Chapter 1446


Reluctantly Relented


Savannah and Cammy watched the strike go down. They didn't see any of the EMP flashes from their position. They could only see them from the far off drone footage.

Savannah looked over at Cammy. She was a little concerned.

"Did the EMP blasts affect you in any way?" Savannah asked.

Cammy didn't 'feel' anything.

"No." Cammy said. "If I hadn't watched the drone footage, I wouldn't have known about them. I don't think they were very powerful."

Savannah didn't want to take any chances. They may not be done yet. She felt safety was paramount. She wanted to repeat the caution used during the previous night.

"I'm going to drive." Savannah said.

Cammy knew when not to protest. She didn't want Savannah to struggle to regain control of the vehicle if she was driving when an EMP went off near them. She pulled over and they quickly exchanged places.

Savannah checked with the rest of the Terminators in her group. Everyone checked out OK. She decided to lead the group in.

Steve and Tom insisted on being the point vehicle. Savannah reluctantly relented. Ally and Sheila followed behind her and Bob and Jim brought up the rear.

Cammy received an 'ears only' transmission from CamNet. 'Coltan Overcast' and 'Cherry Bomb' would violate the 'hard deck' and move in to back Savannah up if it was necessary. They volunteered to do it even under the threat of another EMP blast.

She figured it would be the case when they checked the ambush sites. There was a chance someone there may still be in the game and have an EMP. If they triggered one, Savannah would be forced to fight on her own if the Terminators in her group were all taken down. If there was a squad of the enemy, they'd be able to pin her down.

The two drones would come down one at a time to assist her. If there were any additional EMP blasts, the second drone would pick up where the first one left off before it was brought down. It turned out every drone would do it, one after another, until they were all terminated, to back her up. The assumption was the enemy would run out of EMP devices, before they ran out of drones. All of the machines wanted to protect Savannah. She was the only one there to protect them.

Steve and Tom led the group in. They stopped at the first ambush site. Savannah pulled up on the right side of Steve's SUV and Ally pulled up on her right side. Bob pulled up behind her but remained far enough back not to block her retreat in reverse if it was necessary.

Steve, Tom, Bob and Jim all got out and approached the area.

Savannah was going to go with them. Cammy stopped her.

"We'll wait here for now." Cammy said.

Savannah looked at the SUV on her right side. She saw Sheila out of the SUV on the other side. Ally was in standby in the driver's seat.

The team checked out the area.


John and John Henry watched the group approach and deploy.

John was worried about Savannah. Right now he wished he was there to assist her. Derek and Kyle always wanted to go out. They were denied a back up operation earlier by John Henry. He'd been with Jesse at the time.

Since he thought about it, he wasn't sure which one of the girls he liked the most. He'd been with Young Jesse, Vanna and Allison more than once. He'd only been with Jesse one time. They were all different, one on one. Even Jesse and Young Jesse were different. They did do some things the exact same way.

"…ambush site?" John Henry asked.

John knew he'd better pay attention.

"What was the choice again?" John asked.

John Henry looked at him for a second and repeated the question.

John was aware he needed to 'get off the ship' and get back to work. He was glad Young Allison backed him up right now. If he faltered, she wouldn't.


Young Jesse headed for the bathroom. She wanted to rinse her mouth out and wash her face off. She didn't want Claire or Jesse to pick up on what she'd done since Sarah asked for privacy.

She heard the door open and close. She finished rinsing her mouth out and went to look. She wondered if Sarah came back for more. She hoped so. It was a very thrilling experience.

It was Jesse.

"Did I miss anything?" Jesse asked.

Young Jesse knew she'd missed a lot. She needed to play it cool.

"I fell asleep when Claire went to look for you." Young Jesse said. "I'm still a little bushed from jet lag."

Jesse wanted to 'check' to see what Young Jesse said about what she'd spotted when she'd first arrived at the corner of the hall to Claire's room.

"Did anyone stop by?" Jesse asked.

Young Jesse wondered if Jesse saw something. She did arrive a few minutes after Sarah left. She would try to keep things as truthful as possible. She wanted to skip any details about personal information.

"I woke up when someone knocked. Sarah came by to see if Claire could help her with something." Jesse said. "I didn't ask what."

Young Jesse didn't mention she'd shared with Sarah.

Jesse didn't mention she'd made love to John.

"I guess all girls need a few secrets." Jesse said.

Young Jesse thought the comment was a little too close to home.

"I think discretion can be prudent." Young Jesse said. "In a small community, are there really any 'secrets', for long anyway?"

Jesse smiled.

"Everything comes out at some point." Jesse said.

Young Jesse excused herself. She was still a little troubled by Jesse's comments. She went into the bathroom. She wanted to rinse her mouth again because Jesse was there. She washed her face at the same time. She hadn't gotten that far before. She returned to the main room when she was done.

"I feel refreshed now." Young Jesse said. "Where's Claire?"

Jesse was busy with John earlier and no one opened her door. She thought Claire would still be here with Young Jesse. It was who she'd come looking for.

"I don't know." Jesse said.


Claire wanted to get back to her room.

She approached the door and listened.

There wasn't much to hear. She opened the door and went in. She was pleased to see Young Jesse naked and Jesse removing her clothes. She felt she'd arrived at just the right time. She quickly did the same thing once they'd all greeted each other.

Young Jesse whispered something to Jesse and they started to touch and kiss as they moved to the bed.

Jesse understood the nature of the request from Young Jesse. She planned to put on a grand show for Claire.

"You get to be JAFO for the first two rounds." Jesse said.

Claire wondered what it was.

"I'm not sure what a JAFO is." Claire said.

Jesse's full lips broke into a smile. She was aware it was an uncommon acronym.

"In this case it's, 'Just Another Frustrated Observer'." Jesse said. "There are other less couth answers."

Young Jesse wanted to make it clear. They were going to do what Claire asked to see.

"Jesse and I are going to share with each other first as you watch us." Young Jesse said. "You can join in after a while."

Claire knew it was going to be Hot. She watched as Jesse and Young Jesse shared with each other. It was what she'd asked for. She was very frustrated by only watching. After they both finished the first time, she took matters into her own hands.

They all finished at the same time and Claire joined them at that point.

Jesse was glad she took a quick shower before she left her room. No one was the wiser.

Young Jesse was glad she'd rinsed her mouth twice and washed her face. No one was the wiser.

Claire didn't have time to clean up and figured Jesse and Young Jesse would know she'd been with Vanna in her hiatus. They were all one big happy family. No one seemed to mind. Nothing was said. All the girls got around.

There was plenty of love for everyone to share.

Life was good in Paradise.


Sarah returned to her room. She entered and closed the door. She leaned her back up against it.

'Did it really happen?' She asked herself.

She thought about giving herself a pinch to see if she was awake or not. It was true in the past she'd had some pretty wild dreams due to sleep deprivation. What just happened now wasn't a dream

She knew it was real. She'd wanted to be with Claire because she'd developed feelings for her. Her encounter with Young Jesse was mostly just wild sex. Now it made her wonder what she'd missed all those years with Jesse, Vanna and Allison. They'd all made themselves 'available' to her over the years. It seemed all the Metal girls did too, but with a little more subtlety. Sheila was always a little more direct. Sheila often reminded her about what she could do for her very specifically.

What was she going to tell Kyle? She wanted to tell him about Claire, now there was Young Jesse too. She desperately wanted to be with both of them again.

She was pretty sure now if any of the girls indicated they were available, she would jump at the offer. It was the life she'd missed for so many years to protect John.

John!

John was probably going to be with Young Jesse at some point. She could see Cameron was ready to open up and allow John to have some more freedom. She knew it was for his protection not to be pegged as a 'Metal Lover'.

She didn't know all of the details as to what happened on the ship with John and Young Jesse.

Sarah was very wound up right now. She hoped Kyle got back soon.

Kyle!

Sarah ran to the bathroom and rinsed her mouth out. She did it twice. Maybe she should take a quick shower just to be safe.

She stripped off her clothes and headed for the bathroom.

She did a little more than wash herself as she showered….

Once she started to touch things, she got carried away. It seemed she couldn't help herself. She finished herself off a few more times. There were a lot of feelings and she couldn't contain them. Right now she didn't control them, they controlled her.


Young Allison was satisfied with the results inflicted on the anti-Metal group. Savannah was there and she was aware of the drone arrangement for Savannah's protection. It wasn't her doing. She saw no reason to alter it. She agreed with it one hundred percent.

Now it was time to deal with the man in the blue car.

They watched the drone footage as the man in the blue car checked for a tail. He didn't know there were Resistance drones over him and of the teams of Terminators who followed him.

They noted the man's repetitive behavior. They'd observed it previously with other groups.

"He's passed the same location three times." Anna said. "I think we've found his base."

Young Allison came to the same conclusion.

"I think you're right." Young Allison said.

The blue car came around the block one more time and pulled into a driveway. It ran between two buildings. He drove to the back and exited his car. He lifted a roll-up door. He returned to his car and drove in.

"I don't think there's anyone else there." Anna said. "He needed to do everything himself."

The roll-up door was pulled down from the inside.

Young Allison was a little concerned about the door itself.

"Now we don't know if the door is wired or booby trapped." Young Allison said.

Anna believed there was a very important consideration.

"There's a lot we don't know." Anna said. "If he's a Fanatic, the whole place could be a bomb."

Young Allison doubted they would learn any more about the group than they'd currently just found out.

"It looks like a dead end for now." Young Allison said.

Young Allison wanted to make it a true 'dead' end. She checked back on Savannah's operation. It was the most risky one right now.


Hanna arrived earlier to be with Gail and Camille. Their human lovers were all together at this point. So were they now. They shared for a while.

Camille wanted to know what was happening with Savannah. She knew Young Jesse wanted to see her and be with her.

"Can we check operations from here?" Camille asked.

Gail wanted the whole picture of what was occurring. There were only two places where they could do it.

"We can go to the Command Center or to the lab." Gail said.

Hanna was used to going down into the bunker at the house in Palmdale. Everything was available there. She didn't want it to seem like she was looking over the shoulder of John and John Henry.

"Let's go to the lab." Hanna said. "We won't be in the way."

The three Metal girls headed out. Some things seemed more important than each other right now.


Allison finished up her discussion with Cameron. It was a long talk.

Cameron went back to the Command Center.

Allison left. Saw her mother headed back to her own room. She decided to go back and check on Vanna. She wanted to make one stop along the way.

She went by Holly's room. She could hear her in there with someone. The door wasn't closed tight. She decided to take a peek. She saw Holly was with Cam. It could have been Camille too. From the position they were in, it was difficult to tell. They were both hard at work. She didn't want to disturb them.

She headed for her room. It was really Vanna's room. It was how it started out anyway. It was for a long time when she was in Palmdale with her family too. Vanna was alone again in her room until Cameron created Cam for her.

She paused and listened. It was quiet. Maybe Vanna was out. She was gone a long time when she was with Cameron.

She carefully opened the door. Vanna sat naked on the bed. She looked at her phone and a tablet next to her. She seemed to be very concentrated on whatever she was doing.

"Hi." Allison said as she entered. "What's up?"

Vanna looked up from her devices.

"Hi." Vanna said. "I wanted to check and see what Savannah was up to."

Allison frowned. It seemed Savannah was always busy.

"It won't be anything good." Allison said.

Vanna was a little concerned about the earlier activity.

"You're right." Vanna said. "She's in the middle of checking out an ambush site which was taken out by a drone strike."

Allison was worried about her. She thought about where she'd been for the last few days.

"I feel guilty about being on the ship." Allison said.

Vanna was unsure about which part.

"Do you mean what we did with John?" Vanna asked. "I don't feel guilty about it at all. Look how many years Cameron dangled it in front of us as our 'duty'. Nothing ever happened."

Allison smiled. The part with John was good. It was about Savannah which worried her.

"I'm good with John." Allison said. "It was long overdue. I look forward to visiting John again in his room. I felt guilty about Savannah. Here we are living it up and taking all the rewards life can offer us and she is in the thick of it and was all week."

They shared some small talk and soon were in each other's arms.


Cam and Holly finished up soon after they heard someone at their door.

Holly was a little concerned.

"It was Allison." Holly said. "Maybe she needs me."

Cam wondered what she would need her for.

"We're all back at the base." Cam said. "She's probably with Vanna by now."

Holly thought about calling her. It seemed like a bad idea. She could just go there to Vanna's room. It was Allison's room now too, or 'again', in reality. She felt it was important to follow up on.

"I want to check." Holly said.

Holly got dressed.

Cam did too since it was Holly's room. Her room was with Vanna. It was where her things were.

Hanna and Cam headed out. They went to Vanna's room to listen. They could hear two people inside. It was Allison and Vanna.

"It sounds like they're busy." Cam said.

At the end of the hall they spotted Gail, Hanna and Camille pass by. They looked like they were in a hurry.

"I wonder where they're going." Holly said.

Cam figured their human lovers were all busy like theirs were.

"Let's go find out." Cam said.

They hurried to catch up to the other Metal girls.


Frank and Dan, along with Michael and Richard, were tasked with following the man in the blue car. Now they'd found a location.

Ed and Al were close by in the box truck if they needed assistance.

Dan was in communication with the Command Center. He wanted some instructions.

John told them to sit tight, but not too close.

From where they waited, they could see the fire trucks from the nearby Long Beach airport arrive with a string of other fire trucks. The raging inferno at the port facility would need specialized foam to fight the petroleum fire. The airport fire trucks were set up to approach a raging inferno of a downed plane on a runaway doused with burning jet fuel. They would take a stab at the fire first, while the city fire trucks hooked up foam units to their pumpers and aerial water cannons.

Dan looked over at Frank.

"I'm glad we're nowhere near the place." Dan said. "We were there too many times as it was."

Frank watched another fire truck go by. This one was from a different neighboring city. A 'Mutual Aid' alert was sent out and the neighboring small harbor cities responded. He was aware the port facility wasn't the only constant irritant in their operations.

"The old newspaper plant is another sore spot." Frank said. "It should be torched."

Dan thought a similar 'accident' or 'terrorist attack' could be done at its location.

"Maybe we can divert one of the 'oil trains' from up the coast into the siding there." Dan said.

Frank knew the track arrangement was wrong for it.

"The siding faces the other direction from the loaded oil train's direction of travel." Frank said.

Dan thought they could do the same thing Savannah did at the port. The coastal 'oil train' was much longer than the six tank cars Savannah used.

"It's even better." Dan said. "It could be backed into the siding so the locomotives would be spared. It would just be the tank cars which burnt. It was a shame the switcher was sacrificed at the port facility."

Frank knew the switcher was a machine. It didn't have a choice other than to follow the commands given to it.

"It happens." Frank said. "One day we may meet a similar fate."

Dan knew they would fare a little better than the switcher did going forward.

"Savannah has asked us to update the copies of our programs regularly." Dan said. "She will see we're 'rebodied'."

Dan was very pleased with Savannah and Young Allison's performance over the last week.

"Savannah is the greatest." Frank said. "So is her mate."

The Terminators were all aware of Young Allison's exploits in the last few days. They saw the recreations of the events and knew of the use of the nuclear weapons deep in the ground. It was evidently not the first time she used them either. There was a collapsed mountain in Nevada to prove it.

"Young Allison will be just as tough on the enemy and she too will protect us." Dan said. "She's willing to play 'hardball'."

None of the Terminators doubted the 'Chosen Ones' would help lead them to victory over Skynet. It was what they were already in the process of doing.

Al and Ed felt the same way as they listened to the conversation as did Richard and Michael.

They all needed to wait for the next course of action.

The pause gave them all some time to reflect on the actions of the 'Chosen Ones' over the last week. It was very inspirational. They all replayed the depiction of events starting from when Cameron and John boarded the ship. It was when Savannah and Young Allison took over the mantle. The girls never backed down and took the fight to the enemy.


Cameron returned to the Command Center. She was back up to speed on the operations. Allison gave her a lot to think about. She was very open and sincere in her discussion.

John Henry wanted to know what action should be taken next.

"What do you want to do about the man in the building?" John Henry asked.

It didn't look like there was a bigger group of people there to John.

"It seems he's alone." John said. "It looks like a dead end."

John Henry wanted to finish the last piece in play at the port. It was time to wrap things up.

"I will initiate a missile strike on the building." John Henry said. "It will close out the operation. Everyone can return back to the base."

A missile attack in the daylight sounded risky to John.

"I don't think we want a missile strike." John said. "There are too many first responders there. Someone is bound to see the missile. There are news crews all around too."

John Henry knew a few ways to clear people out of a large area quickly.

"I can send out a radiation warning." John Henry said. "I can indicate a 'Dirty Bomb' was used. They'll all pull back."

John didn't want the public to panic. He was sure it would attract even more media attention.

"It might cause a panic. People will get hurt trying to flee." John said. "Maybe we should try something a little less extreme."

Cameron thought there were other things they could do. She'd only listened to them since her talk with Allison. She'd missed a few events. She was ready to try one of the new techniques.

"We can give the building a few bursts of 'metal hail'." Cameron said. "It will shake things up. The surveillance cameras in the interior of the port facility, which still worked for a short time after the collision, showed a large percentage of the projectiles pierce the roof and strike inside the interior. The same thing should happen at the new building."

John Henry thought it should move things along. They might even be able to resolve themselves on their own without further involvement from them.

"If it's a Fanatic, they should expect an attack at that point and blow up the building." John Henry said. "It seems to be their MO."

John wanted to wrap things up.

"It would take care of the issue for us." John said. "Get things set up."

John Henry received an update from CamNet.

"CamNet is ready for the fire mission right now." John Henry said. "Everything is ready to go."

John and Cameron looked at each other. It appeared Young Allison was on the ball and already came to the same conclusion before they did.

"Make it so." John said. "Hit it."

They watched the first round of projectiles strike the roof of the building. There was a lot of dust and a few sparks. Nothing else happened to the building other than that.

"Hit it again." John said.


Young Allison was dissatisfied there was no further reaction in the building she just initiated the 'metal hail' strike against. Well, technically it was John who initiated it. She was the one who had it prepared and ready to go. She wanted to take it one step further.

"Hit it again." Young Allison said.

Anna heard John and Young Allison give the same command.

"Expend all the ammunition and get ready to cycle the next set of drones in to do the same thing." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted Young Allison to show some moderation.

"It's being set up." Anna said. "Remember, John is back."

Young Allison didn't want to step on his toes.

"You're right." Young Allison said. "I'm pleased he made the correct call."

Anna wanted to give Young Allison a reminder of who all was in the Command Center currently.

"Cameron and John Henry are there with him." Anna said.

Young Allison frowned slightly. It was back to business as usual, sort of.

"In other words, I need to remember my place." Young Allison said.

Anna believed it was the prudent thing to do. It was just how things worked.

"Yes." Anna said. "We all do. There's a command structure to follow."

Young Allison was well aware she stepped out of the command structure many times to act on her own. Things needed to happen when she did them. It was why she did them.

"I know I need to hold back and coordinate things better." Young Allison said. "I thought having everything ready now was like that. I gave the same command John did."

Anna wanted to stress why there was a command structure.

"What if they would have been different?" Anna asked. "Then what would happen? Would John Henry do one thing while CamNet did another?"

The thought didn't make Young Allison feel good.

"I don't know." Young Allison said. "I see it could create a problem."

After the second 'metal hail' attack, the building exploded.

"Make sure the terrorist threat gets played up." Young Allison said. "I think our teams there are done for now."

CamNet and John Henry updated.

"Dan and Frank along with Al and Ed are being released from the port area." Anna said. "Richard and Michael will remain in the general vicinity until the fires are out. They will see if anyone pays any of the locations any extra attention."

Young Allison felt they could send some more assistance Savannah's way.

"I think both of those teams should be sent to back up Savannah." Young Allison said. "We don't know the extent of the operation, even if it looks like it's done."

Anna decided to operate within the command structure.

"I'll forward the suggestion to John Henry." Anna said.

Young Allison and Anna focused on what Savannah's teams were doing.


Hanna, Camille and Gail spotted Holly and Cam headed towards them. They linked up as they entered the lab.

Since all of their lovers were 'busy', they wanted to see what was available as far as operations went. They all wanted Savannah 'home' too.

They watched the 'metal hail' attack on the building and the explosion which followed.

The drone images which showed the burning tank cars were spectacular. It looked like it was going to have to burn itself out. The airport fire trucks barely made a dent. Previously, the more water they tried to put on the area, actually carried more of the burning fuel away into the gutters and the drainage system. It led to more fires along the way.

"I don't think we will need to worry about that place anymore." Cam said.

Gail wanted to direct her attention where it seemed more urgent.

"Good riddance." Gail said. "Now we can focus on Savannah's operation."


Derek and Kyle finished up in the shooting range. They'd cleaned their weapons and were going to go back to their rooms. They wanted to check in with John Henry first and see if there was any recon which needed to be done.

Kyle spotted something down the hall.

"Hey, look at them." Kyle said

They watched the five Metal girls hurry off to go somewhere.

"Something must be up." Derek said. "They looked like they were in a hurry."

Kyle wondered if it was something important.

"Let's find out." Kyle said. "We've been tied up for several hours."

Derek wasn't sure how to best play it.

"Do you want to ask them outright or just follow them?" Derek asked.

Kyle, like everyone, was aware Gail was the most 'Terminator like' of the Metal girls.

"I'll ask Gail." Kyle said. "She'll give us the straightest answer."

Derek worried about another issue.

"Do you think we need to check in with Riley and Sarah?" Derek asked.

Kyle thought it was an issue best avoided. He could do without the tongue lashing and any backlash which would result.

"I think we already know the answer." Kyle said.

Derek was aware it would turn into a problem. It always did.

"I guess we do." Derek said.

They hurried and caught up to the Metal girls as they went into the lab and started to watch the monitors in there. They hung back for a little bit before they entered after there was a big explosion at some place they viewed.

"Something's going down." Derek said. "A building just blew up."

There was action on some other screens too.

"Look at all the black smoke from the other place." Kyle said

They entered the lab. They came in at the end of the conversation.

"I don't think we will need to worry about that place anymore." Cam said.

They could see Gail watched everything very intently.

"Good riddance." Gail said. "Now we can focus on Savannah's operation."

Kyle wanted to be amicable.

"Hello, Ladies." Kyle said.

Derek wanted to get straight to business.

"Is there anything we can assist with?" Derek asked.

Cam looked at them as Hanna filled them in. Hanna was the 'closest' to them because of her 'Neural Interface' with Vanna.

The threat of EMP devices gave Derek and Kyle an opening.

"If they have EMP weapons, it sounds like you ladies could use some escorts or drivers." Derek said.

Kyle figured they were good to go.

"We already have most of our gear right here." Kyle said. "The rest of what we need should be in the SUVs we take."

They talked it over and decided to take two SUVs and drive to where Savannah was at. They all figured it couldn't hurt to have a couple more humans there due to the nature of the threat.

Derek and Kyle were a little surprised when the Metal girls stripped in front of them as if they weren't there. They put on the tactical gear which was kept in the lab.

"It's quite eye opening." Kyle said. "They're all stunning."

Derek hoped he could suppress his natural response to seeing all the naked females there. It didn't matter if they were machines or not. Beauty radiated from them.

"It's very impressive." Derek said. "There's a lot of beauty there."

They were both aware John 'popped' all of them on the cruise with Cameron in control of their chassis. They figured it must have been the best experience ever.

Cam led the group out.

"Let's go." Cam said.

The seven of them headed for the carpool. There would be vehicles stocked and waiting for a quick departure. There always were.


John Henry watched what went down in the lab and Derek and Kyle join up with the Metal girls.

He looked at John and then at Cameron.

Cameron watched Savannah's team check the first ambush site. It was cleared. There were no survivors. There were two medium sized EMP devices which were not deployed. Both of them were damaged by the 'metal hail'.

"I think it is safe to say the Terminators are all vulnerable who are with Savannah." Cameron said. "If there are any survivors at the second ambush site, or if there is a third ambush site, the team is going to be in trouble."

John was aware it meant everything fell on Savannah's back.

"There's not a whole lot we can do at this point." John said.

Cameron felt there was more she could do.

"I'm going to go there." Cameron said.

John thought it was a bad idea. Based on the current situation, he believed there was a more workable solution.

"You'll be as vulnerable as the rest of the Terminators are." John said. "I think I should go instead."

Cameron didn't want John out in the danger zone. His responsibility was in the Command Center.

"Hardly…." Cameron said. "You and John Henry are going to need to watch over the base."

John watched as Cameron headed for the door.

"Cameron!" John said.

Cameron already knew of the play which was in motion. She wanted to be a part of it.

"There are two teams ready to go. One team is one person short." Cameron said. "I have it covered."

John got up to follow her.

John Henry wanted to verify what Cameron said.

"John, you'd better take a look at this." John Henry said.

John Henry showed him the two teams about to leave in the carpool area.

Cameron ran out of the building and into the carpool area and got in one of the SUVs as it started to drive out.

John shook his head and looked disgusted. He knew how Cameron operated. She would push everything to the limit and then some. The dangers she faced seem to mean very little to her.

"I can see things are already back to normal." John said. "We're back to semi-controlled chaos."

John Henry wasn't so sure about it. He didn't think anyone had much control over Cameron when she was out in the field except Savannah. It was the reason why Savannah was at her side the most of the time.

"We don't have much control over the chaos." John Henry said.

John thought the explanation was all in the definition of the term chaos.

"It was my point." John said.

John Henry was worried about some of the after effects.

"What do we tell Riley and Sarah?" John Henry asked.

John let out his breath in a long sigh. It was one headache he always hated to deal with. He would rather be out in the field dodging bullets and explosions.

"The same thing we always do." John said. "We tell them as little as possible to keep the stress level down and two angry females off my back."

John already knew how the story ended. It was always his 'fault'. He really missed the ship right now. It wasn't because of the sexual freedom he experienced. It was from the fact he was able to 'get away from it all' for a while. He understood what Cameron indicated so many years ago. It was just nice to leave everything behind and not need to worry about it. Cameron had been very effective in keeping him away from everything.


Sarah cleaned up in her room. She was unsure when Kyle would return. She was a little worried about what she was going to tell him. He previously said it was OK as long as it was a female. Now it was two of them.

She decided to go see what Kyle was doing.

When she left her room, she saw Cameron hurry past the end of the hall and head toward the carpool area. Cameron moved too fast for her to catch her.

She thought maybe she'd better go see what was happening right now.

Sarah headed for the Command Center.

She wondered if John was going to have some explaining to do. Since John was the one in charge, everything that happened was his responsibility. She'd have to cut him some slack for the operations involving Cameron. She was aware Cameron was a little difficult to control by anyone, except Savannah. Savannah didn't control her, she moderated her responses.


The Gray was on the ground between the two dead men. He could hear the HK Track. He felt a new rush of adrenaline. He quickly got up to his feet. He moved as rapidly as he could.

It was much more difficult to move now. He'd lost all track of time. He fell down a couple of more times along the way. Once when he got up, he'd started back in the way he'd come. He didn't know. He only noticed when he saw fresh blood on the ground. He realized it was his blood. He turned around and continued towards the front.

At one point he noticed he was by one of the big trucks. It was the second of the three. He didn't have any recollection of going past the first one. It was only when he tripped over something he became aware of where he was at. What he tripped over was a dead body. He looked around the area. There were several of them. He could hear some moaning off to the side. He staggered over in the direction of it.

He spotted one of the men laying there. He was still alive. He'd been hit several times. It was one of the new men. He looked at him and turned away. There was nothing he could do for him. He passed several more dead men. He made it into the sleeping quarters. He glanced over at the vacant 'comfort bunk'. He sure would have liked to have been able to use it right now. If he was going to go out, he'd like to go out happy.

He found a medical kit. He wasn't really sure it would do him much good. He stripped off his bloody shirt and wrapped gauze around him several times. He tried to make it as tight as possible. He was losing blood, but not as fast as he had been before. It briefly crossed his mind the reason might be because there was less to run out at this point.

He held up his bloody shirt and looked at it. There were three holes in it. He didn't think any of them were bullet holes. He was sure he must have been hit by some shrapnel from the rocks. They could be bullet fragments too.

He looked around and found a clean shirt. He put it on. Before he entered the sleeping quarters, he'd noticed all of the vehicles were still inside the mine. None of them looked to be too damaged. He knew the keys should be in them. It appeared the attack by the HK Tracks had been purely anti-personnel. He really wondered what it was all about. He didn't think two of them would go bad at the same time. He was sure it was a calculated attack by someone.

The Gray stood up and started for the door. He was going to take one of the vehicles and leave. He just needed to rest for a little bit.


The female Fanatic and Jill continued towards the front of the mine. The reprogram HK Track led the way. They noticed a sporadic blood trail along the way.

It wasn't long before they encountered two more dead men. There was fresh blood between them. It didn't look like it came from either one of them. It was possible. They'd both been chewed up pretty good.

Jill took a look at both of their faces. Neither of them were any of the men who'd abused her earlier.

The female Fanatic thought about what she witnessed as they moved closer to the front.

"I think we're behind someone who was wounded earlier." The female Fanatic said.

Jill hoped it was one of the men who'd abused her.

"Maybe we can find him before he dies." Jill said. "I want to kill him myself."

The female Fanatic could see Jill was serious. If the situation permitted it, she would allow Jill to 'get her hands dirty'.

"I don't know what we'll find." The female Fanatic said. "Keep in mind these people are all extremely dangerous, even if they're hurt."

Jill thought about some of the stories about terrorists she'd heard growing up.

"Are they the kind of people who think they'll go straight to heaven with twenty seven virgins waiting for them, or something ridiculous like that?" Jill asked.

The female Fanatic was a little worried about the parallel between the terrorists going straight to heaven and SkyMaster's followers reaching Ascension. It wasn't the same thing, even if the concept was the same.

"They're in it for what they can take from others." The female Fanatic said. "They're more like thugs or gangsters than anything. The difference is, they want to blow the world up in order to do it."

Jill didn't see how any of it could make sense. It sounded insane to her no matter how it was looked at.

"It seems like the world will be a better place without them." Jill said. "I'll do my part to make sure we can bring down as many of them as possible. I know I might not make it. If it makes my life matter, it will be worth it. Right now my life doesn't mean much of anything to anyone, including me."

The female Fanatic had felt much the same before she was recruited to follow SkyMaster. She believed Jill would serve SkyMaster well.

She knew every foot closer they got to the front of the mine, the danger level went up. At some point the HK Track they followed might become a liability. It would certainly be a target for any of the men able to respond with some type of a LAW rocket or even an RPG. She didn't think an RPG would be able to stop it. The shrapnel from the grenade might hit them.

They passed a few side passageways along the way. The female Fanatic had Jill remain at the entrance. The HK Track remained in the main passageway. She entered them and took a look around. She didn't know if anyone would be hiding in any of them or not. She didn't think so. She was pretty sure if anyone could get out of the mine, they would have. There was no point to stick around as long as the HK Tracks were on a killing spree. It was doubtful any of them knew there was only one of them left.

She mostly encountered crates of various types. The majority of the items were back past them. The HK equipment was anyway.

They continued their forward progress. She could see the big trucks up ahead. She knew if anyone was hiding, it would probably be there.

"We're going to let the HK Track move ahead of us a little bit. We're each going to walk on opposite sides of the passageway." The female Fanatic said. "If there's anyone left alive, they will most likely try to attack it. I don't think they'll notice us right away. Unless they're hidden very well, the HK Track should find them first."

The female Fanatic gave the HK Track new instructions.

They passed a few more bodies along the way. From the direction the dead men were facing, it appeared they tried to run away from where the attack originated.

Jill looked at each of the fallen men. None of them were the men who'd abused her. It wasn't a comforting thought because she knew the only reason why they hadn't, was because she wasn't tied to the 'comfort bunk' inside the mine. If they've been at the warehouse or had she'd been detained there, they would have.

The female Fanatic was better able to inspect everything around where the trucks and vehicles were parked. She found one man still alive. She made sure he didn't have a weapon. She called Jill over.

"I found someone." The female Fanatic said. "He's hurt bad."

Jill looked at the man. She instantly recognized him. She remembered the things he'd said he was going to do to her before they killed her. She kicked him in the side of the head. He let out a groan. It was clear he was dying. His eyes were open now. They widened as soon as he spotted her standing over him.

"He's one of them." Jill said. "I'm going to finish him off myself. I want him to know it was me."

The female Fanatic could tell by the way he struggled to move, the man knew who Jill was.

"Go ahead and finish him." The female Fanatic said. "You can use your pistol or your knife. The knife is much more personal."

Jill currently pointed her pistol at the man's head. She tucked it away and pulled out her knife. The man's eyes widened a little more.

"I'm going to make it personal." Jill said.

The female Fanatic was pleased to see Jill was going to get her hands dirty personally. She wanted to offer her a little more retribution.

"Do you want me to pull his pants down?" The female Fanatic asked. "He'll suffer a little more before he dies."

The man's wide eyes widened further.

Jill was tempted by the thought. The man was still alive. He would know what happened to him. He would know she was the one who did it. She wanted to give him a little terror and something to think about.

"I could use a set of earrings." Jill said. "I'm sure they'd make quite the conversation piece at a party."

The female Fanatic thought she heard some noise out in the passageway. She left Jill there with the dying man and decided to check it out.


Lena continued to shadow the other two men. She was now in front of them.

Tina moved closer to the two unknown men. She didn't like the way they'd looked at her.

"In fact, it's a really nice day for a walk." Tina said. "What are you two up to? Did you drop something?"

The two men quickly looked at each other. It was clear she must have seen what they were doing before they saw her.

One of the men reached in back of him. The other was a little slower to act.

Tina was ready for them to do something. When one man suddenly reached behind him, she acted. She punched him hard in the throat. She could hear his neck snap. His head rolled off to the side, even as he flew backwards.

She grabbed the other man before he could do anything. She pulled him to the ground and began to choke him. She reached around him and pulled a pistol away from him. She continued to choke him out. She didn't want to kill him yet.

She grabbed both men by a foot and quickly drug them away. She could hear their heads bouncing over the uneven terrain. She glanced backwards and saw the man with the snapped neck's head bounce in every direction as opposed to the man who was only unconscious. She got them behind the rock she'd observed them from earlier.

Tina needed to work fast. She didn't want the other two men to find her with them. They were still a few minutes away. She should have time to move both of them a little further away.

Lena was ahead of the men. She was aware of the incident with Tina. She moved over in her direction to see if she needed assistance.


The two men rested up for a few minutes and started back out.

They could soon see the communications array at the top of the mountain.

"We're almost there." The first man said.

The second man paused for a second.

"Couldn't we have just gotten a helicopter or something?" The second man asked.

The first man was glad it wasn't winter time.

"At least there's no snow to deal with." The first man said.

The second man looked even more disgusted.

"I would have written it off if there was." The second man said. "The hike was bad enough. I can't imagine doing it in the snow."

The first man wanted to get their inspection started.

"Let's take a look around and see what we can find." The first man said. "I want to get out of here before it gets dark."

The second man didn't want to be up there when it was dark. He's seen some placards along the way showing various types of indigenous animals who populated the area. There were coyotes as well as cougars. He didn't want to face either one. There was also a picture of a bear. He certainly didn't want to tangle with one of those.

"I want to be out of here before it gets dark as well." The second man said. "If I need to shoot at something, I want to be able to see what I'm shooting at so I can hit it."

The two men began to search the area of where the bunker had been.


Reluctantly Relented

Every type of relationship
Can become involved and complicated
It can cloud one's judgment
It will leave them distracted

Few want to shun others
No one wants to feel isolated
It is for the individual who they are
They want to be accepted

It doesn't take too long
To determine if someone is interested
Common goals and interests
Will allow them to feel connected

As the feelings grow and build
It can leave them both excited
If the feelings go deeper
It can make them devoted

As time and effort are invested
Each will become more dedicated
No one wants to be the one
Who reluctantly relented

Nobody