Chapter 679
I Forbid This
It looked like there was the potential for two different groups to be involved at the mine. Maybe there was more from the group they'd taken down at the old packing sheds and from the mountain top.
John didn't like the way things developed.
"What do we have happening?" John asked. "It doesn't look like this is going to be wrapped up as neat as we thought it was going to be."
John Henry didn't know for sure but all the indications pointed to a fight between two of their enemies.
"It looks like we are in the middle of a Gray and anti-Metal fight." John Henry said. "I still have communications blacked out in the area."
John wondered how well they've been able to cover their tracks from the last operation.
"What's the word from the tramway or from the mountain?" John asked.
John Henry was able to keep the lid on the damage to the railing at the upper station and someone who jumped out of the cable car right before it docked. There were only a few other patrons in the cable car at the time and none of them really knew anything about what actually happened. Some of them identified the person who jumped out as a female. It happened so fast that most of them didn't know.
"The incident was reported as vandals fooling around." John Henry said. "I've suppressed the reports. Any surveillance footage has been erased from yesterday."
John hoped they could catch a break on some of the past video files.
"What about their old footage?" John asked. "Can you get anything useful?"
John Henry was able to establish video images of all the Grays and Terminators that were on the mountain during the last raid. He hoped to be able to identify any other individuals that were seen in the company of the ones that they knew were terminated. Some of those other individuals would turn out to be Grays that were in the white vans and at the old packing house.
"They store two weeks worth of video on site." John Henry said. "I'm going through it now. I'm trying to identify Grays or any Terminators that may have been active in the last two weeks."
John hoped it would give them a good indication how many people they may have missed when they took down the two locations and the white vans. There was another loose end that he was a little worried about.
"What about the girl we released?" John asked.
John Henry was a little more worried about her. He didn't know how well she would stick to the plan that was laid out for her or not.
"She's on her way to Arizona." John Henry said. "She hasn't stopped."
John was worried she might be a little too independent.
"I don't know how much slack we should cut her. What do you think?" John asked.
John Henry would have preferred if she'd been terminated. That would be the end of that story.
"I really don't know." John Henry said. "Savannah was the one who insisted she be given a chance. Jesse agreed with her one hundred percent."
John figured he needed to trust Savannah's and Jesse's judgment. He turned his attention back to the current operation. He checked the drone images but everything looked pretty much the same.
"Has the truck moved?" John asked. "Where's Gail's team at?"
John Henry saw that Gail's team was secure. As far as the truck went, that was a mystery in itself.
"Gail's team is still in place but concealed currently. As far as the truck, they seem to be waiting for something." John Henry said. "Even if they could contact someone, we probably have their phone and they're dead."
John knew that they'd collected most of the phones. They would be processed and gleaned for any information they could provide. There was no guarantee that everyone involved in the operation was dead.
"What if we don't?" John asked.
John Henry had a few options available to him but he was hesitant to use them. They could produce a lead they could follow up on or they could spark an attack.
"I can let the call go through." John Henry said. "What if we end up with an HK drone strike against us?"
John felt that they had that covered. They had their own airborne security force at the location.
"We still have two of our drones on station." John said.
John Henry was worried about the difficulty they experienced tracking the HK drones before that were associated with this group. He really didn't want to take any chances.
"We've experienced trouble tracking the drones we've encountered with this group." John Henry said. "One could slip through."
John knew that would endanger Cameron, Savannah and the entire team. Maybe some of the recently captured HK equipment would yield some answers.
"Has the evaluation started on what we've captured?" John asked.
John Henry knew the process was underway. It was far from being completed.
"All three drones have been deposited at three separate secure locations." John Henry said. "The machinery is still on its way."
John reflected on the versatility that they are able to use on the mountain top and the assistance with the HK drones that they'd needed to collect from the old packing house.
"Do you think we need more helicopters?" John asked. "It seemed we needed all three for this operation. One of those was a bonus that we didn't add on our own, at least not from the Command Center."
John Henry was aware that the Young bunker sent one of those helicopters on their own initiative. In hindsight he realized that he should've done that on his own prior to them doing that. That wasn't the first time that Young Allison was one step ahead of him.
"If we have time to actually plan an attack, I would say 'yes'." John Henry said. "We usually have equipment or material to confiscate after a battle now. Much of it we can move by trucks. Those are normally appropriated at the scene or located nearby."
John knew that meant they stole what they wanted, when they needed it. Most of it was returned. Not all of it. Savannah was very adamant that if the equipment or vehicles they needed to use couldn't be returned that the owners be compensated as long as they weren't associated with the perpetrators.
"I don't like leaving loose ends." John said.
John Henry knew that Cameron didn't like the wait once a target was identified.
"Time isn't always in our favor." John Henry said.
John would prefer when they did some type of planning first. That way they could get more of their troops into position. He did liked the cover story that Sheila and Ally used for their helicopter rental.
"We usually only have a few hours before one of these operations goes hot." John said. "Maybe we can put some additional helicopters on retainer for 'movie' work."
John Henry knew that that was a good idea. He immediately took action to cover all the bases.
"I've just filed electronic paperwork for both of the helicopters we used yesterday and today." John Henry said. "I've also done the same for the S-64 'Skycrane' we used before. If there's no current brush fire, we have priority status on its use."
John remembered the unusual design of the 'Skycrane' and how big it was.
"That thing can lift just about anything." John said.
John Henry could agree with that assessment.
"It's very robust." John Henry said.
John Henry looked at a few screens. It looked like they picked up some movement.
"John, the truck's moving." John Henry said.
John sat up in his chair
"I don't want it to leave." John said.
There was a long pause.
"That won't be a problem." John Henry said. "It's not going anywhere."
John Henry was aware of what was about to happen.
The man in the mine was unwilling to cooperate. He was belligerent right from the start.
"You're that 'Metal Bitch' we've heard about." The man said. "You're Connor's 'Metal Whore'."
That statement seemed to anger Cammy as much as it did Cameron.
Cammy stepped forward and acted. She brought the butt or her M4 stock up against the man's mouth in a rapid strike motion. He flew backwards with a scream. He looked up from the ground, both his lips were split open and all of his front teeth were missing. He spit out the broken remains. She reversed her M4 and pointed it at his head.
"Talk or die." Cammy said.
The man looked at her with contempt and hatred in his eyes.
"You're going to kill me anyway." The man said with a mouthful of blood and broken teeth.
Cameron was dissatisfied with his attitude as well.
"You're right." Cameron said. "I don't like your tongue."
The man started on another string of profanities.
Cammy stepped forward again.
Cammy kicked the man in the crotch with more bone breaking sounds. Everything between her foot and the broken bones was crushed flat by the force of the impact. The man passed out immediately and died soon after.
Bob watched Cammy and Cameron in action and witnessed the entire event. He thought it was a little extreme but effective. He believed that would play out better with additional prisoners to question.
"These people are as big a threat to us as the Grays." Bob said.
Cameron felt that they were a bigger threat at times. They could infiltrate the Resistance and get close to John.
"We need to apprehend another one and find out which timeline they're from and when." Cameron said. "These people pose a threat to John in every timeline."
It was clear to Bob that the man indicated Cameron was at wherever location and timeline that he originated from. It could have been one of the Duplicates or one of her clones too. Without knowing where and when he was from, there was no way to be sure.
"And you…." Bob said as he looked at Cameron. "You must be there too."
Cameron was sure that she would need to conduct some type of remedial corrective action in the future, every future. Some 'temporal management' might be necessary.
"I need to go on some 'time missions'." Cameron said.
Cammy was still upset over the entire episode. She wanted retribution as well.
"You can use my chassis with your spare chip." Cammy said. "That's for any or all of them to eliminate these people."
Cameron would prefer to clean things up herself. She did appreciate Cammy's offer however.
"Thank you." Cameron said. "Let's go see what else we find in here."
"Affirmative…." Bob said as he took the lead.
Bob saw the anger Cameron experienced and the cruelty that followed. He saw Cammy respond to them in the same way. They both ran the same program. He knew these matters were very personal to Cameron. He knew she was capable of love and hate. He was aware at this point in his development that he'd started to experience some of those emotions as well. He was just glad he didn't have the advanced programming like the female Terminators shared. It seemed life was complicated enough without the added complications of advanced feelings and emotions that seemed impossible to control.
He really wondered why Cameron and Cammy didn't fight with each other even more than some of the verbal sparring he heard from time to time. Even though they shared almost everything in common, there was still the potential for a lot of friction between them over what they didn't share.
Gail kept a watchful eye on the suspect's vehicle.
"The truck's starting to move." Gail said.
Savannah looked over at the truck. The movement that Gail indicated was a little bit different than what she expected to see. As she watched, the truck was flipped over on its side. It was then flipped onto its roof which collapsed.
There was one of Cameron's Terminators on each side of the flipped over truck. One of them reached down and pulled the man out as he fumbled for a pistol. The closest Terminator grabbed it from him. The other Terminator rolled the truck twice more and sent it over the embankment. It disappeared with a crunching sound and breaking glass. There was no explosion or fire.
The first Terminator held the man. He carried him by his neck. He brought him over and dumped him in front of the girls. The captured man unleashed a string of curses, insults and 'promises' of what he was going to do to them.
Gail disliked the rudeness in front of Jesse and Savannah. She wanted to snap his neck but she knew they needed some answers first.
"We need information." Gail said. "I can try and beat it out of him. He may not talk."
Jesse didn't care for the man's foul mouth either. She pulled out her knife.
"I can make him talk." Jesse said.
Savannah looked at Jesse and up to the hillside where Cameron was at. It was time for answers. She was tired of dealing with the Grays and all of the crap that they were responsible for. She thought about getting her hands dirty earlier up on the mountain side. That didn't happen. She was ready to make a statement. It was time.
John Henry monitored the events with the man from the truck. He didn't approve of what Jesse was about to 'teach' Savannah.
John saw that the truck was flipped over and the driver drug out. The video feed after that switched back to the mine.
"What happened to the driver?" John asked.
John Henry knew what was actually occurring. He didn't wish to elaborate.
"He was terminated." John Henry said.
John Henry knew he would be soon enough.
Since this didn't appear to be a Skynet facility, John wanted to conclude the operation.
"I want Cameron to withdraw if there's nothing in the hillside. Have them deposit the bodies in the opening and we will blow it closed." John said. "I want this wrapped up and everyone back."
John Henry observed that that process was already in progress.
"I've sent word." John Henry said. "They're moving the bodies now and word will be relayed to Cameron inside."
John was afraid if Cameron was deep inside the mine that she wasn't going to want to come out. He knew his request or even 'order' wouldn't do it. He hoped Savannah would do it. He didn't know what she was currently involved with and about to expand her knowledge of enhanced interrogation. He would have been appalled if he knew how 'enhanced' it actually was.
Word from the Command Center was relayed to Cameron.
"I'm not ready to withdraw." Cameron said. "I want answers."
The Terminator that relayed the message thought it was quite clear.
"It's an order from the General." Lou said.
Cameron knew that John couldn't control her.
"That's understood." Cameron said.
She didn't want to make a big deal about it in front of the other Terminators.
Cammy looked at Cameron for a moment but didn't say anything
"Pass the word back we're working on it." Cameron said.
Cameron didn't intend to leave that mine until she found some answers and everything that was in there.
Lou ran back with a new report.
Cameron's mind changed instantly.
Cameron received word that Jesse wanted to conduct 'enhanced interrogation' and would 'instruct' Savannah. That was very disturbing to her. She didn't want Savannah to do that or learn that.
A sense of fear and panic gripped Cameron. She no longer cared about what was in the mine. She cared about what would be in the mind of Savannah going forward.
"Cammy, finish up in here and blow this place." Cameron said as she ran from the opening toward the interrogation area.
She wanted answers but she didn't want Savannah to obtain them Jesse's way. This operation was over to her now as she ran to stop Savannah.
Earlier:
Savannah asked Gail to start on the man 'Terminator style'.
Gail beat the man with no apparent effect. There were multiple broken bones.
Savannah knew she needed to cross the line. She was hesitant to do so.
Jesse had done this type of interrogation to more than a few men.
There was the sound of someone running towards them. Gail rose up to meet the threat.
"Stop!" Cameron said as she ran to the scene that began to unfold.
Jesse wanted to get the information. She didn't care how she got it.
"We need the information." Jesse said. "He needs a little motivation."
"I don't want Savannah to do that." Cameron said.
Savannah watched as Gail beat the man earlier. She knew that the man needed further motivation or he wouldn't talk.
"We've tried everything else." Savannah said.
Cameron didn't want her girls to act like this. They were both above this type of behavior.
"No, I forbid it." Cameron said. "Neither of you will do this."
"Cameron, I need to learn to do whatever it takes to protect the future, John, Allison and YOU." Savannah said. "I don't WANT to do this but it must be done."
Gail didn't want to see Savannah go down the same road that Jesse traveled many times.
"Wait." Gail said. "He's ready to talk now."
The man talked and talked until Cameron swiftly terminated him.
Cameron prevented Savannah from 'going there', this time. She knew next time Savannah would do what she thought needed to be done to protect the group. It was clear Savannah was ready to cross the line. She knew that if she hadn't been there that Savannah may have acted.
She knew what Savannah wanted to do now.
Cameron looked silently at both of them for a long moment. She turned her back and walked away.
Cammy and Bob found nothing further inside the mine. The interior was already blasted closed further in. That apparently happened years ago. They decided to pull out after Cameron took off. They placed some charges and left. All the bodies were placed inside before the entrance was sealed. All the vehicles were inspected and driven away.
From deep in the canyon there was a series of explosions, all of them were muted except the last one.
The operation was over.
Cameron didn't want Savannah to find the darkness. She didn't want the darkness to find Savannah.
I'm Not Going To Let You
Many things to me have been said
Nobody knows how they can hurt
Nobody understands my feelings
I'm treated very rude and curt
I may know a lot of things
I lack experience in others
I want to learn and understand
If I'm given my druthers
Someone may be different
Not everyone is the same
That's no reason to blame
Or make them feel any shame
When someone reaches out
Don't be so quick to bite
They are who they are
Try not to treat them contrite
Only those who you really love
Can ever truly hurt you
You're never going to do that again
I'm not going to let you
Nobody