Chapter 703

Go Dark

The fighting seemed to be almost over at the old newspaper plant. There was only an occasional suppressed shot fired every now and then. It looked like the 'clean up' was just about finished. The last action still ongoing was with Cam and the Metal girls at the site where the two HK Treads were.

Cam wanted to open the HK Tread's door and see what was inside of it.

"Let me try it." Cam said.

Sheila held her Taser at the ready to fire. It would take down a Terminator or a Gray. She hoped it was a Gray so she could take them alive for a 'personal interrogation'. It would be a very enhanced 'personal interrogation'.

"Be ready to move away from the door." Sheila said.

Ally still held a Thermite grenade. She didn't want to take any chances.

"I say we burn them out." Ally said.

Cam saw that HK Tread was in perfect condition.

"We can capture this thing intact if there's no one in it." Cam said.

Cam knew she still needed to use some caution. They didn't know what was inside, if anything.

"If I can't open the door, Ally can use the Thermite grenade on it." Cam said. "I'm not going to take any chances with this thing."

Cam ventured forward and tried the door after a new electric pulse was shot through the HK Tread. The door opened when she tried it. There was no one in it.

"John, we have two Terminators deactivated and both of the HK Treads are under our control." Cam said.

Ally could see that the HK Tread was no longer a threat. She turned her attention to Sheila.

"I need to look Sheila over." Ally said.

Sheila moved her hand up to her face to cover some of the damage.

"It isn't a big deal." Sheila said.

Cam and Ally both looked Sheila over anyway.

"It is to me." Ally said with the look of love in her eyes.

Cam could see that both Ally and Sheila shared a close personal moment without any other spoken words. Normally they would try and blow it off as no big deal.

The Command Center reviewed all the reports as they came in. It appeared to have been a very successful operation with minimal damage to their troops. Now it was time to collect the spoils.

"Good work. No one was seriously damaged." John said. "Start loading the trucks. There are more trucks on the way. The perimeter looks secure and nothing is in the air. We're still jamming all communications. Cam, how's Sheila?"

Cam was a little surprised that John asked her. He probably figured that she'd give him the straightest answer.

"It's only cosmetic damage." Cam said. "She'll be fine in a few days."

Ally was glad Sheila wasn't severely damaged. She tried to make light of the situation.

"At least none of the 'good parts' were damaged." Ally said.

Sheila was upset she was damaged but she also realized she could have been damaged a lot worse. She tried to add to what Ally already said. She figured whoever she was with would have their head in a different spot most of the time anyway. The damage to her face shouldn't matter too much. They didn't spend much time kissing each other's lips. Things happened elsewhere.

"It looks like I drew the short straw today." Sheila said. "You haven't inspected those areas yet. I'm good to go, with anybody."

It seemed that Sheila directed her last comment at John.

Ally wanted to reassure Sheila that she was fine no matter how she was to her. It appeared she thought along the same lines as Sheila in every detail.

"Relax. I will soon enough." Ally said. "When we're together, we seldom see each other's face…."

Sheila knew Ally was right.

"I'll take you up on that, love." Sheila said. "Now you've made my nipple rings stand out."

Ally started to reach out. She was going to reach inside of Sheila's vest and see what she could get a hold of.

"Let me give one a twist." Ally said. "That will send a message."

Cam was a little irritated with their banter. She wanted to make sure that the building was secure and there were no additional threats that might pop back up and strike at them. There was still plenty of work to do as well.

"Enough…." Cam said. "Let's finish the operation. We need to make sure everyone is terminated and start the material collection process. That's going to take some time."

Allison noticed Young Allison listened intently to the conversation between Ally and Sheila. She believed that the subject matter was inappropriate for Young Allison.

"That's big girl stuff you don't need to hear." Allison said.

Young Allison suppressed a laugh. She was well aware of every sex act that two females to do with each other. There weren't a lot of choices.

"Please, I'm educated on a college level." Young Allison said. "I know what goes on all around me. I hear it. I see it. I know everything."

Young Allison looked at Allison, until Allison looked away. She'd been ready to get descriptive of some of the things that she'd witnessed personally if Allison wouldn't have backed down.

Allison didn't want to have THIS conversation with Young Allison. She'd already told her enough about how things work. It was no secret that Young Allison spied on all of them every chance that she got. She was pretty sure Young Allison did know everything. She'd seen it all enough times. She actually hoped that some of it helped her out later on. She wanted to change the subject.

She knew she didn't have the same abilities for learning as Young Allison did. She often wondered if Cameron did anything to 'enhance' Young Allison. She knew Cameron had been to the further future, River's future. They all knew that River had been 'enhanced'. That was in addition to her extreme intelligence. She didn't know how many times Cameron may have gone back since the time they were all there. She wouldn't put anything past Cameron to achieve her goals. She'd even confronted Cameron about it. Cameron told her Young Allison's 'abilities' were all her own and hard work. It was time to focus on the current operation that was yet to go down.

"How's Cameron doing?" Allison asked. "Anna and her are in the next battle zone."

Young Allison knew that a lot was going to happen before the evening was done. She didn't want Allison to lose focus on what her current assignment was. It was on the old newspaper plant.

"It may start to get 'hot' for them soon." Young Allison said. "Stay focused on the newspaper facility. There are still dozens of things that can go wrong. It's never over until it's over."

Young Allison was aware it could fall apart fast. It only took missing one hostile Terminator. That alone could result in a lot of damage to their team. As of right now they really had no idea what they were dealing with at the old steel mill. They didn't know what the enemy troops strength was, how many Terminators there were or how much HK equipment was there and able to become active in a moment's notice.

In other words at this point, they really didn't know anything at all.

In the Command Center they felt that the old newspaper plant operation went better than expected. They were able to use the element of surprise and infiltration to their advantage.

John was worried about Cameron.

"I want to send some of our personnel to assist Cameron." John said.

John Henry didn't want John to get ahead of himself. They needed to keep everything under control and removed from the old newspaper plant first. He still viewed the location as one of extreme danger to their troops.

"We need to focus and remove as much material as possible before the Grays counter strike." John Henry said. "We don't want to be there if they send drones. They may not wait for nightfall if they know we're still there."

John was dissatisfied with the answer even if he knew John Henry was correct. He wanted to use more of their resources once they were done at the current location to get some help to Cameron's team.

"As soon as we get the other trucks that are on the way to the old newspaper plant loaded, I want to use the Blackhawk to ferry some help to Cameron." John said.

John Henry had already taken some preemptive action for that very eventuality.

"I already have it on standby and loaded with munitions." John Henry said.

John wanted the team to hurry but he knew that that's exactly what they were all doing.

"Good work." John said. "Lets strip the place clean and get out."

They still hoped the jammed communications prevented the Grays from sending reinforcements or a drone attack their way or to any of the other locations they'd taken down.

It was where Cameron was at that would be the hard one now. All the action should focus there now. They just needed some more time to finish up at one location before they could commit in force to the other location.

Cameron and Anna carefully moved to the next large building. It was locked like the first one was.

Cameron noted the dust build up around the door as it had been on the first building that they'd entered.

"This one will be empty too." Cameron said.

She removed the latch as she'd done on the other building. It was empty as she'd suspected it would be.

There was a far off sound that started to get louder.

Anna went to investigate. She was now at the far end of the building.

"There's a Jeep coming." Anna said.

Cameron got the last screw back in and motioned for Anna to come to her.

"We need to hide for a few minutes." Cameron said.

Anna looked around where they were at.

"Where are we going to hide at?" Anna asked.

Cameron spotted something earlier.

"Follow me." Cameron said.

Cameron took off at a fast run, Anna was right behind her.

Anna was sure that they were going to be spotted. She wondered why Cameron ran and didn't fight. It was very uncharacteristic of her. She really didn't see any other option at this particular point in time.

The rest of Cameron's team was still at the temporary staging area.

The news they received from John Henry and CamNet was very troubling.

"I don't like how this operation is developing." Savannah said.

Sarah was antsy waiting around and doing nothing.

"I don't either." Sarah said. "These outfits are getting hot as well."

Gail could see that both Sarah and Savannah were worried about Cameron and the latest turn of events. She thought the decision belonged to Savannah since Cameron left her in charge of their group.

"We can move as soon as you give the word." Gail said. "Everything is ready. We can leave in a moment's notice."

Savannah wanted to get closer to where Cameron and Anna were now. She wanted to wait for Cammy to get back to join their team. She also contemplated what she would do if they ran into further trouble. She was aware it was going to take a lot of cover from John Henry and CamNet to fix and that's what she was willing to do.

"Cammy will return soon." Savannah said. "If Cameron and Anna have to start shooting, we'll go in. If we can't get in, I'm calling a drone strike."

Sarah looked up at the sky.

"It will be dark soon." Sarah said. "It is not dark enough yet for that."

Savannah already made up her mind what she was going to do.

"I won't wait." Savannah said. "We can spin any fallout if we need to. I'm not leaving the two of them in there alone and under attack."

Sarah looked at Pete and RePete.

"What do you two think?" Sarah asked.

Cameron's two Terminators briefly glanced at each other. They knew what their mission was there regardless of anything else. Only a direct order from Savannah could change what they were going to do if they needed to do it.

"We will do as Savannah or Cammy instruct us." Pete said.

'RePete' wanted to be a little more specific.

"We'll go in alone if we have to." RePete said. "We won't leave Cameron and Anna to be terminated."

Sarah figured that was something Cameron programmed into them to make them obedient.

"Does Cameron have you programmed to face termination to rescue her?" Sarah asked.

'Pete' looked at Sarah; he wanted her to understand how it really worked.

"No. It's what she would do for us." Pete said. "We'll do the same for her."

Holly spoke for the Metal girls.

"Every Terminator here will face termination to help Cameron." Holly said.

Savannah wanted to let Sarah know it wasn't just a Terminator thing.

"I will as well." Savannah said. "Cammy, how soon will it be until you're back?"

Cammy was aware of the current situation with Cameron and Anna. She didn't want to be the reason they showed up late to assist them if it was necessary. She could get there on her own with no problem.

"I'm still five minutes out." Cammy said. "If you need to roll, I'll catch up to you."

Savannah decided they needed to be ready to go in an instant.

"We are going to mount up now." Savannah said. "I'll have your outfit with me."

Sarah looked at their ride with a little apprehension. She really didn't see how the enemy was going to let them into the compound unopposed without some type of confrontation.

"So we're just going to drive up to the gate?" Sarah asked.

Savannah knew Cameron would do something to make that very thing happen.

"Yes." Savannah said. "Hank and Larry, you'll each drive."

Sarah looked at Cameron's Terminators.

"They have names?" Sarah asked.

Savannah was proud of her efforts to 'humanize' all of the Terminators, including Cameron's.

"I've asked them all to pick names to use." Savannah said. "I want everyone treated the same way. I want them all as friends too, not just workers or machines. I want them treated how I would want to be treated. We are all on the same team together."

Hank and Larry we're very proud of the names that they'd asked Savannah to pick for them. They felt honored to be named by the 'Chosen One'.

Sarah thought back about the cruel way she'd treated Cameron in the past. It made her feel guilty. She didn't understand Cameron fully then. She was here now for Cameron; that was what mattered. She realized that she too would face termination to get Cameron out if she was in a jam and needed help, people change and times change.

The Terminators all heard Savannah say that and respected her more. They knew that's what she believed and how she would act. That's how she'd always treated all of them. Their devotion to Savannah was equal to that for Cameron.

The group climbed up into the two trucks.

Sarah took another good look at their ride.

"I still don't feel good about this." Sarah said.

Savannah didn't either but she knew Cameron was good for what she said that she would do to take care of any problems or damage. She decided to give Sarah her personal guarantee that she would follow through on it herself if it was necessary. That assumed she survived the encounter that they were sure to be involved in.

"I'll make sure Cameron replaces anything we damage." Savannah said. "I know this equipment is important. Cameron does too. Right now we need it. This will allow us to drive right up to the compound, unopposed."

Cammy arrived just as the second truck pulled out of the structure. She closed the doors to the building and climbed in next to Savannah.

Cammy looked at Savannah's helmet and smiled

"Where are we headed to, 'Chief'?" Cammy asked.

Savannah looked a little confused.

Cammy pointed at her helmet.

Cameron gave it to Savannah to wear before she'd left.

Savannah took off her helmet and looked at it. She traded it with Sarah. She knew it would make Sarah feel better about everything.

The act seemed to amuse Sarah if nothing else.

"Thanks, now I feel old." Sarah said. "Since I never will be 'Queen For A Day', I guess 'Chief For A Day' is a start."

Savannah liked to see everyone happy. She wanted Cameron to know that she was about to move the team nearer.

"Cameron, we're moving closer to support you." Savannah said.

Things played out a little differently than Cameron anticipated.

"We're trying to find a hiding place." Cameron said. "I expected a foot patrol. Instead we have a Jeep patrol. It will be harder to avoid."

Savannah would feel more confident once the team was closer. They could act almost instantly to Cameron's request.

"Tell us when you want us to breach." Savannah said.

Cameron didn't think they would need too much of a formal invitation.

"When you hear gunfire or see smoke." Cameron said.

Sarah was a little concerned about that last answer.

"I take it, that's not a joke." Sarah said.

Cameron hoped to be able to give Savannah's an open invitation.

"No. It's not." Cameron said. "If you see smoke, I want you to roll in."

Savannah motioned for Hank and Larry to move the team closer to Cameron's location. The two big trucks started out.

"We are rolling now." Savannah said. "CamNet can track our position and inform us where to go, either to hold or to advance."

Cameron didn't think Savannah's team would have much trouble with traffic.

"If we need you in a hurry, everyone will pull over for you to pass. You have the option to clear the streets." Cameron said. "I think CamNet selected a good choice for your vehicles."

CamNet contacted Hank and Larry directly with Savannah's approval.

"We're moving to the location CamNet has provided." Savannah said.

Cameron knew the patrol was approaching her position.

"I need to go dark." Cameron said. "Watch for our signal."

Savannah expected to see smoke sooner rather than later.

"We'll do that." Savannah said. "Use caution."

Savannah was aware this operation was about to go 'hot' in more ways than one.

In the Command Center they needed to refocus their attention. Things seem to wrap up nicely at the old newspaper plant. Now they needed to worry about Cameron and her team.

John didn't like the fact that Cameron and Anna needed to avoid a patrol.

"Cameron's going to be in a jam soon." John said.

John Henry could see that Cameron and Anna weren't John's only concern.

"She isn't yet." John Henry said. "I know you're worried about Savannah and Sarah as well."

John was very worried about all of them.

"I am." John said.

John Henry hoped that Cameron could provide them with as many advantages as possible.

"If Cameron can disable any of their equipment or even let us know what we're facing, it will be a big help." John Henry said.

John was worried about the time. It wasn't that dark yet.

"How soon will it be until you can give her drone support?" John asked.

John Henry was aware that Savannah already bypassed them and dealt directly with CamNet. He understood the reason why.

"Savannah already has some on standby." John Henry said. "They're from CamNet. If Cameron needs help, Savannah isn't waiting."

John didn't like that idea, at least until it was dark. He also knew Savannah was going to try and protect Cameron and Anna. He wanted that too. He was glad Savannah was there with Cameron. He knew Savannah would do everything she could to help Cameron. He also knew she dealt directly with CamNet to take the heat off of him if she needed to make a questionable decision.

Cameron led Anna back the way they'd come. There were piles of rubble from a torn down building. It was left in the location they were working when the steel mill folded. All work stopped and never restarted when the money ran out.

She tried to move in unobserved from being spotted by the observation posts on the hill. They reached the pile of rubble and concealed themselves. Moments later the Jeep passed by.

The Jeep patrol moved between each of the buildings and then came back. They were careful and covered everything twice. Nothing looked out of place and all the buildings were still sealed. Cameron saw them check.

The Jeep drove off.

"Let's move." Cameron said. "We need to see what else is here."

Anna figured they could at least drive out the truck that Cameron, Savannah and Gail followed to that location. The hillside outposts indicated a much bigger operation than the one truck that they'd followed.

"If nothing else is, we can take the truck with the drones away." Anna said.

Cameron hoped to spare Anna from being in a gunfight.

"You haven't been shot up yet." Cameron said. "I don't want you damaged."

Anna was there to make sure that Cameron didn't get shot up.

"We both know why I'm here. It's so you're not damaged." Anna said.

Cameron knew that was Savannah's doing to send Anna in her place. That was done so she could protect Sarah. Sarah was along when she shouldn't have been.

"Savannah is always watching out for me." Cameron said. "She'll come for us when we need her."

Anna spotted something and pointed.

"That may be sooner than we think." Anna said. "Look…."

Next to the building the big rig entered was an HK Track.

"I see it." Cameron said. "That's not a good development."

Anna expected to see it move or do something. It didn't.

"It looks inactive." Anna said.

Cameron knew where there was one HK Track, there were always more.

"There are going to be more of them." Cameron said. "We didn't spot that earlier."

Anna wondered if it was sent out when the Jeep patrol was dispatched.

"I never heard it." Anna said.

Cameron wanted to get closer to it.

"We will try to approach it from the rear." Cameron said.

"We can deactivate it." Anna said.

Cameron wanted to do something better than deactivate it. She wanted it to help them.

"I want to change its programming if I can." Cameron said. "Cammy did that before and it helped us greatly."

Cameron and Anna headed around the back of the third building. This operation was still in the early stages for them. There were a lot of unknowns and HK Tracks roaming around were about the last thing they needed.

She wondered what would be next. She sure hoped it wasn't an HK drone. If there were any HK drones, the prospects of their fate looked very dark.

Dark Fate

What does the future hold
Hopefully it's something great
Nobody knows for sure
I guess we'll have to wait

Some events in life
Will cause our ego to deflate
Others things will pick us up
Our hopes and dreams will inflate

We may need to work hard
Seldom through life can we skate
We may even find some
With whom we can relate

Not everything will be
Someone else's mandate
It is we ourselves
Who hold the power to dictate

It's time to clean the slate
Our accomplishments are first rate
There is no fate to gravitate
We are free from a dark fate

Nobody