Chapter 79

Flying Tiger

Cameron was pleased with the 'New Jesse'. It was her goal to reform Jesse and make her a better person. She thought she'd done so. Jesse was actually quite pleasant to be around. She could be playful at times. Those were some of the qualities she lacked before. The underlying anger and bitterness was gone. She wanted to build some self worth and self respect in Jesse. They were qualities she felt she lacked in herself at times. Maybe it was why it was important to her that she would be able to help Jesse find the same things in herself.

She watched Vanna and Allison interact with Jesse. The girls got along much better. The sexual tension wasn't there any longer. If the girls ever did 'get together', it looked like it would be a rewarding experience for all of them. They understood each other better than any others could understand them. There were still a few barriers to break down. She intended to do so and maybe prompt things along in the process. She would need to think of the best way to do it, and then have the girls take it from there on their own if they wanted to. Everything would need to be consensual.

She also noted the way John looked at Jesse. He stole a quick glance at her whenever he could. There was beauty which radiated off of her, as well as a sexual allure. Even she felt it.

It led to another issue. Cameron wanted to turn Jesse at least into someone who was 'Metal Neutral', from a 'Metal Hater'. There seemed to be an unintended consequence which evolved out of the process. Jesse became a 'Metal Lover', quite literally.

It was very evident Jesse was in love with Cameron. It happened very quickly. It was based on more than her appearance. Allison possessed the same appearance, even if it was somewhat unrefined.

Cameron asked Jesse not to 'say' it, but Jesse did anyway. It seemed Jesse loved her even more than Allison and Vanna did. She didn't intend to 'act' on Jesse's love, but it always raised an interesting possibility. It was something she was willing to experience a few times just to see what it was like to be with a female. It seemed to work quite well for Vanna and Allison. She was aware both of them wanted to be with her too. She might one day elect to be with each of the females. She would like to try them in order. She wanted to be with Allison first, then Vanna, followed by Jesse last. She thought the encounters would be best in that order.

Cameron didn't think one time with each of them would hurt anything. She didn't think John would mind. They were all 'females' after all. It wasn't like they were males, and she could get pregnant from one of them.

She spent some 'alone time' with Jesse on missions. Some of them were things she would have conducted on her own. To bring Jesse along would impede her actions somewhat. It also encouraged her to work a little harder and a little safer. It was better for both of them.

Once when they passed through the 'bad part of town' in one of the outlying areas on the 'east side', Jesse asked her to stop the SUV.

"What's up?" Cameron asked as she looked around.

Jesse looked back to where they'd just passed by.

"I need to take care of something real fast." Jesse said.

Cameron became concerned.

"Is there a threat?" Cameron asked.

Jesse wasn't sure how to term it.

"Yes." Jesse said. "It is a threat for the future. I need to do this on my own. It's outside the current scope of the Resistance. It's something which is personal to me."

Cameron was as concerned as she was intrigued. Threats to the future were one of the reasons why she was in the past, the present. It was her job to prevent them. Based upon the part of town they were in, it seemed as if many of the individuals who resided there would end up as Scavengers. They would need to survive Judgment Day first. It was doubtful many of them would last very long, but some of them would.

Jesse slipped out of the SUV and walked back the direction they'd come from.

Cameron exited the SUV and followed behind her by a little bit. She watched Jesse approach a man standing on a corner. There was a car parked next to him. Without a word spoken, Jesse shot the man who was standing in the head. She then fired twice into the car. She approached the car and opened the rear door. A female got out. Jesse reached in the front seat and produced a bag. She reached inside and handed the girl something. The female looked at it as she ran off.

Jesse looked around. She didn't spot any additional threats. She returned to the SUV.

Cameron entered the SUV and drove away. She checked her rear view mirror several times to make sure they hadn't acquired a tail. None was spotted.

Jesse handed her a bag full of cash, and another one full of drugs.

"There are two less Scavengers for the future." Jesse said. "This money can go to procuring weapons for the future."

Cameron tilted her head slightly. She liked what she'd witnessed. Scavengers were a problem in the future. She also saw it as a way to acquire additional funds and even weapons. It was all done 'off the grid'. There was nothing for Skynet to monitor or track. What Jesse did was on a very small scale. She knew there would be more funds available the higher up the chain she went. It really gave her a lot to think about. Her current attention was directed at the individual Jesse freed from the vehicle.

"What about the female?" Cameron asked.

Jesse looked at Cameron for a second. The issue was 'close to home' to her. The circumstances were different, but the end result was the same. She also wanted a personal favor from Cameron.

"I freed her from the sex trade." Jesse said. "What she does now with her life is up to her. I want this to stay between us. No one else needs to know what I did to help someone."

Cameron smiled at Jesse and gave her knee a gentle squeeze as she drove away.

"It'll be our secret." Cameron said.

Payback was a Bitch.

Kyle and Sarah went out with Jesse and Derek. Kyle wanted to bring them all closer together. They went out for lunch and a drive. Bob and Jim tagged along behind them in an SUV. They said they would stay out of the way. They informed the group John asked them to watch over them. The four of them understood everyone always watched over each other. They all protected each other. They all knew if there was an incident, the Terminators would be there for them. They would come for them, help them, and save them. The Terminators would hold their position while they could withdraw if things heated up.

Derek developed an interest in Warbirds. It was an interest he had prior to Judgment Day. It was something soon forgotten when the only issue which mattered was survival. The most common flying Warbirds were World War Two aircraft.

There was an air museum Derek spotted on the map. He asked if they could stop by there for a little bit. He'd seen some videos on YouTube about it. There was one plane in the air museum's collection which drew his interest. He looked at all the still photos online at the museum's website. He was sure it was an 'old friend' he spotted.

He often watched videos on YouTube about various Warbirds in his free time, usually when he would have a meal. Warbirds fascinated him because of a couple of earlier experiences in his life….

One was as a witness. The other time was when his patrol was saved. The memories seemed like only yesterday to him as he reflected on them. It was very strange to think it was all still in the future, a future anyway. There were things he already experienced which hadn't happened yet. Based upon what they did in the past, the present, it could prevent some of those things from happening in the first place in the future.

Derek remembered back to when he was a teenager:

It was a few years since they'd seen any trace of the Air Force. The only thing flying was Metal. Skynet controlled the air. They mostly spotted HK drones on patrol, or an occasional Skynet transport. It was usually for prisoners. Usually once someone was captured by Skynet, they were never seen again.

Kyle, Allison and Derek temporarily moved east of the city to avoid the increased Skynet activity. Since Allison was now with them, they wanted to keep her away from 'trouble'. She was beyond pretty and seemed to get prettier everyday. It was all her own good looks. There wasn't any makeup or fancy clothes for her to wear. Allison possessed true natural beauty. Derek and Kyle swore to protect her from anyone who tried to lay a hand on her again.

They couldn't watch her all of the time. They did the best they could. Their biggest goal was to keep her out of the hands of Scavengers. The females who were captured by Scavengers were brutalized in every way possible, both mentally and physically. Very few survived the encounter. Those who did, often wished they hadn't.

They were in a more undeveloped area as they moved east. They didn't know how long they would need to remain away from the area they normally called 'home'. Skynet would often select an area and send in its troops. Most of them were Terminators, some of them were Grays. The Grays were the worst. They decided to team up with Skynet for the rewards and benefits it offered them. The main reward was the 'use' of females before they were sent into the work camps and worked to death. They didn't care what they did to their fellow human beings. Sometimes their behavior wasn't very different from the behavior of Scavengers.

They usually tried to travel in the early morning when possible. Derek would often scout ahead. He wanted to provide some additional protection to Kyle and Allison as they made their trek. If something 'bad' was going to happen, it would most likely happen to him first.

Kyle and Allison both knew Derek risked himself for them.

There was a half destroyed outbuilding. At least it looked like it was. They decided to take it under observation for a short time to determine if there was anyone associated with it. Their biggest worry was it might be inhabited by Scavengers. They were more than a little surprised at what they witnessed.

As Kyle, Allison and Derek watched from a nearby hill, a plane was pushed from the outbuilding. There was a small group of men who appeared.

Derek heard of similar events before. Now he was about to witness it. As Skynet systematically eradicated the world's air power, they forgot one thing. It was vintage Warbird aircraft. They were scattered around the nation in museums and at small airfields.

While considered 'obsolete', they were still formidable and deadly. Stores of aviation fuel were moved out in the fuel trucks which served small airfields, and small regional airports. Spare parts were a problem. There were enough vintage planes to cannibalize to keep some flying. A handful fought on. They lacked the original self sealing fuel tanks and armor, but they were able to re-arm them with their original firepower. To be rearmed as they were originally constructed, made them deadly. They were just as deadly against anything Skynet related, as they were to the enemies they were originally constructed to destroy. No Skynet Metal was a match for the firepower from the guns of a Warbird.

Derek looked at the plane. Its camouflage paint scheme was faded and worn. The symbol now on the wings was the emblem of the Resistance. There was a large faded number on the side of the fuselage. There was a small tiger with little wings painted next to the faded number. The large intake under the prop was painted with a shark's mouth. It appeared to be the only part freshly painted. It was an act of defiance if nothing else. It was meant to send a message.

There was the sound of engine turning over. The prop began to spin. Blue gray exhaust pumped out on each side of the nose. In seconds there was a smooth, even roar. The plane started to taxi. The group of men disappeared as fast as they appeared.

Derek looked around. There was nothing but grass fields around the plane. There was no runway. To his amazement, the plane took off from the grass field. It lifted off much quicker than he thought possible. The landing gear rotated and retracted at slightly different rates. The plane thundered over them. Some brave pilot was on a mission to do what he could with what was available.

He never forgot the sound or plane. They never saw it again. There was most likely a group of Resistance fighters in a jam. The plane was sent to help them get out of the jam. They didn't know if what they witnessed would draw additional Skynet activity or not. They thought it was best to put some distance between them and the location. They moved further east and south by the end of the day.

It gave the trio something to talk about as they traveled. It actually gave them some new hope as well. It was nice to know the Resistance was able to take the fight to Skynet, rather than just wait for Skynet to attack them.

Derek only ever saw one other Warbird in combat again. He was able to identify it as a B-25 Mitchell. It carried eight guns in the nose. There were two guns on each side of the fuselage as well. It gave the Mitchell twelve forward firing fifty caliber machine guns. There was also a top turret with two additional machine guns. They could be directed to fire forward as well. With such a magnitude of firepower, the aircraft could destroy anything Skynet possessed in seconds.

Their unit was pinned down. They called for help. Terminators advanced on them through a narrow canyon. The assault on them was led by an HK Track. There was a large squad of Terminators and Grays behind it. It was what brought up the rear which worried them the most. It was a large dreaded HK Tread. The saying in the Resistance was to 'Dread the Tread'. They were able to give directions as to where they were. They were informed, much to their surprise, they would have air support. They thought it would be a military helicopter. They hadn't seen one for quite some time.

They could hear a thunderous roar as a twin-engine, twin tail, aircraft roared towards them. It seemed to come from nowhere. The B-25 made a strafing run. The twelve fifties opened up with a tongue of flame like an angry dragon. There was nothing like the screaming sound of a big Warbird. It ripped the Metal to pieces. It chopped up the Terminators and cut the HK Track in two. The HK Tread was left a smoldering and shredded mess. All of the Grays were killed instantly.

The Skynet forces barely had any time to react. Only a few shots were returned. The B-25 was hit in one engine. White smoke poured out of it. Even though the plane was damaged, the pilot pressed the attack to help them. A few mangled Terminators tried to regroup. The plane made a second pass. It completed the earlier devastation it inflicted. The prop no longer turned on the port engine as black smoke now trailed from it. It limped away. The one remaining engine sounded completely different than the one the fighter made. It was a throaty deep sound. The remaining engine thundered. The sound was incredible. The dragon roared in its victory.

Derek's patrol moved down into the canyon and finished off anything Skynet related which still moved. There wasn't much left to finish. The devastation was incredible. He hoped they would be able to repair the Warbird. It served as a reminder to Skynet about the determination of humans to survive and defeat it. They would use every tool at their means to do so.

The group arrived at the air museum. There were several hangars. There were a few planes parked outside.

Derek looked at the various aircraft and identified them for the others. There were also small placards which identified most of them. The placards also provide some of the specifications.

Kyle looked at one of the aircraft.

"This looks like a P-51 Mustang to me, but it's a little bit different." Kyle said.

Derek noticed the difference too.

"It looks like a P-51A." Derek said. "It's actually an A-36. It was referred to as an Apache, Invader, or Mustang. It was the dive bomber variant of the fighter. They only built about five hundred of them. You can see on the wings it actually has dive brakes. They can be extended to slow the aircraft in a dive."

It was in the second hangar Derek spotted what he wanted to find. He was sure his heart skipped a few beats when he spotted it.

Derek walked up to a plane. It looked magnificent to him. The sign said it was a Curtiss P-40. He already knew what it was. Another sign said, 'Do Not Touch'. He needed to touch it. He saw the large number painted on the side. There was a tiger with little wings. It was the same number on the plane he saw as a teenager. He lovingly touched the wing tip. Its camouflage paint was in perfect condition, the painted shark's mouth defiantly grinned to the world.

It was pure beauty to Derek.

Kyle recognized the aircraft as well.

"I wish Allison was here with us." Kyle said.

Derek nodded.

"I do too." Derek said.

He would make a point of going there again with Allison and Vanna at a later date along with Kyle.

It was a special moment for the brothers.

Derek looked at the small placard in front of the aircraft. It made him laugh to himself.

"Maybe Allison wouldn't be as excited to know she was named after an - engine." Derek said.

The placard said the power plant was an 'Allison V-1710'.

Derek knew it was the same engine which powered the P-51A Mustang, as well as the A-36 dive bomber version. A switch would be made for later Mustang production to use the Merlin engine. It gave better high altitude performance because of the two-stage supercharger.

Sarah said the plane was pretty cool looking because of the way it was painted. She'd seen photos before of aircraft painted similarly, as well as in movies. It always left a distinct impression.

One of the workers came over to them. Derek thought he might be in trouble for touching the wing tip.

"She's a real beauty." The worker said. "We spent a lot of time getting her back into this shape."

Derek thought the term beauty did apply. He also thought of it as a savior.

"She is a real beauty." Derek agreed.

He was glad he wasn't in trouble for touching it.

"It will take off later today." The museum worker told him.

Derek looked at the plane and smiled.

"I've seen it fly before." Derek replied. "It was beautiful. The engine has a very smooth sound to it."

The worker wondered how? The plane was only recently restored to flying condition after being in non flying status for decades. It was going to go on its first test flight later today….

'Snoopy vs. The Red Baron' by 'The Royal Guardsmen', played in the background.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Obsolete

As time passes by
Things are viewed as obsolete
Does it really mean
That they can no longer compete

If something is older
Is it really any less complete
To think age alone is a factor
Shows a lot of foolish conceit

What is old was once new
Perceived age alone can lead to deceit
Don't be so shocked
When you're delivered a defeat

Things written in stone
Will crumble like cracked concrete
Everything can change in a second
As quickly as a single heartbeat

Next time you feel the heat
Things might not end so sweet
They won't need to cheat to beat
Is anything really ever obsolete

Nobody