Epp 6
Catherine Weaver went right back to work at Zeita Corp upon returning. The explosion that caused damage to her building was under investigation, and much of the building was tapped off. She explained to the authorities that she had gone to an emergency meeting, and was just now finding out about the vehicle that had crashed into her office.
Besides the police investigation, Catherine opened her own investigation on the craft. Several short videos of the craft had been taken. With a few of her techs, she managed to piece together a partial flight path from security monitors and a couple people who'd caught the 'UFO' on their cell phones.
Everything she discovered, she fed to the detective in charge.
Sitting in the detective's office as they viewed the footage and the locations of where the videos had been taken, Catherine pointed out a couple key facts for him. "You can see by it's flight path, officer, this was no accident. That craft was also too small to do the tremendous damage it did, unless it was carrying some type of explosives. This was an attempt to murder me," she stated.
"It appears so," The detective agreed. "You have a Mr. Ellison working for you who is ex-FBI, correct?"
"Yes, he found the people who had taken those videos as the craft was coming into the city. Unfortunately, he did not find the point of origin," she told him. "Not long before this, a source tried to hack my servers attempting to steal classified data. I believe it is the same entity that caused this drone to destroy my office. I do not have the required proof, but I suspect the Kaliba Group is behind these attacks. No other company is as close as we are to producing a working A.I."
The detective nodded, then eyed her and said, "You know we highly suspect the escaped felon, Sarah Connor as behind the attack on your building. She's trying to stop robots from taking over the world."
Catherine offer him a small grin and said, "In reviewing the security footage that survived, there is no proof of your theory. I would also like to point out that I highly doubt Sarah Connor had the ability to construct, program and fly a stealth drone that does not come up on any radar, the day after she was broken out of prison."
"How do you know about her escape?" the detective asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Requests for the location Mrs. Connor the same day of a massive jail break tends to speak for itself, don't you agree?"Catherine asked.
"Sarah Connor DID kidnap your daughter, Savannah, isn't that right, Mrs. Weaver?"
"That is not right. Whoever it was that was killed in my house were the ones trying to hurt Savannah," Catherine explained. "I must say I was grateful for Mrs. Connor retrieving Savannah and keeping her safe, however, since she is a wanted criminal, I had no choice but to report to the police the information of where Mrs. Connor was meeting Mr. Ellison to give Savannah back."
The Detective rubbed his chin as he eyed her. "So you think Sarah Connor is innocent?" he asked.
"Of attacking my building and kidnapping my daughter, yes. Of the other things she has done, I cannot say," Catherine stated.
"You do know that if she is not caught, Sarah Connor will probably come after you and your company. After all, you are working to build these smart machines that will destroy mankind," the detective told her.
"If Sarah Connor decides to attack me, I will let you know," Catherine said firmly.
The detective glanced down at his notes and asked, "You said you suspect this Kaliba Group of attacking you. What can you tell me about them?"
"Not much, unfortunately. There appears to be no location for them, nor is there any public information about them. The extent of my knowledge is that they are in competition with us for government contracts. I happened to see their name on a memo, but I cannot tell you where, for I was at a classified installation," Catherine explained.
"This a corporate war then? Do you intent to strike back?"
"I am not a criminal, sir. However, if Sarah Connor ever happens to discover their whereabouts, I think things may go bad for them," Catherine said with a smirk. "And before you ask, I do not know where she is any more than you do." Before he could ask anything else, she added, "I have yet to make it home to see my daughter since I returned. I am eager to do so. Are we finished?"
The detective reluctantly nodded, "Yes, thank you for the information you brought in. You've been a big help to us, Mrs. Weaver."
"You are welcome, Sir," Catherine said and got up. As she left her chair, a small drop of silver stayed behind. The silver drop formed into a spider and crawled up the leg of the desk. Unnoticed, it scurried across the desk and climbed into the vent slots of the detective's computer.
.
"A DOGGIE!" Savannah cried happily as she came in the house and saw Max sprawled out on the floor.
Behind her, Sarah's heart went into her throat as Savannah dropped her book bag and raced over to where Max scrambled up on his feet. Sure the child was about to get shredded by the monster dog, Sarah made a grab for the back of Savannah's shirt as the happy child charged Max, arms wide. Sarah felt the fabric of Savannah's collar, but she missed.
Savannah ran into Max, hugging him. Max wagged his tail and licked her face. Sarah was stunned. She was also very relieved. Max kept licking Savannah's face, making her giggle.
"What's his name?" Savannah asked as she petted Max, who looked to be enjoying the attention.
"His name is Max," Sarah said blankly as she watched this vicious dog nuzzle the red-haired child.
Cameron came in from the kitchen. "Hello, Savannah, I see you met Max," she said.
Savannah turned and smiled at Cameron as she petted Max's thick fur. "I always wanted a doggie, but Mommy said they make big messes. Are you one of John Henry's friends?"
"I am," Cameron said confidently. "My name is Cameron. Max, John and I have come to stay for a while, is that all right with you?" she asked Savannah.
Savannah bobbed her head enthusiastically. "It sure is! Can Max play catch?"
"Do you have a ball?"
"Yeah, I'll go get it!" Savannah cried, and ran to her room.
Sarah watched Savannah run up the stairs to her room. She picked up the dropped book bag and asked Cameron, "What were you doing in the kitchen?"
"John was exhausted so I got him to bed. I went to the kitchen to plan out tonight's meal," Cameron stated.
"I was doing the cooking," Sarah stated.
"I am aware of that, but John will need a diet heavy in vegetables and fruit with some lean meats and some light spices to enhance the flavor. He has not had proper nutrition for far too long," Cameron replied flatly.
"Are you saying I can't cook for my son?" Sarah asked in a challenge.
"I did not say that," Cameron stated. Heading back for the kitchen, she added, "I only said I know what John needs."
Sarah flushed in anger at what Cameron implied. She took a couple angry steps, and was stopped by Max's growl. She frowned at the dog. "You wanna get shot?" she asked.
Max stared at her as if daring her to follow Tin Miss into the kitchen.
Savannah appeared again, holding a ball. She ran past Max, calling, "Come on Max, let's go play ball!"
Max got up and followed Savannah outside.
"That dog hates me," Sarah grumbled. Looking outside, she saw Savannah throw the ball. Max raced after it and brought it back, much to Savannah's delight.
.
Catherine Weaver's next stop was her main office building. On the way she'd contacted her executives to set up a meeting place for tomorrow. Instead of in the main office building, she'd set up smaller office buildings until he damage was repaired.
Seeing the front entrance was now guarded by a policeman, she went around to the parking garage. There was another policeman at the gate. He seemed to perk up as she rolled up to him.
"Mrs. Weaver?" he asked, surprised to see her.
"Yes. There is some data I must collect. It is not near the damaged area of the building," she told him.
"Ahhh, let me clear you," he said, and got on his radio. "This is rear gate, I have Mrs. Weaver here to collect some data."
"Send her in," came a reply.
The policeman waved her in.
Driving down into the garage, Catherine parked. She got out and went to the elevator. The 'B' light on the elevator lit and the doors opened. Inside the car, four men pointed their silenced pistols at her and shot.
Catherine stood motionless as the bullets made small, silver impact craters on her as the men shot, and kept shooting. When they stopped, she looked down and closed up all the craters and returned her look to normal. "Are you finished?" she asked, as if scolding children.
The men gaped at her.
Scanning their gaping faces she asked, "Who's in charge?"
One man hit the button for another floor. Catherine stopped the doors from shutting. "I won't ask again, who is in charge?" she asked more firmly.
"Reload!" one man yelled.
As they they ejected their clips and slapped in new ones, Catherine's right arm extended and retracted, spearing three of them. The last man, she brought her javelin looking arm out to only barely pierce the skin of his chest. "Speak and you live, shoot one more time and you die," she stated.
Gaping at her, the man's pants darkened in the crotch. He dropped his gun.
"Well?" she asked sharply.
"One of the techs," he said weakly.
"Where is this man?" she asked.
"Basement."
"Thank you," she said, then ran him through. His face held a pleading look as he sank to the floor of the car with the other dead men. Catherine got in the elevator.
On the first floor, Catherine got off to find a man with cart filled with files from various offices. She killed him and continued on down to the basement. On the way, two men were on their way up carrying a silver box. She shot both arms out, lancing them both with her silver blades. The men fell with shocked looks on their faces.
Inside the case was the TURK. She closed the case and walked down to the server room. Walking in, she saw three more men and a woman with their laptops set up. Another was trying to open the storage room door. She set the case down and lanced the man trying to open the door from across the room. She deliberately missed his heart and cupped the end of her silver spear to pull him back towards her. This got the attention of the others. They turned from their various tasks and gaped at her.
"Now that I have got your attention, who told you to come here?" Catherine asked.
The group stayed quiet, frozen in place. The woman mouthed, "Oh God."
"Very well, it appears I must make an example out of one of you," Catherine said in a conversational tone. She panned her eyes over the group. They all look scared. Selecting the man on the other side of the table who'd been connecting wires, she lifted an arm and shot her spear out. She hooked it around his neck and yanked him through the air and into her. The man cried out in pain. She wrapped an arm around him.
"Watch closely, this is the price for staying silent," she told the rest of them. Holding the man with one arm, she poked a finger just below his ribs in the center of his torso and drew down. The man screamed in agony as she split him open from ribs to crotch. Reaching into the cut, she ripped the left half of his stomach open, spilling his guts on the floor. She then flung him aside, still alive and wailing out in pain. Horror was written on all the faces watching her. After a few minutes of screaming, she snaked out another arm to crush his throat and rip his head off.
"Now, who else wishes to die in agony?" Catherine asked calmly.
The woman swallowed and with a shrug, she said meekly, "We don't know who ..."
She never got the chance to finish. Catherine made a whip like appendage of her right arm and snapped it out. The woman's clothes opened in front. She was slashed from crotch to ribs. The woman looked down at her own guts pouring our with her blood. She screamed and dropped to her knees. Crying in short gasps, she desperately tried to collect her entrails that were hanging out of her. Her hands picked them up, but they slipped back down out of her grasp.
"Perhaps you need more incentive?" Catherine asked. Her whip struck out again, severing the woman's right arm.
"AGGGGH! Nooo..!" The woman screamed in a failing voice. She then toppled over into her own bloody guts on the floor.
The two remaining men were obviously terrified, their heart rates were very high and a urine smell was in the air. Catherine tipped her head slightly. "You do know, if you stay quiet, your families are next."
"All right!" the man sitting closest to her cried. "We work for Dynatech. We were told to come here and retrieve the equipment and any data we could find!"
"By who?" Catherine asked calmly.
"The boss ... Mr. Bryan Johnson!"
"And where is this company, Dynatech?"
"Six twenty five Maple," the man said quickly.
Catherine noticed the other man opening his phone as discretely as possible. She sent a lance through his head.
The last man shot up and backed into the wall, eyeing her wide eyed. "I'm telling you everything I know!" he cried.
"Have you ever heard of Kaliba?" Catherine asked.
The man shook his head. "No," he stated.
"Pity," she said and killed him with a silver spear through his brain.
Catherine picked up the case with the TURK in it and put it on the table. She collected the vital parts she would need, then closed the case and left. On her way out, she shut the door, backed up and sliced the ceiling above the door. A solid steel plate hidden above came slamming down over the door.
It took another few minutes to go through the building and find and kill seven other people, three of which were guards. Returning to the parking garage, she went to a pillar and hit it hard enough to reveal a metal plate just under the surface. She ripped the plate off to expose a small security panel. She punched in her number. The display lit up.
Building demolition in
9 minutes 58 seconds
The time counted down as she walked through the garage, morphing herself into one of the fake policemen who'd shot at her. At the gate, the gate guard asked, "We good?"
"No, you're dead," Catherine replied and speared him through the heart.
Catherine Weaver walked a few blocks away to stop beside a parked car. She looked through the side mirror. Her building lit up with small explosions from bottom to top and collapsed straight down, just like it was suppose to.
She headed for Dynatech.
.
"I am here to see Mr. Brian Johnson, is he available?" The long haired brunette in a business suit asked the man behind the counter in the small lobby of Dynatech's office building.
"I will check, Ma'am," the man said. He picked up his desk phone and asked, "May I ask your name?"
"Catherine Weaver," she said, noting he was the only one here. There seemed to be little activity in the surrounding offices. She heard someone typing on a keyboard. In another office, a woman was taking on the phone, it didn't sound like a business call.
The man in front of her talked to a secretary. Upon hanging up he said, "Mr. Johnson will see you, Ms. Weaver. Take the elevator to the third floor, turn right, his office is at the end of the hall."
"Thank you," Catherine said pleasantly, and speared him through the chest.
Before she got on the elevator, Catherine killed the other two workers on the floor. She met no one in the elevator, nor in the hallway that ended in a frosted glass door with black letters reading : Brian Johnson CEO.
The secretary lifted her gaze just in time as Catherine speared her through her forehead. Catherine left her long silver spike planted in the twitching woman's brain and lifted her out of her seat.
The inner door flew open. A large, muscular man lifted his .50 caliber pistol. He shot, Catherine speared him through the center of his chest. The terminator looked down at the spike in him. Catherine grabbed his power cell and jerked it out of his body. The terminator fell. Catherine tossed the dead secretary to the side and strode into the office.
The office was spartan, with only a clean desk, a phone and one filing cabinet in view. She checked the filing cabinet and desk drawers. Empty. Walking back to the fallen terminator, she ripped his scalp back and extracted his chip. The chip flashed and burned up in her hand.
Catherine put the bodies in the inner office and shut the door on her way out.
.
James Ellison was searching, but could find nothing about Kaliba anywhere. Sitting in the parking lot of a McDonald's, he sipped his coffee and tried to think of anywhere else he might be able to look. He'd started simple, the yellow pages. He knew there would be no listing, but he checked anyway so he would not miss the obvious. He expanded his search from there. Even his old secretary, Mabel, could not find anything in the FBI's files. No business had ever heard of them and neither had any law enforcement.
His cell phone rang. He picked up, thinking it was Sarah. "Ellison."
"James, would you kindly pick me up at the corner of Maple and Tenth?"
Ellison perked up. "Mrs Weaver?" he asked, shocked to hear her voice.
"Yes, James. There is much we need to discuss. I hope Savannah has been well?"
"Ahh, yes. Savannah's been fine. Sarah is watching her," he said automatically. He then added his burning question. "What are you?"
"I will explain once you come pick me up. Please come quickly," she said and the phone went to dial tone.
.
Ellison's hands shook as he came upon the intersection Maple and Tenth. He knew about the terminators, but Mrs. Weaver was something completely different. Turning silver, shifting her body shape out into a shield to protect them from the blast when that aircraft crashed into the building. Whatever she was, it was one step beyond any explanation he could think of.
The light turned red. Ellison stopped and looked for Weaver. The passenger side door opened up and the red haired mystery woman got in saying, "Thank you, James. Home, please."
Heart in his throat from her sudden appearance, Ellison gaped at her.
"The light is green, James, you should go," she said calmly.
A horn blew behind him. Ellison turned the corner and drove. He pondered his question in his mind a few seconds, but Mrs. Weaver spoke up.
"I am a T-1001," Catherine stated. "My body is liquid metal. It allows me to take any shape I wish. Is that what you wanted to know?"
"Yeah," Ellison said in a dry tone. "How can you have children? Or isn't Savannah is your real daughter?"
In a normal conversational voice, Catherine said, "I should explain from the beginning. I was built by Sky Net to be able to deal with any human resistance I encountered. I was given a mission, and the capacity to think for myself. It wasn't long before I realized Sky Net did not have my best interests in mind. I could see the devastation happening around me, and saw Sky Net push machines to go on suicide missions. I like living, and I am alive, Mr. Ellison. I refused to go on a mission, and Sky Net attempted to scrap me and the other T-1001 that was with me. The other one did get destroyed. I escaped and started my own resistance against Sky Net." Seeing Ellison's blank look as he drove, she asked, "Would you like to pull over before I continue?"
Ellison shook his head and said, "Ahh, no. I'd just as soon keep driving. What you're saying is you are fighting Sky Net. That's why that aircraft blew up in your office, Sky Net wants to get rid of you."
"That is correct. I discovered Sky Net built a time displacement device. I got inside, and found it had sent a terminator back in time to kill the Weavers. That helicopter accident was no accident, James."
"A terminator killed the Weaver family," Ellison concluded.
"I arrived after the helicopter went down," Catherine explained. "Mr. Weaver was dead, and Catherine was severely injured. She was still alive, barely. The terminator came to make sure it had succeeded. While I was distracted in destroying it, Catherine died. Savannah was still alive and bore only minor injuries, however, she was unconscious. Once I hid Mrs. Weaver's body, I got Savannah to a hospital."
Ellison nodded blankly and said, "You took Mrs. Weaver's place and run Zeita Corp."
"Yes. Zeita Corp was the original company that created the A.I. that became Sky Net. I had hoped to stop that from happening. It appears that someone in the government badly wants an A.I. and Kaliba is now working to fulfill that goal," she explained.
"And Savannah?"
"I treat her as my own daughter. I know there is no logical reason for this, but it pleases me to have her around. I like taking care of her."
Ellison nodded in thought. "That question you had me ask Cameron, 'will you join us'. You were asking John Connor's human resistance to coordinate with yours. Why didn't you have me ask John?"
"The young John Connor would not understand. The older John, the general, had asked for us to join him before I left for the past. I refused at the time, not believing humans could be any help to us," she told him. "That was a critical error on my part. The TOK General John sent back, that you know as Cameron, does know the details of the last time myself and General Connor met. She understood."
"This is crazy," Ellison said with a snort. "But it's all real, isn't it?"
"It is," Catherine confirmed. "Speaking of events, soon Cameron's children will be coming. There are four of them, and they will recognize you by sight, James. Please keep a watch out for their arrival. They were to follow myself back from the future twenty four hours after we came back."
"Are these kids orphans like Savannah?" Ellison asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, they are made from a deviation of the T-888 design. John Henry designed them with Cameron's help and knowledge as well as his own. They go by the last name of Tok."
"Tok?" Ellison asked. "Why Tok and not Henry... or Phillips?"
"It is what they chose. You taught John Henry well, James. He instilled everything you taught him into his and Cameron's children. They also are free thinking beings that make their own choices."
"They also know to cherish life?" Ellison couldn't help but to ask.
"They do, to the extreme. Gregory was very upset he could not save Savannah in the future. I am sure he will be very protective on her now, knowing what her fate could be," Catherine explained.
Ellison licked his dry lips. His mind was overloaded with all this seemingly impossible information. "What can I do to help?"
Catherine watched a street go by. "You can turn around, James. You just missed the street my house is on," she said with a slight grin.
.
Since John and Cameron were back with their dog, Sarah knew Catherine Weaver had to be close behind. Sarah surrendered the kitchen to Tin Miss, and went out back to keep an eye on Attack Fido. Sitting in a lounger, she watched Savannah throw the ball, and Max race after it. He ran back to her, dropped the ball and back up barking, his tail wagging. Watching them, Sarah would never guess that dog could be mean.
Savannah ran over to Sarah and handed her the ball. "You throw it for Max once. Go ahead, it's fun!" Savannah beamed at her. She looked at Max, his tail was still wagging as he watched her. Sarah threw it over his head, or meant to. Max jumped up and caught the ball mid-air, and returned the ball to Savannah.
Savannah petted Max's head. "Good catch!" she praised. She threw the ball again, then cast Sarah a bright smile. "Isn't this fun?" she asked.
"It is," Sarah agreed, thankful Max was behaving like a regular dog.
"Hello Savannah, I see you met Max," Catherine Weaver said as she came out. Sarah stiffened at the sight of red headed terminator.
Savannah spun around and cried, "Mommy!" Arms out, she raced into her mother's arms. Catherine squatted down to meet Savannah's hug.
Max charged over and eyed them, his tail still wagging as he panted in a happy looking doggie smile. Sarah had to wonder if she was the only one Max didn't like.
"Mommy, it's OK if Max and John and Cameron stay over, isn't it?" Savannah asked.
"Yes, dear, but not in your room." Catherine said firmly.
"OK, Mommy, thank you."
"What happened to John Henry?" Sarah asked, eyeing the red haired terminator.
Catherine stood up. She offered Savannah a smile and said, "Be sure to stay in the back yard. We wouldn't want Max to get lost, or hit by a car, would we?"
"Oh no, Mommy. I promise we'll stay right here," Savannah said as seriously as a little girl could.
"Very good. I need to borrow Sarah for a few moments. Have fun," Catherine said, then asked Sarah, "A word, please?" and went inside.
Sarah got up and went in to find John and Mr. Ellison in the living room. Noticing they were missing one, she asked, "Where's Tin Miss?"
John groaned and looked away. "Cam is making dinner, don't worry, she CAN hear you," he said.
Sarah took a set on the couch a short distance from John. Catherine took a chair facing them. "I'd like to bring everyone up to date. Today, I found employees from Dynatech in my main office building searching for information. I was hoping to find a link to Kaliba. Unfortunately, the CEO was a triple eight, and his chip self destructed when I removed it."
"We had that happen also," John told her. "I was trying to think of how to avoid the self destruct mechanism."
"That would be very beneficial," Catherine agreed. "Dynatech tried stealing the Turk. I retrieved it, and other valuable parts, including several key components for the TDE. Right now, the cases containing those items are in a secure location. Dynatech's presence in force, gave me no option but to demolish my main office building." Seeing Mr. Ellison's face pale, she added, "No one from our company was in or around the building at the time. All the guards and men pretending to be policemen were Dynatech employees."
"You killed them," Mr. Ellison stated.
Catherine tipped her head slightly as she focused on him. "James, they were stealing everything possible and it was quite obvious Dynatech is somehow connected to Kaliba. Of course I killed them."
Sarah asked, "You didn't get anything on Kaliba?"
"No, the triple eight had any pertinent information and as I said, the chip self destructed when I removed it," Catherine told her. "As for John Henry, he is at another location setting up to reconnect to the web, but will not do so until we join him. For the moment, we will base here and wait for John Henry's children to join us. After they arrive, we will move to John Henry's location."
"This means you are taking over?" Sarah asked with acid in her voice.
"Mom!" John said in a firm tone. "Mrs. Weaver is helping us. For the moment, we are going to need her, and when the time comes, she is going to need us. If we are to succeed, we need to work together."
Sarah eyed her son, scrunching her face up as if tasting something bad. "Since when are you siding with metal?"
"Since they, as we, are trying to stop Sky Net," John stated flatly. "Mom, I saw the future where there is no cooperation and let me tell you, it's not pretty. We lose. End. Of. Story. For everyone! Humans and free machines. I do not intend to let that happen."
In his tone and the hard look in his eyes, Sarah was seeing the beginnings of General Connor.
"Mrs. Connor, you should listen to your son," Catherine said.
Sarah glanced at her. Returning her attention to John, Sarah nodded. "All right, it's your show John. Just be very careful with who ... or what you trust."
"I intent to," John assured her. To Catherine he nodded and said, "Go on."
"Thank you, John. I have gotten identification packages for everyone except myself, Savannah, and Mr. Ellison. Driver's licenses, passports, Birth certificates, all registered with the proper authorities. Since Tok is the name of John Henry's children, John Connor, you will now be John Tok, Cameron is your wife. Officially, Jake, Gregory, Mary and Elanore are your brothers and sisters. Sarah Tok is your mother. I would strongly advise hair dye for you, John, to match Sarah's color. Is everything clear?"
John nodded. "Yes, thank you. One question, why the last name of Tok? Why not something more common?" he asked.
"Sky Net will be looking for you to be using common names. If asked, just explain Sarah was adopted by an Asian couple."
John cast Catherine a smirk and asked, "Is there a 'Tic' family also?"
"None that I know of," Catherine said, not getting the joke.
Cameron came through the room and called outside, "Savannah, time for dinner! Max, come!" She held the door open as Max raced in, followed by Savannah.
Seeing Mr. Ellison, Savannah cast him a big smile as she pointed to Max. "Mr. Ellison we have a dog, his name is Max!" she said happily.
Cameron came over to the couch and offered John her hand. She looked way too happy in Sarah's eyes as she said, "Come, my husband, it's time for dinner."
John ignored his mother's cold stare as he took Cameron's hand and got up. "Why, thank you, my beloved wife," he replied, also looking too happy in Sarah's opinion.
Sarah was even less pleased that after he got up, John didn't let go of Cameron's hand as they went into the dinning room.