Chapter 367

Bad Career Choice

Bob was glad Cameron was alright and not captured or terminated. He hoped John and her wouldn't start bickering. He could see there was some tension in the air. He was aware they could argue and fight or end up in a love making session. He'd witnessed both events occur at times like these.

"We were worried about you." Bob said. "I was worried about you."

Cameron was glad Bob was here to watch John.

"Thanks, Bob." Cameron said. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused somehow."

John really wanted to know what happened. So far they hadn't been given any details yet.

"What actually did happen?" John asked.

Cameron wondered about that herself. She wondered if she was in New Mexico looking to see if she could find a warehouse or bunker with the other chassis of 'herself'. If she'd been reliving her life, there must be more of 'her' somewhere to prove that. She didn't remember. She knew if there were more of HER that she wanted to find them. She wanted those other chassis and chips. She wanted to know more about her past life.

"I'm not sure." Cameron said. "I think I 'blanked out' and ended up finding a couple of Grays at some point. I was offline somehow. I may have been hit by a car. Then I was kidnapped by some sex traffickers."

Bob viewed some images of the vehicles that John Henry was able to download. The images of the deceased were very violent.

"Do you mean your car was hit?" Bob asked.

Cameron found some bruising. It was mostly gone at this point.

"NO. I think I was hit by I car. I was offline for awhile." Cameron said.

Cameron ran her scans again and everything was up to ninety seven percent.

Ally and Sheila looked at each other. They knew why they were here. They would be bait for the sex trafficking operation.

Cameron looked at John. She was glad to see him but still displeased that he was here. He shouldn't have come. It's dangerous out in the field. It looked like the part of the operation with the Grays was concluded. Everything that was left was personal at this point. She looked directly at John.

"I want Bob and you to go back as soon as the jet is refueled." Cameron said. "I have a personal score to settle outside the scope of our normal operations. I don't wish to involve the Resistance in a personal matter."

Ally would like to know some of the specifics. Some of these operations were very large and fortified.

"It's a personal matter with whom?" Ally asked. "Who are we after?"

Cameron didn't like being taken. She liked it less that her top was removed.

"It's with some individuals who've made a bad career choice." Cameron said. "They've personally offended me. They will pay with their lives."

Sheila knew the type. In the end they were all the same groups. Since Cameron identified some targets, she was ready to act.

"They're all future Scavengers and Grays anyway." Sheila said. "We're ready. Let's go."

Cameron asked the girls to bring some mission oriented attire.

"Did you bring everything?" Cameron asked.

Ally patted her carry on bag.

"Just like always." Ally said.

John didn't like what he saw develop right in front of him. Cameron was going to go off on her own with some help from Ally and Sheila. This seemed like a half baked plan if there was even a plan at all. He was here with Bob. It should be a team effort.

"We're going with you." John said.

Cameron was instantly irritated again. John seemed to have trouble listening or maybe it was a comprehension problem. She would tell him again.

"That scenario isn't going to happen." Cameron said. "You and Bob are headed back home."

John didn't see why not. They were already here and they could do something to assist Cameron.

"No, I want to stay." John said. "Bob and I can back you up."

Cameron thought about what John could do and not be in danger or in the way. She looked at the jet.

"You can wait here with the plane." Cameron said. "That way I won't have to 'borrow' one when we leave."

John figured that meant Cameron would steal one.

"Borrow one?" John asked. "I think there's another name for that type of acquisition."

Cameron shrugged her shoulders. She didn't see it as a big deal. If what she borrowed wasn't damaged or destroyed it should get back to the proper owner. It wasn't her fault that people didn't take better care of their things and safeguard them better. Savannah asked her to compensate anyone she took things from at a later date. That usually resulted in her leavening cash inside their residence or an electronic deposit into one of their accounts. The latter was usually complements of one of the drug operations from laundered money. The cash was from drug or sex trafficking proceeds directly. They always kept a lot of cash around.

"It happens." Cameron said. "I take what I need, when I need it."

John didn't see very many weapons. They carried a full complement on the plane in several hidden compartments.

"Will you need weapons?" John asked. "We have plenty."

Cameron felt the girls and her were weapons. She'd taken weapons and money from them already. This was personal so she preferred to terminate as a Terminator. She could always whisper some parting message to the future decedent right before their neck was snapped. It also gave her a lot of stealth to operate silently.

"I've acquired some and a large sum of cash." Cameron said. "I've already made a few stops. Some of these people have taken 'early retirement'."

John looked at Cameron's clothing. There was dried blood on it, a lot of it. He wondered how badly she'd been damage in any of this. He doubted she would be honest with him if she'd been shot.

"I can see that." John said. "Are you OK?"

Cameron was almost at one hundred percent. She hadn't sustained any bullet wounds yet. That would probably change before the operation was concluded.

"I think so." Cameron said. "This is what I want to do and have planned…."

She cleaned up and changed her clothes into some she asked Ally to bring.

Everyone took in her naked form as she changed, even Bob, it was beautiful….

Cameron knew they all watched her as she changed. She tried to do it as sexy as possible without being too overt. She liked an audience to admire her. She wouldn't want one for sex like Sheila craved. Sheila once told her to achieve true fulfillment in a sexual encounter that she needed an audience to watch her perform. To stimulate the crowd gave her great satisfaction.

Hanna and Allison were finally able to calm Claire down.

Allison didn't want her mother making 'bad' life decisions based on Cameron. She did understand the total infatuation and love someone could feel for Cameron, they all did. She wanted Young Allison and Summer to grow up with both of their parents - HER parents. It was something she always wished for. It was something she'd lost but found again. Her relationship with her mother was more like one of 'best friends' since they were only a couple of years apart in age. Cameron and the other Terminators who looked like her also distracted from the fact she was her daughter. She was more like one of many. There were times when it seemed they would be a little more that a mother and daughter. Her mother told her that Summer and Young Allison were what she perceived as her 'daughters'. She was aware that Cameron was behind Hanna and her mother 'hooking up'.

Cameron believed she protected the females better that way. If there was a Terminator in a love relationship with them, she believed they would be better protected.

When her mother first found out her sexual preference, she told her that prior to getting married to her father that most of her 'special friends' were females. She said her parents made her get married to a male. It was something she could relate to. It was just kind of spooky that she and her mother now both were with a 'special friend' that looked the same. They were Hanna and Vanna. One was Metal, the other was not….

She marveled at the fact that her mother carried her baby. Her mother was going to give birth to her baby, John's baby. She'd previously asked Cameron if she'd told John what was going to happen yet. Cameron said 'no' and left immediately. Holly stopped Allison from following her. It was clear Cameron didn't want to discuss it and she probably started to glitch as well. It was evident that Cameron expected trouble with John over everything she did in the shadows.

Holly was aware of another factor. It was one that bothered them all. The girls from the future were unable to carry a child for very long before the pregnancy terminated.

"Cameron is afraid everyone is going to have 'trouble' again. When John finds out what she's done, he's going to be angry at her. He refuses to embrace the future." Holly said. "I don't like it either."

Allison could see Holly's demeanor changed slightly. She no longer looked cheerful.

"Why?" Allison asked. "Why don't YOU like it?"

Holly believed that Allison would love her baby the most. That was natural and understandable. She loved Cameron and Vanna more than her already.

"I'll drop from third place to fourth place, in your life." Holly said. "That's just how it works."

Allison thought about that for a second. She loved John too. That would need to be factored in as well at some point, especially after Judgment Day.

"I'm sorry, Holly." Allison said. "The future is unstoppable."

Holly knew the future already happened. She wasn't even in that future.

"I guess I should be happy then." Holly said.

"Why?" Allison asked.

Holly came to the same conclusion Allison did earlier.

"When the future does happen, I'll drop to fifth place." Holly said.

Allison wanted to hear Holly say it. It seemed less offensive to her that way.

"What happened from fourth to fifth place?" Allison asked.

John was the wild card that could be played at any moment.

"John with Cameron, the baby, Vanna and you…." Holly said. "I'm sort of left redundant."

Holly was sure she'd be abandoned, replaced and thrown away. It was all of the same fears that Cameron felt. Now she felt a glitch impulse in her left hand.

Cameron went over everything with Sheila and Ally she knew so far or uncovered.

Sheila didn't think they needed to overplay any of this. They would probably not return to this area anytime soon. It might just be easier to hit them hard from the start.

"Maybe we should just go in the front door and not fool around." Sheila said. "We can wrap this up quickly."

Cameron liked how they normally played it with the local sex traffickers. They didn't go in as Terminators from the start.

"That's not how we play the game." Cameron said.

Ally thought the longer they took to wrap things up, the more likely John would be to get involved.

"Sheila's right. John and Bob are going to want to 'play'." Ally said.

Cameron didn't say anything at first. She didn't want that.

"That possibility may be so." Cameron said.

Sheila thought it was a given.

"You know John won't take 'No' or 'Wait' for an answer." Sheila said.

Ally nodded. Some people were more stubborn than others.

"Does that remind you of anyone?" Ally asked.

Ally and Sheila high fived each other up high, then down low.

Cameron knew they meant her. That irritated her some. She considered her reprogramming options for them.

"OK." Cameron said angrily. "The front door it is then."

Sheila and Ally hit over half a dozen operations hard while they searched for her earlier. They'd left a lot of dead behind. They saw how effective it was just to kill. They didn't get to help the girls though. They didn't have time.

"Forget the 'outfits' and break out the body armor, love." Sheila said. "We're going in hot."

Ally knew Sheila like to make a 'statement' for the sex traffickers."

"Are you going to collect any souvenirs again?" Ally asked.

The terror on the face of Sheila's male victims always excited her. Once they knew she was serious the panic and fear set in.

"Damn straight." Sheila said. "Someone is losing a pair. It really seems to bother them."

Ally and Sheila high fived each other up high, then down low again.

Cameron thought of leaving Ally and Sheila with John and taking Bob instead. They seemed to enjoy this line of work too much, especially Sheila. She wasn't aware how mush devastation they'd left behind as they searched for her earlier.

Sheila asked Cameron before if she could go into a future to specifically hunt Scavengers. She didn't care which future it was. She just wanted to get her hands on some real Scavengers. The darkness of the 'Jesse' in her wanted to do that.

Cameron said she would need to think about that. She'd actually thought of doing that herself. She didn't want to get stuck 'in some future'.

John was very displeased about being left behind. Cameron sidelined him again. These should be 'soft' targets with no fear of any enemy Metal being involved. He watched them depart.

"Maybe we should follow them." John said.

Bob was instructed by Cameron to keep John out of it. He'd watched Cameron deal with street trash on several occasions.

"No, we need to stay here." Bob said. "These are just thugs and punks. I've been with Cameron before on these operations."

John went over to the money Cameron left there with them.

"How much money did she take?" John asked as he looked in the gym bag.

Bob looked over the bound notes of cash.

"It appears to be several hundred thousand dollars." Bob said as he quickly calculated. "If this was a drug operation, she would have scored millions. I've seen her."

John was sure Cameron controlled billions of dollars with her raids and stock manipulation.

"Is it true she has billions?" John asked.

"Yes." Bob said. "She's hit organized crime, drug cartels, and crooked politicians. She's 'played' the stock markets."

John wondered how much of the future any of that changed.

"Beautiful…." John said.

Bob thought John should see a little further than just 'right now'.

"The more she controls, the harder it is for Skynet to get established." Bob said. "It's always her game."

John figured this would go nowhere at this point.

"I guess we wait then." John said.

Bob knew Cameron liked to be in control.

"Did we really have a choice?" Bob asked.

John shook his head in frustration.

"No." John said.

They both knew Cameron called the shots.

The base was off high alert. Things returned to 'normal'.

Savannah and Cammy were soon playful.

"I don't know if you could." Cammy said.

"Maybe I don't have to." Savannah said.

Savannah faced Cammy.

"Maybe you don't." Cammy said.

"I've always known." Savannah said.

"Maybe it's what I wanted." Cammy said.

"Maybe it's not." Savannah said.

Cammy moved closer….

"Maybe it is." Cammy said.

With the few places Cameron knocked off earlier. A 'message' was bound to have been received.

"By now they must know someone is after them." Ally said.

Sheila knew that played out one of two ways.

"So do they run or stay and fight?" Sheila asked.

Cameron thought this operation was small time and not well connected. They were in the middle of nowhere really.

"They will run." Cameron said. "It's not that big of an operation. I already cleaned out their bank."

Ally knew they would have some girls elsewhere.

"They will still have a supply of girls." Ally said. "That's their commodity."

Sheila knew the group might get scared and eliminate all witnesses to their crimes.

"They may decide to kill the girls, cut their losses and run." Sheila said. "We've seen that before."

Cameron witnessed that before. That wasn't an option that she would allow.

"I will free them." Cameron said.

Ally thought if they ran with the girls that would be the point at which to free the girls.

"That's all they have left, they will try to move them out, that's when we hit them." Ally said.

Sheila was aware what the locations were but she didn't know the strength of the enemy.

"Is there any idea how many men we will face?" Sheila asked.

"No. The information I did gather, from those that were still able to talk, I think the 'on hand supply' of females is twenty or less. The number of punks is probably about the same." Cameron said. "I want to get a list of the buyers if we can."

Sheila knew they didn't usually go after the buyers directly. It could take them out of the county.

"That's outside the normal scope of our operations." Sheila said.

Cameron thought about the girl at school who John wanted to try and save. It still bothered her how angry he was at her. He made it seem like it was her fault the girl died. It wasn't.

"What if it was Savannah or Young Allison that'd been taken and sold?" Cameron asked. "I stopped John from trying to help someone once. I still regret that. I hurt him."

Ally wanted to get started.

"OK, we get it." Ally said. "Sometimes it's nice to have help."

Cameron wanted to get this wrapped up.

"Let's go." Cameron said. "Someone has to 'pay' for all this."

The three Metal female's eyes all glowed red now.

They were coming and Hell was coming with them.

Everything Worked Out Fine

Each new day
Is as worthless as the last
Blinded by the future
Trapped in the past

We know what is inevitable
Is what the future has smitten
We will both succumb anyway
Our hearts have been bitten

No matter how far away
One will try to throw
It matters not the time
Our love will thrive and grow

The challenge is not with whom
Myself you try to replace
It is inexorable predestined
I will win this uxorious race

I know in the end
You will be mine
Time will prove
Everything worked out fine

Nobody