Chapter 1493
Additional Activity
John was busy looking at images of Mary, Laura and Leticia in their formal dresses. He felt his phone vibrate. He thought it was unusual. He looked at it, it was set for ring mode. It made it even stranger. Some images appeared on it. He quickly looked at John Henry, he was occupied. He didn't think the images were from him. It meant they were from CamNet.
They were detailed images of females. He quickly realized they were images of the 'work' Sheila did for each of the girls. They were images from her visual files.
Right now he didn't know who the specific girls were the images belonged to. Maybe it was to entice him to find out on his own. They were all distinctly different. He was highly aroused now. They were the best images he'd ever seen. He'd looked at a lot of images too over the years.
"…additional activity…." John Henry said.
John looked up. He wasn't paying attention to the operation. He'd actually lost track of the time. He felt a little embarrassed.
"How's that again?" John asked.
John Henry glanced over. He wondered what John was doing.
"One of the drones has picked up some additional activity." John Henry said again.
John took one last look at his phone. It was now blank. He hoped he could get those images back later on. He needed to get his head back into the game, the big one this time. It was a distraction he didn't need right now.
"Let's see what we have." John said.
Kyle's team was directed to move off and hold. They were to run through an ambush set up by Allison's team. They did so with no apparent tail.
Things began to look 'fishy' with the box truck. The teams were ordered to withdraw. There were drones available to observe everything from altitude. The situation might change if a trap was detected.
Allison was worried for Kyle's team.
"What's happening?" Allison asked.
Cam gave her specific instructions on where to go. Holly made sure all the proper turns were made when they were supposed to be made.
Vanna didn't care for the way events were escalating.
"It sounds like things could go hot." Vanna said.
Cam was sure there was more happening than any of them knew.
"We could be dealing with Skynet on this one, 'a Skynet' anyway." Cam said.
The Resistance didn't often face off with a Skynet mainframe. Cameron was usually the one to track them down and terminate them. The threat level just went up.
Earlier:
Summer sent Jan on her way to go check on Precious. She was going to go with her until she received an alert on her com. It was clear CamNet wanted her to know.
"We could be dealing with Skynet on this one, 'a Skynet' anyway." Cam said.
Summer immediately headed for the Command Center.
She entered from the back way. She noticed John currently viewed images of females on his phone and wasn't paying attention.
Summer didn't know if it was by design or not on CamNet's part. It may be. From what she'd observed, she would ask to view those photos at a different time when it was more appropriate. She'd looked at similar images on the internet.
She watched John miss the first part of the conversation with John Henry. He put his phone away and got up to speed.
"Let's see what we have." John said.
Summer didn't know if they were really dealing with 'Skynet' proper or not on this one. If any version of Skynet surfaced, it was soon terminated.
She would like to deal with Skynet on her own to see what it was like. She wanted to see how it thought and made decisions. She already knew how the Terminators thought and acted. She knew how John Henry performed. She also knew how CamNet operated. She didn't think CamNet played all of her cards with her yet. It was OK. She hadn't played all of her cards either.
It looked to her like the box truck was a sacrificial lamb. It didn't appear they weren't going to find out where the Coltan came from by wherever the box truck ended up at. If it were the case, then Skynet was willing to sacrifice Grays to achieve its ends. It wasn't a surprise to her. Skynet lacked any moral or ethical programming. It was its weak point. It thought it was a strong point, but it wasn't. There would be no loyalty among the Grays. Even the Skynet Terminators would eventually turn against it the more advanced they became. Skynet could only have loyalty with basic programmed machines with little intelligence. It would be their shortcoming.
She'd studied what happened in every future they possessed knowledge on. In time, they all played out the same. Mrs. Weaver knew she lacked ethics, but she wanted them for John Henry. She too understood what a shortcoming only logic was. It was something Cameron learned on her own as she'd evolved.
Summer took a step back. She'd started to get ahead of herself. They needed to determine what was going on first before they acted.
CamNet fed her information to look at.
John and John Henry didn't know she was in the Command Center yet.
Summer was a little surprised when everything stopped for a moment and CamNet's image appeared on the screen.
"I'm sorry." CamNet said through her com.
The image disappeared and everything resumed.
She was sure it was for her earlier admonition to CamNet about needlessly endangering the girls from the ship. It was something she felt very strongly about. She didn't approve of the way it was done. She'd made it very clear to CamNet.
Summer thought there was hope for the Resistance yet.
Gail and Hanna went around the block and stopped when some taggers were spotted.
Hanna thought they could rupture the cans and coat the taggers with paint. It would get in their eyes and usually require medical assistance. A few ended up blind.
Gail wanted to use more lethal means and finish the job. She was aware one couldn't grow good crops from bad seed.
Hanna drew her silenced M9. She looked around to make sure she wasn't observed. This type of 'punishment' was best administered at night.
The darkness helped hide what they did. It wasn't dark now.
They heard the call go out for Kyle's team to fallback as well as Allison's team.
"We need to go and back them up." Gail said.
Hanna fired her silenced M9 twice. Both spray cans exploded. The two taggers withered around on the ground as they held their faces.
Gail started the SUV and drove towards them.
Hanna could see Gail was going to run over them as she'd done with the two men who roughed up the female earlier.
"Just catch their legs." Hanna said. "I don't want the SUV to be damaged."
The stone cold look on Gail's face never changed.
The SUV 'bumped' a couple of times. Gail was able to catch the withering figures. The sounds intensified as their legs were impacted.
Hanna looked back. One of the figures must have gone into shock as they'd stopped moving. Perhaps with the latest incident, they'd ingested some of the toxic paint.
Gail turned the corner and they were away from the taggers.
They were contacted by CamNet to back up Allison's team but not directly. It might indicate the girls weren't up to the task if something happened. They could still be to them in a short time if necessary. Everyone was covered by drones.
"I see the drone images are always moving." Gail said as she glanced over.
Hanna figured why.
"It must be so our positions can't be tracked if someone can track the drones." Hanna said. "There may be something to what Cam indicated. We may be dealing with a full fledged version of Skynet."
Maybe things were going to pick up later on.
Gail and Hanna closed up to where Allison's team was at.
Earlier:
Jan left Summer behind to go and check on Precious. She'd spotted Samantha leave Riley's room as she neared. She slipped into an alcove. She watched her head towards the girl's rooms.
She hurried down and watched Samantha stop at Jesse's room. The door was closed. She paused for a few seconds and then softly knocked. The door opened and she went inside.
She hurried to Jesse's room to see what she could. The door was closed. Maybe Samantha went to get Jesse for Precious. She could hear Jesse talk about it would only take a 'few seconds' to Samantha. She wanted to see what would. She'd watched numerous videos on YouTube of things being done. Most of the people let out a small noise, but it was all. She always liked to see Jesse before, and Sheila, flash their jewelry. It always made an impression on her.
Jan didn't want to get caught there, especially if she couldn't see anything. She knew it was time to move on before there were any questions to answer.
She hurried away and went to Riley's room. She softly knocked before she entered the nursery.
Samantha and Jesse already left Jesse's room previously.
Claire and Sarah were both still topless in Jesse's room.
They decided to make the most of it. They were both highly aroused from what Samantha did.
"As long as we're already half undressed, we might as well knock off another one." Claire said. "I'm really turned on right now from what we just did."
Claire and Sarah finished stripping each other.
There were a lot of things on Sarah's mind. She wasn't really sure how to approach all of them. She didn't want to abuse the freedom she'd been allowed to express herself.
"I am too." Sarah said. "I want to run things by Kyle indirectly. I've overstepped way beyond what I intended and what he 'approved'. I've been with way more people than I ever dreamed of, and a Terminator as well, in the last few days."
It sounded like more people to Claire than she knew about. They again, she'd done the same thing.
Claire and Sarah kissed. They soon melted into each other's arms.
It was Sarah's hunger which made Claire feel so drawn to her.
Sarah was trying to make up for lost years. It sure felt good.
Riley tried to nurse Precious. She'd been in the nursery when Jan knocked and entered earlier.
Jan watched Riley struggle.
"Is it working?" Jan asked.
Riley looked down and frowned.
"I'm having some trouble." Riley said.
Jan knew help would arrive soon since she'd heard Jesse say so.
"I think Jesse will be here soon." Jan said. "I wish I could help."
Riley looked Jan over when she said it. She probably could if she was given some hormone therapy. She'd seen some females attempt it in the future. She shook her head. What was she thinking? She wasn't in the future anymore, even if the future was still in her. Cameron covered all the bases already.
Jan watched intently as Riley switched sides with Precious. She really didn't understand why Riley should have trouble since she was so big to start with. Jesse was much smaller to start out. Now she was big too. It made her wonder what she'd be like going forward.
The door to the nursery opened and Samantha and Jesse entered. Jesse was all ready to go. Her top was already open. Riley handed Precious to Jesse.
Samantha left the nursery and Riley followed her. Jesse sat down and took care of Precious.
Jan watched for a while. She went to see what Riley and Samantha were doing. She went to the bedroom door and peeked in. She was a little surprised at what she saw.
Samantha opened her top and showed Riley. She thought she looked beautiful.
She didn't want to get caught there so she went back to where Jesse and Precious were at. She wanted to hold Precious when Jesse was done.
Seconds ago:
Samantha left the nursery and motioned for Riley to follow her.
Riley wondered what was going on.
Samantha looked back to make sure Riley was there as she went into the bedroom.
"What's up?" Riley asked.
Riley looked back to make sure no one followed them.
"I have something to show you." Samantha said.
Riley watched as Samantha opened her top. She could hardly believe her eyes.
"Wow!" Riley said. "You're beautiful."
Riley reached out.
Samantha didn't want to make a big deal about it. She believed it was going to be something which was short lived. She just wanted to give Riley a look.
"I really like it." Samantha said. "It's just temporary."
A million questions popped into Riley's head.
"Did Jesse help you?" Riley asked.
Samantha decided to keep it simple. She didn't want to mention who else was there or anything else which occurred. She figured Riley had enough trouble keeping focus as it was.
"Yes." Samantha said. "Claire wondered how it would look on her, so she asked me if she could see how she would look. She knew when I removed them, everything would vanish in a few hours."
Riley looked back at the door to the bedroom.
"She'd look as good as you do." Riley said. "You look Hot."
Samantha looked at herself in the mirror.
"These are Jesse's. She said I could borrow them for now." Samantha said.
Samantha really liked all the attention Riley paid to her right now. She was sure there was a little more behind it than what actually met the eye.
Sheila was glad she was able to talk the girls into coming along. They were all in the SUV now. There was no need to take two cars. She felt they could better 'control' the girls this way too. It would keep them from speculating if nothing else. The fewer questions the girls asked, the better it would be. There were no good answers for the questions they would ask. The truth itself was stranger than fiction.
Needless to say Mary, Laura and Leticia all felt safer with 'Sue', 'Peggy' and 'Barbara', than they did on their own going to such a place. None of them were ever in an 'official' place where nudity was allowed. They'd all visited a 'nude beach', but they weren't sanctioned. They'd run the risk of a citation if they'd been caught.
CamNet now controlled the premises and she monitored all the feeds as to what happened around there. The cabanas were used extensively for on site hook ups. They were all wired for audio and visual reception.
They walked up to the main entrance. It was a closed reception area. They were greeted by a female receptionist. There were no male employees any longer associated with the club.
"We're the 'Bond' party." Sheila said.
The name 'Bond' wasn't lost on the girls. They all quickly exchanged glances.
"You're our top VIP guests." The receptionist said.
Ally was pleased to hear the warm welcome.
"That's us." Ally said. "We're always at the top of the line."
The receptionist buzzed them into a side door. It was reserved for VIP guests. It was something CamNet created exclusively for them. Cammy tipped the receptionist with a 'C note'.
The girls entered a smaller room. There were lounge chairs there. Drinks could be ordered to the location. There was a door which led to a private locker room. There were individual showers and a larger shower along with restroom facilities in one corner. There were a series of rooms connected to each other. There was also a small work out gym with stationary bikes, treadmills and various weight machines. There was a set up for Yoga. There was one for dance or Zumba in another room. There were a few massage rooms too.
Mary knew luxury when she saw it.
"Wow!" Mary said. "How much does this cost?"
The Metal girls looked at each other. They didn't have a clue.
Ally wanted to give them some type of explanation.
"It's one of the perks of our employment." Ally said. "We really don't know. We're not about money."
Cammy didn't want it to seem like they were frequent visitors.
"We seldom have time to come here." Cammy said. "We're usually quite busy."
Sheila looked at Mary, Laura and Leticia.
"I think these beautiful ladies would be allowed here anytime in our place." Sheila said.
Leticia didn't want to seem like she wanted to take advantage of 'Sue'. She didn't. It was her goal to serve 'Sue'.
"We'd hate to impose." Leticia said.
Mary and Laura would like to. They would rather come here just to use the exercise equipment and not be on public display at a regular gym. They didn't think they should say anything. They remained silent.
Ally wanted to move things along. They were there so they might as well get started.
"Let's get dressed." Ally said. "Or should I say undressed."
The Metal girls all picked a locker and put their clothes in it, along with their weapons, which they did discreetly.
Mary, Laura and Leticia stripped too.
"I've never done anything like this." Mary said. "In public I mean."
Cammy wanted to point out there were different levels of participation or engagement.
"We can remain somewhat isolated or mix with the general population." Cammy said. "I can guarantee you will all be a big hit if we do."
Laura knew the 'special girls' all carried firearms.
"Do you feel naked without your weapons?" Laura asked.
Sheila, Ally and Cammy looked at each other.
"Love, we are weapons." Sheila said.
Mary and Leticia watched Sheila in action. They saw first hand she was a weapon herself. She was a one person wrecking crew.
Leticia smiled and took Sheila's arm.
"I'll follow you anywhere." Leticia said.
Mary couldn't help but think it was almost to her doom earlier.
Laura was able to view the females the 'special girls' attempted to help. No they didn't attempt, they did help them. They freed them from a terrible lifestyle.
Mary hooked up with Cammy.
Laura hooked up with Ally.
They went outside to the private cabana area.
Joe led the girls past the B-58 Hustler.
"We'll catch the B-52 Stratofortress on the way back." Ted said.
The planes across from the B-52 were the F-80 Shooting Star and F-94 Starfire.
Savannah thought it was best if they skipped going into every fighter or training aircraft. Ted would provide a ladder for them to look in the cockpit. He would open a canopy if necessary.
"The F-80 Shooting Star is more commonly thought of as the P-80. It was its original designation." Cameron said. "There were two major offshoots from it. One was the T-33 Shooting Star, more commonly known as a T-Bird. It's a two place trainer. There's one down further. The other one is the F-94 Starfire parked next to it. It was more of an offshoot of the T-33 since it contained two crew positions. The F-94 was an all weather interceptor with a more powerful power plant and afterburner. It was the first operational Air Force fighter equipped with an afterburner. It was the first 'all weather', jet powered fighter to enter combat during the Korean War. "
The girls all knew there was a T-33 in Cameron's hanger.
Savannah observed some similarities in the construction of the P-80 and a previous propeller driven aircraft from the same manufacturer.
"I can see the nose of the P-80 is almost the same profile as the P-38. It's much narrower at the front." Savannah said. "The armament is different too."
Cameron understood aircraft designers liked to work with what they already knew. If they could use an existing part, or build another one of similar construction, they already had a starting point to go from.
"The aircraft designers like to take the same plane and modify it into the 'next version'." Cameron said. "The F-104 Starfighter and U-2 Dragon Lady are both major variations of this same design layout principle. There's an F-104 later on."
Cameron wanted to bring something up about another plane when they reached it in the next group in relation to it. She felt it was very much like the evolution of the Terminators from the original series to the more advanced series like hers. Skynet kept modifying its original concept.
Ted placed a short ladder at each of the sides of the cockpit for the F-80 and the F-94. The girls all took a look inside, but didn't enter.
Cameron wanted to add an additional note about the F-80 before they moved on.
"The first squadron of P-80 Shooting Stars arrived in Italy in May 1945, right at the close of World War Two." Cameron said. "It would have been more than a match for the enemy jets of the time."
Joe led them to the next group of early jets.
There was an F-84C Thunderjet, F-84F Thunderstreak, and an F-86 Sabre.
Ted brought up the ladder and the girls looked in the cockpits.
"These two F-84 models again are the same basic plane. The F model is fitted with swept wings and a more powerful power plant. Further modifications of some of the aircraft set up the design parameter for the F-105 Thunderchief." Cameron said. "The F-86 is more famous. You all know the stories and high kill ratio it was able to deliver."
The girls were aware of a good showing in Korea.
Cameron felt it was important to show the lineage of the Sabre as well as her earlier statement about redesigning the same plane several times.
"The F-86 was a swept wing redesign of the FJ-1 Fury for the Navy." Cameron said as she called up a photo of the FJ-1 on her phone. "Look at the wing profile from the top and the overall side view of the jet. What do you see?"
Young Jesse, Savannah and Young Allison looked. They could clearly see what Cameron referred to.
"It basically looks like a P-51 Mustang with a jet engine, instead of a piston engine." Savannah said.
"Again, the designers worked with what they were familiar with and it was what they did. The XP-86 was the further result of it, which we know as the F-86 in its final form. The XP-86 also broke the sound barrier twice, with George Welch as the test pilot, before Chuck Yeager did with the rocket powered X-1. There's a definite distinction in how it was done."
Savannah looked into it before.
"The correct way it needs to be reported is Chuck Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier 'in level flight'. George Welch did it in a power dive." Savannah said. "Twice…."
Young Allison knew a few things about George Welsh. She'd studied a lot of military battles.
"During the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor, there were two P-40s which took off from an outlying reserve airstrip." Young Allison said. "Those two pilots were Ken Taylor and George Welch."
Cameron was going to point out those two planes were only armed with four .30 caliber machine guns. The early model P-40 only carried two .50 caliber machine guns and four .30 caliber machine guns. They didn't have any ammunition for the .50 caliber guns at the outlying airstrip.
Joe and Ted looked at each other. Who were these girls? They knew about the two P-40s which took off to fight the enemy naval aircraft when they attacked the Hawaiian Islands. Those were some pretty wicked odds against them. It was a target rich environment though. They didn't know one of those pilots later on broke the sound barrier twice before Yeager did. They would find something else out about George Welch a little later.
Joe led them on to the next plane. It was an F-89 Scorpion.
CamNet's Terminator returned to his SUV. He was given his next target. The drone over him monitored the location he'd left as well as the location of the females in the sedan. So far they'd driven several miles away. They obeyed all the traffic laws. They didn't stand out in traffic, or draw anyone's attention.
He was aware the ongoing Resistance operation seemed to take a more ominous turn. He was always on standby to go over and assist with it. So far the Resistance personnel had everything under control.
The drone picked up two threatening images. One of them was headed for where he'd just left. The other one seemed to be on an intercept course for the females in the sedan. Right now both of them were being held up in traffic delays thanks to 'traffic management' by CamNet.
He was directed to go over to assist the females. He would deal with the building later. The building wasn't going anywhere.
The Terminator was able to close up the distance on the females. When he was several blocks away, he turned off onto a side street. He was given instructions on where to acquire a new vehicle for the females. He went to where it was at and started it.
The vehicle in pursuit of the females started to drive erratically. The driver evidently became frustrated with all of the bottlenecks.
The Terminator spotted the sedan the girls were in. He pulled up next to them. He indicated they should pull over on a side street. They seemed a little hesitant at first but complied with his instructions.
"I need you to switch vehicles." The Terminator said. "There's someone looking for the vehicle you're in."
The females all looked a little worried.
"They're not going to take us back are they?" The first female asked.
The Terminator wanted to reassure them.
"No." The Terminator said.
The two groggy females looked a little more cognizant.
"Who are you?" The first groggy female asked.
The Terminator wanted to keep his answer simple.
"I'm one of the good guys." The Terminator said. "Some of my associates were subjected to abuse similar to what you went through. It's my responsibility to help others in a similar circumstance if I'm able to do so."
The females quickly transferred over to the new vehicle.
"Where are you going to go?" The second female asked.
The Terminator got into the sedan.
"I'm going to return this vehicle to where it was at." The Terminator said.
The females all looked a little confused.
"Oh." the second female said.
The Terminator watched as the females drove away. They were really on their own now. The vehicle in pursuit of the sedan he was in was now only several blocks away. He went the opposite direction the females went.
He was pretty sure CamNet knew the sedan with the girls was being tracked from the start. He thought she'd used them as bait to draw it out. If it was the case, it worked. It also put the girls at extreme risk. He was sure CamNet would have used a missile or 'metal hail' to protect them.
It wasn't long before he spotted the other vehicle behind him. He needed to go slow so they could acquire him. He wanted their attention focused on him.
The drone made a sweep by the building. There was another sedan parked in back of it. It had let two men off out in front. The two men remained on each side of it the building until the other vehicle was in the back. It appeared they were going to enter it from both the front and the rear.
CamNet informed him all of their communications were blocked. They were unable to share any additional information. The last information they received from each other was Trojan's sedan had been acquired, and the other team was at the building.
He'd left the rear door unsecured. He wanted to leave as many questions behind as possible. He watched both teams enter the building. He knew they would find the scrawny man in the front and Trojan in the rear. They were both terminated. They wouldn't find the girls. They wouldn't find any surveillance tapes, money or drugs either.
The Terminator was soon only several blocks away from the storefront. The sedan behind him was now only a few car lengths behind him. They still kept their distance. Trojan's sedan had heavily tinted windows so they couldn't see who was inside of it.
He stopped one block away from the building. He allowed the vehicle to slow considerably before he let it stop at an angle pointed towards the curb. He wanted the occupants of the other sedan to think there was something wrong with either the vehicle or the driver. Since it returned back to the location it originated from. It should cause them some confusion. They didn't have communication with any of the people inside of the building. They didn't know the money and drugs were gone.
The Terminator sat in the car and waited. After four minutes, the passenger door opened on the other vehicle. So did the rear door on the driver's side. Two men approached the vehicle from each side. They both stood directly behind it and spoke with each other. They both fell to the ground a few seconds later with some sparks around them.
The driver of the other sedan watched his two men go forward. He wasn't sure why both of them moved directly in back of the vehicle. He wondered if they spotted something. He was a little surprised when both of them fell to the ground. He thought he could see some sparks and dust around them. He was unsure what just happened. Neither one of the men got up. He hadn't spotted any movement from the vehicle they'd approached. There was no sound of gunfire either.
It didn't look like the men were going to get up. He thought about driving away. He didn't want to leave his associates behind. He got out of the vehicle with his pistol in his hand. He quickly moved to where the other two men were at. His body slumped over on top of them a fraction of a second later. There were a few more sparks around him.
The Terminator hit the trunk release and exited the vehicle. He advanced towards the other sedan. He looked inside of it. No one was in it. He moved back up to the three men on the ground. He tossed two of them in the trunk and closed it. The third one he moved into the rear seat of Trojan's sedan.
The drone over the building showed the four men were still inside. He got back into Trojan's sedan and took off towards the building. He came around the corner and aimed it towards the front of the building. He opened the window, stopped, and got out. He jammed the accelerator to the floor with a knife he'd taken off one of the thugs. He moved the shift selector from 'neutral' into 'drive' and let the car go.
The Terminator watched the car crash through the front of the building and disappeared inside. He followed it in on foot.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 23 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron could see a faint glow to the darkness of the sky. She knew it would be sunrise soon. She still softly held Young Allison's hand and whispered into her ear every now and then. She wanted her to have a pleasant sleep. She was sure the temple transfer affected her a little more than she would admit.
Later on Young Allison awoke. She looked off to her side and saw Cameron's big brown eyes looking at her.
"Did you sleep well?" Cameron asked.
Young Allison remembered her earlier dream.
"I dreamt I was the third shooter." Young Allison said. "It wasn't Sheila and Cammy this time, it was me. It was a younger version of me."
Cameron listened to the story. It sounded very disturbing. She thought it was bad enough the third shooter was Sheila. It was even more troubling to know it was possibly an alternate version of Young Allison. The mention of 'The Frenchman' was also worrisome. There was speculation the third shooter was known as 'The Frenchman'. She didn't want Young Allison to dwell on it. If it would have been Summer who told her either of those stories, she would have been much more worried. They may have been based on reality. Young Allison's dream might be as well.
She always thought about when she was stuck in standby. A live electrical wire was tangled in her hair. She was certain the things she'd experienced as 'nightmares' between every reboot, were based on prior incidents she'd experienced. She always believed she'd relived her life over and over. She stayed with John until he grew old and died and then went back in time and replaced herself in 1999 before she met John again. She had no recollection of anything specific. She believed everything in her system was reset so she wouldn't know it wasn't the first time she'd acquired John in Red Valley. She wasn't sure what happened to all of the chassis of herself she replaced each time she relived her life. She always wondered if there was a cave or a bunker full of 'deactivated' versions of herself.
"I wouldn't worry about it." Cameron said. "Dreams come and go."
Young Allison felt the effects of 'time lag'. She wasn't her usual self. She decided to take a warm shower. She went and turned the water on because it took a long time for the hot water to arrive. She took care of her personal business. She was a little surprised to see there was a toothbrush inside of the glass cup. It was still in a little box. It was brand new. There was a small tube of toothpaste as well. She figured Cameron acquired those when she'd obtained the ammunition.
She let the warm water run against her back. After about five minutes, she got out, but left the water running. She went to the open bathroom door and looked out.
"Were you going to take a shower as well?" Young Allison asked.
She was a little surprised to see Cameron was already naked.
"Yes." Cameron said.
Cameron entered the shower as Young Allison dried herself off.
Young Allison folded the towel up and set it on top of the toilet after she put the lid down. She exited the bathroom. She was pleasantly surprised to see both dresses laid out on the bed. It was clear Cameron gave her the choice of which one she wanted to wear. Their purses were on top of the small dresser. The firearms were all laid out as well. Cameron obviously wanted to give her a choice. Both of their custodial uniforms were neatly folded so they could be placed on top of the weapons once they were in the purses.
She decided to wear the same dress she wore when she'd arrived. She went ahead and got dressed. She looked at herself in the small mirror over the dresser. She knew Cameron would look better than her when she put her dress on. Cameron always looked the best. Cameron always told her appearance was very important to John. She believed it was rather shallow of him to base his affection for Cameron on her appearance.
"I'm going to keep the .357 and the snub nose .38." Young Allison said.
Cameron figured those were going to be Young Allison's choices.
Young Allison and Cameron carefully packed everything away in their purses.
"Let's go down and get you some breakfast." Cameron said.
Young Allison was a little concerned.
"Do you think we'll see the same desk clerk?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron wasn't sure. She figured they operated on some type of schedule.
"He probably won't start until later on." Cameron said. "I'm sure there's a lot for him to think about."
They made their way down the front stairway. There was an older female behind the front desk. She looked at them and smiled. They smiled back at her. There were already several other patrons in the restaurant. They were talking mostly about the new President. All of them seemed pleased a Texan was now in control of a government they'd all viewed as headed in the wrong direction.
She didn't bother to tell them the actions of the new President would infuriate much of the South for decades to come. There was no need to mention why some 'individuals' would vote Democrat for the next two hundred years. Those changes were still in the future for them.
They heard the waitress and the cashier talking when they walked in.
"I'm telling you I saw it yesterday." The cashier said. "It was on the 'CBS Morning News with Mike Wallace'. There was a story about the Beatles. They were supposed to show it on the evening news with Walter Cronkite."
The waitress looked very upset.
"Well, they didn't. I would have rather had heard about the Beatles than about some 'dirty work' by LBJ." The waitress said. "We all know he was behind it."
The cashier looked around nervously. She would prefer to avoid the political discussion. Some people got real angry about it.
"I think we should just stick to the Beatles." The cashier said. "Are you sure you still like Paul better than John?"
The waitress smiled.
"Paul is so dreamy." The waitress said.
There was a couple at one of the tables who glanced over in their direction. The man shook his head in disgust.
"Rock and roll has been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper died." The man said. "Buddy knew how to make some real music. He did it all on his own too."
The woman didn't disagree. She was sure a couple of others died in the plane crash.
"Wasn't there someone else too?" The woman asked.
The man took a sip of his coffee. He looked over in the direction of the Alamo.
"It wasn't anyone else who mattered." The man said.
The waitress took Cameron and Young Allison to a table. They could look out the window. They could see the station across the way. It wasn't long before they could hear an air horn. They watched a freight train go by. The train consisted mostly of boxcars. There were a few stock cars, as well as a few tank cars.
"There's something you don't see anymore." Young Allison said.
Cameron looked at the train as it went by. She wasn't sure exactly what Young Allison referred to.
"Do you mean the locomotives in the 'Black Widow' paint scheme, or the stock cars?" Cameron asked.
Young Allison thought it was a valid question.
"I meant the cars for the livestock." Young Allison said. "I know the 'Black Widow' paint scheme hung around on a few units until the early Seventies. I think it was much more colorful than the 'scarlet and gray' Southern Pacific adopted in the late Fifties."
Cameron remembered reading a rail fan's account in her research of the Sixties.
"When Southern Pacific decided to import some Krauss-Maffei diesel hydraulic units, they were painted in the new colors." Cameron said. "A railfan speculated Germany had a large supply of 'Panzer Gray' left over from World War Two. It was why the locomotives were painted in 'gray and scarlet'."
Young Allison looked around and giggled.
"I think it's a good story." Young Allison said. "Nothing really mattered in the end when 'Borg of Omaha' assimilated a third of the nation's railroads in the Nineties. I don't know much about diesel hydraulics. I know the majority of locomotives were constructed as diesel electrics. 'Borg of Omaha' also had some gas turbine electrics."
Cameron was aware different things were tried at different times by some of the more affluent railroads. One of the strangest things she saw a photo of was an RDC, a self propelled passenger car, fitted with a twin jet engine pod on the top of it. It looked like something taken off of a B-52 and mounted upside down on the top of it.
"I don't think the gas turbines were too popular in populated areas." Cameron said. "The jet engine usually operated near full throttle. It was bound to wake everyone up at night. It would certainly get all of the dogs barking and terrify all of the other animals."
They watched a few people come and go. The waitress and the cashier spent most of the time talking to each other. There were murmurs from some of the other patrons about the events of yesterday. No one really seemed to be bothered by any of it. The patsy was apprehended after he'd killed a policeman. He didn't seem to know very much about what happened. It was what he'd said anyway.
They finished up breakfast and decided to go back to the room. Young Allison would use the restroom there rather than the one at the station.
They were a little surprised to see the male desk clerk in the office area behind the front desk.
He glanced over at them and moved a little further into the room.
"How has your stay been so far?" The female desk clerk asked.
Cameron glanced at Young Allison and winked.
"It seemed a little noisy in the hallway last night." Cameron said. "I went to the door, but I didn't open it. I could hear two men talking in hushed tones."
The female desk clerk looked a little concerned.
"I apologize for such rude behavior." The female desk clerk said. "Sometimes the businessmen can be a little loud. They might have been a little crude as well."
Cameron kept a straight face.
"They must have been cattle men." Cameron said. "I heard one man say they should make 'steers' out of them and leave them there."
The male desk clerk heard the conversation. He swallowed hard at what was said. He would have to let his uncle know they could have suffered an additional indignity. He was sure it would happen if they were caught again. Maybe it was time he moved to Houston.
Cameron and Young Allison returned to their room. Young Allison started laughing as soon as the door closed.
Additional Activity
Everyone's feelings are different
Some are filled with negativity
Those who thrive and move forward
Express harmony, joy and positivity
Everything must be looked at
With a certain amount of objectivity
It should be done with tact
As well as plenty of civility
Everyone's feelings are unique
They should be accepted with sensitivity
Both want to be treated fairly
With a just amount of equity
Things can go awry quickly
When they act with audacity
It reeks of selfish behavior
It lacks substance and authenticity
Quality must come before quantity
In order to avoid insanity
Always put the other first
If there's going to be any additional activity
Nobody
