Chapter 1503
BUFF
John Henry was glad to see everyone was back. It allowed him to concentrate on the mine and what Skynet might be up to. He wanted to get something resolved, or have some answers, by the time John returned from dinner.
CamNet wanted him to act before anyone else could get involved. She especially didn't want Cameron and Savannah to get involved.
Seconds ago:
Leticia heard 'Barbara's' warning. She saw the shark headed right up at her from below in the water. She instinctively backed away from the open jaws as they took a bite out of her surfboard. It was where her arm had been only moments ago.
She was knocked into the water and thrashed about wildly.
"Shark!" Leticia screamed.
Cammy wasn't sure if the Shark actually bit Leticia or not.
She saw the shark's outline in the water and jumped in right on top of it.
Sheila heard Leticia scream and grabbed a boogie board. She used her Terminator speed to 'plane' the swamped boogie board like a PT Boat. She used hydrodynamic produced lift to get out to where the commotion was at.
Cammy entered the water and aimed for the Shark. She used all the Terminator power she could muster. She slammed her fist down and snapped the shark's spine. It was only made of cartilage. Her hand continued through into the shark's body. It was nearly torn in half. There was an immediate cloud of bloody water.
Leticia saw 'Barbara' jump in to help her.
The shark was headed right for her. She could see its massive mouth open with all of those teeth inside. She knew she was going to die.
The shark spun around towards 'Barbara' at the last second. There was a lot of blood in the water all of a sudden. The shark must have attacked 'Barbara'.
They both disappeared from view with a lot of blood coming up in the water.
Sheila 'planed' the boogie board until she reached Leticia.
Leticia was still struggling in the water.
"The shark got Barbara." Leticia shouted.
Sheila wasn't sure what happened. She needed to deal with Leticia first.
"Are you injured?" Sheila asked.
Leticia tried to collect herself. She was still worried about 'Barbara'.
"I don't think so." Leticia said.
Sheila wanted to get Leticia out of the danger zone.
"Get up on the good board." Sheila said.
Sheila helped Leticia get up on Cammy's surfboard. She was still tethered to the damaged board. Sheila snapped the leash.
Leticia quickly looked herself over and touched herself.
"I think I'm OK." Leticia said.
Sheila gave the board a massive push and sent it on its way.
Leticia was surprised at the sudden acceleration of the surfboard.
"Get to the shore." Sheila said. "Don't stop until you're on the sand."
Sheila dropped down in the water. She knew Cammy must be right below her somewhere. There was a lot of blood in the water. She was primed for combat as well.
Leticia looked back and 'Sue' was gone.
She was going to go back when suddenly 'Peggy' was in front of her on another boogie board.
"Keep going." Ally said. "Keep everyone out of the water, including the lifeguard until we return. I'll be back."
Ally gave the surfboard another hard push. She started to sink on the boogie board. It bobbed up and flipped over. She headed for the bottom.
Seconds ago:
The ripped lifeguard was slower to act than Ally.
Ally quickly assessed the danger.
"Get them out of the water and stay out of it yourself." Ally said.
The lifeguard watched as Ally hurried away.
Ally urged Mary and Laura to get out and grabbed a boogie board.
The lifeguard saw one surfer was gone. The Asian girl helped the other girl get on her board and it was moving fast all of a sudden. The Asian girl disappeared. There was a lot of blood in the water.
The girl she was just with helped the girl on the surfboard along and then she saw the boogie board fly up in the air and she was gone too.
It looked like a total disaster.
Mary and Laura were terrified as the events unfolded. They watched it all happen as they hurried to get out of the water.
Leticia was almost back in, but 'Barbara', 'Sue' and 'Peggy' were gone. There was only a lot of blood in the water.
"Where are they?" Mary asked.
"They're gone." Leticia said as she looked back.
"Where did they go?" Mary asked.
"They're just gone." Leticia said.
The lifeguard moved into the surf and helped get Leticia, Mary and Laura up on the sand.
The girls all looked in panic for any sign of the other three girls. All they could see was blood in the water. There was a lot of it.
There was something that flopped over in a wave. It was covered with blood.
The girls all looked in horror at what washed up in the surf. They'd never seen anything mangled so badly.
Claire and Jesse entered the commissary. Everyone was behind them.
Jan helped them start to take things out of the bags. More people filed in with more stuff as they hurried to get everything out on the long table and put serving spoons or big forks into each of the dishes after the top was removed.
The Styrofoam containers of ice cream were opened and the malts set out. The lids were put back on the rest of it for now.
The Metal girls all drifted away.
Allison and Vanna arrived and helped.
Pretty soon everyone held a full plate of food and picked a malt of a flavor they liked. There were a few trades.
They talked and laughed among themselves and it all felt like they were back on the ship, sort of.
Claire hurried and sat on one side of John. Allison sat on the other side of him. Jesse and Vanna sat across from him.
"We're switching after ten minutes." Vanna said.
Jesse wanted the time frame moved up.
"We're switching in five minutes." Jesse said.
The fact Claire and Allison were on each side of John wasn't lost on anyone. They'd all like to see the mother-daughter thing….
Riley sat next to Derek.
Sarah was across from Riley with Kyle next to her.
"You sure look chipper." Kyle said.
Sarah glanced at Riley.
"It's been a good day so far." Sarah said.
Riley played 'footsies' with Sarah under the table.
"It has been a good day." Riley said.
Derek and Kyle talked about the Skynet related things. No one spoke of the 'off the books' events.
The talking all settled down when Samantha arrived with Precious in the stroller.
Normally all eyes would be on Precious, but all of them were on Samantha.
Everyone looked at her top. It was like she was topless with blue skin. Her nipple rings were quite evident.
"I want to borrow your top." Claire said.
Samantha smiled.
"Sure." Samantha said.
Much to everyone's surprise, she started to take it off.
Everyone got a clear look at her exposed breasts with the nipple rings before Sarah stopped her.
"She means later on." Sarah said.
Samantha slowly pulled the top back down. It only seemed to make everyone look more.
"I'm sorry." Samantha said.
Sarah winked at Samantha and Samantha winked back. It was all set up and done for Kyle's benefit to make him bring the subject up either now or later with Sarah.
Jan and Summer sat together.
"I'm going to do it." Jan whispered. "I want to look like her."
Samantha glanced over and smiled.
"There's plenty I want to do." Summer said.
Kyle took in the view but pretended like he hadn't. He really liked what he just saw. He'd heard Sarah talk about it before, but nothing ever happened. He would love to see her with a set of rings. He hoped she would go for a heavier gauge though. There was plenty for her to work with, if she used a thicker ring.
"Now we all need to show John ours too." Jesse said.
Her statement produced a round of laughter.
"No, I mean for real." Jesse said. "I wasn't joking."
Everyone waited in nervous anticipation for 'more'.
Jim and Bob headed for the Command Center once everything was situated in the car pool. They wanted to follow up on the earlier operations. It seemed like a good time to pull an assignment while all of the humans were busy.
Hanna, Gail, Holly and Cam figured the girls would all be tied up for a while. They decided they might as well make the most of it. They headed for Sheila's room. There was the biggest selection of 'martial aids' and 'sex toys' in there.
Cammy engaged the shark in combat.
She slammed her fist down. Her hand continued halfway through the shark's body. There was an immediate cloud of bloody water.
The shark turned away from Leticia and spun around towards her. It was paralyzed for a third of its length. The tail fin was useless.
The head still came around towards her. She slammed her other fist into the side of its head as it turned into her. The cartridge shattered under the impact. Its eye popped out of its crushed skull. Her weight continued to bring it down and away from Leticia. The both were headed for the bottom.
With its small brain, the shark continued to struggle. It was unable to comprehend it was 'dead'. They reached the ocean floor. Cammy was able to reposition herself. She crushed the entire skull of the shark's head against the ocean floor. Both of its jaws broke open. It was really dead now.
Much to her surprise Sheila stood next to her on the ocean floor. It must have been how the shark's head was so totally mangled. The current took the shark's lifeless body away. It trailed an even bigger cloud of blood now.
Sheila communicated to her Leticia was safely away. They started to walk back towards shore. They knew they needed to hurry. There was going to be a 'panic' about what happened to them and how long they'd been down under the water.
They were both surprised to see Ally in front of them. They both gave her a thumbs up.
The three of them continued to walk towards the shore.
The four females waited on the beach. There was no sign of the three 'special girls'. They'd all disappeared below the waves.
There was something which flopped over in a wave. It was covered with blood.
Mary, Laura, Leticia and the lifeguard all looked in horror at what washed up in the surf. They'd never seen anything mangled so badly.
"What is it?" Laura asked.
The lifeguard looked at part of the body the blood washed off of.
"I think it's a shark." The lifeguard said.
Mary tried to comprehend the condition the shark's body was in.
"What happened to it?" Mary asked. "It's completely torn apart."
Leticia looked at the ocean. She felt new hope. She'd watched the 'special girls' unleash violence before.
"It was Sue and Barbara." Leticia said. "They did that to it."
Laura looked at the condition of the shark. She was aware the 'special girls' didn't have any weapons of any kind with them. They'd all been naked. Whatever they did to the shark, they did with their bare hands. She knew wild animals didn't go down without a fight, especially predators. It was clear there was a new 'King Of The Sea'. Well, in this instance it would be Queen.
The lifeguard didn't see how any human could do so much damage to a shark. It was impossible. It was a big shark too. It looked like the shark had gone through the propeller of a ship or something. Someone did more than kill it. They'd mangled it. The real concern was where were the other three Hot chicks? She needed to find where they were at, or at least see where a body was at so she could go towards it. She couldn't act too soon. Since there were three of them she didn't think she would be able to conduct any type of a search by herself.
"They've been down too long." The lifeguard said. "I need to call for help."
Mary remembered the stern warning and directive she'd been given.
"No." Mary said. "Peggy said to stay out of the water and wait."
Leticia had faith in the girls. She knew their abilities were limitless. Well, most of their abilities were anyway.
"They'll be back." Leticia said. "If they said to wait, we need to wait."
The lifeguard could see a big problem. She knew there were Pearl Divers who could stay underwater for an extended length of time. She didn't think any of the girls were Pearl Divers. Well, maybe one of them could be.
"Wait for what?" The lifeguard asked. "They need to come up for air. It's been three minutes already."
Laura knew they possessed more information than the lifeguard did about the nature of the 'special girls'. She didn't think sharing any of what they suspected was a good idea, especially at this point. She figured it would only make things worse.
"You need to just chill out for a little bit." Laura said. "They're very resilient and resourceful."
The lifeguard could only think about the safety of the three females. When their bodies, or what was left of them, began to appear, she was going to need immediate assistance.
"They need air." The lifeguard said. "Do any of you know CPR? If we see their bodies, I'm going in after them. I'm going to need help."
Leticia kept a watch on the water. She spotted something after a wave broke.
"There!" Leticia shouted. "I see them."
After the next wave broke they could clearly see the 'special girls' walking side by side.
The three Metal girls walked in the water towards the shore.
Sheila was in the middle. Ally was on her right side, and Cammy was on the left side.
The lifeguard was relieved to see them. She knew her heart was pounding right now. Hopefully it would slow down a little bit.
"Thank God!" The lifeguard said.
The lifeguard went out, but the Metal girls were almost in. She needed to check them for injuries.
"Are you alright?" The lifeguard asked.
The lifeguard looked like she was close to panic but held it together.
Sheila held up her arm as water dripped off of it.
"I'm as right as the rain." Sheila said. "And just as wet too."
Mary, Laura and Leticia all rushed forward to hug them once the water was only knee deep. The mangled shark was still near them as it was pushed back and forth by the surf.
"Did you do that?" Leticia asked.
Cammy looked around. She winked at Sheila and Ally.
"Where's the other one?" Cammy asked.
Mary sucked in her breath a little bit. Maybe it was even worse than they'd imagined.
"Do you mean there were more?" Mary asked.
The Metal girls wanted to mess with them a little.
"There was one more." Sheila said. "It looked a lot worse than that one. It got off easy."
The girls all looked at the mangled shark.
"It looked worse than that?" Laura asked.
Ally shrugged her shoulders.
"They picked a bad day to be a shark." Ally said.
The lifeguard wondered why she was the only one who was totally freaked out by everything. The girls who'd been in the water didn't seem to be bothered about anything. The other girls who were with them were worried about the other girls, but now it was as if nothing actually happened.
"You were underwater for like four or five minutes." The lifeguard said. "How are none of you even hurt? Did you really kill this shark?"
Sheila walked up and kicked it in the head. The mangled lower jaw broke completely off.
"Looks like we win." Sheila said. "It's dead so we must have. There's the other surfboard."
The damaged surfboard with the big two foot circular bite out of it was near the shore.
Cammy went and got it.
Ally retrieved the boogie boards. They placed everything where they'd found it when they'd arrived.
"What are you going to tell your boss about all this?" Sheila asked.
The ripped lifeguard looked at the dead shark and the mangled surfboard.
"That's easy." The lifeguard said. "I'm going to tell them I quit."
Cameron led the girls away from the B-36 Peacemaker. They headed for the B-52 Stratofortress.
Savannah took one last look at the B-36. She remembered some of its direct competitors.
"There was a flying wing bomber around the time this aircraft was built." Savannah said. "I've seen pictures of it."
Young Jesse saw it in another movie she'd watched on the telly.
"I saw it in the 'War Of The Worlds' movie, the original one." Young Jesse said. "It was jet powered and it dropped an A-Bomb on the aliens. It didn't do much."
Joe and Ted looked at each other. They wondered what kind of TV they watched Down Under. It was an old movie. So was the other one she'd mentioned earlier.
Camille wanted to update them on the aircraft mentioned.
"The YB-35 was the propeller driven 'Flying Wing'. The YB-49 was the jet powered version." Camille said. "They never got any contracts for production."
Cameron wanted to point out where something they all knew about received its name.
"Captain Edwards was killed while testing the YB-49 in 1948. It broke up in a dive." Cameron said. "In 1949 they renamed Muroc Air Force Base to Edwards Air Force Base in his honor."
Savannah read in a book how things were 'named'. The streets, buildings and hangers at Edwards Air Force Base were all named after pilots who were killed there. There'd been a lot of them over the years.
"I think it's an honor I'd pass on." Savannah said.
Young Allison thought it was still a noble idea. The test pilots who died doing their jobs, could still live on in memory.
Young Jesse stopped at T-37 parked between the B-47 and the B-52.
"You said the attack version of this squirt has eight hard points, a minigun and can carry over five thousand pounds of ordnance?" Young Jesse asked.
"Yes." Cameron said. "The A-37 Dragonfly is very versatile. It also has wing tip tanks. It's all a lot of weight."
Young Jesse always thought a dragonfly was a throwback to the age of the dinosaurs. She briefly wondered what a dragonfly actually ate. She didn't have a clue.
"Just the name even sounds cool." Young Jesse said.
Young Allison looked at the vertical stabilizer on the B-52 and then back at the vertical stabilizer on the B-36.
"The tail on the B-52 looks even taller than the tail on the B-36." Young Allison said.
Anna wanted to point out they were actually several different types of tails for the B-52.
"The tail is two feet taller on the Stratofortress." Anna said. "The vertical stabilizer on the 'G' and 'H' model is about eight feet shorter than the 'D' model here. Because it's shorter, it appears much flatter on top."
Camille pointed out there were several production models throughout its construction period.
"The B-52 first flew in 1952. The last ones were built in 1962." Camille said. "There were eight models. Only one of them is still currently flying. It's the B-52H model."
Young Allison hoped they would see the last one off of the production line when they went into the past. They were slated for her temporal mission around the same time period. Nothing had been finalized yet.
Cameron thought it was important to point out the lifespan of B-52 aircraft was going to be very long lived. It would push the century mark.
"With the scheduled upgrades, the B-52 Stratofortress will be flying until the 2050s." Cameron said. "Aircraft which came after it, such as the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit will all be in museums or in scrap yards before the last B-52 is retired."
Young Jesse was aware the pilots who currently flew the aircraft, weren't even born when those same aircraft entered into service. It was sort of a mind-boggling thought. It made her think about the dragonfly again, the insect this time.
"Maybe at that point, they can call it the B-52 Stratosaurus." Young Jesse said.
Young Allison did a quick correlation of past aircraft with current aircraft.
"It would be like flying a World War One fighter in Gulf War Two, based on age." Young Allison said.
Anna pointed out the poor performance of the enemy combatants. It was actually as pitiful as it was shameful.
"Maybe the enemy pilots might be able to shoot one of the World War One fighters down then." Anna said. "They didn't do so well otherwise."
Cameron wasn't impressed with cowards. She never backed away from a fight. She also saw Savannah didn't either. Savannah faced long odds on several occasions to protect her.
"It's because most of them flew to other countries rather than face death." Cameron said. "They were cowards who failed to do their duty."
Young Jesse believed it was the fault of the enemy equipment as well as the enemy pilots. Of course they were cowards when they needed to fly inferior aircraft.
Many pilots at the beginning of the Second World War needed to face the enemy with aircraft which seemed superior. They still went up and did their duty. She was aware of how the air war in the Pacific was conducted. It involved Australian pilots as well as American pilots. She knew in order to allow the enemy aircraft to appear to be better performing, they lacked armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, radios and even parachutes in most cases. It didn't take very many bullets from a 'Ma Deuce' to turn one of them into a flaming wreck. She pointed out it was no different in Gulf War Two.
"The old Soviet junk they flew didn't help much." Young Jesse said. "Some of the countries in Southwest Asia always came out on the short end against the US made aircraft used by other nations there."
They remembered most of the hundred and four aerial victories attributed to the Eagle happened in that theater of apparent continual conflict.
The 'D' model was equipped with a manned tail gun position.
Cameron didn't want to access it with a ladder.
"We can skip the tail gun position on this one." Cameron said.
Ted was very relieved to hear it. He opened up the lower hatch in the fuselage of the Stratofortress.
"Thanks." Ted said.
The girls entered the lower level.
Young Allison didn't care for the lower level.
"I don't want to sit down here." Young Allison said.
Cameron reassured her there was a better location.
"The pilots and other crewmen were on the upper level." Cameron said.
The girls went up to the flight deck. There were the pilot and copilot positions in the front and two seats further back facing backwards.
"Unless I'm in the front, I'm out." Young Allison said.
The girls cycled through all the positions.
"How many bombs could this plane carry?" Young Jesse asked.
Cameron was aware the one they were in was one of the modified conventional bombers.
"This one received the 'Big Belly' conversion." Cameron said. "It could carry eighty four in the bomb bay, instead of twenty seven like the other models. There were also twelve on each wing pylon for a total of hundred and eight."
Savannah thought it was an impressive number. She knew it was the equivalent of the payload of ten B-17s on a mission from England to Germany.
"A hundred and eight is a lot more that twenty seven." Savannah said. "The impact zone must have been devastated. I can see why when they started to 'visit' Hanoi, the peace talks got under way."
Anna wanted to clarify the 'number of bombs' issue.
"Those were conventional bombs." Anna said. "The twenty seven quantity was for much larger bombs or nuclear bombs. They could include two or three thousand pound bombs. Those are very large conventional bombs. It could also carry multiple nuclear weapons."
Young Allison thought about her earlier statement.
"I don't think even sunblock two million is going to cut it for a big nuclear load." Young Allison said.
The girls exited from the ventral door.
Ted closed it up.
The girls went under the wing.
"The wing is a really wide wing when the flaps are down." Savannah said. "Look at the size of them."
Cameron could see the flaps were very large. It was the purpose to give the aircraft extra lift when it was necessary.
"It is." Cameron said.
The girls looked at the 'bicycle' landing gear.
"I'm not so sure about this landing gear. It takes up a lot of fuselage space." Young Jesse said.
Camille knew the landing gear was designed for a very specific purpose.
"The landing gear was 'steerable'. It could be canted twenty degrees in either direction to counter crosswinds." Camille said. "You've all seen videos of planes trying to land at an angle in high winds. This type of landing gear made it much less of a problem."
The girls reached the tail.
Young Jesse looked up at the tail gunner's position.
"It looks like a lonely position." Young Jesse said.
Cameron pointed out the 'F' model was the last Stratofortress with a crewman in the rear.
"The manned tail gun was switched to remote control on the 'G' and 'H' model. It was eventually eliminated as the penetration mission changed." Cameron said. "I think an interesting note about the 'H' model is it used an M61 Vulcan Gatling Cannon. It was certainly a big upgrade from the four .50 caliber machine guns."
Young Jesse looked up at the vertical stabilizer.
"It's really tall." Young Jesse said.
Camille knew it was eight feet taller than the 'G' and 'H' models. She'd come across a story about a problem with the tail of an earlier model.
"One time the vertical stabilizer broke off of one B-52 during a training flight." Camille said. "The engineers at Boeing were contacted. They told the crew to lower the landing gear part way down. They acted as a ventral stabilizer, instead of a dorsal stabilizer. The plane landed safely. Other types of aircraft which lost the vertical stabilizer usually crashed after flipping over."
They moved around to the other side of the bomber.
Young Jesse could see a gigantic missile.
"That's a wicked looking missile." Young Jesse said.
Cameron pointed out the intended use of the missile. It actually was to help protect the aircraft reach its target.
"It's an AGM-28 Hound Dog missile." Cameron said. "It was a Mach 2 nuclear armed cruise missile. Its maximum speed was Mach 2.1. The plane was to fire it ahead of its own nuclear attack to knock out anti aircraft positions."
Young Allison looked at Young Jesse and winked.
"I'll let Jesse ride the Mark 17 down." Young Allison said. "Strap me to this Mach 2 sucker instead."
Savannah looked over at the B-47 Stratojet.
"You can see the lineage with the B-47." Savannah said.
Camille was aware of the multiple phase design process the B-52 went through. What was approved as the original proposal, was nowhere near what was actually delivered. It was a wonder it wasn't canceled and given a new designation it was so radically different. Maybe it was because none of the other proposed aircraft were actually built.
"The original proposal was for this to be a six engine turboprop." Camille said. "It didn't show any real advantage over the B-36 already in use. It would have had a higher top speed though."
Cameron didn't care for the original cockpit design.
"The first few prototypes were also set up with a tandem cockpit. It was similar with other jet bombers in US service, such as the B-45 Tornado, B-47 Stratojet and B-57 Canberra." Cameron said. "The general in charge of the Air Force wanted it to be more like a traditional bomber. It was changed real fast to the roomy cockpit we just saw."
The girls were finished with the tour. The museum was closed and everyone was gone except Joe and Ted.
Savannah and Young Allison talked with Cameron.
Joe and Ted were ready to lock up after the girls used the restroom. The only cars in the parking lot were their two cars.
"Where did you park?" Joe asked.
Savannah looked at Cameron, Cameron nodded.
"We flew in." Savannah said.
Ted looked the girls over. He figured they could help them out.
"We could give you a lift to the tarmac." Ted said.
Young Allison looked at Joe and Ted and smiled. It was what she'd learned from Cameron. She turned on the charm. With a beautiful face, it was hard to say 'no'.
"Can I drive your electric truck there?" Young Allison asked.
Young Allison's left hand nonchalantly passed down from her neck over her left breast. It seemed to accentuate its size and down along the curve of her waist.
Joe lightly moistened his lips. He was unaware he'd done so.
"I think it can be arranged." Joe said.
Cameron watched what Young Allison did and smiled. She'd taught her the 'move'. Now she needed Joe and Ted to refocus.
"Do you have anywhere to be for an hour or so?" Cameron asked.
Joe normally went home after work. He didn't plan to stop at the store today.
"I just need to go home." Joe said.
Ted stole another glance at the girls.
"Me too." Ted said. "I don't think it will hurt anything to allow you to drive the short distance we need to go."
Young Allison drove the electric truck. Anna sat in the front with her. Everyone else was in the back of the truck.
Cameron thought the two men did an excellent job of allowing them access to anything they wanted. It was what they were supposed to do. They never complained or hesitated about anything. She thought it was time to reciprocate.
"We can take you on a little flight." Cameron said.
Joe figured they flew in on a six place 'puddle jumper'. It sounded less than spectacular.
"I don't know." Joe said.
Young Jesse could see they didn't have a clue as to what their aircraft was.
"I guarantee you'll like it." Young Jesse said.
Ted looked at Cameron and Camille.
"Who's flying?" Ted asked.
Joe spotted the Mitchell and touched Ted's arm.
"Hey, look." Joe said. "The B-25 is still here."
They noticed they were headed for it. It quickly dawned on both of them it was the girl's aircraft.
"No way!" Ted said.
Joe could hardly believe it. He wanted to make sure.
"Is this for real?" Joe asked.
Camille wanted to reassure them it wasn't a joke.
"It's as real as we are." Camille said.
Cameron was pleased her B-25 was a hit.
"This is my Mitchell." Cameron said. "We can hit the Bay Area or Lake Tahoe if you have a little time."
Joe and Ted both took out their phones.
"I'll make time." Ted said.
Joe was very excited at the thought.
"I have all the time in the world for this opportunity." Joe said.
Cameron glanced at Savannah.
"I do too." Cameron said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 24 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Young Allison looked around as they passed by Mission Tower. She could see there was some type of 'housing project' on the other side of the tracks. It didn't look like a very hospitable place. She looked past Mission Tower as the train went around a curve.
"That big building looks like a jail." Young Allison said.
Cameron knew it was.
"It's the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail." Cameron said. "It's run by the Sheriff's Department."
Young Allison looked over towards the housing project on the other side. She wondered if its location was coincidence or because of necessity.
"It doesn't look like the families have far to go to visit their relatives." Young Allison said.
Cameron tilted her head slightly. She understood the correlation. She was aware as time passed, things would deteriorate.
"Things are bad enough now." Cameron said. "They'll only get worse. The jail was just opened earlier this year. It's only been operational for a few months."
Young Allison wondered if it was full or not already. She couldn't understand the modern concept of 'no bail'.
"At least during this time period when someone committed a crime, they needed to serve some type of punishment for it." Young Allison said. "It's not like now where someone commits a crime, and they're back out on the street before the police can even file their report."
Cameron didn't necessarily like to associate with the police, but she did find them useful. In 1963 the majority of the records were paper records. They would be harder to access. The property and evidence rooms would be able to yield an abundance of items she might need. She'd visited them before.
Young Allison spotted something else when they pulled past the jail.
"Wow, look at the size of those tanks." Young Allison said. "Those things can't be full of oil or gasoline. At least I hope they're not. How would they ever put a fire out?"
Cameron could see the giant tanks. Two of them were clearly visible from where they were at.
"They contain Natural Gas." Cameron said. "There are tanks like that throughout the area. Most of them will be gone by the Seventies. There are numerous oil fields throughout the Los Angeles area. I viewed old photos which show derricks all over the place, even near downtown. We'll be able to see all types of oil rigs during this time, especially in the outlying areas."
Young Allison read both gold and oil were found in Southern California.
"I think the first gold was found in Southern California in 1842." Young Allison said. "It was while it was under control of the Mexican Government."
Cameron was aware the Mexican government controlled California for a few decades. It was previously governed by the Spanish for several centuries. She'd visited the location several times.
"Yes." Cameron said. "It's in Placerita Canyon. It was by the 'Oak Of The Golden Dream'. It's on one of the old roads to Palmdale. We can stop by there sometime. It's not too far away from where oil was first discovered near Newhall. Well, at least it was the first refinery. It dates from the same year the rail line through Tehachapi, which passed by within a few miles both of those locations, was completed. It was 1876. We can visit the site of where the golden spike was driven near Lang. There's a Nike Base very close to the location. It is LA-98. It wasn't armed with nuclear missiles like most the other ones were. It was one of the first ones to be shut down."
The train slowed down considerably. They passed by another yard tower. It was the tower which controlled all of the switches for Union Station.
"I see a few Santa Fe red and silver 'Warbonnet' locomotives along with some other Southern Pacific locomotives." Young Allison said. "A lot of my view is blocked. I'm sure there's probably at least one Union Pacific passenger train here."
Cameron thought the condition of Union Station was already on its way downhill. It certainly wasn't what it was when it was built in 1939.
The train stopped. Passengers begin to get off.
Cameron made a point to give the room steward a tip. He was very pleased with the amount. She wasn't worried about money right now. As soon as they got to one of the safe houses, there would be plenty of cash. There would be plenty of everything, including weapons.
Young Allison watched Cameron tip the steward.
"I was glad to see you gave him a monetary tip." Young Allison said. "I was afraid the 'tip' you're going to give him was, to look both ways before he crossed the street."
Cameron tilted her head slightly.
"It's a good tip. I should go back and tell him." Cameron said. "Make sure you always do it. The brakes on the vehicles in this time period are very basic. Most of them are drum brakes. Braking distance is about fifty percent longer than with modern disc brakes."
Young Allison looked around to see if anyone paid attention to what Cameron said. It didn't appear so. They needed to go down a ramp through a pedestrian subway under the tracks to reach the main part of the station. She looked towards the end of the track. She could see it ended at a wall. In her studies of the time period, she remembered seeing a picture of a Santa Fe locomotive about a quarter of the distance out through the wall hanging over Aliso Street. The 101 Freeway now occupied the area where Aliso Street once ran.
They mingled with the other passengers as they went down the ramp and passed through the subway. There were signs indicating which other trains we're on which tracks. It was all above them right now. They soon made their way into the main body of the station.
"The station looks pretty much the same as it does later on." Young Allison said. "I know the railroads haven't completely given up on passenger service now, but they can see the writing on the wall. I guess in about five more years, things will get pretty bad."
They made their way to the front of the station. They could see the Plaza across the street from them. It was where Olvera Street was at. There was also one of the original fire stations located near there. City Hall was clearly visible a little off to the side. She remembered watching it be 'destroyed' in the original War Of The Worlds movie. The movie also showed the YB-49 jet powered flying wing.
Cameron wanted to make their way into the Valley.
"We can come back some other time and look around." Cameron said.
Young Allison could see railroad tracks down the middle of the street in front of the station. The sign on the corner said it was Alameda Street.
"I saw a picture of a giant railway gun on display in front of Union Station on the day it opened." Young Allison said. "They were used to protect the port."
Cameron was aware there was much more rail activity in the past.
"Both the Pacific Electric and The Los Angeles Railway, commonly known as the Red Cars and the Yellow Cars respectively, operated extensive service through the downtown area. It already ended earlier this year. Exhaust belching diesel buses have taken over the routes. Off to the side of Union Station is roundel where the Yellow Cars served the station. The Red Cars were standard gauge. The Yellow Cars were narrow gauge. I need to acquire some transportation."
Young Allison hoped to see some places she'd read about.
"I don't think we're too far from Hollywood." Young Allison said. "We could take a trip down Sunset Boulevard and check out Schwab's and the Whiskey A Go Go. We could even throw in Dead Man's Curve."
Cameron tilted her head slightly.
"We could pass by Schwab's Pharmacy." Cameron said. "It was famous for 'discovering' young starlets. The casting couch always had room for one more. For the Whiskey A Go Go, we're going to have to wait a couple of months. It won't open until January of 1964. There's another club down the street called Crescendo. It was Jazz related. It was previously known as Chanticlair under different ownership. The Interlude was located upstairs. The owner will close up shop and focus on records. He'll become involved with some of the sound tracks associated with Star Trek. That's yet to come. In 1965 the club was known as the Trip. Most likely it toyed the name with the rise in the use of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, more commonly known as LSD or acid. I don't know for sure though. As far as Dead Man's Curve goes, we can go by there any time. The first version of the song, Dead Man's Curve, will be recorded in three days."
Cameron wondered if she should look around for an XKE to put the grab on. She could cruise around the area and see if find a Sting Ray 'looking for more'.
Young Allison was aware a lot of musicians played the Whiskey A Go Go or even got their start there.
"I think Johnny Rivers was one of the opening acts there." Young Allison said.
Cameron knew he was.
"He also recorded a multitude of live albums there." Cameron said. "Perhaps his most famous recording is his rendition of Secret Agent Man. It was actually written in 1964 for a television show about a spy titled 'Danger Man'. The song was originally written with the 'Danger Man' lyrics. When they decided to change the name to Secret Agent, the song received the same upgrade. Johnny Rivers covered it in 1966. His version was used on several other television shows and movies. He covered a lot of songs. He was wise enough to make sure the tempo was picked up on all of them along with good bass and percussion. Many of his versions of other's songs are some of the best versions of them."
Young Allison hoped they could return to the Whiskey A Go Go for its opening night since it was only in a couple of months. She turned back and looked at the station.
"I have to say the station does look impressive." Young Allison said. "I need to remember when it was built, the three railroads needed to foot the bill for most of the tab. It was when passenger travel still mattered and was important. What was in its location before?"
Cameron looked into the history of Union Station.
"It was constructed in a loose Spanish 'Colonial Style' type of architecture." Cameron said. "The original 'Chinatown' for Los Angeles used to occupy the spot. It needed to be 'moved' to its current location several blocks away from here. There was a maze full of opium dens and other illicit activity occurring there. They also found the remains of humans when they began the excavation. It turned out most of those were from the Indian tribes who once occupied the same area. Water has always been scares in Southern California. The original Pueblo, along with the Indian tribes which preceded it, were located near the LA River. The water at the time was actually drinkable."
Young Allison looked around.
"I can see there are still a lot of small hills around this area." Young Allison said. "I'm sure it was much less refined during the time period."
Cameron was aware of a feature few knew about in the Los Angeles area.
"Prior to the invention of the electric streetcar, there used to be cable cars in the Los Angeles area." Cameron said. "Needless to say, it wasn't as extensive as it was in Frisco. The main reason for the cable cars here was they were hooked up to a steam powered form of propulsion from a fixed location."
Cameron wanted to get moving. She looked past the downtown area towards where Pico Tower was at.
Resilient And Resourceful
For those who don't care
It's easy to be forgetful
Since little matters to them
They are seldom remorseful
They like what they do
They are often boastful
They take what they want
They are very wasteful
When it's time to think of others
They are always neglectful
Their actions are jaded and selfish
There are rude and disgraceful
What they usually do
Is more than dreadful
There's no honor or pride
When things are scornful and vengeful
Some can be powerful
Without the need to be forceful
The real victory goes to those
Who are resilient and resourceful
Nobody