Terminator: Return of the Fallen
Part IV
We enter the safe-house and Allison takes a seat at the table. She still has not looked up since meeting Sarah Connor. I might actually have to order her to lift her head. If Sarah can mess her up this much, imagine what will happen when she meets Cameron.
"Would you like something to eat Corporal? I hear we have real food instead of two-day old coyote".
"No thank you, Sir. I'm...I'm fine". She is starting to cry again. It's understandable. She's been through a lot.
"Please stop crying. I hate to see a woman cry".
"I'm sorry, Sir. It's just...I was captured. TWICE! I...I'm so ashamed".
"Can you tell me what happened, Corporal?"
"Lieutenant Reese was leading a patrol...."
"Lieutenant Reese? When did he get promoted to Lieutenant?"
"A while ago. What unit did you say you were with, Sir?"
"Let's hear your story first, then I will tell you mine. Trust me, it's a good one".
"All right. We were on patrol, when we were ambushed by Terminators. We tried to fight our way out, but it was no use. I never saw anyone from my unit again. I was taken aboard this...this Skynet prison ship. They questioned me...tortured me. They tried to get me to give up the location of Connor's command center".
"You refused, of course".
"I told them everything they wanted to know. I was trying to set a trap, but they saw right through it. They brought out this Terminator....she looked exactly like me. She...she grabbed me by the throat. I guess I blacked out. I woke up lying naked in the middle of the street. These guys that looked like police officers...they grabbed me. I tried to get away, but they caught me. You know the rest".
"On the bright side, at least they gave you something to wear. Please stop crying, my jokes aren't that bad".
"Ha! I'm sorry, Sir. It's just....Connor might have been killed because of me". Reese has finally decided to enter this conversation. I can't believe Connor made him a Lieutenant.
"They didn't Allison".
"Derrick!"
"Are you always this informal with your officers, Corporal Young?"
"The Resistance has gotten a little less formal while you've been away, Charley. We don't exactly call each other by rank anymore".
"Then what's the point of having a rank at all? Just so we're clear, I intend to go by my rank and to be treated accordingly. Is that understood Lieutenant Reese?"
"Crystal clear, Lieutenant Zacks". Throughout our little chat, we had forgotten about Allison.
"What's going on?"
"Uh...I haven't been a part of the Resistance for a long time. Six years, approximately".
"What happened?"
"I was shot down".
"Captured?"
"Killed. If anything, I'm the one that should be ashamed Corporal. You were only captured by Terminators. I was turned into one".
"They pulled a Marcus on you".
"Yeah. Did you know Marcus?"
"No, but I've heard about him".
"He was a good man, for a Terminator that is".
"What happened with the Terminator that looked like me?"
"We caught her, and reprogrammed her to fight for us. The whole thing gives me the creeps, but Connor's got a plan to deal with them. We have to have faith that he knows what he is doing".
"He always does, Lieutenant Reese. He always does".
Behind me, a young man says: "Thank you for the compliment".
"JOHN!"
"Ok. That was completely inappropriate. I mean, the guy is the leader of the entire Resistance now. You can't just call him John. Even when I was still a man we all called him Commander Connor".
"I'm not Commander Connor right now, am I? Now, I am just John Connor, the future leader of the Resistance". Young Connor and Allison run up and hug each other. This new Resistance is a little too informal for my tastes.
"I'm so glad to hear that you're not dead. I mean, that future you is not dead. Ugh...Time travel gives me a headache".
"It has the same effect on everyone Allison. Welcome back to the Resistance. You should really take that off".
"Excuse me?"
"The prison uniform! We have some real clothes that should fit you." They both start laughing. What is going on here?
"I take it you two know each other on a personal level".
"They met a few months after you...you.."
"Took the long nap?"
"You can be so poetic when you want to be Charley. Excuse me, Lieutenant Zacks".
Then, all hell breaks loose. Cameron walks into the room, scarring the crap out of poor Allison. At first, I am not sure if she is going to try to attack Cameron or try to run from her. Then she tries to attack, at which point I catch by the waist and lift her up in the air.
"She's on our side now, Corporal. Stand down, that is an order!"
"Why? Why is she still alive? Why didn't you kill her?"
"Well, considering that I had died six years earlier...."
"You know what I mean! She's a fucking Terminator!"
"So am I. I am also an officer in the Resistance. It's not what we are that matters, Corporal Young. It's what we do that matters".
"Very deep, Lieutenant Zacks. You should be a philosopher".
"Could you try not being a smart ass, Lieutenant Reese?"
Sarah starts laughing, as does John and even Allison. It's nice to see her laughing instead of crying. Then some bald guy I have never seen before walks into the dining room. He wears a business suit, which means he is probably not with the Resistance. Savannah is following him, which means he must be a friend of the Weaver family. I still can't get used to the fact that she has a family now: a young daughter and a son that I haven't met.
"So, this is the new blood. Hi, I'm James Ellison. Whenever Ms. Weaver is away, I take care of John Henry and Savannah".
"Mr. Ellison is a nice man. He's just not as strong as mommy or John Henry".
"I'm Lieutenant Charles Zacks, and this is Corporal Allison Young. Are you with the Resistance, Mr. Ellison?"
"No, I'm a civilian. I just help out any way that I can. That reminds me, John Henry has been asking for you. He wants you to tell him about your adventures in the Resistance". Catherine starts to chuckle.
"I wouldn't call them adventures, Mr. Ellison. Charley...excuse me, Lieutenant Zacks! Why don't you come with me? I'd love to introduce you to my boy".
"Uh, Ok. Have you ever told him about me?"
"I've never told anyone that I had a human boyfriend".
"Had?"
"Well, you were dead".
"Yeah, how about that? Is it just me, or are Allison and Connor a little too chummy?"
"They were lovers in the future".
"Wait, what?"
"I built a time machine and took John and John Henry to the future, a short time after your death. John got to meet his father before he was sent to the past, and their unit got to meet John Connor before he became a General".
"And Connor got to meet Allison before she was replaced by Cameron".
"See, you're starting to get the hang of this".
"Why did you leave the future to come back to the past?"
"We discovered that the war had started a lot earlier than we had expected. By that point, the best we could hope for was a stalemate. If we wanted to win, we would need to start fighting a lot earlier than anticipated".
"So you came back, to fight just as things got started. That is a good plan, who came up with it?"
"John Henry went over as many scenarios as possible with John Connor. Your John Connor, not the young man in the other room. They decided that this plan had the greatest chance of success. So, we followed their orders and came back".
"Your son is an advisor to John Connor?"
"One of his top advisors".
"You seem very proud of him".
"I am. JOHN HENRY?"
"COME IN".
By now, I should be used to expecting the unexpected. But this....this is her son! He looks older than I am. Still, there is this maternal look in her eyes that I have never seen before. Regardless of how he looks, Catherine considers this man to be her son. She did say that she built him.
"John Henry, this is Lieutenant Charles Zacks of the Resistance. The Lieutenant is a very special friend of mine. Lieutenant Zacks, this is my son John Henry".
"Hello Lieutenant. How are you this evening?"
"Uh. I'm fine. How are you doing this evening?"
"I am fine. You are in love with my mother".
"Ok. Where did that come from?"
"He does that sometimes".
"What? Blurt out random statements?"
"Only when they are true. You are in love with my mother".
"I...I am in love with your mother. How did you know that?"
"I know a lot of things".
"It's like talking to Cameron".
"Not entirely. Cameron has all of her knowledge programmed into her. I have to learn everything, through experience and through instructors like Mr. Ellison. I also learn emotions from Ms. Weaver and from Savannah. Would you like to play a game?"
"You play games?"
"Strategy games mostly. When you are destined to be the advisor to the supreme commander of the human race, you need to be well acquainted with tactics".
So now, I am playing strategy games with the son of my Terminator girlfriend. To say that my life is strange would be an understatement. If it gets any stranger, I might blow a fuse.
