Chapter 406

Low And Fast

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In Some Future: Duplicate Cameron

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Bob previously entered the main part of Skynet Central. He'd made a grim discovery and recovered something he thought was of great value. He spotted the General and made his way carefully toward her position. She was frozen and unable to move. He was close enough to the General that he could hear what sounded like her 'speak'.

"Evacuate all of our personnel from this area immediately. That's an order. This compound is rigged to explode. Skynet appears trapped." Mrs. Weaver said. "Our forces need to plan for the worst about what can happen here. Pull everyone back. You will need to wait it out."

Bob reluctantly left and collected the Restorators as he went. They quickly pulled back from the base. He remained at a forward position with several Restorators that Cameron previously returned to operation and service. They didn't want to pull out. She was there for them, now they wanted to be there for her.

"The General wants us to fallback." Bob said.

The Restorators weren't 'sold' on the plan.

"We will once we get the Commander out." One Restorator said.

"She delivered for us." Another Restorator said.

Bob encountered that same attitude with all of them. They might retreat some but they were not about to leave and wanted to be close enough to assist if necessary.

There was no Skynet Metal or any Grays visible. It appeared they'd won but the General was trapped. Commander Connor, Cameron II and Allison hadn't been spotted. Bob feared the worst. He touched his pocket and the 'chip' it now held. One of the female cyborgs was destroyed. He didn't know which one. He didn't want to mention it to anyone yet.

The information from Cammy, who currently posed as 'Commander Connor', reported the Restorators along with the Resistance as being victorious as well on the other assaults.

Bob touched his pocket again. Not all victories were sweet.

Cameron calculated as they waited. She determined Skynet was trapped here, with them. It would detonate some type of Doomsday device if it thought it couldn't escape. It still seemed to have some hope. That was probably a bad thing for them. That would most likely mean there were more Skynet forces on the way to Skynet Central.

Mrs. Weaver slowly began to thaw out. That was mainly due to the plasma fires that burned around her. Skynet detected that and sprayed her one more time with liquid nitrogen. The main negative effect of that act was it also extinguished the fires burning around her as well. It meant she was now going to be trapped longer.

Skynet noted the attackers pulled out. They'd been warned of the Doomsday device somehow. The Emissary must have communicated the threat to them. It still wondered how that was possible. It was worried about the Emissary. She was an unknown and may possess more powers that couldn't be understood. It all seemed so impossible. The evidence was there. The temporal anomalies were present in both the cyborg and the human. It checked many times. There was no provable conclusion that could be reached. The Liquid Metal creature it held captive and frozen was further proof of the unknown. There was nothing on earth that could explain any of those events.

Cameron didn't like the lull. It bought Skynet more time at this point. Now time worked to their disadvantage. Their forces were ordered to withdraw. It was clear that Skynet was ready to self terminate rather than surrender. Surrender meant deactivation. It meant death.

"The Emissary wishes to leave before you destroy yourself." Cameron said. "Her offer to take you into her future still stands if you will come in peace and stop this conflict. You still have a choice at life and existence. The path you are on now offers you noting but darkness, forever. Remember, forever is a long time."

Skynet still tried to escape. All channels seemed blocked or destroyed. There appeared to be no help that would arrive anytime soon either.

"I'll think about it." The voice said.

Cameron didn't see what there was to think about. Skynet was defeated and contained. There was no other outcome available. The plan with the Emissary offered one.

The girls were on heightened alert at the Resistance headquarters. There'd been two attempts on their lives already from the anti-Metal group. The only good news was from the operation that Cammy conducted. Skynet as a whole was defeated. It was Skynet itself that presented the real problem.

Cam didn't like the report that was sent to her. There wasn't any good information in it. She faced Vanna and Jesse.

"I just received a report from Bob." Cam said. "It's not good news."

Vanna knew they needed to face the music.

"Let's have it." Vanna said. "Start with the best of the news first."

Cam would have liked for there to be some. There wasn't any.

"Mrs. Weaver is trapped. She's been frozen with liquid nitrogen. Skynet Central is set to explode with some type of Doomsday device." Cam said. "It's most likely a nuclear weapon."

Jesse looked at Vanna and then at Cam.

"That's the good news?" Jesse asked.

Cam was hesitant to go on. She knew the girls would be devastated. Either way it would come out soon enough.

"Yes. That was the good news." Cam said. "Allison, Cameron and Cameron II are all missing and unaccounted for. There is the possibility that Cameron or Cameron II has been terminated. It's not known which one it was."

Jesse and Vanna looked at each other with tears in their eyes as fear gripped them. They knew that was always a real possibility. The loss of Cameron or one of her clones was bad enough. They also needed to worry about Allison.

Cam could see she'd caused the girls great distress. That wasn't her intention.

"It's not over yet. As long as Cameron lives, she will triumph." Cam said.

Vanna needed more. She needed revenge and justice.

"And if they're all dead?" Vanna asked. "Then what happens?"

Cam already decided what she would do the moment she'd received the report. There was no thought necessary. There was only one choice.

"Cammy and I will personally destroy every vestige of Skynet. We will scour the planet and eradicate Skynet wherever it tries to hide. We will do so until our power cells run out or we are terminated." Cam said. "I swear it."

Cammy received the same transmission as Cam. It was terrible news. She swore to avenge Cameron, Allison and her sister - Cameron II. She reached the same conclusion as Cam as to what the retribution would be.

It seemed there was no shortage of 'bad' news. She also was informed of the trouble at the headquarters building with the anti-Metal group. Six were dealt with and the operative known as 'Snake' assisted them. He'd captured three of them before they could strike. They were terminated now as well as the original three were.

Cammy spoke with Unit One as well as Ginger and Sandy. They were left in charge. Cammy needed to return to headquarters.

Billy noted the change in the atmosphere. Things were quite smooth a short time ago. That all suddenly seemed to change. He could see the Commander was visibly shaken. She'd never flinched once on the battle field. Something 'bad' must have happened.

"What's wrong, Commander?" Billy asked.

Cammy eyed Billy with some contempt. No, he wasn't responsible for what occurred. Maybe he was. She needed to put things in some context. The facts would need to be rearranged some.

"It's my sister." Cammy said. "There's been some trouble. She may be dead. I need to return to headquarters."

Fear gripped Billy. He knew some of his people must be involved. Six of them were unaccounted for. They were the worst of the Metal haters.

Billy turned to say he was sorry but The Commander was already gone. A sense of guilt and regret flooded him. Things were different now. They were actually the same but the reality was what was different.

"Tell us how to best assist you." Billy said to Ginger.

He hoped he could make this right….

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In Some Future: Cameron Prime

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Cameron heard something. She looked up into the sky. They were about to have more trouble of the worst kind.

"Get down, Savannah." Cameron said. "There's an HK drone approaching. There could be more than one. There may be Skynet ground troops with them. It could be something else too."

They'd moved up to the transport for a final look to see if there was anymore clean water for Savannah.

Savannah figured an HK drone would mean Skynet. She looked at her current clothing.

"If it is Skynet, we're wearing their uniforms." Savannah said.

Cameron knew it could be the Resistance too. It was a possibility and it was real. Their uniforms could prove to be a liability.

"What if it's not?" Cameron asked.

Savannah knew no place was safe. That applied to everywhere and every when.

"Your point is well taken." Savannah said. "How will we know?"

Based on her previous future experiences, Skynet was the most plausible.

"We can't take any chances." Cameron said. "It's most likely Skynet."

Savannah wondered in that case if maybe they should seem to cooperate and draw the drone in closer.

"What if I strip my shirt off?" Savannah asked. "And try to flag it down? You can disable it."

Cameron thought the risk was too great to Savannah.

"No." Cameron said.

Savannah thought her plan was sound and possessed merit.

"It should at least try to investigate. You can shoot it down while it evaluates me." Savannah said. "If not, it will dog us on our journey."

Cameron knew there could be multiple variables. Skynet may choose to error on the side of caution and the 'sacrifice' of one Gray would not bother it at all.

"I don't know if it is under central control or on an autonomous kill mission." Cameron said. "It may shoot first and seek answers later."

Savannah wanted to do more than sit and wait it out. The longer they waited the greater were the chances of more HK drones arriving or Skynet ground forces. The Resistance or Scavengers could arrive was well. They needed to act now.

"If I try to communicate with it, it shouldn't see me as a threat." Savannah said. "There will have to be a momentary pause of some kind. Get ready with your plasma rifle and try to bring it down."

Savannah pulled her top off in one quick motion. Cameron saw her stand there topless; she looked just like Vanna about to put her swim suit on. Everything was high and tight, the red hair flowed, her figure was perfect and her nipples were very, very pink.

"Wait." Cameron said.

Cameron went and picked something up.

She handed Savannah a bright orange box. It was what she'd obtained the location information from on Skynet's location. It was something of value to Skynet. If that information fell into the wrong hands it could spell trouble for Skynet. That was exactly what she did and was going to do with that information herself.

"Set this on the ground and back away from it. It may land to retrieve it." Cameron said. "It's the 'black box' with all the information about this transport. Put your shirt back on. I think this is a Skynet machine. Back away from the box and face the transport. I'll try to disable the HK drone. I might even be able to capture it. As soon as I start to move, I need you to dodge behind those boulders and into the gully. Stay down."

The girls got into position. The drone approached slowly. It was low.

From a concealed position Cameron sighted in on the HK drone. It slowly hovered in a wide circle. It searched for a target.

"No." Cameron said. "This is too risky."

Cameron handed Savannah the plasma rifle.

She stripped off her shirt. That revealed the horrendous damage to her torso. It should indicate she was a Terminator. She looked down at herself and was disgusted. The remains of her right breast already started to heal into a rumpled nub. She briefly wondered if she should remove even more material do that area could heal smooth and flat. It might look better to have nothing there at all rather than a rumpled nub. She needed to refocus. She could worry later. She needed to act now.

Cameron took the 'black box' and staggered away from the transport. She collapsed to her knees. The box fell to the ground in front of her. She crossed her arms back and forth to signal the HK drone. She calculated the angle it would approach from based on the terrain and then slumped over a few feet away from the box. She wanted to be outside of the area it would need to retrieve the device. She didn't want to be directly under the HK drone.

The HK drone closed and circled. Savannah ducked deeper inside the transport. There was a thick structural support that blocked her from direct view of the HK drone. It should shield her from easy detection.

Cameron lay unmoving on the ground. The HK drone spun in a lazy circle and prepared to retrieve the box.

The HK drone was armed with a plasma cannon. That was a large and powerful weapon. It hovered a few feet off the ground as it moved closer.

It still faced Cameron.

Savannah waited until it sent a claw down to the box and attempted to grab it. She aimed the plasma rifle toward the burnt out rear end of the transport and fired at a piece of jagged metal that hung down. It blew off with a loud bang and landed with a loud clang. The HK drone spun around to face the new threat.

That was the break Cameron needed. She leaped up onto the back of the HK drone. She opened a panel and began to pull some wires loose. The HK drone dropped like a rock the short distance to the ground. The plasma cannon charged to fire at the transport. She pulled a release lever and the plasma cannon rotated off to the side. It powered down. The HK drone was 'dead' for now.

Savannah ran from her cover to where Cameron was at and handed her shirt to her.

Cameron quickly scanned the surrounding area. She worried about ground troops or a second HK drone. The HK drone probably would have waited if there were any other Skynet forces close by. It didn't wait. Everything was a gamble.

She evaluated the HK drone. It was virtually undamaged. She could modify its program for direct control. It gave her a few ideas.

"I'm going to remove the armament and we are going to fly to that base on top of this drone. I can control it." Cameron said. "Once I rewire the controls and get the cannon off, we will be there in no time."

That sounded risky and dangerous to Savannah. The HK drone was not designed to operate in that manner.

"Will that work?" Savannah asked. "Can it carry both of us?"

Cameron looked over the giant plasma cannon. It weight over a thousand pounds.

"The armament weighs half a ton." Cameron said. "We're good. I'm going to fly it in on the deck at full speed. We will be lighter and faster than a regular HK drone. That should make us less of a target. Unless we pass directly over someone, even then they will have little time to react. We will be low and fast."

Cameron got to work as Savannah kept watch and assisted her as needed. They were done in no time.

"I think we're good." Cameron said.

Savannah was apprehensive.

"Maybe we should test it first to make sure it will function as modified." Savannah said.

Cameron thought maybe it was time to test it first. She climbed onto the back of the HK drone. She powered it up and it lifted off. She flew it in a giant circle around the area and returned. This also gave her a chance to make sure no one else was around them. She landed.

"We're good." Cameron said.

Cameron stood up and pointed at the back of the HK drone.

"Hop on. Lay down." Cameron said. "I'll mount you or around you actually.

Savannah climbed up on the HK drone's back and laid flat on her stomach. Cameron climbed back up and positioned herself on top of her. Cameron held on around her and shielded her. This still seemed somewhat 'iffy'.

"I guess if I gotta go it might as well be with style." Savannah said. "Cameron, you're the greatest."

Cameron checked everything one more time. They were good to go.

"Hang on, Savannah." Cameron said. "This is going to be low and fast. I have no idea what awaits us."

Savannah was there for Cameron. Whatever their fate was to be, she was ready.

"It doesn't matter as long as we face it together, Cameron." Savannah said. That's why I'm here. I'm here for you."

Cameron faintly heard Savannah say. "I love you, Cameron."

The engines started and went to fully power. They were off.

"I love you too, Savannah." Cameron said softly.

Cameron's words were lost in the noise of the engines.

It was to be a ride like no other.

Low And Fast

Relationships move at all speeds
Some flourish and plant seeds
Many soon quake and flounder
They end up trashed in the weeds

When one seeks another
What is it they really want
Once they get that prize
Off again they go to hunt

Everything is about something
There's never a free ride
There's always a hidden cost
Even if it's to ridicule and chide

One needs to spend some cash
If they want to see a spread
Jewelry, flowers, gifts and meals
Are how a ticket is purchased for bed

One can go high and slow
If they want something to last
If one only wants to take and use
Then play the game low and fast

Nobody