Chapter 433

Speechless

John Henry and Derek decided to send out two strike teams. They would consist of Terminators only. John was busy for now but would join them in the Command Center as soon as they were ready for the operation to begin.

Bob and Jim were on the same team. A second team would join them. Cameron's Terminators would provide backup and the Blackhawk was on standby. All four drones would be in use along with the manned drone as well. Sheila would be the pilot.

This was a raid based on some information they'd followed up on from the 'Gray and anti-Metal duo' that Cameron terminated. It led back to the Gray's associates. That's who they wanted to hit the most anyway. Al and Steve had them under surveillance for several days and it looked like they were about to have some type of meeting or gathering. No hostile Terminators were spotted yet. Everyone knew that could change. Then again, the Skynet Terminators could already be there or in standby waiting.

They really never knew what they were going to run into on an operation.

The teams headed out….

It was time for action.

John took in everything that was said. It was a lot to take in.

He was speechless. This was all so hard to take make sense of.

Jesse, Young Jesse, Camille and Cameron all seemed to have a good laugh at his expense.

Camille saw the way John looked at Young Jesse and she moved up next to Young Jesse. She shot John a dirty look. She was there to 'protect' Young Jesse.

John got the message. He'd seen that look on Cameron's face enough times to know what it meant. Cammy did the same thing with Savannah earlier as well. The Metal girlfriends were very protective of their 'charges'.

After the introductions, Cameron explained the whole story. Camille filled in the parts that involved her. John was shocked. Cameron already told him but seeing was believing. Well almost, he saw it alright but it was still hard to believe.

John was called away soon to help direct the mission from the Command Center. He was glad to get away. Everything was mind boggling. He knew he needed to get his head back in the game. It was Showtime.

John thought about Young Jesse, she looked really Hot and sexy. If she started to 'come on' to him like Cameron made Savannah do, it would be hard to resist her. He didn't think he would reject her. She was already pregnant and he wouldn't mind 'breaking her in'. He'd also like to give 'it' a try before she had a baby. Things might not be quite as tight afterwards.

Having known and been around Savannah since she was a girl made it easier for John not to be as 'tempted' by her even if he was. He could still 'see' the little girl she once was but knew she wasn't little anymore. He was ready to move his life forward. He'd like to break Savannah in too.

If Young Jesse and Savannah both 'pressured' him, that would be a game changer. That would be something to be with both of them on their first time with a male, at the same time. That was probably Cameron's plan. Right now it seemed like a good plan to him.

He needed to get away from it all and get back to work in the Command Center. 'Little Willie' seemed to have a mind of its own right now. He adjusted his pants along the way.

Later on Jesse and Vanna talked with Cameron privately. They both were afraid they would have a repeat of the previous pregnancy attempts. They were both reluctant to try again. They knew how much the failures hurt. To get their hopes up and then have them shattered and torn away never got any easier. If anything, it made it harder. It made them question their value and self worth. It indicated they were less than other 'normal' females. It indicated they were 'not good enough'.

Cameron told them that Young Jesse and Savannah would control and decided upon the option to do as they chose with their offspring in relation to their older selves. Both Jesse and Vanna wanted hormone treatments in that case so they could nurse the infants themselves. She said she would look into it and explained that the girls in the future may need help or an 'alternative' as well.

She wanted to know what was happening in her future first. Every future was a brutal place. The fact that Future Allison wasn't pregnant at any point she was aware of was a bad indication. She knew she was asking a lot from these females, especially Savannah and Young Jesse.

Cameron didn't think she could ask them to 'sacrifice'. Even if it was for the girls in the future, she didn't feel right to ask them. She believed to ask them would be taken the same as if she'd told them to do it.

Jesse and Vanna noted Cameron's hand started to glitch when she began to discuss it. They knew it deeply troubled her. Jesse and Vanna both calmed her. Vanna took her hand.

Cameron told them she was going to have to conduct some temporal missions first. Everyone knew that was a risk.

As soon as Vanna released Cameron's hand it started to glitch even more. She told Jesse to go find Savannah and bring her. She took Cameron's hand again. She was afraid Cameron would shut down if it continued.

Vanna knew Cameron 'hurt' herself in her efforts to help the others in different futures. She also knew, Cameron knew, it would hurt the girls to give up their children, at least it would Savannah. That was a big sacrifice to ask of any mother.

Jesse was filled with emotion too as she went in search of Savannah. There were so many things that could go wrong. It often seemed if something could go wrong that it would. She filled Savannah in on the way back about what was 'wrong'. Cammy came along as well but she was sidetracked by Young Jesse and Camille.

Savannah was troubled by Cameron's reaction. She felt part of it was her fault. She should have been 'stronger' in front of Cameron about her feelings. She knew Cameron 'blamed' herself, even if that wasn't the case.

She ran to where Cameron was. She conducted a very long conversation with Cameron and calmed her down. She understood the conflicts Cameron faced with all these decisions. They affected Cameron as much as they did her, if not worse. She figured it was worse because Cameron would feel it at the same intensity every time she thought about it. Savannah knew time would dull her pain. Time only seemed to make Cameron's pain worse. It was a collective pain that always added to itself.

Later on Jesse and Vanna talked it over and decided Cameron was most concerned about the girls in the three futures. They would talk to their younger selves. They knew the risk was much higher for them to go into a future. The future itself was dangerous and toxic. Time transfers were always subject to temporal errors.

Young Jesse found this to be a solution to her 'problem'. It would keep her out of hot water with her parents. She could leave and come back in a few minutes time here, even if she was in another future for a year. It would save her a lot of headaches and explaining.

Young Jesse knew she would be protected in the future but there were always risk she could be assaulted too. She would see if she could get a little closer to John before she left. She'd rather 'give it away' herself than have it 'taken' from her. She wanted to make sure she got everything straight.

"So I can leave now and come back two minutes later HERE after being in the future for a year?" Young Jesse asked. "I can have the baby and be back like nothing ever happened?"

Camille liked that option. There would be less finger pointing at her.

"Yes." Camille said. "That's what Savannah did."

Young Jesse was nervous but would rather not deal with her parents. She wanted to make sure.

"So while my parents are here I can have this baby in the future, and they'll never know?" Young Jesse asked. "Can do this right now?"

Jesse liked the physical changes that she saw on Savannah. She thought they made her look even more attractive.

"Your norks may still be bigger and your body a little fuller." Jesse said. "Savannah ended up with a set of knockers. I don't think you will because Mum didn't. You can always blame it on too many cheeseburgers, shakes and fries."

Young Jesse was still a little worried. She was only in High School. She didn't want her mother upset with her about this. It didn't matter in the long run because she was pregnant anyway now. This was all a 'shell game'.

"Will Mum know?" Young Jesse asked. "You know, she doesn't know about this."

Jesse thought Young Jesse could stay longer in the future. That would give her body more time to 'recover'. It also exposed her to any danger for longer.

"I don't know, Jesse. She may. She did have two children." Jesse said. "You could stay a little longer. It would be safer if you went into River's future."

Young Jesse was conflicted now. She could tell what Cameron 'wanted' and she could see what Jesse wanted. She also didn't want any hassles.

"I don't know what to do." Young Jesse said. "I wanted you to have this baby, Jesse. I wanted to give it to you. Jesse, I'm doing this for you. YOU are ME."

Jesse could see the bigger picture. She knew the future sucked. It appeared that some futures sucked more than others.

"It would still be ME, hence YOU, love. The others are Duplicates of me. We're identical." Jesse said. "One set of Duplicates may be having a rougher go. The Duplicates where Savannah went were. It's your choice, Jesse. You have to make the decision yourself. Talk with Cameron for advice and direction. I'll back you one hundred percent in whatever you do. The choice has to be yours alone."

Young Jesse wanted to have the baby and her parents not know. That's what she wanted. Maybe when she was a little older there would be less flak at home.

Savannah was with Cameron when Young Jesse found her. The three of them talked…. There were several options available on what to do. The question remained as to where to go.

Cameron received a call, something was going down….

Savannah and Young Jesse exchanged glum looks.

It was clear Cameron wanted to be a part of it.

On the way to the strike location, Bob and Jim picked up a target of opportunity. They swung by one of the previous locations they'd taken down. Any of the teams out would do that at times. They never knew who would pay attention to what was there before.

They spotted something right away.

"Check out the blue car." Jim said.

Bob looked over.

"I see it." Bob said.

Bob drove around the block and parked on a side street. They watched two men enter a burnt out building. They'd been back themselves two days after that place was torched to make sure nothing remained that was of value to Skynet. There was always the chance they missed something.

The men didn't come back out right away. That meant they were more than lookiloos.

The men could be a couple of 'copper hunters' looking to steal whatever wiring or piping they could rip out of the building. That wasn't uncommon. They could also be opening some hidden compartment they didn't know about.

"Let's go see what our lost 'friends' are up to." Bob said.

Bob and Jim exited their SUV. They only took their Tasers and pistols with them. They would prefer to handle things silently their way, Terminator style.

They crossed the street and were half way there when there was a gunshot. It was followed by two more and then a dozen more. There were at least two different weapons.

A man ran out of the building carrying something. It looked like there was some blood on his shirt. He got back in the car. He started it and drove off.

"I'm going to follow him." Bob said. "Check this out here. Someone may be 'trigger happy'."

Jim nodded and continued on.

Bob hurried back to the SUV and took off after the blue car.

Jim entered the building and looked around. It took him a few minutes to find the other man. He was dead. His body was in front of a cleared off spot on the floor. There was a secret compartment that they'd missed. It was probably covered with debris when they went back through the building before.

Jim looked in the compartment and it was empty.

He searched the man and took his phone. There was no other identification. He switched it off and disabled it so it couldn't be tracked. They would analyze it and see what information could be gleaned.

Jim called Bob and told him what he'd found. It looked like another Gray and anti-Metal team up that went bad.

Bob closed up the distance on the blue car. It maneuvered more and more erratically. He figured the driver was wounded and losing blood. The car started to slow down. He would probably park the car soon and seek medical attention or wreck the car as he passed out.

It was the latter.

The blue car approached a red light. There were no brakes applied. The car continued to move at a reduced speed towards the intersection. The driver was most likely passed out at this point or dead.

The car went through the intersection and was almost hit by a car going in each direction. Brakes screeched and horns honked. The blue car continued along as it slowed more and more. It was headed for the curb at a lazy angle.

It bumped up onto the curb and clipped a telephone pole. The entire right side of the car was mangled somewhat even at the slow speed. The blue car dropped back down onto the street and stopped.

Bob waited on the other side of the intersection while all of that happened. He wanted to see if anyone else approached the car. They didn't. He drove past the car and parked on the next side street. He walked back on foot.

As he neared the car a young street punk rolled up on a skateboard and went to look at the car. He picked up the pace.

The street punk held his skateboard with one hand as he reached inside the car. His hand came out with a bloody pistol.

"That's mine." Bob said.

The street punk whirled around and pointed the bloody gun at Bob.

"Not anymore." The street punk said. "Give me your wallet."

Bob continued forward and grabbed the gun from the punk's hand.

"Wrong." Bob said.

The punk dropped his skateboard and reached for something in his pocket. His hand came out with a knife.

Bob knocked it away with one swipe of his hand.

"Take off and you won't be killed." Bob said.

The street punk issues a series of curses and threats.

Bob reached over to the car and ripped the closed door off the passenger's side.

The street punk picked up his skateboard and ran off on foot. He only looked back twice to make sure he wasn't followed.

Bob reached inside the car. The driver was still alive but unconscious. He snapped his neck. He took his phone and deactivated it as well. There was a metal box on the floor on passenger's side. He picked it up. He popped the trunk open. There was nothing of value there.

He opened the box and there were ten chips packed in a protective lining. He wasn't sure if they were for a Terminator, an HK drone or an HK Track. He would deliver these to Cameron himself and keep this acquisition off of the books.

He went around the far side of the block and through a parking lot and over a fence. He returned to his SUV and went back and picked up Jim. He showed him what was in the box. Jim nodded. He understood it would be for Cameron. They still had a rendezvous at the original target location.

They arrived two minutes late but that was an acceptable traffic time delay. They hooked up with the other team and went to work.

Jim took control of the second team. One Terminator from the other team joined Bob. The two teams of Terminators moved into position. They were ready to go in. If they ran into heavy resistance they were to fallback and let the drones finish it. If they ran into any Terminators and it wasn't too great of a force, they would try to capture them. If they came across any female Terminators, Cameron was to be notified immediately through CamNet only. It was to be kept off of the books and bypass the central Command Center. Cameron would come to collect the 'Metal Bitch' herself.

Bob's team moved in first, Jim's team went around to the backside. Bob's team moved in swiftly. They were able to terminate the guard at the door. He'd been looking at his phone and not paying attention.

No sooner than they'd gone in, than another SUV pulled up in front.

"Guess who is coming to dinner?" Steve came over the com.

"Is that a joke?" Jim asked.

Steve and Al were both outside as lookouts and backup.

"Is it a Terminator?" Bob asked.

"Affirmative." Al replied. "It's one male and one female. We're notifying Cameron."

"We're already committed." Bob said. "Draw them off."

"I'll get their attention." Steve said.

Cameron was contacted, she immediately responded.

"Don't take any chances. Hit them hard if you have to and we will sort it out later." Cameron said. "Let them come in and try to Taser them, if not, take them down. I'm on my way. Don't risk yourself or any of our team."

The hostile Metal entered the building and the shooting soon started.

Speechless

It's often been said
That talk is cheap
What does one throw away
What do they keep

Isn't it what one actually does
That should be the judge
It may be something nice
Or it may create a grudge

People will say a lot
Most of it is hot air
The truth of the matter is
They don't really even care

Then there are those
That are as good as they say
That is the one to keep
The rest can be thrown away

Don't mistake kindness for weakness
Understand it for its deepness
Or one will go sleepless
True honor leaves one speechless

Nobody