Chapter 226

Summer

Cameron stayed with Allison and Holly at the Young Residence as it drew closer to the delivery time for Summer. She did not want to miss the event. It was the birth of HER infant. She still considered taking Young Allison into 'protective custody' along with Summer as her 'own'. She knew it was going to cause problems. It didn't matter. She was sure they would all understand. She couldn't have children for John and they could all have more.

It was the middle of the day. Without much warning Claire experienced a discharge of fluid.

Holly and Cameron were there at Claire's side almost instantly.

Claire looked at the two Terminators. Allison approached in the background.

"Cameron, it's time." Claire said. "My water broke."

It was a week earlier than anticipated. All the timing was off on this pregnancy. She was sure she hadn't been with Paul when she could get pregnant. The trip she needed to take to see the specialist nine months ago still bothered her. Her regular doctor later said he never scheduled it.

Paul was at work. Allison made the call to inform him. Paul would meet them at the hospital.

Cameron was very concerned for Claire and Summer.

"Are you in pain?" Cameron asked.

Claire felt OK most of the time but she wanted to go to the hospital. She'd delivered Young Allison fairly quickly the last time.

"Not really." Claire said. "It will increase as time passes. We need to go soon."

Cameron was not going to delay. She picked up Claire and carried to the SUV.

Allison was at her mother's side.

"Mom, it's going to be fine." Allison said.

Cameron did not want any unnecessary questions or speculation at the hospital.

"I think you should address her as 'Claire' or your 'sister' when we are at the hospital." Cameron said. "Using 'Mom' is going to raise eyebrows.

Holly would stay at the house with the Detail and watch over Young Allison. She would remain at home with full protection.

Claire felt more discomfort and pain on the journey to the hospital.

Allison was worried about her mother.

Both Claire and Cameron reassured her everything was normal.

Cameron specifically downloaded every child birth scenario into her program. She wanted to be able to assist if they were unable to get Claire to the hospital in time. She even carried a medical kit in case she needed to perform an epesimodity or a Cesarean section. She was 'qualified' to do both now.

Allison urged Cameron to hurry.

Claire tried to calm Allison down some.

Cameron did speed some but still drove safely and defensively.

Paul was already there at the hospital when they arrived.

Claire was checked in, admitted and prepped. She was good to go. The rest was up to Summer now.

The waiting began.

Cameron looked on with anticipation.

Allison looked on with dread. She was a nervous wreck. There was not a whole lot that was pretty about being pregnant or childbirth in the future. It seemed like so many things could go wrong. Her mother also told her it was painful. She knew in her future that females died giving birth sometimes. Few children were ever born and fewer lived…. It was all very terrifying for her. She knew the risks and hardships women went through. She really hoped it was better in the past.

She was scared. She was afraid for her mother. She really worried her mother might die. She'd seen it happen before her very eyes. She knew Cameron would want to take Young Allison as her own but Allison decided she would become Summer's 'mother'. That was if the baby lived and her mother didn't. She'd been there when that happened too in the future.

She was the only one from the future who been around childbirth there. She heard the screams of pain. There was little medicine for anyone. That was before things started to go wrong. When they did it all got worse. The others here didn't know. They just didn't know how bad it could all get.

Allison shook with fear. She wondered if this is where Cameron's 'glitch' came from. She could feel herself 'glitch' inside….

John Henry was informed that John and Cameron did not like Derek and Kyle to do recon or surveillance missions. He tried a new procedure. It was to help eliminate some of the risk. It seemed that the effort to use the captured drones at night bore some fruit. It was time to bring John into the loop. Cameron already knew. She was not at the Command Center right now.

"I've been using one of the drones to conduct surveillance at night." John Henry said. "There is less chance of one being spotted then."

John knew there was a risk involved. Since no alarms were raised, maybe the results were promising.

"Have you uncovered anything?" John asked.

John wondered what action was going to be necessary if there was.

"I believe I have." John Henry said. "I think I have uncovered a location where time incursions have been made."

That spelled bad news to John.

"Are they transfers from the future?" John asked.

It was probably enemy action. Maybe Skynet still attempted to save itself. The temporal action could have been initiated at any time for its appearance now.

"They are most likely transfers from some future." John Henry said. "They can be from the past as well. You transferred from the past to the future which is now the present for you."

John wondered how they were detected. Maybe some action was already taken.

"How do you know what happened?" John asked. "The transfer doesn't last long."

John Henry reviewed the file before he indicated what he found to John.

"I think I caught one on video. Let's look at the footage." John Henry said.

The video file started. It was dark, the screen looked blank.

John watched as a bright light appeared with arcing and flashing around it.

"Is there any chance that is something else?" John asked. "I see it looks like one."

John Henry would have liked to offer a better or different explanation but there wasn't any.

"It's doubtful." John Henry said. "It's an energy bubble from a TDE."

John only spotted the bubble. He didn't think he could see what was inside of it. He thought something should be visible. Maybe he needed a closer look.

"Can you zoom in on the spot?" John asked. "I didn't see anyone inside of it."

That was the perplexing part of it to John Henry.

"I already did. There was nothing there." John Henry said. "No one else was around or came to check on it. Before daybreak I landed the drone to surveil the spot on a nearby hill. Nothing has happened since then."

John wanted to find some answers. It was clearly a threat to them as long as it remained unknown. It would probably end up as a bigger threat once they found out more.

"So what was it? Who did it? What were they trying to send?" John asked. "Maybe this is something new."

The only facts were what was just viewed. Everything else was speculation.

"We have no idea if it was some kind of test or some type of temporal error." John Henry said. "I sent Frank and Mel to check it out. I will set up some fixed surveillance so the drone can be retrieved."

John did not want the drone to be found even if the area was somewhat remote. They didn't need a rancher shooting at it. They could call the authorities or the military. The drone could be taken in for evaluation. It could be copied. When Skynet took over it would take control of the military HK drones for itself. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself here.

"I don't like it." John said.

There was one possible positive explanation.

"It may not all be bad. I don't know if it is Mrs. Weaver or the other Duplicate Cameron and the girls from 'some future' trying to get back. That was why I didn't have the drone attack the location." John Henry said. "I don't know why they wouldn't use the coordinates here if it was them. That still leaves the specter of something more sinister."

Mrs. Weaver returning was one thing. If it was the other Duplicate Cameron that they suspected existed, that was another thing. They should both know the location of the TDE at the Resistance base. There was still the timed schedule for TDE activity in place. This looked like something else. They could also have experienced some type of problems wherever they were trying to return 'home' from. There were more questions than answers.

"I like it even less now." John said.

This was going to be some kind of 'bad news' before it was done, John could feel it.

Vanna went to check on the Resequencing process of Isabel. She stood in awe of how it progressed daily. She wanted to use the DNA from her mother, the human Catherine Weaver, to make Isabel look like her for Savannah. Cameron said there would not be any Catherine Weaver or Riley sheaths, ever. Cameron said she would destroy them herself if she ever saw either one. She did not think that was fair to Savannah or her by extension.

Vanna went over all the issues with Cameron during the selection process. That left Cameron a choice to make. She possessed Allison's DNA and another sample. Cameron, when asked what it was, said it was a surprise.

It was Cameron's original plan to make an exact copy of herself so she could be in more places at the same time. She also needed to eliminate the problem that always occurred when she wanted to be with John. She previously would be rejected because the sheath was different.

Cameron was still upset John rejected her as Isabel the two separate times that she was copied into Isabel's chassis. It made her feel John only wanted Allison's 'body'. She wondered how Isabel was any different than Duplicate Cameron that was with John for months before her termination. She knew that it was 'her' because of the locket. It should have been the same for Isabel. The only difference was that Isabel didn't have Allison's appearance. It was just that simple.

Cameron made the choice about the sheath and it was ready.

Vanna was impressed….

The time at the hospital was stressful for Cameron and especially Allison. Claire and Paul took it all in stride. It seemed easier for them than when Young Allison was born. They both knew exactly what to expect.

Summer was born without any complications. Cameron and Allison were happy. They saw Summer when she was in the nursery through the glass.

Cameron ran facial comparisons of Summer and photos of Allison as an infant. She'd previously viewed pictures that Claire showed her. She was elated. Summer and Allison were going to be nearly identical in their features as they grew. This was good news for John. She hadn't been this 'happy' in a long time. It was Cameron's estimate that Summer would be a more beautiful version of Allison….

That meant Summer would be more beautiful than 'her'.

Cameron decided when Judgment Day came. She was personally going to raise these two girls. They would be modeled in her image in every way, both externally and internally. She already started to work out an education and cultural schedule for Summer. The two Young girls and Savannah were going to be as advanced as any human could be in this time period.

She continued work to design an implant that could interface between a Terminator and a human. The goal was to download her program into a human body. She always worked on trying to decrypt the files created by River. Once she could get the TDE repaired to go back in time again. She planned to go back to retrieve pregnant Duplicate Allison before her death and install the device in her. Her plan was to 'take' Duplicate Allison's body and make it her own. Duplicate Allison was dead. She had a right to claim the body before it was terminated. John's baby was going to live and she was going to have it for him.

Cameron was unconcerned that her hypocrisy knew no bounds.

In essence it would be her that 'killed' Duplicate Allison at that point. If she could rescue Duplicate Allison when she was alive, Duplicate Allison was still who she always was. She planned to change that. She wanted that body and she wanted that baby. Nobody would get in her way.

Cameron was going to be at John's side and in his bed as a human female, well mostly human anyway. Cameron looked forward to the day she could send her body, her chassis and sheath that she was 'trapped' in to where if belonged - the scrap pile. That was where 'junk' belonged. Nobody would look down on her again just because she was created differently than they were.

Jesse was usually busy with Vanna but when Gail or Sheila were around it was always 'game on'. She enjoyed Sheila the most even though Gail and Sheila shared the same original program, one was just a copy. Gail and Sheila always tethered to interface and update their chips. Jesse suggested they use a longer tether and interface while they were alone 'together'. They did and both them overloaded and shut down within a few minutes it was so intense. Jesse found them and removed the tether. Nothing happened when she did that. She was sure it was going to come back to her for 'damaging' two Terminators. Much to her surprise they both rebooted after two minutes. They then went after Jesse together to share with her. Jesse could hardly wait. One Terminator was a lot to be with. Two would be impossible.

"Bring it on." Jesse said to them. "I can take both of you…."

Gail and Sheila both reminded Jesse that that they knew CPR.

Jesse wanted them to let her be 'out' for two or three minutes before they revived her. She wanted to see what it was like on the 'other side'….

'Cherry Bomb' by 'The Runaways', blasted from the room as they pleasured Jesse and each other.

Any Time

Sometimes the inner self
Screams out to be heard
The mind grows tired, weak and weary
Emotions boil over when not stirred

Lonely people need to hear
Good things sometimes, not meaningless pity
Imagine if all people said someone
Was ugly instead of beautiful or pretty

They would hurt them to no end
To praise someone specific
With sweet pleasant thoughts
Should be something terrific

Everything is make believe anyway
We only chose to live certain realities
Where we get stuck at in life
Are really only technicalities

Look around, what is the point
Life is simple like this very rhyme
We follow along for the payoff
Then realize it can end at anytime

Nobody

Thirty One Hours Of Summer

Two short seasons
Too short seasons
Thirty one hours of Summer
Thirty One reasons

Such a short time
To show how we cared
How could they strike it down
It should have been spared

Ravaged by time
Lost in a dollhouse
No escape with the cape
Quiet as a mouse

Tried to find serenity
The path was too narrow
Cried a big river
Dodged a misguided arrow

So without joy we remain
The future sequestered
Maybe in Hawaii
No one will be pestered

Nobody