Chapter 315

Not Enough

John Henry rushed to give Cameron the information on the female Terminator. He wanted to make sure she knew he followed her orders and directions. He didn't think Cameron would deactivate him, but one never knew. He was well aware of the female Terminators Cameron deactivated.

He waited until Cameron left Jesse's room. She didn't look happy. Then again she seldom did. He told her what they found.

Cameron took the report as good news. It would further her goals a little quicker. She wanted to get started right away.

"Where's she at now?" Cameron asked.

John Henry gave Cameron the information.

Cameron appreciated the opportunity to carry out her clandestine mission. She wanted to keep everything low key.

"Thank You." Cameron said. "Let's keep all of this under wraps."

Cameron finished checking on Jesse. She gave Gail and Ally strict instructions for Jesse as to activity and diet. The lifestyle and hardships Jesse endured were worse than those Vanna was exposed to. She was aware 'Jesse' from her future, Future Jesse, was pregnant and also lost her baby. Future Jesse was beaten and escaped from a submarine. Either or both of those events could have caused it. If nothing else they certainly accelerated whatever problems there were. It could also have been her own body was too badly damaged from the future. She was worried. She was very worried….

John Henry gave Cameron the specific information on the target and Terminators John's recon team uncovered. She wanted to take Gail and get the female Terminator. She wanted a clone of herself for Young Jesse. She wanted the new Terminator apprehended, Resequenced and activated. It was time for action.

Cameron quietly called Gail away from Jesse. Ally would stay with Jesse. Cameron wanted the operation done off the books.

"Gail, I need you to go with me at once." Cameron said after she received the information from John Henry.

She took Gail aside and gave her the details about the female Terminator. Gail said she was ready.

Gail wanted a copy of her program in a female Terminator chassis to personally watch over Young Jesse.

Cameron said she would help her. It was time to see what specifically would be the result.

"Have you decided upon the sheath you would like?" Cameron asked.

Gail smiled and looked over Cameron from head to toe. The decision was easy for her.

"I want to look like you." Gail said. "I want her to be activated with both of our programs."

Cameron felt an additional warning was necessary. It was the same thing she told everyone. Just like Jesse warned them about the darkness within her, she wanted to warn everybody she viewed herself as a failure. She wanted to keep it simple.

"I'm defective." Cameron reminded her.

Cameron actually believed she was. She wondered why the others couldn't 'see' it. She didn't understand why anyone would see her as 'perfect'. She believed she was as far from perfect as possible.

Gail didn't agree with Cameron's assessment. She thought it was more a matter of interpretation.

"It may or may not be true." Gail said. "You MAKE everyone love you, even if they don't want to. I think it says a lot about someone if they're able to do something so beautiful."

Gail and Cameron eyed each other for a few moments.

Cameron wanted to make the nature and purpose of the mission clear. She didn't want things taken too far too fast. Time would probably allow events to play out in a more sexual nature. She didn't think anything should be rushed.

"The purpose is to protect Young Jesse, not seduce her." Cameron said as she 'reminded' Gail.

Gail could see the way Young Jesse looked at Cameron.

"She already loves you. We could all see it." Gail said. "Your charm is captivating to all, Terminator or human. Young Jesse loves you as much as MY Jesse does."

Cameron thought of her rejection by Future John, Her John, and River. They were the three people she WANTED and loved. The ones she wanted the most, seemed to be the ones who wanted her the least. There was a harsh reality to life she wanted to make sure Gail understood. Not everything appeared as it was.

"It's apparently not as captivating to the ones I love." Cameron said. "I know since Jesse was your 'first', you want to be Young Jesse's 'first'. You must wait to be chosen and not push her. Until you are chosen, you actually have nothing. Let her grow some more. It's my only request."

Cameron knew having a Terminator as a lover, or mate, ensured better protection to the human. It's why the three girls from the alternate future were all watched over by one Terminator, and a 'back up' Terminator now.

Gail understood things better. Her association with Jesse on a personal level allowed her to expand and grow much more and she was able to previously. There were a lot of things she learned.

"I'll never do anything to hurt her. I'll face termination before I let any harm come to her." Gail said. "I want your program as well so I may blend in and adapt better as an infiltrator and if the time comes I want to be a better lover. I want to be chosen as well."

Cameron still felt she was defective. A second program always helped to 'calm' her.

"Your program should help stabilize mine as Holly's program has done on the other attempts we've made. Cam seems to be working out fine." Cameron said. "You will be given information about my spare chip. If I fall, my spare chip must be placed in one of the other 'Allison based Terminators'. John must not know it's happened. John is off limits as well or I'll personally deactivate 'you', our clone."

Gail knew the rules. The prize to her was Young Jesse not John. She was ready to act.

"It's all understood." Gail said. "Now it is time to 'get some'."

Cameron smiled. She was glad everything was squared away with Gail. It was time to take some action.

"Let's party." Cameron replied.

Cameron and Gail headed out.

Cameron put Sheila and Holly on 'action standby'. They were to be ready if things went bad. The female Terminators were all removed from combat duty by her to protect the three girls.

The current mission was a special operation by Cameron for Gail. No one was to know about the true purpose, especially Jesse. Gail didn't want to hurt Jesse by 'reaching out' to her younger self. She believed it would offer Young Jesse better protection going forward in case Judgment Day arrived. She wasn't sure if Jesse would see it the same way.

Cameron and Gail near the location where the female Terminator was spotted.

Gail looked off to the side.

"I see some gang activity." Gail said. "They are future Scavengers."

Cameron didn't want to deal with it right now.

"I can look into it later." Cameron said. "We have something more important to do now."

They arrived at the location where the female Terminator was spotted.

Cameron spotted the entrance to the location immediately.

"I see it over there." Cameron said.

Gail looked to where she pointed.

"Will there be any others to assist us?" Gail asked.

Cameron put some safeguards in place.

"We will have backup with two of my Terminators." Cameron said.

Gail didn't know much about Cameron's operation. Sheila, Ally and Hanna did because they 'worked' exclusively for Cameron for a time. They carried out numerous operations on their own. Most of them were 'off the books' operations. It was noted Sheila displayed some excessive behavior on multiple occasions as she dealt with their enemies. Gail was curious about other things.

"How many Terminators do you have?" Gail asked.

Cameron didn't want to get into any details. There was a lot which happened 'off the books' in non Resistance related matters. She desired to expand the size and scope of her operation. She didn't think what occurred was anyone's business other than hers.

"Not enough." Cameron replied. "My operation is classified."

Gail wondered exactly what Cameron was up to. It didn't seem like a good idea to question her about it. There was a more important task for them to do now. She could understand the 'need to know' nature of some things.

"So it's like, 'don't ask, don't tell'?" Gail asked.

Cameron needed to pursue her own goals as well. It wasn't something she even wanted to hint at. There were other things she wanted to accomplish for herself.

"I think it's close enough." Cameron said. "I need two more female Terminators for myself as well."

Gail wanted to ask what for. She thought better of it. She understood Cameron made a sacrifice with the current female Terminator, at her request for Young Jesse and her. She wanted to express her thanks.

"I appreciate what you're doing for me and Young Jesse even more, Cameron." Gail said with true sincerity. "Thank you. I'll assist you with any others once you have identified them. It will be our secret."

There were still a lot of things which concerned Cameron. She wasn't really sure where to start. She did know what her current worry was because of what happened with Vanna. It was something she feared was going to repeat itself.

"I'm worried about Jesse." Cameron said. "She has the same potential of a 'mishap' like Vanna's occurring. It may happen to Allison as well. Savannah, Young Jesse, and Young Allison don't have these hardships yet. They must be protected at all costs."

Gail understood Cameron's 'request'. She would honor it and make sure it happened if necessary. The 'Cameron' which would be in the clone's program would ensure it.

There was some movement.

Cameron and Gail perked up. The Terminators wouldn't be their only concern.

"I see there are two Grays." Gail said.

Cameron and Gail watched as Cameron's Terminators moved in. Both Grays were terminated instantly. She wanted Gail for backup, she also didn't want her to be damaged if possible. Jesse didn't need to see Gail shot up.

"You watch our six." Cameron said to Gail and followed her Terminators inside the building.

Cameron was willing to take the risk. She'd already put things in motion with her 'replacements'. Gail didn't have the same option.

The fact Cameron put herself at risk to assist Gail wasn't lost on her. Cameron earned additional respect in Gail's book.

John knew they found a hot spot. As to how hot it would end up was anyone's guess. He wanted an update.

"Is there any activity at the surveillance site?" John asked.

John Henry didn't want to deceive John so he truthfully told him he hadn't detected any. He didn't tell John he deactivated the feeds for the next two hours at Cameron's request. Therefore it was impossible for him to 'detect' anything. He was sure there was plenty going on there right now. It seemed to be a good idea because he didn't know exactly what it was. There was no need for him to speculate.

"I haven't witnessed any." John Henry said.

John kept track of his troops.

"I noticed Bob and Jim on combat readiness as well as Steve and Tom." John said.

John Henry stuck to the truth.

"I wanted to have them ready to move if needed. I'll keep you posted." John Henry said. "More activity could happen at the surveillance site. There were also a few things Bob and Jim wanted to follow up on."

Cameron suggested to him Al and Ed follow up on some of those things. If Bob and Jim went out again right now, John would want to know more about what they were up to.

Al and Ed visited the site Bob and Jim took down earlier in the day. The fire was burnt out and the building was only rubble at this point. There was still one police car and an unmarked car at the scene. They listened to the conversation between the Policeman and the Detective who was there.

"Are you sure you didn't notice any increased activity around this area?" The Detective asked.

"This is on my beat, but I was called away at the time it happened." The Policeman said.

"I don't like it." The Detective said.

"I don't either." The Policeman said. "How many bodies were there?"

"The coroner located the remains of eleven." The Detective said. "It looks like nine of those died in the fire."

"Were any of them females?" The Policeman asked.

"It's going to take a determination by the coroner to know for sure." The Detective said. "Some of them were thoroughly incinerated. There was something in there which burned really hot."

"I hope none of them were females." The Policeman said. "As far as the drug runners go, they got what they deserved."

"This was probably one branch of the Cartel working against another." The Detective said.

"It's almost like a race to see who can put more poison out on the street." The Policeman said.

"One of them lost a box truck not too far from here full of narcotics." The Detective said. "One witness thought he saw someone fire a bazooka at it."

The policeman laughed.

"I strongly doubt it was a bazooka." The Policeman said. "Then again, I guess anything is possible. I remember I heard one of the gangs was able to get their hands on a flamethrower. They were going to bring it to the next rumble but got arrested before they arrived."

"I remember when it happened." The Detective said. "It would have unleashed a new level of carnage on the street. I'm sure it would have escalated on both sides. I think we're done here for now. Keep your eyes open."

"There's always something going down somewhere around here." The Policeman said. "I'll catch you later."

The Policeman and Detective both left after twenty minutes. There was nothing else for them to do there. They should have left earlier.

Al and Ed waited. They were sure there would be others to visit the scene, especially since law enforcement was no longer there.

Two hours later a sedan drove by the location once. It was gone for ten minutes and drove by a second time. It stopped down the street.

Al was fairly certain who the newcomers were.

"This will be more of the same group which was inside this building." Al said.

Ed wondered if they knew where anything else was hidden. The best thing to do was to wait for them to find it. They could take it from them once they did.

"Let's see what they recover." Ed said.

Two thugs exited the back of the sedan and headed for the burnt out hulk of the building.

"The safe is open." The first thug said.

"It's cleaned out too." The second thug said. "I don't think it's going to go over well."

"I'm glad you get to deal with The Boss." The first thug said.

The men moved further around the building's remains.

"There's no sign of those sluts we were supposed to sell." The second thug said. "Look at the door on the holding cell. It looks like it was ripped off of its hinges."

"Maybe the firemen did it with the 'jaws of life'." The first thug said.

"Maybe they did, but there was no report of any survivors." The second thug said. "We were supposed to get a new shipment later on."

"Do you mean of 'the product', or the sluts?" The first thug asked.

"Both were supposed to arrive soon." The second thug said. "We will need to use the other location to process everything. We know the other truck with the 'product' in it was attacked by a rival group."

The two thugs took one last look around before they headed back to the sedan and got it. It drove away thirty seconds later.

Ed understood the nature of their current mission. It was to be limited in scope for them.

"It looks like we will have a second target for Jim and Bob." Ed said. "This is a non Resistance matter."

Al and Ed followed the sedan from a safe distance. They arrived at a new location twelve minutes later.

"This place looks like trouble." Al said.

Ed nodded his head. Everywhere they went seemed to have the same thing in common.

"Time will tell." Ed said. "What place do we ever visit which isn't trouble?"

Al couldn't think of any. There was always a problem somewhere.

"None of them, they all turn out to be trouble of some type." Al said. "Let's see what shows up."

Later on:

A box truck previously picked up on the traffic cams arrived.

Al and Ed were positioned on different sides of the new building.

"I see four females being shoved out of the back of the truck." Al said. "Several are bottomless."

Ed understood it for what it meant. He was on this type of operation before with Cameron.

"It's not good." Ed said. "There's going to be some corrective action required."

A few minutes went by.

Al watched as they unloaded the box truck

"There are pallets of plastic wrapped packages." Al said.

Ed was aware of the report from Jim about what he found earlier in the other building.

"It sounds like more drugs." Ed said.

Al wondered if they should let the original team finish off the operation.

"Do you want to leave this for Bob and Jim, or wait for Cameron?" Al asked.

Ed didn't want to dump it on Cameron's doorstep. He didn't like what happened with the four females who were unloaded with the truck either.

"We can take some of the risk." Ed said. "It will take some of the pressure off of Cameron. Someone needs to atone for the mistreatment of the females."

Al and Ed returned to the SUV and loaded up with their vests, and plenty of weapons and explosives.

"I'll go in the front door." Al said. "Everyone here needs to be terminated except for the females."

Ed hoped to get them to a safer location.

"I'll take the back." Ed said. "If the females survive, I'll drive them out in the box truck."

Al was ready to deliver some Payback.

"Affirmative….." Al said.

They both advanced with their M4, with an M203 loaded with a buckshot round.

Al ripped the front door open and passed through a small reception area. There was a door into the interior. He smashed it open and kept going. There were targets which popped up on both sides of him at times. They all fell. He could hear Ed 'cleaning house' from the rear.

Seconds ago:

Ed walked in the roll up door as the last pallet was unloaded. He left three guards with snapped necks behind to get to this point.

There were four men. He fired the buckshot round. Three of them fell. The other one went down with a single round from his M4.

He could hear Al working his way back.

The hostile response was mostly ineffective. They really weren't expecting an assault, even if their other building was destroyed earlier. They were all amateurs who were used to 'ruling' by intimidation. They were nothing more than punks and thugs.

Ed and Al met up.

Al was a little concerned about several individuals he hadn't seen.

"Did you see the thugs from the sedan?" Al asked.

Ed felt he knew where they were at.

"No." Ed said. "They're probably abusing the females right now."

They moved to the side and saw one of the thugs from the sedan look out of a room with a pistol in his hand.

Ed fired once and the thug's head exploded. He fell into the aisle.

Al advanced into the room and was shot three times in his vest by the other thug. The buckshot round from his M203 obliterated the thug's face.

It left one naked man scrambling around with a pistol. There was a female gagged and tied to a bed. She was nude. It was unclear what occurred. What was clear is what was about to occur. It wasn't going to happen now.

Ed moved up and was shot twice in his vest. He slammed his hands down and broke both of the man's arms. The pistol fell to the floor. He brought his hands down again. He broke both of the naked man's legs with a hard Terminator chop of his hands. Both fractures were compound. The man would bleed out in a few minutes.

Al hurried to a door and opened it. There were seven females in there. They all looked terrified. With all of the shooting it was understandable.

Ed freed the nude female. He handed her her clothes.

He placed his foot between the dying man's abdomen and chest to hold him in place. His chest would be crushed in seconds. He hoped to offer the female some resolution, even if it wasn't much.

The female spit in the nude man's face and joined with the others. It appeared several of them knew each other. She passed by the man on the floor. She spit in his face again. His eyes were open and lifeless.

Al turned the girls over to Ed. He went back up to the front.

Ed wanted to get the girls out of the building.

They both tossed Thermite grenades behind them.

Ed led the girls to the box truck. They were reluctant to enter.

Al joined them and tossed down a satchel full of cash.

"Divide it up equally." Al said. "You'll be driven to a safer location and be free to go."

One of the girls translated for the others.

They entered the truck at that point. It was only the lure of cash which convinced them.

Al closed the door and Ed drove off.

The building was a raging inferno.

Ed drove five miles away to a Mall-Mart shopping center and parked off to the side of it.

Al drove their SUV behind the truck until it parked. He got out and opened the back of the box truck. He hoped the females would assist each other. There was no guarantee they would. They did their part. There was only so much they could do.

"Some of you can buy some food and clothes for the others." Al said. "You're free to go and keep the money."

The girls all thanked Al and Ed.

The two Terminators drove off.

"How do we report this?" Ed asked.

Al didn't think it would be a problem.

"It wasn't a Resistance operation." Al said. "We're assigned to CamNet right now."

Ed figured Cameron and CamNet would be pleased with the outcome

"In that case, we report it as a success." Ed said. "What else is on the list?"

The two Terminators were pleased with their actions. They felt they made a difference tonight and helped some individuals who desperately needed it. They believed their main accomplishment was to free the females. They were aware of the type of life they were headed for. They may not have been able to prevent the abuse which occurred before they arrived, they did however prevent things from getting worse.

Earlier:

Savannah was in the background at the Command Center and listened like always. She followed every operation. She always tried to learn as much as possible. She knew Cameron was out with Gail. She also knew John Henry cut the feeds at the surveillance site.

She felt she needed to 'help' Cameron in whatever she was doing. Savannah knew Gail was out with Cameron which was something 'different'. It was only a matter of time until John noticed the feeds were off. It was time to act and use some of the 'training' Cameron provided her with. Not every battle needed to be fought on the battlefield.

"John, can you help me with my studies for a few hours?" Savannah asked him.

John didn't see anything was imminent at the one 'hot' lead they currently watched. He thought he made the right move earlier to return to the base after they set up surveillance. Things took time to play out.

"Sure, Savannah, I can help you." John said.

Savannah led John away. She glanced back at John Henry, who nodded once at her. She winked in return.

John Henry was aware Savannah monitored everything which happened, or they planned, all of the time. She learned so much from everyone. She actually started to remind him a little bit of River. It worried him a more because she also reminded him of Cameron. He thought about it a even more. He thought he needed to add in Mrs. Weaver too. Now he was really worried.

John Henry witnessed Savannah in action. She wasn't one to back away from a challenge. She was fearless in dealing with their Terminators. She wasn't intimidated by anyone. He knew it was all training and conditioning from Cameron. He was aware Cameron wanted to create her own 'replacement'. Cameron was doing a good job of it too with Savannah. He was well aware Young Allison was being 'conditioned' as well at an even greater rate from a much earlier age. It was another way for Cameron to create a human version of 'herself'.

There were times he felt he was just along for the ride, even if he was connected to a supercomputer most of the time.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Not Enough

There's what one has
There's what they still want
No matter how much they have
They continue the endless hunt

There's no beginning
There's no end
What is it really
That one will spend

Greed seems to blind
It can lead to lust
Something that can't be bought
Is another's trust

Life is about give and take
Many take more than they give
Some may try to forgive
As trust flows through a sieve

More and more stuff
As they huff and puff
When too much
Is still not enough

Nobody