CHAPTER 27

A cool, gentle breeze blew through the air, causing a few strands of Savannah's red hair to blow across her face. Sitting on the ledge of a large above ground parking lot she rested her back up against one of the concrete support pillars and sighed as she gazed out across the post apocalyptic scenery that lay before her; long ago this wasteland had become her home. Raising an old Jack Daniels bottle to her lips she took a long sip of the clear liquid inside. It was not whiskey; it was barely drinkable in fact. If she had been forced to describe the flavor she would have characterized it as a cross between rubbing alcohol and turpentine. The flavor of resistance distilled alcohol might leave much to be desired, but it still got the job done. The liquid burned as it ran down her throat and she cringed slightly as a fuzzy, disconnected feeling began to pull its way over her.

The glistening reddish orange sun was just beginning to set over the horizon. Its color produced an eerie yet beautiful illumination of the landscape which contained burnt out or half destroyed buildings, abandoned vehicles, and human remains. It was all that was left of a once great city. This was actually one of the two safest times for a human to be out and about. It was too bright for the machines to use any kind of night vision; however it was becoming just dark enough for regular optics to be impaired. Often in times of confusion such as these Savannah would find herself alone and in this secluded location. Reaching up she brushed the hair which had blown into her face out of the way and tucked it behind her ear.

Feeling a slight shiver run through her body from the cool wind she pulled her BDU jacket closed to try and keep herself warm. As she did this she felt the cold steel of the key which still hung around her neck and under her shirt press up against her skin. This sent a chill down her spine. Savannah took another drink from the bottle in her hand before carefully setting it down in front of her. Reaching into the breast pocket of her jacket Savannah retrieved a pack of Marlboro Cigarettes and a Zippo lighter. In post Judgment Day society cigarettes fetched a steep price and Savannah only sought out their use in times of particularly unique stress. Opening the small box she took out one of 5 remaining cigarettes and placed it between her lips before returning the pack to her jacket pocket. Flicking open the top cover of her lighter she struck the igniter with her thumb. It immediately produced an orange colored flame and Savannah raised it to the cigarette, lighting it. She took a long drag and drew the smoke into her lungs and held it there for a few moments before exhaling through her nose. She snapped the top cover of the lighter closed and placed it back into her pocket as she took another puff.

The height of parking deck allowed her to see for miles. With a blank emotionless stare and bloodshot, glassy eyes she slowly scanned the horizon in front of her and saw nothing of any particular interest. There appeared to be no signs of life of either the human or machine kind. Momentarily savoring the quiet stillness Savannah briefly closed her eyes as she rested her head back against the stone like pillar located behind her. Raising the cigarette to her mouth she again drew more smoke into her lungs before slowly breathing it back out. Were it not for the fact that she knew it would be incredibly dangerous she felt relaxed enough to fall asleep in this now serene place. Gradually opening her eyes Savannah looked to the northeast. She picked up the Jack Daniels bottle and raised it to her lips taking another sip. Squinting her eyes she continued to search the horizon.

"Where are you John?" She said quietly before allowing herself to slip back into the silence. A few moments passed and she began to hear the distant drone of a jet engine, a Skynet Aerial HK to be more precise. Glancing around for a quick moment Savannah carefully slid herself off the ledge where she had been perched and down onto the concrete floor of the parking deck. She then hastily made her way over to one of the exit staircase corridors and disappeared through the doorway.

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Cameron lay in bed next to John, her brown hair cascading down over her pillow. She quietly studied him as he lay on his side in front of her. His eyes were closed, but she was unsure if he was actually asleep. However, for the moment he did at least appear to be slightly more relaxed than what he had been before. Given the circumstances surrounding him, Cameron understood that John had become desperately in need of some form of solace in order to escape from the dreadful circumstances that had beset him. He had been on edge ever since she had returned. That was up until very recently at least. The last hour Cameron had spent with John had been incredibly unique. She was not sure exactly how to properly formulate a description for what she had undergone, but the best analogy she could come up with was that the experience had been a pleasurable one for her. Even if she did not fully understand it Cameron found that she was experiencing a unique series of stimuli throughout her consciousness. She found that she was savoring the brief moment of peace she and John now had, even if it was very likely that it would be their last.

John's eyes slowly opened and were met with Cameron's brown eyed gaze.

Was she watching me sleep? John thought to himself. During their short stay at the hotel room immediately after his mother's capture John had awakened to find Cameron watching him sleep. His words to her had been less than kind. Yet, now he found that his feelings for the situation had changed drastically. In actuality he now seemed to like it; in fact John found this entire scene to be quite soothing, an albeit temporary haven from the horrors that surrounded him. They gazed quietly at each other for several more seconds neither one saying anything until Cameron at last broke the silence.

"Hello..." She said. John cracked a faint smile at Cameron's simple greeting.

"Hello..." He responded, and then asked, "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yes..."

"For how long?"

"Not long." she responded. John took a long slow breath; he did not want to move. Compared to everything else that had happened in the past week this moment was so quiet, so serene; he wanted nothing more than to escape in it. But sadly, he knew he could not do this, there was much that needed to be done, and only a short time allotted for him to do it in. Still, John did not immediately move, he waited quietly, cherishing every moment he had left with Cameron. Seconds drifted by as John and Cameron continued to stare at each other. At last John spoke,

"I should go...I need to meet with Fischer." It pained him to say this. Cameron nodded her head in response.

"I understand." she said. Immediately after speaking Cameron sensed another unique sensation. This one was more somber; disappointment possibly.

John moved over to the side of the bed and sat up, scanning the area around him for his clothes. When he was finally able to locate them he began to dress himself. Cameron remained quietly in bed next to him.

Is she watching me get dressed? John wondered to himself. No matter... It was nice to think that she would want to do that.

Once clothed John slowly stood and turned to face Cameron who was still lying naked on the bed.

"This shouldn't take too long..." he said. "You should stay here, just to be on the safe side." Cameron did not respond, but remained on her side still looking at John. Her gaze was beginning to make him slightly nervous, however not in a bad way.

"What?" he asked chuckling slightly.

"It is nothing." Cameron said, before adding, "Your shirt is on inside out." John glanced down at his shoulder seeing the visible seam of the shirt.

Hhmm...Good one John. He thought to himself as he quickly pulled his shirt off and corrected the obvious error. After doing so he looked back at Cameron,

"I'll be back soon." he said. Cameron nodded her head as John turned away from her and walked out of the door to his room. Once the door closed behind him she waited for several seconds to pass by in order to ensure his departure. She then quickly rose from the bed grabbing her own clothing. She dressed herself quickly and after zipping up her boots she walked purposefully out of John's quarters.

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The two sets of elevator doors closed behind John and he stepped further into Fischer's command and control center. He was unsure of what else he could call it. He had concluded that this was not the principal nerve center for Skynet, but it was where Fischer seemed to spend most of his time, that is when he wasn't torturing innocent people to death. As he had noted before the room itself was relatively well secured only being accessed by an independent elevator system. John made his way past the large support pillars and down the small sets of stairs at the center of the room. He walked towards the white glass topped table at the center of the room. He found Fischer was leaning over the table, intently studying something. Exactly what had his attention at the time John was momentarily unable to tell. There were several T-888's walking about the room and even a small number of other human Greys that also milled about doing assigned tasks. A few doozers were here and there and appeared to be making preventative maintenance repairs on different computer consoles.

"John..." Fischer said as he looked up from the table. "...it's good to see you again. I take it you and Cameron were able to take some time to catch up?" John fought the urge to snarl at Fischer as he assumed that Fischer knew exactly what had occurred between Cameron and him. As John looked at him, he struggled against the urge to jump across the table and exact some form of revenge for all that Fischer had done, for all that he had roped John into doing. Knowing that the longer it took for him to respond the more peculiar it would appear John managed to crack a slight smirk and then spoke.

"Yes, we were."

"Good..." Fischer said as his fingers made contact with a few different places on the touch screen computer screen table in front of him. Moving a bit closer to Fischer John spoke again.

"I need to speak with you." Fischer glanced up from his work.

"You want to know where the time displacement equipment is..." His response was cold and calculating. John was thrown off guard for a brief moment and he displayed a slightly confused look.

"It is a logical question." Fischer stated and then continued, "Now that you have Cameron back, it would stand to reason that you would want to take her back to the proper timeline." John slowly nodded his head before a silence fell over the room once again.

"So..." John said.

"So what?" Fischer asked.

"So where is the time displacement equipment?"

"It is here..." Fischer's voice was flat and emotionless. John took a half step forward.

Surely it can't be this easy... He thought to himself.

"Where?" he then asked at which point Fischer stopped working and chuckled slightly.

"Patience John...you have all the time in the world." John glared at Fischer not amused at the ironic connotation behind the joke.

"Where is it?" John asked again, his voice lowering slightly as he allowed some anger to slip through. Fischer shook his head.

"Relax John, we'll get to that. But before we do I need to ask you another favor." John look immediately grew suspicious.

"I believe you are familiar with Savannah Weaver, are you not?" John briefly hesitated before he answered. He knew that if he gave the wrong response the consequences could be disastrous.

"I am familiar with her, yes." John stated as he felt his anxiety growing.

"Skynet would be very appreciative of any information you could provide us with in reference to the location of her faction's base." Fischer paused briefly before continuing, "So appreciative that I'm sure it would be willing to send you and Cameron back. And all it would take would be for you to tell us where Savannah Weaver is located." There was another brief hesitation before he continued, "You and I both know that you've always known the location." Fischer said in an obvious tone. "And to dispense with this little cat and mouse game I will be blunt. You tell us where Savannah Weaver is and Skynet will send you and Cameron back." John felt his anger growing. Excluding Cameron, Savannah had been the one true friend he had known in this timeline. He had tried to lie his way out of telling Fischer about her before, but it seemed that this time he would not be so lucky. The room grew quiet as it now appeared that everyone in the immediate area, both man and machine were awaiting John's response. John continued to feel his rage and fury growing the longer he looked at Fischer, the despicable traitor that was trying to drag him further and further into hell.

Suddenly, Fischer produced an eerie grin on his face.

"You know your friend has a VERY unique chip." John raised his eyebrows as an uneasy feeling settling over him.

"Her program is unlike any other one I've seen before." There was a weighted pause before he continued,

"Tell me John...Did you know there is now an explosive device lodged beside her chip?" John felt as if his heart nearly dropped into his stomach when he heard Fischer utter these words.

No…not again. He thought to himself as he took a step towards Fischer his anger now etched across his face. John was trembling with fury.
"Easy John..." Fischer said in a voice that could only be described as pure evil, "Just tell us where the base is and no harm will befall Cameron." John's thoughts continued to race through is mind. While he desperately wanted to do it, he knew that killing Fischer now would accomplish nothing at all. In fact it would more than likely lead to Cameron's immediate death. A plethora of thoughts streaked through John's head. Should he lie? Should he fight? Should he tell the truth and sacrifice even more lives. He didn't have much time to decide and he struggled to come up with the best possible answer. Then suddenly it came to him. The idea was so perfect John could hardly believe it; he had to fight against the urge to smile.

"Alright..." He said in a low voice. He then moved closer to the touch screen table.

"Show me a map…"

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Savannah Weaver lay on top of the covers of her bed wearing nothing but a pair of black panties and a dark green tank top, her forearm was draped across her face to shield her eyes from the dim light that was inside the room. Her right leg dangled off the bed near where the nearly empty Jack Daniels bottle lay on the floor. Her gun belt and the rest of her clothing were strewn about the room. Savannah's head ached; this was one of several side effects of the resistance's home brewed alcohol. It did not matter though, for the moment she just wanted to escape from everything and everyone. Her credibility had been severely damaged, possibly even destroyed, the command staff's trust in her was waning, Parker was gaining more and more support by the hour, and if he had his way, Savannah would be thrown out of the faction completely. And to complicate matters further she found that her thoughts constantly drifted back to John. He had been the source of a great deal of her troubles, yet she still trusted him, still longed to see him again.

There was a light tapping on the door and Savannah expelled a long and heavy sigh, she just wanted to sleep.

"Yes..." She responded in a somewhat exasperated tone as she slowly sat up from her bed and swung her legs over to the side so she could face the door before standing.

"Ms. Weaver..." A voice said from behind the door, "It's Sergeant Pyle..."

"Yes...come in." Savannah was still annoyed, but she attempted to soften her tone; Pyle had always been kind to her, in fact he had saved her life.

Kevin Pyle moved through the now open door and walked into Savannah's room.

"Ms. Weaver..." He said again before pausing as he immediately noticed her extreme lack of clothing.

"I told you to call me Savannah..." She said in a groggy voice as she stood and walked over to one of the lockers located against the wall. She opened it and retrieved a canteen filled with water.

"Ms. Weaver was my mother..." Savannah said before taking a drink.

"I'm sorry..." Kevin responded as he glanced nervously down towards the ground for a split second and then looked back up at her. He then stood silently for a moment gazing at the beautiful and practically naked woman standing in front of him. Taking a second drink from her canteen Savannah turned away from the locker and faced Pyle. As she looked at him she shifted her weight on her hips and raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Was there something you needed?" she asked still trying to maintain a kinder tone of voice. She knew Kevin was not trying to stare; he was merely surprised by the circumstances in which he had found her. If it had been any other time she might have found his reaction amusing, possibly even flattering, she may have even chosen to give in to the temptation of the moment. But, there was so much more on Savannah's mind that at this point any pleasure or arousal she might have received from the situation was completely gone.

Gathering his thoughts Sergeant Pyle was finally able to speak.

"There is a message for you." he said.

"A message for me?" Savannah asked with some confusion in her voice. "From who?"

"It did not say. They just mentioned you by name and said they had valuable information regarding your friend...John Connor." Savannah's eyes perked up slightly as she quickly looked around the room for the rest of her clothing. Locating a pair of pants, a jacket, and her boots she dressed quickly.

"Let's go..." She said as moved passed Pyle who still stood somewhat surprised near the doorway.

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The room was cold and Cameron could see her breath as she emulated a human's breathing pattern. The space around her was strangely barren, save for the large monitor located at the front of the room which at the moment just displayed an inky blackness. Cameron slowly looked around the stainless steel enclosure. The high intensity florescent lighting coupled with the polished metal made the illumination nearly blinding. She walked forward until she reached the center of the room and then she stopped. Except for the drone of air conditioning fans there was no sound. Cameron stood silently for several seconds...waiting. She then slowly looked around.

"I am here..." she said flatly, but received no response. She glanced around one more time; an ever so slight look of annoyance began to show on her face. After waiting another few seconds Cameron turned away from the blank display and started to walk out of the room.

Suddenly before she was able to exit she heard the voice,

"SPEAK!" Again the sound came from everywhere and yet nowhere. Cameron stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. The monitor now displayed a schematic of her own endoskeleton. There was another few seconds of silence before she spoke.

"I have obtained valuable information that I think you should be made aware of..." There was a brief pause before the voice responded,

"PROCEED..."

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Author's Notes: Review! Review!