Chapter 1380
Golden Gate Park
Cam-Gail returned to the Control Center and plugged in. CamNet provided her with some disturbing updates. The pending operation with Savannah was her biggest concern. The trouble with the human girls from the ship seemed to be another escalating problem.
She directed Sheila, Ally and Hanna where to go. It did not look like they would be able to reach the three girls in time to assist them.
She didn't want to disturb Cameron's helicopter flight but she was afraid she might have to. She didn't know how big of a problem things would turn into. It appeared the girls from the ship would be assaulted at this point.
If Sheila and her team arrived they may be damaged some when they went to assist them. There appeared to be at least fifteen assailants in several different groups. The girls were trapped between the different groups up against a lake.
She thought about what Savannah would want and what Young Allison would do.
That made her next decision easy.
She planned to call in a drone strike. She was surprised to see the drones were already headed there. It appeared someone else was on top of this.
Cameron continued her helicopter flight around the San Francisco area. She pointed out all the major buildings along with City Hall and various other local landmarks.
John, Allison and Vanna thought it was a fantastic view.
The Terminators all liked the flight too.
Cameron flew down the inside of the bay towards the airport when she received some disturbing news. CamNet contacted her directly with the impending action in Golden Gate Park. She made sure all the Terminators on board received the information. She did not want John, Allison and Vanna to know what was about to happen at this moment. Events were already in motion to prevent that. It was doubtful any of them would work short of an outright drone attack in the middle of a city park.
Cameron upped the power and the Blackhawk picked up speed.
John noticed the increase in power from the Blackhawk. He could tell right away that Cameron must have gone to full power as she brought the Blackhawk around hard. That was not a sightseeing maneuver. It was more of a combat maneuver.
"What's wrong?" John asked. "What is it?"
Cameron wanted to downplay the situation.
"There is an issue with some of the passengers from the ship." Cameron said.
John wondered why it involved them.
Allison and Vanna picked up on the threat right away.
"I bet it's Mary and Laura." Vanna said.
Cameron glanced back.
"It is." Cameron said. "It's their other friend Leticia as well."
Cameron gave all of them the information she knew. It did not set well with Allison and especially Vanna.
John was worried now too. Those girls were pretty. He looked back and he saw that Vanna and Allison both had weapons out. There was no mistaking Allison's Model 66. The Terminators were all armed too. He expected to see an M60 or M249 appear in the door on one side of the helicopter but that didn't happen, at least not yet.
Ken and Lou replaced Cameron and John in the pilot and co-pilots seat. Cameron wanted to free herself up for action.
The Blackhawk thundered back up the peninsula at full power. The modified helicopter made good time.
Earlier:
Sheila was apprised of the seriousness of the situation. Her driving increased to her full Terminator ability. The convertible was pushed to its maximum and beyond.
Ally could sense the extreme danger they were in driving like this. She checked to make sure the vehicle was equipped with air bags. It was. It would have been nice to have a roll bar in addition to the air bags. That was a luxury they didn't have.
"This is like in that one movie." Ally said.
Hanna made a guess.
"Gone In Sixty Seconds?" Hanna asked.
"No. It was the one filmed here in San Francisco." Ally said. "Bullitt."
Sheila smiled.
"Hang on." Sheila said. "Steve McQueen is my middle name."
Hanna tilted her head slightly. It seemed that Sheila possessed quite a few 'middle' names.
Mary, Laura and Leticia were surrounded. What looked like it might be their way out was cut off. There was a third group that now approached them from the street. That exit might have been their salvation.
The three girls stopped running. There was nowhere to go.
"What are we going to do?" Laura asked.
Mary was desperate to escape.
"We can try and go in the pond." Mary said. "Maybe they won't follow us."
"How deep is it?" Leticia asked. "I don't swim."
Mary thought things like this only happened to other people.
"Why is this happening to us?" Mary asked.
Laura thought things could happen to anyone.
Leticia made the decision to buy them some time. She would face the attackers alone. She would give them what they wanted.
"You two go on. Try and make a break for it across the water." Leticia said. "I'll stay here. I've dealt with this before growing up. Don't worry about me. You know I'm a survivor. I'll do whatever they want."
Mary didn't know Leticia that well but she did not want to abandon her. She didn't want to go through a gang assault either.
Leticia could see they were hesitant to try and make a water escape.
"Go." Leticia said. "It will be over quick enough."
Mary and Laura still hesitated to abandon her.
It was too late.
The gang caught up to them.
"Nice night for a walk." The leader said. "I think we all know what's going to happen here."
That brought a round of laughter and cat calls from the gang members.
"Just strip and your clothes won't be ruined." The female gang member said. "It's no big deal if you go along with it. None of them will needed more than a few minutes with each of you."
It seemed like a big deal to Mary and Laura.
Leticia knew she was right. She was ready to undress.
The new group of assailants that came from the street was almost to them somehow. They moved very fast.
The gang leader looked up. He was surprised anyone would challenge them. The homeless group was still off to the side as they awaited their turn.
"Well, it looks like things just got better." The leader said. "We might even have some leftovers for the homeless creeps now."
Mary, Laura and Leticia were bewildered by what they saw.
It was Peggy, Sue and Ann. Where did they come from? Didn't they know the danger they were in?
Ally, Sheila and Hanna were there now.
Sheila walked up to the gang leader. It was clear she was unafraid.
"Is this what they call Yank hospitality, love?" Sheila asked. "I'm just new in town."
Hanna and Ally calmed the three girls down. They reassured them that they were going to be OK.
The homeless group further slowed in their approach off to the side. They did not want to have a run-in with the gang but would wait for the 'leftovers' when the gang was done. They were all pleased to see there were three more females. That would cut down on the wait time for each of their 'turns'.
Life was good in Frisco.
Anna tried to keep Young Allison from getting involved in what was happening in San Francisco.
"That is not your concern." Anna said.
Young Allison saw it differently.
"The Metal girls are there." Young Allison said. "That makes it my concern."
They looked at some drone footage. There were two of them there ready to lend direct fire support if necessary. They were in close. They were out of human earshot. The miniguns were armed and hot. They'd already established targets between them and back up targets in case one of them was downed. That seemed unlikely based on the targets. It was standard procedure for them in an attack. That way there'd be no confusion on what targets to strike next. The Metal girls knew they were there.
"You need to use restraint." Anna said.
Young Allison thought she was.
"I have not unleashed CamNet on them yet." Young Allison said. "Make no mistake. I will if I have to."
Young Allison knew CamNet was processing targeting information as they spoke.
Anna did not want an incident.
"They have it under control." Anna said. "Cameron is almost there. She will be shortly. She will direct the action."
Young Allison did not like waiting.
"We'll see." Young Allison said.
The drones all requested the command to act.
Savannah asked for close in drone scans one more time on the building they needed to enter.
Cammy looked at the results.
"Nothing shows up." Cammy said.
Savannah did not like this at all.
"I don't think if they were working on a version of Skynet in there that they would just leave." Savannah said.
The drone scan indicated zero activity in the building. It appeared everyone left when the building closed down for the night. There were drones watching for the three men that Cammy identified in the clean room. They were never spotted leaving.
"I don't think so either unless they were able to take everything with them." Cammy said. "They could have removed all the hard drives and left the support equipment behind."
"Maybe that's what they did." Savannah said. "Once they couldn't reach 'the Boss' they must have figured out what happened and that they were next. What about the energy usage?"
John Henry was on top of it.
"There has been minor usage since the building closed." John Henry said. "There's no Skynet hook up that I can detect. There is minimal information flowing in or out of that building. There appears to be several computers that are processing SETI data. That is probably one worker that decided to use the electricity at work. It's an effective strategy to cut home electrical costs."
That didn't leave them any closer to an answer where the men went.
"I'm going to need to take a look inside the building." Cammy said.
This still reeked as a 'setup' to Savannah.
"We can always blow up the building." Savannah said. "The workers are out."
Savannah also knew the workers would be out of jobs tomorrow if the building was flattened. Most of those workers were unaware who their new boss was.
Cammy thought some conclusive answers would be better.
"That won't give us any answers." Cammy said. "We need to know what happened."
Savannah thought about how involved the operation was last night. At least Young Allison was not here for this one. They could use a few answers for once.
"Let's go take a look." Savannah said.
The Terminators knew that would endanger Savannah.
"We can go." Richard and Michael both said at the same time.
Cammy felt she was the best qualified to go.
"I've already been inside the 'clean room'." Cammy said. "I'll go."
Savannah was not going to let Cammy go alone.
"We're both going." Savannah said. "I want a non standard entry. I don't want to enter through a door if we can avoid it."
Drone scans from altitude earlier began to show up on the laptop. As well as the buildings plans. From their earlier 'inspection' of the building the plans matched what they witnessed. The 'clean room' was the only new addition.
Cammy looked over everything.
"That leaves us with another window entry, a hole in the wall or a hole through the roof." Cammy said. "Two of those are going to make a lot of noise."
Savannah looked again. There was no interior roof access. It was all outside with a ladder at the rear of the building. There were no skylights either. The air conditioning unit was outside along the side of the building.
"I guess it's another window entry." Savannah said.
Cammy recalled the alarm system and any motion detectors that she'd spotted.
"The alarm system is basic." Cammy said. "It won't pose a problem. John Henry can bypass it and make it appear that it is on after he shuts it off."
Savannah did not think this was intended as a 'setup' but that it may have become one.
"What about alternate ways into the clean room?" Savannah asked. "It was on somewhat of a raised platform."
"That was for the electrical wiring and cooling system." Cammy said.
That statement made Savannah wonder about it.
"Was it a big enough area for the men to hide in?" Savannah asked.
Cammy became concerned.
"It's possible." Cammy said. "They could be under the computer equipment. There was only minimal room. They would need to lie flat and be concealed below the floor panels. They would not be able to move around much at all."
It did not sound like the men would have room to fight either. They would need to use the restroom at some point. There'd been no movement detected at all inside.
"I don't think they are in there." Savannah said. "I think they gave us the slip."
Cammy thought about going by the representative's house that acted as their guide earlier.
"Maybe I should visit the guy who 'showed' us around." Cammy said. "He knows there is something going on here that's not part of the company."
Savannah was aware the Syndicate with the involvement of Grays was responsible for compromising a few things for people and using it against them.
"Remember not all of these people had a choice when they were 'leaned on'." Savannah said. "He may not be the owner but he works for the owner and must have been asked to 'look' the other way at times."
Cammy really didn't have any compassion for collaborators.
"Let's try a window and see what we find inside." Cammy said. "We may need to torch the place anyway."
Savannah thought about all the people that went to work today. Tomorrow they may all be unemployed. There may also be a few that don't survive the night.
"Let's go." Savannah said.
Cammy and Savannah exited the back of the van. Hank and Larry were in the back of the building and they moved a little closer. Richard and Michael would stay with the van for now. They had a lot of heavy weapons if they were necessary.
The girls made their way to the side of the building. They passed the men's and woman's restrooms. They both had a high window that was only to let light in. It was too small to enter from. They moved to a small office. It was next to the break room.
The window was only a piece of glass. It did not open.
Cammy looked at the window. It was mounted from the inside.
"I think I can get it out." Cammy said. "It may crack or break. It is held in differently than the others we removed."
Savannah did not like the delay. They were exposed and out in the open alongside the building.
"Maybe we should try a different one." Savannah said.
Cammy thought they would all be the same.
"I don't know if it will matter." Cammy said.
Savannah saw they were next to the break room.
"What about these windows here?" Savannah asked.
Cammy looked at them.
"They're the same." Cammy said.
Cammy headed for the back of the building.
Savannah saw that Larry and Hank moved up to meet them in the back. That was not what she'd expected.
"We can open a rear door." Hank said. "One of them has a keypad."
Savannah saw it was the employee entrance from the rear parking lot. They'd entered from the front earlier in the day.
Cammy looked over at the storage shed in the back. That was where the leader of the Grays told the representative to lure her out to. They wanted her isolated so they could 'deal with her'. That thought made her look forward to dealing with them.
"You work on the keypad." Cammy said to Larry. "Take it apart if you have to and make the connection."
She walked over towards the storage shed.
Savannah saw Cammy head over that way. This was not part of the plan.
"What are you doing?" Savannah asked.
"I want to check where they wanted to bring me earlier." Cammy said.
Savannah stopped Cammy.
"Maybe that's where they are now." Savannah said.
Cammy didn't see how they would get here without being spotted. The drones had been watching the location since they withdrew.
"I don't know." Cammy said.
Young Allison wanted to follow what was happening in San Francisco but Cammy and Savannah were on the move.
"Get a drone to scan that outbuilding right now." Young Allison said.
Anna knew that it had already been scanned.
"That was done earlier." Anna said.
Young Allison did not want any surprises.
"Do it again before they get there." Young Allison said.
Anna could see Young Allison's concern. She went to act but it was already being done.
CamNet acted on Young Allison's request.
There was a heat signature inside now. Anna issued the warning herself. There was no time to go through John Henry.
"Cammy, disengage." Anna quickly said. "Someone is in there."
They saw Cammy and Savannah stop. Cammy moved Savannah behind her.
"Target the shed." Young Allison said.
Young Allison wanted to be ready for action.
"It's locked up with a missile." Anna said. "Cammy and Savannah are too close."
Young Allison saw that a drone moved in closer. It was in easy gun range. She figured that was 'Coltan Overcast' or 'Cherry Bomb'. They would both be there to watch over Savannah.
"They're covered now." Young Allison said.
Anna checked.
"It's 'Coltan Overcast'." Anna said.
Young Allison smiled. She knew 'Pink Butterfly' would be there to help. Savannah renamed it 'Coltan Overcast' for personal reasons.
Cammy shielded Savannah with her chassis. They moved off to the side a little so they were not in front of the door. Cammy noted there was a spot for a padlock on the front of the shed. There wasn't one there now. She silently showed Savannah that as they moved further off to the side.
Savannah knew the level of concern, worry and danger went up dramatically in the last thirty seconds.
Hank left Larry at the rear door and came over to assist them.
John Henry looked back over the information feed. They listened over their coms.
"There appears to be one person standing inside the shed." John Henry said. "They are near the door."
They did not know if the person inside was listening or waiting to jump out and ambush them. How and when did they get there and remain undetected before?
Sheila walked up to the gang. They all looked at her and then at each other. It was clear she was not afraid of them.
She looked at the female gang member.
"Do you want to dance, love?" Sheila asked as she winked at her.
That seemed to upset the female gang member. She pulled out a knife. The male gang members voiced their approval and encouraged her to attack the 'crazy foreigner'.
She cursed and lunged at Sheila with the knife.
Sheila sidestepped and grabbed her wrist. Everyone could hear it break with a loud double 'crack' sound. Before the female could even scream Sheila hit her hard in the back of the neck and knocked her out. She didn't want to kill her yet.
Sheila now held the knife and held the limp female's head up by the hair as she pressed the knife to her throat. Her body hung at a angle below her suspended from her hair. That position made her throat very prominent.
"Who does this piece of trash belong to?" Sheila asked. "Does anyone what to claim her before I give her to that lot over there?"
Sheila indicated the group of homeless men that was still slowly closing. The new action almost stopped them.
The gang members were unsure what to do. They started to advance on Sheila. She pushed the knife into the unconscious female's neck and drew blood.
"Maybe you would like her better with an ear to ear grin." Sheila said. "Take off now and no one else gets hurt."
There was a round of insults and cussing. The gang members started to fan out. More knives were produced.
Ally and Hanna stayed with Mary, Laura and Leticia. They all carried their Taser and M9 as did Sheila. They hadn't pulled them out yet. There were two drones that were in close to back them up. They were both in gun range. If any gang member produced a firearm. The minigun on the closest drone would cut down the entire group.
From the near distance there was the increasing throb of a helicopter approaching.
A bright light came on and illuminated the group on the ground as the helicopter flew over the trees. As it overflew the group of homeless men, the helicopter did a 'water drop' on top of them. The Blackhawk was still configured as a firefighting helicopter. It slowed and showered the men. Most of them were knocked down. It was low to the ground and the heavy downward rotor wash added to the chaos. There were several thuds near the homeless men. That was Bob and Jim. They jumped down to make sure there were no 'problems'.
The Blackhawk continued towards Sheila. There was another thud and another figure approached the gang and Sheila. It was Cameron.
The Blackhawk landed next to the small lake. Hanna and Ally ushered the girls towards it. They appeared dumbfounded by everything that just happened. It was all like a crazy scene from an action movie. The only problem was that it was real for them.
Holly opened the other side door a little way. Allison and Vanna exited out the other side door and came around the front of the helicopter. They planned to 'replace' Ally and Hanna.
Holly, Gail-Cam and John helped the girls inside and Allison and Vanna reentered behind them. Ally and Hanna disappeared into the darkness.
It was hoped in the confusion that the Mary, Laura and Leticia would not notice the switch. They were not dressed exactly the same either.
Other than being terrified they seemed to notice Holly's breast size and then Gail-Cam's even larger size. The fact that Allison and Vanna were dressed different than Ally and Hanna hadn't registered on them. It was mostly dark and maybe they'd only looked at their faces. They had bigger issues to worry about than over anyone's wardrobe.
Ally and Hanna moved away in the darkness to assist Bob and Jim if necessary. Cameron and Sheila were armed and backed up by two drones.
The gang members were more intimidated by Cameron as she boldly walked up to them. They were even more impressed by her beauty.
Cameron faced the advancing gang members.
"Stop where you are." Cameron said as she glanced at Sheila. "If they take one more step give the slut a 'Glasgow Smile."
Sheila smiled and repositioned the knife inside the unconscious female's mouth. She was ready to slice her right cheek open all the way back. That was something she hadn't done before. She thought about doing it anyway. If the female would have been conscious she would have done it. She would want her to know it was her as she did it. She looked over at the Blackhawk and decided not to. She didn't want to scare Mary, Laura and Leticia any more than they already were.
There was gunfire over where the homeless group was. The gang members looked over that way and saw there were several figures lying on the ground. They did not move.
"Take off now and no one gets hurt worse." Cameron said. "It's just that simple. Think of your friend."
They looked at the female being held at an angle by her hair off of the ground with a knife in her mouth.
The gang members all held knives still. Cameron did not hold anything. The knife Sheila held was still poised to slice open the unconscious female's cheek.
The leader put his knife away. The others hesitated and did so themselves.
"We're cool." The leader said. "Give us Yolanda and we'll go."
There was the sound of more gunfire where the homeless men were. A figure looked like they were shooting the men that were down on the ground in their heads. It was hard to see in the dark gloom.
Cameron looked at the leader.
"Have your people run from here now." Cameron said. "You will stay."
The other gang members took off before the leader could even speak.
Sheila tossed the knife she held into the pond.
She let go of the unconscious female's hair and her face slammed into the ground. It sounded like a front tooth fractured, maybe it was both. It was probably her nose too. Sheila thought she got off lucky for threatening her. She considered reaching down inside her pants and crushing something into pulp with her thumb and index finger. That would put an end to her finishes.
"Pick her up and go." Cameron said.
The leader picked her up and turned to leave.
"This park belongs to us now." Sheila said. "If I see any of you here again I will kill you. This is MY park now, all of it."
Sheila eyes glowed red. The leaded staggered backwards and almost fell over. There was a foul smell in the air now.
"Who are you people?" The leader asked in fear.
Sheila smiled. Her eyes still glowed bright red.
"We're your worst nightmare." Sheila said.
The gang leader ran from the area as urine and feces flowed down his legs inside his pants. He was unaware of it as he ran with the female in his arms in utter terror.
Bob and Jim listened to the conversation with Cameron and Sheila. The group of homeless men was drenched with water. Those who could take off ran back the way they'd come. About half of them were down on the ground in stuck in slick mud now.
To play it up for Cameron, Bob fired his un-silenced M9 into the ground to make it look like he shot some of the men. He did it a second time. He could see the gang scatter a few seconds later. The rest of the homeless men took off a few seconds after that.
Ally and Hanna joined them from some trees nearby. They both held their silenced M9 at the ready.
They watched the Blackhawk lift off.
"We have a car." Ally said.
Ally and Hanna led Bob and Jim over that way. It appeared that they were done here for the night.
John Henry was able to contain all 911 traffic related to the incident in San Francisco. He made sure all emergency responders were out of the area and stayed out of the area.
Holly and Gail-Cam got Mary, Laura and Leticia buckled in and gave them all a pair of headphones.
Sheila and Cameron joined them a short time later. Cameron closed the door and the Blackhawk lifted off.
The girls all talked at once.
Sheila motioned for them to listen.
"We were on a sightseeing tour when our pilot spotted some trouble on the ground." Sheila said. "I was surprised to find out it was you three. Would you like to join our Bay Area tour flight? It's free."
The three girls seemed to be at a loss for words now. They thanked Cameron, Sheila and the others for saving them.
There were thousands of thoughts flowing through their minds and silent prayers of thanks for what was barely avoided.
"Save your questions until the flight is done." Cameron said.
Cameron watched John check out the three girls sitting across from him. She could see he liked Leticia the best.
Allison and Vanna noticed it as well. They did too.
Leticia was as fine as they came. It was all natural beauty too.
