Alright! So I'm going to try and update this one once a week (don't laugh) :)
This one is also a tribute to a Lonesome Dove ... sort of
Old Enemies
The full moon had a soft blue hue that radiated the desolate, flat wasteland and cliffs bellow. In the middle of the barren climate ran a thin yet powerful flowing river. It glided with a gentle and peaceful sloshing.
In the soft light two occupants sat quietly observing the landscape, enjoying the still quiet and solitude of the night.
"So…where were you the last twenty years and while you're at it can you give the name of your plastic surgeon?" Ryan said in deadpan sitting on top of a large boulder. Sarah smiled softly as she sat at the base of the large rock, using it as a back support.
"Not sure, one second I was in prison the next…." Sarah stopped mid sentence as flashes of lying half naked on a cold examine table, and the frightening sallow brown eyes of doctor Kogen haunted her.
"The Next?" Ryan pushed nonchalantly as he brought binoculars to his eyes. Sarah blinked and looked up at him conflicted whither to tell him or not about the strange and suspicious event that lead to her appearance in the future.
"He's my boy …well my blood either way. But if John raised him like a Connor then I'll be under suspicion. No scars, no memory of the last twenty years or of a time Jump. If I were him I wouldn't trust me." Sarah sighed sadly looking at his very hawk like observation of the flat land ahead.
"I woke up naked in a field." Sarah finished staring down at the running water only several feet away.
"That's all your going to give me?" Ryan asked with a small annoyed tone.
"That's all I can give you." Sarah answered with a shrug shaking her head.
"So what's the theory?" Ryan asked coyly like someone who was playing a game.
"Theory?" Sarah asked, not liking where her "Grandchild" was taking this.
"TDE?" Ryan's almost mocking tone reminded Sarah of the many "shrinks" that came to talk to her at Pescadero just to see her, like she was some circus attraction or rare zoo animal.
"Isn't that the only explanation?" Sarah answered with slight aggression.
"I've seen others." Ryan said darkly loosing his arrogant tone. Sarah wasn't sure but she thought she heard him mutter a name "Marcus".
'What others?" Sarah asked with a more angry infliction in her voice, feeling like she was being silently accused of something. Ryan put the binoculars to his eyes again avoiding her glare.
"Don't worry about it." Ryan said quietly trying to end the conversation.
"No! You're going to tell me right now!" Sarah demanded right on his heels.
"Drop it!" Ryan returned the demand
"You listen to me! If you're accusing me of something, you better just say it!" Sarah said viciously with frustration and anger oozing with every word.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, NOW DROP IT!" Ryan yelled.
Suddenly there was a quiet silence as both realized they almost took it to far, they mastered there anger and catching there breath.
After several moments Ryan spoke.
"Mom and dad were right… you are a pain in the ass." Ryan breathed a chuckle trying to bridge the emotional gap that just formed. Sarah couldn't help but form a small smile at the comment knowing what he was trying to do.
"Look, I'm sorry…" Sarah started knowing that she had lost her composer over something minor.
"Don't be…If I woke up in this crap hole with no knowledge of where I was, Then find out that my pride and joy started a family with a cyborg while I was missing from his life… don't apologize … cause I get it." Ryan offered with an understanding look.
"Thank you" Sarah was grateful for the understanding and somewhat misty eyed and made her feel assured that she had somebody to help her through this very strange chapter in her already weird life.
It was quiet again for a while before anything was said.
"You know your not any saint yourself." Sarah attempted at a playful jab trying to help with the bridge construction.
"You're not wrong…but at least I know where I get it from." Ryan jabbed back with a smile.
***
It was a little past five and Sarah was feeling a little tired as she stared out at the now bleak and uninteresting no mans land, However she was never one for complaining or doing a half ass job. So she waited patiently every once in a while throwing a pebble or stone in the water.
She rubbed her eyes for a moment when a subtle and familiar tune rung out into the quiet night.
Sarah looked up to find Ryan playing a slow tune on a beat up looking harmonica.
"Moondance?" Sarah asked with a smile. Ryan winked and nodded before shutting his eyes as he continued.
Sarah listened to the song, as the notes mixed with the serenity of the running river created a peaceful feeling in Sarah that helped invoke Memories of the night at Tiki motel, and before she knew it she was singing with it.
"Well it a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
Neath the cover of October skies."
Ryan continued with the song as Sarah stopped being taken over by the memories.
She was eighteen again trying to go to sleep. The radio is on in the back ground, she watches Kyle listen intently as Moondance plays in the quiet room. It was at that moment seeing his child like wonder of the simplicity of the jazz song that Sarah knew, she knew she loved him.
Those lyrics would ever be burned her memory forever.
Sarah was so lost in her memories that she didn't hear Ryan stop playing.
"Who taught you that?" Sarah asked coming back to her senses while looking at the moons reflection in the water.
"The harmonica? …Mom." He answered with a small nostalgic sigh.
"Cameron taught you how to play the harmonica?" Sarah fixed him with a weird glare.
"Learning a musical Instrument helps a Childs brain development." Ryan stated in his best Cameron. Both laughed at the dead on impression.
Eventually the two stopped and there was several beats of silence.
"You miss her?" Sarah asked quietly
"Do I miss her constant reminders of safety or the smothering that was phrased as motherly codling? … everyday." He started with a chuckle but finished sadly.
"What were they like?" Sarah asked interested.
"Dad was uptight, but he was always willing to compromise and wasn't above having fun when mom was around…even during the war. Mom …was a hard girl to be around as a kid. She was cold and distant. She was never really good with emotional situations, but she always did enough…just enough to let you know she cared." Ryan trailed off sadly smiling at some distant childhood memory.
"Is that how you knew that machine at the Diner wasn't Cameron?" Sarah asked
"In my entire life I never saw mom act that way around anyone. Even when I was being an arrogant trouble maker, mom never yelled or raised a hand to me, though god knows I was asking for it." Ryan scratched his neck with a scoff.
"And John, what's he like, these days anyway?" Sarah asked with a maternal look of concern.
"I haven't seen him in five years." Ryan shrugged with laced bitterness. "Though when mom was taken it changed him. He became driven to near obsession. He was paranoid, intense, and broody. Every thing became do or die and training became life and death. Know your exits, never hesitate, when all else fails … you run and don't look back." Ryan listed off the sayings like they were programmed.
Sarah listened to Ryan describe John with a growing pain in her heart. John Connor, the hopeful, brave, and noble child she raised and loved was dead and was replaced by ….her.
Sarah wasn't sure what to say to Ryan or what she would say to John when she saw him again.
Ryan jumped off the boulder onto the ground keeping his shoulders square to the cliffs.
"Hand me my gun belt." Ryan said distractedly removing his leather jacket and dropping it on the supplies.
"Why, is there something out there?" Sarah asked standing slightly alarmed. Sarah heard a motor from afar. Looking over to the cliffs Sarah spotted a dark figure on what looked like a motorcycle come closer.
"The belt, please." Ryan called calmly. Sarah bent over picking it up and handing it to him.
Ryan snapped on the utility/gun belt on pulling out the .45 Colt sidearm checking the magazine.
"I need you to go and hide behind those rocks over there." Ryan said calmly placing the pistol back in its holster.
"Forget it" Sarah countered shaking her head.
"Look, you got to let me handle this, just trust me." Ryan placed a hand on Sarah's waist.
Sarah and Ryan shared a small moment before Sarah conceded.
Sarah quickly made her way to the rock formation keeping out of sight. After several minutes she watched a vintage Harley stop several yards from the river.
The Rider was tall and pale with long greasy black hair. He was clad in a tight leather vest and pants his pale upper body was covered in tattoos and tally marks that were carved into his chest. The man's bone structure was very primal and his eyes were dark and predator like.
The rider dismounted the bike and walked to the river crossing were Ryan sat causally on a rock near the river.
"I came here for the water." The man announced to Ryan with some distain. His voice sounded growled and demonic with a hint of Slavic in it.
"By all means, free country." Ryan gestured to the water. The rider sneered at him walking back to his motorcycle. He returned with a canteen and filled it then drank the murky water which more then half ending up trickling on his bare chest. All the while holding a lever action shotgun and squinting at Ryan.
"I remember you from the old days…Connor" the man wiped his mouth with his forearm.
"I know you to Steele." Ryan nodded.
"Where's your Friend …Reese." The man gave a quick look around. The mention of the name caused Sarah's heart to almost stop.
"He's not here but I can call him for you." Ryan said mockingly. Steele sneered again at the young mans response.
"It's my bad luck that I found you out here alone, Cause if I kill you then I'll have to wait for your old mans Brown eyed cheerleader to come find me, so I can kill her too." Steele said with disappointment.
"Well, if you think you can take me, there are some really good spots to sit over there" Ryan stated arrogantly nudging his head toward the other bank.
"Forget it; I'm not going to waste my time on a little mutt like you or your old man's Cheerleader whore." Steele scoffed at the young soldier's statement mounting his bike.
"I give that bike several more miles then I hope you brought your walking shoes." Ryan called smugly observing the dated and rusted vehicle.
"You ever get close enough again Connor, I'm going to cut that tongue out of your smart mouth and send it to your father!" Steele yelled over the engine.
"Do whatever you feel is necessary!" Ryan called causing Steele to drive away angrily.
Sarah watched the exchange on edge feeling the biting tension that seemed to zap the oxygen from her lungs.
She watched the man disappear into the dawn before coming out of her hiding place.
Ryan walked briskly back to there small campsite gathering things hurriedly.
"That was touch and go for a second." Ryan said shaking heavily. Sarah could see that the adrenalin was running through his body. Sarah walked over and paced a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Ryan let out a deep breath letting the feeling drain.
"Who was that?" Sarah asked looking in the direction the stranger disappeared in.
"Olvieski Stelolivich, we call him Steel." Ryan said glancing in the same direction as Sarah.
"He's …" Sarah struggled to find words to describe the almost inhuman creature.
"A monster" Ryan finished for her. "Steel is a butchering rapist who has as much respect for human life as Skynet. Except unlike Skynet that bastard enjoys torture and murder." Ryan gritted grabbing the last of the things. He lightly rubbed Sarah's hand that was still on his shoulder as a way to thank her as well as to remove it. Sarah removed the hand with a small awkward smile.
"He mentioned John and Cameron?" Sarah asked moving the conversation as a way to cut out the strange maternal habit that came from petting and showing affection for your child or in her case her child's child.
"Back in the thick of the war Steel and his gang of thugs would raid human settlements Killing, raping, and stealing anything. Mom and Dad went after him more then once, Hell Kyle and I almost died of dehydration chasing him through Nevada. We just could never catch him, he has always been better at traveling without water then us." Ryan slung his plasma rifle over his shoulder. Sarah felt very emotional Imagining Kyle in agony.
"You think he's coming back?" She was almost hopeful at the question hoping she could get her shot at the Murderer.
"Probably, and most likely he won't be alone either." Ryan answered.
***
Sarah and Ryan returned to the town around sunrise. Most of the soldiers where asleep but a few still sat up in a guarding position.
"Up!" Ryan yelled causing all the soldiers to jump at attention. "Anyone here a scout or Scavenger?" Ryan asked the group.
"I was a Scout, I can track." A young male raised his hand he looked about fourteen large blue eyes and sandy blond hair.
"Okay then your with me." Ryan nodded at the blond boy.
"And where are we going?" Sarah asked as the boy made his way toward the two.
"We aren't going anywhere, me and the kid are going to go track Steel. He may be looking to circle around and attack us." Ryan explained.
"And what am I going to do?" Sarah asked gesturing with her hand.
"Sit tight and wait …" Ryan addressed her with a serious look.
"I'm not going to let you go out there alone." Sarah said grabbing his arm.
"I've been a Soldier for Seven years now; I think I know what I'm doing. Plus your still a mission priority so…you need to stay" Ryan said brushing her hand off him. "Everyone be on guard Steel is out there, and it wouldn't surprise me if he came through here with a gang!" he addressed the group of people.
Ryan began to walk away leaving Sarah standing there with a disapproving face when Ryan stopped and tossed Sarah the plasma rifle. She caught it and gave him a puzzled face.
"Just like a M16. Slap, slide and pull" Ryan smirked at the inside knowledge he had on her. Sarah looked at him then back at the weapon with a small smile.
"New Toy?" Sarah asked knowing that he knew she liked to disassemble and assemble firearms.
"Merry Christmas" Ryan winked a very John Connor wink that made Sarah feel a very primal maternal instinct.
"Hey!" Sarah called to him. Ryan stopped and looked back at her.
Sarah stared trying to find the right words for a person she had only met two days ago. She felt conflicted about what to say as the soldier and the mother clashed inside her as well as a still lingering disbelief and mistrust she had for the officer.
"You don't need this?" Sarah balked raising the rifle in her hand. Ryan gave a small laugh knowing that that wasn't what she wanted to say.
"No… there is a weapons cache outside of town I'll get some supplies at the drop." Ryan answered without a push. He gave one last meaningful look her way before he and the younger soldier walked away. Sarah wanted to call out to him but her breath got caught in her throat. She sighed looking at the foreign weapon in her hands.
"Be safe…" Sarah thought what she wanted to tell him.
***
Sarah sat on a stool as she wiped the chrome barrel of the Plasma rifle with a bar towel as an assortment of dissembled parts of a plasma rifle lay in front of her on the bar of the diner. Her efficient hands lightly brushed the part with sweeps with the towel.
Sarah put down the barrel and gave a look to the still motion less form of the fax Cameron. Sarah had placed John's old jacket over her like a blanket. The way Cameron looked with jacket caused Sarah to question something in her mind.
"I wonder how many times John had covered her with this jacket like I just have."
Sarah imagined it clearly John walking in to the room with Cameron sitting on a white rocking chair holding a baby in her arms just like her dreams. She would smile at up at John and he would smile down at her removing the fur lined jacket and drape it over her as he kneels next to the proud mommy staring at the sleeping bundle in her arms.
Sarah pondered Cameron for several seconds.
"I never trusted her… but she had made John happy when I wasn't there and she raised a child with him. Maybe I should try trusting John instead of her?" Sarah thought pulling the Terminators chip out of her fatigue pocket. She examined it carefully. Ryan was right, on her further inspection the chip looked like a normal run of the mill T-888 chip. Not the sleek and smaller chip Sarah was use to.
She scoffed and placed it on the counter taking the butt of the rifle Sarah raised it over the chip. Ready to bring it down with all her strength …but she couldn't.
She tried again but once again her body froze in place. She strained her mind trying to slam the piece of the weapon down on the chip. But to no avail.
Sarah picked up the chip and tried to drop it to the floor put instead her hand gripped it protectively.
Suddenly as if being placed into a daze she moved to toward Cameron's body. Once over the body Sarah moved her hand with the chip in it toward the port hole.
As all of Sarah tried to stop herself she slid the chip into the hole, there was a wiring noise.
But before she could see what happened the barrel of a Lever action shotgun struck a strong and powerful blow on the side of her head.
The plot thickens!!
I Hope you guys who read the story review and tell me what you like or... some constructive criticism is also welcome.