Chapter 1481
Common Sense Test
Cameron previously transferred all her files related to the B-25 to Camille. She'd done it when she'd 'borrowed' her chassis. She was very pleased she was able to deliver it's virginity to John.
Camille now knew as much about flying, landing, taking off and maintaining the Mitchell as Cameron did. The only things she didn't know about were some of the 'politics' and the 'behind the scenes' efforts in the accusation of some of the aircraft and components.
It was information Cameron chose not to share. She believed some may view her actions as unethical. Ethics never were a strong point of Terminators. It was all about accomplishing the task or completing the mission.
Camille prepare to land the B-25. Young Jesse did everything else, including lowering the flaps, landing gear and controlling the speed. Young Jesse was on the controls with her for the landing.
The landing was very smooth with hardly a bounce. She taxied to the end of the runway and turned off onto the taxiway.
Camille glanced over at Young Jesse. She felt Young Jesse was ready to take over.
"You got it?" Camille asked.
Young Jesse felt a surge of adrenaline.
"I got it." Young Jesse said.
Camille let Young Jesse taxi the plane to the parking area and shut it down on the ramp.
There was currently no other traffic in or out of the airport. CamNet made sure of it.
Young Jesse double checked everything to make sure the plane was shut down properly.
The girls exited from the forward and aft hatches. Young Jesse did a walk around of the plane with Savannah and Young Allison. Everything was in order.
Savannah didn't see a fuel truck yet. Cameron was probably going to wait until they were done with the touch and go landings and takeoffs. Gasoline weighed about eight pounds per gallon. The weight added up quickly in large fuel tanks. The plane would handle better with a smaller fuel load.
The girls used the restroom facilities there. They were very basic. Anna went with them to make sure there were no problems.
It left Cameron and Camille alone at the plane.
"So where are we going to go after this?" Camille asked.
Cameron knew where she wanted to go. It was just a matter of doing it.
"I'm not sure." Cameron said.
Camille could see Cameron and Savannah needed to be with each other. The middle of the Central Valley was hardly the place for it.
"I think you need to pick a place." Camille said. "It's time to make a decision about your life and the direction you want it to go."
Cameron didn't want to have this discussion.
"I'm not sure." Cameron said.
Camille wanted Cameron to grow a backbone.
"You're sure." Camille said. "Everyone can see it."
Cameron did know what she wanted. She was just afraid to take it. She wanted to be with Savannah. She wanted Savannah's love. She was afraid of what might happen.
"I'm worried." Cameron said. "I might not want John anymore."
Camille laughed. It was Cameron's inexperience 'talking'.
"It's because you don't get around." Camille said. "Sharing sex or love is no big deal in reality. That's the beauty of it. There's so much to be shared. You still know who you 'belong' to at the end of the day. Each new person fills you with more love and feeling."
Cameron was aware she could become obsessive and compulsive at times. She wasn't sure she would be able to remain in control.
"Savannah will know what's best for me." Cameron said.
Camille thought it was a two way street.
"You should think about what's best for her." Camille said.
Cameron felt a glitch impulse.
Camille noticed.
"Don't start that." Camille said. "Get it together."
Cameron wanted Young Allison and Savannah to bond first. She feared disrupting the 'Natural Order'. She remembered how she tore Allison and Vanna apart for a long time. It still bothered her. It was all unintentional, but it happened anyway.
"I don't want to mess things up." Cameron said.
It seemed like an easy fix to Camille.
"Then you need to let Savannah and Young Allison consummate their relationship. They took the first step earlier." Camille said. "Young Allison is almost as old as Young Jesse and Savannah were when they both got pregnant the first time. Savannah was pretty young. I hope you know she did it for you and John."
Cameron did know. The glitch increased.
"It was hard on her young body." Cameron said. "I would never have allowed her to do it at the time if I'd known."
Camille wondered why Cameron's own actions surprised her when they produced unintended results. One plus one always equaled two.
"Yet it still happened." Camille said. "You provided the genetic material. Of course they were going to use it. Young Allison will probably do the same."
The glitch increased in Cameron's hand.
"No." Cameron said. "I won't allow it."
Camille doubted Cameron would have much real control over Young Allison soon.
"I don't think you can stop her." Camille said. "She's a go-getter. She's a real fireball. We all saw her in combat."
The glitch further increased in Cameron's hand.
"I didn't want her to do it." Cameron said. "I was supposed to be with her on her first combat mission."
Camille didn't think the nature of the combat mattered. Cameron wouldn't have been able to go anyway.
"You were on the ship busting all of our cherries while you controlled our chassis." Camille said. "Savannah and Young Allison were the ones who needed to dodge the bullets."
Cameron was highly agitated at this point. It seemed as if Camille was purposely trying to irritate her. It was probably because Young Jesse enjoyed being with John on the ship.
"Are you trying to make me malfunction?" Cameron asked.
Camille wanted Cameron to look no further than herself.
"Look at yourself." Camille said. "It's your own actions and inactions which are responsible for everything. Grow a pair."
Cameron thought back to when her program, or copies of it, were in John Henry's, Bob's and Jim's chassis. It was very cumbersome as well as unsightly. She'd even thought about removing the 'junk'. It would have only taken a second. She didn't want to abuse someone else's sheath.
"I've actually 'had a pair' before, along with the complete package. I can tell you I didn't care for it." Cameron said.
Camille didn't let up.
"Is it the reason why Jim and Bob were spared on the ship?" Camille asked. "You know John wanted it don't you?"
Cameron did know it. John always showed a fondness for males. Maybe it was his lack of a proper 'father figure'. Maybe he was 'wired' a little differently. All of the girls seemed to be.
"I didn't want him to like it better than me." Cameron said. "He may have asked me to switch chassis permanently. Savannah wouldn't want me to."
Camille wondered if maybe Cameron waited too long. Life went on. People moved on.
"Savannah has Cammy." Camille said. "What does she need you for? Not to mention Ally, Cam, CamNet and me."
Cameron didn't need to hear all of it.
"CamNet is an aberration." Cameron said. "I'll deactivate her and turn her equipment over to John Henry."
Camille laughed again.
"I bet you can't." Camille said. "Like Dr. Frankenstein, you've created your own monster."
Cameron was aware she would require help to eradicate CamNet. She would need River's assistance to tie up CamNet's programming with encryption. Maybe Summer could do it. Maybe she would refuse. All of the reports indicated Summer and CamNet were tight, even if they weren't involved.
Camille could see Cameron tried to think of a way out of her mess. She knew what she planned.
"Summer can undo whatever you can get River to do." Camille said. "That's if River would even do it in the first place. You would need Duplicate Cameron in River's future to help make it happen. CamNet could send any of you into space or prehistoric times while she was at it."
Cameron all of a sudden didn't feel like she had much control of anything.
The girls were on their way back.
She looked over at them. Savannah held Young Allison's hand or her right side and Young Jesse's hand on her left side. They laughed and joked as they walked. At one point they all skipped together for a time. Anna followed behind them.
"Those are the girls you've turned into killers and assassins." Camille said. "Look at them. They should be hanging out together and talking about boys, or girls, and having fun. What have you stolen from them?"
Cameron knew she'd not only stolen their futures, she'd also stolen their lives.
The glitch impulse increased.
Samantha was about to enter John's room. She believed Riley was in there. She was jealous because she wanted to be with Riley. She didn't know Riley was in Sarah's room and Claire was in with John.
She wanted to go in but hesitated….
Summer was aware of what was happening right now around the base.
She didn't want to get involved again at this time and she couldn't send Jan or John Henry to do damage control.
She thought about asking CamNet to get involved and have Samantha stand down.
There were other ways to 'make' things happen.
Claire and John now shared slow loving touches with each other.
The 'espresso' kicked into full force and John was able to deliver many times for Claire. She'd never been so pleased to be with a male before.
John was very happy with the emotional connections that he could share with the girls. It was something deeper he lacked with Cameron. It made him feel complete for a change.
He was very pleased with all of the human females. He was pleased the most with the emotional return over the physical aspect.
Sarah and Riley were very content to be with each other. The sad part was, they could have been doing the same for years and alleviated a lot of each other's frustration and desires. They planned to make up for lost time whenever they could at this point. It was sort of standard fare for 'new lovers' anyway.
Neither one of them spoke of their other recent sexual encounters. They wanted to be discreet and go back for more. There was no need to 'alert' anyone to other possible sexual conquests. No one wanted any petty jealousies.
Sarah planned to see Riley or Claire anytime Derek and Kyle were out. It was time to ease up on their restrictions about going out on ops. The more they were out. The greater her free time would be.
Riley thought along the same lines as Sarah did. She was a little worried about her encounter with Claire though. She realized she sort of forced herself on Claire at the beginning. She knew what it was like. Claire soon proved very receptive.
What Sarah was doing right now took her mind off of it. She planned to see more of Sarah and Claire going forward.
Mary looked up the address of the florist shop on her phone to get the best directions on how to get there.
Leticia noticed what Mary was doing because she was in the back seat.
"Let me see the satellite photo." Leticia said. "WE need to plan where we're supposed to go."
Laura still felt a lot of apprehension. They weren't given any instructions. She wasn't even sure they were supposed to go to the location.
"What are we going to do when we get there?" Laura asked.
Mary felt they were almost totally in the dark.
"We don't know anything." Mary said.
There was a nagging fear many pretty females shared.
"Maybe we're being set up to be sold as sex slaves." Laura said.
Mary glanced at Laura and Leticia. She could see how beautiful they were.
"We would bring top dollar." Mary said.
Leticia was offended by all of the talk and negativity.
"Sue would never do that to me." Leticia said.
Laura could see 'Sue' was almost as infatuated with Leticia, as Leticia was with 'Sue'. She wasn't quite sure how Mary and her fit into the picture. Maybe they didn't.
"What about us?" Laura asked.
Leticia ignored Laura. She wanted to support 'Sue'. She didn't need the others to be there with her.
"I'll go there on my own." Leticia said.
Mary and Laura remembered Leticia offered to stay behind at the park in San Francisco and 'service' the gang, while they made their escape into the lake. It took some stones to make a decision of such magnitude. She didn't want anyone to go off angry on their own
"I think we better stick together." Mary said.
Leticia wanted to get things planned out. She was sure they were just supposed to be observers. She remembered a movie she saw one time about a helicopter where they referred to such individuals as JAFO.
"Let's look at the satellite photo and see where we should hide at for our stakeout." Leticia said.
Laura thought they might have missed the point. She believed they were given the opportunity to leave and forget everything they'd witnessed. She felt they were about to squander the chance to live.
"Maybe we should just go home." Laura said. "Maybe the test is to see if we have common sense."
Mary wondered about it. Common sense told her not to get involved. The thought of being sold into female slavery was still fresh in her mind.
"It might be the smartest idea." Mary said. "I'm going back."
Laura was relieved to hear it. She was really worried about what could happen.
"I think so." Laura said. "It's a test to make the right choice based on logic, not emotion."
Leticia could see they were only a few blocks away at this point. She knew her duty to 'Sue'. She didn't want to argue with the girls. It was time to take action on her own.
Mary heard the rear door open when she stopped at a light.
"You two go on back. I'm good." Leticia said and got out of the car.
Leticia disappeared through the stopped traffic and onto the sidewalk.
"Wait!" Mary shouted.
Laura just now figured out what happened.
"Let me go after her." Laura said.
The light turned green and the cars started moving on both sides of them. The cars behind them began honking.
"I need to move." Mary said.
Laura looked back.
"I don't see her." Laura said.
Mary hoped they could track Leticia by her old phone.
"Did she take my phone with her?" Mary asked.
Laura looked back. It was on the rear seat. She looked back in the direction Leticia went. She couldn't spot her.
"No." Laura said. "She's gone."
"Where'd she go?" Mary asked.
"She's just gone." Laura said.
Jesse felt she was about to come up a little short. Between Sarah, Claire and John, they'd drained her dry. She should've used moderation but she was caught up in the moment. Things happened sometimes.
She wondered where everyone was at.
She carried Precious and looked around the rooms. Both Samantha and Riley were out.
Where did they go?
She looked in the small refrigerator and didn't see any of the bottled breast milk. It was probably in the commissary still.
Maybe she was going to need to go there to get it since no one was around.
She called John Henry to find out where everyone was at. She was a little surprised when she was connected directly to Samantha instead.
They were both a little surprised to be in communication with each other. Jesse was on her phone and Samantha received the information through her com.
Samantha moved away from John's room and hurried to the commissary to get what was needed. Precious came first.
Jesse was surprised Samantha was back to the room with a bottle so quickly. She wondered if she ran. She hoped not.
Samantha did run. She felt bad she'd neglected Precious for her own selfish wants.
"You were very fast." Jesse said. "She just needs a little more. I'm really sorry about this."
Samantha smiled as she warmed the bottle.
"I think we're all a little guilty in this situation." Samantha said. "It's very soothing."
Jesse thought the same thing when she shared with Vanna.
Samantha held the bottle. She wanted to feed Precious.
"Can I do it?" Samantha asked. "I'd like to do it."
It was fine with Jesse. As long as there were other females at the base, she could always find something to do. She might even be able to visit John if he wasn't busy. She wasn't exactly sure where he was at now.
"I'll turn it all over to you." Jesse said. "I'll go back and see Claire."
Samantha wanted to have someone 'catch' Riley in John's room so she wasn't the only one who knew what Riley was up to. Maybe she wasn't. It seemed CamNet was involved for some reason too. It wasn't an issue she wanted to deal with.
"John might be alone." Samantha said. "It sounded like he was resting when I passed his room."
Jesse didn't want to push her luck.
"Maybe I'd better not." Jesse said. "I don't want to upset Cameron and get carried away."
Samantha still thought it was Riley who was in John's room.
"I'm sure it will be the least of her worries." Samantha said.
Jesse apologized again about running out. She understood how Riley felt now. It wasn't a good feeling to be unable to nurse when you're supposed to. She would make sure it didn't happen once Young Jesse delivered her baby for her.
Summer asked CamNet to take care of the issue with Samantha. It looked like she did.
She was concerned with what the three girls from the ship were up to. One of them was out of the car right now. She spotted it on a traffic camera CamNet showed to her.
Summer asked CamNet to send a drone, which wasn't already involved in the operation, to keep an eye on the girl out of the car.
Much to her surprise, there was an image almost immediately. It was from a small recreational drone CamNet commandeered from somewhere around there. She identified the female as Leticia.
The image from the small drone would work for now. It looked as if Leticia was headed for the florist shop on foot. She wasn't really sure why.
The car was headed back to where Leticia got out of it.
It all seemed very strange. It was something she didn't have any 'control' over. It was a new lesson for her. Not everything was neat and concise. People were unpredictable at times. They could dash out in front of a car at any moment.
Jesse left the nursery. She wanted to go back to her room. She changed her mind and headed towards Claire's room. As she walked towards it, there were now several options which popped into her head.
She could stop by Sarah's room but she didn't know if Jan was in there or not. Maybe she could get Sarah to come to her room if Jan was there. Maybe she wouldn't want to go because of Jan. It might seem like a bad experience for everyone.
She passed Sarah's room and kept going. Maybe she would just go to Claire's room and have a good time with her.
Right now she was about to pass John's room.
She thought about stopping. Maybe she should just keep going. Then again what could a little peek hurt? Maybe it was too forward. She'd awakened an old itch. It needed to be scratched. She wanted to be with John. Maybe it was just what John might want. It was what she wanted.
Gail and Holly were in the front of the florist's van. Sheila, Ally, Cammy, Cam and Hanna were in the back of it. They weren't bound and tied as the females usually were when they arrived in the back of a 'meat wagon'.
Right now the florist's van was a Trojan Horse. It brought the Metal girls in to clean out another sex trafficking operation.
Cam and Holly normally would have dealt with the issue at night. The circumstances were different. The traffickers sent a crew out after the girls because they left the 'front operation' before they could be properly 'interviewed'. It would normally consist of some time spent with the bosses to 'check out the goods'. Basically, they were acts of forced sexual submission. Right now the issue was very personal to them.
Allison and Vanna were with Cam and Holly. It needed to be addressed right away.
Sheila, Ally and Cammy were called off of booty duty with Mary, Laura and Leticia. Gail and Hanna were on another operation to take down a Gray. Their operation concluded quite explosively.
Derek and Bob were there with Jim and Kyle after the conclusion of their recon mission. It turned out to be hot.
The teams were rearranged.
Bob was with Allison and Vanna. Jim was with Derek and Kyle. They were the backup force on each side of the operation.
Their first stop was the janitorial front. It was a non Resistance operation. It was why the others were on the sidelines for now.
Vanna contended dealing with future Scavengers was Resistance business. They were still sidelined and held in reserve.
CamNet handled all the jamming and would redirect any 911 calls. There would be no emergency response. No calls would leave the location.
The van pulled into the back parking lot. They knew from drone footage another van arrived only a few minutes ago. It was backed up to the building.
Gail spotted a few people by the rear of the other van. She backed up once she saw there was no one in the front of the other van and parked next to it.
They didn't get out. Gail and Holly both watched their side mirror for someone to approach them. The five Metal girls in the back were all ready to go.
Gail checked the drone footage as a man got out of the rear of the other van and another man went into the back of it.
Holly quickly ascertained what was actually occurring.
"Someone is being abused in the van next to us." Holly said. "We need to act."
CamNet directed the Metal girls in the back to enter the building. Gail and Holly would deal with the van they were parked next to.
It was Showtime.
CamNet's Terminator headed to the new location. It was one of the buildings where the other box truck went earlier.
The drone with him scouted the location. There was currently a box truck backed up to the dock. It was a different one. It expanded its orbit around the location. There were no other suspicious vehicles parked around the area. There didn't appear to be anyone observing the location either. It was a major consideration based on all the other activity at the other locations. Everything had been quite eventful.
The drone was still at fifty thousand feet. All it could do were visual scans. CamNet wasn't ready to fire a missile. She could use either one of the 'gravity' options and let the missile drop like a bomb or fire the minigun and allow the projectiles to arrive at terminal velocity. 'Metal hail' proved to be quite effective. The 'Coriolis Effect' needed to be factored in when the weapons were used in such a manner.
There was other Resistance activity picking up in several locations.
CamNet decided to have her Terminator sit tight for right now. He may be needed to back up one of the other operations.
Currently four of the Resistance humans were involved in an 'off the books' operation. None of them should be there. There were also three other humans who appeared they were about to become involved as well. There were several different locations already identified.
CamNet expected new leads about the 'off the books' operation. She wanted the male Terminator to be able to respond to some of those before he dealt with the other building. She didn't want the Resistance team to become further engaged later on.
Both of the female Terminators checked their weapons. They figured it was probably the same thing the female Fanatic did earlier. It wasn't long before the bikers were a few hundred feet behind them.
The bikers did the same maneuver as they'd done with the Gray and the female Fanatic. They passed by them in pairs. The second group took some time to look them over carefully. All six of them were now in front of them. They were able to clearly see the 'Sons Of Chaos' patches on their backs. The drone identified them earlier. They were somewhat relieved it wasn't the other local group of bikers. They were aware 'Satan's Savages' were an even more violent group.
Lena held her M9 in her left hand as the group of bikers passed them by.
"I guess the future Scavengers get to live a little longer." Lena said.
Tina would like to lure them into the desert and dispose of them there.
"Not if I had my way." Tina said.
They could see some signs up ahead indicating there was gasoline, food, lodging and a hardware store. They already knew what was there from the earlier drone scans.
The bikers move on up ahead.
They approach the small community. They'd pulled ahead of the Gray after the bikers went by. They looked over the small community as they entered it. There are actually some houses located in the area. There were two small motels, a single gas station and a general store.
They wanted to tank up and move to a new position before the Gray arrived. They could see the bikers were in the gas station as they were about to turn into it. They pulled up to the pumps away from where the six bikers were. Only two of them were present. The other four were either in the convenience store or in the restroom.
Lena went inside to give the attendant some money. She spotted two of the bikers in the back section. She could see them look her over. She ignored them and went back out. Tina already started the pump when she arrived.
Tina glanced towards the convenience store.
"I see two of the bikers looking out the window at you now." Tina said.
Lena wasn't so sure it was her they looked at right now.
"I think their eyes are on you." Lena said. "You're a little more endowed than I am."
Tina looked at the front of her sheath. It did protruded much more than Lena's sheath did.
"I can't really help who my appearance is patterned after." Tina said. "I just hope I'm able to return this chassis and workable condition when this mission is over. I don't think we'll remain activated.
Lena doubted they would remain active.
"It's why we work for CamNet, instead of Cameron." Lena said. "Cameron wouldn't want these chassis used."
Tina possessed all of the programming of current events.
"I'm pretty sure Cameron is going to use both of these chassis in another capacity once she returns from her current mission." Tina said. "I believe she will add the 'neural interface' files from our DNA donors before she does."
Lena glanced at her appearance in the side view mirror.
"I still think it's going to be a problem for John, especially with my appearance." Lena said.
Tina felt her appearance was going to be more of a problem for Cameron than John. She glanced over and saw the bikers were no longer staring out the window at them. A few seconds later they exited outside and joined the other two at the gas pump. The two who'd remained with the bikes left and went around to the side. They were probably headed for the restroom.
Lena calculated the cost of the fuel with the amount necessary to fill the tank. The pump stopped twenty three cents short of the money she'd given the attendant. She didn't want to go back into the convenience store with the bikers there.
Tina topped up the tank with the remaining twenty three cents.
"The bikers sure are checking us out now." Tina said.
Lena saw two of the bikers appear from the side of the building.
"I think they're waiting for us to use the restroom." Lena said.
Lena opened up the driver's door and got back in.
"I think they're going to be disappointed." Lena said.
Tina got in on the passenger side. She checked on the three drones. They were each on a segment of the different roads. They'd identified several possible hits so far. There were two in each direction of the road perpendicular to the one they'd been on. There was one on the road they were on. The Gray and the female Fanatic were both approaching the small community. The Gray should arrive within three minutes.
Tina knew they needed to make a decision.
"Do you want to go left, right or straight?" Tina asked.
Lena looked at the various drone images. She could see all six bikers were by the pumps. They all looked over in their direction.
"I would say to continue straight, and go for the single target." Lena said. "We'll go with whatever information CamNet can provide us with. Either way, I want to get out of here. I'm going to end up terminating the bikers before we leave."
CamNet provided her Terminators with the direction she wanted them to go. The Gray pulled into the gas station two minutes after they'd left.
The female Fanatic kept watch around them as they followed the Gray. The assault rifle still rested on her lap.
Jill kept watch behind her. She could see the bikers were closer but still in the distance.
"How much farther is the next junction?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic looked at the map.
"I think it's only about ten miles from where we're at." The female Fanatic said.
Jill looked in her rear view mirror.
"I don't think the main group of bikers we'll catch up to us by then." Jill said.
The female fanatic actually wondered why they hadn't. She figured the bikers who passed them would have called back to the main group and told them what was ahead. What she didn't know was the bikers' phones didn't work any better than the ones she carried on her. Everything was jammed in the vicinity.
"It's a problem I hope we don't need to deal with." The female Fanatic said. "The closer we get to civilization the harder it's going to be to respond appropriately if we need to."
Jill glanced back at Jackie. All the weapons were at her disposal.
"If there's a gas station at the next junction, do you want me to stop for gas?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic needed to know which direction the Gray was going to go when he reached junction.
"We have to maintain contact with our target." The female Fanatic said.
Jill focused on the Gray in front of them. She still looked back from time to time at the bikers behind them. She was reassured with Jackie behind her in the rear seat.
The female Fanatic watched the Gray's turn signal come on up ahead. It indicated he was going to make a left. She wasn't sure as to which establishment he was about to turn into, or if it was the direction he was about to go.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 22 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron pulled away from the curb in the T-Bird. She wanted to put some distance between them and Dallas. There was one thing she wanted to take care of first. She wanted to set a good example.
Young Allison looked behind them as they left the location. No one else was spotted. There were no other vehicles on either side of the street. She noted they were headed back in the direction they'd come from earlier.
"I take it we're not going to leave Dallas yet." Young Allison said.
Cameron looked over and smiled.
"Not yet." Cameron said.
Young Allison doubted the authorities would be looking for two females in a sports car. There may be others who'd look at something else.
"The police might not recognize us." Young Allison said. "The local lowlifes may. This is a fairly distinct vehicle."
Cameron shifted through the gears. She could tell it was a high performance vehicle.
Young Allison could feel the power of the vehicle.
"What size mill does this thing have?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron wasn't exactly sure.
"I'll let you know when I make my stop." Cameron said. "You can check when I go inside. The hood release will be in the front between the grill and the hood."
Cameron drove back to the clothing store. She drove down the street in front of it. The building was still closed. She doubted anyone would return before tomorrow. She drove around to the alley. There was no one inside. She stopped in back of the store.
"Wait here." Cameron said.
Young Allison watched as Cameron opened the rear door again, and went inside.
She wanted to open the hood and look under it. She got out and went around to the front of the car. She bent down and looked at the grill. She could see a little lever under the hood. She went to push it. It didn't move. She pulled the other direction. It moved and there was a loud 'click' as the hood popped up an inch and stopped. She bent down and looked again. There was another lever she needed to push off to the side so the hood would go all the way up. She did. She was pleased to see there was no rod to hold the hood up. There were springs at the rear of it which did.
She really wondered how anyone thought a rod in the way to work on an engine was a good idea. She figured it was all about cost. If the vehicle manufacturer could save a dollar on a million cars, they just made a million dollars. She needed to refocus. She took in the beauty of the engine.
"Wow!" Young Allison said.
Cameron entered through the rear door. She didn't bring her pistol with her. She only brought the cash. She went to the front office and quickly opened the safe. She returned the twenty dollar bill she'd borrowed as well as double the money for the items they'd acquired. It still left her with nearly two hundred dollars. She spotted a road map on the desk. She picked it up and placed a five dollar bill in its spot. She made her way back out of the building and closed the door. She checked to make sure it was secure. It was.
She saw the hood up on the T-Bird.
Young Allison saw Cameron was out of the building. She took a look around. There was no one in the vicinity.
"Look at this thing." Young Allison said.
Cameron looked in the engine compartment. She could see it was a big block. She identified it as an FE series engine. It had an elongated air cleaner on the top of it. She knew it contained three two barrel carburetors based upon the linkage. There was a tag on the top of the air cleaner itself which said '406'. She knew it was the cubic inch displacement. She'd studied all the information from the time period.
"It's a limited run engine. It was a stop gap measure between the 390 and the 427." Cameron said. "The 427 was one of the most successful racing engines of all time. There were several specialized versions of it constructed as well."
Young Allison took one more look and closed the hood. She heard it make two 'clicks' as it closed.
"Can I drive it?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron knew Young Allison was extensively trained in every type of vehicle. She'd conducted the training herself. There was one thing different on the older vehicles from the newer ones Young Allison was accustomed too.
"You need to remember the braking distances are going to be fifty percent longer than what you're used to. It doesn't have four wheel disc brakes. There are no anti-lock brakes on this vehicle." Cameron said. "Don't speed until we're out of the city limits."
Young Allison was thrilled. She went to the driver's side and got in. She turned the key and fired the car up. She revved the engine up a few times.
"I can feel the torque tilt the car slightly while we're just sitting here." Young Allison said.
Young Allison smoothly pulled away from behind the clothing store. She went down the alley and paused before she turned out onto the street.
"Big block engines are known for low end torque." Cameron said. "They sacrifice high RPMs to generate the power and move all of the components of the engine."
Cameron took the opportunity to look at the map. She wanted to see the best route to get them out of town. She decided They would head for Houston or San Antonio. She remembered Summer always wanted to visit San Antonio for some reason. She was never sure why.
"I know there were only a few fuel injected cars during this time period." Young Allison said. "I don't really see what the advantage of having three two barrel carburetors is over having two four barrel carburetors instead. It seems to me it would be more efficient and produce more power with dual quads."
Cameron was aware there were various types of carburetion during the time period.
"There will be some V8 engines with eight one barrel carburetors on them." Cameron said.
Young Allison thought it would be a hassle to tune all eight carburetors. There would need to be a lot of linkage as well. She knew it wouldn't be a problem for a Terminator to do it.
"I think a single giant four barrel carburetor would be simpler." Young Allison said.
Cameron knew many factors were involved.
"It's all about the engine being able to breathe. There will be many different combinations tried over the years." Cameron said. "It's like firearm calibers. Even when there's a sufficient quantity and versatility, there's always someone who thinks they can 'build a better mousetrap'."
Cameron gave Young Allison directions on where to turn. There wasn't a lot of activity on the street. She'd expected to see more people out. There weren't very many. They were probably clustered around radios and televisions waiting for some type of update.
She looked over at Young Allison behind the wheel. There was a smile on her face. She could tell Young Allison wanted to open it up. She didn't seem to be affected at all about what she'd done earlier. It was reported to her on every operation Young Allison went on; she never showed any emotion when she'd needed to kill.
Young Allison glanced over at Cameron. She figured she was analyzing her. Cameron had already scanned her several times since they'd left the grassy knoll. She wanted to set things straight.
"If the job needs to be done, it needs to be done." Young Allison said. "Things don't get done by thinking about them."
Cameron was aware they didn't have much time to think about what happened earlier. They'd inadvertently intervened in an historical event and needed to complete it. It really made her wonder if it was how the original event played out. Maybe what they'd just done actually changed history.
She felt Young Allison reach over and take her left hand. She realized it started to glitch.
"It's done." Young Allison said. "It's over."
Soon they were out of the city.
Young Allison was able to open the car up several times. She was very pleased with the performance. She liked the 'feel' of the car. Not only could she experience the response of the engine, she could hear it as well. She let the speed dropped back down to the posted speed limit. She didn't want to get pulled over. It wasn't like in her future. CamNet and John Henry weren't there to redirect the police away from wherever they operated.
After three hours, they pulled into a gas station to fill up.
Young Allison was a little surprised to see the attendant come out and pump the gas himself. He also cleaned the windshield for them. He checked the air pressure in the tires as well. Since they'd been driving, the pressure registered a little higher than when the air was cold in the tires. They were all within a pound of each other.
Cameron paid the attendant. He thanked them for using his company. She gave him a dollar tip which seemed to please him immensely.
Young Allison looked over at Cameron and saw her dress was unbuttoned a few buttons more than it should be. She knew what Cameron did. It was so the attendant would look elsewhere, other than her face. She looked down at herself. She'd done the same thing. It was a standard infiltration technique. It was to throw the 'mark' off guard. The goal was to offer them what they wanted. It made it easier to get closer to the target. So far she hadn't been able to employ the technique for a termination. She figured it would happen soon enough. Well, when she returned to her future maybe.
It was still a little hard for her to believe what occurred. She didn't think she would need to kill anyone on her temporal mission. She looked forward to when Savannah and Young Jesse would visit her. Her mother was supposed to come as well. All three of them we're currently pregnant. The embryos they carried were for Vanna, Jesse, and Allison. She took a quick glance at Cameron. She knew Cameron wanted a baby from her. She pushed the thoughts from her mind and enjoyed the open road.
Cameron and Young Allison headed for San Antonio. They still had a few more hours to go before they reached it. They would spend the night there.
Common Sense Test
Relationships can devolve and mutate
Into something out of the Wild West
It can turn into a cruel contest
Which both may soon detest
It may have depended on the effort
Which either of them chose to invest
It may not have been
An honest or worthy quest
When things go from bad to worse
There's more than one thing to molest
Things done out of spite
Were said to be only in jest
As the slippery slope steepens
It does little good to protest
Everything that went wrong
Had plenty of time to manifest
When the end is reached
There's nothing left to suggest
Pick up the pieces and move on
To pass the common sense test
Nobody