Kyle Reese sits in the passenger seat of a Humvee with the T-X behind the wheel. They drivve along Highway 14 north of Mojave. The Humvee takes a left turn onto a dirt road winding up the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is dark, and the stars can be clearly seen, forming the constellations. "I hope this is worth it," says Kyle, checking the dashboard clock which indicates the time as 0203. "I mean, we just stole this vehicle."
"We are borrowing it. It will still be in possession of the Army after we are done."
"I don't think facing a general court-martial will be what I will do that takes down Skynet."
After a few minutes of driving along the dirt road, they come across a gate manned by MP's.
"Identify yourself," says a military police sergeant.
"I'm Sergeant Kyle Reese," says Kyle, presenting his ID. "I am a terminator, Cyberdyne Systems Model X," says the T-X. "My mission is to protect Sergeant Kyle Reese. I seek an audience with General John Connor."
"Nobody who isn't from this base comes in without explicit permission," says the MP. "We have machine guns taimed at your vehicle. If you try to run us, you will be destroyed."
"Do we have to see Connor now?" asks Kyle. "He's gonna be real pissed."
"I am going to talk to them." The T-X broadcasts a radio message.
"We are receiving a message, ma'am," says an Army corporal sitting before the communications console in the Crystal Peak Command Center. "The ID code is from the Joint Chiefs."
"Put it through," says the duty officer, an Army captain. "This is Major Hastings from the Joint Chiefs," says the female voice. "I am parked right at the main gate. Patch me in to General Connor."
"Yes, ma'am."
The telephone rings in General Connor's private quarters. He picks up the phone.
"Hello?" he asks.
"Sorry to bother you, sir. There is a Major Hastings from the Joint Chiefs who wants to talk to you right away. We confirmed the message, sir."
"This had better be good."
"This is Major Hastings," says the T-X. "I am parked right outside the main gate. I have someone who wants to talk to you.""This is Sergeant Kyle Reese with an urgent message, sir," says Kyle.
"Reese? What are you doing?"
"Sir, uh, you're probably not going to believe this. You see, I was on liberty on board the city ship Manhattan when this lady tried to kill me. This other lady who's like her twin saved me. She says she's a terminator and she came from the future to protect..."
Connor hangs up the phone and then redials the number for the command center.
"Let them in," he says.
The MP tells the T-X and Kyle they can pass, and the T-X puts the Humvee in gear and drives to the mouth of Crystal Peak. Soon they are in a cavernous space where vehicles are parked. They go inside the elevator and go to the command level.
An MP greets them. "I've been ordered to escort you to the general's quarters," he says.
The terminator and Kyle follow the MP into the elevator, and he uses a security card to access one of the floors. After a few seconds, the elevator doors open, revealing the floor.
This floor has a more peronsal touch, with carpeted hallways. A sign indicates that this hallway has the quarters for the senior officers of Crystal Peak. They reach a set of doiuble doors. The T-X rings the doorbell.
The doors open, and General John Connor reveals himself, wearing an Army combat uniform. "Hello there," he says.
"You are General John Connor, United States Army, comander-in-chief of TechCom," says the T-X.
"That's me. Come on in."
Kyle enters the living room. It is nice, with a blue carpet, a wooden coffee table, couches, a big screen Sony color television and an Aiwa stereo system. "Nice place you got here."
"This was built to serve the President of the United States in the event he was evacuated here following a nuclear attack. Of course, this was built in the 1960's; the presidential quarters on the Columbia are much nicer. How about we sit at the kitchen."
Connor turns on the lights and they all sit down the dining table. They are joined by a red-haired woman.
"You are Lieutenant General Katherine Brewster, United States Air Force, chief of staff for TechCom," says the T-X.
"You seem to know me," says Brewster as she sits nervously, looking at someone she had not seen in twenty-five years.
"I have detailed files in my memory storage," replies the terminator. "You look exactly as you should this time."
"This time?" asks Kyle.
"Tell me what is going on," says Connor.
"On July 20, 2069, TechCom intelligence discovered a secret base under the control of Skynet, located in a warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio. A strike force raided the warehouse and saw the time displacement unit. They were unable to stop the T-X from going through. Computer analysts learned that Skynet had sent a T-X to July 9, 2029 to terminate Sergeant Kyle Reese. I was sent by General Vincent Neil to intercept and protect Reese."
"Okay," says Connor. "You need me to keep Reese sequestered in this base."
"The T-X will no doubt try to sneak in here. She would deduce that Reese would seek refuge. I have a better idea. It has a eighty-two percent chance of success, while Reese's chances of surviving if he stays here is forty-four percent."
"Let's hear the plan."
And so the T-X tells Connor and Brewster her plan.
"I guess you'd better be going," says Brewster.
"See you again, Reese," says Connor. "And don't get killed. That's an order."
"Yes, sir," says Kyle as he salutes.
Kyle sits ij the Humvee as the T-X drives. The sun is up now, and there is a clear blue sky overhead.
"We're heading into Skynet territory," says Kyle. "This isn't exactly the way to protect me."
"Trust me," rpelies the T-X. "I made the calculations."
She parks the Humvee. They go out and they see a cluster of builkdings surrounding by a barbed-wire fence.
It is a military base.
A Skynet military base.
"I suppose we're just going to knock on their door and ask them for a ride," says Kyle.
"That is correct," she replies.
"This is insane!"
"I made the calculations."
The T-X then removes her blouse and skirt, revealing her naked form. Kyle stares at her, speechless.
"I never thought a terminator could be so hot," he says when he regains his speech. The T-X takes a knife and slices the skin down from her neck to her belly button. Blood flows out of the wound, followed by a silvery liquid substance.
"I was encased in flesh so I could go through the time displacement unit," she says. "I no longer need it."
"What is happening?" asks Kyle as she sees the terminator covered in the silvery substance.
"I have a coating of a mimetic polyalloy- an emulsion of nanobots in liquid metal. The nanobots generate electric fields to give it shape and color."
And soon, the beautful, naked woman is replaced with a terminator, a T-600. "Let's go," she says.
They walk to the base, and a T-600 standing guard looks at her and the human. It raises its plasma rifle, and the T-X touches it. "It is now under my control," she says. "I can control other machines. I will now use this T-600's wireless modem to reprogram the other terminators in this base."
She and Kyle walk inside. None of the terminators do anything.
There are two buldings in the base. The main buolding is where the terminators are garrisoned, and the other is where the helicopters are stored. They go to the building where the helicopters are.
Two terminators stand guard with the Huey helicopter. the T-X injects them with nanobots, and they comply. They refuel the helicopter and inspect the engine. "Our ride is ready," says the T-X.
she and Kyle take their seats. The roof of the helicopter hangar opens, and the T-X starts the engine. Soon the helicopter rises into the air, and they fly out over the San Joaquin Valley.
"I was wondering why Skynet went through all the trouble of building a time machine to get me," says Kyle.
"By 2069, Skynet was reduced to a few scattered strongholds in isolated areas of the world," says the T-X. "It had almost no offensive military capability. It's only option was to lie low while it gathered the resources necessary to make a time displacement unit."
"So we won."
"Yes."
The helicopter continues flying. Soon they are over the Pacific Ocean. They continue flying over the calm, blue expanse until they see a fleet of ships- an aircraft carrier and some destroyers.
"Here we are," says the T-X. "the U.S.S. Prometheus, a nuclear-powered semisubmersible attack aircraft carrier. It was launched from San Diego Naval Station on July 24, 2004-Judgment Day. It was used to support the evacuation of the United States, and participated in the battle to maintain oceanic superiority. Irt was decommissioned in 2040, and is a museum in San Diego Bay as of 2069."
"Thanks for the history lesson," says Kyle.
The
T-X puts on a headset. "This is Alpha Tango 347 to Prometheus Tower,"
she says. "We are requesting permission to land. I repeat, this is
Alpha Tango 347 to Prometheus Tower. Request permission to land."
"Request granted," says a male voice.
The
Huey helicopter approahces the flight deck of the Prometheus and slowly
descends. Its landing gears touch down. Sailors rush in to lock down
the helicopter. Kyle and the T-X step out.
"I am Chief Pollard," says man in a Navy jumper. "The captain will want to see you. Come with me."
Kyle is led below decks. The first thing he notices is that the main corridors on each deck is wide, not like corridors on the decks of other Navy ships. He sees sailors walking back and forth along the corrdiors, tending to their duties. They eneter a room marked Ward Room. Kyle sees a man in a Navy uniform with short black curly hair. He salutes."I am Sergeant Kyle Reese, United Startes Army," he says.
"I am Captain Daniel Dyson, United States Navy," replies the Navy captain. "Crystal Peak told me you were coming."
"Did they tell you why?"
"No, just that someone is arriving and we are to sequester him. That would be you, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Captain, a terminator was sent from the future to terminate Kyle Reese. I was sent to intercept."
"What does she look like?"
"She looks like me. But like me, she can change her outward appearance." Her skin turns silver, and then goes back to flesh-color. She has the exact appearance of Kyle Reese.
"Amazing," says Dyson. "I'll have guest quarters prepared for you. Have some breakfast."
"Thank you, sir," says Kyle. "By the way, if you do not mind, where were you on Judgment Day?"
"I was in San Diego," he says. "I remember hearing this explosion. I wondered what happened and I looked outside and saw a mushroom clouid. I thought it was an accident at first. Later on, we had to evascuate because of the fallout. It was a couple of months later when the machines attacked. My family was evacuated on board ships. I later joined the Navy, became an aviator, and two years ago took command of this ship. I was lucky Skynet was off-target on its strike on San Diego."
"It wasn't luck, sir. Skynet needed the military bases in San Diego intact. It detonated the bomb a few miles away so it would contaminate the place with fallout and force an evacuation, allowing it to take those military bases with little resistance."
"You have a perceptive mind, Reese." Dyson eats his scrambled eggs. "You have full use of our recreational facilities while you are on board."
"Thank you, sir."
For the next few hours, Kyle Reese makes use of the recreational facilities on board the Prometheus. He goes to the ship's library and reads a couple of books. He watches movies on DVD. He works out in the ship's gymnasium.
The sun sinks below the horizon, and Kyle has his dinner in the guest quarters. He had to admit that Navy cooks can cook. He eats his roasted chicken and vegetables. And he gulps it down with water. He can hear fighter jets launch from the ship's catapult.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One," says the T-X, standing guard inside his room. "What happened?" asks Kyle.
"A crippling blow had just been dealt to Skynet," she replies. "The Resistance took down the defensive grid.
Skynet has been shattered."
"Shattered?"
"Skynet runs on millions of computer servers across the world. The Resistance took down the infrastructure that allows its computers to communicate."
"And what role did I play in this?"
"You will fight one more battle, an important battle."
"What battle is that?"
"My program parameters forbid me from telling you about your future."
"Come on," Kyle says teasingly. "Tell me."
"Vocal commands can not reset the parameters of my programming."
Kyle lies down on the bed, his head on the pillow. "Okay, can you tell me what happens to John Connor?"
"Connor serves for three more years at TechCom," says the T-X. "On July 4, 2032, he retired from the service. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2034, and is still serving there. He is the author of a best-selling autobiography, No Fate But What We Make.
"He must be at least eighty years old."
"He will be eighty-four years old at the time of my departure. All available records at the time indicated that he was in good health when I left."
"So, what's the future like?"
"I am kept in storage until I am taken out for a performance review or until I am assigned for a mission like this one. TechCom keeps a few terminators in hand, all under the control of the commanding general. We can only be programmed via a cable network connection."
"To protect you from hackers." Kyle knows this was not the answer he was looking for. "What is the population of the world?"
"4.2 billion estimated, according to the CIA handbook."
"And the U.S. population?"
"As of the 2060 census, seventy million people. Population is projected to reach ninety million by 2070."
"And the economy? Trade?"
"The Gross Domestic Product is estimated to be three trillion twenty four billion dollars. Goods worth eight hundred billion dollars are traded with foreign countries."
"I see." Kyle sees a picture in his
mind, a picture of a vibrant civilization, which rose from the ashes of
the war with the machines, rebuilt by people who escaped to the sea or
the mountains, or even from the death camps.
"Go to sleep, Kyle," says the T-X. "You will need your rest."
The various Skynet servers scattered across the world attempt connections with each other. They calculate their probability of success. Most of the Skynet programs calculate that trhe odds of success are less than one percent.
One Skynet program running in one server comes to a different calculation.
The odds are ninety-six percent in favor of success.