Hope
Chapter 08: Closer
HOMESTEAD
ARROWHEAD MOUNTAINS
The front door burst open as if struck by the fist of an angry God whose fury echoed in the crackling lightning and booming thunder.
Timmy, having been soundly asleep a millisecond earlier, was now on his paws and fully alert as the gaggle of disorganised humans came bursting into the room. They dispersed almost immediately, each one headed for a different destination for whatever purpose suited them. Timmy did a quick count of his servants and found them to be heavy two visitors, but he knew them from previous visits and did not stir at their presence. He could not account for the small writhing bundle in the young male's arms, however.
This was new. It smelt new. It looked and sounded new.
And overall he deemed it... aggravating.
Not willing to put up with the sporadic yammering of the humans and the screaming infant, Timmy erected his tail and strolled off.
Ignorant of the cat's disapproval, however, the humans began their customary preparation for World War Three.
Between the two of them, Jason and Derek had already heaved the weapon trunk out from the cupboard-under-the-stairs and begun unloading as many rifles and shotguns as would fit in the lounge. With one kick Jason pushed the couch onto its back and against the window, providing them with a Kevlar-layered wall should anyone come knocking with a 9mm and a bad attitude.
Jason picked up the nearest assault rifle and positioned himself, taking first watch on the property while Derek distributed side-arms to every man, woman and cyborg in the vicinity. Satisfied that everyone was armed to the teeth, himself especially; Derek hurried double-time up the stairs and into John's bedroom and pulled up a stool to sit on while he keeps watch on the premises.
Downstairs, Sarah was decidedly more concerned with attending to John's needs than the security of her house.
The rain storm that struck Los Angeles had followed them all the way up to Arrowhead and was now beating hard upon the windows. The baby girl was soaked through and though some distant corner of her mind wondered if she could even catch hypothermia, the mother in her drove Sarah to the brink of obsession as she gathered blankets and towels to dry and warm the infant.
John wouldn't let her touch the child, however, and snatched the towels from his mother's hands so that he could dry the baby himself. Sarah couldn't help but feel a little slighted by his behaviour, but she knew all too well the protective inhibitions of a parent and did not protest. He's gotta learn some day, she reasoned.
Leaving him to it, Sarah turned to find Cameron standing just a few centimetres behind her with a strangely vacant look on her face.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked bristly.
"Nothing", Cameron replied with her head tipped a little to one side.
"No, you're getting in the way; that's what you're doing. So move!" Sarah snapped as she impatiently pushed her way past the cyborg.
Cameron remained impassively rooted to the spot as the brief notion of flooring Sarah tickled her fancy. Brushing it aside, however, she returned her attention to the gurgling infant on the dining table, taking note of the fact that a surface they ate off on a daily basis was hardly the most hygienic place to put the baby.
John reached for a towel on the table's edge, accidentally knocking another off with his elbow. Cameron's inhuman reflexes allowed her to catch it, however, and she held the towel up for him to take.
"Put it on the side there", he muttered distractedly as the child kicked at his efforts to pin the towel around her waist.
Cameron watched as the baby stopped struggling once the towel was secure and settled for sucking her thumb instead. Relieved, John scooped her up in his arms and finally looked at Cameron properly for the first time since they arrived. She was still soaked from the rain, having made no attempt to shield herself from it or limit her exposure, which left her hair in a flat and sopping state. Though not very flattering (he knew she cared little) her rain-soaked clothes were plastered to her body, highlighting her shape in every detail.
Her breasts stood out as if asking for attention and the mound that was her womb was showing signs of rapid shrinking. John had no illusions that by tomorrow morning her belly would be perfectly flat once again and no one would've known that twelve hours earlier she had been carrying a life inside of her: a life he now cradled in his arms.
For the second time that night he held the baby out for her to take, but again she made no attempt to reach for her child.
"What is with you?" he asked incredulously.
"I don't understand", she replied.
"No, I'm the one having trouble understanding. We agreed you'd do this", he reminded her.
Cameron fixed him with a look of determination that carried a hint of disbelief, as if she had not made it clear to him a thousand times already.
"I agreed to fight for our baby. I agreed to protect it through birth. I have done all that you asked", she explained. The baby started to fidget and grizzle as the sky thundered overhead. Everyone in the room fell silent, their attention fixed on Cameron as she stood her ground against a startled John. "She doesn't need me anymore. My job is done", Cameron finished.
John couldn't believe what he was hearing; after all they'd been through...
"Your job is never done. Cameron... You're her mother", he croaked.
Cameron sighed as her expression softened, a sight that cut into John like a knife. Only she could be so human and not at the same time.
"My reserves are drained. It is unlikely we will be attacked tonight. I will enter standby. Wake me if you need me", she said.
John opened his mouth to reply but before he could get a word out, Cameron turned on her heel and click-clopped over to the stairs; kicking off her shoes and casually removing her dress in one go. John's heart skipped a beat as she stood completely nude for all to see. Sophie, who had been whispering with Jason nonstop since they got there, fell silent at the sight of Cameron in her blatant nakedness. Sarah came out of the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks as Cameron began her ascent, flashing them all with her rear.
"Now there's an ice breaker", she heard Jason quip as she reached the landing and turned towards John's room and a surprised Derek.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked in his usual gruff manner.
"Resting", Cameron replied as she slipped under the covers and made sure to cover herself entirely. She had little interest in trading pointless banter with the burnt-out soldier and so Cameron wasted no time in closing her eyes and activating her hazard alarm before slipping into the blissful oblivion of standby mode.
"Metal", Derek grumbled.
-000-
The sky growled as fierce winds struck every corner of the house and arcs of lightning threatened to set alight anything they might touch. For the humans and cyborgs held up inside, however, this was the least of their problems.
Cameron was fast counting electric sheep and John was likewise huddled on the floor with the sleeping baby in his arms, rendering him otherwise useless. Sarah paced back and forth as she had done for the past ten minutes. Jason and Sophie remained on the floor, crouching against the upturned couch, waiting for anyone or thing to come bursting through the door.
Upstairs, Derek watched the rain run down the window panes with a blank mind. Every ounce of him was ready to raise hell but the only enemy that stood at the door was the wind and the rain, opponents he could do nothing about. Instead he took to watching Cameron sleep and wrinkled his nose at how eerily lifelike she could be at times. He could swear the covers were rising and falling, but maybe it was the light (or lack thereof) playing tricks on him. Yes, that's probably it; he convinced himself.
"...dark hair, sort of a Chinese look about her, dark clothing, and oh yes: a miserable-as-fuck attitude."
Derek blinked as those words brought him back to the here and now.
Sophie's description was far too accurate to be anything less than what he knew: Jesse.
Abandoning his futile post at the window, Derek quickly descended into their midst and crossed his arms as Sophie continued her account of what happened in the alley. She spoke of her and John's escape from the room, their retreat into the alley, and the approach of a female assassin wielding a shotgun and a knife on her belt.
"She had us cornered. Cameron couldn't have helped. Neither could you. We were screwed", she told Sarah.
"Why didn't she kill you then?" Sarah asked, confused.
"She couldn't", John interjected, still sitting on the floor by the dinner table. "There was something... something in her eyes. She couldn't do it. She let us go", he explained.
"Her mistake", said Jason, his gaze slipping to Derek's with a knowing look.
You son of a bitch, you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking; Derek growled inside.
"It's been three hours since she attacked. I doubt she's gonna just turn up here, knowing that we'll be on alert, and expect to have another shot at getting to John. It'd make more sense for us to hunt her instead, since she's so indecisive right now", Derek reasoned.
"What makes you think she's undecided?" Jason pointed out. "If she'd pulled that trigger and killed John and the baby, Sophie would've torn out her spine. It sounds to me like she was simply exercising a little self-preservation."
Tired of Jason's testy attempts to provoke him, Derek fixed the cyborg with a deathly glare and unleashed a sudden blast of plasma energy from his eyes, hurling a horrified Jason screaming out of the window. Everyone stared in awe as his melted remains slid across the muddy driveway and out of sight, never to bother humanity again.
With a sigh of deep regret, however, Derek tore himself out of fantasy land and back into the cruel world of reality where Jason was still sitting there, a mocking smile on his face. To his earlier point he answered:
"Maybe, but whatever her reason, she's given us a chance to strike back. I'm not gonna let that chance pass us by. I'm going after her."
Jason snorted at Derek's little speech and returned to fiddling with his rifle. Satisfied, Derek grabbed his Beretta and stuck it under his belt before snatching up his jacket and heading to the door, only for Sarah to suddenly step in his way.
"If you get the chance-", she began.
"I'll put her down in a heartbeat", he lied.
Sarah gave him a long searching look before nodding and stepping aside. Finally free to seek his own answers, Derek marched out into the pouring rain and quickly jumped into his truck. He had one goal and one goal only: find Jesse and force her to tell the truth. Derek already knew where she'd be, though it was likely she wouldn't be there for long; he had to hurry. What she did; threatening his nephew, trying to murder a helpless child... she'd earned herself a bullet or two from his gun but he was loathe to do it until he understood why.
Do I really want to know; he asked himself, turning the key in the ignition.
For the briefest of moments he'd convinced himself he had a choice.
-000-
PLESARIO HOTEL
APARTMENT 19b
LOS ANGELES
No amount of forewarning could prepare her for taking this step. Ever since she materialised into this world Jesse had a clear and single goal: save mankind from the child of Connor. It was simple, easy to remember and straightforward to execute... in theory. Assassination always carried the implication of sitting on a rooftop, out of harm's way, squeezing the trigger on a high-calibre sniper rifle. One shot. Job done. At least, that's how it was supposed to be.
But of course; it was never that simple.
Jesse had never considered just how difficult it would be to go through with such a cold action. Seeing that child kicking and screaming in Connor's arms... it flipped a switch inside of her, and for the first time in years she felt the heartache of her lost child. It called out to her, pleadingly, not to pull that trigger. After everything she had witnessed in the future: the eradication of mankind, the rise of the machines, the desperate assault on Skynet, and the devastating aftermath of the civil war; she still could not let go of her love for her unborn child.
It was rooted in her very soul; proof like no other that she had one.
So Jesse had no regrets. She felt no misgivings about her choice to spare the child. Time wasn't absolute. Things could change. And Ethan wasn't as well informed as he would like to believe. For all his dedication he lacked the capacity for any perspectives not his own. It would only be a matter of time before he realised the deed hadn't been done, and then he would look for her. Jesse had little faith in his ability for forgiveness. If he found her, she would not have any choice but to put a bullet clean through his skull.
"Going somewhere?"
Jesse froze in mid reach for a pile of shirts, every hair standing on the back of her neck as she registered the presence of the intruder.
Straightening herself up, Jesse slowly turned to face the voice and was greeted by a figure in the shadows instead. In her haste to get everything packed she hadn't switched on any of the lights, save the one beside her bed. The figure stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, his face perfectly concealed by the dark. She could barely make out the glimmer of his belt and jacket zipper. As far as she could tell, he was not carrying a weapon.
"I asked you a question", the voice spoke.
A small wave of relief passed through her as she realised the person was not who she expected, but Derek instead. Beside Ethan, however, Derek was the second person she wanted to see right now. There was only one reason he'd be here tonight: he knew.
Her only consolation was that he might be easier to reason with than Ethan... or so she hoped.
"Derek-" she began.
"It was you, wasn't it? You were in that alley", Derek started.
"Derek, please-" she pleaded.
"You were here all along. You knew all along. You set the car to explode. You sat outside our house with a rifle."
Derek took a couple of steps into the room, keeping to the shadows as he circled her like a predator closing for the kill. She had no doubt that he would hurt her for her betrayal, and Jesse knew she couldn't move as fast as he.
"I trusted you when you told me you had nothing to do with this whole deal", he reminded her, stopping just close enough to block her escape. "You lied to me." Jesse could feel the fresh sting of those damning words as they cut into her, bringing to light the root of her sin. There was a lot Derek could forgive when it came to her, but a lie was not one of them. If she had been honest about her intentions from the start he would've stopped her, but he would also have forgiven her. It would never have come to this if she had just levelled with him.
She knew what was coming.
"I had no choice", she croaked as tears spilled from her eyes.
"Sure you did", he replied, taking another step closer.
"Derek-" she gasped.
"You always have a choice", he repeated coldly.
"Please-"she begged
"And you made the wrong one."
Silence...
She could hear nothing but the blood pumping wildly in her ears.
Too late she realised she was pleading with the wrong person when Ethan's features became all too clear as he burst out of the shadows. Within a heartbeat his hand was around her throat and with unnatural strength, he lifted her off the ground and slammed her hard against the left wall, shattering the nearby window with the force of the blow.
"I would've thought that you, you, of all people would appreciate the necessity of what we're doing", he growled. "Everything she did. Everything she will do. You've seen what lies in her future and you won't save her from that? You won't save us from that? Is one life worth the fate of millions?"
"She's... just... a child... she... We can't..." Jesse protested.
"She's not your child", he clarified. "But I guess I'll have to finish this my way."
Jesse kicked and squirmed in a futile attempt to wiggle free of his grip.
In the struggle she felt the cold metal of her gun digging into her back and quickly reached around to grab it, but Ethan was by far the wiser and caught her wrist, twisting it until she relinquished the weapon to him. A second later she felt that same cold metal pressed against the side of her temple and she fell very still.
"No!" she gurgled.
"It didn't have to be this way", he whispered softly in her ear before gently squeezing the trigger.
Blood splattered the walls in every direction, showering Ethan with more than his share. Put off by the mess, he let her body drop to the floor and threw the gun on the bed, disgustedly wiping his hands on the sheets. Looking down at her lifeless form he felt a strange sense of satisfaction at the turn of events.
"Or maybe it did", he thought aloud.
His work done, Ethan climbed out of the window and down the metal staircase. It was up to him to finish the job now, and unlike Jesse, he would not let petty human sentiments hold him back from what needed to be done.
-000-
HOMESTEAD
ARROWHEAD MOUNTAINS
She was without a doubt the most amazing thing John had ever seen. And he'd seen a lot in his relatively short life.
But this baby was something else entirely. It stood in a league of its own, separate from anything else in the world. What made it so special was the simple fact that she was entirely and indisputably his. From her soft unblemished skin to her dark curls, the baby was his creation, his flesh. Every time she shuffled in her blankets, she was reaching for him. Every time she opened her eyes it was to check that he was still there. Her every action, no matter how small, was for him and him only.
She was a miracle, and John had never been so happy to have yet another life-changing burden in his arms.
John was sat upon a dining chair with the baby wrapped snugly in his arms, silently admiring her beauty while the others continued their game of City Under Siege. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at her father with an almost bemused expression, her fingers curling and uncurling in a thoughtful manner. A broad smile crept across John's face as she watched him contemplatively. Looking into her little eyes he could sense a level of intelligence there that he'd never seen in a baby before.
She seemed to be evaluating him.
After a few moments she let out a gentle coo, as if to say that her assessment was satisfied. Amused, John placed his finger under her chin and tickled it gently. She instantly took hold of his finger with surprising strength and, after a few seconds of indecision, promptly shoved it in her mouth and began suckling. John's smile widened and he laughed a little, allowing her to drool all over his finger.
"Do you know who I am?" he whispered.
The baby stared up at him nonplussed.
"I'm your daddy", he said.
She continued to stare up at him but made no indication that she understood his words.
Unperturbed, John began to slowly rock her back and forth, occasionally giggling at the little noises she made.
From the kitchen archway Sarah watched the two with a reluctant smile. For all her misgivings about the entire ordeal, this moment was something she'd hoped to see one day in another life. She never imagined it would happen in this one. Sarah quietly approached the pair and took a seat opposite them. John glanced up and smiled but then dropped his attention back to the baby.
Seeing them like this brought back memories of when John was little and the hours she'd spent just holding him like he was holding her. She would give anything to go back to the days when she could hold him in her arms and feel that nothing in the world could ever touch him. Such innocence was a poorly underrated luxury that few parents ever appreciate.
But looking around she noticed the picture was incomplete; there should never be only one parent with a child...
"Where's Cameron?" she asked quietly.
"Asleep... I think. Or in standby or whatever she calls it. She needs the rest", he replied in a murmur.
They fell silent again as they both watched the baby happily sucking on John's finger. After a little while, however, John let out a sigh and looked at his mother properly for the first time this night.
"I'm worried about her, mom", he said.
"The baby?" Sarah assumed.
"No, Cameron", John corrected.
"Oh..." Sarah replied.
John's expression became pained as he ceased rocking the baby back and forth.
"She promised me she would be a mother to this child and yet now she's... she just... She doesn't wanna know", he explained.
"John, in all fairness; the last thing she was ever meant to be was a mother to anything. She strangles raccoons", Sarah pointed out.
John let out a snort of laughter and looked back down at his daughter with a pained smile.
"Yeah, I guess so. It's just... I hoped she would be different, ya know?"
Sarah nodded sympathetically but did not offer an opinion.
"She'll come around. She just needs time, that's all", he reassured himself.
The dim silence of the household came to an abrupt end as Sarah's cell phone suddenly burst to life with a piercing tune, followed by screaming from the startled baby. Jason spun around on the spot and pumped his shotgun but calmed almost instantly upon seeing Sarah duck into the kitchen with the phone to her ear. John hushed and rocked the baby to quieten her down while Sophie let out a sigh of relief and chuckled at Jason's overreaction.
Fine-tuning her ears to filter out the baby's screaming, Sophie focused on Sarah's conversation in the other room...
"Yes... Oh, you do? It's only been three weeks since I asked you for help... Yeah... Yes, I'm still interested... Uh huh... No... $50,000! That's extortion! ... Okay, okay, fine... Fine... You'll get your money; just make sure you turn up with the papers... alone... Right... I'll meet you in two hours."
Snapping the phone shut, Sarah returned to the lounge to find the baby reduced to grizzling and everyone watching her expectantly.
"I got a hit on a name mentioned in those files we bartered a while ago. I'm gonna meet up with him to see what he has to offer", she explained.
"And I suppose we just so happen to have $50,000 to spare, huh?" John quipped.
"We do. But that doesn't mean he's getting any of it", Sarah replied, tucking a Glock under her belt before pulling her jacket on. "I'm gonna be gone for a few hours so I want you and Jason to-" she began at Sophie, only to notice that Jason was no longer crouched behind the couch like he was a few minutes ago. "Where's Jason?" she asked.
Sophie looked to her left and gave a start at his absence, her expression convincingly surprised.
"For fuck's sake", Sarah sighed. "You! Stay here!" she then barked at Sophie before marching out of the door and slamming it shut behind her. The spare truck was gone, taken by Jason, leaving only the small get-around for her to use. Sarah had no idea why Jason had decided to vacate the premises but a pit in her stomach made her wonder if his intention was to beat her to the informant.
Over my dead body, she thought as she jumped inside the car and sped down the muddy path.
-000-
PLESARIO HOTEL
APARTMENT 19b
LOS ANGELES
The cold hard metal of Derek's favourite Beretta glimmered in the din as he stealthily approached No. 19b. He could hear nothing but the distant chattering of someone's television in another room further down. The complex was quiet... far too quiet. As he drew nearer to the door Derek noticed that it was very slightly ajar, a thin ray light shining through from the inside. Tightening his grip and thumbing back the hammer, Derek gently pushed the door open and raised his weapon as he stepped inside.
The room was very dark, the only source of light coming from a dull lamp in the bedroom. Still he could hear nothing. Every hair on the back of his neck stood up as he crept into the bedroom, his hands shaking a little in anticipation of whatever he might find. What he found, however, was not what he expected; and as he took in the sight before him, Derek wished he'd never set foot in the apartment.
Jesse was lying on the floor beside the bed, her eyes dull and her hair matted with blood. A single entry wound was visible on the right side of her temple from where the bullet had pierced her skull, splattering its contents all over the wall and floor. The bed too, was showered in blood, her Colt left on the sheets.
With a shuddering breath, Derek allowed the scene to impact him fully and bent double as he fell to his knees beside her lifeless body. Letting his gun drop to the floor, he covered his face as hot stinging tears started to roll down his cheeks. Gradually, his entire body began to shake as he wept for the death of his love.
Guilt and regret quickly set in as he wished over and over that he'd had the courage to save her from her own undoing. It was too late to save her now; she was lost to him, never to return.
No goodbyes.
He came here with the intention of killing her himself for her betrayal, and to hear her side of the story before the end. But now, seeing her like this; his heart broke instead of turning to stone like he had intended. She was gone and it was entirely his fault.
"I guess she couldn't live with her decision", came Jason's voice.
Every nerve in Derek's body snapped upon hearing him, and he jumped to his feet, gun in hand, and pulled the trigger three times. Each bullet hit Jason squarely in the face, stripping away a sizable slice of his flesh with each hit. Jason simply stared at him, however, unaffected by Derek's outburst. Derek's breathing was ragged as he slowly lowered his gun and turned back to Jesse's corpse.
"I should've helped her", he croaked.
"You should've done a lot of things but you didn't, so why torture yourself with 'what if's? She could've told you the truth. She chose not to", Jason replied.
"Why the fuck do you care?" Derek growled.
"I don't. She's dead. Case closed", Jason answered.
"No... No, there was another guy-" Derek began.
"Who could easily have been her all along. Sarah's account is hardly accurate, after all", Jason sniped.
Defeated, Derek sighed deeply and covered his eyes with his hand as the distant sound of sirens drifted into earshot.
"We have to go", said Jason.
With one last look at his lover's body, Derek nodded and followed Jason out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.
-000-
ARROWHEAD CITY
THE DARKEST ALLEY KNOWN TO MAN
Sarah was used to being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but being left waiting between the backside of a fish joint and some vagrant's pissing corner was rather more pungent than the former.
Covering her nose with her sleeve, Sarah refrained from leaning against the walls for fear of what might be dripping down them. The informant was already ten minutes late and she was starting to get very impatient. Her hand periodically groped the 9mm tucked in her belt, just in case it turned out to be a trap or if some disgruntled fishmonger leapt out of the darkness at her with a katana.
Ten more minutes of this and I'm gonna pack it in, she thought as another not-so-fresh steam of God-only-knows-what burst out of the ventilations.
After about five minutes of more waiting she heard the distinct clattering of an empty food can and once again gripped her Glock. But out of the shadows appeared a man in smart-casual attire, looking a little apprehensive of his surroundings, despite being the one to suggest it in the first place. Removing her hand from the gun, Sarah felt a bad for the guy, and wondered if killing him was worth the bullet.
He slowly approached her, subtly puffing himself up to appear unafraid, though she saw right through his facade.
"Herman Schultz?" she addressed him with as much courtesy as she could stomach in the current atmosphere.
"Ms Baum?" he replied, eyeing her with understandable suspicion.
The two observed each other for a brief uncomfortable moment before they both relaxed to each other's presence.
"You have some information for me?" Sarah enquired blatantly, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible.
"I do. You have what I asked for?" he countered.
Backing up a few paces, Sarah reached down beside the nearby red dumpster and picked up a grey bag and opened it enough for him to see the $100 bills inside. After a moment of careful observation, he reached inside his jacket and produced a large brown envelope. Without a word, they both set their items on the ground between them and took the other's in a rather hasty fashion.
Sarah flipped the envelope over twice, finding no markings on it. Though it was sealed, she could tell it was thick with the documents she'd asked for. The man was likewise satisfied with the contents of the bag and let out a short chuckle of relief. Ignoring him, Sarah opened the envelope and pulled the first paper-clipped file out enough to read the heading.
"Kaliba?" she asked aloud.
"Yeah, that's their name. Or at least, that's what they called themselves when I worked there", he explained.
"You worked there?" Sarah pressed, wondering if there was more to this guy than met the eye.
"I worked the facilities. A glorified floor sweep, you know? But I had access to their file rooms. Stuff they didn't want found. I dunno how helpful that lot will be to you, whatever you're going to do with it. You work for a rival firm, right?" he told her.
"Right. A rival firm. You've done us a big favour here", she replied, tucking the packet under her blouse.
The informant shuffled on the spot as she turned to leave, deciding that, for once, she would give someone a break.
"Wait! There's something else", he blurted.
Sarah turned on the spot and crossed her arms expectantly.
"I shouldn't be telling you this, but-" he began, only to stop at the sound of a cork popping.
He seemed lost for words at first before his eyes grew wide and a thin line of blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Less than a second later she noticed the front of his white shirt quickly turning the deepest of reds. Instinctively, she threw herself against the wall as the informant dropped to the floor, dead. A split-second later another shot struck the exact spot where Sarah had been standing a second ago.
Sarah crouched and drew her Glock, desperately searching for the sniper on the rooftops, where he was no doubt positioned. Poking her head up quickly she caught sight of a muzzle flash on the roof of the building next to the fish joint as the sniper took another shot. Seeing no other option, Sarah closed her eyes and counted to ten before bursting out of her spot behind the bins and firing five shots in the sniper's direction. The sniper cursed and shuffled backwards to avoid her fire, giving Sarah the opportunity she needed to escape.
Before he could get her in his sights again, she was already turning the corner and long gone.
"Damn it!" he growled, pulling his radio from his belt. "Gunner One to Base. Gunner One to Base. Target is compromised. I repeat: Target is compromised. We have a new Tango. Uploading visual data now. Over", he reported.
The sniper then unclipped a card from the scope of his rifle and slotted it into his radio, then pressed the transmit button. After a few seconds the radio beeped, confirming the transfer.
"Gunner One, this is Base. Return immediately for debriefing. Over and out", the other end replied.
Looking down at the data screen on his radio, the sniper burned her face to memory as he swore that they would meet again.
-000-
HOMESTEAD
ARROWHEAD MOUNTAINS
After a drive home that seemed to last all night, Sarah finally pulled into the driveway of their perfectly concealed cabin. Upon parking up, she noticed Jason's truck was already there, reawakening her anger for his abandonment earlier. Having had just about enough of being undermined, not to mention almost assassinated, Sarah kicked the car door open and slammed it shut with equal force.
She made sure to leave the cabin door on its hinges as she stormed inside and promptly slapped the intel on the dining room table, throwing her coat on the nearest chair and turning just as Jason emerged from the kitchen with a towel.
"Where the-" she began, stopping to notice his facial injuries before continuing; "Where the hell have you been?"
"I decided to join Derek in his yellow brick quest for answers", he replied slyly.
"Uh huh. And you just happened to leave the rest of us open to attack while you were gone", Sarah sniped.
"Sophie was here. Cameron was upstairs. John's hardly a flower child. Well, then again..." he mused.
Shaking her head incredulously, Sarah picked up the envelope and shoved it in hands. Jason turned the envelope right ways and examined it, his eyebrow rising with interest.
"You did notice this has a bullet hole in it?" he observed.
"Yes, I happened to notice that. Since two more of them almost took my head off, I'm sure I might've noticed", she snapped back.
"Another assassin? And here I thought we were one up", Jason remarked.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she sighed.
Jason threw the intel unconcernedly on the table and crossed his harms.
"It means the woman who tried to kill your grandchild is now lying in a pool of her own blood", he replied.
"Derek?" she posited.
"No, herself. One shot to the head, close range. She killed herself before we got there", he explained.
"Oh... Well this guy was someone else entirely. And judging by his being there, I imagine he worked for the same company our informant did. Does the name Kaliba mean anything to you?" she asked.
"Kaliba?" Jason repeated, taking a moment to consult his memory. "No", he answered.
"You have no records of them being involved with Skynet?" she pressed.
"Skynet was built by USAF after they bought out Cyberdyne", Jason elaborated.
"So you're saying Kaliba is a dead end?" she asked, feeling like she'd risked her skin for nothing.
"I'm not sure. I've been keeping close tabs on Cyberdyne. They went under a few years back but their research was never picked up. If the military has it they're keeping very quiet about it. Then again, with the things we've changed over the years, I doubt the origin I remember is necessarily how it's going to pan out", he commented.
Sarah let out a deep sigh as the complexities of time travel rattled her brain once again.
"Then we have to make Kaliba our priority. Find out as much about them as we can", she decided.
As if this night couldn't get any longer, she thought as she flipped open the first file and started reading.
-000-
Purple and blue swirled in a fountain of colour as they joined green and red and yellow to form a surreal depiction of the human eye. It stared at her, blinked once, then suddenly burst into a thousand tiny shards of glass above her head, showering her in glitter and shell casings. Then the world turned utterly black. A few moments of complete silence followed before two giant glowing red orbs materialised out of nowhere to blind her. The sound of grinding metal mixed with an infant's cry deafened her senses as she covered her ears in pain.
Cameron's eyes snapped open as her visual receptors came back online.
The world returned to focus and the bare beige ceiling greeted her with a dull nothingness. Across the bottom left of her heads-up display the words 'All systems fully restored' flashed a few times before vanishing. Clenching her fist she could feel her old strength returning and the corner of her lip twitched into the smallest of smiles. But her momentary euphoria was quickly punctured by the dream she had just experienced, for there was no other word to describe it.
Never in her entire existence had she ever experienced such an event. For a machine it was practically impossible. The only probable explanation would be that her chip was undergoing serious degradation and was hours away from corroding entirely. But a quick check of her systems confirmed that she was operating without such damage. This was both unprecedented and unwelcome.
Sitting up, she replayed the dream before her eyes and applied what she saw to common dream omens that she had researched in her studies of the human mind. Nothing she found had any feasible application for her, however, so she decided, for the moment at least, to put it aside and maybe consult John later.
John...
He was lying in bed beside her, still dressed but fast asleep. Checking her chronometer revealed the time to be nearly 6am. No doubt everyone's sleeping patterns would be out of synch after the night's events, so Cameron felt no need to disturb John as she carefully crawled out of bed and stood in front of the large mirror next to the window overlooking the drive.
Cameron examined her naked form carefully and was satisfied to see that her stomach had returned to its previous shape and size. No one would've guessed that just a few hours previous she had been carrying a child inside of her. She turned her body sideways to examine her waistline until she was certain that her body was fully restored to its factory settings. Pleased, Cameron opened the closet and extracted a pink nightgown which she slipped into and tied up to hide her non-existent modesty.
A soft gurgling noise snapped Cameron out of her reverie and drew her attention to the makeshift cot on the other side of the bed. With slight trepidation, she stepped over to the cot and peered inside to see her infant child squirming in her sleep. Cameron tipped her head a little to one side as she scanned the child's features, finding the markers for several traits inherent in both herself and John. The baby stirred again but did not wake and placed its thumb in its mouth to suckle on.
Cameron watched the child sleep for several minutes while she reflected on the past months and the time she'd spent carrying and nurturing the baby. John had made her promise to love their little creation, but looking down at the baby and its alarming innocence, all she could see was a liability and a weakness. John could not see this, but it was at the forefront of her thinking. Giving it up for adoption or perhaps killing it altogether would be far more beneficial to their circumstance and her mission.
But John would never forgive her for doing either.
Mission or no: she was stuck with this child and the promise she made to its father.
"Any thoughts on what she's gonna look like?"
Cameron glanced up to see Sarah standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, but unlike every other time she was around Cameron; her face was not inclined towards negative expression. Cameron looked back down at the baby and conducted another scan.
"The variance of features inherited from me and John is on a scale of 80/20 to my favour", she explained.
"Huh... Let's hope she has his brains then", Sarah quipped.
Cameron considered pointing out that she was more intelligent than John and that it would be more beneficial for the baby to have her brains than his, but decided this would only irk Sarah's pride.
"Have you thought of a name?" Sarah asked.
"John said we should decide it together", Cameron replied.
"Why wait? I already have one in mind", Sarah posited.
Cameron watched her expectantly, her hands resting on the cot.
"Hailey... after my great grandmother. Her mother had fallopian scarring and her father was infertile after working for years at a nuclear plant. And then one day, out of the blue; Hailey was born. Their own little miracle", Sarah recalled.
Cameron tipped her head to one side again as she considered the story.
"It is possible she lied about her condition and had an affair with another man", she suggested innocently.
Sarah's eye twitched but she did not rise to the insult.
"They both had medical evidence and the kid got her DNA tested when she was older", she countered dryly.
Leaving it be, Cameron returned her attention to her daughter and considered the name carefully, comparing it to others she had short-listed from the baby book.
Hailey; meaning 'hay meadow', didn't really match the child's nature. Yet Sarah's story was rather fitting, regardless.
"Hailey", she repeated, extending a finger to caress her tiny face.
Hailey Connor.
To be continued...