Chapter 72

Derek

John and Cameron were not back yet from their 'honeymoon'.

Everyone was glad they were out and alone together, well almost alone.

Bob and Al shadowed John and Cameron, even though they did not know it. They always stayed a few miles behind them so they would not interfere with them but they could get to John and Cameron quickly if needed.

John Henry placed trackers in both of their vehicles so he could keep them separated as he kept track of them. He knew John would be upset if he found out they were being followed. He feared that John would not see it as being 'protected' but as spied upon. He was not sure what Cameron's reaction would be.

Events went on at the Resistance base. With Cameron's return things seemed to have picked up with everyone. There was a new positive attitude that they all felt.

John Henry sent out the word. He wanted everyone to be on the alert. It would be the 'window' soon for a scheduled TDE transfer time. It happened once a month.

Sarah, Kyle and Jim went to wait in the TDE room.

They were armed and ready for anything. Nothing had happened for months in the TDE room. This task slipped into a boring ritual, it where one where nothing ever changed. Everyone slacked off a little when assigned to this duty.

This time it was different.

There was an arc of energy and a flash of light.

The team perked up. It was clear they were about to have incoming guests.

"This is going hot this time." Sarah said.

A time bubble began to appear. The arcing and flashing was blinding.

There were three figures in the energy bubble, one was male and two were female.

Jim issued a note of caution. One of the 'females' was a Terminator.

"One is Metal." Jim said. "She is active."

Jim covered her.

Kyle looked at the male and felt some shock at the recognition of who it was.

"Derek?" Kyle shouted.

Derek slowly stood. Kyle handed him a robe.

Sarah handed the two women each one. She saw the Asian one was a real 'looker' and she knew the trouble that followed that type. She was not too happy after looking at the two women, both were too sexy.

Sarah was even unhappier after one of them spoke.

"Thanks, love." The Hot Asian said.

Sarah immediately knew this was Jesse. Her hair was different from when she last saw 'a Jesse'. The other female she thought was Riley at first. On a second look, she saw she was different. This new Metal female was Hot. Sarah knew beauty when she saw it. The new Metal female was really 'built'.

Derek shook off the time lag as he looked at his brother.

"Kyle!" The two brothers embraced.

Kyle wanted to introduce the woman who stood at his side. It was the woman they'd heard so much about in their future from John and Cameron.

"Derek, this is Sarah, Sarah Connor." Kyle said.

Derek did a double take. This was not what he expected. He saw that Sarah was fit and trim. She was pretty and did not look that old. She looked like a Resistance fighter.

"Sarah Connor?" Derek asked. "I thought John said she was his mother, not his sister."

Sarah blushed and Kyle smiled.

Those were almost the same words Kyle used when he first met Sarah.

Kyle looked at Jesse and was not too happy. He knew who she was. She always seemed to have trouble follow her. He really wondered why Derek even brought her. He hoped it was for more than the fact that Jesse was 'good in bed'. That seemed to be something that all the men and women knew firsthand.

"Jesse." Kyle said evenly.

Jesse eyed Kyle as he greeted her.

"Kyle." Jesse said.

Sarah noticed Jesse look at Kyle a little too long. That made her mood worse.

The beautiful blonde Terminator moved up behind Jesse and Derek.

Sarah looked at the beautiful blonde Terminator in detail. She looked like the 'perfect female'. It was the look that every female wanted to have and very few did.

"What's her story?" Sarah asked Derek.

The beautiful blonde Terminator addressed Sarah directly.

"I am Unit 710." The female Terminator said.

Sarah waited for a further explanation. There was none.

"That is real informative." Sarah said a little sarcastically.

Unit 710 said nothing else as she looked back at Sarah. Her face was blank.

Derek wanted to get down to business.

"Kyle, I need to brief you on all that has happened, since you left." Derek said. "Where are John and John Henry at? I want them to hear everything as well."

Kyle pointed out a little snag to that.

"Everyone is here but John and Cameron and their two Metal chaperones." Kyle said.

Jesse heard of 'Cameron' from Derek.

"Are they on a mission?" Jesse asked.

Sarah did not like Jesse's tone or inference.

"No. They are on their honeymoon." Sarah said as she looked coldly at Jesse.

A look of disgust flashed across Jesse's face.

"They are on their honeymoon?" Jesse asked. "I thought you said Cameron was Metal, Derek?"

Derek did not see a problem.

"She is." Derek said. "It sounds like congratulations are in order."

The look of disgust on Jesse's face turned to revolution.

"Are you telling me John Connor has a Metal - Whore?" Jesse asked.

Sarah stepped forward and slapped Jesse across the face. She almost pulled her knife and held it to Jesse's throat. She wanted to do that real bad.

Jesse took the blow with barely a flinch. Beatings were nothing new to her. That slap was nothing. She'd been held in Scavenger camps before. They'd stripped the humanity out of her. All that was left of her was a raw hate filled individual.

Sarah was aware of what the other 'Future Jesse' did and orchestrated and that she killed Riley. It seemed this one was not too far behind her lack of moral standards. She was really going to have to keep an eye on Jesse. The disrespect angered her more than she'd expected. It actually infuriated her.

"If you talk about my son's wife like that again, you will have a few more scars." Sarah said.

Derek did not want this to turn sour in the first few minutes. That seemed to be where things were headed.

"Everyone relax, we are all on the same team." Derek said. "I hope."

Jesse rubbed her cheek and pulled open her bathrobe and exposed her firm, shapely nude figure.

"Metal did this to me." Jesse said as she indicated a large scar. "I don't like Metal. I don't trust Metal. I don't like 'Metal Lovers'."

Kyle wanted to make their position clear at the Resistance base.

"You are going to have to learn to adjust because we work hand in hand here." Kyle said. "Metal saves lives here. We are all part of the same team."

Jesse saw it a little differently. She wondered who the hot blonde was for.

"Sounds more like everyone gets one to fuc…" Jesse started to say.

In a flash, Sarah hit Jesse square in the jaw with her fist. She knocked Jesse down.

Jesse didn't see that one coming and she'd been watching Sarah. She noted Sarah was fast and she was good.

Sarah thought about doing a 'follow up' on the attack. She restrained herself for now. She really wanted to pull her knife.

"I won't tell you again." Sarah cut in. "Shut your mouth."

Derek looked at Jesse and then at Kyle and Sarah.

"Maybe this was not such a good idea after all." Derek said.

Derek and Kyle looked at each other. The two brothers were worried. This looked like bad blood in the making.

"Come on, Derek, Jesse, let's get you some clothes. Then you can fill us in on everything." Kyle said as he hoped to defuse the situation. "There must be a lot to catch up on."

Jesse looked up at Sarah from the floor. She was told Sarah Connor was as tough as they come. She was tough too. She was sure they would butt heads again soon. She could see Sarah would not back down and she knew she was well trained. She could also see Sarah was in top shape. She'd just learned that Sarah did not bluff.

Sarah did not like the fact that Future Jesse killed Riley. This may be a different version of 'Jesse' but she looked like she was still the same problematic 'Bitch Whore' as the other one. She hoped that Derek brought her to the past for a good reason other than to have sex with. She was sure they were going to butt heads again soon.

John and Cameron stopped at a few places the last few days on their honeymoon. It was usually by the beach. John liked to hear the wave's crash against the shore at night and see the sunrise in the morning. It was nice to be out in the fresh air for a change.

Cameron said she wanted to get away from it all for a few days.

John wanted to take a scenic route for a while.

They went up the coast. They took Route 1. They could drive for miles and not see a single building. There was not much traffic as this route took about four times longer than Route 101 which paralleled it more inland.

Cameron always looked around and checked the mirrors. Even as she tried to get away from it all, she knew that was impossible. John needed to be protected. A threat could arise at anytime from anywhere.

"We have a tail." Cameron said as she glanced back.

Her bare right foot hung out the passenger's side window.

John checked his rear view mirror.

"I see it. I bet they have been with us the whole time. It will be Bob and another Terminator." John said.

Cameron looked over at John and smiled.

"We knew they would follow us." Cameron said.

Previously Cameron found the tracker but did not disable it. She wanted help to find them if something happened to her. She wanted John protected. She did not mention it to John at the time. She thought it would upset him.

"They will stay out of the way but on this road any tail is easy to spot. That is why we are on it." John said. "I can't get mad at them because I know they are looking out for me, for us."

John knew they were all worried about Cameron too. They all knew she was as important to the future as he was. They all saw what life was like without her. It affected ALL of them in the worst way.

Bob and Al tried to hang back and stay out of view. It seemed to work most of the time. The nature of the road they were on did not allow for them to be as close as they'd gotten.

"Drop back, they are going to spot us." Al said.

Bob was sure Cameron glanced back towards them on a curve.

"Too late, Cameron already did." Bob said.

Al understood the layout of this road. It was full of twists and turns and at times it allowed one to look back or ahead a great distance from a higher elevation.

"That is why they took this road. They wanted to see who was following them." Al said.

Bob dropped back some more. He wondered what the use was at this point.

"We will stay back, unless there is any trouble." Bob replied.

He hoped the trouble would not be with Cameron. She might be angry at being followed.

Derek filled the group in on the current status of what the Resistance, with the help of the Restorators, accomplished.

Derek neared the end of his report.

"It appears that the last traces of Skynet have been obliterated." Derek said.

John Henry wanted to make things clear.

"Skynet is defeated?" John Henry asked. "Every bit of it is eradicated?"

Derek looked at Jesse and nodded.

Jesse sat glaring at Sarah and Kyle. She hadn't said much.

"As best as we can tell." Derek said. "Every trace of it is gone from everywhere."

John Henry noted Derek hadn't said much about Mrs. Weaver towards the end of his report.

"What about Mrs. Weaver?" John Henry asked.

Derek looked at Unit 710. She said nothing.

"She left months ago." Derek said.

John Henry looked very concerned. He was not sure he like the direction that things were headed.

"Where did she go?" John Henry asked.

Derek was not really sure what happened to her specifically. He only knew she'd left.

"She went into a divergent future or past future." Derek said. "I don't know tech stuff."

That sounded like bad news to John Henry.

"I do." Unit 710 spoke for the first time during the briefing.

Animal Instinct

What is the main Animal Instinct
It is to survive
To do whatever it takes
To stay alive

When it is time
They may seek a mate
They look for the strongest
The bravest is great

They search for food
Driven by the will to live
Adequate shelter is sought
No territory will they give

Driven by primitive forces within
They must coexist with others
They will sometimes however
Submit to become another's

This is how nature works
It is the call of the wild
They will do anything
To keep from being exiled

Nobody