Chapter 103
Almost
Sarah was very upset about Cameron and the girls leaving. It was so sudden and unannounced. She just couldn't understand what was driving Cameron to make these decisions. She was very worried about John.
What seemed to be as big a problem as Cameron leaving was Riley being here now, especially at this sensitive time. It would have been bad enough for Riley to show up at anytime but with Cameron 'gone' it was even worse.
John replaced Cameron before with Riley. With Cameron 'gone' she wondered if he would do it again. Sarah was a teenager once; she knew what John and Riley did. The only thing about that adventure that surprised her was the fact they hadn't done it more often. She thought back on some of her adventures in high school. She'd tried a few guys but soon had a girlfriend and then girlfriends. They liked what they could do for each other and they did not need to worry about getting pregnant.
She shook her head to clear it. She needed to refocus.
Sarah called Derek and Kyle aside. She informed them that Riley - Future Riley was the girl that Future Jesse used to try to manipulate John. She was the root of the problems John and Cameron faced in their relationship. Future Riley became the object of John's attention and affection as he pushed Cameron away. Sarah warned them that even though this was a different timeline version of 'Riley' that there was most likely going to be a problem with Cameron when she returned. That was IF Cameron returned. There was no indication on how that was going to play out. She knew with time travel that the girls could all return the moment they left. They hadn't. Based on what she saw and heard she believed Cameron would have done that to prevent Riley and John from hooking up again. The girls were all still gone. That most likely meant they'd all been terminated wherever they went.
Kyle felt Cameron was a little deeper than that at this point. He did not think she was petty like that. Maybe she was. Sarah had been around her longer but he saw who Cameron was now.
"Cameron is better than that, Sarah." Kyle said. "Cameron will know the difference and treat Riley as she has done the other girls. Give her some time. She alleviated any problems with Jesse and they are all as one now."
Sarah knew that was true. Cameron was 'one' with all the girls. That was why they all gave up everything and went with her. She still found that a little hard to believe. You really needed to love some to come from a life in Hell to Paradise and then give it all up. Then again, she knew that sacrifice was the true test of love. There was no doubt that the girls loved Cameron.
After Derek listen to the story about Future Jesse and Future Riley he was concerned for Riley. He knew Terminators were ruthless. He did not want to see Riley beat to death or have her neck snapped. He wondered if some action was necessary on his part.
"Should I warn Riley?" Derek asked. "Do I need to hide her?"
Kyle could tell that Derek was clearly worried. He felt he'd been around Cameron long enough to believe she was fair. She would know Riley and Future Riley were two different individuals, even if they were the same person.
"No." Kyle said. "Believe in Cameron."
Sarah sure hoped so. She thought if Riley stayed away from John that things would go a little smoother. Sarah also knew if John pursued Riley in Cameron's absence that there would be a problem and a termination. She always worried before that Cameron was going to terminate Future Riley. It was the way John taunted Cameron with Future Riley and rubbed it in her face. In the end she believed that Cameron never killed Future Riley because she loved John and did not want to 'hurt' him. It appeared that sacrifice was the true test of love for a machine as well.
Sarah began to wonder what if Cameron and the girls never returned. Then what would happen? Cameron made her 'plans' clear to everyone. She knew Savannah still needed a few more years to be able to take her 'place' at John's side as Cameron dictated. She seriously doubted that John could wait that long. They were short on eligible females around the base now. Riley was the only one at this point. She was not sure what would happen with Unit 645 and Unit 710. They were both very well 'built' so to speak. They were both very robotic and not as advanced as Cameron was. They were also both Restorators out of a different future. The upside to that was that neither one of them had ever been programmed to terminate John as Cameron had been. Cameron warned them she could go 'bad' again.
John Henry reviewed all the temporal data he was able to access. He reviewed all known usages of the TDE and the results. He went over the specific information Mrs. Weaver sent with Unit 710. There must to be something there. He hoped there was something to help them. He asked Unit Two, Unit Three, Unit 645 and Unit 710, to check all the information they possessed. John Henry was pretty sure they could attempt a few things. It was doubtful any of them were going to work. He knew they needed to do something.
John Henry decided it was time to give it a try.
He would enter the information based on his calculations and try to have the TDE pad itself return or set to the time and date the girls left. He wanted to try to go back to the moment they left. He did not want to start a new timeline. There was a lot of uncertainty about this procedure. He did not want to harm the girls either while he attempted this. There was also the risk he could create some kind of temporal error.
The time for thinking was over.
John Henry powered up the TDE equipment.
The energy bubble started to appear on the pad. The arcing and flashing continued.
There was nothing in it. He moved the time back a few more seconds. He could see the four figures. The four women were trapped.
The energy bubble could not fully complete.
John Henry adjusted the TDE. He broadcasted the pad as the destination and the time as now.
John ran into the room.
"Is it them?" John asked.
John Henry was sure it was them.
"I think it is but the transfer can not complete." John Henry said.
John looked at the arching and flashing energy bubble. He did not want to lose them.
"Use more power." John said.
John Henry was already at the 'red line' for energy usage.
"It will overload." John Henry said. "It was not designed for this."
John wanted them all back.
"We have to try something." John said. "We can't lose them no matter what. Push it further."
John Henry worried about a catastrophic failure if he pushed it. He did what John asked.
There was a blinding flash of light and the TDE went offline.
The energy bubble vanished.
John was a little stunned by the energy discharged and brilliant flash of light.
"What happened?" John asked.
John Henry checked the TDE controls. It was as he feared.
"We lost them." John Henry said.
That didn't tell John anything. He wanted a better answer.
"To where did we lose them?" John asked. "Where and when did they go?"
John Henry was not really sure. He was not sure about any of this.
"It was somewhere into time." John Henry said. "I don't know."
John slammed his fist down onto the TDE control panel.
"That's not good enough." John all but shouted.
Unknown location or time:
The energy bubble appeared. The arcing and flashing finished.
There was fighting going on around them.
Plasma rifles fired along with automatic weapons.
The four naked women hunkered down.
"We are in the future." Cameron said.
Vanna knew there were several choices for that.
"Do we know whose future?" Vanna asked.
Cameron was more worried about the battle raging around them.
"I don't know yet." Cameron said.
There was an explosion near them. Dirt rained down on them.
"Nice." Allison said.
Allison knew she would not be leaving here. It did not bother her one bit.
"All good things come to an end." Allison said.
She'd told John Henry that if Cameron destroyed herself or forced them to terminate her what she was going to do. From this moment on she knew her time was limited.
Cameron peeked over the top of the crater that they were in.
"Let me get us some clothes. There are a lot of dead around here." Cameron said.
She went to move but something told her to stay where they were.
"Everyone stay here together. Don't move." Cameron said.
Allison stayed where she was. It gave her some time to reflect on what John Henry said. It was that she would be killed and her existence would end.
She told him she would gladly trade her life so Cameron could be built and live. She did not tell him what she made Jesse promise her….
Now that they seemed to be 'in some future' Jesse thought about what would happen.
Jesse was a little surprised at what Allison asked her do. Jesse knew of the sacrifice Allison planned for herself. She told Allison that for her and Cameron she would do it. It was a specific and deadly task that Allison asked of her.
"I'm not that person anymore but she is still part of me." Jesse said. "The 'old Jesse' will be there when the time is right for you Allison and for Cameron."
What Allison asked Jesse to do was important to her.
"Will you promise me?" Allison asked. "I won't be around or I would do it myself."
Jesse touched her scar.
"I promise, Allison. I know where to draw my hate from. I will hunt down that 'Bitch Whore'. I will hunt down both of them myself. I swear it."
Allison wanted to make sure. She did not want a repeat of what happened before. She wanted her sacrifice to mean something.
"You will kill both of them?" Allison asked.
Jesse looked determined.
"I will kill them, both of them." Jesse said. "I will kill Future Riley and kill 'myself' - Future Jesse."
Jesse and Allison kissed over it.
"Don't let my sacrifice be in vain." Allison said.
"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." Jesse said.
The arcing and flashing returned.
The time bubble reappeared.
The girls were enveloped again.
Moments before:
John was impatient. He was highly irritated and agitated. He wanted some follow up action.
"Restart it." John said.
John Henry had been trying to do that since it went off earlier.
"I'm trying." John Henry replied. "This equipment was never intended to be used like this. It is way outside the design parameters."
The machine powered up.
Sarah and Kyle rushed to the TDE room.
"What the hell is going on?" Sarah asked.
They'd heard the TDE power up and came to investigate.
"We are trying to get the girls back." John said.
The arcing and flashing started.
The energy bubble began to reappear.
The coordinates on the TDE reset themselves to the date and location Cameron originally requested for some unknown reason. That is not what John Henry selected. This was a new problem.
"We can send them into the future if we let the cycle complete itself." John Henry said.
John did not want that.
"No. I want them back, ALL of them." John shouted.
John moved over to the control panel tried to reset the date. He was unsure if he did it correctly.
There was a blinding flash of light and the TDE went offline.
The energy bubble vanished.
"What happened?" John asked.
John Henry looked over the control panel.
"We lost them, again." John Henry said. "What did you do to the date and destination?"
John did not want the transfer cycle completed into the future.
"I tried to reset it." John said. "I want them back here."
John Henry was appalled at the date and location John changed things to.
"That is space you selected in the distant future." John Henry said. "Let me operate it. PLEASE. You are going to kill them."
Sarah was angry at John.
"John." Sarah shouted. "Let him do his job."
John was just as angry.
"We need to try again." John shouted. "I want you to push it all the way."
John Henry was ready to retry it one more time.
"It will ruin the machine." John Henry said.
If they got the girls back John did not care.
"Do it." John commanded.
John Henry started the procedure. He left it on the coordinates that John selected and then would reset the destination and time back to the TDE pad.
John was very upset and frustrated. He thought they almost had them.
"I am not losing them again. I need Cameron and the others here with me. Our fight is now, not in the past or future. It is here - NOW." John said. "Get them back."
Almost
The frustration is greatest
When the goal is achieved – almost
Then something goes wrong
And it all turns to toast
It is wanted so much
That it soon becomes foremost
Nothing else seems to matter
As one becomes engrossed
The desired goal is elusive
It is almost like a ghost
It is almost there but it's not
The thing that was wanted most
One must work and try harder
On laurels they can not coast
To end up with nothing
Leaves the soul to roast
Daily life and events
Seem to change the goalpost
One still has nothing
When it comes up again - almost
Nobody