Chapter 304

Cousin

Before she left, Cameron informed John Henry of a few changes. Ally would take her place until she got back. If Ally was unavailable, he was to speak with Cam.

John Henry notified Ally about Cameron's request for the female Gray. He knew it was most likely a mistake, but it was what Cameron wanted.

Ally said she would rather terminate her and not take her into custody. She was very worried about what Cameron would do again. She needed to help clean up the 'mess' Cameron made with 'Nobody'. It was clear Cameron lost control. If she didn't, she obviously possessed some deep emotional distress.

What disturbed her most about the whole event was how elated Cameron was afterwards. It was very unusual. Nothing seemed to make Cameron happy anymore. Terminating a version of 'herself' shouldn't be anything to celebrate.

John Henry handed the file over to Ally with a lot of trepidation.

"Cameron has some 'enhanced interrogation' planned for her." John Henry said.

Ally reviewed the file. It all seemed unnecessary to her. There were more efficient ways to handle the situation. There wouldn't be as big of a mess for her to clean up either. She wondered if Cameron would have been so elated if she was the one who needed to deal with the remains previously. She hoped to follow a different path for the current situation.

"She's a teenager." Ally said. "She hasn't even committed her crimes yet. I should just terminate her. There is no need to fool around with her."

Ally knew there would be a mess to clean up again when Cameron was 'done'. She didn't understand why Cameron wanted to do the experiments. She doubted even Sheila would have taken things as far as Cameron did on several different levels. There was no advantage to being human. There were multiple options available to Cameron for what she wanted.

John Henry didn't want any trouble with Cameron. Her orders were to be obeyed. He didn't like Ally's hesitation to do her job.

"It's Cameron's order." John Henry said. "Carry it out and don't ask questions."

Ally knew it wasn't worth being deactivated over. She didn't want to end up looking like the last test subject. She wanted to let John Henry know she would comply. Things could always play out differently in the field. The unexpected could always happen. She wanted to cover all the bases.

"I'll do as Cameron has requested." Ally said.

Ally thought she would see what Cameron was up to. She figured the female would end up the same way, maybe worse. She believed it would be worse if it was somehow possible. She learned through experience whenever someone thought something couldn't get worse, it always could.

She thought it was very strange Cameron would take such pleasure in such behavior. It was very un-Terminator like. She felt it was some type of 'personal' issue. It seemed as if Cameron experienced more and more of those. It made her wonder if she would ever become as 'unstable'. She sure hoped not.

Ally was unsure what she would find, and if she did, what she should do about it. If she wasn't careful, Cameron would reprogram her, or place her own spare chip in her chassis. She decided to take the female into custody and do nothing else. Cameron could start the 'interrogation' when she got back. She liked being operational and 'alive'. She knew Cameron terminated several Terminators already. Several of them ran a copy of her program. Cameron found them very threatening in a short period of time. Cameron made sure they all knew she deactivated other Terminators before who were Resistance Terminators. It was an unspoken threat for total obedience. Nobody questioned Cameron's authority or dominance.

She looked forward to her new assignment with Jesse and Gail. She was still a little miffed she wasn't able to choose Allison. Jesse or Vanna were fine choices as well. She thought it would have been interesting if she ended up with Vanna and Cam. There would be one of them who looked like 'Cameron' and the other one who looked like 'Allison'. Even if they were identical, they weren't. She thought of her earlier 'strike out' spree on four different occasions. There was no doubt they were different. Cameron made the selection of which Terminators ended up where. Nobody was going to challenge her decisions.

Jesse boldly stood in front of her younger self and sister. The group of girls didn't intimidate her.

She wasn't about to back down.

Jesse faced off against the five girls. She wanted to offer some type of explanation based on her involvement. it was mostly for her sister's and Young Jesse's benefit.

"These are my 'cousins'." Jesse said. "If you have a problem with my cousins, then you have a problem with me. You don't want to make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry."

The mean girls weren't used to such aggressive and threatening behavior. The size of their group usually gave them the advantage. They'd never felt threatened by any group, let alone one female. It was clear if there was an altercation, some of them were going to be hurt.

"There's no problem." The biggest girl said.

She knew Jesse could hurt them physically.

Jesse wanted to drive her point home.

"There won't be in the future either." Jesse said as she looked each girl in the face. "Will there?"

Two girls looked like they were ready to run.

"No." Two girls said.

Jesse moved closer to the other three. She wanted an answer. She wanted to make sure it would be the right answer. She was ready to strike.

"Will There!" Jesse said as fire burned in her eyes.

It was a statement and a command. It wasn't a question.

"No." All five girls said.

They apologized to Jesse, Young Jesse and her sister. They quickly left. They all looked back several times as they moved away. They were afraid they would be pursued or attacked.

Jesse turned and faced Young Jesse and her sister. Her heart fluttered to see how beautiful they both were. A soft smile appeared on her broad lips.

Young Jesse wasn't sure exactly who she looked at. She was aware her family expected a guest. She could see the person in front of her possessed a striking similarity to her.

"Thank you." Young Jesse said as she looked closely at Jesse. "You look more like a 'sister' than a cousin. You look more like me than my sister…."

Jesse and Young Jesse shared a long look. For both of them it was as if they looked into the mirror of time. There was a connection there they both felt.

What Young Jesse looked at and thought was impossible as she knew things to be. The idea was still there in her mind. She felt somehow she looked at 'herself'. She was aware there were various versions of 'time travel' on different TV shows and movies. She knew all of them were impossible. There was no technology capable of anything in their time period. Wait. If the person she currently faced was older than she was, maybe there was technology in the future which could do it. She quickly pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She watched too much TV and went to the movies too often.

Jesse decided she needed to take control of the conversation and the direction it followed. She didn't need a bunch of questions or speculation. She decided to stick with the plan Cameron laid out. She explained she was the niece of the 'wealthy relative' who passed away a few years back and left money for her family. She came into town to look them up since she was visiting the area.

Young Jesse said her parents talked about it and said she knew she was coming today to visit them.

Jesse wanted to give an explanation for her sudden appearance. She could also use a distraction. She figured between Cameron's beautiful face, and Gail's giant breasts, Young Jesse should be somewhat distracted and not concentrate on her.

"Needless to say, when I saw you, I knew you must be part of my family. " Jesse said. "Even if you weren't, I saw a grave injustice and it bothered me deeply. I needed to do something about it. I came with two of my friends."

Young Jesse noticed her friends earlier. One packed a set of knockers that didn't quit. The other one was stunningly beautiful. She looked at Cameron and kept looking at her. She was so captivating….

"I saw them earlier." Young Jesse said. "They looked very nice."

Cameron and Gail faded into the background as the mean girls left. They wanted Jesse to be with her family undisturbed.

Jesse thought she could use some backup right now. Her backup was gone. Wait, she only needed herself.

"They left so I could catch up with the rest of my family." Jesse said. "They didn't want to be a distraction. It's if you don't mind. I didn't want to intrude unannounced until my appointment, but I didn't like what I saw happen here. I know how brutal some people can be, for nothing."

Jesse was very aware of how brutal and cruel people could be. She never wanted her younger self to ever experience it. She thought the best thing to do would be to have her prepared for the future. What if they couldn't stop Skynet? It would all happen again. She needed to collect herself.

Young Jesse didn't want to get into the details, but she dealt with the mean girls before. Her sister wasn't with her then.

"I could have handled them. They would have hurt me a little." Young Jesse said. "I've done it before. I hurt them too."

Jesse couldn't help but think 'she' just did.

"Yes, you could have." Jesse said.

Young Jesse smiled at Jesse.

"Thanks again." Young Jesse said.

Jesse gave both of them a hug, especially her sister. Seeing her sister meant so much to her. She was alive! She was as happy as she could be to actually touch her again. It made her hate Skynet even more for what it took from her. She survived everything which happened to her. Her family didn't get a chance. She needed to push the thoughts from her mind. She didn't want to go down a bumpy path right now. She needed to get it together.

"Let me buy you girls some food and we can talk…." Jesse said.

Gail and Cameron moved away and watched from a distance.

Cameron looked around and noticed her Terminator was gone. She figured what they went off to do. There was probably going to be a termination. Actually there was probably going to be five terminations.

'Great.' Cameron thought.

She headed off to stop them from terminating the girls. She intercepted them and said if it happens again to only break a leg the first time and make it look like an accident. She wanted the same thing for the boys. If the trouble persisted, then they could do what was necessary…. Young Jesse would be protected, just in case…. John must never face assassination. The latest development was better than Cameron hoped for. Young Jesse and her sister as well, could both be held in 'reserve' for John. Cameron felt excited and happy, her hand no longer glitched.

Allison has a sister. Jesse has a sister. Vanna only has herself. She felt very guilty about it. Allison and Jesse could see their families again. Vanna couldn't. It meant Savannah couldn't either. She wasn't sure which one it would be worse for. She needed to do something about it. She just didn't know what. John didn't want her to change the timeline. She tried to think of a few ways to work around it.

Bob wasn't sure what the last raid was all about. He did like to see Sheila topless. She would do it anytime, especially if someone asked her to do it. She didn't have a problem flashing any part of her sheath around, or even all of it. It seemed her jewelry emboldened her even more.

He was a little worried about the level of violence she used. She went out of her way to make the man suffer who insulted her. It would have been much simpler if she snapped his neck. She didn't. She broke all of his limbs, and then did to him what he said he would do to her with the firearm. He did have to admit, she did it all rather quickly.

It wasn't a Resistance operation, but it was still unnecessary violence. He was worried about the Restorators now. Sheila ran Gail's program with the 'Neural Interface' with Jesse. Steve and Tom were there too. They were Restorators. Now he wondered if there was some hidden agenda happening in the background and now he was part of it.

Maybe he read more into it than there was.

He wanted to see what else Sheila was up to.

Jim was supposed to meet him.

He spotted Jim at the meeting point right on time. He left his SUV and went to Jim's SUV.

Bob opened the door and sat down. They exchanged pleasantries. They made sure their coms were off. CamNet was probably going to be all over it anyway. He was sure John Henry was in the dark about it.

Jim wanted to know what was going on. It seemed to him there was some 'cloak and dagger' routine in the background.

"What's this about?" Jim asked.

Bob wasn't exactly sure where to start.

"I don't really know." Bob said. "It was some black ops stuff with Sheila and CamNet."

Jim looked nervous. He looked around. He knew exactly what Bob referred to. He was involved several times as well. He made some observations about Sheila. He watched her share with the other females more than a few times. He also watched her deal with humans who were on the 'wrong side'. It didn't matter if it was Resistance related or not.

"I've needed to go on a few of those ops myself." Jim said. "The Metal girls do a lot of things for Cameron on the side. Sheila is very violent. I think she enjoys violence more than sex."

Bob was aware of some mental disorders where violence was 'sex' to some individuals. He thought the situation was actually a little deeper.

"I think it's just the 'Jesse' in her." Bob said. "She went through a lot in her future. She needed to do the things she did to survive. She survived."

Jim was aware of many of the trials and tribulations everyone went through. It was clear the humans were all affected by different things to varying degrees. It was also obvious the female Terminators experienced a lot more problems than the male Terminators did.

"It seems all the female infiltration units have problems, some of them more than others." Jim said. "I was able to get Sheila's location from John Henry. I asked him where all the female Terminators were at. I didn't want to get specific."

Bob thought it was good thinking on Jim's part. It didn't tip their hand.

"It was an excellent idea." Bob said.

Bob looked over the information.

Jim continued to look around where they were at.

"Are we going to stay off the grid?" Jim asked.

Bob thought it was best for now.

"Yes." Bob said.

Jim was a little concerned if any complications developed.

"What happens if we get in a jam?" Jim asked.

Bob looked at Jim.

"We're Terminators." Bob said. "We send whoever threatens us to the 'promised land'."

Bob asked Jim to drive back to the area where the 'van incident' happened. The van was gone so someone collected it. The location where they intercepted the van was burnt. There were bullet holes in the walls by the burnt out front.

Jim looked at all the damage. It wasn't what Bob described. Everything was destroyed.

"What happened here?" Jim asked.

Bob could only speculate.

"I don't know." Bob said. "Maybe someone thought they got sold out and wanted some payback."

Jim nodded. He knew it didn't take much for the criminals to turn on each other, or one of them to try to move up in stature. They all wanted to be the big fish. They didn't seem to care how they arrived there.

"It happens." Jim said.

Jim drove to another location John Henry provided him with. He spotted the vehicle Sheila currently drove.

"There's Sheila vehicle." Jim said.

Bob took a moment to look the vehicle over. It wasn't what he expected to see.

"She's driving a delivery van?" Bob asked.

Jim new where she acquired it at.

"She picked it up across town." Jim said.

Bob thought about some of the other reoccurring players on the field.

"Where are Steve and Tom at?" Bob asked.

Jim wasn't sure why it mattered. He wondered if he missed something.

"I didn't check." Jim said. "What are we after?"

Bob could see they were missing a lot of information.

"I really don't know." Bob said.

There was gunfire inside the building the delivery van was parked in front of.

Bob pulled his M9 out and looked for a target.

Jim possessed some heavier firepower.

"I have an M4 in the back seat." Jim said. "There are also two LAW rockets and an M79."

Bob looked behind him and picked up the M79 after he handed Jim his M4. He selected an HE round from the bandoleer of assorted rounds.

There was a loud crash and a body flew through the glass front doors and landed in the street.

Sheila hurried from the building and headed for the delivery van. There was an explosion from somewhere inside the building.

Jim was a little surprised at what he just witnessed.

"What's going on here?" Jim asked.

Bob didn't have a clue.

"I don't know." Bob said.

The situation looked like it could get out of control.

"Maybe we should contact her." Jim said. "We might need to provide some type of a coordinated response."

Jim went to activate his com.

Bob stopped him.

"Wait." Bob said. "She looks like she's out of danger."

They watched her move over with the van as she drove away. She over the man's legs she threw through the glass door. It was clear she did it on purpose. Whatever his previous injuries were, he now had a couple of broken legs to go along with it. He screamed loudly before he blacked out again.

They tailed her from a distance.

Jim was a little concerned about their visibility.

"She'll probably spot us." Jim said.

They watched her make another stop and go inside another building.

There was some more gunfire a few minutes later.

Three men came out of the building and surrounded the delivery van. They all carried weapons.

Jim charged his M4.

"Do you want me to 'pop' them?" Jim asked.

One man opened the back and looked inside. He pulled out a couple of bodies which were tied up.

"Wait." Bob said.

A few seconds later the delivery van blew up.

The rear door on Jim's SUV opened.

They both spun around. Sheila was there!

"Thanks. It looks like I need a lift." Sheila said.

Bob wanted to offer some explanation as to why they were there. He didn't want it to seem as if they were spying on her. It was what they were doing actually.

"We wanted to back you up." Bob said.

Sheila looked at both of them for a moment and then smiled.

"You might want to turn your coms back on then." Sheila said.

Jim wanted to know how much she knew.

"Did you know we would be here?" Jim asked.

Sheila shrugged her shoulders slightly. Things played out in her favor.

"CamNet indicated I might have some alternate transportation available." Sheila said.

More men came out of the building.

Sheila looked around in the back of the SUV. She picked up both of the LAW rockets.

"I'm going to borrow these." Sheila said. "Get ready to drive away."

Bob indicated the weapon he currently held.

"I have an HE round in the M79." Bob said.

Sheila armed a LAW rocket.

"Feel free to join the party." Sheila said.

She leaned out the side window and fired the LAW rocket. She wanted to keep the blast exhaust out of the interior.

Bob fired the M79 a second later. He reloaded.

Sheila fired the second LAW rocket. It was time to roll.

"Go." Sheila said.

Bob fired one more HE round as Jim drove away.

"I think we're done here." Sheila said.

Jim looked back in his rear view mirror.

"What was this about?" Jim asked.

Sheila thought it was actually some good handiwork on her part.

"I needed to pit three different gangs against each other." Sheila said. "In a few days, after they kill each other off, I should be able to mop things up. They will do most of my work for me. It's how it always happens. It seems like they would learn over time, but they never do. Greed blinds them. I guess it also kills them too."

Jim was still a little concerned about the timing of their arrival. There was no guarantee they would be where they were when she needed them.

"What would have happened if we weren't here to pick you up right now?" Jim asked.

Sheila didn't have any trouble acquiring a vehicle when she needed one.

"I was going to take one of their cars." Sheila said. "John is going to need us soon so I figured I could ride back with you guys."

Bob was a little perplexed with the operation as well as the timing.

"None of this seems like good planning." Bob said. "A lot of things could have gone wrong. It actually looks as if a few of them did."

Sheila believed it was all a matter of perspective. A lot happened in the background.

"I think it depends on who is actually doing the planning." Sheila said. "You were here when I needed you, as John will soon need us."

Jim was able to pick up on the inference.

"CamNet seems very active." Jim said.

Sheila thought it might be an understatement. Nobody was there to put a damper on CamNet.

"When the cat's away, the mice will play." Sheila said.

Somehow Bob wondered if they were just played.

Jim headed back to the base. He let Bob off at his SUV along the way.

Sheila moved up to the front with Jim. She thought of a movie Vanna watched recently.

"I didn't want to look like Miss Daisy." Sheila said with a giant smile on her face.

Jim tilted his head slightly.

John wanted to take advantage of Cameron being away. He wouldn't need to take any flak for being out in the field on an operation. Nobody was there to put a damper on it. He wouldn't need to hear about how he didn't need to take chances.

"I want to go after the two Grays." John said. "I want to be a part of it."

John Henry could see it was already a bad idea. At least half of it was already taken care of. He didn't want to be too descriptive with some of the action.

"The female's been dealt with." John Henry said. "Only the male still needs termination."

It was news to John. The targets were just identified. He didn't approve any other operation.

"Who took care of the female?" John asked. "Cameron is out of town."

John Henry was afraid the current situation was about to be a problem.

"I believe she scheduled Ally to deal with the female." John Henry said. "It's done."

John was a little confused. He needed a better explanation. It seemed like a lot was missing.

"Did Cameron uncover the information herself?" John asked. "How did Cameron know?"

John Henry wanted to keep it as factual as possible.

"It was her initial research. I followed up on it when she went on her current mission." John Henry said. "The female was a Gray in Cameron's future."

John Henry hoped John would be satisfied with his current information. It was correct. He didn't want to upset Cameron or whatever she was doing or planning.

John thought half the problem was already taken care of. He wanted to finish the job.

"Let's go get the male then." John said. "We have to hurt Skynet as much as possible in the present."

John Henry wanted to make sure there were plenty of Terminators.

"Who do you want on your team?" John Henry asked.

John thought Bob would be a good choice. He seemed busy the last few days. He wanted to give John Henry the option to go as well.

"Bob and one other will be good enough." John said. "You may go if you want to get out, but I would prefer you stay here with Savannah, just in case. Cameron has beat it into my head you're to protect Savannah if it ever all falls apart."

John Henry would like to get out in the field too sometimes. He also knew his function.

"I know my duty. I'll stay and arrange for one other." John Henry said. "Everyone will be ready for tonight and I'll have two drones out before you get there to do some recon."

John needed to think about the problem which developed the last time he was out. Someone knew where they would be at. They were still out there.

"I'm ready." John said. "I hope we don't have any uninvited company like the last time."

John was still upset over the mysterious drone. There were too many unanswered questions related to it. He remembered how Sheila and Hanna were there to protect and assist him. He still wondered about what Cameron was doing that day…. He knew she was up to something.

Cameron was all over him for a week and then nothing, again.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Defend

Where is the beginning
Where is the end
Is this not all
What we pretend

Into life's darkness
We sometimes descend
Where our thoughts go
As we receive and send

There is only so much time
That we have to spend
We must be choosy
To what we attend

We may find those
Who an escape they will lend
As we crawl from the mire
Allowing us to ascend

Along the journey
Some may become a friend
As thoughts from the mind
Are created and penned

Nobody