Chapter 832

Pay Dirt

Anna was on top of the drawbar housing next to the couplers. She wanted to see what Cameron was doing. She was about to look under the boxcar where Cameron was at seconds ago, right before she'd exited the plane.

"Cameron!" Anna called out.

There was no answer. She bent down and looked under the boxcar.

"Cameron's gone." Anna said. "I don't see her."

Savannah didn't see Cameron fall. Maybe she did and they'd missed it. She might be laying back on the track somewhere. Frank and Dan should have spotted her unless she was still under the moving train and not exposed yet. Maybe she was caught up in the running gear and bouncing along the ties and ballast. If that were the case, they'd probably start to see detached limbs from her chassis as they were torn off one by one.

"OH NO!" Savannah said. "Allison, go back."

Cameron wasn't sure what all the worry was about. She hadn't gone anywhere. Where was there for her to go?

"HEY." Cameron called. "I'm right here. I'm fine. I've just moved back one boxcar. I'm under the other one now. I wanted to make sure there were no trackers hidden underneath the boxcars."

Anna looked back and saw Cameron was now under the other boxcar. She was very relieved to see her there. Moments ago she'd feared the worst.

"I thought…." Anna started.

Cameron didn't want anyone to dwell on her well being.

"I'm fine." Cameron said.

It was very loud underneath the moving boxcars with the track only a couple of feet below them.

Anna wasn't sure if Cameron heard what all was going to happen.

"Savannah asked CamNet for a solid red." Anna said. "That's going to stop the train. That should happen within the next three miles."

Cameron was aware she couldn't get to a position where she could safely open one of the boxcar doors while the train was still moving. She'd actually considered attempting to throw the latch on one of the boxcar doors from underneath the boxcar but she could never get into the right position to be able to do that without the strong possibility of falling off.

"I heard." Cameron said. "That's a good idea for right now."

Anna looked up and saw the Cessna in a lazy orbit above them. The Beechcraft was higher up and in a much wider orbit.

There was a rolling hiss of 'air' coming down the train as the brakes were applied. There was a series of loud metallic crashes. It was created by slack forming in the drawbars as the railcars slowed. Due to less than skilled train handling, the rail cars slowed at a slower rate than the locomotives and started to bunch up slightly.

It caused a violent jolt. Anna looked back at Cameron. She saw her lose her grip with one hand and almost slip under the wheels.

"Maybe you should move back up on top of the drawbar where I'm at for now." Anna said.

Cameron was able to maintain her hold and didn't think it was a problem.

"I'm fine. The engineer used too much locomotive brake and not enough train brake. It's a sign of poor or inexperienced train handling." Cameron said. "I slipped a little more than anticipated."

There was a grinding of the brake shoes on the wheels as the train slowed to a stop. There was another series of impacts as the slack ran in again. It was less violent than the first time.

The train stopped. Cameron came out from underneath the boxcar she was under and Anna hopped off of the drawbar she was on.

Cameron and Anna were both on the ground now. They moved toward the first boxcar together.

"Let's try this door first." Cameron said.

Anna was a little appalled as she looked at Cameron.

"Your threads don't look so hot." Anna said.

Cameron looked down and saw she was covered in grime and dust.

"I'll take them off for the flight home. I don't want to mess up the interior of the plane." Cameron said. "I don't think anyone will complain…."

Anna didn't think that Savannah or Young Allison would complain at all. She thought that maybe she needed to be careful that her clothes weren't that severely damaged. She didn't want to have to sit next naked next to Cameron with the current appearance of her sheath. She already felt even more insecure just thinking about that. She needed to refocus. It was time that they got to work.

Savannah and Young Allison heard what Cameron said through their isolated com link.

Young Allison thought about seeing Cameron naked in the back of the plane. It was an intriguing thought. She's seen Cameron naked plenty of times at the pool and when they went camping. The camping was really just veiled training and called 'camping' because it sounded less invasive or dangerous than training. Maybe that was just to make her mother worry less about her and what would actually occur when she was out with Cameron. She'd also gotten a detailed look at Cammy before. Cammy specifically showed her what her private area would look like very soon. She saw that things weren't much different but there was a little more pigmentation which she didn't care for. It was different than using a mirror to look at herself and it gave her the ability to see 'herself' as others would see her. It was only for a few seconds and she wasn't allowed to touch anything. It was part of a bet that Cammy lost. Now that she thought about it some more, Cammy probably 'lost' the bet on purpose. She wondered who was really behind the whole thing now.

"I know I won't complain." Young Allison said. "It's exactly what I'll look like. Maybe I should be embarrassed for her. Everyone knows what I'll look like too. In reality it's just like looking at me."

Savannah thought the same thing. If that were the case she would make sure that She would engage Cameron in plenty of conversation until they reached their destination. It would give her a valid reason to check Cameron out thoroughly that way. She thought it would be a bad influence on Young Allison though.

"Just fly the plane." Savannah said. "You already know what everyone looks like. I've seen you peek. I'm pretty sure you know what everything else looks like too."

Young Allison had spied on everyone. She definitely knew what Jesse and Young Jesse looked like now as well thanks to the photos that Sheila sent. They weren't on her phone for very long but she did take a good look at them. She could see there was a lot more going on down there than there was on her. That included both size and pigmentation. The jewelry was a nice touch too.

"I do." Young Allison said. "Who doesn't want to see what they'll 'look like' in a few years at my age? How many people get that opportunity? I really can see how I'm going to look when I'm fully developed. I'm really not that far away if you think about it. I'm good to go anyway right now and everyone knows it. I know what the other girls my age are all doing. We all do. What's the big deal?"

Savannah could have done without those last few statements from Young Allison. She did think about it. She thought about it a lot. She also remembered watching Vanna naked whenever she could. She wanted to see what she would look like too. She also spied on Vanna with Allison and Vanna with Jesse. When she was first with Young Jesse she knew exactly what to do and what Young Jesse was going to like. She knew what Jesse liked. She really couldn't fault Young Allison for doing the same things that she did.

"I was the same way. I still am." Savannah said. "There's no need to hurry to grow up. You have the whole rest of your life to do that once you do. Some things are unchangeable."

Young Allison looked over at Savannah's face.

"Like the 'Natural Order'." Young Allison said.

Savannah knew that there was no dispute to the 'Natural Order'.

"I've seen it with my own eyes." Savannah said.

Young Allison glanced to her left. She wanted to keep track of where the other aircraft was at.

"There goes Dan and Frank." Young Allison said. "We still have a several thousand foot altitude separation."

Savannah decided to check in with John Henry. She was always worried about HK drones.

"John Henry. How's the airspace around us?" Savannah asked.

John Henry kept a careful watch on everything.

"Everything is clear around you." John Henry said. "CamNet has directed everything away from your area."

Savannah was worried about some Skynet forces would come to check on the stopped train. What worried her most would be if any HK drones showed up in this isolated area.

"You know what I'm most worried about." Savannah said.

John Henry was worried about that. He also made her aware of another situation that might affect the girls on the ground. He briefly explained the principle of what the railroad crew may or may not do when they encounter a red light. Since this was an unexpected red light for them it may trigger some type of response.

Savannah learned from John Henry that a crewman could inspect the train when they were stopped. She would need to keep a watch out for that. She would need to alert Anna and Cameron if that event occurred.

John sat and listened to them talk. Parts of the conversation were missing. John figured it was personal and being filtered out by CamNet. It was probably things he didn't need to know anyway. He decided to communicate with the person who he thought would give him the straightest answers.

"What is the status of the train, Savannah?" John asked. "We show it stopped."

Savannah didn't want the conversation to turn into some type of argument.

"Cameron and Anna are checking it now." Savannah said.

John wondered where they must have landed at. He looked at the satellite map of the area where the train should be stopped.

"Have you landed?" John asked. "We don't show your position at all."

Savannah tried to keep it simple.

"Allison is flying. I'm with her, John." Savannah said. "Cameron and Anna are about to inspect the boxcars."

It seemed to John it would have been a little unsafe to land and then takeoff and then have to come back and land again and then takeoff a second time.

"Why didn't you stay on the ground?" John asked. "There can't be anything more there than a dirt road to land on."

Savannah believed they were safer where they were, at least Young Allison was. She didn't want to admit how both Cameron and Anna got onto the train from the airplane.

"We're in less danger in the sky than next to the train if something goes wrong. We don't know what's going to happen when they open the boxcar doors." Savannah said. "It was my call. I'm responsible for Allison. I'll better be able to get her to safety this way. You can speak with her."

Savannah looked over at Young Allison and nodded.

Young Allison understood that Savannah wanted her to distract John and keep him from asking too many questions about what was going on or what they'd done so far.

"Hi, John, I'm flying now. I can use the stick time." Young Allison said. "How are Riley and Precious doing?"

John's mind was instantly flooded with the image of Riley's breasts right in front of his face just a short time ago. He knew that that was purely coincidental and not purposely done. He was there when Precious started to cry. He figured he'd better answer the question.

"Hi, Allison, I checked on them earlier." John said. "Everything was fine."

John Henry could see that the girls we're able to sidetrack John. He wanted to know what was going on. What happened in the next few minutes could be very crucial.

"What's Cameron doing now?" John Henry asked.

Young Allison looked over at Savannah who nodded at her.

Savannah decided that she would be the one who answered the questions about the operation.

"Cameron and Anna are about ready to open a boxcar door." Savannah said. "They're doing a final check for any booby traps."

Seconds ago:

Cameron and Anna approached the first boxcar.

Cameron checked both of the boxcars for external booby traps and trackers when she was under them earlier. She did a final check now for anything she may have missed.

"Let's open the first one up." Cameron said.

Anna remembered what Bob encountered in the yard.

"We need to check for a booby trap as we start to open the door." Anna said.

Cameron flipped the latch open and gave the door a shove. Nothing happened. The welds were good. She looked over at Anna.

"Help me push." Cameron said.

Anna did and still nothing happened. Their feet would start to slip on the ballast that the tracks sat on. The ballast was made from small loose rocks.

Cameron thought they could break the welds by pushing. The trouble was, the boxcar door may open too far when the welds gave way under that much force and trip a booby trap that way. That was a very likely scenario.

She decided to try a new approach. She wasn't sure what would happen. She slammed the heel of her fist into the metal on both sides of the spot welds. All three welds showed cracks. The welds weren't that good after all.

Anna didn't want Cameron to get impatient. She thought she looked a little agitated right now.

"If we move the door at all, we need to check for an internal booby trap before we move it too far and trigger it." Anna said.

Cameron looked away from the door at Anna.

"I'm fine." Cameron said.

Cameron and Anna both pushed on the boxcar door. There was a metal snapping sound. It was followed with a grinding screech as the door budged a half inch. The three welds were broken.

Cameron and Anna slid it open another inch. Cameron ran her hand around the inside of the door. She was unable to feel anything inside.

Anna still wanted to use caution.

"Let's pull from the back of the door." Anna said. "The device Bob found was anti-personnel. It was a shrapnel device. If we pull the door from the back, we won't be damaged if one goes off."

Cameron hoped that was true if the booby trap didn't set off something on whatever Skynet equipment was inside. There was the threat that the booby trap would also trigger the Skynet equipment to become active. They weren't equipped to deal with a group of HK drones or HK Tracks right now. She'd extensively reviewed the Metal girl's files from the boxcar encounter in the building on the Coast Route. All the equipment in those two boxcars became active.

Cameron and Anna slid the door open two feet.

Cameron moved up to the gap and carefully poked her head inside.

"Nice. Do you have a shocker on you?" Cameron asked.

Anna hadn't intended to go along with them in the first place. She only went at the last minute when she saw that Savannah wanted her to go because of the problem Cameron experienced earlier when they were flying.

"No." Anna said. "I thought we were just flying today. I only have my Taser and my M9."

Cameron wasn't armed any better. She motioned for Anna to join her.

"I only have my Taser and Glock." Cameron said. "Check this out."

Anna moved up to see what Cameron looked at.

"It looks like we hit the jackpot." Anna said as she peered inside the boxcar. "We didn't even need to make it to Las Vegas to do it."

This was a definite win. They'd found more Skynet equipment but they were in the desert in the middle of nowhere. It was going to be tricky to do anything about it unless they decided to sit on it and wait for the cars to arrive in the next yard. There were bound to be more Skynet forces there and most likely at least one Terminator. There seemed to be a Terminator that moved around with the boxcars to change the computer files to mask the boxcars movement. That was one of the reasons why they were unable to track them before.

Young Allison and Savannah were in a higher and wider orbit around the train. Savannah checked to see if any of the crew was out of the locomotives to start an inspection of the stopped train.

When they came around the other side of the train, Savannah spotted a crewman inspecting the train as they sat at the red signal. He was up to the second car in the train. She was afraid that was going to be a problem in a very short while for Cameron and Anna.

"Cameron, one of the train crew is 'walking' the train. He's inspecting it." Savannah said. "We're now headed to a much wider orbit so we don't look suspicious. The other aircraft will need to move to a higher and wider orbit as well."

Young Allison heard what Savannah said and why. She tripled the size of her orbit. She looked up and spotted Dan and Frank do the same thing with their aircraft.

Cameron received the warning from Savannah and looked down the length of the train towards the front.

"I don't see them." Cameron said.

From her perch in the sky, Savannah was able to see where all the players were at.

"They're on the opposite side from you." Savannah said. "They're back seven cars from the locomotives now. They still have thirty more cars or so until they reach the opposite side of where you are."

Cameron wanted to deactivate as much equipment as possible. She could worry about reprogramming it later on. She didn't want any of it to become active.

"We need to work fast." Cameron said. "Tell me when they're ten cars away."

Savannah wanted an update on what they'd found so far.

"Roger." Savannah said. "What's in the boxcar?"

Cameron's biggest worry was the HK drone. That could exit out of the box car door if it were activated.

"There's one HK Tread, one HK drone and three HK Tracks." Cameron said.

Savannah kept an eye on the crewman that approached Cameron and Anna.

"That sounds like a package deal." Savannah said. "The crewman is still twenty eight cars away."

Cameron looked over at Anna.

"We need to get to work." Cameron said.

Young Allison checked her new orbit limits. She set up markers in her mind where to make her turns. She was vertically separated from their other aircraft so there is no chance of a mid-air collision.

Savannah could see Young Allison concentrated to keep her orbit up with a moderate air speed. She wanted Young Allison to keep doing what she was doing.

"Everything's good, Allison." Savannah said. "You're doing perfect."

Young Allison didn't think Cameron and Anna were going to have enough time to do everything they needed to do with the two boxcars before the crewman arrived.

"We need to buy Cameron more time." Young Allison said.

Savannah knew what the procedure was for the train inspection.

"The crewman may inspect the entire train." Savannah said. "He may come back around the other side and check it on his way back up to the front."

Young Allison thought of a way she might be able to delay the inspection.

"Have CamNet give them a yellow light. The engineer will think that they're getting ready to go." Young Allison said. "As soon as he returns, CamNet can make it red again right as he arrives back at the locomotives. They won't start until he's on the locomotive. They'll be stuck again."

Savannah thought that idea was workable but she wasn't sure what protocol it may trigger from the head end crew.

"Let me run it by Cameron." Savannah said.

Young Allison thought it was a good plan. There was no reason it wouldn't work.

John was elated that they'd found two more boxcars and they were loaded with HK equipment. He was glad Cameron was there. He just didn't like having Savannah and Young Allison there. He was actually glad they were airborne now and away from the danger that existed in the two boxcars.

"It looks like we hit pay dirt." John said. "How soon until we get a team there to assist them?"

John Henry actually initiated that process once he first discovered the boxcars moving eastbound out of Barstow. He knew that they were lucky to have Cameron's team in an aircraft near the vicinity when everything first started.

"There have been teams on the way since I made the discovery." John Henry said. "The closest team is still over an hour away."

John looked at an image of the satellite map where the train was currently stopped. It was literally in the middle of nowhere.

"How are we going to transport any of that stuff?" John asked.

John Henry looked at the satellite images as well. There was only one possible solution.

"We need to get the boxcars to a location where we can unload them." John Henry said.

John hoped John Henry was able to get some accurate information out of the railroad's computers. They knew that a Terminator was always able to mask the movement of the boxcars on the rail system.

"What's its scheduled destination?" John asked.

John Henry wasn't sure if the information would change or not. He told John what he knew so far.

"The rear half of the train is to be set out in Las Vegas." John Henry said. "It's unknown if that will change once they arrive or not. It could all be part of a ploy to throw off anyone who attempted to track the two boxcars."

John pictured the location of Sin City with thousands of tourists milling about the various casinos. He knew that it took hours to drive there. He wanted to get some of their personnel there sooner.

"That's the last place we need a firefight." John said. "I want to fly some teams there. I want to make sure we have plenty of people on the ground to do this fast and efficiently."

John Henry already anticipated the move and everything was set to go.

"The corporate jet is fueled and ready." John Henry said. "I've already filed a flight plan."

John thought that was fast. He hadn't decided on the specifics of everyone he wanted to go.

"I want Bob to lead a team of Terminators there now." John said. "Maybe I should go."

John Henry knew a bad idea when he heard it. He was painfully aware of what happened in every instance when John went out in the field needlessly.

"I would have to advise against that." John Henry said. "You'll endanger Cameron if you do. She will direct all the help to you. Don't forget we have Savannah and Young Allison there as well. They're currently on their own in a plane and very light on firepower."

John thought about what he could do to better protect them.

"I should send them back. Have them return." John said. "Dan and Frank can shadow them. Savannah is an excellent pilot."

It seemed to John Henry that John forgot something important.

"What about Cameron and Anna?" John Henry asked.

John figured they could be Hobo Cameron and Hobo Anna for the rest of the train's journey.

"They can ride the train into Las Vegas." John said.

John Henry didn't like the way that the Skynet forces continually manipulated the movement of the boxcars. He thought there were way too many variables in play.

"What if the Grays stop the train along the way or have other plans for it?" John Henry asked. "We don't know what is happening or what their plans are. We know that someone seems to follow the boxcars around to make the changes they want at the yard locations. They're doing that so we can't trace the changes back to a location. Cameron and Anna will be all alone with no way out of there and currently only pack minimal fire power."

John knew there was truth to what John Henry said. He still liked his idea of going there himself. It would give him a chance to get out and Las Vegas was an intriguing place.

"Let me think about it." John said.

You Should Go

Why are you here
No one needs you
You're in the way
In everything you do

You're a risk
You bring danger
Where are you from
You're a stranger

You're not wanted
You should not come around
If you continue to stay here
You will end up in the ground

Look over your shoulder
Watch your back
You know it's coming
Some form of attack

We know how it ends
Who don't think so
You are troublesome
You should go

Nobody