Chapter 1377


Open The Door


Savannah and Cammy made their way to the front of the tech firm. They were going in as the 'property management team' for a review of the facility. They were supposed to observe the condition of the building, address any potential maintenance issues and do a safety inspection.

All indications were that this started out as a legitimate company. It was taken over by Grays. It appeared this was the result of someone in upper management being involved with the Syndicate hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Something 'happened' in their hotel room and the Syndicate 'took care' of it for them. It was usually being 'caught' with a male or female that was 'underage' or a dead 'escort' or 'call girl' in their bed. It was all being done behind the scenes. Most of the employees were with the firm prior to the takeover. They did not have a clue they were doing Skynet's dirty work. In fact, none of them even knew what Skynet was.

They were about halfway through the inspection. The representative was away right now on another issue. It was really John Henry that called to distract them. He observed them and listened to everything as it happened.

"Have you seen any Grays or Metal?" Savannah asked.

Cammy was on the lookout for any.

"No." Cammy said. "I have not noticed anyone have an adverse reaction to you or me either."

Savannah knew the reaction that Fanatics seemed to have to her.

"That must be a good thing. I don't think any Fanatics are here." Savannah said. "Maybe we don't need to worry about the building blowing up."

Cammy hoped not.

"I need to get into their 'clean room'." Cammy said. "If there are any Grays, they will most likely be in there with the main computers."

Savannah wondered if there was a version of Skynet here. They'd encountered a version of SkyMaster in the basement of the old newspaper plant the other day.

"Do you think there is a Skynet mainframe?" Savannah asked.

John Henry checked the energy usage here for the last year. There was an increase in the power that was used in the last few months.

"There is a possibility one is under development." Cammy said. "I think there may be several locations that work in conjunction with each other so everything is not located in one place. There are other locations associated with this business."

Cammy watched what some of the programmers worked on.

"Do you see anything Skynet related in what they're doing?" Savannah asked.

"No. Nothing has stuck out so far. I think this is the legitimate part of the business." Cammy said. "It gives cover to the rest of what goes on in here."

Near where they were at a female got up from a cubical. They watched her walk toward the bathroom. Cammy looked around and sat down at her station. She was quickly in the system under the ID of the regular user. This was a welcome break for them.

Savannah spotted their representative on the way back. She moved to intercept them before they spotted Cammy at the computer terminal in the cubical. She looked at her clipboard and walked away from where Cammy was.

"Where's your partner?" The representative asked.

Savannah wanted to deflect his attention.

"She's using the restroom." Savannah said. "She will also inspect it as she does."

The representative looked towards the restroom.

Savannah knew they'd better get away from where the guide could see the restroom door. She looked back at Cammy who saw what she was doing and heard what she said.

"I need to see the loading dock." Savannah said.

The representative looked at the back of the building.

"Follow me." The representative said.

They were away from the restroom and where Cammy was in the cubical at. Now all Cammy needed to do was finish up before the other female returned.


Young Allison did not like Savannah and Cammy in close proximity to potential Grays. They were not armored up and they were not packing much firepower.

They'd watched the cruise ship pass under the Golden Gate Bridge a short time ago without incident.

"I think it was a little more dramatic when you flew under it." Anna said.

Young Allison liked everything that happened that day. She felt she'd been a little too pushy.

"I think I pushed it a little too much on that outing." Young Allison said. "I know that Savannah was uncomfortable with what I did on several levels that day."

Anna thought she knew why.

"You wanted to show Savannah that you were capable of everything." Anna said. "That is understandable."

Young Allison thought she still pushed it. She was overly aggressive when she didn't need to be. Everyone accommodated her and her desires. It was best not to dwell on it.

"I don't know." Young Allison said. "It's in the past now."

They watched the internal security cameras in the building where Cammy and Savannah were now. They could see what happened and what Savannah needed to do to give Cammy time and space to 'work'.

"Savannah and Cammy are split up right now." Anna said.

Young Allison disliked that. There was still a lot they couldn't see.

"Why can't we see what's happening in the clean room?" Young Allison asked. "I'm sure as soon as Cammy is done on that computer that is where they are going to go for the conclusion of their inspection."

Anna checked for updated from John Henry and CamNet.

"They can't find the feed if there is one in the 'clean room'." Anna said. "John Henry reported that Cammy has him in the system now. There were a few Skynet firewalls she needed to bypass."

Young Allison spotted a new problem.

"Great, the female is out of the bathroom and headed back to her cubical." Young Allison said.

John Henry sent Cammy an advisory.

"Cammy has been alerted." Anna said. "She will be gone by the time the worker returns."

As they watched, Cammy slipped out of the cubical and went in the opposite direction the female returned from. She knew where Savannah was and headed that way.

Savannah was on the dock and inspected the trash compactor and the dock lift. It appeared to be a recent addition. It was not hard wired in.

"What about this overhead electrical wire?" Savannah asked. "That looks like an addition that was not on the plans. We don't want any circuit overloads. It looks like a shifting load could rip the wire loose. The shower of sparks from the electrical cord could start a fire or shock someone."

The representative could see she was correct.

Cammy was back with them now. She wanted to get things concluded.

"We need to check the 'clean room' now." Cammy said.

The representative looked nervous.

"That area is off limits except for authorized personnel." The representative said.

Cammy smiled.

"That is good news then. I am authorizing myself." Cammy said. "We need to check the wiring. We don't want any circuit overloads. We need to pay for the building's insurance and a circuit overload and resulting damage could jump our premium by thousands of dollars. Do you have any idea what a fire would do to the premiums?"

The representative looked at the hanging electrical cord that Savannah pointed out just a minute earlier.

Cammy headed over towards the 'clean room' door.

Savannah showed the guide a piece of paper. It was the building lease. They walked to where Cammy waited.

"It says right here we can inspect any part of the building at any time in the case of a suspected fire code violation." Savannah said. "Safety comes first. The lives and well being of your employees should be top priority. Open the door."

The representative hesitated.

The Terminator in Cammy started to show.

"Do it. NOW." Cammy said.

The representative tried to use their phone but it did not work. They went to a nearby desk and tried a phone there it worked but the call did not connect. It just rang on the other end.

"I'm checking." The representative said.

She moved up to the keypad.

"I will do it myself." Cammy said.

The representative hurried back and stopped her from touching it.

"I will need to go in first." The representative said.

Cammy moved back. She indicated for Savannah to wait outside.

Savannah saw Cammy touch her Taser and M9. She checked her weapons too.

The representative opened the door and went to go inside.

"Wait here." The representative said.

Cammy reached up and caught the door before it closed.

She followed the guide inside.

"You can't be in here." The representative said.

Cammy smiled and pushed past him.

"Did you really think we are going to let you cover up safety violations?" Cammy asked.

Savannah slipped her clipboard in the gap between the door and the frame. It looked like the door was closed but it was not. She could get in and Cammy could get out depending on the situation.

Cammy noted there were three technicians in the 'clean room'. They all looked over at the intrusion. They seemed surprised and upset.

Cammy spotted what look like part of a Skynet main frame.

"You can't be in here." One technician said.

She moved to the back of the large electrical cabinet.

"I'm checking for electrical wiring violations." Cammy said. "I can see there are several infractions right here."

The three technicians became alarmed. They looked at the representative that let Cammy in. They were clearly upset and angry.

"I tried to keep her out." The representative said. "None of you answered your phones. I came in to see what happened. She followed me in on her own."

Cammy thought the technicians were Grays. She'd seen enough.

"I won't report it this time but get that wiring in order and spread out the circuit load. If there is a fire it is on you people." Cammy said.

Cammy turned to leave.

The technicians were unsure what to do. One of them started to move towards her. It looked like he was going to restrain Cammy.

The representative saw what was about to happen.

"Her associate is outside." The representative said quickly.

Cammy turned back and faced them.

"Remember safety is our number one priority." Cammy said.

She quickly exited the room.

The three angry technicians faced the representative.

"What the Hell was that?" One technician asked. "You know no one is allowed in here. That includes you."

The representative was a little worried. The three technicians were a rough lot.

"She only looked at the electrical hookups, not at what you were doing." The representative said.

"Get them to the storage containers out in the back." A second technician said. "We will deal with them out there. We don't want anyone to see."

The representative did not like that idea. He exited the 'clean room'.

Cammy and Savannah were gone.

He looked back at the 'clean room' door and swallowed hard. This was going to mean trouble.


John Henry warned Cammy and Savannah off. He received the same message from CamNet and the Young bunker.

Cammy placed a listening device in the 'clean room'. He heard the Gray's plans to get them to an isolated area for further 'questioning'. The best thing was for Cammy and Savannah to withdraw at this point so none of the employees were injured or killed in the cross fire that was sure to follow if they'd stayed.


Anna and Young Allison listened to everything as it went down.

"That situation is going to go hot." Young Allison said. "Savannah and Cammy can handle three Grays but there might be a lot of collateral damage in that crowded environment."

Anna agreed with that assessment. She wanted Young Allison to make a decision.

"What should they do?" Anna asked.

Young Allison did not like to 'run' but there was more at stake here.

"In this case they need to withdraw." Young Allison said. "We can find out more now by what actions the Grays take to deal with this. Pull them out and prepare to have Richard and Michael back up their withdrawal if they are followed."


The representative exited the 'clean room' and looked around there was no sign of Cammy or Savannah.

He looked down both halls on either side.

One of the technicians came out of the 'clean room'.

"Where are they?" The technician asked.

The representative looked around.

"They're gone." The representative said.

"Where'd they go?" The technician asked.

"They're just gone." The representative said.

The technician looked worried. He went back into the 'clean room'.

"Those inspectors left." The technician said.

The leader of the trio did not look happy.

"Find out where they went and we will deal with them." The leader said.

"Maybe we should just drop it." The technician said. "She said she would not report the violations if we fixed them. That means she should be back to check in a day or two. We can put the grab on her then if we need to. Her bosses know she's here now. If she disappears they will know where she was when it happened. There was an assistant with her as well."

The leader did not look pleased. He planned some 'personal time' with Cammy once they took her into custody.

"I don't like it." The leader said. "I think we've been made. All our other operations have been taken down previously. I think we're next."

The technicians knew those were all violent take downs.

"We're not under attack." The second technician said.

"Not yet. That might change." The technician said.

The leader took out his phone.

"I'd better call the boss." The leader said.

The three Grays figured they were in for a heap of trouble one way or another at this point.


John Henry monitored the conversation and was ready to trace the call to the 'boss'.

Hank and Larry could deal with wherever that call went. He'd kept them on standby.

He made sure Savannah and Cammy were clear.

Michael and Richard followed them out as they drove away. There was no tail.


A minute ago:

Cammy exited the 'clean room'. She knew the trio was steamed. She headed for Savannah.

"Let's move." Cammy said. "They're going to come after me."

They received a transmission to that effect from John Henry as they headed for an exit. He'd heard their plans from the bug Cammy left behind.

Savannah and Cammy picked up their pace and hurried out of the building.

Cammy tossed Savannah the keys.

"You drive." Cammy said. "I need to download the images of the Grays and what I saw to John Henry and CamNet.

They got in the car and drove away.

Cammy plugged in a tether from her neck port into a laptop computer. She sent all the information off as they drove and listened.

She listened to the conversation in the 'clean room' with Savannah from the 'bug' she'd left behind. Cammy gave a complete rundown as to what she observed in the 'clean room'.

"We need to dump this ride. I'm sure it has a target on it." Savannah said. "If they come out they will look for it."

Cammy planned to pay them a visit later on tonight since she left without saying 'goodbye'. She didn't want to seem 'rude'.

"Once the people go home I need to go back there." Cammy said.

Savannah already figured on that. It did not look like they'd be able to follow up with Steve and Tom later on.

"If they are Grays and there is some version of Skynet there we need to bring it all down." Savannah said. "What is the lead on the 'Boss?"

Cammy did not know.

"John Henry will have to track the call." Cammy said. "We will deal with them too."

Savannah wondered where this was all headed. She knew everything would be destroyed or confiscated. She didn't know what else would happen.

"Let's hope there are plenty of drones to go around for all of this." Savannah said. "We need to sit tight for awhile."

She knew that would prompt the Young bunker and CamNet to make sure everything was covered.


Young Allison and Anna received the images from Cammy and the transmissions from the 'clean room'. They heard Cammy's and Savannah's conversation too.

"I want three drones to be available to follow those Grays if they leave." Young Allison said. "We know what they look like now."

Anna checked.

"CamNet has plenty of drones on station or enroute." Anna said. "Everything is covered including our teams."

Young Allison was not sure where this would go before the night was done. She was sure there were fireworks that would follow.


Cameron led John and the others. They exited from the rear elevator on the Promenade deck and headed forward. There were not that many people on the upper decks. A lot of people were getting off the ship.

Vanna noticed the lines of people that started to form.

"Are those all people getting off now?" Vanna asked.

"Yes." Cameron said. "None of the dining rooms will be full tonight."

Allison wondered why the people would get off to go somewhere to eat since all their meals were included.

"They should eat first and then get off." Allison said.

John knew some people wanted to try some of the San Francisco eateries.

"I'd like to hit Fisherman's Wharf for some fresh seafood." John said.

The group was now in front of Tony's

"Do you mean for dinner?" Vanna asked.

John did not want to mess anything up.

"We can still eat dinner here." John said. "I thought maybe we could eat at Fisherman's Wharf tomorrow for lunch. We might be out still. It's a thought anyway."

Cameron thought the girls would want to ride the cable car too.

"One of the cable car lines has a terminus right by Fisherman's Wharf." Cameron said. "We can do a city tour and ride the cable car line that goes there."

That sounded exciting to Vanna and Allison. That was something they'd only seen on TV or in the movies.

"I'm in." Vanna said.

Allison wondered about the entertainment tonight on the ship.

"Is there singing in the main theater again tonight?" Allison asked.

"There is a comedian." Cameron said. "We can spend some time out on the town at night if you want."

Allison did not like to go out at night. Bad things always happened at night in the future to females.

"Is it safe?" Allison asked.

Vanna and Allison looked a little worried.

"It's never safe." Cameron said.

Vanna and Allison looked even more concerned.

John looked at Cameron, Holly and Gail-Cam. He could see Vanna and Allison were worried. He wanted to calm their fears.

"I think you'll be protected." John said.

It was still a worry to Vanna on several levels.

"I read there is a really bad homeless problem here." Vanna said. "The article said there was a lot of human waste and used needles lying around on the sidewalks."

Cameron did not want to point out that was the result of bad city management and not enforcing the existing laws that were on the books. She was aware that many of the homeless would become Scavengers in the future or preyed up by Scavengers. Most would be dead in a few years after Judgment Day. Very few would join the Resistance.

"We will avoid those areas." Cameron said. "In fact we can do a helicopter tour tonight. Not only can we do San Francisco we can do the whole Bay Area."

John knew the Blackhawk was at Catalina when they left there.

"Is our Blackhawk here now?" John asked.

Cameron smiled.

"As a matter of fact it is." Cameron said. "We also have the van here if you want to drive over the bridges. We could do that later on after most of the traffic is gone."

"That sounds better than a bus tour." Allison said. "We have our own wheels and a helicopter to use. I still want to do the cable car tomorrow. That sounds like fun."

John wanted to give them all some options. He looked at Allison and Vanna.

"We can do any of those things in any order you two want." John said.

Vanna looked towards a window. It was heavily tinted.

"Will it still be light when we finish dinner if we eat here?" Vanna asked.

Cameron previously arranged all their dinner times to coincide with sunset.

"It will be twilight." Cameron said. "The sun sets during our dinnertime."

Vanna went over to the side and looked out a window.

"The streets looked jammed with traffic and there is a mass of people getting off the ship right now." Vanna said.

Vanna came over and spoke with Allison. They'd looked at some of the brochures in the suite. They went over some of the things they wanted to do.

"We can eat dinner here now at Tony's like we planned." Vanna said. "When we are done we can see how the traffic is. We can ride the van over the bridges if the traffic has eased or take the helicopter and fly above the traffic."

Cameron was pleased to hear that.

"We can do any of it again in the daytime too." Cameron said. "We arrived early and we can always leave late tomorrow. The ship can make good time if it is pushed a little. We will have the current at our back so the ride will be smoother at top speed."

John did not like to push things too much.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow." John said. "I just want to make sure everyone is good and we are all on the same page."

Allison smiled.

"We will eat here now." Allison said. "After that we will either ride in the van and cross the bridges or take a helicopter flight. We can do both one after the other and do it again tomorrow."

Vanna wanted to get it all in.

"We will ride the cable cars tomorrow and end up at Fisherman's Wharf tomorrow for lunch." Vanna said.

Holly thought of some other attractions. She thought the girls and John could be adequately protected on them.

"There is also the Alcatraz tour and several rail lines to ride. There is BART, the Muni and the commuter rail line." Holly said.

Vanna saw a streetcar pass by when she looked out the window.

"I spotted a few vintage looking streetcars on the street outside." Vanna said. "Is that just a tourist attraction or part of the transportation system?"

"It's actually both." Cameron said. "I spotted a PCC streetcar painted for 'Pacific Electric' earlier."

John remembered the 'Pacific Electric' streetcar they saw when they left from San Pedro. Too bad Kyle wasn't here. He knew a lot of railroad related things.

"Did the 'Pacific Electric' come here to Frisco?" John asked. "You said they had over a thousand miles of track."

"No, the 'Pacific Electric' was mostly in the 'greater Los Angeles area' and surrounding communities." Cameron said. "They have streetcars from other cities or painted to look like other city's streetcars here in San Francisco."

"It's time for our reservation." Gail-Cam said.

Cameron led the group to the front desk of Tony's. As soon as she showed her card they were taken to the table with the best view. The view was not that good tied up to the dock.

They were provided with the menus from Tony's and the steak house restaurant next to them as a courtesy.

"It looks like we can order a steak as well as the Italian food." John said.

Cameron smiled.

"You have three extra people to order things for any of you." Cameron said. "We can also order something from the main dining room if you want."

Allison was pleased at the level of service and selection.

"This sure beats eating garbage for dinner." Allison said.

"I'll say." Vanna said. "And that was better than nothing."

They decided to order from the menu at Tony's to keep it simple for the staff. There were plenty of choices and there was a steak too.

It looked like it was to be a good dinner.

Cameron reminded them that they could always 'try' things and they did not need to finish everything. They were still uneasy with the concept of allowing good food to be wasted.


Mary, Laura and Leticia talked about what to do once the ship began to dock. They did not want to watch the procedure. It looked boring to them.

They decided they would go out and hit the town.

Mary looked at Leticia.

"Remember, you're not using our credit cards." Mary said.

Leticia looked a little upset.

"I did everything for that 'crazy Bitch'." Leticia said. "She owed me something. She couldn't even 'ring my bell'. I got her off like four times. That thing looked like the 'Grand Canyon' too."

Laura noticed a few people turn around with that revelation by Leticia.

"Relax." Laura said. "People are looking."

Leticia touched her cheek. The memory was still fresh.

"I'm sorry." Leticia said. "She almost cut my face open."

Mary wanted Leticia to use digression and caution.

"She probably doesn't remember a thing or thinks it was a dream if she does." Mary said. "Just stay away from her. You can't expect 'Sue' to be there every time you need her."

Mary still had the cash that 'Peggy' won for her or showed her how to win actually.

"How did "Sue' know to save you?" Mary asked.

"She was just there." Leticia said. "She was like Supergirl."

Laura was glad for their intervention as well.

"They were there for me too." Laura said.

"They helped me out too." Mary said.

Mary and Laura were aware that 'Peggy' and 'Ann' provided them with some of the best sex they'd ever experienced. They didn't have a clue what it would be like with one of the Metal girls. That was something that might change soon enough.


Sheila looked at Ally, Cam-Gail and Hanna.

"What do you girls want to do tonight?" Sheila asked.

Cam-Gail thought the team should come first.

"We should find out what John, Vanna and Allison are doing so we can reinforce them." Cam-Gail said.

Ally felt it was covered.

"They have plenty of protection." Ally said. "Dan and Frank are in town and will shadow them if they go out. Jim and Bob may go out as well."

The Metal girls listened to what Mary, Laura and Leticia were going to do.

Sheila hoped for a little more action or at least interaction.

"Let's follow them." Sheila said as she pointed at them.

Ally nodded.

"They look like they know where to find the action." Ally said.

"'Action' is my middle name." Sheila said.

Cam-Gail tilted her head slightly. It seemed Sheila had a lot of middle names.