CHAPTER 22

The engines of the Skynet Aerial Transport roared to life and the thrust from its jet engines blew dirt and debris into the air forming a plume of dust around the aircraft. The transport somewhat resembled its Aerial HK counterpart, except for the fact that it was much larger. Slowly it took flight. As it rose into the crisp morning air it gradually began to make a large sweeping circle around what had once been the resistance base.

John Connor stood quiet and stone faced staring out the aircraft's window. Unconscious and chained to a cot next to him lay Alison Young. As the rumble and vibration from the engines shook the interior of the ship she quietly moaned, stirring every so slightly from her drugged stupor. Without moving his head, John flicked his eyes over to look at her. While she had fought valiantly at first, after being forcefully drugged by Danny, Alison had not been able to put up much of a fight. A few seconds of reflection passed before John's gaze returned to the events still unfolding beneath him. The last forlorn remnants of the Reese Faction were being dispatched by Skynet forces. John stared down as plasma fire was exchanged between the now completely overwhelming machine army and the few remaining soldiers still fighting hopelessly. John assumed most of the humans would be killed; although some might be brought back as prisoners. It would be better if they died.

Alison again moaned softly, however this time John did not notice. His eyes were affixed on what was occurring below them. There was no visible emotion at all on his face; nevertheless John continued to stare out the window of the aircraft at the closing moments of the conflict. The Centurion HK was now making its way across the battle field, completely overpowering the remaining Reese Faction members.

John was experiencing a peculiar tunnel vision. He could see nothing else around him. He saw only the last few desperate moments of the invasion that was still occurring. He did not move, but a few muscles along his brow twitched slightly as his cold facial expression remained. Then suddenly, from his right eye, a tear slowly ran down his cheek. At first he did not notice it, but when he did realize its presence the tear startled John. He cautiously reached up with his hand and brushed it away from his face. This instinctive reaction broke his gaze away from the events that were playing out far below the transport.

After wiping the tear away from his cheek with his right hand John found himself staring at the liquid that was now on his fingertips. His eyes widened and his facial expression changed to one that could only be described as a combination of fear and despair. Slowly closing his hand into a fist he moved it away from his field of vision. He took a deep breath and looked back out the window of the aerial transport. The location of the battle was now almost too far away for him to see. However, he was still able to make out the last brightly colored streaks of plasma rifle fire. John watched as the battlefield fell further and further away until he could no longer view it. Once it was completely out of sight John took another slow deep breath and made his way closer to Alison who remained unconscious. Slowly reaching out with his hand, John moved to within inches of touching her cheek, but just before he could make contact Alison quietly moaned and shifted her body's position. John's hand immediately froze. Another look of sorrow crept its way back into John's eyes as he gazed upon her. Seconds drifted by and still he stared at Alison. Struggling to keep his silence, but unable to do so John finally spoke,

"I'm sorry…" He whispered in a barely audible tone. He remained motionless in his position over Alison for another few moments until he was finally able to break himself from his trance. Taking a half step away from her and withdrawing his hand, John gradually moved back over to the window and resumed staring out of it with a vacant, hollow look in his eyes.

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"There's nothing left…" Sergeant Spears stated in a solemn voice as he leaned back in his chair and away from the circular table that was located inside the relatively well lit command room.

"Nothing?…" Master Sergeant Wilder asked in a somewhat shocked voice. Matthew Spears nodded his head.

"The entire base…it's been completely wiped out, I couldn't find any survivors." Spears paused momentarily as he glanced over at Savannah whose eyes immediately flicked away from everyone and down towards the large table that was in front of her.

"Skynet has probably captured whoever survived. God only knows what will be done to them." Captain Livie said. He rubbed his eyes momentarily before looking back over at Savannah who now appeared to be taking the brunt of all the hostile stares in the room.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him." Sergeant Parker immediately stated with an accusatory tone directed at Savannah.

"We don't know that John was responsible for this." Savannah immediately responded as she looked back up defiantly.

"Do you honestly believe that?" Lieutenant Cardoza quickly asked. His tone was less harsh than Parker's, but still that of an inquisitor.

"John is not here to hurt us." Savannah stated.

"Then why would he lead Skynet straight to the Reese Faction." Quickly running out of explanations and excuses Savannah's thoughts whirled through her head. She offered the only reasonable answer she could think of.

"I told you, they have his friend. He's desperate to save her."

"That's one hell of a friend…" Parker replied arrogantly, "…I don't know that I'd screw over an entire faction just because of a friend." Savannah shot Parker a disdainful look.

"That's probably because you never understood what a true friendship consisted of." A look of anger immediately streaked across Parker's face as he rose from his chair preparing to argue.

"Enough…" Livie said in an aggravated voice, quickly putting a stop to the confrontation. "This situation is quickly spiraling out of control. Connor not only knew the location of the Reese Faction, but he knows our location as well." A few sets of eyes again glared at Savannah. This time, however she did not recoil away from them.

"He's not going to turn on us." Savannah stated.

"How do you know?" Livie asked. Savannah shifted nervously in her seat.

"The Reese faction tortured him, they all but killed him."

"So he just wanted revenge then?" Master Sergeant Wilder asked. Savannah hesitated; she knew full well that she could not tell the group the entire truth revolving around both Alison and Cameron.

"I…I don't think so." Savannah finally responded.

"Then why?" Wilder probed further.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he'll try to make contact with me eventually."

"No…" Livie quickly stated. "If he makes contact with you, you are to come to me immediately. Do you understand?" Savannah momentarily paused before finally nodding her head in acquiescence.

"We need to make a decision on whether or not we're going to stay here." Cardoza said. "The infrastructure we've established is not going to be an easy one to replace."

"Agreed…" Livie stated, and then added, "It needs to be put to a vote." A few more sets of heads nodded as the room once again fell silent.

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John's face lacked all expression on it as he walked through the brilliantly lit hallway of the Skynet base. The air was cool and there was little to no sound save for the humming of air conditioning fans. Every so often a clicking sound of metal against metal would be heard as a machine walked past him. Usually it was a T-888 or sometimes it was a much smaller four legged repair robot. These repair bots were only about three feet tall; they had a small camera for a head and two flexible arms that had three fingered hands attached to them. John had for some reason nicknamed them "doozers". He had noted that they seemed almost fearful in nature as they scurried about doing menial tasks. Whenever he or anyone else was around the doozers "appeared" to shy away. If John had cared he may have taken more of an interest into this unique behavior, but he disregarded it as a programming anomaly. John's expression was so cold, so devoid of interest he could have easily been mistaken for an infiltrator, except for the fact that his face was still bruised and his left arm still bandaged from where Kyle had cut him.

John wandered through the hallways not exactly sure of his final destination, although he knew he was headed in the general direction of his quarters…albeit in a roundabout way.

"John…" A voice called out from behind him. He ignored it and continued on. A few seconds later he heard it a second time.

"John…" The voice said again. He sighed already having recognized the female's voice. John stopped walking, but he did not turn around.

Jody sidled up to him. He immediately noticed that she had changed clothes again. John was somewhat surprised by the seemingly extensive wardrobe that she appeared to have been provided. This must have been one of the "perks" of being a traitor. Jody was more modestly dressed now, although she still exuded an aura of sexuality. She wore boots, snug black BDU pants, a tight fitting yet less revealing brown tank top and a blue BDU jacket.

"I'm glad I caught you." She said as she stepped around in front of him. "I wanted to see if you were okay?" John gave no visible reaction, but found himself perplexed by the question. Jody then glanced downward, almost as if she were ashamed.

"Plus, I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior." John reaction was subtle, but his facial muscles did twitch slightly. He still did not respond verbally though. Immediately noticing the reaction Jody continued.

"Things here are…" Jody paused, thinking for a brief moment, "…different." She said, then added, "Sometimes I assume too much and forget that there is a completely different outlook on certain situations than what I've grown accustomed to." John still gave no response, but continued to listen.

"I was only trying to make a difficult transition easier for you. To…" Jody stuttered slightly, "…to try and take your mind off of things. Obviously, I took it a bit too far and for that I apologize." Jody looked up at John with her soft hazel eyes, coyly awaiting a response. John slowly nodded his head, still giving no verbal response, but allowing his facial expression to soften every so slightly. Jody responded with half smile,

"Well I have work to attend to, but if you need a friend I'll be around…" Jody moved out of John's way; he however did not immediately move, instead he gazed at Jody for a brief moment. John found that an odd sense of morbid curiosity came over him about Jody and her situation. She had a certain warped uniqueness about her, one that he had never encountered before. She was indeed an enigma to him. After a few moments of examination John looked away and proceeded onwards down the hall.

Jody watched as John walked away from her. She maintained the same soft look about her face until he rounded a bend in the hallway and disappeared from her field of vision. Then instantly her sly smile and the seductive look in her eyes returned. Jody was happy to see how well she was able to follow Fischer's training for this type of situation. Upon her first encounter with John, Jody had done what she normally did when trying to elicit information. She had relied on pure sexuality to entice him. It had worked numerous times for her in the past, whether overtly or more subtly Jody had found it was relatively easy to entice people into doing whatever she wanted them to do. Whether it was by playing the damsel in distress or the sultry vixen most males and many females for that matter seemed to respond instantly to either scenario. But, John was different; Jody now understood that she was going to have to try something much more refined, more crafty with him. Jody turned and walked in the opposite direction, all the while maintaining a devilish smile on her face.

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Danny Dyson walked into the large, brightly lit room. The stainless steel walls only intensified the light and he noted that the temperature was so cold his breath was visible when he exhaled. A large display was at the front of the room. Images flashed across it so quickly that he was unable to determine exactly what they were. The quiet drone of air conditioning fans was for the moment the only sound that he could hear.

"SPEAK!" A dark voice said loudly. The sound came from everywhere and nowhere. He looked around briefly before responding.

"It was as I suspected, I do not believe Connor will ever be completely dedicated to us." There was a momentary pause as an image of John quickly flashed on the display in front of Danny.

"EXPLAIN…" The voice asked.

"Connor had an opportunity to kill a resistance soldier…he did not take it."

"WHO?"

"I'm not sure." Danny said in a somewhat confused voice. "I believe it may have been someone of ranking importance though."

"UNFORTUNATE…"

"Yes it is…" Danny replied. "If you would like I can terminate him."

"NEGATIVE…" The voice immediately shot back. This produced a slightly confused look about Danny's face.

"INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE HAS BEEN PRESENTED AT THIS POINT TO WARRANT A TERMINATION." There was a momentary pause before the voice continued,

"A BROKEN AND DEFEATED JOHN CONNOR WILL BE OF MORE USE TO US THAN A TERMINATED ONE." Danny's facial expression changed to one of disappointment upon hearing this, but he didn't even consider arguing.

"OTHER SCENARIOS STILL NEED TO BE EXPLORED." There was another brief pause before the voice spoke again.

"THE CHIP?" The voice asked as a schematic of a Terminator's chip displayed on the screen at the front of the room.

"We still have it..." Danny said, but then continued, "…and we have altered it as you have instructed."

"EXCELLENT…" Danny's eyes narrowed slightly and an evil smiled formed on his face.

"I believe it will be most effective when the time comes." Suddenly an image of Cameron burst onto the screen in front of Danny. His depraved smile only increased upon seeing this.

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The metal door slid open with a hiss and a few moments later Charles Fischer stepped through the doorway and into the hall.

"Find out anything interesting?" Jody asked as she looked up at Fischer who shook his head in response.

"She's tougher than she looks, but I think this situation needs a more…" Fischer paused momentarily as he reached out and caressed the side of Jody's face with the back of his hand.

"…feminine touch." Jody responded with a wildly erotic smile. Fischer then motioned with his head towards the doorway and she quickly slipped past him and into the room. The door closed behind her with another hiss.

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The room itself was octagonal in shape with various work stations scattered about it. Some of the tables had computers on them while others contained medical utensils or cases of vials with some form of "medication" in them. The room was well illuminated and at its center were two metal tables with examination lights over them. One of the tables was empty while the other held a young female wearing just an examination gown. She was held securely in place by metal restraints located above her head and at her ankles so that she was outstretched and could not move. Jody gracefully walked over to the table and the terrified female that lay helpless on it. When she reached it Jody looked down on the pretty young girl and produced a twisted smile.

"Hello Alison…" she said, "My name is Jody…and I'm so happy I finally get to meet you."

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Author's Notes: Review! Review! Review!