CH 15
Sky Net was puzzled by the humans behavior. They had won the battles in Texas they had fought, and had slowed down it's reinforcements enough that they could had taken over the remaining oil production. When Sky Net attacked again, they should have stood and fought. The humans had decimated it's previous attack attempts and were well positioned. When Sky Net finally was ready and attacked, the mass of humans had gone. The only thing Sky Net could conceive was that the humans somehow knew almost all their forces were in one place.
Sky Net suddenly realized the strategy in this attack. It's factories were vulnerable, as were it's other facilities. Using history, it had determined this was a 'Kursk' type of operation like the Germans used in WW2, and responded. With the majority of Sky Net's forces guarding a mostly destroyed facility, humans were free to take out it's other facilities! It wasn't a 'Kursk' type operation, it was an attack just to lure Sky Net's forces far to the south, so humans could go around them.
Seeing this error, Sky Net immediately re-deployed it's forces all along a line heading directly north to regain contact with the humans who were most likely headed east. Also, instead of only a string of digital repeater towers to maintain communications, Sky Net began setting up a multiple tower network and had each one guarded. It also noted that many units had been burned with energy weapons. Sky Net did not know where humans got this tech, but it had to make the armor thicker with anti-heat coatings on all new units to compensate until it got the African mines working to better capacity. Killing all the humans there had been a mistake. It needed the slave power to keep mining.
Sky Net learned from it's mistakes and adjusted accordingly. It needed to collect human slaves to mine coltan.
.
The Fifth Cavalry had become the 'spear head' for the resistance. Wherever the resistance went, Gentry with his experienced men and fast Stugs went first, searching, scouting, and investigating before the rest of the army came in. It only made sense then that when the generals decided to open and use the subway tunnels in Cheyenne mountain complex, it was B group that got the job of investigating the tunnels.
The power source to electrify the tracks wasn't anywhere at Cheyenne that the techs could find, but the train depot there did have a ramp down to the tracks. Major Gentry didn't want to take all his Stugs, just in case there was a cave-in. He sent two Stugs loaded down with supplies east, and another two west. Using a couple of the flat bed cars on the side tracks, they carried barrels of water to feed the Stugs, since there was no water down here. Towing a flat car behind them also let them take more supplies that they could by piling things on top of the Stugs. Each Stug that left also had a TX with them in case they ran into trouble.
.
In the last two weeks, Cameron, Laura and some techs got Cheyenne Mountain running again. Soldiers had all the bodies (2,497) out. Digging in the frozen ground outside the complex using explosives, they buried the bodies in the ground. After the hard dirt and rock were back in place, even the snow was put back over the mass grave. Like the other graves they had made, most of those they buried were unknown, except as victims of Sky Net.
John, Derek and Catherine Weaver were inspecting the military equipment here. Most of it needed to be modified. The Bradley fighting vehicles were designed as troop carriers, but the Stug/sled combination was faster, could carry more men as well as whatever they could get on the sled. The Stugs were also more heavily armed. even the tracks on the Bradley's were too narrow to tackle the deep snow. They were slated to become parts and material for making more Stugs. Humvees were great all terrain vehicles, those were saved for when the resistance moved to go far south into Mexico and central America. That was a future plan, once Sky Net was gotten rid of in North America. The M1's were serviceable, but not needed for the moment, and they did require gasoline, which was in short supply. The artillery was all towed 155 MM guns. They did have literally tons of 155 MM shells, so those also became a reserve weapon.
Cheyenne city, which was what now what they called the vast complex underneath the military complex, was getting residents. Mary the Gardening Supervisor came from the Caverns to help tame the wild gardens and Sarah arrived to organize the masses Derek's army had collected. With help from some Denver residents, some taking up residence themselves, the near 10,000 people were given food and their own houses, along with medical treatment.
Cameron did get a chance to 'experiment' on John in their quarters in the second level of the military complex. Her experiment along with some cuddling and sex, was to put generic nanites into John to see if her program worked, as well as making an extra nanite producing gland for herself. The nanites did read and become adjusted to John's DNA, the extra nanite production gland did form and produced nanites like Cameron wanted.
After Cameron determined the test was a success, she went to the packed-full hospital and selected ten people to administer the nanite treatment to. They were suffering from radiation sickness, stage 4. Their hair and teeth were gone, they were skinny, going blind and could not rise of their beds by themselves.
Using a cup and an eye dropper to draw out small amount of the nanite rich fluid, Cameron squirted one eyedropper into a woman's mouth as she lay stating at nothing.
"This for a mercy kill?" the woman asked weakly.
"Negative, if it works, it will heal you," Cameron explained.
The woman coughed out a weak grunt. "We are doomed. Just finish me."
A strong voice beyond the bed asked, "Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing to my patient?"
Cameron stood up and turned to the woman with the long red hair, and was wearing a white lab coat. "I am General Cameron Connor. I have a mix that may cure radiation sickness. The only way I know if it will work is to test it."
"Is that so?" The woman said raising an eyebrow. "Just what is this miracle snake oil you are giving to my patients?"
"It is not snake oil," Cameron said and moved to the next bed. "It is a mix of fluid nutrients and nanites. A healthy body can repair itself, those with radiation sickness cannot. The nanites take the place of the missing white blood cells and the body's natural repair function."
"Stop!" the red head barked as she glared at Cameron, who was about to administer another eye dropper to a bald, man who was barely breathing. "It will not have my patients be used as guinea pigs! If I have to, I will have security remove you!"
Cameron squirted the eye dropper into the man's mouth, then stood up and said, "No you won't, doctor. These people are dead already unless this works. It is their only hope."
The red head marched to the doorway and called, "Victor, I need you in here." Returning to the next bed where Cameron was giving another woman our eyedropper of the milky white fluid, she said, "You will stop now, or Victor will stop you."
Cameron ignored her and moved on to the next bed.
"Doctor Brewster, what do you need?" a man in a lab coat asked as he came in.
Doctor Brewster pointed at Cameron and said, "Remove her from the hospital."
Victor looked at Cameron and asked "What are you doing, General?"
Cameron glanced at him and explained, "I am giving these patients nanites I developed in a nutrient mix I formed in my mammary glands. They are designed to adjust to the patient's DNA, then form a nanite production gland near their stomachs to remove radiation in the patient and repair any damage to their system."
"Breast milk?" Doctor Brewster asked, staring at Cameron. "You're trying to heal them with breast milk?"
Victor tipped his head slightly to the side. "That is very inventive, General. Seeing the condition of these patients, their DNA structure may well be breaking down, which means some damage may not be repaired."
"That is possible," Cameron agreed. "I have a good base DNA sequence from John, and of course my own DNA for the nanites to use as a base template. The risk is that the nanites may not complete their tasks before the patient expires."
"That is why you are testing it on the worse patients first," Victor said.
"Yes, to find the point of no return. I can only make so much volume of mammary secretions, so I have to determine the most effective use of my limited supply," Cameron told him.
"It is possible to manufacture these nanites artificially?" Victor asked.
"Not outside a functioning body. Once successfully planted, nanites can perform inside a body, terminator or human, but they need nourishment and minerals to function and reproduce."
"WHAT are nanites?" Doctor Brewster asked, "AND VICTOR, WHY AREN'T YOU REMOVING HER LIKE I TOLD YOU TO?"
Victor turned to her and said, "Doctor, this is Cameron Connor, second in command of the resistance and has made innovative solutions as important as John Henry has. She may have found a permanent cure for radiation sickness."
"Victor," Doctor Brewster said with a huff, "The FDA has ruled that human products cannot be ingested. She cannot give her breast milk to anyone besides her own family."
"Doctor, there is no more FDA, and these people need help," Cameron replied.
"Cameron is correct, Doctor," Victor added.
"I am almost done," Cameron told them. "I'll return tomorrow to administer to more people. Please monitor these people and feel free to choose candidates you feel would be appropriate."
Doctor Brewster, arms folded over her chest, watched Cameron give another patient an eyedropper of her breast milk, The cup was empty. After Cameron left, she asked, "Victor, is she a scientist? Did she invent these nanite things?"
"No, Doctor, Cameron modified the nanites, but she did invent them," Victor explained.
"How does she get them into her breast milk? They would have to be in her body already," Kathy Brewster pointed out.
"They are. Human shaped AI machines are made with nanites in their systems," Victor explained.
Doctor Brewster eyed him and asked, "Then, how did she get them?"
"Cameron is a terminator," Victor told her proudly. "She is an older model, but she is one of the most developed AI's."
"That woman isn't human?" Doctor Brewster asked. "These AI's can look completely human?"
Victor tipped his head slightly. "Yes, Doctor. Cameron is TOK-715. I am TX-031."
Kathy Brewster stared at him. "I never would have guessed. Are there many of you around?"
"As of my last contact with John Henry, 520 TX's and 2,360 re-programmed T-800's, John Henry is a T-888, Cameron Connor is TOK-715, and Mrs. Weaver is a T-1001," Victor explained.
"Weaver is one too? Where did they come from?" Kathy asked weakly. She had known about Catherine Weaver for years before the bombs dropped.
Victor explained the first time line and how Cameron and Catherine Weaver had come back in time to help humanity survive and ensure the future of free machines.
This was the first time Kathy Brewster had ever heard this.
.
The most developed AI walked into her quarters and sat at the table beside John. They shared a kiss.
"How'd it go?" John asked.
"It will take a couple days for the nanites to do any visual good," Cameron explained. "The extra mammary does produce nanite enriched nutrients, but I am concerned it does not look appealing to you, John."
John offered her a smile and said, "You are doing it to help people, Cam. That is very noble of you." That third breast a little lower and in between her other two breasts did look strange but he had agreed with her to try it. He didn't mind the third boob at all, in fact at times he found it very erotic. The thing was, he didn't want her covered in boobs. That thought made him shudder. "You can share what you did with other terminators, the TX's, so they can produce these nantes also?"
"If it works, yes. Every female terminator will be able to produce nanite rich milk," Cameron said firmly. After a short pause, she added with a crooked grin, "I have figured out a way for the male formed terminators to produce ..."
"Cam!" John said quickly as he winced, "One thing at a time." He did NOT want to imagine where the 'male milk' would come from.
"Any word on The tunnel scouts?" Cameron asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Just that they are 30 miles out and seeing nothing but tunnel," John told her. "They could go faster, but then if they ran into something blindly, it could be bad."
"This will extend out ability to move greatly," Cameron noted.
John slipped an arm around her as he said, "It will. It will also extend our ability to take in more people. I talked to Mom, there's more babies being born. She has started a school in the Caverns and some people got together and started a band. There is also now an official 'Way Point clock'. It's not the size of Big Ben, but it is big enough to be seen anywhere in the center cavern. The hands and the numbers are illuminated. From what she said, it's a big hit. The admins are even planning a festival in the near future."
"Side tunnels can be added also. The rock down this deep is solid," Cameron offered as she gazed at John.
John met her eyes and kissed her again. "I don't think we got anything going for a few hours ... with other people I mean," he said and cast her a grin.
"So you want to do some drilling?" Cameron asked impishly.
"Let's call it exploratory probing," John said, grinning at her.
Cameron giggled. She kissed him and said in a silky tone, "They you better have a hard tool." She slipped up out of the chair.
John got up and hugged her, steering her onto the table. "I need you, baby."
"I'm here," she said softly. They kissed again, longer this time. In their hug, Cameron wrapped her legs around John and pulled him close.
.
It wasn't exactly church services, but since there was no other pastors/priests or any religious figures to be found, Mr. Ellison took on the task of being the religious leader for humans and teacher of morals for the new TX's. One question that always came up during his speaking time was about the commandment "Thou shall not commit murder".
A new dark skinned TX asked, "Murder is willfully stopping the life functions of another. How can we fight and destroy other AI's? Won't that be murder?"
Mr. Ellison said, "That is a very good question. Murder is the act of killing someone without good cause. Let's say if Jamie there stabs Lucas over there. She just walked up and killed him. That is murder. Now if Lucas is trying to choke Jamie and kill her, and her only option to stop him is to stab him to keep him from killing her, that is self defense. Yes, she kills Jamie, but it was not murder. It is the same thing out on the battle field. Our troops try to disable the enemy, be they human or machine. So far, 4,500 terminators have been disabled and will continue to live after they go though reprogramming, and are set to read/write so they can think for themselves. Remember, the enemy is shooting at our troops. If they can stop Sky Net troops by disabling them, they do. In that attempt, if they do kill some, then it is not murder, because they were meaning to disable, not destroy. Do you understand?"
The TX said, "Yes, if a thinking being is destroyed by one of us on the battlefield, it was an accident, not a deliberate attempt to cease life functions."
"Correct. It also may be a case of, if you did not kill the enemy, they would kill you. That is still self defense, and not murder," James Ellison told him. "The way to know for sure if you a morally right to apply what is known as 'deadly force', is to follow what John Connor's rule states. Deadly force should be used only in defense of your life, or the life of another, and there are no lesser means available, or can reasonably be employed. In other words, taking someone else's life is your last option to keep yourself, or the other person you are trying to protect, from dying."
All the TX's nodded in understanding.
"Does Sky Net practice the same rules in combat?" a blonde woman asked.
Mr. Ellison shook his head and said, "No, Sky Net is out to destroy anything it does not control. Mrs. Weaver will tell you, even it's own forces. If they disobey or do not strictly follow orders, they are destroyed. Sky Net wants to kill you, me, everyone here. That is why we are fighting back as hard as we can. Sky Net is out to murder everyone."
"Sky Net is evil," the TX concluded.
"It is," Mr. Ellison agreed.
Mr. Ellison went on with his talk to the new TX's and children about the ten commandments and the teachings of Jesus like he did every week. Catherine Weaver and John Connor were working to save peoples' lives. He was doing his part to save souls. He didn't know if AI's had a soul, but on the chance that they did, he didn't want them left out of heaven.
.
Sargent Willis rolled along in his lead Stug, watching the tunnel ahead. Or the last few days, this was his only view. To push along a little faster, they took shifts. Either he or the TX, Fred, was leading them, and either the right side man in front was driving, or the one on the left. They were all eager to see what was at the end of this tunnel, and also were getting tired of riding down it.
Ahead of them, the lights of the Stug lit up the tunnel for a good 50 yards. The headlights had three settings, low, medium and high. The high beams were pale blue, very bright lights for combat. Terminators and H/K's glowed when hit with these lights, making them easier targets. Low yellow was for snow storms. Medium were normal car-type headlight to see where they were going.
They were in a straight stretch he swore went on for miles and miles. At the end now, he say a light beyond his headlights.
"Guys, wake up, we go something ahead!" he called and got on the radio. "Pete, we're slowing, there 's a light up ahead."
"Not an oncoming train, is it?"
"No, it's stationary. Driver, slow down and stop. Kill the headlights."
The slowed to a stop, the headlights went out. Sargent Willis popped his head and shoulders up out of the hatch.
"The light is stationary," Fred told him. "I can see what looks like a train station, landings on both sides of the tracks. No movement."
Sargent Willis thought on how to approach that station. Someone was there. It could be humans or terminators. "Fred, scoot down on the back and stay low. Pete! I'm going up. Stay here while I check it out."
"Be careful, Bob," Pete called back.
"You can count on it. Driver, ahead slow, creep us in to take a look-see."
"I should go," Frank stated.
"You're the lat one I want to loose, Frank. Stay low," Sargent Willis stated.
They crept on, tracks making a clattering sound on the steel rails. Just before they got to the opening, Willis swore he heard voices. "Driver stop," he said. Peeking up out of the hatch he called, "Hey! Anyone there?"
Silence
"I'm Sargent Willies, Fifth Cavalry , Major Gentry commanding. Is anyone there!"
"I hear whispering," Fred said quietly. "They are wondering if you are trying to trick them."
Willis nodded. Loudly, he said, "Listen! I'm coming out so you can see me. Don't shoot!"
Willis got out of his Stud and dropped to the ground. Fred did also. Willis eyed him and decided to let him come. "Hands in the air," Willis told him. He and Fred walked into the station, hands up. As the platforms came into view, he saw the stairways up were blocked with tables and a pieces of plywood. A side room door was also blocked the same way. A few men and women eyed them over the sights of their pistols. They all wore police uniforms.
"It's the army!" A woman cried happily.
"Yeah, we're army," Willis agreed. "May I bring in my Stugs and supplies?"
"You got supplies?" a raged man asked.
"We do. We came to offer aide and assistance. If you have any sick, we have a hospital back down the tunnel we can get them to," Sargent Willis told them.
"How's you escape those metal skeleton looking things?" One man asked in a demand.
"We didn't. We've been fighting them, and kicking their asses. That's how we got here," Willis told them. He turned and yelled, "Driver, come on up, tell Pete to come up too!"
Bob Willis noted that standing here in the light, the clatter of Stug tracks was echoing off the walls, sounding ominous. No wonder these people were scared. When his Stug came into view, he swore it looked larger that it was. He and Frank moved back so his and Pete's Stugs could get the flat beds into the terminal. Once they were in, he had then stop, then climbed up on his Stug so he could get onto the left side platform.
The men and women also came out from behind their barriers. An older guy said, "Those gotta be the smallest tanks I ever saw."
"Faster and more maneuverable than any Sky Net H/K," Willis told him.
Looking closer at the armored vehicle, the old man asked, "Is that a Stug?"
"The new version," Willis said with a nod. "John Connor designed them. They are hell on the battlefield for the enemy. I lost count of how many of Sky Net's units we took out."
The old man smiled and asked, "This Connor, is he any relation to Erwin Rommel or Otto Carius?"
"Who's Otto Caruis?" Willis asked.
"My grandpa, the greatest tank commander ever!" the old man stated "He was the top tank ace of any army in World War Two! He got 156 kills he did!"
"Sounds like a dangerous man," Sargent Willis said. To everyone else, he announced, "Myself and my unit were about to be surrounded and destroyed by Sky Net forces. We were saved when John Connor's resistance army came and pounded them into scrap metal. Since then, we've been looking for other survivors to assist us and ask every able bodied person to help us in the fight against Sky Net. It doesn't have to be combat, there's plenty of support work to be done also. Is there anyone in charge here?"
The crowd looked at each other. A freckled red headed woman in a dirty police uniform shrugged and said, "Not really. We've been scrounging and just trying to stay alive. Radiation's take many of us. We got sick ones in these rooms, and more above. We need all the help we can get."
Sargent Willis got his crews out to pass out food and water, and put the supplies on the flatbed Pete was towing, so the sick could be sent back to Cheyenne City. It was then he realized something they hadn't thought about. In the station at Cheyenne city, there were six side tracks and the main track. Here only the main track ran through with platforms to each side. Platforms to each side and a flat cars behind the Stugs.
They had no way to turn their Stugs around.
"Damn it!" Willis spat as he realized the problem.
"Sargent?" a man asked.
"We have to get Pete's Stug turned around and on the other end of the flatbed!" he spat, waving an arm. "Look at it, we can't turn it around!"
Fred and Leo, the other TX, eyed the problem. they looked at each other and eye flashed briefly, then Fred said, "Sargent Willis, I believe we have a solution."
"We must remove the supplies off this flatbed to put injured people on," Leo added. "So we remove all the supplies to one side. Fred and I get down on the tracks. Pete's crew back the Stug up, we will lift it up in the back so it can climb onto the flatbed. Once on the flatbed, turn the Stug around, we will help it drive off the back."
Willis eyed them and said, "A Stug weighs four tons."
"That is writhing our capability," Leo said confidently.
"You sure?" Willis asked.
"Yes, we are sure," Fred said firmly.
Willis waved an arm and said, "Ok, guys, let's get this flat car unloaded. This side."
Many of the people down here helped with smaller items. The TX's took the water barrels and larger boxes off. Once the car was unloaded, Fred and Leo got down on the tracks and disconnected the Stug from the car.
"We are ready," Fred stated.
"Pete, back slow," Willis said and motioned him back. a crowd watched as it looked like Fred and Leo were about to get run over. They grabbed the cleats in the tracks and lifted. The back of the Stug came up. Kneeling down they guided the Stug up to contact the bed of the rail car. The Stug climbed up. Once it was half on, the two TX's pushed and the Stug rolled onto the bed. In the middle, the Stug did a 180, left track driving forward, right track reversing, and spun in place.
Now pointing back the way they had come, Pete drove his Stug to the edge. Fred and Leo got down in front and supported the Stug's tracks so it didn't fall hard when it tipped down, the eased the back down as the rear of the Stug came off the rail car. They then got the cable and bar assembly hooked back up.
"Great job, guys!" Willis said happily. "Now lets get those people down here and ready to move."
Some of the ones needing help limped down between their family members, others were carried. As the sick people were laid on the flat car, Willis saw many of the ones taking care of them were also staying on the flat car with them. Food and water was passed out and given to the ones going. All set to go, Pete towed 63 people on that flat car back to Cheyenne city. Knowing the tunnel was good, he turned on the headlights and a tail light to keep an eye on the flat car. Leo stayed on the flat car also to monitor the riders.
Instead of crawling along, Pete ran his Stug back at 40 miles an hour to get these people to the hospital.
.
Once Pete was on his way, Sargent Willis and his crew went to get a better look at where this train station was. Seeing the thin red head police officer had been hanging around him he asked her, "How do you get up to the surface?"
She shook her head. "You don't ... any more. There was a big cave in," she explained. "I'm Officer Hewitt. Sargent, you can't get to the surface."
The older man motioned up and said, "We were taking a tour of the old mines ... damn, six, seven months ago now. Forgot how long we've been down here. Anyway, we were one of two groups. We get down here and the whole place rumbled! Some rock came loose, then the entrance collapsed. We've been going lower till we reached what we think is the bottom here."
"We ran into some miners that were pretty aggressive," Officer Hewitt said sadly. "We had to shoot them. We've been wandering and found this place. there was some stored food, but even rationing, it's all but gone. We were hoping someone would find us."
"Sargent?" a voice asked. Both Willis and Hewitt turned to the voice. "Yes?" They chorused, then looked at each other.
"I mean, Sargent Hewitt," the drawn looking officer said. "We should check the upper rooms to see if anyone is left up there."
Hewitt nodded, "Go on. Take a couple guys with you. We go no where alone, right?"
"Right," the said and picked a couple other cops to go with him.
Hewitt looked over at Fred, who was putting a water barrel from the dock onto the remaining flat car. She asked, "What's up with him and that other guy? They are pretty damn strong to lift up a tank."
"They are TX's, almost every crew has one," Willis explained. Seeing her questioning look, he added, "TX's are intelligent machines. AI's. Catherine Weaver makes them to help us out. Believe me, they come in real handy. Smart too, they are pretty much mechanical people."
"They fight those metal skeleton things," Hewitt said.
"We all do," Willis agreed. "There's other things they do, like lifting heavy stuff, and their hearing and vision is much better than ours, which makes life easier on us. Fred heard you whispering to each other when we were back down the tunnel. Kinda gives us a head's up at what we're going into."
"Can you get us back to ground level?" she asked.
Willis shook his head and explained, "You don't want to do that. Besides those terminators walking around, it's cold as hell, the snow's real deep and it's radioactive up there. Before you even think about going up to the surface, we have to defeat Sky Net first. From what John Connor said, Sky Net is world wide, and we may be the only survivors ... The US I mean. We got a break, John Connor somehow took the communications satellites out. Sky Net isn't as free to act here."
"It sounds dire."
"It is. We got almost half the US back, but we don't know what is to the east, except more Sky Net," Willis told her.
Hewitt looked over at the Stug and said, "Well if you need police, I can help. I'm sure the other guys will as well."
.
While the B group of Gentry's force was searching the tunnels, Gentry and A group, now reinforced by six more Stugs, two more than they had lost in Texas, continued to scout out Sky Net positions. So far, what he was finding was a long picket line going straight north from Texas up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and most likely all the way up though the Dakotas. He had two squads keep searching for the end of the line, and returned to Derek's headquarters to inform him of the odd placement.
John met with Derek and Major Gentry. Derek pointed to the long line and said, "They have spread themselves out thin. The single units they have every quarter mile can be easily picked off. We start at one end and we can wipe that entire line away."
John frowned and said, "That should be obvious to Sky Net as well. I think Sky Net has no idea where we are. It doesn't want to attack, in Houston it found out what happens when it attacks straight out. This line was formed for us to go attack it. Major, you said you found lots of radio traffic?"
"Yes, General. That's how we found those units," Gentry agreed.
"How about signals not on this line?" John asked.
"None, sir, just up and down the line."
"It's an attempt to find us," John stated. "Most likely, someplace behind that line are concentrations of units waiting for one of the units on the line to stop transmitting, or to transmit having contact with us," John said. "Did you detect any H/K's?"
"None sir."
"That line is bait," John stated. "Do we have a recording of the transmissions?" he asked.
"Yes Sir," Gentry said.
"Derek, get your TX's to see if they can decipher what they are. My guess is that it's a simple code saying the unit is still functioning," John told him. "If we can duplicate it, we can kill a couple units, transmit their code and make a highway though their picket."
"We're on it, General," Derek said firmly.
Cameron came in with Laura and another female TX that had long red hair and a killer body. "John, I am spreading the nanite production program to female TX's," Cameron said.
"General Reese, I am assisting, so I will be spending time in the hospital," Laura added.
Derek nodded, then asked John, "What's this program?"
"Anti-radiation medicine in the form of nanites," John explained.
"I will explain in detail, later, General," Laura told Derek. "At the moment, we must go. We will return in 1.5 hours."
"We?" Gentry asked, eyeing the red head.
"Yes, all seven female TX's currently in the Complex," Laura stated, "Cameron is going to show us how to extract and administer the nanite mix and maximize production."
John rubbed the back of his neck. Oh boy, with Cam, the 'extra gland' wasn't really noticeable with her jacket buttoned up. With Laura it would be. "Carry on," he told her.
.
Doctor Brewster noted that of the ten patients Cameron had given her nanite- enriched breast milk to, one died, and the other nine were having better vital signs. The woman who had been going blind was very happy she could see people now. Things were cloudy, but she had some sight.
This time when Cameron Connor trooped in with seven other women, Doctor Brewster said, 'Nine of the ten you gave your mix to are doing better. Do you have a way to treat everyone suffering from radiation sickness?"
"Not all at once," Cameron said. Motioning to the TX women she added, "These women here volunteered to help me. If you could supply a room for us to extract our mammary secretions, we should be able to supply you with enough to cure many. Worst ones first, then eventually, a preventive does to everyone."
What Cameron was asking for was basically a human ... no, terminator dairy room. Kathy Brewster shuddered at that thought. Then again, Cameron was saving lives. "Come this way," Doctor Brewster said. She led them to a store room where she'd found breast pumps amid the many shelved items. She got one out and waved for them to follow again.
Leading then to a sink, she explained how the breast pump worked, and showed them the sample cups to use and the refrigerator nearby if the nanite milk wasn't needed right away.
"Doctor, the nanites will only survive 24 hours outside the body," Cameron explained.
"The milk must be fresh for it to be effective," Laura agreed.
"With so many people with radiation effects, it will take a long time, even with eight of you donating, to dose everyone," Doctor Brewster told them. "Just keep supplying, I will ensure your donation get to the patients."
"Thank you, doctor," Cameron said. She removed her jacket and shirt, and opened up one of the sample cups.
"Three breasts?" Doctor Brewster asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For more production," Cameron stated.
Laura removed her jacket and shirt. In between her large breasts, a third smaller breast had formed. Seeing the Doctor eye this, she looked down and said, "The center one is still growing. It will get bigger."
"At least now I know how to tell human apart from AI's ... at least the females," Doctor Brewster said with a sigh.
.
Pete got back to the Cheyenne city terminal and called for help. In a short time, a crew of medics came down and was getting people off the flat car and onto gurneys and stretchers. Pete told Captain Smith what they found. While the sick were taken up to the hospital, Pete's flatcar was loaded with some men, guns and ammo, as well as ramps in case he had to turn around again. Turning around, he hooked up and got ready to move. The Captain came to pass him a message, the men were to find out if there was a way to the surface from that train station they found. The Stug crews were to keep going. Pete promised to find out and went back to where he'd left Sargent Willis.
.
Derek had a full day of meetings and working out how to get around the Sky Net picket. Sitting in the 'officers' lunch room, he munched on a 'goat' burger with lettuce, onion and tomato on it. OK, so it wasn't a hamburger that he missed so much, but he could pretend. He also noted now that Laura wasn't hovering nearby, he missed her being around. He finished his burger and headed for his quarters. Going in, he could almost feel the lack of Laura being here, the feeling of something missing.
Laura was driving him nuts. OK, so she was fantastic eye-candy. That's why he missed her, he told himself. If Laura was human, he'd be all over that. Then again, he was very close to not giving a shit that she was a terminator. He did get along with her, and so what if he was banging metal? Even as he thought that, he wondered what the hell he was thinking. He wasn't John, he didn't go ga-ga over metal! It was the shape he was attracted to. Yeah, the shape, not Laura herself.
The temperature in his room was a little warm. Derek took off his shirt and draped it over the back of a chair, then flopped down on the bed. Hands locked behind his head, he stared at the ceiling and thought about how good it felt when he'd woken up to find he was holding Laura tight, wrapped in a spoon. He'd damn near rolled her over and gave her the high hard one. Even thinking about that, he wanted so bad to jump on that!
Sitting up, Derek shook that thought out of his head. "No beer, no whiskey, this place bites!" he grumbled. They had potatoes, maybe he could make some Vodka.
.
Sargent Willis had explored the first cavernous mine above the train station with Officer Hewitt. He found no stairs or ramps, just the elevator shaft they had climbed down. Inside the elevator shaft was a vertical ladder recessed into the wall.
"Wonderful," he grumbled. "How many levels did you come down?" he asked.
"Three. That metal skeleton thing got caught in the cave in, only it's upper torso was exposed, but it kept shooting at us!" Hewitt said in a stressed tone. "We shot back, but the bullets just bounced off it. We lost two good men."
"And that was up at the first level?" He asked.
"The ramp down into the first level," Hewitt explained. "It came out of nowhere." Motioning to his big rifle, she asked, "Can't you kill it with that?"
Willis winced ad said, "Not sure. It has memorized it's environment, and if I can't get a long range shot, I'd be hard pressed to get a shot off before it does. I don't want to risk Fred or Leo when they get back, either. Plus that terminator may have dug himself out by now. He just hadn't found the ladder down so he can kill the rest of you."
"It will do that?"
"It will. If I were you, I'd post a guard on that ladder. If it was down here, it would be shooting at us already," Willis said firmly. Turning around, he pointed back the way they came. "See the top of the stairs down to the station back there? Post him there, as out of sight from this ladder as possible." He then handed his .50 cal gun to her and said, "Use this, your little popguns won't do anything but let him know where you are."
Looking at the rifle, Hewitt said, "This is like ... an elephant gun."
Willis grinned and said, "Better. The bullets are HEAT rounds, high Explosive, Armor Piercing. About the only thing this small that will blow a hole on those terminators, and forget that ''center of body mass' stuff. You'll need to hit him square in the head to rip up electronics in there."
"Whoever shoots this thing will get their shoulder torn off," she stated.
"Naw, look at the end, it has a good muzzle brake," Willis said. He walked back to see a pair of soldiers come up.
"Sargent Willis?" one asked.
"That's me, Fifth Cavalry, B group."
"The LT wants to see you. We'll be guarding this place."
"I take it Pete's back?" he asked.
"Yup, I think you guys are suppose to move on."
Willis took his rifle back. "Think I'll be needing this," he told her.
"I should come with you," Hewitt said firmly.
"Why?"
"I am medically trained, in case anyone gets hurt."
Sargent Willis laughed and said, "We have very few injuries. Normally, it's we don't get hit, or we get to be dead. That's our only two options."
They went down into the train station and Lt. Richfield relay the orders, keep moving down the tunnel. Sargent Willis made sure they were ready to go and moved on down the tunnel.