Chapter 212

Three Down

The drone was in the air and over the small crown gathered below when the shooting started. There was only one direction for the drone to go once it was hit. That was down.

Bob hit the drone five times with the M82A1. It was a flaming wreck as it hit the ground and it exploded in a massive fireball. The spectators who hadn't already fallen from being shot were killed in the explosion of the ordnance when the drone crashed. It was total carnage among them.

Bob shielded John with his chassis as the drone hit the ground to give him some added protection.

John did not mind. He knew their Terminators always looked out for him and the others. None of them wanted to have to answer to Cameron if he was injured.

Cameron previously downloaded complete field medical training into all their Terminators. She swore what happened to Future Derek when he was wounded without someone there immediately would not happen again under her watch. Every one of their Terminators was now trained to save a life as well as take a life.

From their raised vantage point on the hillside the destruction and death below them was total. They'd expected to see more people or Terminators come out of the hillside hanger. None did. That didn't mean there weren't any. They could have heard the shots and taken cover.

John wanted to get down there and check the status of the female Terminator. She currently lay motionless like the others. They needed to act before she got back up.

Bob saw that John was ready to go down to the crash site.

"I will check it out." Bob said. "You and Dan can stay here. I will make sure everything is clear."

John didn't want to break the team up. He wanted to back Bob up as well. He felt they were stronger as a unit.

"We will all go together." John said.

Bob and Dan knew to be extra vigilant when John was with them.

They came down the hillside cautiously. There were still a few small explosions from scattered ordnance 'cooking off' from the fire.

Bob moved quickly to the fallen female Terminator. He covered her with the Barrett Light Fifty. It would blow her head apart if it were fired at point blank range. That was only if she rebooted and tried to fight.

Half her face was missing as well as much of the sheath on her right arm and upper torso. Only part of one shredded breast remained. Everything else was pulp. She was a mess.

Dan noticed John look at her shattered form.

"We can use her for spare parts or projectiles." Dan said.

John looked at the mess she was in. It looked like she was going to be scrap. Nothing there looked salvageable to him. He knew the time was ticking.

"Pull her chip before she reboots." John said.

John slung his M4 and took the M82A1 from Bob.

Bob moved to do it. He scanned her as he did. The damage was only cosmetic.

"It is mostly sheath damage, John. I think she can be repaired." Bob said. "It may take some time or grafting for the sheath to be restored. Her chassis is undamaged."

Bob took back the Barrett and handed John the chip from the Terminator.

John would let the ones that were most qualified make the decisions on how best to proceed with her repairs.

"We will let Cameron and Vanna decide what to do with her." John said. "Let's enter the complex and see what else they have. We don't know who else we will encounter here so be on your toes. There could be others in hiding or waiting to ambush us."

John wanted to know how extensive this operation was and what kind of a threat it still posed. If there were any assembly lines set up for HK equipment or Terminators. They were in for a lot of trouble.

Allison received a call from Isabel. It seemed important to her. Isabel mentioned that Holly did not respond to her call. Isabel told her what the issue was.

"Sure, I'll get Holly and we will be there in about an hour." Allison said. "I'll see why she didn't answer her phone."

Allison hung up with Isabel and went to search for Holly. She was worried why Holly hadn't answered her phone. She hoped there was nothing wrong. She hurried to Holly's room.

Allison knocked. There was no answer.

The door was unlocked so Allison entered.

Holly was lying sideways on the bed. Her feet were on the floor. She stared at the ceiling. Allison saw her blink. She hoped that was a good sign. It did not appear she'd shut down.

Allison sat on the bed and then lay next to her the same way. She was sideways on the bed. Her feet were on the floor. It was identical to the way Holly was.

She could tell Holly was having some emotional pain. She was not sure why.

"Did I do something wrong?" Allison asked. "I'm sorry if I did. I didn't mean to." Allison said as she took Holly's hand.

Allison noted a single tear run down Holly's cheek.

"Holly, what's wrong?" Allison asked worried.

Holly did not want Allison to 'worry' about her.

"Nothing is, Allison." Holly said. "I was just thinking about what we did and my loss of 'innocence'."

Allison wondered why. She thought it was a beautiful experience for both of them. Maybe it wasn't for Holly after all.

"Do you regret what we did?" Allison asked.

"No, I don't. I just know now I'm 'different'." Holly said. "I would do the same thing again with you. If I could redo that part of my life, I would. There would be no hesitation. That was the highlight of my existence so far."

That pleased Allison to hear that. There still seemed to be an issue.

"So what's wrong?" Allison asked. "We all do it sooner or later. For all of us women from the future it was all sooner. I don't know of more than a few who actually were able to have a choice for their first time. You made a choice. You were the 'decider'. You were able to choose."

Holly sat up as did Allison. They looked at each other and Holly smiled. Allison smiled back.

Allison was unsure what to say or do. There was the issue with Isabel that needed to be dealt with. It seemed somewhat urgent but not an emergency.

"Isabel called and needs us." Allison said.

That was a surprise to Holly.

"Isabel needs both of us to go there?" Holly asked.

Allison thought they should get going.

"Yes. Cameron is unavailable and Isabel may be ready to glitch out. She wants to interface with you." Allison said. "Everything is currently under control."

Holly was worried about what would follow the interface.

"Isabel will 'know'…." Holly said.

Allison was filled with love over what they'd done. She held Holly's hand tight with one hand and gently squeezed her leg with the other. She spoke honestly.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of." Allison said. "What we did was one way for people that love each other to express that love. We love each other."

Holly looked at Allison when she said 'love'.

"Do you really? Do you love me, Allison?" Holly asked.

Allison knew love from sex. She possessed plenty of experience in both regards.

"Yes. I've finally come to admit it." Allison said. "I love you, Holly."

Holly's face came back to 'life' and she looked like her normal self again.

"I love you, Allison." Holly said.

Allison felt a lot better about Holly now. She gave her a quick kiss.

A bigger smile came across Holly's face this time.

"Thank You." Holly said.

Allison still did not like the 'thank you' for love. Maybe it was OK for sex. They still needed to deal with Isabel and then they could see what developed later on.

"When we are done with Isabel, we can 'thank' each other." Allison said.

Holly smiled again when she understood the real meaning of Allison's statement. They could share again. Both of them were as happy as could be.

Holly could not wait to be 'thankful'.

The question now was what was wrong with Isabel and how serious was this, if at all.

Cameron covered the two dead men in the back of the van with some flattened cardboard boxes. That would keep them from being spotted right away. She did not want to remove them from the van for now.

She waited for the rest of the 'help' to arrive. It seemed to take a long time but it wasn't. A short time later another van like the one that she drove there arrived.

Three men got out and approached the first van cautiously.

Cameron held her Glock in her hand. She was concealed in a good flanking position. They would never see the attack coming. That was always a good way to attack to prevent sheath damage. She was more cautious of that now.

She thought about taking one of them alive for interrogation but decided against it. Maybe if this was Skynet related she would have. She just wanted to get this wrapped up for now.

She took aim and fired three times. It was just like target practice. It was over in less than two seconds. It was like a baseball inning. It was three up and three down.

Cameron quickly checked the van they came in, there was no one else. She went through their pockets and then through the second van. These were more than common crooks. They appeared to be part of some organized crime syndicate. This would give her some more leads on additional funds and arms to 'harvest'. She quickly checked both vans a second time for tracking devices, there were none. She piled the three new bodies in the first van. She got in the new van and hid it a mile from where she was at. She then ran back to the first van and drove off with it and the bodies.

After she had disposed of the bodies, she would add both vans to her collection of equipment. She'd begun to amass a warehouse full of sports cars, SUVs, vans and trucks. It was all part of her 'challenge' activities on her alone nights or 'fun nights' out when she tested her fellow Terminators.

Cameron wondered at what point she would become 'Skynet'. She hardly saw John anymore. She did remind him she was also Isabel if he needed 'female comfort' and that the three girls were there too. He always said he could wait. It always made her angry he would not 'mate' with the girls. On the flip side every time he didn't, she loved him more. She KNEW it still needed to happen. John needed to be protected. That was her job. That was her function to make sure John was protected no matter what was involved. She needed to protect the future. Protecting John protected the future. The girls being with John protected John. The girls were the 'key' to the future being protected. It was all tied together.

Cameron thought if she told herself that enough times that she might actually start to believe it herself one day…..

Either way it was what was necessary. People still needed to do what needed to be done when it needed to be done. It was just that simple.

Claire wanted to go out to the store. Isabel felt she was back at close to one hundred percent right now. It seemed the bulk of the 'problem' passed with out further trouble.

Isabel drove Claire and Young Allison to the store. She saw the Detail tag along in two separate SUVs. Cameron was always able to supply them with fresh vehicles. Cameron seemed to have an inexhaustible supply. She personally knew where each one came from and the circumstance that surrounded its acquisition.

Gail was in one SUV and Three in the second one. One SUV drove in front of them and the other SUV followed behind them.

Cameron previously told Two and Three they could have a choice of 'names' as opposed to a designation. It would help them blend in better. Savannah also encouraged them to select names. She said it would make her happy. Two and Three wanted to make Savannah happy. They were even more pleased with the names Savannah suggested to them. Three expressed interest in being called 'Steve' and Two called 'Tom'. The 'Chosen One' chose names for them. They felt honored.

They stopped at the grocery store too. Isabel noted what things Young Allison looked at as they shopped. She was very good at not asking for or even demanding them as some of the other children in the store did. Young Allison was much better behaved than the other children of her age.

Isabel would inform Cameron of the things Young Allison looked at. If they were somewhat nutritional Cameron would bring them with her and give them to Young Allison. This always seemed to please her. Seeing Young Allison pleased made her pleased.

They did not know it was not lost on Young Allison what transpired. She made the connection after the second time it happened. She let Isabel see the things she wanted and Cameron brought a few of them for her when she visited.

When they arrived back at the Young residence, Isabel saw Holly and Allison waiting for them. They quickly moved away from each other in the SUV. Isabel smiled. This was a good development. She could not wait to relay this information to Cameron. Now Allison would have better protection. Cameron still needed one more female Terminator for Vanna. She would keep looking. Maybe John would find one on his recon.

Now that she thought of John on a recon, it bothered her as well. He did not need to go out anymore. There were plenty of others to do that. Maybe she needed to increase her efforts again.

Cameron seemed unaware that 'protecting' the girls would end up driving them apart. She was putting a Terminator with each of them. Terminators were programmed to be with the girls no matter what. There would be no arguments or fights. They would remain with them through everything. That was different than what the girls did to each other at times when they were upset. Now there would always be someone 'safe' to turn to instead of making amends.

Cameron did not see this coming.

Nobody did.

Chain

One is imprisoned
As if bound by a chain
While the limbs are free
The chain holds the brain

Love may not be in the heart
It is all happening within mind
How one is able to see
Yet remains so willingly blind

The chain holds one firm
Somehow it comforts the soul
Without its binding weight
One can not feel whole

To serve their Master
The chain keeps them near
If the chain were broken
One would only cower in fear

The chain is reassuring
For as it holds one to any degree
It holds the other too
Enslavement is easier than being free

Nobody