Chapter 835

Keep Shoving

Cameron and Anna soundlessly worked in the darkness of the boxcar. They wanted to have everything ready by the time the train stopped.

The first thing Cameron worked on was to get the drone reprogrammed. It would be able to be controlled by John Henry or CamNet. It was armed, so they would be able to get some fire support if they needed it. With what appeared to be Grays lurking around them, they may need it. If there were any Terminators involved, they would definitely need it.

They were under armed for any type of prolonged battle if one were to occur. They hadn't intended to end up in a situation like that when they'd left earlier in the morning to do a day of flying.

If Cameron would've known they were going to get stuck inside the boxcar, she would have asked Anna to remain in the first boxcar to reprogram everything there, while she worked on the HK equipment in this boxcar. At that point, they would have gotten everything ready to move once they were able to unload it. Instead they were stuck and still needed to reprogram more equipment once they stopped.

They tried to keep this operation somewhat clandestine. They wanted to see who checked on the boxcars once they arrived in Las Vegas. There wasn't any interchange point with another rail line until they reached Utah. There were four different routes the boxcars could take out of Utah.

Cameron wondered if the Skynet operatives would set the cars out from this train in Las Vegas and then have them added to the next train headed back from the way they'd come. That wouldn't be something expected. There were several possibilities of what could happen.

John was a little anxious in the Command Center.

"Cameron, what's your current status?" John asked.

Cameron felt they were in good shape in the second boxcar.

"We have the drone ready to fly and all the equipment in here has been reprogrammed as well."

John Henry was in control the centralized traffic control system of the railroad on the segment Cameron and Anna were on.

"You should stop soon." John Henry said. "I have control of the CTC system and the dispatch system."

Cameron tried to think of the best course of action going forward. There were several things that she wanted done in a specific order

"When we do, I'm sending the drone out on patrol." Cameron said. "John Henry can take control of it. I want the front of the train away from us first."

Anna wanted to get started to reprogram the HK equipment in the first boxcar. She wasn't so sure what would happen if they cut off the rear part of the train to be able to do that. The whole point of everything they wanted to do was to keep the train crew in the dark as to what was actually going on.

"We can work on reprogramming the equipment in the other boxcar then." Anna said.

Cameron felt they were on a timetable. If the Skynet forces already checked on the train once, they were bound to check on it a second time.

"John Henry, what is the ETA on any big rigs?" Cameron asked.

John Henry was notified by several of their Terminators on their way there that they'd been able to obtain a few empty big rigs. It was a start.

"It will be at least forty-five minutes." John Henry said.

The time span John Henry indicated was too long for Cameron to have the train wait there while they waited for trucks to come and receive the equipment. More than likely the crewman would walk the train again and probably head straight back to the two boxcars they wanted to unload. Her earlier thought was two separate the two boxcars and the cars behind them from the rest of the train. She wanted to do that in a manner that was safe for the crew. That would involve moving up some of the safety equipment that was located at the rear of the train.

"I want to move the 'rear end device' or 'FRED' up and send the train on its way." Cameron said.

John thought that might be risky for the train crew. The engineer would now have a shorter train with less tonnage to deal with than what he'd previously dealt with up to that point. He wouldn't know that nearly a quarter of his train would no longer be there. If they moved up the rear end safety device, everything would seem as if it was previous to that.

"Could that cause an accident later on?" John asked.

John Henry was worried about the cars that Cameron would leave sitting on the main track. There would need to be some type of explanation at some point as to what happened if that were to occur. That would be even more so once it was discovered that the rear end device had been moved and put on the remainder of the train. There was no way that anyone was going to buy that there was some type of accident. It would be clear that whatever was done was done intentionally by someone who knew what they were doing.

"Do you want to leave twenty six cars sitting on the mainline?" John Henry asked.

Cameron felt her options were limited there. She wasn't letting that HK equipment get away from her, especially since the Skynet forces already checked on it once. She was pretty sure that the next time they encountered them they would be a lot more of them. If they kept the train there to unload everything the train crew would become problematic. The easiest thing for her to do at that point would be to terminate them. She knew that the idea wouldn't go over very well in the Command Center or with Savannah. She wasn't exactly sure how Young Allison would go along with that idea. John Henry was able to provide them with a set of helper locomotives the last time they needed to move some railcars. She wanted him to do the same thing again.

"If we don't do that, I'll need to terminate the train crew." Cameron said. "Can you get a hold of some helper locomotives again like you did before to come and retrieve the cars once we take the goods?"

John looked over at John Henry when Cameron said that she would terminate the train crew. He didn't doubt her for a minute. He hoped John Henry would be able to come up with a solution.

John Henry could see John's concern and started to check to see what was available that he could commandeer.

"I'm checking now." John Henry said.

Cameron waited as she felt the train slow down. She knew that they would stop soon. She really wondered if they were going to be in a battle with any of the Skynet forces before this was done.

"Tell me that you have something lined up so I know what I'm going to have to do once the train is stopped." Cameron said.

John Henry checked into the locomotive helper situation.

"I was going to send two helper locomotives from Yermo." John Henry said. "There was a set there that was serviced and ready to go.".

Cameron was irritated by his answer. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted to get the rear part of the train separated from the rest of the train.

"What do you mean 'was'?" Cameron asked.

John Henry was actually surprised at what he found.

"There's been a set of helper locomotives dispatched by CamNet already." John Henry said.

Cameron was just as surprised as John Henry to hear that.

"When was that?" Cameron asked. "I didn't call for them."

John Henry was equally surprised to see when the locomotives were actually sent out of the yard.

"They were sent as soon as you boarded the train. Sometimes it's nice to have help." John Henry said. "You have others looking out for you."

Cameron was fairly certain that CamNet acted on her own prerogative to do that. She didn't think that CamNet was prompted by anyone. She was about to contact CamNet about that when she began to receive a video feed on her phone.

"I have some footage CamNet is sending me." Cameron said. "It is from the 'locomotive incident camera' on the lead locomotive of the helper set. The camera is there to review accidents at grade crossings."

Everyone in the Command Center began to receive it too.

"We've begun to receive that as well." John Henry said.

Anna crowded next to Cameron to watch.

The feed started not far from the bridge over the canyon. The 'four by four' truck was still stuck on the bridge.

CamNet allowed the helper locomotives to exceed normal track speed. The lead locomotive rapidly closed on the truck that was stuck on the bridge. There was one occupant outside of it fooling with the wheels and the other was still inside of it as they tried to move it.

The locomotive was on the bridge now. It closed rapidly on the truck. The excessive speed of the locomotive caught both Grays by surprise. They hadn't realized that they were in danger until it was too late to effectively do anything to save themselves. The Gray that was looking at the wheels tried to run away across the bridge. He tried to run away from the impending impact of the locomotives going over seventy miles an hour. The driver of the truck opened his door to get out. There really wasn't anywhere for him to go but down.

The massive plow on the front of the locomotive impacted the 'four by four' truck. It was crushed at the same time it was launched. The 'four by four' was shoved down the track. It ran over the Gray that attempted to flee in front of it. The wrecked 'four by four' then spun off to the side and off of the bridge. It disappeared into the canyon. The Gray that tried to exit the 'four by four' was knocked out of the cab and fell alongside of the airborne truck. His arms and legs flailed wildly as he disappeared from view. That all occurred in two seconds.

The locomotives continued along as if nothing happened. The impact didn't even slow them down. The two locomotives each weighed over four hundred thousand pounds. The truck weighed about four thousand pounds. It really wasn't much of a contest.

Anna was impressed with the results.

"That was different." Anna said. "What damage was done to the lead locomotive?"

Cameron simply saw it as one machine versus another machine. In this case she knew that size mattered. She'd read in Cosmo before that there was often a debate among females about if the size of 'something else' mattered or not. The general consensus was the technique was important but more often than not in the end size mattered there as well. She quickly refocused her attention and answered the question.

"The paint on the plow probably received a scratch or two." Cameron said. "It would be nothing more than that. The locomotives weigh over two hundred tons each. The truck only weighs around two tons."

Anna read about people who attempted to go around the crossing gates or those who tied to beat a train to a rural crossing on more than one occasion. It usually didn't end well for the motorist.

"That doesn't sound like much of a contest." Anna said. "That's why when there's a 'tie' at a railroad crossing the train always wins."

Cameron ran a few calculations and came up with a good metaphor.

"It's about the same as stepping on an ant for us." Cameron said.

Anna actually had done that on more than one occasion around the Young residence. Sometimes in the backyard there were trails of ants. She was offended by their presence and that they tried to occupy new territory. She dealt with them ruthlessly. She killed them by the thousands but they still continue to come. She could see they would be a very formidable enemy if they would be of a bigger stature with the willpower to sacrifice themselves like that. Each time she needed to follow the trail back to where the nest was. Once that was located she quickly dug down into the earth and found the queen. She took special pride in smashing the queen flat between her thumb and index finger. She felt it was the equivalent of terminating Skynet. She then had one of the Detail bring over a can that contained gasoline for the lawn mower to where she was at. She flooded the area with the flammable liquid and then lit it on fire to make sure that all of her adversaries were terminated. She tried to listen to see if she could hear them scream or not but there was never any sound from them. They all terminated still trying to do their jobs. She figured that was her own version of using a nuclear weapon on Skynet as Cameron and Savannah had done in Cameron's future.

John watched the same footage that Cameron and Anna watched from the locomotive camera and the truck that was struck on the bridge. Everything happened very quickly from the point that the video started as the lead locomotive approached the bridge.

"That's something you don't see everyday." John said.

John Henry thought it was rather inventive. He also realized it was the Grays fault for attempting to go across the bridge that was impossible to cross with that vehicle.

"It was rather unusual." John Henry said.

John was a little worried if there's any damage to the railroad equipment or track.

"Were the locomotives damaged?" John asked. "Will there be any damage to the bridge?"

John Henry made a few quick calculations.

"No and no." John Henry said.

John looked at the satellite map but was unable to determine how high the bridge was from the bottom of the canyon.

"How deep is that canyon?" John asked.

John Henry checked his files that he'd looked up earlier for the bridge specifications.

"At the point of impact, it's about two hundred and fifty feet." John Henry said.

John wanted to make sure that neither of the Grays survived the encounter.

"That fall should insure both of those Grays were killed." John said.

John Henry thought that was most certain. There could only be one possible exception.

"That's unless one of them was a Terminator." John Henry said. "They would be severely damaged but possibly still able to have a few functions available. They definitely wouldn't leave that area on their own."

John was a little more worried now than he'd been before.

"They weren't, were they?" John asked.

John Henry believed he viewed human reactions to certain death.

"It didn't appear so by their reactions to impending termination." John Henry said.

John still wanted to verify there were two decedent's near the wreckage of the truck at some point in time.

"We are going to need to check that site later on to make sure there are still two dead Grays down there." John said. "Will anyone find them?"

John Henry was unaware of any communications from the truck. Most likely no one knew exactly where they were at when they disappeared. There would probably be some Skynet operative sent to search for them later on in the future.

"I'm sure they will at some point. I don't think it will be today." John Henry said.

Savannah and Young Allison flew one wide circuit around the area and then left the train behind and flew to the intercept point. They wanted to make sure the area was clear and there were no other vehicles spotted.

Savannah saw they neared the location they needed to land at.

"I see the work equipment up ahead." Young Allison said.

Young Allison slowed her speed.

Savannah wondered if young Allison was up to the task of landing on a road.

"Have you ever set down on a road or street before?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison quickly looked over at Savannah and smiled.

"Yes." Young Allison said. "Cameron showed me one time and then I did it. It's really just like a runway if you think about it. I know to watch out for trees, poles and wires in a more urban setting."

Savannah knew that cars and people were another factor in a more urban setting. Since it wasn't an emergency landing, she wanted Young Allison to verify her landing zone.

"I see the Beechcraft." Savannah said. "I want you to check the road surface as if you were doing it on your own."

Young Allison didn't think it was necessary in this case

"I know it's good because they already landed." Young Allison said. "I do know if I have the opportunity, I should check it first."

Savannah wanted to remind and stress some of the dangers involved with a street landing.

"More than likely if you need to set down on a street, you're only going to have one shot at it." Savannah said. "Always remember that wires and trees pose the biggest threat then."

Young Allison decided to do the fly by anyway and verify that the road was clear of any debris.

"There are no wires or trees around here." Young Allison said. "It's time to 'cut the grass'."

Young Allison did her flyby. She flared up and came around and set down on the road. She taxied up to the Beechcraft and kicked the rudder over. She spun the plane around and parked it perfectly next to the Beechcraft. She turned the engine off.

Savannah hadn't expected her to do the last maneuver but was very pleased by it.

"That was excellent." Savannah said.

Young Allison glanced over at Savannah.

"That was actually the first time I parked like that." Young Allison said. "I watched Cameron do it every time. I always thought that I could do it too. It appears that I can. What's next?"

Savannah knew it was a waiting game for them.

"We wait and hope no one comes along." Savannah said.

Young Allison touched her Taser and Model 66.

"What if they do?" Young Allison asked. "We checked the road in both directions."

Savannah noticed Young Allison check her weapons. She hoped that it didn't come down to that for anything. There was always the possibility. She hoped for an early warning from someone if anyone was about to approach the area. There's already been one group of Grays after the train. She didn't want to be sitting on the ground if another group showed up.

"CamNet or John Henry should be able to give us a heads up." Savannah said. "I'm going to take the Beechcraft up if they do. I know you can take off on your own. As soon as we hear anything or either one of us sees something, we fire up. You will taxi back on the road and take off. I will be right behind you by thirty seconds."

Young Allison wondered if that would be her first solo flight.

"Why don't we do that now?" Young Allison asked.

Savannah showed Young Allison several smaller airports on the map.

"We're low on fuel." Savannah said as she checked the map. "We're going to have to tank up at one of these smaller air fields if we go airborne again."

Savannah checked the Cessna over and then the Beechcraft. She climbed inside Beechcraft and checked the instruments and electronics. She made sure it was ready to start up if she needed to.

Young Allison looked the Cessna over. Everything looked good on it. She climbed back inside.

Savannah and Young Allison carried on some small talk and waited. They were both ready to fire up and take off in a moment's notice.

"I see a piece of construction equipment coming on the dirt road." Savannah said. "It looks like a 'road grader'."

Young Allison looked in the direction of the railroad tracks.

"It is." Young Allison said. "I can see the train in the distance. It is slowing down too."

Savannah looked further into the distance.

"I see it." Savannah said.

Young Allison hoped to take a more active part.

"Maybe we should go there to help." Young Allison said.

Savannah knew they needed to keep their priorities straight for right now.

"We need to sit tight for a little while. We will still need to get these aircraft out of here if there's a threat." Savannah said.

John Henry informed Cameron and Anna that they were near the rendezvous point. They could expect the train to stop soon.

Cameron made sure Anna and her were in better positions than they were the last time the engineer stopped the train.

She felt the train slow and stop with a little better control this time. The train brake was more efficiently used so the cars didn't bunch up in back of the locomotive. There was a slight jolt. The train came to a full stop.

They heard the latch thrown and the boxcar door slid open two feet. Frank was the one who opened it for them.

Anna jumped down and Cameron slid the door all the way open so the drone could be launched.

Cameron saw the burro crane was next to their boxcar. She looked down the track towards the rear of the train.

"Go get the 'rear end device'." Cameron said to Frank.

Frank hopped up in the burro crane and took off. It was a small self propelled crane that ran on the railroad tracks.

Anna moved to the first boxcar and opened the door. Cameron followed her and they quickly clambered inside.

Cameron went to work to reprogram the drone while Anna started on the HK Tracks. She would take care of the HK Tread last.

They kept John Henry updated on what was happening.

John Henry was fully involved with the locomotive crew as the 'dispatcher'. He'd assumed his role to better take control of the situation.

"I sent instructions to the 'head end' crew to be ready to move again soon. I've looped the telemetry from the 'rear end device' until you can reattach it." John Henry said. "Savannah and Young Allison have landed next to the Beechcraft. They're ready to take off if necessary. They are ready to fly both planes out if they need to do that. They await your return."

Cameron looked over in the direction of where the road was. She saw Dan on the road grader headed that way.

"Dan, when you get up to the planes, I want you to move the road grader off the dirt road and reinforce Savannah and Young Allison." Cameron said.

Dan was pleased with the improvement to the dirt road that the road grader made on his first pass.

"Affirmative…." Dan said. "I see them. They are each in a plane ready to roll. The dirt road is in better condition as well now."

Cameron wanted to know when they could start to move some of the equipment out of there.

"What is the ETA on the first truck?" Cameron asked.

John Henry checked on the location of the trucks as they converged on the area.

"It's still about thirty minutes." John Henry said. "It's a flatbed."

Cameron finished up her work on the second HK drone.

"Both drones are ready to fly." Cameron said.

Cameron looked out the boxcar door down the length of the siding. The burro crane was rapidly on its way back. She wanted to get the front part of the train out of there as quickly as possible.

"Tell the engine crew to be ready to move in four minutes." Cameron said. "I want them out of here."

Cameron jumped out of the door of the boxcar and moved to the front of the boxcar. She threw the lever to uncouple the cars, because the slack was stretched out, nothing happened. The two couplers were snugly pulled tight against each other.

The burrow crane pulled up next to her. Cameron took the rear end device and set it on the ground next to the boxcar that she would attach it to. She knew it was going to take more effort than a few Terminators could muster to get some slack into the couplers.

"Use the boom and push backwards against the boxcar." Cameron said as she worked the coupler lift bar.

Frank moved forward a short way with the crane and swung the boom over. It impacted against the front corner of the boxcar with a thud and metallic clang. Cameron heard a spinning noise and saw the wheels on the small crane spin as it tried to shove the boxcar. There was a jolt as it did and the couplers separated.

"Keep shoving." Cameron called up.

They'd Have Found You Anyway

You can't dodge your actions
There's nowhere you can hide
It's time to face the sour music
Take the ridicule and feel the chide

Every wrong action seems to have
An even more powerful negative reaction
It can become a fatal attraction
The distraction becomes an abstraction

One may often hunger
Reaching for the forbidden fruit
What was once a straight line
Is now bent and acute

You may dodge them for now
You'll have to face them later
Your troubles are here to stay
You're now no more than a traitor

You can't run from your problems
No matter what you do or say
I'm confronting you with them now
They'd have found you anyway

Nobody