CH 15. Allison the Hero
Allison found she liked building things almost as much as destroying Sky Net machines. Daddy wanted a deep underground bunker system made. Where the command building used to stand was a good place, there was already the remains of a bunker under it. Allison dug, slamming her mind Hands into first debris and softer gravel, then rock to rip out a tunnel bigger than any machine could. Following standard practice, she arched the ceiling for support. Fifty feet below ground, she began forming support columns and cut waste rock as square s possible for later building. Workers loading debris into trucks could barely keep up as her mind Hands caved the stone.
"Allison, quiting time," Byron called. Insistent he be allowed to do something to help, Byron was the official time keeper and message runner for the bunker project.
Allison looked up at the latest support column she'd made, a Roman style double arch using formed and cut stone. The center column was thick, and spread up to meet the ceiling and come back down on the sides. Pointing to her creation, she looked back at Byron and asked, "Like it?"
Byron nodded. "It looks really cool, Ally. Work's over for the day, time to go home."
Allison walked out of the now two hundred yard long tunnel. A quonset hut was set up over the opening to hide the importance of the dig. Two large air conditioning units were being set up in the back of the hut to pump fresh air down into the tunnel. These units had electrostatic filters as well as composite filters to remove radiation from the air. So far, there was none, but John knew it was coming from all the nuclear blasts.
They walked along the side, out of the path of trucks still removing the excess rock Allison had been busily digging out as the night finishing crews went in to make side passages and rooms off the main tunnel.
Outside, Allison noted another pair of drones taking off for their patrol. They had no more than left, when a cargo plane came in for a landing, bringing supplies.
"Ally, think our school is still there?" Byron asked.
"I hope so," Allison said with a sigh. "I hope everyone else is OK. It would be nice to know for sure."
"Yeah," Byron agreed. "I'm really afraid we are all that's left. Those Sky Net things killed a lot of people. It would suck if no one else survived."
Allison went over to the SUV that she'd bent back into shape. The engine was gone, it had been blown right out of the vehicle, but it still had four tires and seats. She climbed in the passenger side, Byron climbed in the driver's side.
"Not too fast, Ally," Byron reminder her.
Where the transmission hump used to be was now a big hole in the floor with the end of the drive shaft showing. Metal rod had been driven into the end of the drive shaft. Allison extended a mind Hand and turned the drive shaft. Byron steered as they drove the wobbly wheeled vehicle to the new command post.
John and Cameron were just coming out as Byron pulled up to the sidewalk. Allison stuck her head out the window and called, "Hi Dad, Mom. Can we give you a ride home?"
John shook his head as he chuckled. The vehicle was battered, but Allison had made it work enough so she and Byron had their own 'car'. "Shall we, hon?" he asked with a crooked grin. He walked to the back door and opened it with a squeak of abused hinges, motioning Cameron in first.
Cameron got in and leaned over to see how Allison was making the vehicle move. "Very inventive, Allison," she praised.
John had to slam the back door twice before it would stay shut. "Yes, sweetie, a very good use of resources," he agreed.
"Here we go!" Allison announced.
Despite the slight rocking motion from the bent wheels, John noted it wasn't a bad ride. Byron steered carefully, coaxing Allison to slow or go 'a little' faster. There were few usable vehicles left, and most of those made important runs to other places, so John wasn't above riding home in a vehicle his daughter had salvaged. Of course, following behind them was a mini-Stug, just in case.
After Sky Net had been defeated soundly in the area, nothing else had attacked them. John was relieved about that, but was also deeply concerned that no one had yet to venture into China or very far into Russia. Although the wars between the countries had all but stopped, instead of perusing a war against Sky Net, the UN was still bickering about who would be in charge of what, and which nations would take 'the lead' in the fight. They were holding their own countries and giving Sky Net plenty of time to build up forces.
Cameron perked up and looked at John. "John Henry received a report. The fracking wells in Utah are back in operation, as are two refineries. We should begin receiving gasoline within three days. All patrols are still reporting no Sky Net presence in our area."
"That's good news. What about the old circuit board plants? Any word on reviving them?" John asked.
"Not yet. The last word was they are being readied for operation. Myers has the circuit plans ready for them and waiting. We are running out of pre-manufactured parts and scavenged home computers," Cameron told him.
When the millions of people were gassed, they had left behind their electronics, which Catherine Weaver was salvaging, with John's orders to repurpose them into control boards for drones and mini-Stugs.
Due to the massive losses of of aircraft, John had also ordered every plane in the bone yards to be inspected. If it looked like it could fly again, the plane was towed out and fitted with equipment for use as a drone. He didn't care if it had a jet or a prop. If it could fly, it could be sent out as a forward screen to warn of incoming enemy, saving their remaining fighters and armed drones to deal with threats as they arose.
LAX, that used to be a civilian airport, now shared a sizable military branch. There, John had their latest improvised attack weapon assembled: the attack 747. The ex-passenger planes held all the room needed for four high powered lazer cannons as well as long range radar. With over sized fuel tanks and a crew of twenty, complete with on board quarters, the A-747 could stay aloft for thirty six hours, giving it the best on station time of any human controlled aircraft. He only had four, but six more planes were being refitted. When an A-747 took off, four drones controlled by pilots on board the A-747 escorted the craft. It was one of the projects he was taking to his first official meeting with Chief -of-Staff Parks.
"Allison, Monday I have to go to a meeting in Denver. I'd like you to come with me and talk to some men. They are very eager to meet you," John said.
"OK, Dad. Can Byron come too?" Allison asked.
"Sorry, sweetie, just you, me, Mr. Murch, Admiral Kelly, and Congressman Livingston."
"Mommy's not coming?" Allison asked as she looked back at them.
"I have to stay and run things while your Daddy is away," Cameron explained.
"Oh. That's sad, I'm going to miss you, Mommy. You too, Byron," Allison said with a frown.
"Me too, Ally ... Um, Ally, slow down, we're here," Byron said, the last part sounding concerned.
They recoiled forward as Allison quickly slowed the vehicle with only a short chirp of the tires. Byron pulled into the driveway. The jerk when they stopped wasn't that bad.
.
Monday morning, Allison went with John to his office to collect together the information he had for General Parks. Allison carried one of the packed briefcases, John carried the other one. Cameron saw them off on the A-747 that had come to take them.
The plane was heavily guarded. Cameron had mini-Stugs in sight, there were a squad of marines and the four drones that belonged to that plane were on the runway in front of it. Allison also noted men in black suits and more guards were by a metal box frame that was set up to allow entry into the area the big plane was in.
John talked to a security man. He stepped into the metal frame waited a moment, then he was motioned on. When Allison stepped in, a red light flashed and a horn sounded. The men at the control box stared
at their monitor, shifted their stare to Allison, then back to the monitor again.
"My daughter has metal bones," John reminded them.
"Ah, yeah. We've never seen anything like this before. She have a horrible accident?" a security man asked.
"No she was born like that."
"Damn. OK, no weapons showing, so continue on." the man said with a wave.
Allison giggled. She didn't carry any weapons, she was a weapon. They were stopped again at the stairs up into the plane, the man there identified who they were, then said, "Welcome aboard,
General."
"Daddy, why are all those men here?' Allison asked as they got on.
"Congressman Livingston is going with us. This security is for him, sweetie," John explained.
Allison had seen big passenger planes on TV, but the inside of this plane was not the long rows of seats like those were. There was a spiral stairway in what looked like a lounge area, but the inside was a long, narrow hallway with doors off to the sides. A man in a blue uniform took them down a ways and into a room that looked like a small hotel room. There was a bed against one wall, a desk and fixed chair against the other, overhead storage and a door for the bathroom.
John opened a long panel over the bed to reveal another smaller fold out bed. "If you get tired, sweetie, you sleep up here."
Allison bounced up onto the bed. There wasn't much headroom, and she couldn't see out the single window, but she did have a net against the wall for putting things in. "How long are we going to be
flying?" she asked, wondering why they needed beds on an airplane.
"Don't know Sweetie, only the pilot knows the destination. This is a sensitive meeting. Lots of important people are going to be there."
"That means you are very important, Daddy!" Allison beamed at him.
A knock came at the door. John answered it. "Yes?" he asked.
"Passenger check," the blue uniformed man said. "General John Connor and Allison Connor?"
"That's us."
"Everyone is aboard, We will be taking off in five minutes, Sir."
"Thank you."
.
The Captain announced takeoff. Allison watched out the window as the plane powered up, taxied, then with a steady push of the whining jet engines, sped up down the runway. She felt the plane tip, then the ground fell away. They rose and turned, she caught sight of a drone winging by just above and to the side.
The speaker on the wall announced, "The is the captain, we are leveling off at twenty thousand feet. The VIP lounge is now open, refreshments are available. Myself and my crew would especially like to welcome aboard the Drone Ace, Allison Connor and congratulate her on her outstanding kill record."
"Dad, what's an ace drone?" Allison asked.
John snickered. "Hon, I think someone has gotten some mis information. I think he meant to congratulate you on all those Sky Net machines you destroyed."
"What does that have to do with drones?" Allison asked, confused.
Casting her a smirk, he said, "Sweetie, they don't realize you don't need an aircraft to fly."
"Oh."
"Ready to meet some important people?" John asked, and offered his hand.
Allison took it with a nod.
.
Upon entering the lounge, Allison only recognized one person, Mrs. Weaver's employee, Mr. Murch. He was talking to a round, balding man who had alot of worry lines on his face. "Hi, Mr. Murch!" Allison said as she waved.
Mr. Murch turned to see her, and returned her smile. "Hello, Allison. Congratulations, General Connor," he added, tipping his glass to John.
The man with Mr. Murch frowned slightly. "General Connor?" he asked, holding his hand out.
"Yes, sir," John replied, and shook his hand. "Congressman Livingston, I presume?"
"Yes," Congressman Livingston said, then eyed Allison. "I had been expecting to meet drone ace Allison Connor, not her daughter."
"Sir, the drone ace is my wife, Cameron Connor," John explained. "She controls our drones. Allison here doesn't need a craft to fly."
Livingston eyed John and said, "General, I have no time for foolishness. We have serious matters to discuss."
Feeling like this big man was calling her Daddy a liar, Allison said, "Daddy, Congressman, would like a snack?" She reached out and brought the shrimp platter over to hover in front of her father.
"Thank you, sweetie," John said with a smile.
"Hold that tray," Mr. Murch said, and grabbed a shrimp off it.
"Congressman?" Allison asked as the man stared at the tray.
"How are you doing that?" Livingston asked.
Cheerfully, Allison said, "I have invisible hands. Our class did an experiment to see how well they work. I have ten Hands I can use all at once. They will move or chop anything I want them to, and the day we did the experiment I was able to reach out two hundred seventy eight point five feet from where I was standing. But the day those Sky Net things attacked us, they shot my mom and I got really mad at them. I think I reached out a lot farther. They wouldn't go away, so I whacked them away as fast as I could. Once Mom and Dad were safe, I used my Hands to fly to Palmdale to protect the people there. I found other Sky Net machines, so I smashed them too.
"Fifty six ground machines, sixty seven drones, and eight terminators," John added. "And that's not counting when Allison intercepted and destroyed thirty eight ground machines and an H/K threatening her classmates at school."
Congressman Livingston stared at John, then moved his stare back to Allison. "You did all that being so little?" he asked in disbelief.
Allison frowned at him. "Mr. Congressman, I may be little, but I got strong mind Hands. I'm not going to let anyone hurt my family." she said firmly.
"Sounds like Supergirl," he said vacantly. "General, I heard you were useing drones."
"We are," John agreed. "Zeita Corp builds them, Cameron controls them. She has a fairly impressive kill record, roughly three to one against the Sky Net machines."
"Congressman," Mr. Murch said, "Since I've been working for Mrs. Weaver and met the Connors, I have seen some amazing things. Trust me, if anyone can beat Sky Net, it's the Connors."
"If you have some time, Mr. Livingston, I can show you the projects we are working on." John offered. "Besides air and ground drones, this plane, the 'A-747', is one of our completed projects. A manned, lazer attack aircraft that can stay airborne for thirty six hours. It has four high power lazers, and a squad of four escort drones to help defend itself, find targets or help triangulate targets without the use of external resources," John explained.
"Yes, I would indeed like to see your projects, General."
.
Allison stayed nearby as John showed the Congressman other projects, like the next generation missile that used a carbon fiber shell to absorb radar waves so it was a 'stealth' weapon, as well as the semi-intelligent guidance that could avoid anti-missile fire, and a 'drift in' mode that cut the engine so the tail fire wasn't seen as it came close to the target. To get as many scouts in the air as possible, John designed a 'drone package' that could be fit into any airplane to make it a drone scout, or cruise missile as the need arose. The 'triple pulse' rail gun design that promised to accelerate rounds past mach 11, making the gun virtually an intercontinental projectile launcher. With this gun, they could drop artillery shells on Vladivostok, Russia from Beverly Hills.
As Congressman Livingston listened to the high tech gadgetry that John and his team were working on, his eyes kept drifting over to Allison, who was looking out a window as she munched on a sandwich.
"General Connor, everything you've showed me is very impressive," Livingston said, "But I must say your daughter is the most impressive. How old is she?"
"Six years and..." John said. In his hesitation, Allison looked over and said, "Six years, seven months, twenty five days."
"Thank you, sweetie," John said casting her a smile. "And she's a genius," John said proudly. "Sweetie, you're in Fifth grade now, correct?"
Allison bounced her head in a nod. "I am. Speaking of that, Daddy, do you know when Byron and I can go back to school?"
"I don't know yet, hon. The Mayor of Palmdale is suppose to tell us when they get the education system reorganized. I'll let you know just as soon as I do."
Congressman Livingston barked out a laugh. "All that, and a genius too. Allison isn't an ... engineered child, is she?" he asked.
"No, she's not," John said firmly. "We just happened to get very lucky."
"There must have been some genetic engineering involved," Congressman Livingston stated. "Extremely powerful mind powers, a mental giant, and I understand her bones are metal? That sounds like a bit more than luck to me."
John explained about Cameron being a re-programmed terminator and their relationship, and Lucy who provided the DNA so Cameron could have children. After John's explanation, Allison pipped up with, "I have Mommy's bones, Lucy's Hands, and Daddy's smart brain!"
Listening intently, Congressman Livingston said, "So Alllison has non-human DNA in her."
"She does."
"Are there any other of these Yokai about?"
John shrugged and said, "I have no idea. We know they can come and go to our world. Lucy came back briefly to offer Allison a place in a school of theirs, but she was already going to school and neither Cam nor I felt comfortable with Allison being so far away."
The overhead speaker announced, "Attention, this is the Captain. We will be beginning our descent into Nellis shortly. All passengers please take seats in the lounge or your compartments. All crew to your assigned stations."
"That was fast," John noted.
"And unplanned," Congressman Livingston said flatly as he frowned. "I understood we were headed for NORAD."
Admiral Kelly came over and introduced himself to the congressman. As the only Admiral left in John's area, he controlled what was left of the Navy, which was small craft and a couple destroyers. As he settled down, he said, "I understood we were going to NORAD, General."
"Apparently others did also," John said. To Allison beside him, John said, "Be ready for anything, sweetie."
Allison nodded. "Don't worry, Daddy, I'll protect everyone," she assured him.
.
They landed at a field that had only a few buildings standing. The control tower was a tall thin structure that bore bare metal supports like it had just been erected. The plane taxied over to a large group of people that were ringed by Humvee mounted guards sporting machine guns facing away. Getting off the plane, cameras took pictures. John noticed two other generals and several men in black suits as well as a few reporters.
John met and shook hands with General Parks and a few other Senators and Representatives. He also noted their mood was sombre.
"I wish our meeting could be under better circumstances," General Parks explained. "Some Sky Net H/K's jumped the president's plane and his escorts. All were lost. The vice President was killed a few days ago. Mr, Livingston, as Speaker of the house, you are now President. We need to get you sworn in as quickly as possible."
"Do we know where the H/K's came from?" John asked.
"Canada, we suspect. We can deal with that later. We have urgent business here and now," General Parks stated.
Congressman Livingston shook his head sadly. "This is indeed a dark hour. Too many good men lost."
A black suited security man held his hand to his ear and said, "Sirs! The outer picket just got overflown by boogies, fast and low."
"Get everyone inside the bunker!' General Parks ordered.
"Where are they coming from?" Allison asked.
An officer came to the door of the 747 and yelled, "We have incoming, bearing zero six one!"
"Get that plane in the air, NOW!" John roared. "Allison, make sure they can take off."
"You got it, Dad!" Allison said, then jumped straight up in the air. The men hustling to get under cover paused as she shot up in the sky.
"I'll be dammed," Livingston said as he watched her.
.
Allison stood on a tripod of mind Hands, looking out at the horizon. Shifting her vision to infrared, she scanned for the H/K's. Seeing the drones heading out in one direction, their engines bright red spots in her vision, she noted more beyond them, and a few far to their left. Knowing the drones would fight, she watched the ones to the left as the plane below her started moving.
The H/K's to the left were very low and passed the drones, heading right for the base in a line. Allison charged them, dropping lowed than they were. Just before she met them, she shot higher in the air. She smashed down in the first one, driving it into the ground, then the second. The last three split to the sides. She got the closest one, chopping it in half, and grabbed a piece to throw it at the fourth one. The fourth H/K dodged, shooting higher in the air. With an H/K on either side of her, she went for the fifth one.
The fourth H/K exploded, being hit by lazer fire from the A-747. The fifth H/K dove low to avoid a lazer shot. Allison caught up to it and slammed that one into the ground.
Searching for more enemy, Allison noted only a few H/K's were fighting the drones. Ten more were racing at the plane lined up for takeoff. She charged them. A couple turned to intercept her. They fired missiles that she swatted out of the air. One H/K came close enough, she punched it, making it explode. The other chased her as she bore down on the main group. The group lost two more units to the A-747's lazers.
Another missile came racing at her from behind. Allison grabbed it and flung it at the lead H/K. Trying to turn around, the missile rammed another H/K, downing that one. Allison them dove onto the pack, slashing and punching. In a short time, all the H/K's were destroyed. Allison looked back to see three drones were returning, chasing a pair of H/K's. They shot their lasers, the H/K's exploded.
"Yes!" Allison cried and clenched a fist. She returned to the building to see a few men watching her as the A-747 took off. Allison felt good, her Daddy had been watching.
Landing with a slap of mind hands that left impressions in the concrete, Allison beamed a smile at her father. "We got-em, Daddy!" she announced.
"Great job, sweetie," John replied.
"I was expecting this," General Parks said grimly. "General Connor, I was hoping you could turn the tide on these ambushes. We encrypt and encode, and change out encryptions daily, but somehow Sky Net has still been listening to our communications. Every top level transport has been intercepted in route, or upon landing. I'm glad you had the ability to fight it off."
"That's why we were told we'd be going to NORAD," Admiral Kelly said.
"That is exactly why," General Parks stated. "We sent out a normal encryption arraigning a top level meeting at NORAD. To the pilots coming here, we send the information in the newest double encryption code. Both codes were broken."
"Sky Net has antennas in the US," John noted.
"Yes, General. We need to find them. We are getting decimated. The only reliable communication we have is face to face by way of courier," General Parks explained.
John thought for a moment, then said, "I'll have John Henry come up with a code that's a little more secure. In the mean time, I would suggest the old-fashion route. Besides face to face, we use shielded phone lines. If Sky Net wants to tap into those, they have to make a direct connection. We can monitor for that."
General Parks nodded. "Good thinking, General Connor. Now, let's get Mr. Livingston sworn in."
.
The ceremony for swearing in President Livingston was short. Directly after being sworn in, President Livingston officially made General Kelly the Chief-of-Staff, and General Connor the combined forces General of the West Coast region. Allison received a Congressional Medal of Honor for her efforts in defeating Sky Net's attacks.
After receiving her medal, which she let her Daddy put on her, Allison beamed him a smile and said, "I can't wait to go home and show this to Mommy and Byron!"