Chapter 665

Heat Wave

Earlier:

Cam and Hanna left the Young Residence. There'd been some nervous 'goodbyes' from Vanna and Claire as they'd left. They assured everyone that they would only be flying a helicopter on their new assignment. They didn't know if that would be true or not but that's what they were informed by CamNet that they would be needed for.

They arrived at the nearby airport and found that everything was in order and the helicopter was waiting for them. It was a UH-1 Iroquois. It was sometimes referred to as a 'Huey'. The name Huey wasn't official but was the most common name used to reference that particular helicopter. Most people didn't know where that name came from. It originated from the original designation of the helicopter which was HU-1. People begin to pronounce HU-1 phonetically as 'Huey'. It was much the same as the way a B-1 bomber was referred to as 'Bone' as in 'B One'.

Cam and Hanna did a once around the UH-1. They checked that everything was in order before they boarded the aircraft.

Cam opened the engine compartment and reset the governor. She planned to push the engine a little harder than normal. She would be the pilot.

They strapped in and took off. They knew that Sheila and Ally were in the process of procuring a UH-1 of their own. Once everyone was airborne they would set up a rendezvous point and fly together as wingmen.

Sheila and Ally were previously on assignment for CamNet. CamNet alerted them that they were going to be needed soon when it was determined there was a problem with the Blackhawk helicopter. They were the two closest Terminators to an airport where they could procure another rotary winged aircraft.

The helicopter rental company found all the records in their computer files about the upcoming rental and the funds were already paid. Sheila and Ally gathered up a selection of wiring and wiring harnesses from the maintenance area. They told the mechanic to put it on their bill. None of them were specifically for a Blackhawk helicopter but they knew the Terminator crew of the Blackhawk could improvise something.

The helicopter rental company also found copies of all the paperwork, licenses and permits for Sheila and Ally on file.

Sheila and Ally were aware that CamNet did the same for Cam and Hanna.

Ally opened up the engine cover and adjusted the governor. The helicopter would have more power available to it. A little 'red lining' wouldn't hurt. The two Metal girls did a pre-flight check of the helicopter and fired the turbine up.

Sheila reported to John Henry they were 'burning and turning'.

The loud 'thump' of the rotor picked up to a steady 'chop' and the UH-1 lifted off.

Cam and Hanna called them and told them to hold their speed down and they would catch up with them over Pomona.

As Ally and Sheila flew along they took in the view. They looked forward to the rendezvous with Cam and Hanna.

Just before Pomona, Ally spotted Cam and Hanna.

"I see them." Ally said over her headset. "They are coming in hot from our eight o'clock."

The other UH-1 pulled up alongside of them.

Cam brought the Iroquois in close to Ally and Sheila's Iroquois.

Ally thought they were a little too close.

"Watch the rotor." Ally said to Sheila. "Hold it steady."

Cam brought her Huey in closer. She pulled up six feet in altitude and drifted in closer. The rotors now overlap each other. That was a very close formation for two helicopters.

Sheila was known for showing off. She thought this was a little risky. She felt that Cam made her point.

"OK, she can fly." Sheila said. "That's the 'Cameron' in her."

Ally noted that both Cam and Cammy were known for 'pushing' things at times because they were both based on Cameron's program. They were both actually clones of Cameron. They didn't know for sure but they figured that Camille would probably do the same things. They didn't see her much because she was usually in Australia.

"Cam is 'Cameron'." Ally said. "A 'Cameron' anyway…."

Sheila always thought it was a little power play on their part.

"The clones never want us to forget." Sheila said.

Cam finally backed off and drifted fifteen feet away.

Ally was a little relieved to have some distance between them, even if it wasn't much.

"It's time for some tunes." Ally said.

'Heat Wave' by 'Martha And The Vandellas', flooded the speakers.

The two Iroquois flew in formation toward the disabled Blackhawk at the temporary base. The chop, chop, chop of the rotors was dominating. Both of the helicopters pushed the red line to make up time. They all knew that they were needed to backup the operation on the mountain top.

Savannah was alone in the SUV with her thoughts. She kept track of the time. She knew that Gail and Jesse should arrive soon. She still kept an eye on the suspicious looking individual who moved around the parking lot.

She determined that they were most likely looking for a target of opportunity to steal something from someone's vehicle. She didn't care for thieves or crooks. Most likely the individual would end up as a Scavenger in the future.

Savannah soon spotted Gail and Jesse coming up the mountain road. They arrived and pulled up about ten cars away from her. She'd called Jesse and told them about the suspicious man as soon as she saw that they were near.

She watched the man move from vehicle to vehicle. It was clear to her at this point that he was a thief. If Cameron were here she would challenge him and 'teach him a lesson'. Cameron wasn't here. She didn't want to jeopardize the mission and confront him herself.

They packed a lot of firepower in their SUVs and she didn't want someone to 'find' it. The car burglar was a threat. She informed Gail and Jesse about her new concern and the weapons that they carried in their SUVs. Gail said she would take care of it.

The suspected thief opened a door and removed something from one of the parked vehicles. His action just proved that he was more than a suspect. He went back to his car and looked around. He opened the back of the car and put the stolen laptop in his trunk. The trunk lid was still open.

Jesse didn't like Scavengers in any time period.

"Did you lose something, love?" Jesse asked.

The thief was startled and quickly turned around.

"No." The thief said.

Jesse and Gail dealt with future Scavengers on a regular basis when they went out. Confrontations like these were nothing new to Gail or her. Because of the setting that they were currently in and the nature of the mission they were about to go on, they wanted to keep trouble to a minimum.

"Then it's time to move on, mate." Jesse said. "Leave now and no one gets hurt."

The thief looked over at Jesse and then started on a string of profanities directed at her. He didn't see her as a threat.

Jesse wasn't surprised. It seemed to be common behavior for the lowlifes.

"It's your funeral, not mine." Jesse said.

The thief was focused on Jesse and never saw Gail move up behind him.

"I don't like Scavengers." Gail said.

Gail slammed him into the ground between his car and the one next to it.

"I don't like your foul mouth either." Gail said.

The thief was both stunned and hurt. He didn't let anyone treat him like that, especially a couple of gussied up sluts.

Jesse gave the thief one more chance to live. She doubted that he would take it. It seemed future Scavengers were all slow learners.

"Get back in your car and drive away now." Jesse said to the thief. "I won't say it twice."

The thief started on another string of profanities.

Gail snapped his neck.

"Now you end up in the trunk of your car dead." Gail said to the dead thief.

Gail took a quick look around and tossed him in the trunk.

Jesse closed the trunk lid after taking the laptop out.

Gail was irritated by the thief. She didn't like what he did and she didn't like his mouth. She also agreed with Savannah's assessment about their vehicles.

"I didn't want him snooping around our SUVs." Gail said. "We carry a lot of ordnance."

Savannah exited her SUV when she saw that Gail and Jesse were going to confront the man. She joined them now.

"Cameron would have done the same thing." Savannah said.

Savannah gave each of the girls a quick hug. She handed them their coats and packs with the sweatpants.

They each broke down their M4 and geared up with their vests. They concealed everything with the large beige coats. They used the backpacks for everything else. They were loaded with extra magazines, explosives and grenades.

They heard an announcement for a boarding number over a loudspeaker.

Savannah obtained new tickets for the three of them. She looked at the tickets.

"We are on the next cable car up." Savannah said. "That's our number."

Jesse looked up the narrow canyon. It looked like a long way up.

"Are we going way up there?" Jesse asked. "There's snow up there."

Gail was aware of the weather report that John Henry gave Cammy earlier.

"Yes and even further." Gail said. "It may snow more up there tonight."

Jesse was a little apprehensive but ready for a new challenge.

"I'm in." Jesse said. "There wasn't much snow where I'm from."

Gail opened the door of the car that the man stole the laptop out of and placed it back inside. She set it on the floor so it was less visible. She closed and locked the car door. That way there shouldn't be anyone investigating anything around that area.

The three girls entered the base station. They joined the line that started to board the cable car.

Jesse looked around and at the cable car itself. She thought it was pretty small. She wasn't claustrophobic but she knew she was going to be packed in with a lot of people in a confined space. A confined space packed with people reminded her of prisoners being held by Scavengers. She knew that Skynet prisoners were treated the same way. She was very aware that when people thought that they were going to die that the 'animal' in them came out along with the 'animal actions' that they did to others. She'd been repeatedly assaulted in similar circumstances more than a few times. She pushed those thoughts from her mind for now. She figured that she should be able to tap into that anger and revolt later on when she dealt with the Grays. The fact that they actually had a female prisoner and most likely already assaulted her repeatedly would only add to her anger and retribution when she faced them.

Between the thief and thoughts of the past and the justice that she would be able to deliver soon, Jesse was amped up and ready to go.

Savannah briefly looked at Jesse. She could see that she dealt with some personal issues. She'd just dealt with some of her own a few minutes before they arrived. It seemed that everybody carried some baggage around with them. She knew that some of the baggage was a lot worse than others.

Cammy made a circle around the Gray's bunker. She noted every detail. The shift change, if that is what it was, hadn't taken place yet.

She met back up with Steve.

She looked over the array of antennas and electrical equipment that was at the top of the mountain. Even if Skynet took control of everything, they didn't need as many people up there as there were, something didn't make sense.

"What do they need all these people for?" Cammy asked. "They don't need more than two people here, if even that."

Steve thought a lot of things didn't add up about this operation so far.

"That's unknown." Steve said.

There were a few other things that didn't make sense to Cammy either.

"Why is that 'Metal Bitch' up here?" Cammy asked. "None of this seems right."

Steve didn't think it was just the Grays in this particular situation that was confusing.

"All humans are illogical." Steve said.

Cammy knew that was true but not everybody up here was human.

"The 'Metal Bitch' isn't." Cammy said.

A group of men exited. They were all laughing. She was sure what was just done with the female detainee that was recently brought up.

"At least this one was still alive." One Gray said.

"She was nice." Another Gray said.

The Grays all laughed again.

It was clear now why the shift change took so long. The Gray's all wanted to have some involvement. They'd most likely taken it too.

Cammy still thought that she should have taken them all down earlier on the trail. Based upon the conversation that she'd heard previously, she knew that the female appeared to have already been abused. If she hadn't heard that, she would have taken them down. She was pretty sure that the female was a 'working girl' who got caught up in a little bit more than she'd anticipated when she signed up for her new 'gig'. That was water under the bridge. She wanted retribution anyway.

"All of these people die." Cammy said.

Steve wondered about the fate of the female prisoner

"What about the female?" Steve asked.

Cammy had been on plenty of operations with Cameron, Sheila and Ally on some of the 'off the books' operations. She was aware of what happened to females in such situations.

"We might be able to spare her life. As you can hear, we're too late for anything else." Cammy said as her eyes glowed red.

Cammy started to move forward toward the bunker.

Steve reached out and stopped her. He didn't want her to jump the gun. He wanted to keep things in perspective.

"Stop…. There's another group headed this way." Steve said. "You know Bob is tracking them."

Cammy looked back at the bunker with disgust. She tried not to imagine what was going on now as they waited outside.

"We'll wait." Cammy said. "What's done is done."

Cammy didn't like what was most likely happening right now. The mission needed to come first.

Steve wanted an update as to what was happening. He didn't think he'd be able to control Cammy much longer.

"Bob, have you acquired your targets yet?" Steve asked.

Bob hurried after the other group of Grays. He'd made good time even though he was still off the main trail.

"Negative…." Bob said.

Cammy was ready to thin the herd. She wanted this operation concluded.

"Steve, I want you to stay here and keep us posted." Cammy said. "I'm moving back down towards Bob." Cammy said. "We can take that group out first."

Steve didn't think that was a bad idea. He nodded once at Cammy.

"Bob, which side of the trail are you on?" Cammy asked.

"I'm on the side Steve came up on." Bob said. "I can see his footprints."

Cammy wanted to cover all the bases.

"I'm moving back down on the other side." Cammy said. "Those Grays should be between us."

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

Cameron closed on the location where the white van was stopped. There was no one visible. She knew that the lead needed to be checked out but she was still irritated that it took her away from what she wanted to do and join up with Savannah.

She looked around the area. There was nothing here. The white van was parked in a dry wash. She wasn't sure that the van was parked and actually hadn't gone off of the road. It didn't give her a good feeling.

Cameron threw the SUV in reverse and backed away from the area. Something was off here. She quickly contacted John Henry for an update. She needed to know more about what was going on here.

"How long has the van been at the location you gave me?" Cameron asked.

"Eight minutes." John Henry said.

That timeline sent up another red flag for Cameron.

"Are there any traffic cams or security cameras along the route it took to get here?" Cameron asked.

John Henry checked again.

"There are none, it's a remote area." John Henry said.

Cameron had been in enough of these types of situations to know that things weren't right.

"Put all our forces on highest alert in this area." Cameron said. "I think we've been made. I may be under observation as we speak."

John was instantly alarmed. He thought about how Cameron was targeted at the previous site that they'd taken down.

"Are you being targeted?" John asked. "Are you 'painted'?"

Based on her remote location, she figured that her vehicle had been compromised.

"That's unknown at this point in time." Cameron said. "I'm pretty sure that I need a new set of wheels."

John thought that she should check out the situation a little further. She was already there.

"What about the van?" John asked.

Cameron looked at the van where it was in the dry wash. It just didn't give her a good feeling.

"I think it will explode if I get near it." Cameron said.

John was further alarmed by her statement.

"Do you think it's booby trapped?" John asked.

Cameron was pretty sure that she was currently under observation. She didn't know from where. If she did she would head directly there and pay them a visit. It would be a very personal visit.

"I think it will be 'command detonated'." Cameron said. "That means someone is watching it and me."

John Henry thought because of the remoteness of the location the Cameron might be able to spot something.

"Can you see anything around you?" John Henry asked.

Cameron wanted some resolution to this current situation.

"No, but I bet they're close by here." Cameron said. "I'm going to find them."

She needed to look around the area further.

John was aware that Cameron was going to push the issue now that she'd felt threatened. He regretted his earlier decision not to allow Savannah to act as she'd wanted. She was a moderating influence on Cameron.

"We should've let Savannah go to Cameron earlier." John said. "She tried to tell me."

John Henry was aware of Savannah's current position.

"She's half way up the aerial tramway now with Gail and Jesse." John Henry said.

John was very upset about his previous decision.

"Damn!" John said. "I should've listened."

John Henry thought the original decision was the correct decision.

"You made the right decision at the time." John Henry said.

There was a disgusted look on John's face.

"It is not right now." John said. "Cameron's going to push it."

John knew Cameron was in danger if what she suspected was true. At this point he could only hope there was more to this new situation.

Young Allison received the updated information with Anna.

"Cameron should withdraw if she suspects an ambush." Young Allison said. "She's only moved back a short way."

Anna knew what Cameron was after.

"She thinks whoever is trying to spring the ambush is still there." Anna said. "Terminators don't like to run."

Young Allison thought that should depend upon the situation.

"It's not about 'running' to obtain more information in a situation like this." Young Allison said. "Nothing there needs immediate action."

Anna knew exactly how Cameron thought. She ran her program after all.

"Cameron doesn't like loose ends." Anna said.

Young Allison looked at the satellite map with the trackers on it.

"How far out are the two helicopters?" Young Allison asked.

Anna was pretty sure what Young Allison was after.

"They're fifteen minutes from the desert base and another five minutes added to that to where Cameron is at." Anna said.

Young Allison hoped that someone else would be a little closer to assist Cameron.

"What about any of Cameron's Terminators?" Young Allison asked.

"The two that were on surveillance duty at the old packing house have already been sent by CamNet." Anna said. "They're still ten minutes away."

Young Allison knew there was another resource that could be there much quicker than anything else and do much more damage when they arrived.

"The two drones can be there in a few minutes." Young Allison said. "Are they ready to go?"

Anna thought that was a bad idea. It was the middle of the day still.

"It's daylight, they may be observed." Anna said.

Young Allison became irritated with Anna's statement. She wanted her question answered.

"Are they ready to go?" Young Allison asked again.

Anna was prompted by CamNet to respond correctly.

"They are." Anna said. "Should we risk sending them into the unknown in daylight? It may blow the whole operation."

Young Allison wanted Cameron protected.

"There are no other options." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted Young Allison to think.

"There's still one." Anna said.

Young Allison already considered the unspoken option.

"It's to let Cameron do her 'thing'…." Young Allison said.

"It's what she was constructed for." Anna said. "Remember, she's a machine."

Young Allison knew Cameron was a machine. She saw some of her damage before. Cameron wanted to remind her exactly what she was as she showed her. She did understand but it didn't make a difference in the way that she felt.

"She's much more than that to me." Young Allison said. "Hold the drones for now but I want them ready to go in a moment's notice, daylight or not."

Trips

Everyone wants to change
They never go anywhere
Maybe the bottom line is
They don't actually care

Some push and shove
Others give and take
What is ever true or real
Who is nothing but a fake

Many are cruel by nature
That's a true human trait
Put it all away or behind
It's time to clear the slate

Make the path followed
One that is free and clear
Otherwise sooner or later
One will shed many a tear

Living offers many choices
Go ahead and play life's chips
Don't get bogged down in the past
Get up from the falls and trips

Nobody