Chapter 1089
Keep It That Way
Young Allison turned the Mitchell west and away from the railroad tracks and Sierra Highway, which paralleled the tracks between Mojave and Lancaster. Sierra Highway paralleled the railroad tracks all the way to Palmdale.
In Palmdale the rail line divided. One section headed off towards Cajon Pass. The other section continued straight, along with the road. They went for several more miles before both of them started through a series of curves as they needed to climb the hills out of the Antelope Valley. The railroad tracks needed to traverse Soledad Canyon and then go through Newhall on its way into the San Fernando Valley. There were still three tunnels left on the line. The other ones had either been 'daylighted' or bypassed.
Young Allison headed towards Cameron's airstrip. She looked over at Cameron and then at Savannah.
Savannah sensed something was about to happen. She really wanted Young Allison at home.
"We'll be nearing Cameron's airstrip soon." Savannah said.
Young Allison wanted to push it a little.
"Let me cut the grass." Young Allison said. "I can do it at Cameron's airstrip. Nobody is around."
Savannah looked at Cameron, she nodded back at her.
"You can do it one time and don't push it." Savannah said.
Young Allison wanted to tell Savannah she reminded her of her 'mother' but decided against it. She knew Savannah looked out for her just like her mother did or someone who truly loved her.
She was aware in the relationship of Vanna and Allison that Vanna was dominant. When she secretly observed them, she saw Vanna was always in control, most of the time anyway. She also saw when Jesse was with Allison that she was dominant too. Jesse was always in control.
She knew Vanna and Jesse were both dominant with her mother too. She'd spied on all of them. She'd observed Vanna and Jesse together once. Jesse was in control there too. From what she'd observed with Sheila, it was clear that she would be in control with whoever she was with as well. She didn't know if she liked someone that was dominant or if she would like to be dominant. She wondered if she started out submissive if she would always stay that way. There were many things to think about as to what would happen in her future.
Savannah glanced over at Young Allison and watched her for a few seconds.
"You're drifting." Savannah said.
Young Allison was aware she'd lost focus for a few seconds. She'd been thinking about a lot of personal things and what her future would hold. She would try to cover up the real reason.
"I wanted to see if you were paying attention to me." Young Allison said. "Thank you for explaining."
Savannah looked over at Young Allison.
"I pay attention to everything you do." Savannah said.
The two girls looked at each other for more than a few seconds after Savannah's statement.
"Thank you for explaining." Young Allison said.
Young Allison actually wondered if that meant flying or 'everything'.
She was sure everyone knew everything she did, even when she was alone. She didn't think it was a big deal because all of the females did it. She understood that all of the males did as well. She didn't know about the male Terminators. They didn't seem very sexual. She blinked her eyes twice and turned her concentration to the task at hand. She wanted to 'cut the grass'.
Young Allison firewalled the throttles and entered into a shallow dive.
Savannah watched the low altitude speed rapidly build.
"Don't push it past three hundred." Savannah said.
Young Allison didn't want Savannah upset at her.
"I won't." Young Allison said.
She was aware that Savannah didn't specify knots or miles per hour. That gave her about forty five miles an hour to 'play' with. She didn't intend to push the B-25 that hard anyway. She decided to keep Savannah happy and not exceed three hundred miles an hour in her shallow dive. She flattened her shallow dive out a little bit. She didn't want to build up too much airspeed.
Young Allison didn't like all the 'mothering' but she also didn't want to disappoint or anger Savannah. Having Savannah's approval meant a lot to her. Having her love meant even more. She didn't intend to gamble with either one of them.
Young Allison came over the top of the private airstrip at an elevation of twenty feet and a speed of three hundred and two miles an hour.
Savannah didn't say anything one way or the other.
She flared up and came around again and made two touch and go landings before she turned the plane over to Savannah, who made two also. Savannah then asked Young Allison to land it and taxi back to the shed.
There were two vehicles from the Detail waiting for them.
Savannah spoke to Young Allison.
"I want you to inspect the plane after we're parked and everything is shut off." Savannah said. "I'll observe you."
Young Allison intended to do that anyway. She also wanted to do one new thing.
"I want to clear the guns too." Young Allison said. "I haven't done that yet."
Sheila came up out of the nose. She decided to have some fun of her own.
"I'll help Allison clear the guns and stow the ammunition." Sheila said.
Savannah wondered about that. With Cameron there she doubted Sheila would do anything foolish. She looked around for a tanker.
"I don't see a fuel truck." Savannah said.
Cameron knew there was plenty of fuel left for the last leg of the trip back to Van Nuys. Cameron didn't intend for the Mitchell to go anywhere else other than back to Van Nuys. If there were some further operations needed or another destination necessary she would do that. The flight over the mountains wasn't very long in the B-25. She thought back to Ally and Derek and knew their flight time was a little shorter.
"We're good on fuel load for the flight home." Cameron said.
Everyone went to work once the engines were shut down.
Kyle was on a recon mission with Bob. They'd all become routine at this point. He didn't expect this one to be any different. He knew that even though the recon seemed routine, there was no guarantee it would stay that way. He needed to keep all of his senses operating at their peak. What he observed initially seemed to be very mundane.
"This place looks deserted." Kyle said.
Bob checked their surroundings and made several scans with different vision spectrums. The area looked clear of immediate danger. He knew not to mistake 'quiet' for 'secure'.
"Maybe that's the point." Bob said.
They placed some surveillance gear to cover the area for future monitoring.
The more Kyle looked at the target location, the more something looked off. Everything was neat and orderly but something ate away at him. THAT was it. It was too neat.
"Maybe we should take a look inside." Kyle said. "This place looks too sterile for my taste."
Bob thought about what Kyle said. It did seem to be rather well kept.
"It does look surprisingly in order and exhibits extreme neatness." Bob said.
That seemed reason enough for Kyle to want to look closer.
"That is why I feel the need to look inside." Kyle said.
That raised an alarm bell for Bob. Maybe the sterility was bait. It could be the 'hook' to draw them in.
"That may be a sucker play to pull us in." Bob said.
Kyle didn't want to get played again. Perhaps restraint was in order.
"I want to watch this place for awhile." Kyle said. "Maybe John Henry can check the records out in detail. I bet we're missing something."
Kyle hoped John Henry would be able to come up with some additional clues the more he looked into the records. They would check things like electricity and water usage from the utility department. Those two things were always an indicator if the building was in use or not. Sometimes there was an illegal electrical hook up. If there were power lines on poles, that wasn't too hard to do. To bypass the water meter was a little more involved.
John noted Kyle's observation and Bob deduction. It sent up a 'red flag' for him.
"It seems like Kyle and Bob suspect something." John said.
John Henry started to receive video files from the surveillance gear that they'd installed.
"Yes." John Henry said. "Here's the footage we're receiving from the equipment they set up."
John looked at the images. At first everything looked normal until he looked harder and thought about it. He remembered what both Kyle and Bob indicated.
"Things do look overly clean around there." John said. "I don't like it."
John Henry wanted to offer John a solution. He knew that John didn't want Kyle in combat. He didn't see any reason to push it.
"Perhaps they should withdraw." John Henry said.
John thought about that. Maybe a few more teams of Terminators there would make him feel better. He wanted the recon to go to surveillance at this point.
"I think they need to stay put for right now." John said. "Who else do we have in the area?"
John Henry doubted John was going to like the news. He'd reported to John earlier that the P-51 returned to Van Nuys.
"Ally and Derek are the closest." John Henry said.
That wasn't what John wanted to hear. He didn't want to risk it.
They received a transmission from Derek.
"We just got an alert from you." Derek said. "What's the situation?"
Derek knew that Riley had gone to the doctor's office. He didn't think that she'd returned to the base yet. That was his first concern. He didn't want to make the situation personal or about him and his affairs. He hoped if it involved Riley that they would tell him without him needing to ask.
John looked at John Henry. He wasn't sure if he should be upset with him or not.
John Henry could see that John wasn't pleased with what he'd done. All he'd done is follow standard procedure to notify anyone in the vicinity of a possible threat to be a little more aware of what was going on around them.
"It was precautionary." John Henry said. "They should be more attentive of their surroundings for their safety."
John felt if they were alerted, they might as well know the whole story.
"Bob and Kyle are on a recon that looks suspicious." John said. "So far it is nothing more than that. They don't like the way that the area looks. It gave Kyle a bad 'feel'."
Derek became a little bit more combat aware with that last bit of information. He'd done many operations with his brother. When Kyle got a bad feeling about something, it was usually for a good reason. He wanted to back his brother's play.
"Give us the location information." Derek said. "I want to back Bob's team up."
John looked at John Henry and nodded. He knew that if things went from bad to worse, the Terminator with each of the Reese brothers would take the brunt of the combat. He knew that Ally would do whatever Bob would do in a combat situation.
"Remember this is a recon only." John said. "I don't want anyone to push things and get into a combat situation before we get more personnel to the location."
John knew what statement would come next and it did.
"Thank you, John. We'll try to play it cool if possible." Derek said. "I need to back my brother's play."
John frowned at the revelation. Under the circumstances he knew it was the right thing to do. He wanted to make sure they got more Terminators to the location as soon as possible. They would be able to free up both Derek and Kyle.
Derek sat next to Ally as she drove. She hadn't said anything during his conversation with the Command Center. He knew that she was able to hear everything. He wanted to make his intentions clear and why he wanted to go.
"I take it that you heard all that." Derek said. "I want to back Kyle up."
Ally was one step ahead of him.
"I did, we were already headed there." Ally said.
Derek didn't see what she'd done specifically. He thought she was taking a different way back to the base.
"How did you know?" Derek asked.
Ally received a communication that she didn't normally receive unless it was for one of Cameron's 'off the books' operations.
"I was given an alert by CamNet, earlier." Ally said.
Now Derek was even more worried. He understood that CamNet usually stayed in the background.
"Is that normal?" Derek asked.
Ally felt the increased caution was all related to Young Allison.
"No." Ally said. "The more Young Allison has become involved in the operations, the more CamNet is acting on Young Allison's 'concerns'."
Derek figured Ally was acting on that hunch.
"Do you mean Young Allison sent us to back up Kyle before the threat was actually called?" Derek asked.
Ally knew that when Young Allison spoke, CamNet listened.
"Yes." Ally said. "CamNet does Young Allison's bidding."
Derek knew that was a lot of power for anyone to be able to yield, especially a young teenage girl. Young Allison really impressed him. She was very different from Allison in many ways. She was exactly like her in other ways. They were the same person after all. It was still a hard concept to put into one's head.
Both Kyle and him clandestinely checked on the younger versions of themselves. They didn't want them to become involved with the Resistance. They wanted them to have a 'normal' life.
He'd wanted to check out the younger version of Riley that was in this timeline. He didn't know who he could ask and not cause a problem. He thought about asking Bob or Jim to obtain the information for him and then they could go do a 'security check' on her. He didn't think that anyone would approve of him doing that, especially Riley. He didn't think it hurt anything to look. He returned his attention back to Young Allison's actions.
"I've read the reports of some of her actions." Derek said. "I think they helped in every case. They helped me."
Ally was aware what Cameron was really after.
"Her actions have helped everyone. They've been bold and decisive. They helped as is well in my encounter with a biker gang. Cameron has been instructing Young Allison for as long as she can remember." Ally said. "Cameron is trying to create a human version of herself."
Derek wasn't sure that was a good idea. It was just the opposite of what he wanted for the younger version of him in this timeline. It was the total opposite.
"Is that just for John?" Derek asked.
Ally felt it went deeper than that. She was aware of what Cameron believed that she needed to complete so things would be as they were in her future
"I think it's for herself too." Ally said.
Derek was aware of Cameron's future and what occurred there regarding the 'Natural Order'. He wasn't really sure there was such a thing. There was nothing like that in his future. If that was truly the 'Natural Order', then it surely would be in his timeline as well. Perhaps if they all stayed there that's what would have happened. All of the key players were back in the present. He needed to concentrate on what could possibly occur when they backed up Bob's team.
"Let me get our gear ready." Derek said. "I don't like where this is going."
Derek climbed into the back and grabbed two vests and a selection of weapons. He was glad there was a Terminator backing him up. It didn't bother him at all that it was Ally. It actually pleased him. He knew that the 'Allison' on her chip would watch out for him even more than he would expect from another Terminator. Well, Hanna and Sheila would probably do the same as Ally. Sometimes he wondered if any of those three would actually do 'a little more'. He was pretty sure that Sheila would under the right circumstances.
Riley and Jesse were on their way back from the doctor's visit. There was an entourage of Terminators with them. CamNet arranged for them to pick up a selection of food on restaurant row. They were in the process of doing that. The mission was nearly complete.
"That's the last of it." Jesse said as she returned with Holly.
They carried the food from the last location.
Riley had wanted to assist them but they all insisted that she remain in the SUV with Samantha. She didn't want them to treat her differently because of her doctor's visit. It wasn't like there was something new wrong with her. She didn't want to feel that way either.
"I could have helped too." Riley said. "There's nothing wrong with me that wasn't already wrong with me before. We just know what the problem is now."
Jesse didn't want Samantha to feel alone. Samantha was there for Riley so Riley should be there for her.
"I wanted you to keep Samantha company." Jesse said.
Riley wondered why she hadn't thought of that. She was still worried that Samantha couldn't go in to see the doctor with her because her sheath hadn't finished Resequencing yet. They didn't want her appearance to become a liability like Isabelle's appearance had been.
Riley looked over at Samantha and smiled. Samantha smiled back at her. The girls held each other's gaze a little longer than they should have.
Jim was ready to go back.
"We should be back to the base soon." Jim said.
Samantha thought everyone could get ready and be waiting for them. They originally wanted to surprise everyone but she thought it would be better to let them know so everyone could prepare.
"Maybe we should let them know we're coming." Samantha said. "That way they can all be ready. There's no need to make someone hurry if we don't need to."
Everyone agreed.
Holly made the call.
"That was just in time." Holly said. "Claire was getting ready to make something for all of you."
Riley was glad that they caught Claire before she'd gotten started.
"Maybe they will get everything else ready." Riley said. "Everything should be a breeze then."
Jim wanted to get Riley and Jesse back before anything happened. He was aware of the alert that concerned Bob and Kyle. He was a little concerned that Ally and Derek were on their way there as well.
"Either way, we'll be back shortly." Jim said.
He decided not to say anything yet. They didn't know anything yet so there was no need to worry everyone over speculation.
Seconds ago:
Claire and Sarah were in the commissary. They'd just arrived after they'd cleaned and stowed the weapons that they'd just used.
"Do you know how many we need to cook for?" Claire asked.
Sarah looked around the commissary. The pantry was stocked full of things. She'd never seen that before to such an extent.
"No. There's sure a lot more selection here to cook and make things with now." Sarah said.
Sarah was actually worried she would end up ruining even more food since there was more food to ruin. She didn't share that thought with Claire.
Claire knew that was because of her.
"I mentioned the food supplies were sort of lacking." Claire said. "The next morning the pantry was completely stocked."
Sarah wondered if that's all she would have needed to have done instead of having to go to the store herself before. She didn't like shopping. It didn't matter if it was for food or anything else. She casually looked around the commissary.
"Impressive." Sarah said. "Where did Hanna go?"
Claire noticed Sarah looked around the commissary. She looked around as well. They both looked at each other for a long moment. They were alone together. The location wasn't very private though. Anyone could walk in at any time.
"Hanna went with the girls to get them cleaned up." Claire said.
Sarah looked over towards the 'walk in' pantry. It was the most isolated location in the commissary. She was about to suggest to Claire that they look for some items in there. She would make sure that the door closed behind them when they entered.
Claire saw where Sarah's gaze was at. She saw it was the 'walk in' pantry. She moistened her lips slightly.
Sarah received a call. It was from John Henry who informed them what the group with Riley would bring back. Normally she would have been thrilled to hear that news. Right now she was actually a little disappointed. She was sure that things could have progressed a little more between them if they were isolated in the pantry with the door closed. It would probably just be some kissing. There might be a little touching as well. She tried not to show her disappointment as she explained the situation to Claire.
"It looks like I will get a reprieve." Sarah said.
Claire tried to keep a brave face when Sarah explained to her what was happening.
"We can get everything else set up." Claire said.
Sarah wanted to make sure that John was there with them as well.
"After we get set up, I'll go tell John to join us." Sarah said as she looked directly into Claire's eyes. "I'll have to take a 'rain check' on what else we were going to do. I mean all of it too."
Claire and Sarah looked at each other again for a long moment. They went to work but discussed nothing else further. There was nothing to discuss. They were both clearly already on the same page.
Young Allison wanted to stow the ammunition on the four .50 caliber machine guns.
Sheila saw an opportunity to get closer to Young Allison. She volunteered to work with her.
Young Allison was pleased that she would work under the guidance of Sheila.
Sheila worked next to Young Allison. She looked around to make sure no one was watching.
She moved to pick something up and one of her breasts popped out from her top.
Young Allison looked at it but didn't say anything.
"Oops…." Sheila said. "Both of my hands are dirty or I would fix that."
Young Allison sucked in her breath a little bit. She was sure this wasn't an accident.
"I can fix it for you." Young Allison said. "It's no big deal. I've seen you before."
Sheila was going to ask Young Allison to center her nipple ring for her. Young Allison moved a little quicker than she'd anticipated.
Young Allison pulled Sheila's top back over her exposed breast and covered 'everything' for now.
"Thanks." Sheila said.
Young Allison really liked the look. Seeing Sheila again only reinforced it.
"That's really beautiful, just like you." Young Allison said. "I've seen Jesse's and Cammy's jewelry too."
Sheila liked to be seen and noticed, especially by the people she wanted to be noticed by.
"It makes us distinctive." Sheila said. "It also makes a statement. I didn't want my nipple ring to get snagged on anything and I appreciate you helping me."
Young Allison was sold on the idea anyway.
"I'm going to do that too." Young Allison said. "I was intrigued by Jesse and you before. Now that I saw Cammy, I know that is exactly how I will look."
Sheila glanced over at Young Allison and ran some scans of her upper torso.
"You may have to wait a little bit." Sheila said. "There's enough to work with already but everything is still growing."
Sheila almost mentioned there were other places where jewelry could go but refrained at the last second from verbalizing that. She figured that would bring Cameron and Savannah down on her. Not the way she would want either.
"You'll be in the past with me when I'm 'ready'." Young Allison said. "Maybe you already were for that."
Sheila quickly searched for a file specific for that but couldn't find one available.
"Maybe I was." Sheila said. "I don't have any files related to that, at least that aren't locked."
Young Allison believed they made contact in that past somehow at some point.
"I found Cammy and you in the past, we know that." Young Allison said.
Sheila recalled the drama in the desert. Evidently the H-bomb that they'd put the grab on was a very large one. That probably was by design as well.
"I guess we do." Sheila said. "There's a missing mountain to prove that."
There was some movement behind them.
Anna appeared. She didn't look very happy
"What's going on here?" Anna asked.
Young Allison wondered if Anna had listened to their conversation.
"Nothing…." Young Allison said.
Young Allison looked very 'guilty' to Anna.
Anna looked at Sheila and wasn't convinced of that. Especially from what she heard of the conversation as she'd approached.
"I'll finish up with Sheila here." Anna said. "Allison, please go to Cameron and Savannah."
Young Allison didn't want to argue with Anna or create a problem for Sheila. Seeing the nipple ring up close only reaffirmed her desire to get a set for herself as soon as she could. She felt she could start with a set very soon. There was enough to work with in her opinion.
Young Allison exited from the front lower hatch of the B-25.
Anna made sure Young Allison was gone. She looked at Sheila with a stern look.
"What did you do?" Anna asked.
Sheila felt she'd done nothing wrong.
"I didn't do anything." Sheila said.
Anna wasn't so sure about that.
"Did you touch her?" Anna asked.
Sheila felt a little guilty. She actually considered doing that.
"No." Sheila said. "I didn't."
Anna was still worried there'd been some hanky panky.
"Did she touch you?" Anna asked.
Sheila knew there hadn't been any inappropriate physical contact between them. She'd been about to initiate that by asking Young Allison to center her nipple ring. Young Allison was too quick. She's already covered her back over.
"You ask Young Allison." Sheila said. "If you don't trust me, you scan her when you ask her."
Anna didn't want to make a big deal about it.
"She wants to grow up too fast." Anna said. "Don't encourage her."
Sheila didn't think she'd violated any of the rules yet.
"I've done nothing wrong." Sheila said.
Anna was responsible to make sure Young Allison didn't get ahead of herself when it came to anything sexual. That was actually by Young Allison's own order.
She wanted to issue a request rather than give a warning.
"Keep it that way." Anna said. "None of us want to overstep and none of us want to face the wrath of Cameron, CamNet and especially Savannah."
Sheila was glad that she didn't mention any other location where Young Allison could wear jewelry now. She would at some point though. Isn't that why females wore jewelry in the first place? Wasn't it to enhance their natural beauty? It didn't need to be confined to their ears or navel. It was just one step further than the eyebrow, nose or lip. Did it make a difference where that beauty actually was? She didn't think so.
Hanna stopped by with Jan and Summer at Allison's room. Cam was in there with her. They'd 'finished' up.
She told them Claire was going to make something for all of them. She decided not to mention that Sarah was going to assist her. Everyone was aware of Sarah's cooking reputation. She wanted to notify Vanna too.
Allison decided to call her mother and see what she was making. When she did, she was informed that Riley and Jesse were now bringing food back instead.
Cam and Allison went to check on Vanna and Precious.
Vanna started to nurse Precious when they arrived.
Vanna saw Allison look at her.
"There is enough for everyone." Vanna said.
Allison and Cam looked at each other and smiled.
"I guess we know what dessert will be." Allison said.
Vanna thought she should be free for the evening
"Jesse will be back and be able to cover the evening, unless she is going to be busy." Vanna said.
Cam didn't think it should be a problem.
"Gail is still out." Cam said.
Vanna wanted to point out that Claire and the other Metal girls weren't. She decided not to mention that. She wanted to see Claire herself. She didn't like to do it in front of Allison.
Cam received an alert from CamNet. She needed to leave.
"I'll leave you two alone for now." Cam said.
Allison wanted her to stay. She'd just shared a very pleasant time with her.
"You don't need to leave." Allison said. "They should all be back soon."
Vanna didn't see what the rush was.
"We can all wait here until Riley returns." Vanna said.
Cam walked out the door. She didn't offer a further explanation or say anything else.
Vanna watched her go. That really didn't make any sense. Maybe something was about to go down, besides one of the girls.
Keep It That Way
Everything always changes
Nothing stays the same
When that happens
Who is to blame
Does anyone have control
Do things happen on their own
It's all a big mystery
So much remains unknown
People can try to think
Maybe even plan ahead
When things go wrong
They hang on by a thread
The unknown isn't an adventure
It's a nightmare in disguise
That seems to be known
Only to those who are wise
Don't get confused or lost
It's easy to be led astray
Things are good how they are
Let's keep it that way
Nobody