Chapter 184
Bealville
They wanted to disable the HK drone and see who came to retrieve it. They were sure someone would. It appeared it was identical to the HK drones they recently captured. This one appeared unarmed. The worker in Tehachapi indicated the one he spotted was armed. They weren't sure if other armed HK drones would show up once they engaged this one. It was a risk. They still didn't know the exact nature of what everything was all about.
They lost visual contact with the HK drone as the highway led them away from the tracks. The tracking device showed it still followed the railroad tracks. The second shot jammed the camera so the HK drone could only see straight down. It was why it needed to follow the railroad tracks. It lacked the power to climb out of the steep canyon. Its only choice was to go down hill and follow what it could 'see'. To try to follow the railroad tracks uphill would lead it into more gunfire. It chose to 'escape' as opposed to being shot down.
Cameron's train continued after the HK drone. The head end crew was oblivious to what occurred. John and Bob both took the paved road to intercept the HK drone and the train at Bealville. There were dirt access roads along most of the right of way. They ended at the bridges over the mostly dry washes. There were four more tunnels between where the drone was at now and Bealville.
Cameron climbed back to the top of the double stack container train. As the train neared Rowen, she could see two more tunnels coming up. They were Tunnel 8 and Tunnel 7. The drone stopped at Tunnel 8. It was unsure whether to try to go over the small hill the tunnel passed through and maybe not find the tracks again, or go through the tunnel itself. Cameron took aim with her AR10 and fired a single round. She struck the drone again. She didn't want to bring it down, but further disable it.
She was able to acquire the AR-10 at the last location they took down. It was a larger caliber version of its successor, the AR-15. It fired a 7.62MM round instead of the 5.56MM round. The original version manufactured by ArmaLite, only found limited sales at the time of its introduction. An aircraft manufacturer was involved in the marketing of the AR-10, as well as licensing to several foreign countries. It was one of the lightest self-loading 7.62MM rifles ever developed. The smaller caliber version, the AR-15, saw much more success through a large variation of M16 rifles, and later the M4 Carbine, associated with both military, and civilian use.
The new hit from the AR-10 seemed to prompt the drone to move along. The drone wobbled wildly. It quickly entered the tunnel. Cameron's train followed after it. They were still quite a ways behind it. The drone couldn't make much speed. It needed to use most of its power to remain upright. The heavy tilt to one side increased as her round struck it. It seemed to further slow it down as well.
Cameron was able to communicate her progress with the rest of the team. They attempted to set up contingency plans on where it would be best to bring the HK drone down at. They wanted the most remote spot possible in the area. They wanted the individuals who came to retrieve it.
John's team arrived at Bealville. It was an abandoned train order station location, and water stop, on the railroad. It was where they waited. The only vestige which remained of the railroad activity, other than the tracks, were the footings from the water tank. They were now on the other side of a fence of a local cattle ranch there. There was another historical marker there like there was at the Tehachapi Loop.
From his location in Bealville, John could look up the side of the mountain to the location known as Cliff. It was the former location of Tunnel 6. It was a victim of the 1952 Tehachapi Earthquake. It was 'daylighted' and its remains shoved down the side of the hill. They were still there to this day. To the right of the location, as viewed from where he stood, was the longest tunnel on the 'hill', Tunnel 5. It was known where near the length of Tunnel 20, originally Tunnel 25, in Newhall, or Tunnel 26 in Chatsworth. They were both well over a mile long.
Bob's team continued past John's team at Bealville. They headed uphill along a dirt access road over the top of Tunnel 3. From their location, they could see the lower exit of Tunnel 5, and the partially collapsed and bypassed Tunnel 4. It was another victim of the 1952 Tehachapi Earthquake. The remains of the tunnel still stood much like a giant retaining wall for the hill above it. The mainline now passed alongside of its cracked and crumbled remains.
It was a very remote location.
Bob said it's where they should bring the HK drone down. It was totally isolated. The openings in the sides of the partially collapsed and abandoned Tunnel 4 would give them cover. They would bring the HK drone down right outside of it.
He took out and readied his Barrett Model 82A1. It would bring the HK drone down without blowing it up like a LAW rocket would do. They wanted someone to come for it. With the tracker on it, they wanted to see where it went. They wanted to find out where it went to see if there were more HK drones located there, or another assembly line being set up.
An uphill container train thundered past John's position at Bealville. The locomotives worked hard against the grade. The six locomotives on the point were in 'Run 8', or at maximum power. The speed was slow as the traction motors took all the juice the engines developed, and passed through their alternators.
A diesel-electric locomotive was in reality, an electric locomotive with a mobile power plant, all on the same frame. The power plant, whether it was a diesel engine, or a gas turbine engine, would turn a generator, or later on, an alternator, to create electricity. The electricity was fed to the electric traction motors on the axles of the locomotive. Over the years various locomotive manufacturers attempted to use a hydraulic drive connected to the power plant. Most examples only met with limited success and were unable to compete with their diesel-electric brethren in sales. Since everything revolved around money, the choice for the manufacturers was easy to make.
The train struggled up the twisty grade. The roar increased as the helpers on the rear end approached. The exhaust billowed out of the four cycle engines at full throttle. The throbbing and thundering noise was intense. The ground literally shook as the locomotives passed.
The same procedure happened a couple of dozen, or more, times a day on the rail line. Some days saw as many as thirty heavy trains pass through. There were no longer any passenger trains which traversed the track on a regular basis. The only time a passenger train would go through the Tehachapi region, was if a detour was necessary, or some type of special excursion was arranged.
The section of track between Mojave and Bakersfield was shared by two different railroad companies. About a third of it was still single track as it was when it was built in 1875. The tunnel floors were lowered numerous times over the years as rail cars and locomotives grew bigger. To make operations smoother, one tunnel was added to the original seventeen. It was known as Tunnel 1/2. It was later abandoned. Four of the tunnels were 'daylighted', and one was bypassed. Where the tunnels were 'daylighted', the track was double tracked in most of those locations.
There often was talk of double tracking the entire route. The tunnels which remained were always an obstacle. The preferred procedure would be to 'daylight' them. When a tunnel was daylighted, the dirt and rock above it were cut away. There was always concern about the stability of the hillsides if they would attempt to cut more of it away. The cost of boring a second tunnel was prohibitive. Strangely enough, when the tunnels were originally built in 1875, they were constructed mostly by manual labor and explosives. There were few power tools, or any type of specialized machinery available during the time period. Later on, pneumatic drills would become available to assist in the blasting process.
Cameron's train slowed as they reached Cliff. The train she was on needed to 'take the hole', or the siding, to let the uphill train pass. They were going to stop before Tunnel 5. She knew there must be an uphill train coming. Uphill trains were usually given the right of way. Heavy trains were hard to start on the steep grade. It was easy to break a coupler, or pull a drawbar, when trying to start out. Because of the single track, such an incident could tie up traffic for hours on the 'hill'.
She recently experienced how dangerous a broken coupler, or drawbar, could be when she was on the passenger train at Donner Pass. She didn't want to think about what almost happened and the destruction of the Cab Forward to prevent it.
From Cliff, Cameron could look down on the tiny community of Caliente about a mile and a half below her as the crow flies. It was about eight miles by the winding rail route. The tracks twisted through several horseshoe curves to hold the grade to a workable level. She could also see down to Bealville which was less than a mile away visually, but still a couple of miles away on the rail line.
John saw the HK drone appear at Cliff from his location at Bealville. He briefly wondered if it would try and take a shortcut. Since the camera was jammed in the down position, and the drone had a damaged power plant, it could fly into the side of the canyon walls if it deviated off of the tracks. As long as it followed the tracks, it knew where it was going.
Bob watched the locomotives from the uphill train blast out of Tunnel 3 and thunder past the partially collapsed and abandoned Tunnel 4.
The drone headed into the upper portal of Tunnel 5.
The container train thundered along. It neared the lower portal of Tunnel 5. The locomotives were working hard. As soon as they entered the tunnel, the locomotives would start to lose some power as the engines were forced to 'breathe' their own exhaust. It usually created an excessive quantity of exhaust smoke in the tunnel.
The HK drone exited the lower portal of Tunnel 5. It nearly collided with the lead locomotive of the uphill train. The HK drone veered sharply to its left side and hit the side of the mountain. It tumbled and lay there as the heavy train rumbled past it.
Holly dropped on top of the train below her as it exited out of Tunnel 3 to get to the HK drone's location sooner. She looked over at the partially collapsed remains of Tunnel 4 as she passed it on top of the container train. As she reached the location where the HK drone lay she jumped down next to it. The helpers roared out of Tunnel 3 behind her. The rest of the train passed inches from her and the downed drone trapped against the hillside.
Cameron watched as the uphill train emerged from Tunnel 5. Thick clouds of black exhaust smoke came out with it. It thundered past her.
The drone attempted to take off several times but it was now damaged too much. It was stuck. The camera was torn off of it. Holly spotted it where the drone first impacted the mountainside. The rear end helpers came by her. They shook the ground as they passed. Once the rear end helpers passed by her, she checked out the HK drone in detail. She wanted to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't.
Cameron waited atop her train. Soon the helpers of the uphill train emerged from the upper portal of Tunnel 5 with another thick cloud of black exhaust smoke. Once the uphill train passed, the automatic switch threw for her train to pass and continue its journey downhill.
Her train started to move downhill slowly. She passed through the still smoky Tunnel 5. She knew the HK drone and Holly were going to be on her left side when she exited the tunnel. They were in communication the entire time.
Cameron jumped down from the train and landed next to Holly at the crash site after she passed through Tunnel 5.
Holly thought Cameron looked 'awful'. She looked worse than Allison on a bad day. She decided not to say anything about Cameron's appearance. The down hill train finished passing them and soon disappeared into Tunnel 3.
Cameron and Holly discussed what to do with the still struggling drone. They could carry it away by hand or use what may be a faster method to move it.
Holly thought about her earlier observation of the collapsed and abandoned Tunnel 4.
"Help me put this on the rails so we can slide it down farther and closer to Tunnel 4 and our ambush site." Holly said.
Cameron helped her. In a couple of minutes they slid it along on top of the rails to where they wanted it. They pushed it off the tracks. They move it closer to abandoned Tunnel 4 in the dirt.
The team could get a good ambush location in the remains of Tunnel 4.
Cameron removed their tracker. They expected a crew to arrive on the dirt road to retrieve it. She didn't want it spotted. More than likely the HK drone would be searched. The Skynet group should still be in the dark as to exactly what happened to the HK drone.
Jim and Kyle, along with Mel and Derek, were able to view the footage on their phones where the Gray stopped at. They were at each end of the industrial tract. They looked over the satellite images John Henry sent them of the location.
Derek remained in the SUV.
Mel moved towards the side of the buildings. He wanted to take a look down the front of them to see exactly where the Gray went.
"The Gray is parked in front of the third building down". Mel said.
Jim and Kyle were parked at the far end of the industrial tract.
"Do you see anyone else?" Kyle asked.
Mel waited a moment to see if anyone would open the roll up door or not.
"No." Mel said. "The Gray entered the building through the front door. He needed to use a key."
A minute later the roll up door opened. The Gray walked out and got into his vehicle. He backed it inside of the opening. He pulled the roll up door down.
It didn't seem as if anyone else was inside. It didn't mean they weren't.
John Henry began to check the utility records of the building as well as the surrounding buildings. Most of them indicated very little usage of water or power. Most of them appear to be empty buildings.
"The energy and water consumption of the building the Gray entered is minimal." John Henry said. "It doesn't appear as if it's being used by a large group. There's no major energy draw to support any type of large computer system."
Derek contemplated the possibilities.
"He might have been a survivor from one of the locations we took down." Derek said. "We know sometimes they have people out on operations which we don't know about."
Kyle tended to agree.
"It would be easy for them to squat at a location and remain undetected." Kyle said. "I don't think the Gray we encountered, will lead us to a bigger fish."
Jim thought it over.
"I think we have a lone survivor from one version of Skynet." Jim said. "I think he hopes to make contact with some others of his group if they go looking for anyone. He's also worried about who took down the location finding him."
They discussed their plan of action. Since they didn't believe the Gray would lead them to anything of importance or relevance, the best choice would be to enter the location and take him down. Mel and Jim could question the Gray while they looked around the building for any clues.
It was time to pay the Gray a visit.
Mel and Derek would approach the location from the rear.
Jim and Kyle would approach the location from the front.
John and his team moved further downhill along the tracks past Bealville to a small hill where they could watch the dirt road which led to where anyone who came looking for the HK drone would have to go. They let Dan off to retrieve the SUV Bob drove. He moved it back up the road to watch the Bealville and Caliente turnoff from Highway 58. They wanted a 'heads up' if it looked like a crew of Grays was about to arrive.
They hoped to be able to spot if a hostile Terminator was among the group of Grays or not. If they got into a firefight, Grays wouldn't be a problem. An enemy Terminator would be. They also needed to consider whether a second drone would arrive. The worker from the Tehachapi Airport indicated he saw one which was armed previously. He also stated there was a larger one with some type of clear dome on the top of it.
Cameron knew she must look awful. She was sure the sheath Resequencing started to take effect. She didn't feel herself. She saw the way Holly looked at her but said nothing.
A new thought popped into Cameron's head. She considered as the next train passed by, to throw herself under the wheels of the locomotive. It would destroy her chassis. She decided it's what she would do. Now was her chance to 'end' her misery once and for all. She would try to make sure she got her head between the rail and the locomotive wheels so her chip would be crushed as well.
She didn't think about what other damage might occur if her power cell ruptured. If it was a train carrying tank cars of chemicals, or petroleum products, it could create quite the disaster. Toxic fumes could spread throughout the area. There was a considerable amount of livestock in the area. The majority of it was cattle. There were horses and other farm animals located in the remote area where they were currently at.
Another uphill train approached John and rumbled past him as the ground shook.
Cameron heard the transmission from John and waited to see the head end power emerge from Tunnel 3. Her anticipation grew as she saw the reflection of the locomotive headlight dance off the inside walls of the tunnel. This was it. She readied herself to throw herself under the wheels. She would spring from her location and do it. The locomotives blasted out of the portal of Tunnel 3. They would be there in seconds and 'freedom' with it. She felt the ground shake and the sound of the exhaust thunder as the roar of the locomotives intensified.
Freedom was here at last for Cameron. She made her move and started to bolt.
Holly and Bob both sat next to Cameron in the darkness of the abandoned Tunnel 4. They anticipated her next move based upon her demeanor. Each of them placed a hand on her shoulder and leg. Cameron wasn't going anywhere.
Holly took out her player and smiled at Cameron as the locomotives passed abandoned Tunnel 4.
Cameron relaxed. What did she almost do? What was wrong with her?
Holly held Cameron's hand as she did with John for over a year to comfort him. To let him know there was someone there for him, for 'anything'. She wanted Cameron to know the same.
Bob moved to a better vantage point. He would be better able to stop Cameron, or engage the enemy when they arrived if they were ready to fight.
Holly decided to get the DNA sample from Allison and use it to Resequence her sheath for Cameron. It was something which needed to be done for Cameron. It was just that simple. She was willing to give it all up to help Cameron. Her fate and future didn't matter, Cameron's did.
'Ringo' by 'Lorne Greene', played as they waited.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
Wound
Wounds sometimes heal
Often leaving a scar
Something that is beautiful
Remains with a mar
Remember how the scar came
They can be on a wrist
Across and through a heart
Within a mind making it twist
Sometimes the wounds never heal
When we forget the lessons of life
Look at the scars and remember
Most did not come from a knife
The past is loaded with life's lessons
We must remember the damage
The next time around they will never heal
No matter how big or thick the bandage
LOOK at the scar
Before reopening the wound
Or in a never ending Hell
We may forever be marooned
When we play with fire
We are GOING to get burned
Damaging so many lives
When the scars forget what the wounds learned
Nobody