Chapter 1208
Like Always
John apologized to Sheila again as she exited the suite.
He couldn't believe what almost happened. He thought Sheila was really Cameron. It was what Cameron made him believe earlier. He thought he'd already done it with Cameron in Sheila's chassis.
Now what was he going to do?
Should he mention it to Cameron? It would sour her mood for the rest of the cruise. Maybe he should say nothing. He didn't know. Nothing actually happened so it shouldn't be a problem. He didn't feel he was responsible. It wasn't entirely his fault. It was an honest mistake. He may have knocked on the 'door' of Sheila's secret spot, but he didn't enter.
He heard the pass door from the adjoining bedroom start to open. It was Cameron about to return from the Control Center. He needed to play it cool.
He quickly entered the bedroom of their suite. He slipped off his shorts and got back into bed. He pulled the cover halfway up on his body and pretended to be asleep. He was aware his heart was pounding. It felt like it was going to pound out of his chest. If Cameron scanned him now, he was busted for sure.
All he could think was a million things could go wrong. He didn't want to own up to it. He didn't know if Sheila would say anything. She might be afraid Cameron would deactivate her. He didn't know about the 'episode' Sheila experienced last night about everything. If he'd known, maybe he would have given her the 'one second' thrust she'd begged him for. He would have thought Cameron owed her that much after what almost happened.
Cameron needed to 'collect' herself in the Control Center. The events which nearly occurred bothered her. They didn't bother her because they'd almost occurred. They bothered her because she was the one who'd set things in motion that almost made them occur.
She made a noisier approach than she normally would have. She wanted to give John an excuse to be awake already. She stopped at the coffee and juice cart and poured a small glass of orange juice for John and picked up the coffee cup that was already poured. She checked the temperature to make sure it was safe for John to drink. It was.
She walked into the bedroom with a smile on her face and a drink in each hand.
John tossed around once and looked at her. He sat up in bed.
"Good morning, John." Cameron said.
John looked sleepy. He wanted it to look like he'd just woken up. He hoped to set the direction of the conversation.
"Hi, Cameron." John said. "How much time do we have before sunrise?"
Cameron handed him the orange juice which he drank in one big sip. She wondered if next time she should use a larger glass. Juice glasses were very small. She took the empty glass and handed him the coffee.
"We have enough time for you to get cleaned up and to throw a robe on." Cameron said. "That's unless you want to knock off a quickie."
She wanted to see what John was up for. She was sure he'd been ready just a minute ago when Sheila was still in the room. She wondered if he would see her as 'Sheila' or as herself if the did do it. She decided she would get on her knees to help John with whatever fantasy he wanted to pursue. She figured it would be easier if he didn't need to look at her face or the front of her sheath. Her back should be a sufficient view for him.
John hadn't expected Cameron to make the offer. He sputtered on the sip of coffee he was about to take. He knew he was about to make love to Sheila a few minutes ago. He'd been so close. Everything had been right there waiting for him, calling to him. He really regretted not taking it when he could see her face.
Cameron smiled to herself at John's 'reaction'. She'd hoped for a reaction in a different place.
"The coffee isn't too hot is it?" Cameron asked. "I'd hate for you to get burned."
John listened to the wording of her statement. He wondered how much she knew. He didn't want to take the bait.
"It's fine." John said. "Everything's perfect. Thank you."
Cameron needed to remember the fault was hers. Neither John nor Sheila were to blame for what almost happened. She wanted to give a plausible excuse.
"I should have checked first." Cameron said. "I'll do that next time."
It still sounded like a loaded statement to John.
Cameron actually 'checked' on a couple of things before she'd arrived at where she was now.
John wanted to get out of the bedroom. He wanted to change the subject. Everything seemed a little too close to home.
"It's fine. I don't want to miss the sunrise." John said. "I want to share it with you."
Cameron didn't want to overdo it. She didn't mention there were others John could share with as well. Maybe she would wait until there were two more on board. Jesse and Claire should be on the ship in a few hours. She decided she was going to lean on both of them. She might even need to resort to a few underhand tricks. There was plenty of alcohol on board the ship. Wait, Claire was already pregnant. She needed to be careful about what she did. She needed to focus on where she currently was at.
"It's very thoughtful of you. The food will be here shortly." Cameron said. "I think Ally will bring it."
John was relieved to hear it wasn't Sheila. He was unsure what would happen when they saw each other again. He couldn't stop thinking about her and how close he was to 'slipping' inside of her. He should have given her the 'one second' she'd asked for. He doubted he would have been able to stop at that point. He needed to clear his mind. It was very hard to do.
"That's nice of Ally." John said.
John went to take another sip of coffee.
Cameron wanted to throw one more thing out there.
"Sheila will assist her." Cameron said.
John sputtered on the sip of coffee he was about to drink again.
Cameron was a little concerned.
"Is the coffee alright?" Cameron asked.
John wasn't sure what to answer. The coffee wasn't the problem. The issue was his close encounter. He'd also touched her before he carried her into the bedroom.
"It's fine." John said.
Cameron wanted to see what John would say.
"Did you see who brought the drinks in?" Cameron asked.
John sputtered again on the sip of coffee he was about to drink.
Cameron didn't like John's reaction to the coffee.
He said what he thought.
"I thought you did." John said.
Cameron liked his answer. He was under the impression Sheila was her with a chassis swap. She decided to liven things up a little.
"It could have been. It wasn't 'this time'." Cameron said.
John sputtered on the sip of coffee he was about to drink again. It was clear to him Cameron already knew what happened.
Cameron reached over and took the coffee away from John.
"Get ready, I'll get you some fresh coffee." Cameron said. "I think this is the wrong mixture. I'm sure it was just a simple 'mix up'."
Cameron looked at John and walked out of the bedroom.
Since Cameron didn't appear to be upset or angry, it made John wonder how much she already knew and if she was behind it. Did she send Sheila in there to see what would happen? Did she want him to check first? He really wondered how far Cameron would have let things actually go.
He really wondered if he should have let Sheila have the 'one second' she'd asked for or not. He remembered his lost opportunity with Isabel and Metal Summer. He'd just lost another opportunity. He decided if the opportunity arose again he was going to go for it. If it was just sex, it shouldn't be a big deal. It wasn't like they were in love or anything. Wait, what would happen if they did fall in love? Maybe all of them were already in love. If a physical union took place, it would turn it into a love relationship.
Several of the group headed down to the galley. The food carts were on their way up now. They were just about to enter the private area. Things didn't go as smoothly as they thought they would. The food preparation wasn't finished when they'd arrived to pick the carts up. It messed with their timing. None of them were happy with It.
"I'm glad I don't need to do this all the time." Ally said. "I think I would need to terminate some people."
Jim wanted some better professionalism, even if he agreed with Ally in this instance. He wanted the service on their end to be flawless.
"Quiet." Jim said. "Get your teams together and get ready to enter. We'll go in one minute from now, all at the same time."
The teams moved the food carts outside the suite door they were going to serve.
Ally looked at Sheila. She could see a far off look on her face. It wasn't quite the 'thousand yard stare', but it was enough to make her worry. She didn't want Sheila to have some type of relapse when they were inside of the Owner's Suite. She wanted to make sure there wasn't going to be a problem.
"Are you alright?" Ally asked.
Sheila looked around and moved close to Ally.
"I was with John." Sheila whispered.
Ally thought Sheila was about to relapse again. She wanted to separate fact from fiction. She hoped Sheila didn't think she was Jesse again.
"Who are you?" Ally asked.
Ally was worried things were about to go from bad to worse. If Sheila said 'Jesse', she was going to have Gail or Hanna take over and she would take Sheila back to her room.
Sheila looked a little irritated. She wondered why Ally would even ask her such a question.
"I'm Sheila." Sheila said. "Who do I look like?"
Now Ally needed to wonder what Sheila was talking about. Her earlier statement about John seemed irrational.
"What do you mean you were 'with John'?" Ally whispered.
Sheila looked around. She didn't want anyone else to hear.
"We almost 'did it'." Sheila whispered. "He was on top of me. It was right there. I could feel it. It was so close. I really wanted it bad."
Ally was still unsure about Sheila's stability. Sheila seemed to 'read' more into it than what actually happened. There was still a technical definition involved, in her opinion.
"'Almost' isn't the same as 'with', there's a difference, a big one." Ally said. "One means you're still a virgin, the other does not."
Sheila was excited about what almost happened. She wanted the experience so much now. She could almost taste it. She didn't know John thought she was 'Cameron' in her chassis at first.
"He wanted to be with me." Sheila said. "He told me he thought I was beautiful."
Ally knew it was a standard 'pick up' line. She thought all girls wanted to hear they were beautiful. She thought Sheila was beautiful. Maybe he was being honest.
"You are beautiful." Ally said. "I think you're very beautiful."
Sheila wanted to make herself more presentable to John. She knew what movie he liked. She could give him a similar experience.
"I'm going to Resequence my sheath to a younger appearance." Sheila said. "It will make me more desirable to him."
Upon further reflection, she actually felt it would make her more desirable to everyone. From what she could see as far as celebrities went, it appeared younger was desired over older in multiple situations. Some of the male celebrities, and even a few female ones, had partners who were twenty and sometimes even thirty years younger than they were. She was sure it was all about the money. The term 'trophy wives' and 'trophy husbands' was in her mind. It seemed to her marriage was used as a legalized form of prostitution in certain situations. She figured there wasn't anything some people would do for money.
Ally was sure Sheila was still 'off' a little at this point. She sounded like a horny schoolgirl in heat. It reminded her of the age old story of a girl who had sex one time and ended up pregnant. She was sure those stories were based upon an individual's hormones and even their pheromones. It was how most animals propagated the species. They mated when it was time to reproduce. It appeared the instinct still existed within humans as well. The need for personal gratification turned the mating procedure into a free for all for pleasure instead of reproduction. She needed to focus on Sheila. She didn't want her to take things too far.
"What's next?" Ally asked. "Are we going to refer to you as 'Young Sheila'?"
The idea further excited Sheila. She was about to say something when Jim interrupted them.
Jim didn't look very happy. They were there to do a job.
"Stop fooling around and get ready." Jim said.
Ally didn't like the intrusion. She was still worried about Sheila.
"Mind your own business." Ally said.
Jim didn't back down. His assignment was important to him. He didn't want anyone to mess it up.
"It is my business and my assignment." Jim said. "We have a job to do and a timetable to follow."
Sheila stopped Ally from further sparring with Jim. It was her assignment as well. It was important to her to do the job she was required to do.
"He's right." Sheila said. "I do have a job to do.
Ally looked over at Jim and frowned. She turned her attention back to Sheila. There seemed to be a few unanswered questions and probably some missing information.
"There must have been something that triggered everything." Ally said. "I can't imagine John making a move on you in the Owner's Suite with Cameron nearby. Even if he finished in thirty seconds, he still needed to worry about where Cameron was."
Sheila didn't understand John's confusion at first. The way he talked clued her in as to who he thought she really was. She did tell him on several occasions who she actually was. It didn't matter after he 'asked' her to be with him.
"I got caught up in the moment." Sheila said. "I couldn't say 'no'. He thought I was 'Cameron' at first. He thought we'd switched chassis. He 'asked' me to be with him so I was going to do it. I wanted to do it as well. It wasn't a job or something I needed to do. It was what I wanted to do. I still want to do it."
Ally was a little worried about the circumstances.
"Oh, brother." Ally said.
Ally was mindful about the previous directive from Cameron. Since John asked Sheila to be with him, she was going to keep trying until she succeeded. It was now a 'Terminator thing'. The goal was to complete the job. How it was done didn't often matter.
Sheila looked around and moved her lips right up to Ally's ear.
"I am going to do it." Sheila whispered.
It sounded like bad news to Ally. She believed the chassis issue was resolved.
Ally knew right away what the root problem was. It all went back to Cameron wanting to steal their virginity from them. Whatever happened with Sheila seemed to be an offshoot of the idea. She thought Cameron was going to back off. Now it didn't appear so.
"Not this again." Ally said. "I thought it was over."
Sheila didn't think Cameron said anything to John about any of the other events last night. He didn't have any way to know what the new plans were. Even though she didn't like to admit it, she understood what John thought was happening.
"Nobody told John. Evidently Cameron led him to believe she was in my chassis earlier in the evening in a dark room." Sheila said. "He really wanted to be with Cameron in my chassis."
Ally saw it a little differently. She was sure John wouldn't see 'Cameron' when he used Sheila's chassis with Cameron's chip in it. He would see 'Sheila' or 'Jesse', probably both of them. Wait, he would see Young Jesse as well. She believed he would only see the sheath, not the chip, with a different chassis.
"I think it means he really wanted to be with you." Ally said.
Sheila felt it too. John also backed out, quite literally, at the last second. She believed the same things Ally did based upon her appearance.
"Or he wants to be with Jesse." Sheila said. "I know he wants to be with Young Jesse."
Ally thought they all did. Young Jesse was a hot ticket.
Jim was irritated they weren't focused. He liked to hear the conversation. It just wasn't the right time. They needed to do an important function.
"Stop talking." Jim said. "It's time."
Sheila, Jim and Holly opened the suite doors while Ally, Hanna and Gail pushed the food carts in.
It was ten minutes until sunrise.
The Terminators were right on time to the second.
Savannah finished her shower and hurried out to see who was in her room.
She figured at the current hour it would be Cammy.
It wasn't.
She let the towel slip down off her breasts to fully expose them. She'd made sure the 'headlights' were on with the cold water before she'd exited the shower.
Savannah was surprised.
"Hello, Samantha." Savannah said.
Samantha took in every inch of Savannah and ran a visual comparison to Vanna. She could see everything was identical. She didn't want to seem like she was too forward.
"Hello, Savannah." Samantha said. "I hope you don't mind that I let myself in."
Savannah saw no point in locking the door most of the time. There were quite a few people in and out of her room. She was glad Cammy didn't seem to have a problem with it. She figured it was because whoever was in her room left a partner behind. Cammy was more than willing to share with them. It was something she'd encouraged Cammy to do. She felt it made all of them better lovers.
"I seldom lock the door." Savannah said. "I have a lot of visitors. Everyone is welcome here for 'anything'."
Samantha felt like she needed to offer some explanation as to why she was there.
"Cam mentioned you might want some company when you woke up." Samantha said. "Cam is watching Precious for me. She wanted to be closer to Vanna. I have some free time right now."
Savannah knew what she wanted.
"I understand." Savannah said.
Savannah removed the towel and handed it to Samantha. She was totally naked.
Samantha looked at the towel and then back at Savannah.
"Would you like me to dry your back?" Samantha asked.
Savannah wanted her to 'dry' everywhere.
"Yes." Savannah said. "I don't want you to miss anywhere either."
Samantha wanted to be clear and open about everything.
"Cameron has allowed me some sexual freedom while Riley is away." Samantha said. "I hope it doesn't seem too forward on my part."
Savannah was pleased Samantha was there.
Samantha learned everyone held Savannah in the highest esteem. She felt her new found sexual independence was on a time clock.
"I want to be with you and everyone as much as I can." Samantha said. "I'll need to be celibate again when Riley returns."
Savannah thought it seemed a little unfair. She decided she would look into it later on.
Samantha dried Savannah all over her entire body.
"I was going to do my exercises." Savannah said.
Samantha wondered if she'd overstepped.
"I'm sorry." Samantha said. "I can come back another time. That's if you want. It's your decision."
Savannah walked over and pulled back the covers on her bed. She didn't mind the need to remake it with the current situation.
"You're already here." Savannah said. "I can 'exercise' in bed."
Samantha started to undress.
Savannah always like to undress her sexual partner. There was just something special about doing it.
"Stop. I'll undress you." Savannah said. "I want to do it for you and me. I want to unwrap you for the gift you are."
It sounded exciting to Samantha. She wanted to be unwrapped like a present. It already made her feel special. She'd been worried about her forwardness. Now she could see Savannah was very forward as well. She liked it.
"You're very dominant." Samantha said.
Savannah enjoyed being female and being with females. She'd known from a very young age what excited her. It wasn't males. It was females.
"I know what I like." Savannah said.
Samantha knew it was a trait in common with Vanna.
Savannah slipped Samantha's top off. She liked the changes to her sheath. It instantly excited her to see her identical to Claire, at least from the neck down. She was going to make sure she did a visual confirmation elsewhere.
"You're well along in your Resequencing." Savannah said.
"I am. It's why I wanted this opportunity to be with you when I could." Samantha said. "My face will change soon too. It's already started. My body is almost complete in every detail. I was able to compare it earlier."
Savannah really wanted to share with Samantha. She would have liked to have been with her before the Resequencing process started. There was still a little way to go with her face.
"I'll enjoy the 'before' because I already know what the 'after' is like." Savannah said. "Both are beautiful."
Samantha wanted Savannah not to forget what she actually was. She may soon look like Claire, but she was still a Terminator.
"Remember the 'after' will still be a Metal girl…." Samantha said.
It actually excited Savannah even more.
"I'll look forward to it as much as this." Savannah said.
Savannah finished stripping Samantha. She took in every detail visually. She couldn't wait to inspect everything in detail. It was something all the girls did with each other.
"It's too bad your sheath was compromised. I really liked how it was before too." Savannah said. "You're truly beautiful no matter what your appearance is."
Savannah gently touched Samantha's face.
Samantha embraced all the changes in her existence.
"Thank you." Samantha said. "I look forward to my new appearance and to the updated 'Neural Interface'."
Savannah knew Terminators were much more than their sheath appearance.
"I know you're your program." Savannah said. "It's always where the true beauty lies."
Savannah's words touched Samantha deeply.
"What you said means a lot to me." Samantha said. "Nobody else said it to me."
Savannah moved forward to kiss Samantha. She stopped right before she did. She was aware when she was with all of the different females what would happen. They wanted to be with her all of the time. She remembered all of her promises. Maybe they were obligations. It's not how she saw it. She wanted to fulfill her destiny.
"You must understand I have other obligations and commitments." Savannah said.
Samantha wanted Savannah even more now.
"I understand." Samantha said. "This is just here and now and whenever you want it."
Savannah smiled and kissed Samantha. She never wanted to give anyone 'false hope'. She would be with anyone but they needed to remember her future was already written for her. She just needed to catch up to it. She led Samantha to her bed.
Cammy left the Command Center when John Henry gave her the news. She was already upset enough because she needed to take Savannah to see CamNet. She would rather take Savannah to see Young Allison.
She headed back to Savannah's room.
She slowed as she neared the room and listened.
It was what she thought.
Samantha was in with Savannah.
Cammy thought about entering but decided to let Savannah share with Samantha alone. She left and headed for Claire's room. She would help them get everything ready for their short trip. She would like to go with them. It would be nice to get away from it all for a few days.
Maybe she could trade off with Ally. If she did, she could spend some time with Sheila. She was still worried about her and everything that happened. She was also aware Ally loved Sheila as much as she did.
She'd spent more time alone with Sheila than Ally had. She knew the situation was different. Sheila and her were alone in the past for eight years. They did everything two Terminators could possibly do with each other. Because she had two chip ports, they were able to swap chassis by putting both chips into her and then removing one of them to put back into Sheila's chassis. They were able to switch back and forth that way.
Cammy thought of the nearly two years she'd spent in Sheila's chassis in the past. At one point she didn't think they were going to switch back. She was pleased with the decision. She would rather look like 'Jesse' to Savannah instead of 'Cameron'. If she would have kept Sheila's chassis she would have done some 'age reduction' to be more like 'Young Jesse'. Those were very pleasant thoughts to her. She would trade chassis with Sheila in an instant if she wanted to.
Frank startled her when he spoke.
"Where are you going?" Frank asked.
Cammy looked around. She was in the carpool area. It wasn't where she'd been headed.
"I was going to Claire's room." Cammy said. "I don't know why I'm out here."
Frank was aware the female infiltration units malfunctioned at times. He hoped this wasn't one of them. He thought he needed to keep a closer eye on her.
"You seem distracted." Frank said. "I'll accompany you back inside."
Cammy felt embarrassed enough because she was out there. She didn't need a babysitter.
"No, I'm good." Cammy said. "Thanks anyway."
Cammy headed back inside. She checked her time to see how much time elapsed since she was at Savannah's room. It was only a few minutes. She still didn't know why she'd ended up in the carpool area.
She spotted Jan headed back to Sarah's room.
A small hand took her left hand.
She looked down and Summer was there.
Summer looked up at her and smiled.
Cammy realized at that point her hand must have been glitching. It was Cameron's fault. She'd inherited the same bad trait from her. It briefly reminded her that one can't 'grow good crop from bad seed'. It was a troublesome thought. Nobody wanted to be like that Bitch, Cameron. She knew deep down inside she would always be defective. She also needed to worry she might revert back to Cameron's Skynet programming at some point. It was a thought that didn't sit well with her.
Summer wanted to help Cammy if there was a problem.
"How can I help you?" Summer asked.
Cammy wasn't even sure what was wrong.
"I don't know." Cammy said. "Thank you for asking."
Summer decided to help Cammy find herself.
"Are you going to go to Mexico with us?" Summer asked.
It was an idea Cammy thought of.
"I don't know." Cammy said. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Summer wanted Cammy to look deeper. She urged her on.
"Sure you do." Summer said. "You actually do know."
Cammy looked down at Summer.
"I guess I do." Cammy said. "Thank you for reminding me."
Summer felt Cammy guided herself.
"You did it all yourself." Summer said.
Cammy knew some things were inevitable.
"I guess I did." Cammy said.
Summer laid some wisdom on Cammy next.
"The right choice isn't always the easy choice." Summer said.
Cammy wondered where Summer learned everything from. It must be from her nightly conditioning. She would need to check on everything that was being done. She would like to play a bigger part in it. She'd only done a little so far.
"I forget sometimes." Cammy said.
Summer didn't want her to worry about it. She wanted her to move on.
"It happens." Summer said.
Jan emerged from Sarah's room.
"I found it." Jan said as she spotted Cammy. "Hi, Cammy."
Cammy wondered what Jan needed to retrieve.
"Hi, Jan." Cammy said. "Do you have everything?"
Jan touched her pocket.
"I do now." Jan said.
Summer didn't want them to run out of time.
"Let's go." Summer said.
The girls turned to hurry away. They both looked back.
"Bye, Cammy." Jan and Summer said.
Summer and Jan headed back to Summer's room
"Have fun." Cammy said.
Cammy headed back down the hall and went towards Riley's room.
Allison watched Vanna nurse Precious. She saw some movement out of the corner of her eye. She realized it was Cam that was in the corner in standby, not Samantha. She did a double take to make sure.
"I thought you were Samantha." Allison said.
Cam considered a chip swap.
"I can be." Cam said. "We could swap chips for a day."
Allison knew the other Metal girls did it every now and then.
"Have you done that before with other Terminators?" Allison asked.
She decided to keep her answer simple to Allison.
"Yes." Cam said.
Allison wished she could do it with Vanna and Jesse. It would be a total trip. She wasn't sure which one she would want to be more. No, who was she kidding? She knew she would want to be Vanna. She knew none of the girls were the same, even if all the parts were the same.
"Was anything different?" Allison asked.
Cam did notice differences between other female Terminator chassis. She was used to her own sheath and chassis. She was aware Vanna liked her to look like Cameron.
"Yes." Cam said. "I prefer this chassis and sheath. I'm very comfortable with it."
Allison thought everyone would like to be someone different at times. It was something she'd always thought. She'd thought about it even more after she'd become a 'woman'. At the end of the day, they were all who they were. Cam's statement made Allison think of 'Dorothy' from the 'Wizard Of Oz'.
"I guess there's no place like home." Allison said.
Cam liked the analogy.
"Nice reference." Cam said. "It's true."
It still left the question of where Samantha was at.
"Where's Samantha?" Allison asked.
Cam didn't think it was a big deal.
"She's with Savannah." Cam said. "I asked her to stop by."
Allison thought it was a good choice.
"Savannah will appreciate it." Allison said.
Cam was pretty sure that everyone appreciated everyone else. She did.
"Savannah will." Cam said. "Samantha will also."
Cam nodded towards the door. She knew who was outside of it.
"She won't." Cam said.
There was a knock and Cammy entered.
Allison could see right away Cammy looked more than a little uneasy. She almost looked irritated about something.
"I'll take care of her." Allison said. "Are you going to take care of Vanna?"
Cam liked the idea.
"When she's done with Precious I will." Cam said.
Allison got up. She looked around for her clothes. She found a tee shirt and slipped it on. It was too short, everything showed. She looked down and shrugged her shoulders at Cam.
"Three of us here are the same." Allison said.
Cam was going to say they may be the same but they were all different, even if they were identical.
Allison walked out and looked at Vanna and Precious. She then walked up to Cammy and smiled. She took Cammy's hand and led her to the pass door into the nursery.
"Well?" Allison asked.
Cammy looked at Allison and the bed. She started to strip.
"I'll be with her later myself." Allison whispered.
She pulled back the covers on the bed.
Cammy was naked and pulled Allison's shirt off.
"Will you be with Savannah or Samantha?" Cammy asked as they lay down.
Allison hoped it would be with both of them individually. It gave her better concentration and focus.
"Hopefully it will be both of them at different times." Allison said. "We can really work on each other when we're alone."
Cammy knew it was true.
"I understand." Cammy said.
Allison could see Cammy was less on edge now.
"If you can't love the one you want…." Allison said.
Cammy was well acquainted with the statement. She knew they originated from.
"Love the one you're with.…" Cammy said.
Allison wanted to keep everything in perspective. She didn't think it was necessary to mention it, but you didn't think it could hurt either.
"We all share." Allison said. "We still know who we belong to at the end of the day and who belongs to us."
Cammy smiled.
"I guess we do at that." Cammy said. "Thank you for reminding me."
Allison was ready to get started.
"What would you like?" Allison asked.
Cammy felt there was some unfinished business between them.
"We can pick up where we left off last time." Cammy said.
Allison often didn't remember. There were a lot of 'last times' with different people. It was like trying to remember what she ate for dinner three days ago. She knew there was one way to deal with it.
"You start and I'll follow." Allison said.
Cammy liked to do certain things with certain people.
"It'll be like always." Cammy said.
Allison was always ready for more of the same.
"Yup." Allison said. "It's what we both like."
Allison saw no need to rock the boat as long as it got her to the destination. Life was good in Paradise.
Hank parked the SUV.
"This is the place." Hank said.
Larry looked towards the eastern horizon.
"It will be sunrise soon." Larry said.
Hank looked over the information they possessed about the current location.
"It may not be for someone." Hank said. "Let's go."
Hank and Larry move towards the location on foot. They made sure their approach was careful and undetected. They looked for trip wires and surveillance devices along the way. None were spotted.
They arrived a short time later. They moved up to the side wall of the building. They paused and listened to see if they could hear anything. They could hear two voices.
"I don't care what the man says." The first man said.
"You should care." The second man said.
"I don't." The first man said.
"Just be glad we were out of the building before the explosion." The second man said.
"I am glad." The first man said.
"We should be moving to the bunker soon." The second man said.
"The bunker…." The first man said. "It sounds like another death trap."
"You shouldn't fear Ascension." The second man said.
Hank and Larry exchanged a quick glance. It was clear whoever was inside of the building was a bigger threat than anticipated. It sounded as if they were Fanatics. They needed to consider the building was rigged to explode as well as the two men inside. They didn't know how many were inside yet.
"I don't fear anything." The first man said. "I'm just in no hurry to reach it."
"Finish packing and let's get out of here." The second man said.
"I think we have everything inside the van already." The second man said.
"Get Chris and let's go." The first man said. "I'll turn the surprise on."
Hank and Larry understood what the 'surprise' was. It was probably a booby trap. They could hear some metallic noises and then three car doors slam closed. There was an electronic clanking noise. It was the roll up door at the rear of the building.
Larry moved to the corner of the building. He watched a van pull out of the building and drive away. There was some more clanking noise as the roll up door started to go down. He had a choice to make. He could either go back and rejoin Hank or he could slip inside of the building before the door fully closed. If he was inside of the building before the door closed, he shouldn't trip any security devices. There may be a motion detector. There was usually a short time period before it was activated.
Hank saw what was about to go down. He didn't want to leave Larry behind. CamNet assured him there were two drones available to them. One was currently over the building and the second one followed the van that just left the premises.
The door into the building was already closed. He wanted to make sure the perimeter was clear. He checked once around the building and the small sheds on the property. He was in communication with Larry if he found anything.
"Did you find anything inside yet?" Hank asked.
"You better take a look at this." Larry said over his com.
Like Always
There are many times
When life becomes a maze
Everything becomes foggy
Few can see through the haze
Some like to think
It's just a phase
It all adds up
To endless delays
To believe in fate
Means the end of days
It warps the future
Puts the mind in a daze
To gamble in life
The stakes they will raise
The future wants to build
The past wants to raze
When it's time for a choice
Who goes and who stays
Everything remains as it was
Just like always
Nobody