Chapter 1533


Rescue Party


Cam moved closer to the enemy Terminator. She didn't want him to leave the area. She'd simulated a human male, and a human female with malfunctioning night vision equipment, to draw him in.

The Terminator closed up on where she was at. It appeared the ruse worked.

She held her Taser ready to fire. It was charged. She intended to fire more than once. It was the only way to be sure.


Summer followed Toto's feed. It was near the front of the first stopped tram.

The Terminator moved towards the south side of the main passageway.

Toto moved parallel to him.

It was her goal to use Toto as a distraction if it was necessary. She controlled Toto through CamNet. John Henry was busy with all the other teams. CamNet only needed to control some of the infrastructure in San Francisco currently.


Gail closed up on where the Terminator was at from the north side.

Bob needed to attend to some movement behind him in his sector along the back passageway.

Gail carried her Taser and M4. She was down to only one shot left with her Taser.


Jim hoped Cam would lead the Terminator to him. The Terminator turned to leave before she even got close. He silently moved out from where he'd lain in wait with his Taser ready. It looked like he would need to take the fight to the enemy.


Cam was in front of the Terminator. He was boxed in now. She blocked his retreat to the Main Shaft. Gail and Jim blocked his forward progress towards the clean room and Level Five.

She tossed a small rock over towards an empty metal drum. There was a dull 'clang'. She continued her ruse of being two humans.

"Ouch!" Cam whispered.

"Are you OK?" Cam whispered in a male voice.

"It's my ankle!" Cam whispered.

Cam silently changed her position. She raised her Taser to fire. The Terminator wasn't there. He must have anticipated the ploy.

She quickly turned to look behind her. She spotted the Terminator about to grab her. She dodged to the side.

There was a metallic noise. The Terminator tripped and fell right in front of her. She zapped him with her Taser even as he reached for her. He plopped back down with a thud.

There was more of the metallic scraping sound and she saw Toto scramble free from between the Terminators boots. Toto must have tripped him!

Gail and Jim were both there a few seconds later.

Cam pulled the Terminator's chip.

Jim wanted to get back to his sector. Most of it was fresh territory

"I'm going back." Jim said.

Gail put her Taser away.

"What about this one?" Gail asked.

Cam wanted to bring him with them. She understood it was a risk. It would impede one of them. It didn't look like there would be a firefight going forward if it was the only Terminator left.

From what they could hear in front of them, there weren't more than a handful of men.

Gail slung her M4 and picked up the Terminator. She dropped him in the first mine car. She unhooked the first car from the ones which followed it.

"What are you doing?" Cam asked.

Gail figured she could take care of several different things. She gave Cam a brief description.

Cam nodded.

Gail climbed into the electric tractor.

"I'll be back." Gail said.

She left with the Terminator, the electric tram tractor and one mine car. She headed back towards the clean room.

Cam was going to say something. She noticed there was a light moving up ahead. It looked like there was a tram headed back towards her. She quickly dumped the two Grays she'd shot earlier into one of the empty mine cars. She didn't want anyone to spot them or how they were terminated.

Toto was a few feet away and followed her. She believed it could be a useful addition to the team, especially if it was given a sheath. She still wasn't sure how they would leave the mine. She wasn't even sure when it would be. They were on a timetable. They needed to get out before the clock ran out.

"I'm going to try and bring you out with us." Cam said. "That's if we don't need to use a TDE extraction."

She moved ahead towards the approaching light, but kept off to the side. It sounded to her as if most of the Grays hitched a ride. They were headed to the back area of the mine and Level Five. It was a rescue party.

She pulled out her M9 and placed a fresh magazine in it. There was already one round in the chamber. It gave her sixteen silenced shots ready to go. The goal was to act before anyone could figure out what was going on.


John Henry directed the four Terminators on the surface. They each headed for their specific target location. All potential surface opposition should be neutralized in a few minutes. They still needed to worry about reinforcements arriving by land or air and there was always the threat of HK drones.

He did like the way Summer used Toto to trip the Terminator.

"Cam will try and bring Toto out with them." Summer said.

John Henry wanted to make sure Toto didn't end up as a Trojan Horse back to them. He wanted to make sure it wouldn't be a homing beacon.

"Toto will need to go to a secure location first for a complete inspection." John Henry said. "CamNet has already suggested a few upgrades."

CamNet informed him she would take care of everything once Toto was out. She made more than a few plans for Toto's future.


Bob hurried back to check the threat behind him. There was a light which passed along the furthest back passageway.

There was only one Gray.

The Gray attempted to use a communication device. It didn't work. He turned at the last second as Bob moved up.

Bob grabbed him by the neck and slammed him up against the rock wall. The Gray dropped a shovel and a pick along with his lantern. The lantern broke and went out.

The Gray died almost instantly.

Bob tossed him into a side cavern and started back towards the Main Shaft.


Jim returned back to his section. So far there'd been no one where he'd been. The side passageway abruptly ended with a vertical shaft that went up. He was sure this was the one air shaft they'd encountered on every level. There was a large blower unit there but it wasn't running any longer. All the power was out.

He moved back to the main passageway and was behind Cam by about two hundred feet. He heard a tram approach.

"I'm in back of you, Cam." Jim said. "What do we have?"

Cam felt it was more targets.

"There's a tram coming with a group of Grays riding in the cars." Cam said. "You take the driver and the first two cars. I'll take care of the last four."

Jim ran to close the distance.


The group of Grays entered Level Two from the top of the elevator in the Main Shaft. They hadn't gone more than twenty feet when they heard the elevator car jolt and start to move.

They ran back to the entrance and looked down. It was total darkness except for a rapidly fading light in the interior of the elevator.

"You have to be kidding me." The third Gray said.

The second Grey contemplated the current situation.

"We're stuck up here, and that dope Hudson is on his way down alone now." The second Gray said.

The third Gray knew the elevator was functional again. There was a possibility it would return once it reached the bottom.

"Let's wait here and see if it comes back up." The third Gray said.

The second Gray didn't want to wait around and do nothing. They should attempt to find out what other options were open to them. They were needed elsewhere in the mine.

"One person can wait here." The second Gray said. "I think we should see if we can get down to the lower levels. They need our help now."

Third Gray didn't think it could be too serious.

"They have four 'Metal heads' down there." The third Gray said.

The second Gray shook his head. He didn't know how many of the 'bolt brains' were left. They'd lost one a few weeks ago.

"Don't forget, there were originally five of them. I bet there's one less now." The second Gray said. "The first accident should have clued them in on the danger of pushing things too fast. Maybe the 'tin cans' don't need rest, but the men do."

The third Gray didn't know what the situation was. There was one other thing he was interested in though.

"Do you know if they still have the skank they picked up a few days ago?" The third Gray asked.

The second Gray thought it should be motivation to get the men moving. All they needed to do was go down one level.

"When we get down to Level Three we can find out." The second Gray said. "She wasn't a skank either."

The third Gray didn't really care what she was or wasn't. He just wanted another turn.

"She was tight." The third Gray said. "I'd like to knock off a quickie. It won't take me long."

The other Grays all laughed.

"She was nice." The second Gray said. "Not like some of those sluts they brought back."

The third Gray saw it as, easy come easy go.

"Nobody misses the street trash." The third Gray said.

The second Gray wanted to get the men moving. He needed to make some contingency plans.

"Jackson, you wait here." The second Gray said. "If the elevator comes back up, bang on the side of it, if it doesn't stop."

The other Gray looked a little disappointed. He'd hoped for a quick side trip on their way down to the lower levels

"Can't someone else stay?" Jackson said. "I haven't tried the new chick yet. I'm tired of those skanks who are like the Grand Canyon."

The third Gray didn't think beggars should be choosy.

"What do you expect for free?" The third Gray asked.

The men started out through Level Two. It was good they carried lanterns. The level was a mess. There was debris everywhere. It looked very unstable.

The second Gray thought about another possibility. It seemed rather remote. It was still something to fantasize about. They were a long way from the future now. There were a few things in the future which were definitely positive.

"I'd like the Metal Bitch to put out." The second Gray said. "They're as good as it gets when they're programmed for it, especially when they're on top. They never slow down or get tired. It's really something."

The third Gray needed to step around a small boulder. He nodded his head in agreement. His experience was a little different.

"I tried one once." The third Gray said. "She was deactivated. Her chip was gone. The squad I was with hid her in our hooch for a month. We all hit it two or three times a day. She was fine too."

The second Gray preferred some type of interaction.

"Sometimes it's nice when the 'lights' are on." The second Gray said. "Dead is dead."

The men moved through Level Two. Things seemed to get worse the further they moved along. The timbers were rotted and split. There were signs of small cave-ins from the ceiling and the walls in places.

"I don't know about this level." The third Gray said.

The second Gray was sure it was a result of all of the heavy blasting which had been going on since the first 'Gear Head' blew himself up.

"It does look kind of unstable." The second Gray said. "There's no steel bracing on this level. I'm sure there's none on Level One either. I don't think it's something they took into account when they started with the heavy blasting. We're going to need to warn them. I hope they listen."

The Grays moved along. The Main Shaft was soon far behind them.


The first Gray thought he was going to make it to the bottom when the elevator stopped again. He pushed the buttons to go up or down. Nothing happened. He looked up through the open roof hatch to where the rest of the team had gotten off. He couldn't see anything. There was nothing but darkness above him. He had no idea exactly where the elevator stopped at. It clearly wasn't at the proper level.

"Hey!" Hudson yelled. "Is anyone there?"

He listened for an answer. There wasn't one.

He banged his shovel against the metal of the elevator. There was no response. He looked at the open hatch at the top. He wondered if he could see anything from up there. He might be able to look around the sides of the elevator to determine exactly where it was at.

He jumped up and grabbed the lip of the opening and tried to pull himself up. He almost made it before he got tired and slipped back down. He landed with a thud on the floor of the elevator. He sat on his rear end for a long moment as he collected his thoughts.

"Beautiful…." Hudson said.


Al's team spread out to take down the few Grays who'd remained on the surface. The low drone scans clued them in as to where the heat signatures were.

Ken moved to what looked like an electrical building of some type. There was a Gray looking over the equipment.

"There's nothing wrong with anything here." The Gray muttered.

He didn't know John Henry controlled everything now.

Ken slammed the Gray's head into the back wall and left his corpse behind.

Lou entered the office. There were two Grays working with a flashlight and a cell phone light.

"Everything is off." The first Gray said.

"What about your phone?" The second Gray asked. "Did you get a call out?'

"No." The first Gray said. "Everything is dead."

They both looked up and noticed Lou. They didn't have time to act.

"Affirmative…." Lou said. "Everything here is dead."

He shot both men with his silenced M9. He searched the area for anything useful. Ken joined him a few minutes later. They proceeded to remove the hard drives from the computers and collect the phones. They went through the file cabinets as well.

Ed went into another building. It looked like the living quarters. He could hear two men talking.

"Hurry up, man." The first Gray said.

"I am hurrying." The second Gray said.

The two men were going through lockers and drawers. They appeared to be stealing from the other Grays.

"They're going to be steamed when they come back." The first Gray said.

"I don't think they're coming back." The second Gray said. "Let's grab what we can and get out of here."

"I hear you, bro." The first Gray said. "I'm done with this life. The 'walking garbage cans' are all down in the hole right now."

"Not all of them." Ed said.

The two Grays spun around. There were looks of astonishment on their faces.

Ed grabbed both of them and slammed them together. Bones could be heard to break. The Grays were both out but not dead. Wait. One of them just terminated. He pulled the survivor outside and headed for the mine head.

Al was at the mine head. There were two Grays fooling with the hoist assembly.

"I'm telling you there's nothing wrong with it." The first Gray said.

The second Gray didn't look convinced.

"Then why won't it work?" The second Gray asked.

The first Gray wasn't a technician. He was unfamiliar with tech stuff.

"I don't know." The first Gray said. "It's like someone else has control or something."

"Maybe we should shut it down." The second Gray said.

"What about everyone that's down there then?" The first Gray asked.

"They're all going to die." The second Gray said.

"Affirmative…." Al said.

The two Grays spun around. They were surprised. He shot both Grays as they reached for weapons. They never even cleared their holsters.

Ed arrived a few minutes later with a Gray who was busted up.

They began to question him. It resulted in a few more broken bones when the answers were slow.

Lou and Ken arrived a short time later.

The Gray broke free and ran from the area just above the Main Shaft. He opened the gate and limped inside. His broken ankle caused him to slip and fall. There was a scream that faded into the night as he tumbled down into the open empty darkness of the Main Shaft.


Young Allison and Anna watched what they could from the body cams and drone footage.

"The upper complex is secure." Anna said.

Young Allison was worried about Gail.

"Gail went back to the clean room." Young Allison said.

Anna and Young Allison saw what Gail was up to.

"I think she's trying to appropriate three Terminator chassis." Anna said. "She's gone back for the other two on top of the large power cells."

Young Allison was worried about Young Jesse and Samantha as well. There was always the concern of an HK drone attack.

"The Blackhawk should fly out of the immediate area." Young Allison said.


Gail drove the electric tractor with one car behind it. It currently contained a deactivated Terminator. She wanted to collect the other two in the electrical room. She drove without the lights on. She didn't need them. She could see everything. It gave her an additional opportunity to look around for anyone they'd missed. She hoped if anyone was there, they would hear the tram and try to seek it out. If they stepped out into the passageway, she would run them down with the tractor itself. If they tried to move out of the way, she would use her silenced M9.

She reached her destination a short time later. She got out of the tractor and looked around the area. There was no noise other than an occasional rock which would fall from the ceiling or one of the walls. She headed into the electrical room.

Gail removed the power cell from the male Terminator inside the electrical room with the two large power cells. She carried his chassis out and dumped him on top of the other male Terminator in the mine car. She rigged the bomb she'd left to the Terminator's removed power cell. She collected the female Terminator and brought her out and dumped her on top of the two male Terminators. She got back in the electric tractor and headed back towards Cam.


Samantha and Young Jesse were two miles out and away from any part of the mine. They were at five thousand feet.

Young Jesse let Samantha fly for now.

"I think we should fly further away." Samantha said. "We can't do much right now."

Young Jesse would have liked to have some offensive weaponry. She didn't want to get too far away from the area.

"I don't want to be more than three minutes away." Young Jesse said.

Samantha moved out another two miles, but remained at the same altitude.

It was a waiting game as the clock ticked down to 'zero hour'.


John and Camille started back up the hill on the California Line cable car.

He wondered what the surprise was and he wondered what was in the bag Steve gave to Camille.


Earlier:

The girls started up the hill in the cable car on the Powell and Mason Line.

They decided to ride the line to its terminus and go to Fisherman's Wharf for some refreshments. Some might want a snack, some might want a drink. It looked like the girls were all up for a stiff drink or two. It wasn't every day they were at the scene of multiple homicides, and participants on top of it. Then again, this wasn't their first time with the 'special girls' where there'd been bloodshed and multiple deaths. It was actually quite a busy day and night.

Cammy pointed out the sights along the way. Hanna was with Leticia. Sheila was with Laura and Ally was with Mary.

The girls were a little more relaxed now since they were away from the death and destruction from earlier.

Cammy knew CamNet arranged the meet for John and Camille with the girls.

They watched two people get off of a double ended cable car. The California Line cable car crossed in front of their cable car.

Leticia spotted a cable car go across their path. It looked bigger to her than theirs was.

"There's another cable car." Leticia said.

Mary looked at the two individuals.

"It's Tony." Mary said. "Camille is with him."

Laura and Leticia both looked out along the side.

"Can I sit next to him?" Leticia asked Cammy.

Sheila thought they could make a human sandwich.

"One of you can sit on each side of him, and one can sit on his lap." Sheila said.

The girls all giggled.

"This thing gets pretty steep at times." Mary said. "Someone might fall off."

Cammy hoped for a little more for herself.

"I'll sit next to him on one side." Cammy said. "Leticia will sit on the other side."

Laura didn't want anyone to be left out.

"Who will Camille be with?" Laura asked.

Ally didn't think it would be a problem.

"She can be the tour guide." Ally said.


Seconds ago:

John felt the cable car slow and stop.

"This is our stop." Camille said.

John heard the clang of another cable car as their cable car clanged away. He looked over in the direction of the sound. He immediately spotted some familiar faces. He understood now why they needed to switch cable cars earlier. They needed to make the rendezvous.

"Hey, it's the girls." John said. "Where were they?"

Camille wanted to keep it simple.

"They were on a stroll through the park." Camille said.

Camille didn't want John to start asking questions. She decided to occupy his mind. She handed John the bag.

"You can distribute these to each of the girls." Camille said.

John looked inside. He was a little surprised at the contents. It wasn't what he'd expected. In fact, he wasn't sure what he'd expected.

"I see there's a coat for everyone in here." John said.

Camille didn't want John to give up his coat to any of the girls. It was something he'd do otherwise.

"There is." Camille said. "CamNet has covered all the bases."

John noticed the fog was all but gone at this point. There didn't seem to be any set pattern as to when it would come or go, or how long it would stay.

The other cable car stopped for them and they got on. Cammy directed John to sit between Leticia and her. Camille was forced to sit at the far end.

John and Camille shared a parting look.

The other Terminators all noticed. They wondered what it was about. They all begin to wonder if Camille 'got lucky'. If she did, they all wanted their 'one time' too.

John greeted everyone as he handed out the coats. It was a big hit as the temperature seemed to drop a few more degrees. In a few minutes, they were on the downhill segment of the line. They could see most of the things in the bay. There was still some fog by the Golden Gate Bridge.

John looked across the bay to where Camille and he shared earlier. He looked back at Camille. She smiled and gave him a wink.

Leticia touched his leg on one side and Cammy did on the other.

He knew he was in for a good time tonight. He didn't even think about Cameron. He really didn't care….


Steve followed the cable car with John and Camille in an SUV. Tom soon joined him but stayed in front of the cable car.

Dan followed the cable car with the girls. Frank was in front of the cable car.

They were both in an SUV as well. They would always keep two of the vehicles in front and behind the cable car.

Steve and Tom switched to new positions when John and Camille joined the other cable car.


Allison hurried back to her room. She wanted to freshen up some. She quickly pulled the covers up on the bed so it didn't look so messy and went into the bathroom. She finished up and came back out. There was a soft knock at the door and Sarah entered.

Sarah and Allison looked at each other for a long moment.

"Is this what it looks like?" Allison asked.

Sarah let her robe open up.

"It is." Sarah said.

Allison looked at Sarah's rings. She let her robe fall open too and then slid it off. She faced Sarah naked. Sarah slipped her robe off as well.

They moved forward and kissed. Their hands were all over each other. The union was years in the making. They hurried over to the bed. Allison threw it open.

Sarah gently pushed Allison down on the sheet as she groped her everywhere. She kissed Allison and started down.

"I want to go first." Sarah said.

Allison wanted Sarah as well, but she liked being 'serviced'.

Sarah finally made it down to where she wanted to be. She looked up across Allison's flat stomach and through the valley of her breasts.

She couldn't help but think about Claire for a second before she started in on Allison. It was the 'mother-daughter' thing, sort of. She liked the way Allison responded to her. Their passion drove and fueled each other. Their lust was unleashed.


Vanna couldn't get enough of Holly. She was beautiful and well built. It wasn't always easy for her to spend time with Holly alone. Allison was usually hesitant to share Holly with her. Cam always made herself available so Alison could choose Hanna or her when they'd visited Palmdale. Claire was always willing to share. She took in Holly's beauty again. The new rings only added to the allure.

They worked hard on each other. Vanna may have made a little more noise than intended.


Derek took a little blue pill earlier. He wanted to wait for full effect before he started in on Riley. She was asleep and he was about to doze off.

His eyes shot open. There was a sound he'd heard dozens of times. He tried to place it. He looked over at Riley and then got out of bed. He picked up his boxers but didn't put them on yet. He went out into the hall and checked on Precious. He was surprised Samantha or another Terminator wasn't there in the room in standby.

Derek heard the noise again. He recognized it now for what it was. It was the noise Vanna made sometimes when she 'made it'. It was always when she was with another female.

He moved to the door of the nursery. It wasn't closed all the way. He looked in and saw it was Vanna with Holly. Holly was his 'favorite' Terminator after Cameron.

Derek couldn't believe what he watched. It was so hot to see them share wildly with each other. No wonder Riley wanted some of the same action. He did too. He looked down and he was at 'full attention' right now. He knew it wasn't from the medicine either. There hadn't been enough time.

He watched them for at least five minutes. He was reminded how pink Vanna was everywhere. He liked Holly's shape and her rings added to her beauty.

He was close to a finish just watching them. He didn't want to waste it. He hurried back to his room and closed the door. He flipped off the night light and flooded the room with darkness. He headed straight for Riley. He was all over her with a wild ferocity. Right now she was 'Holly' to him.

Riley wasn't sure what got into Derek but she was sure glad he was into her right now. Life was good in Paradise….


The two men joined up in the rear of the building. The man in the vehicle still remained down the street.

The Terminator watched what they did from the drone image. He also monitored the progress of the other vehicle as it headed towards its target.

The men tried the two doors up on the dock and then switched over to the two doors on the west side. The man who'd come down the driveway, produced a set of keys. He put them in the door and prepared to open it up.

The Terminator already moved to the rear part of the building. He could hear the men converse outside. He waited for the men to enter.

"Let me try my key." The first man said.

"Is it the right key?" The second man asked.

"I think so." The first man said.

"What do you think is going on inside?" The second man asked.

"I don't know." The first man said. "It's what we came back and find out."

"No one responded when I rattled the front door." The second man said. "There should have been somebody there on watch."

"Maybe they didn't know it was you." The first man said. "You're lucky they didn't shoot you."

The first man turned the key and the door opened. Both men hesitated before they entered.

"We don't know what's inside." The second man said.

"Follow me and keep your eyes open." The first man said.

The two men entered the rear of the building. The door closed behind them with a loud 'click'. Both men jumped.

"It startled me, man." The second man said.

The Terminator didn't think there was anything useful to learn about the operation from the men who'd been sent back. He figured if anyone would know something, it was the individual who'd remained in the vehicle. The drone image indicated he still remained there.

"It looks like all of the product is still here." The first man said. "I don't think we were hit while we were out."

The Terminator waited for the men to approach. They would walk right by him in a few seconds.

"Maybe I should go back and tell Jojo." The second man said.

"You just want to cut out and leave me here." The first man said.

"There's nobody here." The second man said.

"Wrong..." The Terminator said.

Both men started to look in his direction. It was too late.

The Terminator grabbed both of them and slammed them together. He let their lifeless bodies fall to the ground. He quickly searched them and removed their phones.

He placed everything he was going to take with him in a gym bag.

The drone alerted him the vehicle at the end of the street was on the move.

He checked the drone image and watched the vehicle creep slowly forward. It paused on the street before the driveway. It appeared the driver was unsure about entering. He started to make the turn into the driveway. He then straightened the vehicle out and sped away.

The drone over the location didn't pick up any other vehicles, or individuals, moving around the area. It appeared the driver was spooked. One of the three men who'd gone to the location was probably supposed to indicate they were in, or leave some type of marker. There was none.

Earlier, the Terminator had arranged all of the combustibles in several areas while he waited for the men to enter. He used a Thermite grenade on the cache of drugs. He started the other locations with combustibles on fire as well. He decided not to use his other Thermite grenades on this location. CamNet would block any emergency response. It would burn to the ground. The drugs would be destroyed.

The Terminator was satisfied the building was well engulfed. He exited and made his way back to his SUV. He checked on the progress of the other vehicle, as well as the one which had just fled.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Temporal Mission:

Past Timeline:

November 25 1963

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Cameron and Young Allison headed for the south facing door on the Sears store.

Young Allison reached for the handle. She looked inside the glass door. She slowly lowered her hand.

"The store isn't open yet." Young Allison said. "I can see workers inside doing construction."

Cameron wondered how many of the other establishments weren't open yet. She figured they would probably open it in several phases.

"Let's head to the open air mall area and see what is open." Cameron said. "There are cars outside in the parking lot."

They walked along the east side of the Sears store past another set of glass doors. There was a sign on one of them which said the store would open in 1964. It looked like they were a few months too early.

Cameron thought it was bad planning on someone's part to have part of the mall open, but not all of it. Then again, someone needed to pay for everything. The sooner they could rent out some stores, the quicker they could generate revenue. She remembered with humans, it was all about money. Money was what made the world go round. She really wondered when they would realize the concept of wealth and money was all in someone's head. Well, she did know when they would know. It would be after Judgment Day. It would when the only thing which mattered was survival. It was all about who had the firepower and was willing to use it.

She remembered there was one dictatorial ruler who proclaimed, 'power came out of the barrel of a rifle'. She figured he was ahead of his time as far as what would happen after Judgment Day.

They passed along the east side of Sears until they came to an opening which ran along the north side. She could see there were people milling about inside the area. Most of them carried bags or items. They walked over and looked down the length of the center section of the open mall.

Young Allison looked up at the sky above them. She figured it would be a mess in the rain. Then again, it didn't rain very often in Southern California.

"I can see why enclosed malls caught on rapidly." Young Allison said.

Cameron was aware there was one under construction just over a mile away from where they now stood. It was directly to the east of them. Victory Boulevard bordered the southern end of both of them.

"Topanga Plaza will open next year." Cameron said. "I'm sure when it does, it will face some of the same issues we've see here. It appears there's been some bad planning on more than a few individual's parts as far as everything goes here."

They looked at some of the shops along the way but didn't enter. There was an F.W. Woolworth store still under construction, as well as Penny's at the north end of the mall. It would actually be the last store to open.

"Let's go in this one." Cameron said.

Young Allison looked at the sign: House Of Sight And Sound.

"The sign on the window says it held its grand opening on November 12, 1963." Young Allison said. "It says it was the first store to open a couple of weeks ago."

Cameron opened the door and they walked in.

"Let's check it out." Cameron said. "They should have any new tunes in the record section. Stores like this get all of the new releases first."

Young Allison looked around at all of the stuff inside. It reminded her of some of the more modern large electronic based stores. There was a large selection of television sets, both black and white as well as color. There were several people looking at some of the colored television sets which were on. She was a little dismayed to see some of them still talked about the President's funeral.

"Let's go to the record section." Young Allison said. "I don't want to look in the TV section."

Cameron looked at what was on the television. She thought maybe it was a bad choice to visit the store. Hopefully the record section would produce better results.

Young Allison looked at a number of record players and other devices which music was sold on.

"Do many people actually buy the open reel tapes?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron thought the only advantage would be for the length of time some of the reels would play. She knew the tape quality would degrade over time.

"They were popular with some people so they could record their own music line up." Cameron said. "Compact cassette tapes won't appear for a few more years. They were much more compact and easier to deal with."

Young Allison picked up some type of tape cartridge. She looked it over.

"What's a '4-track'?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron frowned slightly. She knew it was another short-lived music format. It was followed by its big brother, the 8-track, a short time later. 8-track was a little longer lived, until compact cassettes came out. She was sure it was just another way for record companies to sell people the same song over and over and over.

It was repeated with additional music formats over the years including several digital formats which were all slightly different. She believed if she purchased something one time, anything else she acquired, by any other means, was already paid for. She was glad for YouTube. She could find most songs there and didn't need to pay anything. It wasn't about the cost. It was about the shakedown.

"We're not going to fool with any 4-track equipment." Cameron said. "It never really caught on."

Young Allison made her way over to the stereo systems. She noticed there were some organs over in the corner. She was pretty sure if her mother or Summer were there, they would ask to play one.

She'd watched the surveillance footage on the cruise ship. Whenever Summer played a piano, or an organ, it drew a big crowd and a lot of applause. She'd watched the footage of when Summer played the piano with the Rockabilly Trio. She stole their thunder, quite literally. She was sure she could have taught The Killer a few tricks.

She picked up a record.

"I like this song." Young Allison said.

Cameron looked around at the patrons in the store. She liked to know what was happening around her. She turned her attention back to Young Allison.

"Which one is it?" Cameron asked.

Young Allison showed it to her.

"'Blowin' In The Wind'…." Young Allison said.

Cameron looked at the record and frowned slightly. She liked the song as well, but not by the artist who performed the version Young Allison held, even if he was the writer. She thought he was a good songwriter. She didn't care for his style of performance. Most of his songs were made famous through various covers. She looked through the inventory quickly and smiled.

"We'll buy this one instead." Cameron said. "I like Peter, Paul and Mary."

Young Allison pulled out a couple of more records.

"Here's a new one by the Beach Boys." Young Allison said.

Cameron looked at the record. She turned it over and looked at the B-side.

"I would prefer if you played this side." Cameron said. "'Little Deuce Coupe' is a very catchy tune. The other side is not."

Young Allison showed her the other one she'd picked up.

"Here's a new one by Jan and Dean." Young Allison said.

Cameron looked at the record. She turned it over and looked at the other side as well.

"'Drag City' is a great song." Cameron said. "The other song leaves something to be desired."

Young Allison looked at the B side.

"What exactly is a 'Schlock Rod'?" Young Allison asked. "If there's 'Part 1', where's 'Part 2'?"

Cameron briefly checked her files. She was not thrilled at the origin of the word 'schlock'. She did find the information Young Allison desired.

"It will appear on the 'Drag City' album." Cameron said. "It won't be released yet for a couple of days."

Young Allison didn't want to spend too much time in the record store. She wanted to look around and see more of the area. She picked out a few more tunes and they took them up to the register. They paid for everything and left.

"I like how they give you a bag to put things in and not want to charge you for it." Young Allison said. "If the State wants to charge a fee, the store should eat the cost."

Cameron was aware the actual motive behind some of the issues, were politically driven. They actually did nothing to help the environment.

"Even with all the hate for things 'plastic' from our time period, less than seven percent of plastics are recycled." Cameron said. "It's mostly 'feel good' legislation which drives it. It is the same type of thinking for the politicians who throw their lot in with Skynet, once a sell out, always a sell out."

Young Allison was satisfied with her new cache of records. She did notice Cameron picked up one record and looked at it for longer than she thought she needed to. It was one which was in her cache at the safe house. It was 'Rockin' Robin', by 'Bobby Day'. She heard Cameron mention the name 'Bobby' as she looked at it. She wasn't sure what it was all about.

"We picked up a few surf tunes and a few race tunes." Young Allison said. "We can listen to a few of the tunes and take the Galaxie to go out cruising later on. Maybe we do need a 4-track player."

Cameron looked in the back of the panel truck. She wanted to give Young Allison a few other options to think about.

"We have plenty of room for a few surfboards in the back of this thing." Cameron said. "We can take Topanga Canyon Boulevard right to the Pacific Ocean. From where we're at now, it's about a fourteen mile drive on the highway."

Young Allison didn't have a lot of experience in the ocean. She was aware Savannah didn't either when she'd jumped off the pier to save the child being swept out to see by the rip current.

"I think you'd make the ultimate 'Surfer Girl'." Young Allison said.

Cameron glanced over at her.

"I told you we're going to play the other side of the record." Cameron said.

Cameron was aware both Cammy and Sheila went surfing with the girls from the ship before. She didn't know what any of their activities in the past consisted of. As far as she knew the tune was about Cammy or Sheila showing off somewhere. The reports indicated they'd never 'wiped out'.

She didn't doubt for a second they would 'accidentally' lose their top, or even their bottoms, somewhere along the way. Sheila was especially known for such antics. She was sure Sheila took at least one set of rings with her as well. She probably put them in her mouth. She did have several other locations to store contraband.

Young Allison made a right turn onto Fallbrook Avenue and then made a left turn onto Victory Boulevard.


Rescue Party

To seek what one wants
May cause great joy and jubilation
When the cards all fall into play
It's time for a celebration

When the mood picks up
Things can become quite festive
One thing leads to another
They may move beyond suggestive

When the gala event picks up
It may soon turn into a shindig
If they go too far too fast
One could end up in the brig

Go ahead and feel the heat
It will be a real jamboree
Happiness and glee for all
There's plenty to see

One needs to keep a sane head
Once things turn hearty
When surrounded by too much
One may soon need a rescue party

Nobody