Chapter 284

Red Line

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In Some Future:

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Vanna came up to the cockpit. She was worried about Cameron and everyone else too. She wondered what problems were going to be created by there being three more 'Camerons'. What nightmare was it going to turn into down the road?

"How should we address your clones, Cameron? They're all identical copies of your program right?" Vanna asked. "Theoretically, they are all 'you'. Should we call them by numbers like One, Two and Three for now?"

That was an issue that was also in the back of Cameron's mind. She wasn't sure how to address them yet.

"Yes, they're identical. I needed help the fastest way I could get it. Copying my chip was the fastest way. It's a good thing I have the neck port." Cameron said. "I don't know what to call them yet. I do know that later on it will cause a problem. I've found I can be a real Bitch. It will cause a bigger problem when there is more than one of me, especially since they are female. It will be worse if I Resequence them with Allison's DNA."

Cameron reflected on 'Jim-Cameron' and 'Bob-Cameron'. She knew if they would have been in female bodies that they would have physically fought for John.

Vanna thought that would be kind of Hot if Cameron sequenced them with Allison's DNA. There were three of them and three of the clones….

"I remember the bickering with the 'Cameron-Bob' and 'Cameron-Jim'." Vanna said.

"Yes. It was like 'Me, myself and I', don't remind me." Cameron said. "Now there are three more of 'me'. It will turn into a Bitchfest at some point. There's a high probability we will not all survive. With four of me my personal survival is less important. Make sure the chip is destroyed in any of them that fall if it can't be removed quickly or safely. That includes me and my chip…."

Vanna knew what that would entail. She would have to cut Cameron's chip out or use a plasma rifle and shoot her in the head.

"You mean we need to blow their head apart." Vanna said. "I don't think I could do that to you, Cameron."

Cameron saw it as survival in the overall picture. She needed to make the girls see it that way too. There was too much at stake.

"Yes. You may have to, Vanna." Cameron said. "This Skynet can't get to John or even know of him in a different timeline. There's too much information on my chip to fall into Skynet's hands. This isn't about me. It is about the survival of mankind. This is a different timeline. They can never find out about my timeline. It would endanger all of our timelines."

Cameron didn't want to endanger John or Future John.

Vanna still didn't know if she could do that to Cameron. She would mention it to Allison and Jesse. She would rather have Cameron's clones do the dirty work.

"I'll pass the word. I take it your clones already know?" Vanna asked. "How far are we from where you think you want or need to go?"

"My clones 'know'. They are me. We still have fifty one miles to go until we reach Long Beach. Then I am going to cut up the LA River channel and head inland." Cameron said. "That's if we don't get intercepted again or shot down. I'm trying to stay off any radar or monitoring devices anyone has. Right now all they can do is get a visual for a short while or hear us at this altitude."

Allison came up to see what was happening.

"You look pretty glum." Vanna said.

Allison felt pretty glum too.

"I spoke with the 'passengers'." Allison said. "They started to open up to me and filled me in. Skynet Metal picked them up from a Scavenger camp."

Vanna wasn't sure which place was worse. They both ended the same way - death.

"I figured that when I saw how their clothing was ripped. I know what that means…." Vanna said. "Did it happen to all of them?"

Vanna looked ill. She knew what they must have endured. Vanna would say they were lucky to be alive but with the memories that haunted her, she wasn't so sure.

Allison didn't want Vanna to dwell where she was headed.

"Yes. It happened to all of them." Allison said. "It's in the past now."

Vanna cringed. She worried about the girl. She knew what that was like.

"Even the girl?" Vanna asked.

Allison wanted to keep it simple.

"I don't know what happened." Allison said.

Vanna was angry at the Scavenger scum that infested this timeline too. How could humans be so cruel to each other? She thought how ironic it was that they were 'rescued' by Terminators. That was more or less how she survived. She believed that death by the hands of Skynet would have been more humane….

Jesse hurried into the cockpit to report.

"We have a tail." Jesse said.

They all knew that was bad news.

"Great." Allison said as she returned to the back with Vanna and Jesse.

Cameron flew at the maximum speed that the transport would go. She needed to slow down to prevent the engines from overheating; now they'd picked up a tail. The HK drone was much faster and more agile than they were.

Allison went back with Vanna and Jesse to assess the situation. She noted the HK drone stayed much further in back of them this time. Evidently the other HK drone was able to transmit what happened to it before its demise. She faced one of the clones.

"Can you hit it that far back?" Allison asked.

The three clones all looked at each other.

"No." They all said at the same time.

Jesse wanted to lure it in.

"We need to trick it somehow to come closer." Jesse said.

"How do we do that?" Vanna asked.

"I don't know." Jesse said.

Allison wanted to let Cameron know the situation.

"Let me tell Cameron." Allison said.

Allison reported back to Cameron.

"The HK drone is hanging back and not moving up." Allison said.

It appeared that Skynet learned from the last encounter.

It was time for a new tactic.

Cameron weighed her options.

"In forty seconds I'm going to turn hard to starboard, that's to the right side and then rapidly start to climb." Cameron said. "I'm then going to cut the power once the climb has started and we have more altitude. It will be like 'hitting the brakes' suddenly' and the HK drone should close up on us. Tell the clones to be ready for the sudden slow down and then open fire."

Allison hurried back and relayed the information. She asked all the females to find something to hold on to. She didn't want them hurt needlessly. The maneuvering would be harsh.

Cameron turned sharply inland at a right angle. That caused the HK drone to close up on it as it moved to cut them off. Cameron started her climb at the same time. The HK drone increased its speed to keep up. Cameron chopped the power and the transport nearly stalled. The HK drone rapidly approached. The three clones fired and it went down. They'd used same firing pattern as the last time.

She went back to full power before they stalled and was able to get the transport back under control. She headed back out to the sea. Their last reported direction should be inland. She hoped the ruse worked.

Cameron was sure this would buy them more time. She pushed the engines back past the redline and lowered her altitude even more as she skimmed the water. She wanted to get further away from her last reported position as possible.

Allison was back in the cockpit.

It looked like the reprieve was short lived.

Cameron spotted another HK drone coming straight towards her.

"Have the gunner on the side ready to fire." Cameron said. "I'm going to give the HK drone our broadside."

Allison went back out. Jesse was at the hole in the side.

"Cameron is going to turn into a HK drone's path sideways." Allison said.

Cameron saw the drone closing. It would probably shoot at them this time. She made a flat turn to expose her broadside. The drone moved to turn with her. She stayed with the turn. She reversed the thrust on the starboard power plants while leaving the port engines at full power. The transport came around smartly.

Jesse felt the transport make a flat turn. It was sharper than she thought. The HK drone came into view and she opened fire on it. She hit it just as it started to fire its plasma cannon. Her shot knocked it off target and the shot from its plasma cannon missed them. It passed right under them.

Cameron looked off to the side and saw the HK drone was hit and the cannon shot just missed them. It would have severely damaged them. She stayed with the flat turn to try and get the HK drone behind them.

One of the clones asked the other two clones to hold onto her as she leaned out the gap between the partial lowered rear door and the side of the transport. It gave her a clean shot at the HK drone.

Jesse fired again and hit the HK drone a second time. She saw another hit happen on it at almost the same time.

The HK drone dropped off onto its side and began to tumble out of control. Parts flew off of it and hit the top side of the transport as the main body of the HK drone fell into the ocean.

Cameron was pointed back at the land at this point. There were warning lights flashing and alarms sounding.

She restored the engines to normal operations but the warnings continued. Some of the debris that hit them must have done some damage. They were stuck in a broad turn.

One of Cameron's clones entered the cockpit.

"We have a hole in the top of the fuselage." The clone reported.

Cameron figured that was where her problem was.

"Take over." Cameron said. "We're stuck in a giant turn right now. We may need to set it down once we near the beach again."

Cameron entered the cargo bay. She grabbed another clone. They went to the hole. It was about three feet in diameter with the metal mostly bent backwards and off to the side.

"Lift me up." Cameron said.

Allison saw what was about to happen.

"Are you going up there?" Allison asked.

Cameron nodded.

"I need to go outside." Cameron said.

"Do you mean now, while we're flying?" Allison asked.

"Yes." Cameron said.

"Wait." Allison said.

Allison rushed off and returned with a coil of cable.

"Damn, that's heavy." Allison said.

Vanna was there too.

"Fasten that around your waist and secure it to something inside before you go out." Vanna said. "It's a good idea."

Cameron thought maybe it was. There seemed to be some harmonic vibration to the transport now as well.

"Tell my clone to set it down when we get closer to land even if it is in the surf." Cameron said as she glanced at the female prisoners. "Our next rotation around is going to be out past the breakers."

Vanna understood what she meant. They would end up in the water and sink. She headed for the cockpit to deliver the message.

Cameron was lifted by her clone and grabbed the edge of the torn metal and pulled herself up. Her clone made sure the cable did not bind.

"Is it long enough?" Allison asked.

"Unknown." The clone said.

Cameron was in danger of being blown off the top of the transport. She was glad for the cable at this point. She could see what the problem was. Part of the HK drone was wedged in the directional control mechanism of the port power plant.

She made her way there on her belly and used whatever she could for a handhold. She grabbed the debris and worked it back and forth to free it. The piece of debris broke free and disappeared across the top of the fuselage and over the back.

There was only one problem. She lost her grip and was headed that way too. She figured that this wasn't going to end well.

The clone that guided the cable noted the rapid movement of the cable and grabbed onto it hard. She was pulled up to the opening where her chassis jammed. She was on the verge of being pulled out as well. The second clone rushed over to assist the first clone. Vanna moved to take up her position at the rear ramp.

Allison was going to get the third clone when she saw the second clone pull the first one back down and they both pulled the cable back in. She was glad to see Cameron appear at the hole and climb back inside. It looked like a really bad hair day for her at this point.

Cameron jumped down and made her way back to the cockpit. The two clones resumed their gunnery positions. Allison could not believe how calm they all looked. They looked like 'robots doing their jobs'.

Vanna and Jesse joined Allison and they headed forward.

Cameron returned to the cockpit and took control. Her clone stepped out as the three girls moved up.

Vanna, Allison and Jesse all squeezed up to the cockpit to see what was happening.

"Look at that big boat." Allison said.

Jesse wanted to point out ships were larger than boats.

"That's not a boat. It's a ship." Jesse said.

Ahead lay the Queen Mary or what was left of its rusted, burned out hulk. It was now tilted at a thirty degree angle and two of its smoke stacks were missing. They'd rusted and fallen off.

It was a shameful end to a once proud machine, Cameron thought. It was stuck there to serve out time as a rusted 'pile of junk'. Those were the very words that were said to her in the past.

"We're coming up on the LA River channel." Cameron said. "I am going to fly down the center of it. It is basically a concrete canyon for thirty miles. I will have to dodge the collapsed bridges that once spanned it. None were left standing in my timeline anyway. I have no idea what we will find in this one."

Allison noticed that the LA River looked more like giant version of the concrete flood control channel that was near her house in Palmdale.

"Where are we going?" Allison asked.

Cameron banked that some things were still the same in this timeline.

"I'm going to what used to be Resistance held territory. It's where I took My Future Allison. I know the area well." Cameron said. "I am going to let you people off and then crash this thing into a hillside. I want it to look like we didn't make it so Skynet won't come looking. I want it so no one will come looking."

Vanna didn't like the sound of that proposal.

"What about you?" Vanna asked worried.

Cameron was a little worried everything may not be right.

"I should be able to program this thing to fly on its own. Please send a clone up here to help me." Cameron said.

In a short while, one of the clones arrived in the cockpit. Cameron briefed her on what she wanted. The other two kept a lookout, one out the back and the other through the hole in the side. Vanna, Allison and Jesse prepared the females to move out as soon as they were down. Several asked for weapons to help fight if necessary. The females all agreed they were not being taken captivate again by - anyone.

Jesse made it clear to the women that the girl should not be taken alive by Scavengers. They all understood….

The oldest female in the group, who was probably in her thirties, said she would personally make sure none of the others were taken alive….

The other women nodded and the girl thanked her….

This was product what humans do to other humans.

It was a sad testimonial of how much de-evolution occurred.

It's Too Dangerous

As we walk along
Life's narrow crumbling ledge
Our feet start to stumble
As we near that ragged edge

Does it really matter
If we go over the side
As the ground rushes up
Fate and destiny collide

Is not tomorrow
Again just - today
A repeat of what was
Everyday is yesterday

Not Good Enough
Once that has been thought
Every battle will be lost
It is over before it is fought

Some say throw caution away
Live and be adventurous
I say many are traitorous
It's too dangerous

Nobody