Epp 5
John Henry had finished making the last piece needed for the TDE. He also had twenty triple eights made to obey his commands. He had filled the rolling cargo carrier with the new parts, then assigned ten units to guard the carrier. The other ten he had obey the commands of Catherine Weaver.
Gregory, who's outer covering was badly damaged, informed John Henry and Catherine of Savannah's demise.
Listening to John Connor's plans, Catherine revised her plans. Crisply, she said, "John Henry, I will destroy those towers in two days. When you detect the first tower no longer transmitting, head for the TDE. I have placed power supplies and explosives throughout the factory. Set them off right after you leave. I will take the terminators you assigned to me. Meet me at the TDE."
"Yes, Mrs Weaver," John Henry said. He then turned to Gregory. "Are you fully functional?"
"Yes, Father, it is only superficial damage," Gregory told him.
"Return to John Connor, take the other five experimental plasma rifles with you to distribute as John Connor sees fit. Inform him of the change in plans."
"Yes, Father," Gregory replied. He left to do as his Father asked.
John Henry sat alone in the control room. On his HUD, a small picture of young Savannah's face came up. Softly, he began to sing in a hollow tone.
I've just come down from the Isle of Sky
I'm not very big and I'm awful shy
all the lassies shout when I go by,
Donald where's your trousers ...
.
The fire above did collapse the building. Burning wooden beams, concrete and roofing filled the stairway. Satisfied the entrance was blocked, John led Cameron and her son (the thought of which still made him feel uncomfortable) back to Kyle's outpost.
By the time they got there, the outpost was mostly vacant. Here and there, people were walking out, carrying what they could. The only thing untouched was John and Cameron's room and their experimental devices. It hit home to John that all he had to knock out those Sky Net communication towers was Cameron and her children.
Elenore had gotten her rats. John chose not to be in the otherwise deserted dinning room as the rats were consumed, body, hair, bones and all. Instead, John went to the empty room that used to be Kyle's command center. He looked at the map again. The towers looked to be two days walk normally. Dodging and hiding from Sky Net patrols, it would take much longer. Whoever went would not be back in time, that was if they were successful. Since Cameron, Mary and Elanore had to prepare to leave, that left him and Jake to take those towers out.
"Damn it!"John spat. There was no way they were going to be ready in time. Although he desperately wanted to, he knew Cameron would have a fit if he went himself. He was all too aware now what would happen if something happened to him. This world would become the permanent future, with no hope of defeating Sky Net. He was forced to leave the towers alone and hope John Henry could get here, and Kyle and his people could find a safe refuge.
Wandering around the room, John noticed a paper folded on Kyle's desk with his name on it. Curious, he picked it up and read it.
John,
Much has happened, and frankly,I am having a hard time understanding it all. I want you to know I consider myself responsible for these people around me. I have to think of them first. That is why we had to leave. Unfortunately you have a job also, but it is not with us.
I had often wondered when you arrived how you knew myself, Derek, and who we thought was Allison. We sure as hell didn't know you. That is my loss. Cameron admitted who you are. You seem to be a wizard with what makes metal tick. Hell, to not only capture and reprogram one, let alone give her emotions and make her your girlfriend? In my mind, that makes you a genius. Again, that is my loss for not knowing you, my son. If it matters at all, I approve of you and Cameron being together. You work well with each other and I know she'd stand before the gates of Hell for you. You've proved you'd dive head first into Hell for her. Don't even loose that. If fate allows, I hope one day we can sit down and talk over some of Pete's nasty-ass moonshine.
Now get your ass back to wherever in the past it is you belong, and go do your job!
Kyle.
John smiled at the last part, then broke down and cried. Sobbing heavily, he folded the letter and put it in his shirt pocket. "I love you, Dad," he sniffled.
.
Gregory returned the next day, looking like he just came from a Halloween party. The only thing on Gregory's metal face that was still intact were his eyes. John gaped at his bare metal face as Gregory explained what happened on the platform, and Catherine Weaver's plans.
John was thankful Catherine was going to take the towers out, but he also was concerned about Gregory's damage. "How long will it take for you to heal?" he asked.
"No more than two weeks," Gregory assured him.
If all went well, they'd be going back in a few days. "Too long," John mused. "You do have the same skin as Cameron and your siblings?" he asked.
"Yes, We all share Mother's outer covering," Gregory said, his teeth parting slightly in a skeletal grin.
"Come with me."
John led Gregory to the room where Cameron, Mary and Elanore had their shirts pulled up and were pulling out the skin on their bellies to stretch it out more. Ignoring the sight, John said, "Cam, we got a problem. Gregory is going to need a skin graft to go through the TDE."
Cameron had grown a decent flap of skin on her belly, looking like an empty bag. She looked at Gregory. "Yes, he will. Gregory, is there any other skin missing on you?" she asked.
"No mother. The holes in my back have closed up. Just my face from the terminator grabbing me is not whole. In removing his hand from my face, my face came off."
"John, get me a knife and something to bandage Gregory with. Gregory, lie on the table," Cameron told them.
.
John wince as Cameron cut a large eye shaped portion of her extra belly skin away. She sewed herself up, then cut the skin to fit it on Gregory's face. John handed her cloth to bandage his forehead, then his cheeks. His nose was now only a bump of skin. Carefully, Cameron wrapped his head up, leaving only his eyes showing.
"The skin junctions will heal together and stay alive long enough for Gregory to grow his own skin back," Cameron explained. "Until then, Gregory, be very careful. If more of your skin comes off, you won't be able to come with us."
His "Yes, Mother," came out muffled.
"And just nod, try not to speak. You do not want to rip that skin open." Cameron scolded.
Gregory nodded.
.
It had taken Gregory a full day to travel back to John. With a motorized carrier, it took John Henry two hours to get there after Sky Net stopped transmitting. Pulling up right to the hatch down into Kyle's old base, John Henry went in to meet Jake, then everyone and John Henry's terminators unloaded the parts. Cameron and John Henry began to put the TDE together.
While this was going on, another terminator came to investigate. Jake passed the last piece of TDE down to the waiting terminator. He got off the carrier and smiled at the new machine. "Hello, I am Jake Tok."
The terminator looked at the other terminators working, then turned back to Jake and asked in it's mechanical voice, "Are you human?"
"No, but I do have something to show you," Jake said all smiles. He extended his arms at the terminator and shot the rods out.
The terminator spammed and fell.
"Test successful," Jake stated, and removed the terminators' chip.
With ten terminators, all the entrances were guarded now, making John breathe a little easier. In the evening, Catherine arrived. She went straight to the TDE to find John Henry, Cameron and all their children working to connect everything together.
Giving them a nod of approval, Catherine asked, "How long will construction take, John Henry?"
"Another six hours," John Henry said as he wired in the new control station. "Power will be supplied by our triple eights. Twenty of them should be sufficient to send four people at a time. I will set the target time for one week after we left, allowing seven days for displacement error."
"We only have eighteen. I lost two units destroying the towers," Catherine explained.
"No matter," John Henry said, "We gained a power supply. That will only take another hour for charging. We have a ten hour window to get the device recharged after every displacement. After the last displacement, the device will self-destruct."
"Very good, John Henry."
.
Cameron was preparing to leave. First, she and Mary washed all the clothes of the first group. Sitting with only a blanket on, John was waiting for Cameron to return so he could get dressed. Cameron came in naked and looking very pregnant, Max trotting along beside her.
John eyed her. "Ahh, Cam, where are our clothes?" he asked.
Cameron patted her belly. "In here, along with two plasma rifles. I wrapped the rifle parts in clothing, so we won't have to find clothes when we arrive."
"Good thinking," John agreed. He didn't even want to know how she got everything in there.
"The TDE is ready, it's time to go," she added.
.
Terminators lay in a line with cables going to the TDE power unit. John Henry and Jake monitored the control panel as John walked into the TDE room. Catherine Weaver was waiting impatiently. She stepped up on the hastily constructed platform.
John found it was a tight fit. Cameron made Max sit between her and John. Catherine was in front of John. John Henry got on to stand in front of Cameron and Max.
"It would be easier if your dog did not come," Catherine said crisply.
"Deal with it," Cameron said flatly.
The Tok's waved to them. "By Mother, Father, step-Father, and Mrs. Weaver. See you soon!" they called.
John Henry, John and Cameron waved back, then electric arcs crackled around them, forming a bubble. With a flash of light, they disappeared.
.
Sarah sat slouched down on Catherine Weavers' expensive leather couch. Her eyes half closed, she stared past the empty beer cans on the glass coffee table to the perfectly trimmed back yard visible through the sliding glass doors.
As much as she hated to admit it, taking care of Savannah was keeping her from plunging all the way over the cliff. Her John was gone. The savior of humanity had foolishly taken a trip to the future to chase after Tin Miss. Thinking of when Cameron had gone bad, Sarah cursed herself for not grabbing the flare and throwing it onto the traitorous metal SLUT and getting rid of her permanently. Maybe then John would have come to his senses.
Sarah took another long pull from the beer in her hand. Her life, all her hard work training John and her very heart had gone with him, ripped away by that bitch Weaver! In that one flash of light, her world ceased to exist.
Even though Sarah wanted to drink herself to death, she endured the sleepless nights, got up in the mornings and maintained some semblance of taking care of herself. The reason was little, innocent Savannah. There was no one else to care for this innocent child who had no idea her mother had been a liquid metal witch posing as human.
Glancing up at the fancy grandfather clock done in modern style with a black exterior, she saw it was a little after ten. Had the chimes rung? Not that she gave a shit. She still had some time to drink a few more cans and get herself up and ready for when Savannah came home. She'd be semi sober by then, enough to take care of that sweet child who knew nothing about her terminator mother.
Daydreaming about John, she swore she could hear his voice.
"Cam, not here! Let's get in the house first."
Since when had John picked up a pet name for Tin Miss? Sarah pondered.
"What if Savannah is home, John?" Cameron asked sternly.
"It's a school day, get the mutt and let's go," John retorted.
"His name is Max."
"Sorry, get Max and let's get inside."
Jesus Christ, it sounded like they were married! Sarah cringed at that the thought of that nightmare.
Sarah thought she heard a door open. Gazing blankly at the sliding doors a dark form appeared. A big German Shepard trotted to the doors and looked back the way he's come. Then Cameron, a very pregnant and naked Cameron walked into her view and opened the door to let the dog out.
Fuck, this was one of the worst nightmares Sarah ever remembered having. Wait, was she even asleep?
Looking to the side, her nightmare Cameron pointed and said, "John, just take the blanket off the couch that's by your mother."
Sarah frowned at Cameron as she tried to figure out how she could be dreaming when she was awake. Maybe she should stop drinking so much.
"Mom, are you OK?" John asked, sounding worried.
Sarah flopped her head over. Her eyes opened wide as she stared at John, who was wearing nothing but the blanket that had been beside her. Sarah sat up. "John?" she asked hopefully.
Sporting a grin, John said, "Yeah, Mom, we're back." He reached out to her. Sarah took his hand and felt him. It was real, John was here! She pulled herself up and hugged her son. "John ... you're really here!" she cried, hugging him tight to verify he was real. Sobbing out her joy, Sarah wavered in place.
John sat her down, sitting down with her. "It's OK, Mom. We're back. Everything is going to be fine."
"Max, come!" Cameron called.
Sarah shifted her drunken gaze to her nightmare Cameron as the dog ran back in the house. "Wait ... John?" She asked, confused. "I thought Cameron was missing her chip?"
"Her chip was rebuilt, and her body is new," John explained. "I did it, Mom. I got her back, better than ever."
Sarah stared at John, then returned her stare to Cameron who was coming over to then. On the bottom side of her huge stomach was what looked like a cesarean section scar. "John ... Tin Miss can ... have kids?" she asked in disbelief.
Cameron saw Sarah's confusion. She decide to explain, but not completely. "John and I have four children. Jake, Gregory, Mary and Elanore. You will be meeting them soon."
"What?" Sarah asked in an exhale. Holy shit, they WERE married and having kids! She grabbed John's arm to verify again that this was real and not a nightmare. No, that wouldn't do it. "John. Pinch me," she said weakly.
"Mom, I'm not going to..."
"Pinch me!" Sarah snapped. "This HAS to be just a demented nightmare!"
"Mom," John said with a groan. "It's no nightmare. I am back, with Cameron," Slower, he reluctantly said, "And those four children Cam mentioned are ..."
"PINCH ME!" Sarah wailed.
John pinched her on the arm. Sarah smiled. "I didn't feel a thing," she said with a sigh of relief.
"Because you are drunk," Cameron told her. "You nerve endings are numb at the moment. John, I'm going to need some help and Sarah needs rest."
"Yes, rest," Sarah agreed. She gave John a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I miss you," she said, gazing at her reason for living.
"I missed you too, Mom," John said as he laid her down on the couch. "Now get some sleep, you look horrible."
Seeing John here, Sarah was able to relax. She drifted off to sleep and had nightmare of Tin Miss, sitting on the floor with John and all their metal children. Cameron turned to her in the nightmare, but didn't speak. She just cast Sarah a sly grin of 'he's mine now'.
.
John hated this idea, but he knew they had to get all that stuff out of Cameron. Cameron lay naked on the bed. Normally, John enjoyed this sight, but at the moment he was a bit nervous about what he had to do. He did as she directed, and used a sharp knife to slit across her lower belly, right in the pink scar that had closed up hours before. He expected a rush of blood, but there was very little, only a couple drops. From inside her skin, he pulled out rolled up clothes. Some were heavy, with rifle parts within. These he put to her right side.
Soon, there was nothing left in the void. John reached in and noted the 'muscle' layer under his hand. "You have muscles?" he asked, surprised at this.
"For exterior shaping and minor movement," Cameron explained. "Explore all you want," she said with a grin.
Fascinated by clean, bloodless separation of her skin and fat layer (which was pretty thin), and her toned muscles underneath, John gazed in awe as he petted literally her bare belly. She moved under his hand, twisting her hips a little and flexing her groin up.
"The sooner we return my skin to normal, the more we can do," Cameron coaxed.
John's fascinated gaze met her soft gaze. "You are amazing, Cam," John said softly.
"I'm glad you think so," she replied with a soft smile. "We'll get rid of all this extra skin whenever you're ready."
John then refocused on the tent like flap of skin he was holding up. "Ahh, yeah," he agreed, resetting his thoughts back to what they were suppose to be doing.
John had thought just pulling on it and cutting away the extra would do it. Instead, Cameron got her belly button in it's correct position with a finger, and had him fold up and carefully cut away strips until the piece of skin that was left just covered her bare muscles underneath. Not wanting the skin to shift Cameron had him staple it in place. With nothing to stitch it in place with, John was forced to do as she instructed. Finally, he wrapped her stomach with cloth.
Not knowing what to do with the extra skin, John piled it on top of his jacket that he's unrolled to find a small power supply unit within. The jacket was blood stained anyway, so a little more wasn't going to hurt anything.
John quickly dressed in the worn, ragged clothes he'd been wearing, and moved to help Cameron. He handed her clothes, which caused her to eye him.
"Do you need me to get dressed quickly, John?" Cameron asked.
"What? No, I was only trying to help since I sliced your stomach up."
That struck Cameron as funny. She let out a giggle, surprised at her own action. She had not called up an emotion, it just happened.
John shrugged and handed Cameron her shirt. In a subdues tone, he said, "I just ... felt bad about having to cut you," he offered.
"You did not hurt me, John," Cameron said evenly, "And I did ask you to do it."
"Still," he said, letting his voice trail off.
She could see he was feeling guilty about cutting her, even though she had asked him to. It was illogical, but that was her illogical John, and one of the things that made her want to be so close to him. Cupping his face gently in her hands, she made him look at her. Gazing into his eyes, she said softer, "John, do not feel guilty. You helped me. Thank you."
She kissed him. John returned the kiss which soon turned into a deeper kiss, arms wrapped around each other. As they drifted towards the bed, Cameron let out another giggle.
"Getting dressed was pointless, unless you like taking my clothes off," Cameron said with a big smile.
John kissed her and said with his own wide grin, "Oh, yeah, I sure do."
.
Pant pant pant pant.
Sarah rolled over on the couch to get away from the hot breath that smelled like dog. As she came awake enough to realize she was sleeping and it was daytime, she forced herself up to look at the time, afraid she'd miss Savannah coming home from school. Struggling up on an elbow she looked right into the face of a German Shepard.
Pant pant pant pant.
With a surprised yelp, she sat up, fully awake and much more sober than she had been. Looking around frantically, she tried to figure out how a dog got in the house. The dog wasn't doing anything but watching her. That was until she slid to the end of the couch.
The dog jumped up onto the couch and flopped down to lie with it's butt towards her.
"Hey ... Fido ... Rover, DOWN!" she yelled.
The dog ignored her.
Walking over to the back door she slid it open and pointed outside. "GET OUT!" she yelled.
The dog rolled over on it's back to get comfortable and stuck it's paws in the air.
Angry at the strange dog, Sarah looked for something to knock it off the couch with. Seeing a ornate sword over the fireplace, Sarah picked it up and approached the couch.
"Mom, NO!" John cried as he ran in. Sarah spun to gape at him. Wearing his ragged shirt that was open and sported holes and blood stains, John got between his mother and the couch. "Mom, Max bites, don't provoke him, please!"
Sarah stared at her son and dropped the sword. His clothes looked horrid, but this was her John. "You're back," she said, staring at him. "I had a dream you'd come back ... with that dog and a very pregnant Cameron," she said.
"It wasn't a dream, Mom," John said evenly. "You greeted us, don't you remember?"
Despite her confusion, Sarah smile at seeing her boy. She grabbed him in a tight hug. It then hit her what he said. Pulling back to look at him, she said, "It thought it was a ..." she then paused, her eyes grew wide and she screeched out, "That was REAL?"
John itched his head and nodded. "Yeah, Mom, you were pretty out of it," he said with a sideways grin.
In her mind, she saw her nightmare coming true. Her John with Cameron and a gaggle of their kids, and of course their mutt. "What in the HELL have you been doing with Tin Miss!" she yelled out in a blast.
Passing by Sarah, Cameron said in a heavy tone, "Not much, we keep getting interrupted." As she walked past Sarah, Cameron snapped her fingers and pointed beside her. Max jumped off the couch and trotted over to stay by her left side.
Sarah only glanced at Cameron. She turned her wrath on John. "John?" she asked angrily a she balled her fists into the collar of his shirt.
Max growled. Sarah noted it wasn't just a growl, but a teeth-baring 'I will take a chunk out of you' serious growl. She backed up a step. "Oh great, Tin Miss has an attack dog," Sarah spat.
"Mom, calm down, please," John begged.
"John," Cameron said as she looked at him with her blank terminator face. "I am going to check the perimeter with Max. That will give you time to explain."
"That's best," John agreed.
Sarah watched Cameron turn and go out the back, Max staying tight to her side. "At least she's not pregnant," Sarah grumbled.
"Ah, Mom, we really need to sit down and talk," John said tentatively. "And please stop calling Cameron 'Tin Miss'. It's insulting."
Sarah stared at John. "You're in love with her, aren't you?" she asked.
Stiffening himself, John nodded. "I am, and Cam is in love with me."
"THAT thing is a machine, John!" Sarah snapped, pointing the way Cameron had left. "WHY do you keep forgetting that?"
Getting angry at his mother, John stiffened and forced himself to speak in a strained, normal tone. "Cam is so much more, Mom. As I said, I need to explain some things. This may take a while but please listen."
"And hear how it's just FINE to hump a machine that tried to KILL YOU?" Sarah asked in a near screech.
Quivering in place from his anger and frustration, John reached into his pocket. He pulled out Kyle's letter and held it out to his Mother. "All right," he said firmly. "If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to Dad."
Sarah stopped her rant and stared at the paper John was holding. "You saw him?" she asked, her anger drained away.
"Yes, I spend some time with him and Derek. I'm damn glad I did, too," John said in his firm tone.
Sarah took the letter and read it. She read it again as her lip quivered. "John ... I ..."
"You can keep it if you want. I know you don't have much to remember him by." John said.
Sarah shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye with a wrist. "No," she said, and handed it back. "He gave it to you, John. It's yours."
"Thank you," John said. He took the letter, refolded and pocketed it. "Mom, I really need to explain some things to you. Can we please sit down?" he asked again, motioning to the couch.
Sarah nodded. Her head was aching and her mind was spinning, but she was going to listen to what her son had to say.