Chapter 1534
Heads Up
The Grays tried to make their way through Level Two to get to the lower levels. They'd left one man behind at the opening to the Main Shaft on Level Two. It was in case the elevator came back up. He could stop it. The rest of the team could hurry back to get on it.
The man they'd left behind thought he heard something. It sounded like a yell at first and then a scream of terror. He stuck his head out through the opening the team made to enter Level Two and looked down at where the elevator went. There was only a small square of light at the bottom from the open hatch on the top of the elevator. As soon as his head was in the open space of the Main Shaft, he realized the noise was above him and growing louder. He turned his head in the direction of the sound to look up.
The noise was much louder. He realized something was wrong. He went to pull his head back inside. The scream was right there with him. Something struck his head. It slammed his head backwards as he looked up. His neck was snapped in an instant. The scream faltered for a second and then continued down the darkness of the Main Shaft.
The Gray who was still stuck in the elevator between Level Three and Level Four waited for the elevator to either go back up or down. He could hear some noise above him. He looked up through the open hatch into the blackness of the Main Shaft above him. The noise grew louder. He realized it was the sound of a man screaming as he fell the length of the Main Shaft. The noise only faltered once for a brief moment. He moved away from the opening but the noise was already very loud. Something hit the top of the elevator with great force. It caved the top of it in a little. Something hit the floor of the elevator and bounced around. A moment later, there was a second impact and the top of the elevator was caved in further. A second object entered the interior of the elevator and bounced around with the first object.
The Gray landed on his rear end with the second impact. His lantern was knocked over by one of the bouncing objects and shattered. He was cast into total darkness. Something came to rest on his lap. He touched it. It was roundish in shape and warm. There was a texture to it like hair. He felt more and his hands were wet and sticky now. There was what felt like an ear and a nose. The Gray panicked when he realized it was a human head. He scrambled around in the darkness and slammed into one of the sides of the elevator. He landed hard on the floor of the elevator again. He frantically searched for his lantern. He touched the head again. He crawled to the other side and touched it again. The head was everywhere. He didn't realize there were two heads in the elevator with him.
"This isn't happening." Hudson said. "This isn't happening, man. This isn't happening!"
He managed to pull out his cell phone and get the light on. He was stunned to see two human heads inside the elevator with him. He scrambled to the far corner and vomited over himself. The coating of vomit caused him to vomit again. He also realized he'd urinated in his pants from fright. He was dripping wet with urine and covered with vomit. There was a foul smell in the air. Urine wasn't the only thing in his pants….
"This isn't happening, man." Hudson said again in tears. "This isn't happening!"
There was the sound of dripping liquid and a faint splash noise. He looked around and then up. There was blood running down and dripping in from the top of the elevator where the area around the hatch was now bent inward.
"This isn't happening, man." Hudson screamed. "This isn't happening!"
The Grays who moved through Level Two paused.
"Did you hear something?" The third Gray asked.
The second Gray did think he'd heard something. It was so brief he didn't really think about it.
"Maybe there was for a second or so." The second Gray said. "I don't hear anything now."
The other Grays thought they'd heard something as well, but only for a second. No one could tell what it was. They'd moved a few hundred yards into the passageway on Level Two
They soon came upon an opening at a junction a few seconds later.
"Hey, look at this." The third Gray said.
The other Grays looked.
"Someone's been in here." The second Gray said. "Those are fresh footprints."
One of the Grays shined his light up the opening.
"There's a sloped shaft." Another Gray said. "They came out of it."
"What's going on here?" The second Gray asked.
The light revealed there was nothing but dirt and rock in the passageway.
"The sloped shaft has caved in." Another Gray said.
The third Gray studied the footprints in the fresh layer of dust
"They wore combat boots." The third Gray said.
The mention of combat boots raised everyone's threat level. It made them question the current nature of the mission they were on.
"Are we under attack?" Another Gray asked.
The second Gray began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"I think it sure would explain a lot of things right now." The second Gray said.
Only one of the Grays was armed. The rest of them only carried shovels and picks along with some rope. They'd thought it was a rescue operation.
The section of the passageway they'd just traversed began to drop some small rocks and then rumbled some. They were unsure at first what was about to happen.
"It's a cave-in." One of the Grays yelled.
They ran in panic. The Gray in the lead suddenly disappeared downward in an instant.
There was a lot of noise and a cloud of dirt enveloped them as they ran frantically down the Level Two passageway away from the area they'd come. Another Gray disappeared downward.
The men stopped to rest. They were down to four men. The area behind them was caved in and the missing men were nowhere in sight.
"What is this?" A Gray panted as they all coughed from the dust.
It all made sense to the second Gray.
"It's a death trap and we're in the middle of it." The second Gray said.
Once the dust began to settle, a Gray spotted the footprints they'd viewed earlier.
"The tracks of the unknown group are headed the way we are." A Gray said.
The third Gray did the math.
"There are four of them and there are four of us." The third Gray said.
The Gray with the weapon was gone.
"Where is Foy?" The third Gray asked.
"He's gone." The second Gray said.
"Where'd he go?" The third Gray asked.
"He's just gone." The second Gray said.
The four Grays could only follow the footprints and hope they made it to Level Three. There was more rumbling behind them. At least they hoped it was behind them.
Cam spotted a tram headed for her. It was loaded with a handful of Grays. She moved off to the side to get a better shot angle and to stay unnoticed.
Jim ran and moved into position as well.
"I'm all ready." Jim said.
Cam leveled her silenced M9 as the targets approached.
"Open fire as soon as the electric tractor is even with you." Cam said.
Jim aimed his silenced M9. There was no need to alert anyone else what was about to happen and use his M4.
Cam calculated the firing angle. There were six targets in the four rear cars of the tram. Those were her targets.
Jim would have three targets including the driver. His targets were the tractor and the first two cars.
They both opened fire at the same time. All the targets were hit within the first second. The tram lost speed and drifted across the main passageway and stopped.
Cam and Jim approached it to make sure there were no hidden targets in one of the cars.
Jim turned off the lights and he checked the cars with Cam.
"All the targets are terminated." Jim said.
They could hear the other tractor approach from the area of the clean room. It should be Gail on her way back with three deactivated Terminators.
Toto was directed to head for the Main Shaft and see how many more Grays were left. There shouldn't be too many at this point.
Jim and Cam walked forward rapidly in the darkness. They could see two lights up ahead. Toto sent back images of four more Grays.
The Grays looked at the elevator in the Main Shaft and the vertical conveyor belt for the rock or ore which was hauled out of the mine.
"Gail, slow up some so we can take down the Grays first." Cam said. "It looks like we have four targets."
Toto continued to scout around the area. No other Grays were detected.
Bob followed the back passageway. He didn't encounter any more threats. He was almost to the area where the Main Shaft was located. He was ahead of Cam and Jim.
He was advised there were at least four more Grays in front of them.
The time was running down fast. It was eighteen minutes until the detonations started and the mine collapsed. That was unless a rock fell from the top of Level Five and landed in the hundred gallon pool of nitro.
The nitroglycerin would be near full strength now. It was very contact sensitive. There was a real possibility it could detonate before the timers on the other items they wished to destroy.
John Henry and Summer watched the various feeds.
"They're down to the last eighteen minutes." Summer said.
John Henry thought they'd done a good job. It looked like all the threats would be terminated before the mine collapsed from the explosives.
"They should make it out soon." John Henry said.
Summer wasn't about to take any chances. She was in contact with CamNet to run a temporal extraction if things took a turn for the worse.
They suddenly lost all the feeds and looked at blank screens.
There were sixteen minutes left until the fireworks started.
There were also two unidentified helicopters which were just picked up by the drone on the furthest patrol out.
Al waited at the top of the Main Shaft. He sent Ed, Ken and Lou up to watch the immediate area for anyone they'd missed. There was a drone very low over them. They could hear it as Terminators. The other ones were there as well. They were up higher.
"They've lost communications." Al said. "Something must have happened."
Ed, Ken and Lou and watched more intently for anything.
"There are two helicopters inbound." John Henry reported.
Young Allison and Anna watched the feeds go blank.
"They are down to the last fifteen minutes almost." Young Allison said.
Anna knew there was still time to get out.
"They should make it." Anna said.
Young Allison worried about the travel time for the elevator. It was a long way down to Level Four. It wasn't like a few floors in an office building.
"How long is the elevator ride?" Young Allison asked. "They need to be on the surface and away from the immediate area too."
Anna could see it was a potential problem. She made a quick calculation.
"I would say about four minutes at the maximum speed of the elevator." Anna said.
Young Allison wanted to make sure the equipment was ready.
"Have them all remove any governors which control the speed of the assent." Young Allison said. "The electric motor is going to be taxed when it operates at its maximum speed."
CamNet alerted them to a new threat.
"There are two helicopters inbound." Anna said.
It was a new problem.
"Are they slicks or gunships?" Young Allison asked.
Samantha and Young Jesse were three miles out at five thousand feet.
"There are two unidentified helicopters approaching at low altitude." John Henry said.
He gave them their current location and heading.
"Are the drones going to engage them?" Samantha asked.
John Henry needed to worry about collateral damage.
"There's some farmland they should pass over a few minutes before they arrive." John Henry said. "They'll be engaged there. A drone is about to intercept them now."
Young Jesse thought about the procedure.
"If they're slicks, let them land." Young Jesse said. "It will put all the bodies in one place. The helicopters can be targeted while they're on the ground. The clean up zone will be the same as the destruction zone."
The first drone moved into visual range of the helicopters.
The Gray inside the elevator knew he needed to get out of where he was at. It was a sure death trap. The roof of the elevator was smashed down about a foot now from the two impacts on top of it.
He wanted to try again to climb up since there was less distance now. He'd almost made it before.
He looked at one of the severed heads. He moved it over to act as a 'step' to give him some further height advantage.
"I can't believe this." Hudson said. "This just isn't real. It isn't real, man."
He stood on the side of the head. It was smashed flat on the other side so it didn't roll. He saw an eyeball pop out of the socket and hang down over the nose. He almost vomited again.
He reached up for the side where there wasn't any blood dripping down and went to pull himself up. He was able to get out now. He felt the severed head spin away under his foot as he pulled himself up. It hit with a dull 'clang' against one of the metal sides of the elevator.
He was on top of the elevator now. He used the light on his phone to look around. There was solid rock on all sides of him. He couldn't see anything by looking up or down.
The two headless bodies were a mess. He noticed there was a coil of rope around one of the bodies. It took some effort, but he retrieved the rope.
He didn't know how far from the bottom of the Main Shaft he was.
There was enough space on one side to push a body over it. It was on the front side of the elevator. He pushed the closest body over and listened to hear how long it took to impact the bottom. He never heard anything.
"That's just great." Hudson said.
He pushed the other headless body over as well. He still didn't hear an impact.
"Typical…." Hudson said.
He slipped and almost lost his balance when he stepped in the trail of blood.
"This just keeps getting better and better." Hudson said.
The second body knocked the repeater off of the elevator. It was damaged when the body landed on it at the bottom of the Main Shaft.
The Main Shaft actually extended down much further than Level Four, even if it didn't lead to anywhere. It left room for future expansion. Level Five was constructed away from everything else.
The cable car passed along the side of Chinatown and through North Beach. It jogged off of Mason Street over to Taylor Street. It reached the Terminus at Bay Street. It was a short three block walk to Fisherman's Wharf.
John was elated to be surrounded by the girls. He'd been with all of them so far except Leticia. He'd been with Cameron in control of the other Metal girl's chassis. His new found bounty of booty was more than he'd ever dreamt of. He wished he would have listened to Cameron years ago. It was OK though, 'Little Willie' made up for lost time the best way he could.
Camille wanted to be next to John as they walked, but Cammy kept her away. They traded a lot of stern looks. She didn't care if they knew she'd been with John or not. Cameron promised her 'one time' with John alone for stripping her virginity from her. Well, from her chassis anyway. It was a classic act of Cameron's selfishness. Her time with John was her first time and she liked it. Either way, John was the first male to 'have' her.
Cammy made sure John walked with Leticia. She thought she knew what Camille must have done and she wanted it too now. She walked with John on his other side.
Mary was with Ally. Hanna was with Laura. Sheila brought up the rear and walked with Camille.
"Easy, love." Sheila said. "I'm your Koala."
Camille looked at Sheila and smiled. Sheila was the Terminator version of her human lover, more or less.
"Thanks." Camille said.
Sheila took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She understood what she could represent to Camille.
"I'm as close as it gets for now." Sheila said. "I want to be with you…."
Camille looked over at Sheila and understood. Sheila liked to be with any of the girls after they'd been with a male. It was something she'd 'inherited' from Jesse.
"We can do it." Camille said. "I know what you're after."
Cammy, Ally and Hanna all looked back when Camille said it. It confirmed their suspicions.
John liked the way Leticia looked at him. Her eyes were big like Cameron's were at times, except her eyes were always big and wide. They were very beautiful. They were also 'alive' eyes. There was a lot of 'life' in them. It was the one thing he found out about the human females. They were more 'alive' when he was with them. There was a lot more emotion and feeling shared than when he was with Cameron, and now Camille. He did note Camille was better than Cameron in the 'emotion' regard. He didn't know how the evening would go. He was sure to score with Leticia at some point. He hoped for a 'crack' at Mary and Laura again. Any of the Metal girls would work too.
The three girls discussed what kinds of drinks they wanted. They didn't discuss the earlier activities. Cammy previously told them Camille took 'Tony' away so he wouldn't know what they'd done. They explained they'd conducted an 'off the books' operation. It was pretty clear to each of them Sheila was probably involved in a lot of those. She seemed to take a lot of things personally which made her vengeance much more vindictive. Strangely enough, at the same time it seemed to give her a high level of excitement and stimulation. It appeared she craved violence almost as much as she did sexual stimulation.
John looked at the girls around him and wondered if he would need another espresso. He was sure someone would hand him one at some point.
The group started to bunch up.
Sheila and Camille dropped further behind the group.
"We have a tail." Camille said.
Sheila looked at a sign on a window and glanced back. It looked to be a little more involved.
"There's more than one." Sheila said.
Cammy, Ally and Hanna all heard the warning. They hurried the humans along. Camille and Sheila fell back further.
Steve and Tom parked their SUVs before the others exited the cable car and were on foot now. They were ahead of John and the girls and headed towards them. They passed them by on the other side of the street and crossed over and fell into position in back of them. They were going to deal with the threat. Sheila waved them off. She wanted a little more 'fun'.
Dan and Frank were behind them. They were each in an SUV. They would make good 'battering rams' if necessary.
John noticed the change in pace and positioning. He'd seen Steve and Tom cross the street alongside of them. He touched his Taser and M9.
Cammy wanted to keep things cool.
"Everything is under control." Cammy whispered. "There's nothing to worry about."
John glanced over and nodded slightly.
Cammy leaned over again. She thought she could redirect John's concerns.
"After you're done with Leticia, I want what Camille shared." Cammy whispered.
John felt 'Little Willie' respond almost instantly. He'd been close to being with Cammy more than once. He wanted it, especially after Camille. He wanted to compare them to each other and to Cameron.
"I'm in." John whispered back.
Cammy smiled.
"I can absolutely guarantee you will be…." Cammy whispered. "It's what I want. It will be my first time."
John wondered if it really got any better than this.
Allison arched her back up some as Sarah went to work on her. Just the thrill of being with Sarah already took her about half the way there. Sarah took her the rest of the way twice. It took her a moment to catch her breath.
She moved Sarah up and they kissed as they fondled each other.
"My Turn…." Allison said.
Allison started in on Sarah with a soft deep kiss and worked her way down. She liked what she saw everywhere. She spent some extra time on her rings. Sarah made sure she was ready for her. She started in. She paused for a second, and started right back in.
Sarah hoped she'd cleaned up well enough before she'd left her room. She was a little self conscious as Allison started in. She felt Allison pause for a second before she started right back in with renewed vigor. She made it right then. Allison kept on delivering….
Vanna and Holly shared with each other. They both knew where Allison and Sarah were. They only saw it as their 'love family' expanding. There was no need to be jealous.
They really hoped they would get another 'crack' at the girls from the ship.
Until then, Vanna and Holly made the most of it.
Holly was aware when Derek looked in on them. She hoped Derek would send Riley to join them when he watched them for five minutes. Instead he took a crack at Riley himself.
She needed to excuse herself a few times to check on Precious. It was OK because Vanna needed to catch her breath those times. She made sure of it.
Holly wanted to make sure Vanna's lover, which also happened to be her lover Allison, could be outshone by her performance in certain aspects of female to female love making. She might not be able to deliver the same human emotion, but she could deliver finishes. She made sure there were plenty of them. It pleased her most of them were multiple finishes as well.
Vanna thought life was good in Paradise.
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.
The vehicle with the four men had slowed considerably when it turned onto a side street. The lights were off as the vehicle crept along at idle speed. It appeared they were close to their destination. Maybe some of the individuals inside were about to exit. The drone image would let him know soon enough.
The vehicle which almost turned into the driveway, but bolted at the last second, started to head in the direction where the other vehicle associated with them was at. About halfway there, it took a different route.
There was currently a drone orbiting over each of the vehicles. Either one of them could be hit with a missile within a few seconds notice. The drones were low. They were just out of human hearing range. They could bring direct gunfire on a target as well. If they wanted to do it silently, they would need to gain more altitude and use a gravity shot. 'Metal hail' was very effective.
The vehicle traveling slowly briefly stopped. Two men exited out of the rear of it. They both moved to the north side of the street. The vehicle continued down the street at idle speed. It still drove without its lights on. It continued to the end of the street and made a right hand turn. It made a second right hand turn at the first street. It pulled over to the curb and parked. The driver hadn't used the regular brakes. Since he was traveling slowly, he used the parking brake to stop the vehicle so there wouldn't be any brake lights. It sat there for a few moments. Thirty seconds later, both the driver and the passenger in the front seat exited.
The other two men, who were let off on the street in back of where their vehicle was currently parked, had gone back to the corner. They moved up to the same street the vehicle was now parked on. They were at the other end of the street. It originally appeared they would attempt to make an entry from the back but they didn't.
The two groups cautiously move down the street. They stayed up against the buildings as much as they could.
The drone made a low sweep over the three buildings in the center of where the two groups of men approached. It picked up multiple heat signatures in the center building. The other ones didn't show any heat signatures at all. The drone made a wider sweep and picked up additional figures in the building across the street from the one with the multitude of figures. It was probably a guard post.
The other vehicle which fled, pulled up in back of another bar. It was clear if the individual went inside, they would be much harder to track. There were also other vehicles parked around the location. There was a chance the patrons would be injured as well.
CamNet decided to act. The drone moved into position for a gravity shot. As soon as the door opened on the vehicle, she fired. By the time he got out and stood up, the projectiles were already on their way. As the car door closed, they struck him. The man fell next to his vehicle. The drone was at a much lower altitude than normal for a gravity shot. There were fewer variables from a closer range, so fewer rounds had been fired.
The drone was ready to fire again. No one came out of the rear of the building. The fallen man lay next to his vehicle.
The Terminator checked the position of the four men as they approached the other building. They would be there very soon. He was directed to the bar where the man who'd just been hit with 'metal hail' lay on the ground.
The female Fanatic knew they were on a time clock. They moved both truck drivers out of the way as much as they could. They knew they were more targets by the entry door. They started off in that direction. Those men didn't appear to be armed. They knew there was another man who they followed who was with them. He most certainly was armed. They would have to try to take him first. It seemed gunfire was inevitable.
He could hear some type of commotion occur from the area in the front. They weren't sure what it was. There were voices off to their left side. It was a new threat. It was at least two men.
"We're entitled to some rest time." The first man said.
"The honcho seemed to think otherwise." The second man said.
"It'll be our shift when all of them are asleep." The first man said. "He's not the honcho I'm worried about either."
The female Fanatic and Jill could hear the two men. They could hear some metal 'clanking' noise. The HK Tracks were about to be on the move.
"Don't move yet." The female Fanatic whispered.
Jill nodded at her.
"What was that?" The first man asked.
"I don't know." The second man said. "It came from over by where the trucks are parked."
"It's probably those lazy truck drivers." The first man said.
"Let's go check it out and see what they're up to." The second man said. "If they would send the HK Tracks out on patrol, we wouldn't need to work a graveyard shift."
The female Fanatic was pretty sure everything around them was about to turn into a graveyard. She peeked around a couple of crates and could see the two men pass by.
Lena and Tina weren't sure what to expect next. They could hear additional voices. They weren't females either.
Their first priority was to deactivate the Terminator. Lena did so as Tina kept watch around them.
They were unsure as to the status of the first Gray. He'd scrambled through the spatial portal when they'd made their move. The two technicians lay where they fell. One was halfway in the portal, the other one was over his legs. Both of them had been terminated.
Tina couldn't spot the two men she'd heard talking. She couldn't spot the female Fanatic or her accomplice either. She did hear something though which concerned her greatly.
"There's an HK Track active." Tina said.
Lena heard it too. It wasn't the only one.
"There's a second one as well." Lena said.
The Metal girls were aware the HK Tracks were a threat to them.
They checked the drone images of what was happening outside. The images all went blank. They couldn't communicate with CamNet either. There was now a Skynet jamming field in place.
What they hadn't detected was an internal security system. There hadn't been an external one. It wasn't hooked up to anything else. It was hardwired into a Central Station. There was no broadcast feed from any of the cameras.
A short time later they heard six gunshots. They weren't sure if it was the female Fanatic and her accomplice or not. The spatial portal began to hum wildly. It seemed to happen a few seconds after they lost communications. It was possible the Skynet jamming field affected it.
The Metal girls thought it was best to get away from the spatial portal. They saw how it knocked the Terminator offline earlier. It affected them as well, but only mildly. If there was going to be some type of discharge again, they didn't want to be right there. They would end up down on the ground next to the Terminator.
Lena and Tina moved the Terminator back to the location they'd been earlier when the discharge occurred. They hoped to be able to take his chassis with them.
They could hear HK Tracks move in two different directions. Neither one of them seemed to be headed directly for them. They would need to avoid them for now.
There was more noise coming from the area of the spatial portal. The opening closed up into a small irregular shape again. There was a bright flash of light and the opening closed up into a small square and vanished. What they could see, was a large pool of blood around the technician who was half in and half out of the spatial portal. There was nothing in front of the back half of his body but a wall. It appeared when the spatial portal closed, half of his body remained in it while the other half remained out of it. He'd been cut in half.
Lena and Tina were glad neither one of them entered the spatial portal. They didn't know what happened to the Gray who did, or the other half of the technician who was already terminated.
Earlier:
The first Gray had been on his way to the Central Station location when he'd heard the explosion noise. When he would have reached the location, he would have found the Gray on duty asleep.
The Gray in the Central Station was no longer asleep. What he spotted was the activity by the spatial portal. He saw two intruders. Oddly enough they both looked to be female. There was no mistaking it. One of them definitely was female. The other one appeared to be as well. He checked another camera and found there were two other men lying on the ground. There was blood around them.
The security chief hit the alarm to warn everyone else. Nothing happened. He hit the alarm again. Nothing happened. He frantically looked at all the security monitors. He spotted two additional females near the two men in the pools of blood. They were two other men moving by them now. He reached over and activated the jamming field. It would block anyone else's communications except their own. The trouble was, their communications were already blocked.
He was a little surprised to see one HK Track start to move. The second one moved a few seconds later. They turned and faced each other for a few moments. A few seconds later, they headed in opposite directions. He wasn't sure who'd activated them or was in control of them.
The security chief opened the door of the security room and leaned outside. He drew his sidearm and fired a half a dozen shots into the air. He figured it would get everyone's attention soon enough. He returned back into the room and looked at the security monitors.
Evidently the security chief did get someone's attention. There was an HK Track headed directly towards the Central Station.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 25 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Young Allison made a right turn onto Fallbrook Avenue and then made a left turn onto Victory Boulevard.
"There are very few houses on both sides of the road here." Young Allison said. "There's a lot of empty space as well."
Cameron knew the empty space would all disappear as the building boom continued.
"There is some empty space now." Cameron said. "It will mostly all be gone within a decade. Some of the things which are there now will be torn down. Bigger things will be built in their place. Apartments and condos seem to generate the most revenue for a given piece of land. There will always be a few businesses and office buildings which seem to congregate around the corners."
Young Allison neared the intersection with Topanga Canyon Boulevard. She took a look at both sides of the street as they crossed the intersection.
"I can see the construction for Topanga Plaza has already started. It's actually further along than I imagined it would be." Young Allison said. "It's pretty amazing to see what I know is there under construction. Even more things will be added to it over the years."
Cameron was aware everything was in a state of flux.
"The Promenade Mall will be built a little further south off of Topanga." Cameron said. "It will arrive much later than Topanga Plaza and disappear after a couple of decades. Such is the way of life."
Young Allison looked to the south side of Victory Boulevard. It was mostly empty fields with some trees. They didn't all look like citrus trees.
"I think all the empty space on the south side of the street is even more impressive." Young Allison said. "What are those trees in the distance?"
Cameron zoomed in on the trees.
"They look like walnut trees." Cameron said. "There will be some citrus trees as well."
Young Allison could see a large building on the left side of the street as they crossed over Owensmouth. She was aware Owensmouth would pop up multiple times in their travels around the area. She really wondered whose idea was to rename Canoga Park as Owensmouth, and then back to Canoga Park later on. She wondered if it was done by a group of real estate owners to get people to move to the area when they knew they could get water.
In her studies of the time period, she'd come across some disturbing information. When LA City decided to build the aqueduct, it 'strong armed' the water away from the people in the Owens Valley. Any of the independent cities who wanted to benefit from the water, needed to become part of Los Angeles City. She'd seen what used to be Van Nuys city hall near the government buildings which existed now on Van Nuys Boulevard. Most of the Valley didn't have a reliable source of water to expand with. The communities were all forced to join. One of the communities which didn't was San Fernando. It was most likely why the San Fernando Mission was built in the location it was. There was a source of water.
She'd read the people associated with the mission brought over a number of different types of agricultural products to grow. Two of the notable ones which did very well were olive trees and citrus trees. They also brought over various types of grains to see how they did in the climate. Many of those early experiments would later take over much of the Valley. One thing which could be dry farmed without irrigation was wheat. Sugar beets were another commodity which they were able to market. In order for the citrus groves to flourish, they needed water. Los Angeles City blackmailed every community to become part of Los Angeles City, if they wanted to survive.
Some of the communities resisted at first, but one after another they all acquiesced. If they wanted their community to thrive, they needed the water.
The lead up to the advent of the Second World War was the start of the aircraft industry in the San Fernando Valley. There were already several manufacturers located in the Burbank area. Foreign nations were hard pressed for aircraft. The American manufacturers throughout the country rushed designs on the drawing board into production as the war expanded. After the war with new technologies, the aerospace industry flourished. It was one of the reasons why the Nike bases were established around the Los Angeles area. The aerospace industry was very vital. Production of aircraft was very vital. Production of rockets and missiles were extremely valuable.
She turned her attention to the large building on the north side of the street.
"Is that the Rocketdyne building you told me about?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron looked away from the empty fields on the south side of Victory Boulevard.
"Yes." Cameron said. "It's the facility where all the design, and the majority of manufacturing and assembly take place. Look at the parking lot. There are thousands of cars in it. During this time period, the people don't need to worry about their job going away anytime soon. It's one of the things which will feed the housing boom. There's only a couple of buildings on the other side of Victory past Canoga. Everything else is farmland of some type. Look at it."
Young Allison looked at the Rocketdyne facility. She knew the designs for the Apollo spacecraft were under way. There were plenty of other projects as well. They included different types of engines for rockets as well as missiles.
She made a left hand turn at Canoga Avenue and headed north. There were buildings on both sides of the street at the corner. After she'd driven a short distance, there was nothing on the east side next to the road other than the railroad tracks. It was the Burbank Branch. It made a turn north from the north side of Victory Boulevard. It continued along Canoga Avenue until it joined up with the main line in Chatsworth.
Cameron looked to the east at the railroad bridge over the LA River as they crossed over on their bridge. The start of the LA River was just to the west of them at Owensmouth Street. It was where Calabasas Creek and Bell Canyon Creek joined together. There was usually very little water in it unless it rained. During an El Niño year, it could be full to the top with water for a few days during the rainy season. During the summer months, there was almost no rain whatsoever for three months.
As they neared Sherman Way she spotted what used to be the Southern Pacific Freight Depot for Canoga Park and Owensmouth. It was on the southeast side of the street. It was now a lumber company. The old passenger depot was on the northeast side of the street. It was now the office for a building supply company.
"This is where the Pacific Electric used to cross the Burbank Branch." Cameron said. "It ran straight down Sherman Way all the way from Van Nuys Boulevard to Topanga Canyon Boulevard."
Young Allison could see a number of buildings on the west side of Canoga Avenue when they crossed Sherman Way.
"It looks like the original downtown part of Canoga Park was in this area." Young Allison said. "There are a lot of old buildings between here and Topanga on Sherman Way. I think almost all of those buildings are still there, even if they've had face lifts and are no longer under the same ownership."
Young Allison continued north past Sherman Way. She noted several industries along the east side of the Burbank Branch which had rail sidings. In another fifteen years all the rail business would be gone. The right of way would eventually become an express bus line.
"How was the crossing protected for the streetcar tracks as they crossed the railroad tracks?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron looked into the issue herself.
"At this intersection, there was no control other than the streetcar stopping to make sure there wasn't a train coming." Cameron said. "The mainline cut off through the Valley took all the traffic off of the branch. There was only one scheduled local a day. Sometimes there might be an extra. The Pacific Electric crossing of the Southern Pacific main line at Van Nuys Boulevard required the installation of an interlocking tower. It needed to be manned whenever the streetcar service was in operation. No rail incidents occurred at the location."
Young Allison thought it was a travesty as the push to replace streetcars with buses started in the Thirties. It only intensified until buses ruled the road earlier this year when the last of the streetcar service was converted to bus routes.
"It's a shame the line down Sherman Way was gone before World War Two started." Young Allison said. "I'm sure it would have given it a boost in revenue."
Young Allison continued her drive north on Canoga Avenue. Saticoy Street was the next street they approached.
Heads Up
Many things happen in life
Which one may fear or dread
They must continue to move forward
If they ever want to get ahead
Some are content to follow
Others like to be led
Where the path ends up
Might be a bad place to tread
Does one's true inspiration
Come from within or above
Sometimes the way to find out
Is to take a hard shove
Not many get around
With a smile instead of a frown
Some things will rise or float
Others will go straight down
One can ride life bareback
Or with a saddle and stirrup
Things will always go smoother
When their given a heads up
Nobody
