Chapter 994

Cold Room

Cameron looked around the sleeping quarters in the room she was in. There was no visible sign the girl was tied to one of the beds there. It was possible they kept her elsewhere. The girl may have only been in this room as a human shield. That was another form of abuse the way that she saw it. It was clear the girl was going to have a lot of emotional and psychological baggage on several levels.

Holly and her checked the rooms again on the way out. There was still no sign of where the girl was held. They headed down the stairs. Cameron spoke with Savannah over her com as she did.

Cameron thought Savannah was the best qualified member of their group to deal with the girl now and try to help her. Vanna would have been a better choice but she wasn't present. She wanted to make her reasoning clear to Savannah.

"Savannah, I know you want to be here with me." Cameron said.

Savannah I was worried about Cameron. She knew that she'd been shot at earlier and hit several times. Cameron indicated that she wasn't damaged. That still left a little to be desired. She felt her place was at Cameron side.

"You know I do." Savannah said.

Cameron felt this would be where human empathy could play a bigger factor in understanding. She knew that her 'emotions' and 'feelings' only went so far. She could feel 'anger' about what she believed was done to the girl. She needed someone to show the girl compassion.

"I want you to try and help the girl." Cameron said. "I think you're the best one here qualified to talk to her about 'everything'."

Savannah's mind was flooded with thoughts and stories about Vanna, Jesse and Allison. She could empathize with them but she hadn't experienced what they'd experienced. All she'd ever known was love. She loved all of the girls and all of the girls loved her. She understood her duty.

"I will, Cameron." Savannah said. "I know I'm needed elsewhere on this one. I'll help her."

Cameron was very pleased she was able to rescue the girl. The question remained as to what damage was done to her mind. She wanted Savannah to do what she could. She was grateful Savannah was there to assist her with this.

"Thank you, Savannah." Cameron said.

Cameron watched the girl depart with Hanna in the distance as Holly and her went back down the stairs. There was one last problem area to be dealt with there. It was the 'cold room' and whatever evil it contained.

She didn't know what they would find. So far there hadn't been a Terminator located at the port facility. She didn't believe that there was one there. If they were there, they would have had a fight on their hands. If it would have been a Liquid Metal Terminator, they would have had a real fight on their hands.

Cameron and Holly arrived at the 'cold room'.

Gail and Sheila both kept watch over the 'cold room' and around it. Gail covered the door with her M4. It was equipped with an M203. There was an acid round loaded into it. Sheila backed her up with her M4 and several Thermite grenades. Everything was at the ready in case they needed it.

Cameron was about to make entry into the 'cold room'. There were still some unresolved issues. So far she hadn't seen the girl's father. None of the other teams spotted him either, among the dead or dying. They also didn't know what they would find regarding any 'Liquid Metal'. This didn't look like a proper research facility. It seemed to be more of some rogue attempt to create something 'Liquid Metal'. She was unsure if a Terminator was what they were trying for.

She wondered if it wasn't a Terminator that they attempted to construct, what was it? Maybe she should have tested the samples that she had access to a little further. There wasn't time. She wanted to keep two of the samples for further study but Savannah insisted they be destroyed. That's what she'd done. Maybe she was about to encounter more of them.

Cameron looked at Holly. It was time to move the operation forward.

"Open the door and stand back." Cameron said to Holly. "Gail, follow me in, don't hesitate with the acid round. Sheila, be ready for anything."

Cameron was ready to move as soon as Holly opened the door.

It was Showtime.

Seconds ago:

Hanna carried the girl down the steps away from the sleeping quarters. She wasn't sure what images had been burnt into the girl's mind forever. She imagined they were all terrible. She looked at the drones across the room. They were very loud. There were dead men along the front side of the building. She didn't want any more images etched into the girl's mind than were already there.

"I need you to cover your ears and close your eyes for now until we get outside." Hanna said. "It's going to be very loud and there may be some flying debris. Everything's going to be better in a few minutes."

Hanna hurried across the workroom floor past the two drones. They both covered the 'cold room'. She headed outside to where Cammy and Savannah were. She carried the girl in her arms. The girl was still crying and asking for her father.

"We're looking for him." Hanna said. "WE need to get you to a more secure location."

Cammy was ready to get into the SUV. Savannah helped the girl into the back seat when Hanna set her down.

"Cameron wants you out of the combat zone." Hanna said. "Get the girl to a more secure and safer place."

Savannah wanted to make sure that her area of responsibility was covered.

"We were watching the side and keeping the back door open for Cameron's team." Savannah said.

Hanna quickly assessed the situation. She knew that there was drone support as well.

"I'll take over in back here." Hanna said. "The security will remain unchanged."

Hanna took up her station in the back and covered the side of the building as well.

Cammy received word that Savannah and her would have dedicated drone coverage as they whisked the girl to a safer location.

"We have drone support." Cammy said. "We will be covered from the air at all times."

That was reassuring news to Savannah. She wondered if it was the drone she spotted earlier with the markings from Young Allison and her on it. She figured it would be. 'Coltan Overcast' could live up to its name.

"Let's go." Savannah said.

Savannah started to talk with the girl and reassure her.

Cammy could see Savannah held back tears as she comforted the girl.

They didn't know what the girl would say or if she even could talk about what happened since she was taken as a hostage. They both expected the worst. The girl may be unable or unwilling to speak of the events that may have occurred.

Right now Savannah could only think about Vanna. Vanna was her from an alternate future. Whatever happened to Vanna is really what happened to her. It was clear that even years later Vanna still had difficulty speaking about some of the things that happened. She was pretty sure that in the case of Vanna and Jesse, that in a way, because so many things happened to them that most of them had less significance than if it was something that only happened a few times. There was a certain callousness that developed with years of abuse.

She looked over at the girl and understood that whatever abuse happened to her would be significant because it would be the first abuse she'd experienced and it had recently just occurred. She swallowed hard and spoke comforting words to the girl.

John Henry watched the body cam footage of the girls in action. He also monitored all their coms. There was some good news about the girl. Just how good or bad it would be, was still to be determined.

"Cameron got the girl out." John Henry said.

John was able to watch as Hanna took the girl from Cameron. He was more than a little worried about what would happen next.

"Now we need to find her father." John said.

John wondered if he was already dead. How was the girl going to be able to deal with that on top of everything else that occurred? He understood all the sacrifices his mother experienced to protect him. If something would have happened to her, it would have devastated him.

John Henry could tell that John was troubled by both the girl and her father. He could only reaffirm what they already knew.

"He wasn't spotted among the dead." John Henry said "They're about to enter the 'cold room'."

John was more than a little worried about what would happen next.

"Who knows what we're going to find in there." John said.

John Henry wanted to offer him a positive thought.

"Perhaps he's inside there, working." John Henry said.

John understood the influence of holding a loved one captive. He wasn't so sure that Cameron would see things the same way. There was always the chance that she was going to terminate him. He thought it was a pretty good chance. He was worried about the overall time frame as well. The team had been on the ground just over five minutes at this point.

"I think if he's working that it wasn't by his choice." John said. "We need to finish this up and get out with what they've collected."

John Henry kept progress of what the other Terminators at the port facility were doing. The Mike Force was now the clean up crew.

"The sanitizing of the compound is underway along with all of the intelligence gathering." John Henry said.

They watched the various body cams and the drone footage from inside the building. It was clear Cameron was about to enter the 'cold room'.

"There they go." John said. "Holly is about to open the door."

Holly opened the door to the 'cold room'.

Cameron went in with her M4 up. She searched for a target. Gail was right behind her with an acid round locked and loaded. Sheila moved into the doorway with a Thermite grenade. She was ready to throw it where it was needed, if it was needed.

There was a man standing there with his hands in the air. It was the girl's father.

"I surrender. My daughter is being held hostage here. We're prisoners here." The man said. "Please find her."

Cameron wasn't about to take any chances on this one. She scanned the man. He looked human. He didn't appear to be Metal of any kind.

"Sheila, Holly, I want you to search him. You can then take him outside for questioning." Cameron said. "Watch him, until we know everything that's happened in here."

Sheila led the man away as Holly searched him. She scanned him as well.

Holly was satisfied the man was human.

The man appeared to be more than a little confused about everything. He looked around in the darkness of the workroom floor as he was led outside. He could see activity going on by the front of the building where the loading dock was. It looked like people were carrying things. He couldn't tell what they carried.

"My daughter…." The man said.

Sheila and Holly moved the man along. They didn't want any delays until they were outside.

"We have her." Holly said. "She's been taken away for evaluation. If she needs medical attention it will be provided."

The man looked very terrified at this point. He also looked determined.

"I want to see her." The man said. "I want to know that she's OK."

Sheila knew that they needed to know what the man knew. They were going to question him and he was going to be scanned for truthfulness as he answered their questions. Right now he was actually their prisoner. They didn't tell him that.

"After we get some answers." Sheila said. "You're in no position to negotiate."

The man looked at the two drones that were still inside the building as they searched for targets. He'd never seen drones of that type before. He saw the shot up interior and some of the dead on the floor. It was very dark so it was hard to see any detail. He'd heard the short battle rage on the outside from where he was at inside of the 'cold room'. He'd hoped when they entered where he was that no one would throw a grenade in first. They hadn't.

They were about to exit when Holly stopped them. The two drones flew out of the building and disappeared straight up into the sky.

The man watched the two drones depart the building. He'd never seen anything quite like that ever. He was well versed in the scientific field and in aeronautics.

"Who are you people?" The man asked.

Sheila didn't think they were the ones who needed to explain themselves. They still needed to establish whether the man was a collaborator or not. It didn't matter if they held his daughter hostage. He may have worked with them previously and if there was some type of a dispute over money they may have put the grab on his daughter to have him finish whatever he agreed to start. All of that was yet to be determined.

"We're the people who saved you and your daughter." Sheila said. "That's all you need to know."

The man looked in the direction that the drones left.

"Those machines, what were they?" The man asked.

Holly didn't want things to get complicated. They needed some answers from the man.

"They're the machines that killed all the people inside." Holly said. "They're over us right now. Answer our questions and you will be unharmed."

The man looked at Holly and Sheila. He saw two other females enter into the 'cold room' as well. So far all he'd seen were females. He couldn't tell who the people were who worked in the front of the building. He could only see shadows. He wanted to see his daughter.

"My daughter…." The man said.

Sheila forcibly urged the man along.

"Your daughter will remain safe, no matter what's determined about your fate." Sheila said.

The man realized that he was still in danger with that comment.

Holly was able to tell the man was even more terrified than he'd been. She wanted to give him some reassurance.

"We're not the animals these people were." Holly said.

Sheila looked away. She knew that many of her previous actions didn't quite live up to Holly's description of them. She didn't regret anything that she'd done to the people who peddled drugs and flesh as if they were simple commodities. Maybe it was because she actually took pleasure in doing it that bothered her. She was a little distracted as she thought about her track record.

The man tried to break away.

Sheila quickly refocused and held him firm. He wasn't going anywhere.

The man was surprised at how strong Sheila was. He could tell right away that she was stronger than any man.

"You're super strong." The man said.

Sheila didn't want to divulge any details.

"I work out." Sheila said.

Holly moved over and held him as well.

The man could feel that she was as equally strong.

"You too…." The man said. "What is this? What's going on here?"

He really wondered what was happening.

Holly was worried that the man was going to be injured if he continued to struggle.

"Stop struggling." Holly said. "We're not like them."

The man relaxed a little when he realized he wasn't going to be able to break free from the two females that held him. He wondered what kind of 'workout' that they actually went through. There was only one thing that concerned him right now.

"My daughter…." The man said.

Holly tried to reassure the man as best as she could.

"She'll be given help and treated." Holly said. "No one is going to hurt her now."

Sheila had conducted plenty of interrogations over the years. Right now it looked like the man was going to be a problem. She didn't want it to be. If the man was clean he would be reunited with his daughter. If he wasn't, he would be terminated. She wanted to make everything as clear as possible to him.

"It's what you tell us that determines what happens to you." Sheila said. "We don't want to hurt you but we want answers. We can tell when you are lying."

The man was more than a little worried at this point.

They loaded him into Cam's SUV and drove off.

He kept asking about his daughter.

Cameron looked around the 'cold room'. There were more vats of liquid nitrogen. There was a work area and scientific equipment. There was a laptop and several notebooks.

Ally came into the room.

"We've collected all the hard drives and phones." Ally said. "I figured there was more in here."

Cameron had amassed a small collection of items.

"Take these things out and add it to whatever else you have." Cameron said.

Ally picked up the items and left the 'cold room'.

"I got it." Ally said on her way out.

Gail watched Ally go. She looked at Cameron and the vats of liquid nitrogen that were in the room. She wanted to make sure Cameron understood what needed to be done. Savannah made it clear earlier what they were to do.

"We need to destroy all this." Gail said. "Everything must be destroyed."

Cameron would like to study some of the material further. She knew that she needed to follow Savannah's directive. She wanted to see what they actually had right now first.

"We will." Cameron said. "Start dumping the containers out. Use the insulated gloves, be careful and stay alert. We need to watch the time."

Gail was aware of the time. She felt that they were running late.

"We've been here five minutes and twelve seconds." Gail said. "We need to go."

Cameron didn't feel they were that much behind schedule. She hadn't expected the upstairs part that had been added to the building. That delayed her more than anticipated. The fact that she was shot at and hit by two different Grays didn't sit well with her either.

"Hurry and we can be out of here at the six minute mark." Cameron said.

Cameron would have liked to have been out at the five minute mark. That wasn't going to happen.

Cameron was unsure what everything was but she decided it all needed to be destroyed. She didn't want to torch the entire building yet. There must still be someone on the way there. The building in flames would keep them away. She hoped that the drones would spot them.

She hoped there was a bigger prize to be found there or associated with this place. If there was a 'Skynet' somewhere, she wanted it. She thought this group was related to the mine they'd used the H-bomb on. That should have terminated whatever Skynet was there. She wanted to make sure there wasn't a new version of it somewhere else. maybe they should have tried to keep some of the Grays alive so that they could be properly questioned. It was amazing what a little enhanced interrogation could result in.

Cam directed the clean up operation with the Mike Force. The bodies were all piled into the refrigerator truck. All the computers were collected and loaded into some of the Grays vehicles in the parking lot. There were still a few that weren't severely damaged from shrapnel.

Everything they wanted was cleared out. The vehicles pulled out and took off.

Cameron and Gail worked to finish up in the 'cold room'. Cam and Ally joined them.

"Everyone and everything is away." Cam said.

Cameron had looked through the supplies that were inside the 'cold room'. She'd selected a few to finish up her part of the operation.

"Help Gail carry the tub outside." Cameron said. "It has acid in it so be careful. We'll use some Thermite on it outside as well. It's the only way to be sure."

Cameron wanted to take one last look around.

Cam followed her.

Cameron looked at Cam.

Cam didn't want there to be any problems or issues.

"Savannah asked me to stay with you." Cam said.

Cameron knew why she was still with her. She knew that Savannah was looking out for her.

"I understand." Cameron said. "I think we're done here for now."

Cam wanted to reassure Cameron that the operation went smoothly.

"We got the girl out." Cam said. "That was your main goal."

Cameron felt a mild glitch impulse but was able to suppress it.

"It was." Cameron said. "She's about the same age as Young Allison. All I could think is - what if it was he?"

Cameron needed to concentrate on what they were doing, not dwell on 'what ifs'.

"We'll figure this all out." Cam said.

"We need to get ready to intercept whatever was coming here. The attacking force wanted something or someone." Cameron said. "We still have six drones supporting us. The others went with Cammy's team and Holly's team."

Cameron with Cam collected Hanna, Ally and Gail. They left the tub with burning Thermite to finish off what the acid turned to ash.

They piled into Cameron's SUV and drove away for a few blocks. There was a drone high up above them.

Cameron checked to make sure Savannah and the girl were clear of the area along with the girl's father as well.

"Now we wait." Cameron said.

Ally wondered what it was exactly that they were waiting for.

"How long will we wait?" Ally asked.

Cameron would have liked to have known the answer to that. She didn't.

"I don't know." Cameron said.

John Henry and CamNet report nothing seemed to be headed their way, yet.

Hanna thought it would be a little safer if they were further away from the port complex.

"What about the authorities?" Hanna asked.

Cameron was satisfied that they'd finished everything up in just under six minutes and were away from the location and now able to conduct surveillance.

"CamNet and John Henry have everything covered." Cameron said. "Any 911 reports have been intercepted and dealt with. There's no emergency response headed here. This area has been designated as a filming site for a science fiction movie."

Gail wanted to know more about the girl. She knew about what happened to Jesse starting when she was at a younger age than the girl was.

"What about the girl?" Gail asked.

Cameron didn't know what any of the answers were.

"Savannah is with her." Cameron said. "She'll let us know soon."

A sad look came over Hanna's face.

"I know some of what Vanna went through." Hanna said. "It was terrible."

Ally felt the need for some additional justice.

"I have Allison's memories too." Ally said. "If we've missed anyone on this operation, I want to hunt them down with Hanna and Sheila."

Cameron understood that the three of them carried the trauma of what was done to their human counterparts. She wanted justice as well.

"It will be so." Cameron said. "I'll assist you."

Were they done for the night or were things just getting started?

John Henry began to fill them in with new information.

They weren't done for the night yet.

Cold Room

Everyone hopes in the beginning
That a relationship will bloom
When two hearts click
That's fair to assume

Deep in one's mind
The other will loom
If they want to share
It's logical to presume

If the goal of one
Is just for the womb
They get lost in lust
Their soul it will consume

When one feels used
They're soon filled with gloom
The relationship itself
Soon radiates doom

In a short time the bedroom
Becomes the relationship's tomb
One can't make the love exhume
It's just another dark and cold room

Nobody