CH 13

John laid against the back of the couch, watching the evening news. Cameron lay in front of him, the blanket covering them hid the fact the arm John was holding Cameron with was up her shirt, his hand full of her breast, his thumb idly petting her nipple.

The scene being shown was the destruction at the Newtech plant. The warehouse was all but gone, an entire side wall and most of the roof missing and collapsed. John noted the trestle had been blown apart, pipes and wires hanging down. The Chimney of the powerhouse was crumbled to one side on the ground, broken windows and a large missing piece of wall showed a boiler explosion had devastated that building. The reporter was going on about the devastation and began interviewing people who had heard the 'tremendous' explosions.

"Looks like we did better than we thought," Cameron said, and snuggled into John. "It will be a long time before that plant produces anything, if they do decide to rebuild it."

John kissed the top of Cameron's head. "Indeed. I'm wondering why nothing about RKB or that airfield is on the news."

Sarah walked by, pointed to them and said, "I told you, I don't want to see that!"

Cameron glanced at her. "You can't see anything, we're covered up."

"John?" Sarah asked in a harsh tone as she sat down.

John shrugged. "Cam's right, Mom," he agreed.

"I know what you're doing," Sarah said.

"But you can't see it," Cameron retorted.

Turning her glare to the TV, Sarah asked, "Newtech?"

"Yup, we did more damage than we planned. That place is toast," John told her.

"Anything on RKB or the airfield?"

"Nothing. Someone's covering that up, or they just haven't gotten to it yet," John said.

Cameron noted the time and let a grumble. She didn't want to get up. "Sarah, can I talk you into making dinner?" she asked.

Sarah just cast her a dirty look and said, "Tell your pet I'd need to get in the refrigerator."

Cameron made a point to turn over on her back and kiss John. In a sexy tone, she said, "I'll give you something hot and tasty, promise."

"I'm sure you will," John agreed with a wide smile. They kissed again.

Sarah looked away and tried not to see as Cameron got up. George appeared from wherever he had been to follow Cameron into the kitchen.

Aching to yell at John for something, Sarah asked, "John, are you drinking my beer?"

"No, mom."

"So the cans I'm finding half full in the refrigerator are just drinking themselves?" she asked.

"Nope. Every night, Cam gives a half can to George in his water bowl. It helps him sleep all night," John said and readjusted his position. "And yes, Cameron does buy more," he added, knowing that was coming.

"She feeds that beast beer," Sarah stated, as if to confirm the fact.

"Right before her early patrol," John told her. "George goes with her and comes back and goes to sleep."

"You have an alcoholic wolverine," Sarah grumbled.

"Look at the bright side, Mom," John offered. "George is a happy drunk. He doesn't even maul the dogs that bark at him and Cam when they go out."

Sarah rubbed her forehead and whispered, "Only in this family."

"Hey, they're showing RKB," John said.

Like Newtech, the RKB plant was surrounded by police tape and patrolmen guarding the area. Damage was similar, the overhead view showed the incoming electrical station had downed wires and blackened transformers. An area of the roof showed downed antennas, and the warehouse doors were missing. The warehouse didn't look nearly as bad though, only having one side peeled open from the blasts.

Unfortunately, the news went on with other happenings. Nothing was mentioned about the air base at all. John wanted to know how Weaver did, but he hadn't heard from her yet and he knew she had a company to run. He was sure she at least got the target, if not more.

.

After another day of finding nothing, Special Agent Meyer had dropped Hanson off at his house and headed home himself. Pulling into the driveway he got stopped and his phone rang.

"Special Agent Meyer."

"Corporal Tanner, LAPD, we think we have a make on that Connor girl you're looking for. She was taking a walk with THE ugliest cat I have ever seen on upper Poplar Drive between 8th and 9th streets."

Meyer frowned and asked, "She was walking a cat?"

"No leash, it was just following along behind her. She glanced at me half a block away and turned off the street like she knew I was there. The cat just followed along with her. Strangest thing I ever saw."

Meyer thought, 'You think THAT is strange? Lemme tell ya buddy, you haven't seen strange.' What he said was, "Thank you for the report, Officer, you've been a great help."

It was nine at night, there was no way he was going to drive back to LA now. They'd go in the morning.

.

The next morning, John woke up when a tree hit him in the face.

Lying on his back, he woke up with a start from leafy branches smacking into him. He pawed at it to get it off and found one of the trees had fallen over. George was on the trunk just off the bed, sniffing him and holding the tree down on him.

"Damn it, George," John grumbled and managed to push the branches off his head. Apparently, George was getting too big to climb up in the trees they had. Pulling himself up to sit, John felt George climb up on him, sniffing like he was checking to see if John was hurt.

With George this close, it hit John just how big George was getting. George had to be about two feet long now and wide. He looked like a tiny bear with short legs and a flattened head. "When did you get so big?" he asked the wolverine.

George only sounded out his soft rattling growl and walked through the branches on the bed to get back down. John kicked the tree and the covers off him and got up. At least the dirt stayed in the pot.

Once he had the tree upright, and the bed covers made, John went in to get cleaned up and dressed.

Cameron turned from making breakfast as John came into the kitchen. George took his post by the refrigerator. "Up early?" Cameron asked.

John settled into a chair and said, "Yeah, George was climbing one of his trees and it fell."

"I heard it fall," Cameron said and looked down at George. "I take it George didn't suffer any damage?"

"Neither did I when it fell on me," John replied dryly.

Cameron spun her head to look at him. "John, are you OK?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm OK too. It was just a rather rude awakening" John said and cast her a grin. "Mom's not up yet?"

"Up and out. Mrs. Weaver called a half hour ago," Cameron explained. "She really wanted Sarah to go back to work. She also said the air base is completely flattened. After she got rid of some H/K's and two terminators, more H/K's came and bombed the airbase and warehouse. She suspects they did it to hide any evidence. Giving me the time of arrival and direction of the H/K's, I was able to plot the location of the fourth base within an area of six square miles. John Henry is searching that area to pinpoint the exact location. Also, Special agent Meyer want's to talk to you again."

"Who?"

"Detective Meyer got transferred to the FBI and is now Special Agent Meyer. He and his partner were selected to contact us about our activities," Cameron told him.

John put his hands over his face and rubbed, "Couldn't see that coming a mile away," he grumbled.

"Should I contact him?"Cameron asked as she began pouring the red pancake batter into the pan.

John thought for a moment, then said, "Let's have something to show him, first. How long will it take John Henry to find that base?"

"Not long. I'm surprised he hasn't already."

"Once he does, we'll take Special Agent Meyer when we go check it out," John said. "Raspberry?" he asked, looking over at the red batter.

"Strawberry, with an egg and strips of turkey bacon. That is better for you than pork bacon," Cameron told him.

.

Not wanting to get the Connors nervous, Meyer had LAPD stay out of the area where Cameron was seen unless they had a call. He didn't want them to bolt again before he found them. Luck had it there was a convenience store on the corner of Poplar and 7th. It was close enough to see the block Cameron had been on,but not too close to arouse their suspicions. He hoped.

Getting there at nine thirty, Meyer parked by the sign for the store to shield his car from view down the street. He then settled down with Hanson and waited.

After a while of sitting and watching, Hanson asked, "What's the chance she'll come back this way?."

Meyer shrugged and said, "Who knows. She may walk by or drive by. If they are here, we're sure to see Sarah or Cameron. I just wished I know what John looks like now. The only photo I have of him is from that bank heist nine years ago."

Hanson nodded. Finishing the breakfast sandwich he glanced in the side view mirror. Someone was walking up to the car. "Pete, she's here," he said.

Meyer sat up and looked down the street. "Where?"

"Behind us."

Meyer looked in the rear view mirror to see Cameron right behind them and walking up to his door. "How does she do that?" he whispered.

Stopping by his door, Cameron said, "I saw you first. John wants to show you something. Lock your car and leave it. You will be riding with me."

"John is with you?" he asked.

"Negative. We will meet him," Cameron said and walked back to a blue van.

Hanson watched her walk away and said, "I'm not feeling comfortable about this."

Meyer let out a sigh and said, "I'm not getting a warm fuzzy either, but we don't have much of a choice."

The men got out and followed Cameron over to the blue van in the side lot that was running, facing away from the street. By the driver's door, she turned to them and said, "Back seat only, you don't want to open the front passenger door."

"You're the boss," Meyer told her.

Meyer got in behind Cameron, Hanson got in on the other side. As soon as the doors were shut, Cameron put it in gear and drove. Meyer noted two tings, there was a wire mesh grating behind the front seats, and he heard loud gnawing sounds. He also saw something furry in the passenger side seat.

"You brought your dog?" he asked.

"Say hi, George," Cameron said as she pulled out onto the street.

The gnawing stopped a flattish head bracketed by a pair of large, clawed paws appeared over the back of the passenger side seat. George sniffed and let out a growl and showed his large fangs.

"Fuck me," Hanson said as he stared. "That's a..."

"Wolverine," Cameron finished for him. "'George recognizes two things. Family and food. You're not family. I trust we are not going to have any problems?"

"That's George?" Meyer asked. "I thought George was a dog?"

"Dogs are afraid of me. George isn't afraid of anything," Cameron explained with a smile. "He's the perfect pet for me." She then reached over and petted George and let out a soft rattling growl. George looked at her then bit some at the wire mesh before returning to what he was gnawing at.

By the looks on the men's faces, George was providing the perfect psychological advantage.

Listening to crunching sounds that made Meyer think the animal was breaking his own teeth, he asked, "Where are we going?"

"We have found the location of an H/K base," Cameron said. "H/K is the name for an intelligent drone that hunts down and kills humans in the future. The abandon airbase had a few, this one has at least seven. Possibly more. It is also possible the malicious AI is there also. That place needs to be taken out. You are coming to verify what we say is very real."

"You want witnesses to what you're doing?" Meyer asked.

"John want you to see what we're fighting. Whether you want to stay or not is up to you," Cameron explained. "If you stay, you help destroy the place."

"You people are really hard core," Hanson said vacantly.

"It is the only reason we're still alive," Cameron stated.

.

Cameron drove out of the city on secondary roads, only getting on the highway once they were clear of LA. Meyer noted Cameron was using her mirrors frequently and was looking around like she was nervous. As he thought about it, he figured it was habit. Being on the run from law and killing machines, Cameron had a keen sense of situational awareness.

Once George had eaten the thigh bone Cameron had given him, he peeked back between the seats at the men for a while, then moved over onto the center console to watch them intently. Unconsciously, the men slid a bit closer to their doors from the animal's even stare.

After an hour on the highway, a car passed them and tooted it's horn. Cameron gave a toot back.

"Who's that?" Meyer asked.

"John. He verified no one is following us."

Another half hour on the highway, then Cameron took another secondary road out into the desert. It was then that Meyer realized he'd been more focused on George not getting through that wire mesh than he was at keeping track of where they were going. Smart, very smart. Cameron was using George to keep them distracted. He had to smile at how well it had worked. He had no idea which way they had gone. These were not amateurs at what they did.

Paying attention now to their surroundings, Meyer did notice when they passed a car on the side of the road that looked like the one that passed them on the highway. He looked back. The car got back onto the road and followed them a hundred yards behind.

The van slowed, Cameron turned off onto a dirt road. As expected, the car followed, now closing the distance between them. A couple miles and the road degraded into a track. Cameron turned off the track and followed a set of tire tracks across the hard pan. Up in the distance at the base of a ridge was a black SUV. As they got closer, Meyer saw a redhead beside it. It was Mrs. Weaver. As they approached, she opened up the back.

Cameron turned the van around and stopped. Looking back at the men, she cautioned, "When we get out, stay at least fifteen feet away from myself and John until George gets used to seeing you with us. He is very protective."

"You're going to let him out?" Hanson asked.

"George needs his exercise," Cameron told him. She then got out. George quickly followed.

"We're in the desert with cyborgs and the most vicious mammal in North America and zero chance of backup. This is bad on so many levels," Hanson said quietly.

Meyer nodded grimy and said, "Let's go."

.

Despite Meyer's fear George was going to tear into them, the animal seemed preoccupied with sniffing the ground and turning over rocks. Meyer noted that it did stay between them and Cameron. Seeing John, the same John as who was in the photo from nine years ago, Meyer asked, "John Connor?"

John came closer but stayed a respectful distance from them. "Yes. I'd come over and introduce myself better, but we're not sure how George would take that. We're a long way from any hospital."

"You don't look like you've aged much in the last nine years. Are you a cyborg too?" Meyer asked.

"Nope, I'm human. We time-jumped at the bank so I missed a few years. I'll get the telescopes out of the back of the van," John explained. Pointing to the ridge, he said, "Don't show yourself over the top. Beyond that is what we came to see."

"Look at the size of those guns," Hanson said, looking over at the SUV.

Meyer looked. Mrs. Weaver and Cameron were holding big blocky rifles that sported long, diamond shaped barrels and scopes. Seeing them watching, Cameron said, "Just in case."

"What are they?"

"Fifty caliber rail guns. Muzzle velocity of 6200 feet per second," Cameron explained and headed for the ridge with Mrs. Weaver.

"You men coming?" Weaver asked over her shoulder.

Walking a respectful distance behind the women, with George routing around on the ground between them, Meyer and Hanson went up the incline. Nearing the top, they women crouched down, then laid down to crawl to the top. Cameron motioned Meyer and Hanson to her left. They did the same, just peeking over the top.

Beyond the ridge was nothing by more desert. While Meyer was looking for any sign of an unusual feature, John crawled up and set up his telescope beside Cameron. George went over and sniffed it as John set it up.

"Not food," John told the animal as he spread the tripod legs out as wide as possible.

George climbed over his back to sniff Cameron's rifle as she looked through the scope.

"Temperature difference, 2200 yards, eleven degrees to the left," Cameron stated.

John looked through the eyepiece on his telescope. "The bowl shaped depression?" he asked.

"Immediately to the right, the wedge shaped mound."

"OK, got it," John said then turned a couple knobs slowly. "Yeah, the left side, half facing us. It has a seam on the bottom and up both sides. It looks like they are underground."

"I see five sensors, semi circle formation, one hundred yards out from that mound," Catherine Weaver said.

"Mines or traps?" John asked.

"Not picking any up," Weaver replied.

Quietly, Hanson said, "They sound like special ops troops."

Meyer looked but wasn't seeing what they were. To him, it just looked like desert. Then again, 2200 yards was way out there.

"Special agent Meyer, come have a look," John said and scooted back. Cameron followed suit. They moved away so Meyer could get to the telescope.

"Don't even bump it," John warned, "Just look."

Meyer slipped down from the top and bent over low, keeping an eye on George who found a place near Cameron to dig into the dirt. Creeping back up on his belly to the telescope, he looked into the long, thin 'spotter' scope first. That showed him where the mound was. He then looked into the eyepiece.

The magnification was incredible. It was like he was standing right in front of the mound. He saw what John did. The mount looked natural except for the flat side. The seam lines were thin, but unmistakably a door angled back to conform with the mound's shape.

"How in the hell did you find this?" he asked. It was all but invisible unless one was standing right next to it.

"We have our ways," Mrs. Weaver said. "Now, we see what comes and goes through that door."

Meyer back away from the telescope and asked, "These drones, they are armed?"

"They are," Catherine confirmed. "So, Special Agent Meyer, here you have an underground hangar that contains armed drones not of the military, at the very least. It is protected by sensors, most likely magnetic or motion sensing. Possible more inside that we don't know about. What can you do about it?"

Meyer sat in thought, then said, "Civilian aircraft of any kind are not allowed to drop or shoot anything if I remember my FAA correctly. It could be munitions or drugs those drones carry. Both are illegal. If I can get proof that even one drone leaves or arrives at that place, we can get a warrant to pry that door open and see what's down there."

"There's a camera on that telescope," John told him. "We brought tents, sleeping bags, food and water for four days. So, who takes the first watch?"

"I'll take the watch," Cameron said.

"The entire watch?" Meyer asked.

"I don't sleep."

.

Catherine Weaver left, but did leave her rifle 'just in case'. John got the tents out and thankfully, padding for inside the tents so they weren't sleeping on the hard ground.

Their 'camp' reminded Meyer of a small army camp. Mottled light brown canopy canvas was brought out to cover the vehicles. The tents were also the same light brown camo color. The small fire lit by Sterno cans was under it's own dark canvas roof between the vehicles so as to minimize how far the light could be seen. The thing that broke the 'military' feel of their stakeout was George. Meyer was relieved the animal was no longer paying any attention to them. Well, any aggressive attention. George had disappeared just before dark to returned right after dark dragging the remains of a furry animal with him.

Laying down by John who was getting ready to eat an MRE, George ate his kill fur, skin, guts, bones and all.

"H/K coming in from the north," Cameron called.

John was up and headed for the ridge in an instant. Meyer and Hanson close behind him.

Having essentially no light, night in the desert was not as dark as Meyer thought it would be. It was very dim, but with clear skies, the stars shown brightly casting the landscape in twilight. Shapes in the ground were difficult to make out, but visible. Coming to the top of the ridge, John again crouched low.
Cameron held one rifle aimed at the sky.

"Special Agent Meyer, get read to take your pictures," Cameron said.

"The button on the cord, left side," John instructed as he pointed to it. "The zoom is on the eyepiece ring. Carefully, turn it slowly and don't bump the telescope."

Meyer nodded and laid behind the telescope. He felt for the ring and turned it. The view drew away from the door to show the whole mound. As he looked through the scope,the door swung up and open.
Light came from what looked like a man made shaft angled down. The walls of the shaft looked metal. "There's something down there, all right," he said and took a picture. He zoomed in and took another, then zoomed back out. The flat propeller drive drone came into view as light from the shaft illuminated it's outline. He quickly took picture after picture as the craft went inside and the door closed behind it.

"Agent Meyer, what do you do now?" John asked.

For the first time since this trip started, Meyer felt he had a solid grasp of the situation. "John, I want you to come with me to process these pictures. We use the crime lab at the east side station to blow them up and get as much detail as possible out of them. We'll take it from there. I'll contact you when the operation goes down. You can come and watch, but let us handle it," he said firmly.

"We'll give you first shot," John replied.

In packing up, Meyer kept looking up at the sky. That drone was quiet and unlit, it occurred to him one could be over them right now. John Connor was very cautious with good reason. He'd observed from a distance and marked the spot before attempting to get close. John Connor was smart and knew his job as he saw it. It was time John Connor got some help.

As Meyer figured, it was Cameron who drove them back in John's car and went to the lab with them. John drove the van and George off into the LA night. By five AM, They extracted the digital pictures and expanded them to 12X15 inch photos showing good clarity. In the photos, the under slung gun on the craft was clearly visible. That alone was enough to justify a raid.

Cameron took a copy of the pictures with her when she left at six thirty. At seven, Meyer had a meeting scheduled with FBI and Homeland Security in the afternoon. Once that was set, Meyer took a nap in his office before the meeting. Between no sleep the might before with his adventure with the Connors, he was exhausted.

"Hey, Pete! We got a meeting!" Hanson yelled as he poked Meyer again.

Meyer woke with a start and sat up. He wiped the sleep off his face and asked, "Yeah, how much time we got?"

"Thirty seconds, everyone else is already in the conference room. Let's go, bud."

Meyer was up in an instant and grabbed the folder of photos off his desk. He opened it to check they were there, as well as the the GPS coordinates to that mound. "We got everyone?" he asked.

"Yeah, even an Army general showed up. The Captain said to drag you there in your underwear if I have to."

Meyer walked swiftly out of his office, Hanson close behind. They got on the elevator and went up to the third floor.

Suddenly there was an earth shattering BOOM that shook their world. The elevator quit and the lights went out.

"Damn," Meyer cursed. The tiny emergency light in the ceiling came on. He keyed his radio. "Central, this is Special Agent Meyer. What's the status."

No answer.

"Central, do you read?"

Again, no answer.

Up above them a groan of metal sounded followed by a loud crack.

"That doesn't sound good," Hanson noted.

"We gotta get outta here." Meyer said as he looked up. "This thing has a ceiling hatch, I'll boost you up."

Meyer locked his hands together, Hanson stepped in them and lifted up, pushing the hatch open. "No good! we got fire up there," Hanson said.

Meyer could see the red glow. The floor above them was burning. "All right, shut it, lets see if there's a floor hatch."

A pounding sounded out beyond the doors. It was followed by the sound of tearing metal. Then more pounding sounded out as the door bulged in.

Meyer's hand hovered over his gun, logic said it had to be rescue personnel, but the fist shapes made his gut tell him differently.

The door burst in on the next punch. A small hand pushed in on the bottom on the door and shoved it into the car and bent it up. Cameron's face appeared.

"Come with me if you want to live," she stated.

Walking quickly down the hallway as the fire alarm buzzed it's warning, Cameron explained her presence. "John thought I should attend your meeting. I was being held at the lobby while my authorization was being verified. By the impact and resulting explosion, and H/K impacted this building."

"That means this malevolent AI knew we were having that meeting. How? Were we bugged?" Hanson asked.

"Immaterial," Cameron stated as they got to the stairs and followed the flow down to an emergency exit. "The fact it knew means there is still a Gray somewhere in the government. Most likely Homeland Security. I suspect more strikes will be coming if they haven't already. Special Agent Meyer, who have you told about that H/K base?"

They burst out the emergency exit and into the parking lot filling with people. Meyer looked up to see smoke and some flame coming out of the third story row of windows.

"The Captain, that's it," Meyer said as he looked up at the destruction.

Cameron got on her phone. "John, the precinct building has been hit. Meyer and Hanson are alive and unharmed. The meeting room was destroyed ... Understood. I will meet you there." She closed up her phone and said, "Special Agent Meyer, Special Agent Hanson, come with me."

Recovering his wits, Hanson asked, "The elevator doors, you punched them open?" he asked, staring at Cameron.

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "No, it was necessary to to pull the outer doors off then bend the inner door in also. We must go." She then turned and walked away.

Meyer was conflicted. On one hand, his duty was to stay and assess the damage and help with injured. On the other hand, he really wanted to go find out if John Connor was in trouble. He clapped Hanson on the shoulder. "You stay here and try to get some organization to this chaos. I'm going with Cameron."

John found out Zeita main office building was hit again, this time with multiple strikes. Catherine Weaver also informed him Mr. Ellison was on the way to John's Pasadena house with Savannah for safekeeping. Her house had been destroyed also. John had Sarah go to Pasedena to take care of Savannah. Cameorn was coming to the LA house with Special Agent Meyer to get him out of harm's way. Since Meyer and Hanson were also targets now, he had Sarah call their houses and have the men's wives meet her at his house also. So far, he could assure the women their husbands were all right. School was in session, so John wasn't as concerned about Cameron's friend Cindy.

John Henry had been monitoring the hidden base. As soon as H/K's began coming out, he alerted the General. Although John Henry showed the H/K's flight paths were headed for LA, the general was hesitant. He dispatched two National Guard F-15's to intercept and monitor them. A missile armed drone changed course and fired on the F-15's. The planes dropped flares and dodged to force a miss. Having optical sights as well as infrared, the flares didn't fool the missiles. Both planes were shot down.

The aggression did cause the General at NORAD to issue an attack on those drones and the place they had come from. The order came too late for the city, the H/K's flew to their targets and blew up. What the attack order did do was allow an A-10 Warthog to attack the base, driving an air to ground missile right through the concealed door. After the first attack, the A-10 circled around and launched another missile straight down the now exposed shaft. An eruption of flame bellowed out not long after. The mound collapsed in on itself to form a sink hole.

By the time Cameron returned to collect John and George as well as food and clothes, the attacks were over and now Navy and Air force fighters were patrolling the sky. They left the LA house to find fire trucks and rescue vehicles around the Zeita building, a police barrier blocking access a block away. The building was smoldering in several places.

At least this time, Meyer rode in the front with Cameron, as George growled away in the back with their hastily packed belongings. Coming to their neighborhood, he saw firetrucks at his house. Or rather, where his house was. It was burning rubble now, being put out by fire hoses.

"Cindy is in school and your wife is with Sarah," Cameron told him upon seeing the rubble.

"They fuckin hit my house too?" he asked in disbelief.

"That is what this AI does. That is also why only a very select few are allowed to know where John lives," Cameron stated.

Screwing his face up, Meyer said, "That is ... brutal."

"That is the original Skynet. When if finds an enemy, it's sole goal is to destroy them. It does not sleep, it does not grow tired and it will never stop hunting you until you are dead," Cameron stated.