Epp 19

Thursday came, and true to her word, Sarah went to the doctor with Cameron. John was taking Eddie, Mary and Jake to job some interviews then doing a grocery run, so Eddie let Cameron use his Jeep so they could take the Suburban.

The doctor's office was in a hospital. Arriving early, Sarah checked in with Cameron waiting with her.

"You don't have to wait with me, I can see the doctor by myself," Sarah told her quietly. To prod Cameron along, she added, "It may be a while. I can call you to come get me."

"You wish to see the doctor alone," Cameron stated.

"And I will see him," Sarah said. "I know you don't get out much, so why don't you go buy something for yourself?"

Cameron got up and left.

.

After waiting until almost noon, Sarah did see the doctor. She was honest, telling him about her lack of appetite, feeling sick to her stomach, and lack of energy. To her surprise, he had a few tests lined up for her. Once she completed the hours of testing while being wheeled around on a gurney in a hospital gown, she spend another hour sitting on an examining table, waiting for the doctor to return.

When he did come on holding a folder, the tall, thin doctor opened the folder and sadly said, "I don't have good news for you, Mrs. Tok. It seems you have interductal carcinoma of your right breast that is fairly extensive. Normally, this is not a grave problem, but it has spread to settle into your intestines, which is causing the symptoms you are feeling. There may be more, but we'll have to do more testing to find out."

A lead weight fell into the pit of her stomach. Holding onto herself, she kept from bursting out in tears."How long to I have?" she asked quietly.

"It's not quite that bad, Mrs. Tok," he assured her. "We can treat what we found with surgery. You will loose your right breast, and if any cancer is found in the left one, that one also. You will also loose a portion of your large intestine, but as I said, you will live through the experience. I am recommending surgery immediately followed by radiation therapy. I know a very good oncologist who can take care of your breast cancer, and make you ready for reconstruction. I will do your intestinal surgery at the same time. You will be sore afterward, but as I said, you will live."

Sarah let out a breath of relief. "When can you do it?" she asked.

"I will have to talk to Dr. Mallin to see when he is available. Normally, we do not do multiple surgeries at the same time. In your case, I think it is vital due to the progression of the cancer. If you had waited much longer to see a doctor, I would have had to recommend end of life care."

"I see," she said blankly. By making her come see a doctor, Cameron had saved her life.

"You can get dressed now. I am going to call Doctor Mallin and write you a prescription to help settle your stomach. If you can wait, my secretary will inform you of the surgery date, and give you the script."

Sarah nodded and said, "Thank you, doctor. I'll be out in the waiting room."

.

Cameron decided to do some lingerie shopping. During a vigorous lovemaking session, her favorite (and Johns) semi-see through purple nighty had gotten torn. Taking her time wandering the store, she didn't fine one exactly like it but the one she picked out was a purple semi-see through and it had strategically placed butterflies for enticement. She also found a skimpy red one made of silk. Damn the price tag, that one was very sexy and it felt so smooth. She got that one too. She also found his and hers matching purple bath robes with red piping. Purple rocks.

Leaving with her purchases, Cameron pondered what else to do while she was waiting for Sarah. It had been three hours now, so she knew the doctor had found something. Besides their utility vehicles, she knew John was interested in a more sporty car. Yes, visiting dealerships, she could waste a lot of time car shopping.

Approaching the Jeep, which stuck out easily in the lot not by size, but because it was the only camouflage painted vehicle there, she saw a stocky Hispanic man sitting on the back bumper. His arms were crossed, head down.

Coming up to him, Cameron shifted her bags to her left hand, to leave her right hand free. "Excuse me, who are you?" she asked.

The man lifted his head. "Mary Tok?" he asked.

"And if I am?" Cameron asked, poised to grab her gun.

The man nodded and said, "Heard about you from Todd. He said you were real pretty, but one scary muchacha, as well as a couple unbelievable things." He pulled a badge out and said, "I'm Officer Rodriguez, can we talk for a moment?"

Cameron relaxed, a little. "About what?" she asked.

"You know there was a shooting up at the camp of the group Eddie Young was part of. Two men killed as they were leaving. We also know that up on the ridge behind the camp, there was another gun battle. I've been told you were there. What can you tell me about it?"

"We got attacked," Cameron said automatically. "We drove them off and ran."

"I got that from Todd and his buddies too. What I'm looking for is, who was it?" he asked. "I've been up there. Found some human limbs and bits of metal. That bunker was blasted by some heavy firepower. From the signs I saw, it was a major battle. Now don't worry, I'm not going to take you in or anything, I just want to know who it was that followed you up there, looking to kill you."

"I don't know. It was dark and confusing," Cameron said.

The man rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, I can imagine. Someone had a beef with you people, a serious one. Tracking you folks down has been tough. Seeing how you are all in hiding, and I didn't find any whole bodies, I assume those guys are still after you. Look, Mary, we know you were only defending yourselves. You did nothing wrong. I really need to know who you were defending yourselves against. Can you think of anyone who has reason to come after you?"

Cameron frowned to show she was thinking for a moment, then said, "No."

"How about Eddie Young? Can you tell me where he is?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

"You're driving his Jeep," he said, jerking a thumb behind him.

"Yes, he said I could use it while he was away."

"And you can't tell me where he went."

"No, I'm sorry. He didn't tell me."

Rodriguez got up with a huff. "Look, Miss Tok, there are dangerous people out looking for Eddie and his pals. I just want you to help me bring them to justice before anyone else gets killed."

"Officer, if I may ask, if I or Eddie when he returns, can think of anything, what precinct are you stationed at?"Cameron asked.

"I can give you my phone number," he offered.

"No, I would rather go and ask for you."

"Why is that?"

"So I can ask for Officer Rodriguez, and see if you are there," Cameron stated.

Rodriguez looked at her for a moment then said, "You don't trust me. Would you like to look at my badge closer?" he offered.

"Badges can be faked," Cameron stated.

"Seventeenth precinct, four blocks down, two over, middle of the block on the left," he said, then asked, "You don't trust anyone, do you?"

"No."

"I suppose you're carrying a concealed weapon?"

"I am."

"May I see your permit?"

Turning so he could see her reaching into her back pocket, Cameron pulled her thin wallet out and opened it to show him the permit.

Rodriguez nodded. "Thank you, Cameron," he said reading the permit. "Just out of curiosity, what are you carrying?"

"1911 chambered for 9 mm, six inch barrel."

"A 1911? those are ancient. Why not a Glock like most people?"

"A 1911 has more safeties. It cannot fire unless you are holding it properly, even if the trigger is pulled or the gun is dropped. A steel 1911 is also more durable than the composite made Glock, and you can carry it cocked with a round in the chamber safely. You cannot do that with a Glock and be safe," Cameron explained.

Rodriguez chuckled. "You do know your guns, don't you."

"Yes, I do."

Rodriguez nodded and moved to leave, then stopped and turned back to her. "Out of curiosity, why do you go by Mary?"

Thinking quickly, she said, "Eddie insists Cameron is a man's name. He didn't want anyone to think he was going with another guy."

Rodriguez laughed and said, "Yeah, I can see the reasoning behind that. You have a good day, and if either of you can think of anything, let me know."

"Yes, Officer."

Cameron put her bags in the Jeep, keeping him in her sight. She waited until after he'd gotten in his car and left, then got in the Jeep and left the other way. Once she was out on the road, she made a few turns to verify she wasn't being followed, then found a fairly hidden place to wait until Sarah called her.

.

Carlos Rodriguez got back to his department office and sat down in front of their old computer. The thing was so old, it couldn't even get on the internet. When they got information, they had to use the station's computer, put the files on a floppy, which that computer had, then copy it into their own computer. It was a royal pain, and despite promising them something modern – even a used system, procuring had yet to give them anything but promises of 'as soon as possible'.

By routine, and the vauge feeling he'd see Cameron/ Mary before, he typed in her first name, and looked at the pictures that came up. As she had said, the Camerons he saw were all men. He did find one picture of a female Cameron, and there she was.

He sat forward, and said, "No shit." It was FBI information from 10 years ago.

Name : Cameron Phillips

Age : late teens

Status: presumed dead.

Offense : Bank robbery. During the robbery, the bank suffered an explosion. No body was found, presumably due to the intensity of the blast.

Accomplices : Sarah Connor, John Connor

"Hey Lieutenant!" He yelled, "Get over here, I got a hot one!"

"I'm coming," his Lieutenant grumbled and asked, "What's so hot?"

"This one!" Carlos said, pointing at the screen, "Cameron Phillips, robbed a bank and blew it up. I just talked to her, she goes by the name of Mary Tok."

"Thought she was dead."

"I just talked to her! She's in a camo painted Jeep Wrangler, right here in town. Got the plate number right here, and she's carrying," he said and handed the Sargent his notes.

"Should be easy to find. I'll put out an APB."

.

Sarah waited outside on a bench at the pickup area for Cameron show up. She'd called saying she was ready to go, fifteen minutes ago, where in the hell was she?

She heard police sirens coming up the street and getting louder. Looking in that direction, she saw Eddie's Jeep run up on a sidewalk to bypass a police block, turn to drive across a small park, flinging dirt and grass, and dive down another street, and slew around the next corner. Very shortly, Cop cars came squeaking around the corner, speeding after the Jeep.

"What did you do?" Sarah asked the fleeing vehicle.

.

Getting a call from his mother, John stopped by the hospital and picked her up.

Sarah had to ride in the second seat again, at least this time there was no dog in the car. She got in, and seeing John's questioning face, she said, "Cameron's being chased by the cops." To Eddie who was watching her, she added, "I hope you weren't too attached to your Jeep. In fact, you better call it in stolen."

.

Cameron did not loose the police. Even after she got a good lead on the cop cars by going places they couldn't, a helicopter was in the air tracking her. Soon she heard more sirens coming her way. The road she was on was next to a reservoir. She turned sharply off the road, timing her turn so she missed oncoming traffic, drove across the thirty yards of grass, across the footpath by the fence around the reservoir, through the fence where she became airborne, then splashed down into the water.

Settling to the bottom, Cameron looked for her bags. Darn, they were floating on the surface nine and a half feet above her. She had really wanted to see John's reaction to her new nighties! With the shape of a helicopter hovering above, she didn't want to jump up and get them, which would prove she was here and alive.

Leaving the Jeep and her her sexy purchases, Cameron walked across the bottom for the other side. Not needing to breathe, she could stay down here however long it took for them to give up searching for her. She knew the police were on their way and were after her, alive or dead. This was what she got for helping Sarah. She lost Eddie's Jeep, and had to take a nice slow walk across the bottom of a lake.

.

Carlos went down to the team looking for the body of Cameron Phillips, or whoever it was that crashed the Jeep into the reservoir. The Forensics people had 'aged' the photo of Cameron's face to show what she would look like now. This wasn't the person Carlos had talked to. The Cameron he talked to was the young teenage girl in the original photo. Had he made a mistake? Even if he did, why did she run when the patrolman tried to pull her over?

At the scene that was now lit by tall work lights in the growing dark, a small crowd was ringed around the, taped off area where a wrecker sat with the soaked and bent up Jeep behind it. The divers were in the water, slowly expanding the search as other officers searched the shore. He walked over to the lieutenant who was talking to the dive master.

.

"I'm telling you, she didn't swim away!" the Lt. said in a stressed voice. "The chopper saw she was in the Jeep when it hit the water. It stayed right over the site, looking down until patrolmen arrived to watch the site. She didn't swim back to shore, or away, she is STILL DOWN THERE!"

"NO, she isn't!" the dive master yelled back. "I'm telling you, we've searched a hundred yards in every direction twice, and searched every inch of bottom. NO ONE can hold their breath that long and there is no current to wash her body away. Somehow, she got out and escaped."

"That's impossible!"

"Yeah? Then YOU get a suit on, jump in and go find her!"

"Ah, Sirs?" Carlos asked as he came up to them. "I take it no one's found the suspect?"

The men glared at him.

Another patrolman came up and said, "Eddie Young and Mary Tok are here."

The Lt. nodded to him and told Carlos, "Take care of it."

Carlos was eager to talk to 'Mary Tok'. The woman seemed to be a great escape artist. Maybe that was how she got out of a bank explosion. As he walked down to the tape to see a bearded man looking sadly at the Jeep, he noticed the woman beside him was not the one he'd met earlier in the day.

Seeing him approach, the man pointed and asked, "You got the asshole who stole my Jeep, right?"

Carlos gave him a brief nod and looked at the woman. "Mary Tok?" he asked.

"Yes," she said meekly.

"Can I see some ID from both of you?"

Eddie drug out his wallet and showed the man his driver's license. Carols looked at it and nodded a thanks. He then looked at Mary's. It too was correct, she was indeed Mary Tok by her license.

"Do you know if I can get it fixed?" Eddie asked. "I really liked that Jeep."

"I'm sorry, that's not my department," Carlos told him. "Do either of you know a Cameron Tok?"

They shook their heads.

"She might be going by another name," Carlos prodded. "Does the first name Cameron ring a bell?"

"I know a Cameron, but he certainly isn't a 'she'," Eddie said.

Carlos pulled out the original picture he had and asked, "How about this woman? Ever seen her?"

"She the one who stole my Jeep and drowned it?" Eddie asked.

"She is," Carlos said firmly. "Do you recognize this face?"

Eddie frowned then shook his head. "Don't think so."

"No," Mary said simply.

Carlos put the picture away. "Her real name is Cameron Phillips. By the new look of your license, Ma'am, she probably stole your last name for her own. I'll warn you now, this is one dangerous woman. She does carry a gun. If you happen to see her, do not confront her but call 911 immediately. She knows about the attack on you up on that ridge, so she might be one of the attackers," Carlos said in a serious tone. "Speaking of that, is there anything either of you can tell be about it?"

"I was scary as hell," Eddie offered. It's a good thing we were sleeping outside. "It was night, we woke up by the bunker being blown to hell, and bullets whizzing by everywhere! We did the only think we could do, we shot back at the light from their muzzle flashes. Soon as the shooting stopped, I grabbed Mary and we crawled as far from there as we could get. I mean belly on the ground, crawling. I don't even know if we hit anything."

"I covered my head and tried not to move," Mary offered. "Thankfully, Eddie told me to stay down, and got me out of there."

"Any idea of who it might have been? Someone got it out for you?"

"Been pondering that myself, and I can't think of anyone upset with me, or our group," Eddie said. "I think it was some crazies, but I wasn't hanging around to find out, especially since Mary was up there with me."

Carlos pulled out his note pad and asked, "Can you give me the names of the ones who were up there?"

"Yeah, sure," Eddie said, and named all the guys in his group who were with them.

Carlos flipped a page and looked at the list Todd had given him. "Thank you. Did you see a red-head up there?"

"Wait, yeah," Eddie said and nodded to Mary, "Mary's sister was up there too. Sorry, forgot about that."

"It happens," Carlos said absently. "Mary, where can we find your sister, Elanore?"

"She works for Zeita, do you know where that is?" Mary asked.

Carlos nodded. "Look, I really need to find out who was behind that attack. If you remember anything else, let me know." he wrote down his number and the station number and handed it to Eddie. "Call, day or night."

"I will," Eddie said and took the number from him. "Say, ah, do you know where they are taking my Jeep?"

"Impound first, just to do routine things like check for prints and clues. After that, you can come get it. I don't think it will be in running condition. The motor is probably ruined."

"Damn," Eddie grumbled. "I can do an insurance claim, right?"

"You should. Have your insurance call the station, we will verify what happened. For how long forensics takes, your insurance company will most likely be sending you a check before they are done."

"Well, thanks for finding it anyway," Eddie said, casting another sad look at his Jeep.

"Thanks for your help, folks," Carlos said like he was finished. As they turned to walk away, he quickly added, "Oh Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"You lock your house?"

"Most of the time."

"What about that Jeep?"

Eddie shrugged. "What's the point? Even when the top's on, the roof is canvas, it can be ripped right off. Seems I left the keys in it though," he grumbled with another glance at his Jeep.

"Right, thanks again," Carlos said.

Something was rotten here. Eddie seemed more worried about his Jeep than armed men attacking him in the dead of night. This Mary was Mary Tok, or so her license said. For a woman waking up at night to find herself in the middle of a small war, she seemed way to calm about it. He had the feeling she was connected to this Cameron. Maybe Eddie Young was too. He was going to ask for surveillance on them.

.

Cameron watched the diver's lights from a distance. By how long they were taking, they really wanted to find her. She was content to stay on the bottom and wait them out.

That was, until she got the urge to breathe.

She found this very odd. At first, she figured it was a normal habit from continuously breathing to appear more human. The urge kept coming though, her body wanted oxygen. The urge grew. Why? She didn't need oxygen. Performing an internal scan, she found the oxygen in her air sacs was indeed low, down to 17 percent. The oxygen was being used by her nanites that were signaling they wanted more.

This didn't make any sense. In her internal scan, she also found she was low on nutrients. Looking for a reason behind this, she searched for what was using nutrients and oxygen in her system. She found the reason in her womb. The nanites there were active, busily feeding and growing a fetus.

Cameron went from completely calm, to near panic. She was pregnant with John's baby, and if she stayed on the bottom of this lake, she was going to suffocate it!

Cameron immediately checked her bearings and noted every diver in the water. So far, no diver had strayed closer than 342 feet from her. The shore by the road was 522 feet away. Above, the sky was darkening. She had to get close to shore and take a breath. She could not allow John's baby to die!

Pulling up her HUD, she put the oxygen content of her air sacs content as a priority reading and walked towards the shore at an angle to stay away from where the divers were. At the 450 foot from shore point, her oxygen level dropped to 16 percent. At 400 feet from shore, it dropped to 15 percent. The lower it was, the faster it dropped.

She wasn't going to make it.

Cameron walked faster, kicking up some mud in her wake. She didn't care about being discovered now, her top priority was getting oxygen to her baby. She then noticed a light coming towards her. She angled towards it. The diver was coming, panning his light through the water, occasionally scanning the bottom. Makg her way into his path, she got down on the bottom on her back, arms out to the sides, legs spread to make herself as visible as possible. Closing her eyes she waited.

Oxygen content, 14 percent. Not knowing how low it could go and not damage the baby, Cameron was in panic mode. Then a light shined on her face. She snapped her eyes open to see a diver ten feet above her. The diver blew out a mass of bubbles and flailed as she quickly rose to a squat and shot up at him.

Hitting the diver and grabbing by his weight belt, she dragged him to the bottom, flailing and blowing out bubbles as he tried to scream. She found his diver's knife and tossed it away and broke the cord tethering his light to him and tossed it to float up out of his reach. She then grabbed his breathing tube from his mouth as he stared at her in horror and tried to wrestle his breathing tube back. Staring back at him, she breathed from his tanks. In two breaths, her oxygen level shot up to 21 percent.

She shoved the breathing tube back at him. He quickly got it in his mouth and sucked in air. Cameron walked along the bottom towing the diver with her. At first he kept flailing, but after he found his knife missing, and his punches were not doing anything, he resigned himself to float along and let her tow him.

Cameron made the shallow water far from the splash down site. She held the diver low so he could not break the surface and flail where someone might see him. Slowly walking up the underwater slope, Cameron bent down until the water was only five feet deep. Slowly, she stood up and exposed her head, just breaking the surface with her eyes. No one was on the shore in front of her. The closest people she saw were gathered around her splashdown site. It was not dark yet, but dark shadows covered the lake surface in the emerging night. She strode to shore, dragging the diver along.

In the last, knee deep water before the shore, the diver tried to unbuckle his weight belt. With the buckle in Cameron's firm grip, he failed. Just before she stepped onto the shore, she slammed him prone and shifted her grip to his chest. Hauling him upright, she intoned, "Scream and you die."

Pawing his mouthpiece out he flung his hands up in surrender as he stared at her.

Cameron walked up on shore and into the brush and small trees, holding him off the ground. On the road below, Cameron noticed a white van parked behind the long line of emergency vehicles. Zooming in on the license plate, she recognized it.

The diver finally found his voice. "Please, come with me, you can't get away," he said.

Cameron turned to cast him her blank terminator stare. "I can," she stated, and punched him hard enough to knock him out. She laid him down, jumped the fence, then watching to be sure she wasn't spotted, made her way to the van. Knowing there was no dome light when the back doors were open, Cameron slipped in and waited.

A few minutes later, the passenger side door opened and Mary got in. followed by Eddie climbing in the driver's side. Eddie started up and drove away.

"I can't believe she drove my Jeep into the water," Eddie grumbled.

"I am sure Mother had no other option," Mary told him.

"Yeah, maybe so, but where is she?"

"Behind you," Cameron told him.

Eddie looked up into the rear view mirror as Mary turned around in her seat.

"Mother, are you OK?" she asked.

"Yes, now that I'm out of the lake," Cameron said.

"What? You escaped by floating in the water?" Eddie asked.

"We don't float, we sink," Cameron told him. "I was on the bottom, near the middle. The divers couldn't find me."

"Mother, how did you know we were here?" Mary asked.

"I didn't. I had to get out due to lack of oxygen in my system. After I was out, I saw the van and got in," Cameron explained.

Mary tipped her head and asked, "Why do you need oxygen?"

Cameron cast Mary a smile and said, "It is not me who needs it. It's the baby. John's project works. I'm pregnant."