CH 33
John got an update from Catherine on the situation in the Pacific. While they were finding some Sky Net terminators in Australia as they moved west, and quickly defeating them, they did not have enough to make a solid line moving west. The fst transports were helping, but she needed more. Australia was also clamoring for human men. The remaining population in Australia was mostly women. The Aussies had defeated Sky Net, but lost the majority of the male population. What was left of the government was mostly intact, which was good. Still, fighting men were at a premium.
Catherine also explained that so far, she had found 150 Sky Net ships guarding the Asian coastlines. They never went too far from shore, staying in water less than 600 feet deep. Catherine was sure this was so the crew was able to make it back to the coast, even if their ship was sunk. These ships were also heavily armed and had H/K's to help fend off an enemy.
John decided that small raids were not going to work. Instead of sacrificing men to raid Asia, he decided to have General Perry assist Catherine in securing Australia. Apparently, that would make the Aussie women happy also.
From Europe, John got a message from Derek : The boot is on our foot.
That meant all of Italy now was in their hands. Derek had his eastern line on he eastern Polish border, had recovered the small mid-European countries, including the very western part of the Ukraine, and in Romania and Bulgaria, was headed for the Black Sea. To the south, he was part way through Greece.
That was great news, but John's big concern was the Sky Net segments in Kursk, and the one moving around in Turkey. He didn't want either of them getting away. He send Derek a reply to : Strike the closest heads off the dragon.
Sky Net had to be planning an operation against Derek's forces. John wanted those two segments gone before they could strike.
.
Derek got John's message and frowned. "Does he know Kursk is in Russia?" he asked no one. "We're no where close to there!"
A few of Derek's staff looked at him. "We're a long way away from there," one of the officers said.
"I know that," Derek grumbled. It would be a long time before he could get any ground forces there, and he had no H/K's that could fly that far. A ground attack plane could if give the fuel. Sky Net would also see it and take it out. The Sky Net segment in turkey was also moving around randomly on a daily basis. That was not a small area to go searching around in either.
Derek had Tina come up from her HQ that was now in northern Greece to talk about more raids into Sky Net territory. She'd done it before, so she knew how to make more efficient raiding parties.
"Hey Dad!" Anne called from the doorway, "Mom wants to see you!"
"Be right there, hon," Derek called back. He checked the distances to the Sky Net segments again. This was not going to be a quick operation. He did have all the Sky Net radio jammers moved up in front of his troops. Since they were mostly moving forward in southern Europe, he could just see Sky Net attacking on the north to trip him up. One good thing was the fleet has plastered the coast of Morocco, destroying the Sky Net units there so he could get supplies and troops all the way to Greece to assist Tina's forces and help her make faster work of any Sky Net units there. From Greece, he planned on going to Crete the Cyprus to give him another opening into the mid-east. Main-forces wise, his task was to isolate Africa to stop coltan shipments to Sky Net.
Derek thought on these things as he went to see what Laura wanted. Going in the dinning room, he saw Laura had lunch on the table. She kissed him and said, "Eat. I know you are very busy, so just swallow down the sandwich and fruit, then you can get back to work."
"Thanks," he told her. Getting into planning, he had missed enough meals that Laura was becoming insistent he stop to take his meals on time. He tried to ignore her once. It was awfully embarrassing when she picked him up and took him to the dinning room. He didn't want that to happen again.
"How are we doing?" Laura asked as she sat down.
"Good, though John wants immediate action on the Sky Net segments. They are still out of reach though. I was going to have Tina plan more raiding parties to deal with them."
"Derek, Tina almost lost her skin in that raid," Laura reminded him.
"That's why she's not going, just getting whoever she picks for the raids trained up to do it," Derek told her. "It's going to have to be all T-800's and triple eights. I'm not risking Tina like that again. She's too good of a general" Derek then added, "We're going to have to move a little closer to the front also. We're getting farther behind it every day."
"If you move closer to those Sky Net segment, they will move again," Laura warned.
"I know," Derek said in a grumble. "That's why the raiding parties are going out. The rest of Sky Net knows if we get close, they will be taken out. The one in Turkey is moving all around the place. It doesn't want to be taken out."
"How about those jammers?" Laura asked. "Spread them around in it's territory. Make it move farther back so it can't control it's units near yours."
Derek nodded. "Great idea, hon, soon as we get some more. We're using all we got now, our line goes from the Baltic sea to the Mediterranean. That's a long stretch. If we can get at least one of those segments, then we can move the jammers to where we need them."
Derek swallowed the rest of his lunch. "I got to get back to work."
"Call if you need anything," Laura replied.
"Will do." Derek got up, kissed her and went back to his command center.
.
Covering the southern front from the Ukraine down to Athens, Tine was reluctant to leave the area. Still, General Reese ordered it, so she made sure her Lt. Generals knew what to do, then hopped on a plane and went to see Derek.
"More raids?" Tina asked as she stood by Derek at his planning table.
"That's the only way we're going to take them out," Derek told her. "Especially this one in Turkey. It's moving all over the place, we need to nail it so we're clear to go down through the middle east and isolate Africa from Asia. You pick the teams. They will need to take radios, radio direction finders, jammers and or course weapons. Two teams out for each Segment. Transportation, numbers and supplies are up to you. Whatever you think they need to get rid of those segments."
Tina nodded and pointed on the map. "Here in Bulgaria, we made it to the Black sea near the Turkish border. So far, on this side of the Black sea, we haven't been encountering many Sky Net units. The Black sea is shallow. To get to Turkey, our teams can walk the bottom to the closest point we can find to were that segment is. Kursk is a long way inland. They can get behind the front, but it's going to be a long walk for them up through the Ukraine and into Russia."
"They can do it, though," Derek asked.
"Yes, if they aren't caught. Our trip to Warsaw was underwater most of the way. Very slim chance of being discovered. They are going to have to travel much of the way on land, and I'm sure Sky Net will be expecting us to attack it," Tina reminded him.
"I know, but we have to try," Derek stated.
"I will do my best to get them there as stealthy as possible," Tina said as she eyed the map. "I only give the Kursk groups a 51% chance of success. Since the Sky Net Segment in Turkey is moving around, I give them only a 42% chances of success. This is a big risk."
"It is," Derek conceded. "It is also one we have to take. I doubt Sky Net is sitting on it's ass waiting for us to act. I want to act first before it can."
Tina wasn't happy with the plan, the risk to her troops was great. General Reese had a point though, if they didn't take out those Sky Net segments, moving on was going to cost many more troops on the field. "I'll get started right away, General."
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Tina looked at what her teams had to take with them. Weapons, explosives and radio trackers at a minimum. Sky Net terminators didn't wear backpacks. She had also never seen them communicate via eye-flash. They used close range radio signals. To make her troops appear as close to Sky Net troops as possible so their land trek would draw as little attention to them as possible, she had each team member carry only one piece of gear besides their plasma rifle. By needs, 17 terminators were needed at a minimum for transporting 1 item each. she put 35 in each team for redundancy, then like General Reese said, she had two teams head for each target. Two teams headed for Kursk were to travel the edge of the Black Sea to get to the Diniper river ant take that as far north as possible. When they had to take the land route, they were to move northeast, then come at Kursk from the east. Remembering she had no return route given, Tina had them return via the Diniper and the Black Sea. One team would moved out, then the second would leave the next day.
The Turkish groups were to walk the Black sea and emerge when they were as close to the segment as they could get by water. Once on land, they were to head for the segment to each side from where they detected it so no matter which way it moved, one of them would be closer to it. Basically, they were to chase it down and kill it.
Troop ships from Italy supported by a carrier and three cruisers performed the Crete attack. Landing at Chania, the resistance force took one end of the island, finding only a spattering of Sky Net Terminators. Moving to the other end, they found a small factory and many human slaves. The humans didn't trust them at first, but some TX's convinced them the 'bad' machines were being taken care of. The cargo ship Sky Net had was captured, and the disabled Sky Net terminators were piled in, and the ship was sailed back to France that now had a terminators rebuild/education center. IN three days, Crete was taken.
Cyprus was taken in four days. Again, most of that was convincing the humans there that the 'bad' machines were gone. The remaining populations of both islands wanted to stay. Assistance was given, as well as medical TX's that distributed nanites. Derek had thought these operations would have been longer. Like in the pacific, Sky Net wasn't paying much attention to islands, at least not yet. It probably saw these as 'cleanup' operations.
In the middle Mediterranean, Derek found the population of Malta all but untouched. No bomb had been dropped there, and the island was riddled with deep underground passages. They had set themselves up to survive on their own in their underground world. On this small island, 195,000 humans still lived. With no hard radiation, their grew good food and fished. Besides the airfield that was hit to destroy the 12 Harrier jump jets, and a few buildings, the island was all but untouched. Derek did get an agreement from the Governor to clean up and use the air field and port facilities.
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Daniel had been thinking hard about what Astrid told him. He did go to her place and stayed until after dinner. Despite her obvious flirting and intentions, he found he did like Astrid. The woman was smart and witty. Of course, she bragged she even had some whiskey. He was NOT going to drink, he was afraid he'd find himself waking up naked in her bed. He did agree to go to a pub in the cavern with her.
Today as Daniel checked over the fish tanks, he chided himself for accepting a date with Astrid. He was married, WHAT was he thinking? Due to chiding himself and realized how foolish he'd been, it took him a couple tried to get the PH readings on the tanks. Looking into the hatching tank, he was happy that most of the eggs had hatched, and tiny fish filed the tank. Their first brood. He then heard Astrid call.
"Danny! Got news from the commander!" Astrid announced as she came in. "We're all restricted to the caverns until further notice."
Daniel looked up to see she had on a blue undershirt and her brown shorts. Right, no bra. "Did he say why?" he asked.
"Seems we got Sky Net terminators tussulin with some of out troops. Nothing serious, our guys are beat'em down, but since they were seen not fifty miles away, we're to stay underground and under guard. No headin out for any reason. Once the military deems it safe, we can head back out in the sunshine."
Daniel shrugged and said, "No big deal, I haven't left the caverns yet. Too much to do down here."
"No more reporters to slow us down any more, either. They got snapped up and put in the local brigade. Combat reporters they call'em, but I think it's so they don't wander off and get fried by a random machine," Astrid said.
"Long as it keep's them alive," Daniel said.
"SO, you know what this means?" Astrid asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No sunshine for us," Daniel replied.
"And, Lad, plenty of time to ride the hobby horse," she said with a crooked grin. Putting on a frown, Astrid said, "It'll be boring down here if we just sit around looking at each other."
"There's other down here too, right?" Daniel asked.
"There is, Marla and her gardening crew, Amy and her crew that takes care of the mechanics. They've already claimed your buddies. Heard those guys are keepin'em happy," Astrid told him. "Come on, I don't want to be the only one with a stick-in-the-mud!"
Daniel shook his head. "Astrid … I'm having a hard time with this," he said firmly.
"Hard's the key word, love."
Out of irritation, Daniel stepped up and hugged her. "You really want to have a baby, huh?"
Astrid gripped him back. "Sure do. How about we practice some?" she asked.
"Fine."
After seeing her all this time, Daniel had no problem lifting her shirt off, then his. They lowered down to the floor and got their clothes off. Daniel thought he might be going a bit inside as they locked lips and kissed. Astrid wrapped her legs around him. Not having any for a while, Daniel was hard. They petted some and he got to fondle and suckle on those generous breasts of hers. He teased a nipple, lightly sucking and licking until it was pruned up hard.
Before Daniel knew it, he was inside her. What started as an act of irritation turned lustful. He slowly stroke in her, relishing the sensations. Long kisses, petting and fondling, he was going to make this last. Astrid met his thrusts and passion. It came to a point where long, slow strokes were not enough. He picked up speed as they clung to each other, locked together.
"Oh yeah," Astrid cried on in a lusty breath. "More!"
Daniel was past the point of no return. Even if he wanted to stop, his body wouldn't let him. Their humping became frantic, sweating and gasping for breath, they rode the lust until exploding in orgasm. Even this wasn't enough. They kept on a few minutes, wanting more before they collapsed to separate and lay panting on the floor.
Between pants, Astrid shot a hand in the air with a thumbs up. "Now THAT's what I'm talkin!"
Laying on the rock floor, Daniel realized what he'd just done. He rubbed a hand over his face. Yeah, he just had a rousing round of sex with Astrid. How was he ever going to explain this to Claire? He was sure Claire was going to hate him. worse yet, what would their daughter say … What would Cameron DO?
"I'm fucked, " he grumbled.
Astrid chuckled. "Me too, not bad at all, matey, not bad at all," she bragged.
Daniel sat up and said, "You don't understand, my older daughter finds out, and I'm big trouble." Looking at Astrid, he said, "Claire's heart will be broken, then Cameron will come break me!"
"Who's he?" Astrid asked.
"She! Cameron Connor," he snapped then rubbed his face again. "Our eldest daughter. The second she sees me, she'll know! She'll probably break a few of my bones, and kill you!"
Astrid sat up and eyed him. "Hold on, are you talking General Connor's wife, that Cameron?"
"Yes, that Cameron. Astrid, this is bad news," Daniel said heavily.
"The world's top general's wife is your daughter?" Astrid said happily. "That's great!"
"No! right now it's a disaster," Daniel whined. "I shouldn't have … I just shouldn't have!"
"Calm down, sunshine," Astrid said soothingly as she put an arm around him. "Look, first of all, how are they to know? Second, you are doing your best to help us, OK? I told you before, this is not one of those love-me-forever things. I want a baby. Many of us want babies. We can't to that without men. IF, and I stress IF your people back home find out, I'll make sure they see it as a donation that we desperately need. No one's going to romple-stomp you into the ground. Calm down, love."
Daniel let out an insane sounding giggle. "You don't know Cameron."
"I don't think your daughter will do much besides giving you disapproving stares IF she finds out," Astrid stated.
"Like I said, you don't know Cameron," he repeated.
Putting her head on his shoulder, Astrid said, "Stop worryin love. Sides, you still have to go see Marla. She wants a baby too."
Yup, Daniel had just wrecked his life.
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Claire had decided to stay home with Allison. Cameron knew she was miserable, and felt she had to do something about it. Although she knew John would not be fond of the idea, Cameron decided she need to correct the situation between Claire and Daniel.
"John, I need to go to Australia," Cameron announced during breakfast.
"Why?" John asked automatically.
"Because Claire won't. John, she is miserable and Allison isn't her usual perky self either," Cameron explained.
John let out a sigh and said, "Cam, hon, are you going to go to bring Daniel back?"
"I don't know," Cameron offered with a blank gaze.
"Yes you do," John told her. "Hon, what Daniel decides to do is up to him. You can't make decisions for him."
"I can remind him he has a family and needs to be with them," she said. "I can remind him of how much he's missing Allison growing up."
John rolled his eyes and said, "You mean, you can brow beat him and make him feel bad enough that he will come home on his own."
"Yes."
"Cam," John said in a groan. He stopped and by her face, he knew she was going, even if she had to walk. "Hokay, I've been told I should be making myself a little more visible to others. Derek had been after me to visit New Paris, and Jacobson down in South America wants me to speak to the survivors who are making their new cities down there. The Australian Government also wanted to see me to make a formal mutual defense pact between us. We'll go, OK? While we are there, we'll we can visit Daniel. will that suit you?"
"Yes, John. We can ride an aircraft carrier across the ocean, with plenty of escorts," Cameron said firmly. "Just because Sky Net has not made an attempt on you recently, does not mean it's not going to. Our trip will not be announced to any place until after we leave that place."
"Cam, I can't spend weeks isolated on the ocean. The 727 has defenses and will be a whole lot faster," John replied.
Cameron eyed him briefly, then said, "I will go inspect the plane and make flight plans."
.
Feeling he had already ruined his marriage, Daniel agreed to go to Marla's place. He thought it was strange Astrid came along with him. He really hoped she was not planning a threesome or something like that.
Unlike Astrid, Marla seemed much more toned down. She was pleasant, and getting to her 'hole on the wall', he noted she was still reserved. Of course, Astrid was Astrid. She sat by Daniel and was constantly touching him and told Marla how good he was. Daniel thought what she was doing was more bragging than letting Marla have her chance to have a baby.
Marla looked in the kitchen, and asked, "Astrid, dear, I seem to be out of potatoes. Could I get you to run down and grab some for me?"
"Sure," Astrid said and bounced up. "Anything else you need?"
Marla went out and looked and said, "No, the taters will be fine."
"Be back soon," Astrid said and left.
Upon Astrid leaving Marla let out a sigh and sat down. Cracking a grin, Marla told Daniel, "Astrid is a dear girl but a bit overbearing at times."
Daniel had to grin at that. "I noticed. Have you known her long?"
"I met her after the bombs dropped," Marla explained. "Astrid was married to a pilot. He went out to fight those machines and never came back, just like most of the men. Once our military was almost all gone, Not only men but many women took up arms to keep us from being destroyed by those things. We won, but in winning, we lost a large portion of our population. Until help from the US showed up, I thought there was nothing but women and kids left. Astrid herself was pretty intent on getting rid of the machines. Once it was over, she hunted for a man just to get her pregnant. At least, that's what she insisted on. She wanted a boy who could help keep those tings away from us. She sticks to her story, but seeing her with you, I'm thinking she wants her own guy."
"Can't happen," Daniel told her. "I'm married and Astrid said this was just to make a baby."
Marla chuckled and asked, "Don't believe it. Look, if she was so instant on sharing you, why did she come with you?"
"I have no idea," Daniel said honesty. "It seems like she wants to be a third wheel."
"She wants to show me who she caught," Marla explained. "Astrid claims she wants a baby for revenge. She claims she'll never love again. I don't believe it. I think she is so lonely she can't stand it, and will do her level best to pull you away from your wife and coax you to stay her with her."
Daniel winced. "This isn't good," he grumbled.
"It's up to you, lad. I'm just saying she won't let you go without a fight," Marla told him.
Daniel thought about Astrid. She was telling him one thing, but from what Marla said, she was after another. "So, you don't want a baby?" he asked.
"I do, I also want a man who'll stay with me, and despite Astrid's claim, I'm not one to share. Neither is she. She just won't admit it, not even to herself," Marla told him. "We have had it rough, love, so don't think too badly of her."
Daniel frowned and said, "I'm not sure what to think."
Marla got up. "I'm starting dinner."
Daniel got up with her. "I'll help, but don't you need potatoes?"
Waving a hand, she said, "Naww, that was just to get rid of Astrid for a bit."
Astrid came back shortly after. "Marla, Daniel?" Astrid called loudly. She then raced to the kitchen with a small bag of five potatoes. "This was all I could find, will it be enough?"
"Plenty, thanks, Love," Marla told her.
.
Daniel paid close attention to Astrid as they made then ate dinner. He noticed Astrid took pains to stay close to him. She was all smiling and pleasant, she also acted somewhat possessive. Talking about how far they were getting on the fish farm, she had a hand hooked under his arm as she explained things to Marla. Daniel wasn't a big talker anyway, so he let them go, adding only bits here and there.
Marla finally asked, "So, Astrid, who's going to help take care of your baby after you have it?"
Astrid looked at Daniel and said, "We are ... aren't we?"
"Eventually, I do have to go home," Daniel replied. "There's not a child care place here somewhere?"
"That is something we're going to have to think about," Marla offered. "As of yet, there are no young children."
"Maybe draw a couple people from their current jobs to make a child care center when it's needed?" Daniel asked. "It won't take many."
As they talked about the child care center, Astrid got quiet. Marla and Daniel sat figuring out who would be the best candidates and where to put the center, in a safe place within the caverns that was close enough to the living spaces so no one would have to go out of their way.
When dinner was over, Daniel help take the dishes to the kitchen and thanked Marla for a nice meal. Astrid did also, with her hand holding his then bid Marla a good evening. When she moved to leave, she tugged Daniel with her, then looked down at their hands like she hadn't realized she was holding his hand.
"I'm coming, don't have to pull," Daniel told her with a cooked grin.
Astrid cast him a smile and led him out.
On the way back to his place, Daniel asked, "Umm, Astrid? Wasn't the whole point of visiting Marla to gt me to help her have a baby?"
"Of course!' Astrid said firmly. "You just don't walk in and jump in bed, that would be rather crude. You got to meet her, and those are some good suggestions you have for a child care center. We will need one. I think Marla is a fine girl, don't you?"
"I do" Daniel agreed. "You know, it does bother me a bit I might have a child here when I leave. I don't like the idea of abandoning my children."
With a shrug Astrid said, "Then don't. You can stay as long as you like."
"There is a chance I'll be reassigned," he told her.
"Ask to stay, we can really use the help," Astrid offered.
Daniel only nodded. His big concern now was if Astrid was going to become violent if he rejected her. There was no way he wanted to get in a fight with a woman. Coming to his door, Astrid opened it and led him in with a big smile on her face.
"Let's practice some more," she said.
Daniel didn't feel like it, but her soft manner, sexiness and coaxing, Astrid overcame his resistance. Once again, he succumbed to her wishes.
.
The plane ride to Palmdale was uneventful but did prove the communications worked. John got a message from Derek that the mice were loose, meaning the Segment killing teams were on their way. Marisa was cleaning up leftover terminators in Northern Europe and Tina was in the process of finishing up recapturing Crete. A small operation to Malta revealed the largest concentration of humans found so far. No bombs had landed there, and the entire population had hidden in the deep cavern system there when terminators had arrived. The only casualties from Sky Net 'scowering' the island were some RAF planes and ships in the harbor, along with the few who could not get under ground.
John slept through the trip to Hawaii. The island being developed her been the last island to the north. The pilot winced at setting down on a shorter than normal runway, but did it. When they left, he had to hold the brakes until the plane was at full thrust, then use the entire runway to get back up into the air. Another long, boring trip to Australia to land at the remains of a real airport, then a personnel carrier drove them to a place called Townsville where the Regional Governor for Queensland was.
While John met with the Governor and they contacted the Prime Minister to get together, Cameron found out where Daniel was stationed. He was helping to get a fish farm started in caverns by a dam. While it was too far to go and leave John, it was on their way to go see the Prime Minister.
.
In his apartment cavern, or 'hole' as they called them, Daniel and Astrid were on the couch, Daniel using Astrid's lap for a pillow. They were both in light robes. Having 'tried again' to make a baby, they were waiting for the water to heat up so they could share a bath.
A knock came at the door. Daniel rose to get it. Astrid put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Let me, it's probable Marla." She went over to open the door and greet Marla. It wasn't Marla, or anyone she knew. It was a young brunette in a military uniform. "Can I help you?" she asked.
Cameron tipped her head slightly, noticing Astrid's robe. "Yes, you can help me," Cameron said flatly. "Tell me why you are in my father's apartment dressed like that."
Daniel was up like a shot and ran to the door. "Cameron?" he asked in a squeak.
Cameron noted he, like the woman, was wearing nothing but a light robe. "What's going on here?" she asked.
"We're waiting for the water to heat yo so we can take a bath," Astrid replied.
Raising an eyebrow, Cameron asked, "We?"
"Is there something wrong with that?" Astrid asked tightly.
Even as Astrid asked it, Daniel knew there was plenty wrong with it. Cameron cast him her terminator stare. He felt like crawling under that couch. "Is this bitch-whore why you wanted to come here?" Cameron asked him.
"What did you call me?" Astrid asked in indignation.
To try to save some of the situation, Daniel said, "Ahh, Astrid, I need to talk to Cameron, can I see you later?"
Astrid cast him a questioning look and asked, "Did you hear what she called me?"
"Astrid, really, I have to talk to Cameron," Daniel pleaded.
"Yes, you do," Cameron said flatly.
Astrid glared at Cameron and barked, "Come back when you have manners!" She tried shutting the door in Cameron's face. The door exploded in, sending Astrid tumbling to the floor. Cameron strode in and asked Daniel, "What is going on here?"
Shooting up, Astrid growled, "You're getting your ass kicked!"
"Not by you," Cameron replied.
"ASTRID, NO!" Daniel cried and got between them, arms out to the sides. Astrid made an attempt to get by him, but he kept her at bay. "Astrid! Do. Not. fight. Cameron!" he shouted at her.
"Who the hell is she that she can just waltz in here and call me names?" Astrid replied in a shout.
"You are not going to fight with my daughter!" Daniel yelled back.
"She needs to be slapped around and learn some respect!" Astrid shot back.
"Someone need to show respect for other people's wives," Cameron stated.
"YOU shut up!" Astrid snapped.
Cameron grew an unpleasant grin. "Move Dad, let her be the stupid bitch-whore if she wants."
Frustrated, Daniel yelled, "Astrid, Cameron will rip you to pieces! Just …. go wait in the bedroom or something, will you, please?"
"Yes, Bitch-whore, go away," Cameron agreed.
Astrid tried again to lunge at Cameron. Daniel kept her back. He tried to push her back to the bedroom door, but she spun and got behind him. She raced at Cameron, raising a hand to slap her. Cameron caught her wrist. A cracking sounded and Astrid dropped to her knees screaming in pain. Cameron tossed Astrid's arm aside, Astrid fell to the floor holding her damaged wrist. Focusing on Daniel, Cameron asked, "Explain yourself."
Daniel was about to tell Cameron how complicated it was when Astrid struggled to her feet wearing a sneer aimed at Cameron. Not even looking at her, Cameron swung a hand and batted Astrid back down to the floor. "Now, I want an explanation," Cameron said flatly.
"There are no men here and she wanted a baby," Daniel said. Right after he said it, it sounded very wrong even to him.
"You don't think mother will mind you humping this bitch-whore while you're here?" Cameron asked flatly.
"Stop calling me that!" Astrid whined.
"Well?" Cameron asked, ignoring the bitch-whore in the floor.
"I didn't think, OK!" Daniel cried.
Cameron regarded him and said, "Now you will think, and you will chose. Stay here and fuck your bitch-whore, or go home to Mom. If you stay, you won't be coming back, ever. If you go, you will be leaving with me."
On the floor, Astrid glared up at Cameron through her tousled hair that was half over her face. "You can't make my Daniel go anywhere!" she snapped.
"Are you going to tell Claire?" Daniel asked meekly.
"I'm not. You are," Cameron stated. "Do you want to tell Allison why this bitch-whore is more important than she is."
Daniel winced at that. "I'm … so sorry. I'll get my things," he said and went in the bedroom.
"Daniel?" Astrid asked weakly. "Daniel, you don't have to go. Please, don't go." Seeing Daniel putting clothes in a suitcase, Astrid glared up at Cameron. "You are doing this to him! YOU are making him leave me!"
Cameron ignored the bitch-whore's rants until she got back up on her feet. One well placed punch in the face knocked Astrid down and out.
When Daniel came out dressed and with his bag, he glanced at Astrid, lying on the floor. "Tell me you didn't kill her," he asked weakly.
"Not yet," Cameron replied. She turned and left with Daniel following her.
Daniel was quiet as they rode to see the Prime Minister. After they left the caverns, Cameron said nothing about Astrid, or how she found him with her. Cameron only told John her Dad was having some troubles and needed to get home. Although Cameron was a little on the harsh side, he was glad that Cameron had come and collected him.
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Sky Net Kursk and Sky Net Turkey came up with a plan that was sure to work. The battle analysis they got was not much, but now they knew humans had made some terminators to help them as well as fast vehicles with plasma canons. To defeat them, what was needed were deep trenches and spiked barriers. Let the humans machines charge into these, then after the trapped machines were destroyed, Sky Net could attack the humans hiding behind them. Steep walled 20 foot deep trenches first, then the spiked barriers, and terminators under cover behind the barriers. Only after humans attacked, would the H/K tanks and H/K's join the battle to remove the human machines. To study the effectiveness of the tactic, high flying H/K's would observe and report, not get entangled in the battle. All along the line from the Baltic sea down to Black Sea, Sky Net had terminators working on these defenses. In the ruined city of Istanbul, the bridges across the straits to get into the Black sea were under heavy guard, with spiked barriers and more terminators behind the first line to prevent any crossing.
There were many underground caves and tunnels in Turkey. The entrances were blown up as they were found to prevent those humans from boiling up out of the ground in an attack. Poison gas was put down every vent and opening to help rid the area of humans. With Europe blocked off, Sky Net insisted every human in it's territories were terminated. Once it was clear no more humans existed anywhere but Europe, then the mass attack on Europe would begin to wipe out every last human left alive.
Sky Net then picked up a radio message it tracked from Southeast Asia. The message decoded was in Vietnamese. It was : All colonies, hold tight and stay hidden. John Connor is coming. He will remove the terror that grips our land.
Sky Net was confused by this. The last report put Connor in Europe. How could Connor travel thought Sky Net territory from Europe to Vietnam? How did those people even know about John Connor? H/K's were sent to bomb the location the signal came from. Terminators were also send to look for these humans, and any caves they may be hiding in. Sky Net needed good infiltrators to find and terminate John Connor before things got worse. It was still a mystery as to how Connor had gotten from the west coast of North America to Europe to begin with, let alone how he managed to raise such a large army. John Connor needed to be terminated.
Humans had also been seen in Australia, and fewer and fewer units were reporting back. Sky Net North America has to step up it's progress there. It claimed the situation was under control, but needed to cover the whole continent before the operation was complete. Sky Net segments in Asia were all supplying the European line, and factories were pumping out units to send more, so for the moment, There was no help for Sky Net North America in Australia.
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John Henry passed the information he got from Asian segments orders and forwarded them on to John Connor's command center. The 'trench line' was an important piece of news, as was the fact Asian Sky Net segments knew people were in Australia. That meant things could be heating up there soon. He also send word that people in Vietnam were holding out, waiting for help. After the items he reported, he sent the locations of every Sky Net segment in Asia.