ahead. There was still no smoke or even any smoke smell.

Savannah looked into the open doorway of another room. There was a spiral staircase that led down. It was too small for anything but personnel to use. She motioned for Young Allison to move up. She was going to look in the opening with the flickering yellow and orange light. That was where the limited illumination that lit the area faintly came from.

Young Allison moved up to the doorway and looked at the spiral staircase that went down. This was not on the blueprints and it was not done in the last two days or even last two years. The paint was well worn on the handrails and the steps.

She wanted to go down and check it out. It went to somewhere and the three men she'd shot came out of it.

Anna held the M82A1. She could still feel the effects of the high frequency energy field. She was not sure if it was expanding or not. Maybe they should have moved further away. She'd told Mel to stop when she regained full movement. She thought this twinge would pass. It didn't.

"We need to get to a position where I can see the two building and the space between them." Anna said. "I can only see the south building from here."

Anna looked at her phone. It was still flickering some. She looked at the satellite map and the drone footage. That was breaking up more that it had been.

She sent out a warning that the high frequency energy field seemed to be expanding. The drones needed to put on some more distance away from the area.

She could feel it now making her feel sluggish.

"We need to get out of here." Mel said.

She did not want to go further away from Young Allison and Savannah. The energy drag was getting worse.

"Alright, break off." Anna said. "Let's move back two more blocks."

Maybe this would allow them to find a better firing position.

Derek, Kyle, Sarah and Claire waited for the downed Terminators to reboot.

Claire was visibly nervous. Sarah noticed it and wanted to help calm her. She touched Claire's arm.

"Relax and breathe." Sarah said.

Sarah smiled at Claire.

Claire tried to calm herself.

"How much longer will it be until something happens?" Claire asked.

Derek and Kyle moved to flank each other with Taser fire if necessary.

"It should be any second now if they are going to reboot." Derek said.

Sarah and Claire were by the door

"Remember we don't know how they are going to be affected." Kyle said. "John Henry said this was something new."

Steve and Tom both began to twitch. They were lying on their backs right now.

"Something's happening." Derek said. "Get ready."

Every Taser was pointed at the Terminators.

Savannah moved up and peeked around the corner of the room with the fire like glow. There was some machinery in there. She did not know what it was.

She looked at her body cam to see if it was functioning. It did not look like it was. Her phone did not function either.

Young Allison looked over.

"What is it?" Young Allison asked.

Savannah was not sure. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

"I don't know." Savannah said. "It looks like some kind of an 'energy ball' that is suspended in the air between two machines. It looks very unstable to me."

Savannah moved back to cover the opening with the spiral staircase.

"Take a look." Savannah said.

Young Allison checked the area behind them and moved over to look at the machinery.

She did not see a power source unless that was the power source. There was almost no sound from anything in that room. There was only a very faint electrical hum.

"Do you think that is what is causing the electrical disruption or what is powering it?" Young Allison asked. "We need to destroy it if we can't shut it down."

Savannah was around several future power sources before. They all ended quite catastrophically when they were shut down or destroyed.

"I think this is something dealing with the Fanatics." Savannah said. "It is either them or another further future group of Grays. Every future power source I have been around seems to end badly when they are disrupted."

Young Allison knew it still needed to be destroyed.

"I have one Thermite grenade." Young Allison said. "I will put it on one of the machines that seems to be associated with it. Go back and evaluate the detainee and determine if she lives or dies."

Savannah needed to process everything Young Allison just said.

"I can't allow you to risk your life fooling with that machinery." Savannah said. "We can pull out and call in a drone strike."

Young Allison was adamant.

"I think that energy ball needs to be off or disrupted first." Young Allison said. "You know I have studied all of the energy sources from the future. If we can shut it down I don't think it will explode. All the other ones that were encountered were all functioning at capacity when they blew up. This looks more like a test. I don't think this was done in the last two days either."

Savannah was worried now. They could blow up several city blocks with that thing. She thought Young Allison was right too about it not being built in the last few days.

"There may be one in the other building too." Savannah said.

Young Allison thought they needed to check the underground part and the other building. Maybe they were connected. That stairway led somewhere.

"Steve reported what may be a Terminator that was taken to the north building by four people." Young Allison said. "That was several hours ago. What if they are using the power cell from the Terminator to run this thing and maybe another one in the other building?"

Savannah knew they were at a major disadvantage being unable to communicate with anyone and they did not have any Metal back up. It did not appear that they were going to get any either, at least not anytime soon.

Young Allison moved away from the energy device. She moved to the three men she'd shot. They were a bloody mess.

"What are you doing?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison wanted some intel.

"I'm checking to see about those flashlights that it looked like they carried." Young Allison said. "Mine does not work."

Savannah already checked her phone.

"Nothing electrical seems to work except that thing in the next room." Savannah said. "That portal we encountered was from a further future too like this thing looks like it's from."

Young Allison only found some kind of chemical 'glow sticks'.

"They weren't flashlights." Young Allison said as she held one up in each hand. "Only two of them are still working."

She wiped the blood off of one of them on one of the dead men's pants legs. She handed it to Savannah. She kept the other one.

The glow seemed to increase from the room the energy ball was in.

"That thing keeps getting brighter." Savannah said.

Young Allison knew they needed to act and act soon one way or another.

"I'll go check the female." Young Allison said.

Savannah did not want Young Allison to do that or to see her abuse in detail either.

"I'll do that." Savannah said. "I'm sure she is from the anti-Metal group or a Gray."

Young Allison knew what needed to be done in that case.

"You must kill her then, unless you want a prisoner." Young Allison said. "If she is the enemy, do what you need to do or I will."

Savannah knew if the female became a prisoner that it would be a worse death for her. They still might extract information in the process.

"Wait here and cover this opening." Savannah said. "I'll be right back."

Steve and Tom both sat up at the same time. They did not look threatening, at least not yet. They looked around.

"Where is Savannah?" Tom asked.

"We don't know for sure." Derek said. "She is still there as far as we know."

Tom knew why.

"She stayed behind to make sure we all made it out." Tom said.

Tom and Steve were both on their feet now.

There were a lot of Tasers pointed at them.

"Are you going to use the Tasers on us?" Steve asked. "It is very intimidating."

Kyle wanted to play it safe.

"We hope not." Kyle said. "We don't know what affected you or how it affected you."

Tom thought of a qualifier.

"We are both Restorators." Tom said. "We never were under Skynet control. Mrs. Weaver created us as she did Holly and Gail."

Al and Ed both opened their eyes and sat up.

"Where is Savannah?" Ed asked.

They seemed OK too.

Cammy sat up next.

"Where's Savannah?" Cammy asked.

Cammy was on her feet in a second.

Derek explained what they knew.

"You need to send me back." Cammy said. "I need to get Savannah."

Cammy moved over to the TDE controls.

The TDE shut down.

"What happened?" Cammy asked. "The power is off."

Steve was aware of Savannah's order. John Henry or CamNet enforced it.

"You heard Savannah's order." Steve said. "Everyone was to pull out and no one else was supposed to go there."

Cammy did not know if John Henry shut the TDE down or CamNet did. If John Henry did she needed to convince him to send her back.

"I need to speak with John Henry." Cammy said.

Cammy brushed past the other Terminators.

"Do you want a robe?" Claire asked.

"No." Cammy said. "I'm fine."

Cammy headed out of the TDE room.

Sarah still felt some alarm.

"We still don't know if she is fine or not." Sarah said. "Jan and Summer are there with John Henry."

Claire looked at Sarah.

"Let's go." Claire said and went out after Cammy.

She held her Taser at the ready.

"Make sure everyone here is good." Sarah said to Derek and Kyle.

She took off after Claire.

John Henry received bad news from CamNet. The six Terminators she brought back to her base were able were able to give her a run down as to what they saw before they were pulled out.

There were two men working on a Terminator. He was cut open and his power cell was gone. They discussed two prisoners who were spying on them. One was male and the other was female. Before the male prisoner died they were able to determine he was from the anti-Metal faction. There was a female with him when they were captured. This seemed to be a positive contact with the anti-Metal faction. They may be hunting John and Cameron along with any other 'Metal Lover'.

Cammy ran into the Command Center naked.

Jan and Summer looked at her. They thought she was beautiful.

Claire and Sarah were right in back of her.

"I think you can take the girls out for a snack." Sarah said to Claire. "I have this."

Claire saw the Taser in Sarah's hand. It was 'hot'. She ushered Jan and Summer away.

John Henry quickly got Cammy up to speed.

"I know where the female anti-Metal prisoner is at." Cammy said.

Cammy filled them in on what she knew.

With the new information about the anti-Metal group and possible advanced future Grays, John Henry sent a report to Jim in the Control Center on the ship.

Cammy wanted to return to the location to get Savannah back.

"You heard Savannah's orders." John Henry said.

That was not good enough for Cammy.

"Savannah is all alone." Cammy said. "I NEED to go back and help her."

John Henry was about to say, 'Not exactly.'

He refrained because Sarah was still there. He did not want Claire to find out Young Allison went in the building to back Savannah up.

"Maybe you should plug in." John Henry said. "There are a lot of updates."

Sarah held a Taser in her hand. She still covered Cammy.

Jim received the information about the anti-Metal group from John Henry.

He debated whether to inform Cameron or not.

He decided to let her know since that was her standing order if they made contact with anyone from the anti-Metal group. That meant John was in danger.

Ally with the assistance of CamNet was able to win several thousand dollars for Mary on the video poker machine.

"That's enough for today." Ally said. "You need to stay under the radar."

Mary was thrilled at all the money that Ally helped her win.

She cashed out and thanked Ally and Sheila.

"How much did you win?" Mary asked Sheila.

Sheila smiled and handed her one ten dollar chip.

"That's it." Sheila said. "I didn't want two big winners in this small casino. I played it all back."

Mary knew it was a lot of money

"That was like fifty thousand dollars." Mary said.

Sheila smiled.

"We can win that back at any casino." Sheila said. "We are gifted."

Ally reminded Mary about their run-ins with the casino types.

"There is no where for us to go on this ship." Ally said. "At a casino we can take off and get lost in the crowd."

Mary wondered if they were hassled before.

"Have you run into real trouble?" Mary asked.

Sheila did not want to elaborate.

"The Syndicate does not like people to win, especially when they try to rig the game against us." Sheila said. "We can still beat them."

Mary really wondered about all of this.

"Is this all real?" Mary asked.

Sheila patted Mary's pocket with the money in it.

"You tell us, love." Sheila said. "It seems real to me."

Ally winked at Sheila.

"I can tell you right now that if you don't get back to your cabin soon that Laura and Leticia are going to be doing more than just kissing." Ally said. "Laura is still sort of out of it."

Mary looked at both of them and hurried out of the casino.

"Let's blow this dump." Sheila said.

Mary rushed back to her cabin and went inside.

Leticia was kissing Laura.

Laura was still out of it too.

"I suppose you are giving her mouth to mouth resuscitation." Mary said.

Leticia looked a little embarrassed.

"I was just checking her responses." Leticia said.

Mary looked at Laura. She was very disappointed in her.

She thought Leticia was beautiful.

"Do you want to check mine?" Mary asked.

Leticia smiled and came over to Mary.

It looked like the jackpots weren't over yet.

Cameron led the group toward the rear of the ship on the Promenade deck.

Allison and Vanna looked at the steak house and Italian restaurant along the way to the rear lounge and small theater.

Allison thought they could have come up with a better name for the Italian restaurant.

"Do they have to call it 'Tony's'?" Allison asked.

Cameron wondered what was wrong with the name. It sounded very Italian to her. It was also where then needed to go to evacuate the ship in case of an emergency.

"It is your muster station as well." Cameron said.

Allison did not like that name either.

"Where do these names come from?" Allison asked.

Vanna stopped and looked at the menu for Tony's. She saw several things she liked.

"Are they only open for dinner?" Vanna asked.

"Yes." Cameron said. "CamNet can have them do a special lunch just for our group. We are a VIP group. They will make anything for us."

John was not so sure about that idea.

"I don't think we should do that." John said. "That might raise too many eyebrows."

Cameron did not think it would be a problem for dinner one night. She remembered that Derek recommended the lasagna.

"We can eat in here any night." Cameron said. "We still have some time to do it."

Holly and Gail-Cam did not say much. They were happy to be with Allison and Vanna. They just went along with the girls they wanted this to be about them and each other.

John was happy with the main dining room.

"Everything in the main dining room is so good." John said. "I'd need to be on the ship for a month to eat everything that looks or sounds good."

Allison was aware of how rich the food was.

"You might end up at three hundred pounds too." Allison said.

Cameron did not think that sounded very healthy.

"I will make sure John picks up on his PT." Cameron said. "A week is long enough on the ship at a time." Cameron said.

Vanna knew their stay was short.

"Or a few days if that is all you can swing it." Vanna said.

Allison patted her belly gently.

"That's a good thing for us." Allison said. "We won't gain too much in just a few days."

Vanna tried to be funny.

"We're lucky to still have our youthful figures." Vanna said. "I'd hate to lose that."

Allison looked at Vanna's nursing breasts and at her own belly area. She thought maybe they were 'bad' schoolgirls at best.

Vanna smiled.

"I can increase your physical training." Gail-Cam said. "I can keep you fit and toned, Vanna."

That was about the last thing on Vanna's mind right now.

"That sounds like too much work." Vanna said. "I need an easier activity."

Now it was Allison's turn to make a wisecrack.

"She'll be happy to increase her activity in the bedroom." Allison said. "I'll help her out with that."

Vanna and Allison boldly 'high fived' each other over that 'workout'

"Now you're talking." Vanna said. "That's just my speed."

Cameron received an update from CamNet through Jim. She visibly stiffened some. It was the news she feared. She looked at John and then at Vanna and Allison.

"Maybe John can help you out." Cameron said.

Vanna and Allison looked at each other. It looked like Cameron was going to 'lean' on them again after all.

Vanna didn't want any problems for Cameron or anyone.

"We would not want to intrude." Vanna said.

Allison still wanted to try it at least once in a loving way. She'd been ready to try it with John since they were in her future. Her next sentence just slipped out.

"I don't think one time would hurt anything." Allison said.

Vanna shot Allison a challenging glance. Two can play that game.

"Maybe not. I'd like to have a choice one time." Vanna said. "I don't think one time would hurt anything."

John felt very uncomfortable. He was not sure what Cameron was after. If Cameron put any female in his bed and it was her choice to be there as well, he was not going to turn them down again. He was not going to look a 'gift horse' in the mouth any longer. He was still surprised Cameron did not put Claire or Jesse there before they got off the ship in Catalina.

Cameron wanted John protected. She smiled at John, Vanna and Allison.

"Remember, what happens on the ship, stays on the ship." Cameron said.

Vanna and Allison looked at each other again. Maybe Cameron was serious.

Allison and Vanna both felt the competitive juices rise in them. That wasn't the only juices that began to stir in them either. They both began to anticipate a sexual encounter. Their bodies began to respond accordingly. It was a natural response.

Both of them knew that Vanna was better in bed with a female and she had a lot more experience with men even if it wasn't her choice.

Vanna could not help but reflect that when the girl next to you was sprawled on the ground with the side of her head blown open, you did what they told you when that same gun was now pointed at the side of your head. There was no escape possible when you were dead. Maybe that was the 'escape' for the other girl.

Cam-Gail and Hanna tried to make the most of each other in the Honeymoon suite.

Cam-Gail was very satisfied with her current chassis. The more she used Cam's chassis, the more she liked it. She wondered if Savannah would be with her again while she was in that chassis. She was lucky that she was able to have Cameron use her chassis and Cam's chassis with her chip in it.

She would see if Cam wanted to trade for a longer time period. She did miss her large breasts but not as much as she did her small secret spot. Those were the two things John seemed to like most about her chassis, especially the latter.

"I'm still here." Hanna said.

"I'm sorry." Cam-Gail said. "I was distracted."

Hanna wondered by what. They were the only ones in the room.

Young Allison waited until Savannah walked away. She went and rigged her Thermite grenade to one piece of machinery next to the energy ball. It was still the same size but brighter. She used a piece of wire to act as a pull cord or as a trip wire.

She checked back at the spiral staircase and then at where Savannah went. Maybe she would drop down and see what was at the bottom of the staircase.

The Rockabilly Trio was just about to start to play when Cameron's entourage entered the rear lounge. They tuned their instruments some.

Cameron led them over to some open seats. There were only four of them together. Holly and Gail-Cam moved to the back without a word.

Cameron received the message about the anti-Metal faction earlier. It disturbed her greatly.

She looked where she was and with whom. She sat with John, Allison and Vanna. She realized in that moment that this was the 'Natural Order' more or less. It was the same cast anyway. This was more than a coincidence. She needed to protect John and here were two beautiful girls sitting with them that could do that. If Cameron could get one of them to come to the Owner's Suite tonight she was going to promote it. Ally's virginity might have to wait. She wanted to give John the 'real thing'.

The guitar player who was the lead singer stepped up to the mic.

"Earlier tonight and earlier on the cruise a few of you may have listened to some of the 'County' music that proceeded rockabilly and some of you may have heard the 'British Invasion' that followed. We just wanted to let you all know why rockabilly still rules the roost."

They started to play and sing. They were the same songs they played before and that the Metal girls played.

The vibrations of the music filled the room. The bass and drums drove the beat. The music was very physical in its nature.

Cameron wanted Vanna or Allison to dance with John.

She wanted John to feel a 'real' female in his arms. He could feel her naked in his bed later too.

"Would you like to dance?" Cameron asked John.

John looked at Cameron and smiled.

"Sure." John said.

Cameron smiled at him and they both stood.

"Here are your dance partners." Cameron said as she placed him in front of Vanna and Allison. "Have some fun."

Cameron stepped back and joined Holly and Gail-Cam.

They both looked at her.

"There is a positive hit on the anti-Metal faction." Cameron said.

Holly and Gail-Cam nodded in acknowledgement.

"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." Cameron said.

The three of them were prepared to do just that. It was not something to relish but it was the way of the future. This was not about anyone trying to 'steal' someone from someone else. They were all beyond that. Everyone knew who 'belonged' to whom. There was no reason there could not be a little sharing. It was what all the girls did anyway with each other.

What could it hurt?

No, really.

What could it hurt?