Chapter 617
Taser Time
Cameron moved down her selected tunnel. Savannah was at her side, slightly behind her. Tom brought up the rear.
The further along they moved, the warmer it got. It wasn't uncomfortable yet but noticeable.
There was an occasional scraping sound. It was hard to tell if it was metallic or something scraping on rock.
Cameron indicated Savannah should fall behind her even more. There was a faint glow ahead now. Cameron was unsure if it was some emergency lighting or an electric lantern of some type. It indicated there were Grays ahead. If there were Grays, there could be Terminators.
The closer Cameron got, the more she heard what were tools being used to work on or adjust something. There was defiantly someone up ahead doing something.
Other than the Terminator who spotted her peering out from the blind tunnel, no one seemed to be aware they were there. That seemed somewhat strange in itself.
Cameron crept closer as the tunnel widened into another man made cavern. She motioned for Savannah to stay back and Tom to move forward.
Savannah understood the danger level was going up, she fell back to watch their six.
Tom moved forward. He was ready for combat.
Savannah would keep their exit open and prevent any newcomers from joining the party. Not much of what happened so far was how she'd thought any of this was going to play out.
John decided to risk it and send more Terminators in to get Cameron out. He wanted to end this once and for all. The first reports that came back didn't please him. There was some kind of a hold up at the mine entrance.
"What do you mean Dan won't let anyone else in?" John asked.
John Henry was a little surprised himself at the origin of the reason.
"Dan said no one else is to enter." John Henry said. "So no one will."
John wondered about that. It sounded like something Cameron would pull to prevent him from pulling her out.
"Don't tell me, it's 'Cameron's orders'." John said.
John Henry understood why no Terminators would enter.
"No." John Henry said. "They're 'Savannah's orders'."
John was told by Cameron that Savannah and Young Allison could countermand any 'order' given by her. All of the Terminators would follow those new orders. Any 'order' given or implied by Savannah or Young Allison was to be carried out or enforced as if it was her 'order'. He knew he couldn't make any Terminator go against those 'orders'.
"They're the 'orders' no Terminator will violate." John said. "Beautiful."
John Henry was aware what else Savannah did. It said a lot.
"Dan stated that Savannah waited for thirty seconds before her team went in." John Henry said.
John wondered if they waited to hear gunfire.
"What did they wait for?" John asked.
John Henry thought that it was a good sign. It seemed to say a lot because nothing happened.
"It was to see if a time bubble appeared." John Henry said. "None did, so Savannah led her team in and left Dan outside to make sure they would have a way out and no one else followed. She wanted to make sure no one else was endangered."
John knew right away what it was about.
"Savannah's afraid of repeating the 'Day Of Loss'…." John said.
John thought back on that day and the time of sorrow and sadness that followed it for over a year. If they wouldn't have tried to rescue Cameron, they wouldn't have stripped the protection Details and none of the girls would have been lost. The baby Allison carried would be with them now. Cameron tried to do it all on her own to prevent the very thing that he made happen by launching the rescue effort. It turned out it was Duplicate Cameron and the girls were all Duplicates too because of a TDE malfunction. That was also of his doing by attempting to change or stop what Cameron set into play. It seemed that the bad decisions all fell back on his doorstep.
John Henry snapped John back to reality.
"There are six Terminators in there with Savannah." John Henry said. "The mission has a high probability of success."
John could only feel more frustration as events happened on their own and rapidly grew in scope. There was no time to plan anything.
"What's the mission?" John asked. "This was another unplanned event that spiraled into a semi-major battle."
John Henry didn't really have an answer. They just reacted to the events as they'd unfolded. It may have been touch and go a few times but the Resistance forces came out on top.
"Our Terminator force in the area is now dispersed and hidden but will be able to quickly reinforce each other." John Henry said. "A hostile HK drone strike is what I would expect at this point."
John wasn't sure what else they could do. Without being able to enter the mine with additional personnel, all they could do is wait.
"We're as ready as we can be." John said.
John Henry took some other precautions as well. The threat of an HK drone strike is what they were the most worried about.
"We've established an LP on each of the routes that any HK drones would likely take if they came in on the deck. Anything in the air CamNet or myself would observe." John Henry said. "We are tied into all air traffic control systems. We've modified all the local weather radars for our purposes as well."
John snickered a little at the last revelation.
"No wonder they never get the weather forecast right." John said. "You've hijacked their signal and purpose."
John Henry thought 'credit' or 'blame' should go to where it belonged.
"Cameron likes to cover all the bases." John Henry said. "Our two drones in the gravel pit are ready to go in a moments notice. They're even positioned in the pit so they can cover each other and launch their air to air missiles. All their weapons systems are hot."
John was a little worried about an errant missile. He didn't think it would be from one of their drones either.
"What about any other air traffic?" John asked.
John Henry didn't want any accidental 'shoot downs' either.
"I've redirected as much of everything as I can away from the area." John Henry said.
John really wished that they could hear from Cameron and her team inside the mine. There was no way to know how things were going.
"Now all we can do is wait." John said.
John didn't like the waiting game. There were too many unknowns and no way to communicate with Cameron's team. He thought the only good thing about that was Cameron couldn't get word out to retrieve one of her nukes. That's unless she'd sent word out before she left to go inside. She may have set a time limit that would trigger events. He began to wonder where the Metal girls were at. He knew they were all loyal to Cameron and would do her bidding.
He needed to think about what happened already at the mine entrance. He knew their Terminators wouldn't violate Cameron's or Savannah's orders to not enter. If someone did show up with a nuke they couldn't get it inside. A sick feeling hit him all of a sudden. There was still another player out there. Maybe there was ONE person who could change those 'orders' and get the warhead inside.
"I want to know where Young Allison is." John blurted out.
Cammy moved up and took stock of the situation. There were three Grays present. There weren't any Terminators apparent. She dropped back and quietly told her team to take them down silently. She motioned for Al and Frank to be ready to move.
She knew they could use their Tasers but any Terminator below may hear it. They would take them down Terminator style. They would go for the throat and choke them out. They would be bound and gagged until they determined what they faced and what was going on there. She decided they needed to get some answers.
Cammy and her team crept forward and made their move. They each grabbed a man and choked him out. It was over in seconds. They were incapacitated, bound and gagged. They would deposit them with Ed for now. Al and Frank carried them away.
That left Cammy on her own.
That was how she liked it anyway, just like Cameron….
She could do what she wanted without interference.
Cameron saw several large electrical components. She was sure one of them must have been responsible for the jamming field. She wasn't sure what they were all for. It looked like a TDE was being constructed but it was different. This system may be able to transport objects of non living tissue or perhaps if they were covered with Liquid Metal.
It would be a 'game changer' no matter how one looked at it. HK equipment could be sent from the future or sent to the future or any time period. She would need to take some scans of everything and run them by CamNet and John Henry. If there was an improved technology in the works, she wanted it. Besides it would be nice to use the TDE and still have clothes on when she arrived. She would prefer that on any mission she took Savannah or Young Allison on.
This could also be a 'receiver' and not a 'transmitter'. It would work the same way as the method they'd used to reach the second set of Duplicate girls and Mrs. Weaver 'in some future'.
It didn't look like it was ready to test yet. That was a good thing. The bad thing was it looked as if there were two Terminators working on it. The good thing about that was one of them was female. She wanted that 'Metal Bitch'.
There were also two Grays off to the side. One was fooling with some dark computer screens and the other was down on the floor trying to hook something up. They worked in dim light.
Cameron informed Savannah and Tom what they were going to do. She planned to take both of the Terminators herself and Tom was to go after the Grays.
They all took out their Tasers. Savannah exchanged one of hers, for the one Cameron already used a shot from.
Savannah was instructed to remain where she was but she decided she was going to back up Cameron anyway. She was aware that Cameron couldn't see the entire chamber they were in from her position. She also remembered the last time Cameron couldn't see everything that she ran into an unexpected Terminator with a plasma rifle. She'd been there to take him down but not before Cameron was damaged and unable to use a TDE time bubble to escape.
She briefly reflected on that whole chain of events. She prepared to move forward to assist Cameron. She wanted to help protect her. Maybe Cameron didn't think so but she did. Everything inside her head told her to do it and be prepared for the worst. The sense of 'doom' still hung over her.
Cameron motioned it was time to move. She and Tom moved forward.
Savannah waited two seconds and followed Cameron. She would try to watch both of their backs as well.
A few seconds later there was the sound of Taser fire, a lot of it.
Savannah knew it wasn't going as planned. She entered the combat zone.
Young Allison went back to monitoring the feeds from John Henry and CamNet. She was very displeased that she was 'forcibly' removed from the combat zone. She thought she'd earned her place to be with the others. She was further upset that Anna and Hanna didn't stay to assist, especially since Savannah went back.
"You should have stayed to help them." Young Allison said. "I should have stayed."
Anna didn't really want to have this same discussion again.
"That's not your function yet." Anna said.
Young Allison felt even more frustration. Since everything was planned out for her, it might as well all start to happen now. She didn't need to be older to do any of it. She was ready to try it all. She studied everything enough. She was sure that she would rather be with Savannah than John. It still looked like more of an 'attack' on the female body when a male was involved.
"I already know my future." Young Allison said. "What's the purpose of waiting for anything?"
Anna knew that Cameron only held back because of the 'negative feedback' she expected from the humans if Young Allison were put in her proper place now.
"There are a few of your future functions that some will think you aren't ready for yet." Anna said. "Cameron wants you ready and trained before you assume your place. The future will depend on you."
Young Allison didn't want to get into the 'age' issue that everyone else seemed to have. That was their hang up, not hers.
"Savannah's out there risking herself all the time." Young Allison said. "Any Terminator could do much of what she does."
Anna was aware that Cameron saw Savannah's involvement with a much greater benefit for the future where any Skynet was located. Savannah provided a 'real human' touch to everything.
"A Terminator can't perform all of her functions." Anna said. "Savannah will be the interface between all machines and humans. Skynet Metal will seek to join the Resistance to serve under John Connor, Savannah Weaver and Allison Young."
Young Allison didn't believe that. There was no evidence of that.
"You can't know that." Young Allison said. "That's Cameron's belief if Judgment Day comes. That hasn't happened in any future I've learned about."
Anna believed it was the present future that would emerge.
"It will be YOUR future." Anna said.
Young Allison didn't think anything was written in stone. What was or would be, might not be. She needed a stress reliever.
"Let's just deal with the current operation for now." Young Allison said. "Continue my academic instruction as we do this so it helps take some of my worry away."
The waiting was traumatic for Young Allison. Testing herself at the same time would ease her mind. The more she needed to think, the less she could think about things that bothered her.
Anna was ready to start.
"Which subject would you like to review?" Anna asked.
Young Allison thought she was proficient in all of them. A Terminator might see it in a different way.
"The ones you think I need additional work on." Young Allison said.
Young Allison took out some paper and a pen and pencil.
Anna took in the 'old school' method.
"You don't want to use your tablet or laptop?" Anna asked.
Young Allison was aware the future would be full of hardships.
"No. In a Skynet dominated future those things will be rare. I need to know how to do things the traditional way with pencil and paper and my brain." Young Allison said. "I need to know them or how to do them, not for a computer to do it for me."
Anna kept her face expressionless but 'smiled' to herself. This was the sign of true greatness and determination. It was time to start pushing Summer as well. It was clear at this point that Summer was more advanced than other humans. That was a new variable to Cameron's planning.
Hanna would be instructed to keep Claire busy a few more hours everyday….
The Young girls appeared to be the Prime Specimens.
Ally and Sheila entered the building. They weren't met with a challenge or any gunfire.
They both held their Taser and an M9 ready as they moved forward.
They were both upset the van drove away. They didn't know who was in it or how many there were. They may have missed a whole crew. That could impact negatively on the team at the mine. They sent a warning out to CamNet about their 'failure'. CamNet instructed them not to dwell on it since things only started to develop with the new leads.
They began a search of the interior.
They spoke in tones at a decibel level that only another Terminator could hear.
"I think we just missed everyone." Ally said.
Sheila wasn't too happy about it.
"Let's find the sleeping quarters." Sheila said.
Ally passed by a closet that was open. She looked inside. She was a little surprised at what she'd found. It wasn't a closet.
"This is their armory." Ally said.
Sheila came over and looked.
"They have RPG rounds in here. It looks like a few are missing." Sheila said. "There's no launcher."
They both knew that Savannah and Cammy were attacked with an RPG once.
Ally touched the dust. There was no dust under where the missing RPG rounds looked like they were at.
"Someone took some." Ally said. "This looks fresh."
They informed CamNet of the discovery. CamNet said she would notify John Henry when it was appropriate. They both thought 'now' was appropriate.
They made it to the sleeping quarters.
"There's no 'comfort bed' here." Sheila said.
Ally didn't like that term.
"Its only a 'comfort' to the Grays." Ally said. "It's Hell on earth for the female until she's terminated and disposed of."
Sheila thought about it for a few seconds. It all began to click.
"There was a Terminator stationed here." Sheila said.
Ally looked around. Everything was neat and orderly. There weren't dirty dishes and trash piled up.
They contacted CamNet with the latest info.
They were instructed to take the hard drives and rig the building to explode with a delayed timer. It was to be tripped as a booby trap.
The Metal girls set up some surveillance cameras so CamNet could watch their backs as they worked. They didn't want a Terminator to show up while they were in the middle of booby trapping the place. It would also give CamNet the prerogative to command detonate the building or prevent the booby trap from exploding.
Once everything was set, they left with the hard drives. They went back over the rear wall with everything.
They searched their SUV twice before they touched it.
Mine In The Mind
There are many escapes in life
Few are neat and concise
Everything comes with a price
The ruin of mankind is vice
Maybe every form of escape
Is really another prison itself
It isn't anything new to some
To be placed away on a shelf
The mind is a terrible place
It can always find new pain
When it screams to be heard
It may accidentally cause disdain
Is insanity actually insane
How does one ever know
The sewer of a mind runs deep
Who don't think so
A mind is a terrible thing to waste
There are many more things to find
Its hypocrisy knows no bounds
Beware of the mine in the mind
Nobody