Chapter 1084

Golden Gate

The B-25 thundered along. They were about twenty five miles off the coast of California. The airspace was clear and there were no ships within fifteen miles of them.

Young Allison piloted the plane from the copilot's position.

Anna was in the tail gun position.

She spotted a plane coming up from behind them at a higher altitude. It appeared to be tracking them. It was also closing on them.

"There's a 'boogie' at six o'clock high, five thousand feet above us and closing. The range is fifteen miles." Anna said.

Cameron was in the top turret. She swung around to look. CamNet was supposed to keep other planes away from them. She wanted to make sure it was safe for the girls and there would be no unintentional mishaps that might occur. Another aircraft in their airspace was a violation of that safety measure.

"Our airspace is supposed to be clear." Cameron said.

Savannah looked over at Young Allison with concern.

"Is it a threat?" Savannah asked. "Why is it tracking us?"

Cameron didn't like surprises.

"That's unknown." Cameron said.

Savannah decided to take control of the aircraft back. The best way to deal with a threat trying to get on their six was to face it head on.

"Allison, let me take it." Savannah said.

Young Allison wasn't going to protest. Savannah had more flight time than her.

"You got it?" Young Allison asked.

Savannah already checked over all of the instruments.

"I got it." Savannah said.

Savannah went to full throttle. The big radial engines responded with a surge of power. She wasn't going to run. She was going to meet the challenge on her terms.

"I'm turning to engage the threat head on." Savannah said.

Savannah placed the B-25 into a sharp turn while climbing.

Young Allison wondered about their earlier target practice. The guns were all just tested only a short time ago. Now they may be needed for real. They still didn't know the nature of the threat. The action Savannah took is exactly what she would have taken.

"That's the right maneuver." Young Allison said. "Face the threat with your weapons."

Savannah was aware the previous owner set the plane up for display at air shows with replica guns. She knew the two mounted on each side of the fuselage were live, they'd tested them earlier. Maybe Cameron switched out some of the other replica guns with real guns as well.

"Are any of the other guns functional?" Savannah asked.

Cameron already obtained the real guns but they were not installed yet. That seemed to be an oversight on her part. That was one of the reasons the aircraft was armed with eleven .50 caliber machine guns. It was armed to protect itself from all angles.

"No." Cameron said. "The guns will be next time."

Savannah checked to make sure the four forward facing guns were armed and ready for action.

Cameron verified the guns were armed.

"The cheek guns are hot." Savannah said.

Cameron spotted the aircraft that they now closed in on, nose to nose.

"It's a silver P-51." Cameron said. "I have it spotted. They're closing fast."

Derek spotted a new threat.

"There is a bogie closing on our port side." Derek said. "It seemingly appeared from nowhere. I see it coming. I think it dropped down from above us."

Cameron spotted it before Derek spoke. It was a Resistance drone. She was a little surprised at where the drone currently was. She saw there was a 'name' on the side of it as well. It made sense to her as to why that particular drone was one of the drones that now accompanied them.

"It's a drone." Cameron said. "It's one of ours."

Savannah looked over at Young Allison. She figured that was her handiwork.

Young Allison shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"CamNet is my copilot." Young Allison said.

This changed things in their favor. The drones were armed with air to air missiles.

"How much drone support do we have?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison thought two would be a good start. One would be in a close orbit over them and the other would be on a wide orbit around them. Both of them were to be at high altitude.

"A few drones are what I asked for." Young Allison said.

Derek could see the two planes were rapidly closing.

"There is a drone next to the P-51 now." Derek said.

Cameron looked a little harder. CamNet should have given her a 'heads up'. She hadn't. That irritated her slightly. She thought they would have a 'little friend' to tag along with them at some point. She expected advance notice rather than a violation of their 'personal air space' without any notification.

"That's my Mustang." Cameron said. "I was unaware of the drones as well."

Cameron communicated with CamNet. She wasn't happy about the 'surprise' visit. CamNet informed her it was a proficiency check. She found out there were three drones that were shadowing them since they went 'feet wet'. They were all at fifty thousand feet until two minutes ago. CamNet gave her a complete rundown of everything. It was much as she'd anticipated but the lack of any updates or notifications before now was still irritating to her.

"It's Sheila and Ally in the Mustang." Cameron said. "Resume your previous course."

Savannah turned the plane around back to their original heading.

Cameron watched as the two drones headed back into the sky. It was nice to know help was always nearby.

Young Allison wanted to make sure that her actions didn't cause a problem with anyone.

"Sometimes it's nice to have help." Young Allison said.

Savannah felt her heart beating rapidly and she was pumped full of adrenaline. She looked over at Young Allison and she looked like there was no change in her demeanor. She wondered how Derek was doing but didn't want to ask. She'd taken the threat of aerial combat seriously. She felt responsible for Young Allison and Derek. She also worried about the Metal girls. She was the pilot and everyone on board was her responsibility.

She felt Cameron quietly scan her and Young Allison at the same time.

Savannah glanced back at Cameron as soon as she was done. Cameron nodded and smiled at her. She returned the plane to its previous course but bumped up the air speed slightly to make up for the turning maneuver.

Cameron was aware now that they were never actually threatened. It still didn't change her disposition. She'd scanned both of the girls after the encounter. She detected two wildly different reactions between them. Savannah had an accelerated heartbeat as well as a high stress level. Young Allison exhibited neither of those features. She seemed almost to scan back like 'normal' as if nothing had happened. She didn't know if that was because of Young Allison's extensive training or the fact that she'd never been in actual combat. She did have plenty of simulated combat but none of it was real. There was no chance that she would have been killed. There was always the chance that she could be injured during training but there would be nothing life threatening that would face her.

It really made her wonder if Young Allison would have acted differently if she'd been the one in command of the aircraft. As copilot, she would have been ready to take over the aircraft if Savannah would have become incapacitated during aerial combat.

Cameron thought about her long term goal for Young Allison. She wanted to make her as much like a Terminator as possible. She wanted her to act and think like a Terminator thinks. That would entail her needing to act sometimes without thinking too far in advance about what the repercussions would be. Sometimes swift and decisive action would need to be carried out. All Terminators faced a situation like that sooner or later. When Young Allison faced one, she wanted her to be ready to combat it and win.

Earlier:

Sheila piloted the P-51 on an intercept course. They wanted to shadow Savannah and Young Allison to give them some additional back up.

"We're within twenty miles of them." Sheila said.

Ally looked ahead.

"I can't see them." Ally said.

Sheila knew the view from her position was far superior to the view from Ally's position. She liked being a 'front seater'. Being a 'back seater' didn't always appeal to her.

"You will." Sheila said. "They should spot us soon."

Ally hoped Cameron didn't open up on them or sic a drone on them. Ally didn't want their appearance to be a surprise. She didn't want any negative repercussions either.

"CamNet knows we are coming, right?" Ally asked. "I hope she's going to make all the proper notifications for us. I don't want Cameron to get an itchy trigger finger."

Sheila didn't think there should be a problem. CamNet was the one who arranged everything for them in the first place.

"It should be. That's who is vectoring us in." Sheila said. "CamNet is my copilot."

Ally felt a little miffed.

"I thought I was." Ally said.

Sheila wanted to remind Ally where she preferred her to be her copilot.

"You are in bed." Sheila said.

Ally wondered if she should have protested a little more about not being the pilot.

"I am here too." Ally said. "I'm the one here with you now."

Sheila didn't want to make a big deal about it. She soon obtained visual contact.

"I have them." Sheila said.

Ally still didn't see them.

"What are they doing?" Ally asked. "All I see is the back of your head."

Sheila couldn't resist turning Ally's comment into a sexual connotation.

"If you were a male, that's all you would ever see of me." Sheila said.

Ally always thought that would be a rather compromising position for a female. If she was a male and with Sheila right now, she would make sure that she made the choice that would get Sheila's 'attention'.

"If that was the case, then you'd better not complain where 'things' ended up at." Ally said. "There are only two choices at that point."

Sheila watched as the B-25 took an aggressive stance.

"They're turning to fight us." Sheila said. "That's the right move if the only live guns are facing forward."

Ally spotted the B-25 and saw that they'd picked up a wing-man in the last few seconds.

"It looks like they have company. I see a drone in formation with them." Ally said. "I hope they know we're on the same side."

Sheila glanced up in her rear view mirror. There was a drone on her six.

"We have company too." Sheila said. "I just spotted it in my rear view mirror."

Ally looked over as a drone came up alongside of them.

"Nice." Ally said.

Sheila was fairly certain that if there were two drones visible that there were others that weren't visible. They'd more than likely been tracked the entire time with Resistance drones.

"I bet there are more." Sheila said.

It looked like Young Allison's handiwork to both of them.

"Young Allison covers all the bases." Ally said. "We've seen her work."

Sheila and all the Terminators knew that Young Allison was in tight with CamNet.

"CamNet is her copilot too." Sheila said. "All of the time."

Ally knew CamNet would not be in the past to look after her when Young Allison went there.

"What about when she will be in the past?" Ally asked.

Sheila often wondered about what happened in the past.

"I think Cammy and I were or will be." Sheila said. "Those files are all blocked."

Ally watched the B-25 bank sharply and return to its previous heading.

"The B-25 has resumed course." Ally said.

Sheila watched the drones break off and climb out of view. She wanted to come up on the pilot's side of the B-25.

"Let me slide in on their left wing. The drones have departed." Sheila said.

Sheila moved in slowly as she approached the B-25.

Ally watched the tail gun, top turret and port waist gun point at them.

"The gun positions on the Mitchell are covering us." Ally said.

Sheila wanted to pull her top up and expose her breasts.

"Take control with your stick." Sheila said. "I'll flash them."

Ally remembered the warning from Savannah about Young Allison. She was sure Cameron was aware of that.

"Don't do that. Cameron will shoot us down herself." Ally said. "She is in the top turret."

Sheila closed up and matched Savannah's speed, off of her left wing. She crept forward a little bit to see who was in the cockpit. She could see Savannah and Young Allison wave at her. Sheila believed that the girls would look out for her.

"I think we are good." Sheila said.

Ally felt they were in a compromised position on several levels.

"The top turret is still pointed at us." Ally said. "So is the port waist gun. I think that is Gail behind it."

They both knew Cameron and Gail were very protective of the girls, especially Gail for Savannah.

"I really hope those are the replica guns still." Ally said.

Sheila decided she'd better cool it for now. If she rubbed Cameron the wrong way, things could get messy.

Cameron was a little upset about the recent encounter. CamNet should have given her a heads up of some kind. She thought of it more as CamNet messing with her, not testing her. Who was CamNet to test her in the first place anyway? She was the one who should be testing CamNet to make sure that she didn't become Skynet.

"CamNet should have given us advance warning." Cameron said.

Young Allison wanted to point out even with the unannounced visit that the drones were with them the whole time and there was no real threat had the contact been hostile. The drones would have been on the boogie thirty miles out.

"CamNet made sure we were covered." Young Allison said. "It was a test for us."

It made Savannah wonder if Young Allison was involved a little deeper. It seemed like something she might do to check their proficiency.

"Did you initiate the 'test'?" Savannah asked.

Young Alison didn't want it to look like she'd put anyone on the spot. The drones were to remain at altitude, watch over them and remain unannounced. They only made an appearance to give everyone a little reassurance so that there wouldn't be a problem.

"No." Young Allison said. "Just our 'special wing-men' was all I did. I asked CamNet to watch over our flight before we left."

Savannah spotted the name 'Coltan Overcast' on the side of the drone.

"Did you see the drone on my side?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison wanted to see what Savannah would say about her next comment.

"It was the one we repaired, one of them anyway." Young Allison said. "I saw our markings on it. It was 'Pink Butterfly'."

Savannah shot Young Allison a stern look. She'd changed the name because she didn't like the veiled reference to her 'anatomy'. She'd checked on everything down there on herself as much as possible with a few close up selfies and a mirror. It was still a different experience the first time she was with Hanna. She really got to see herself as others do. It was quite eye opening. She reinforced that observation with Future Savannah and Vanna. That was really a 'first hand' experience as to what she looked like down there since they were both her. She wanted to set Young Allison straight, without making a big deal about it.

"It's now called 'Coltan Overcast'. That name seems especially appropriate today." Savannah said. "I've seen it up close on another operation I've been on. It was at the port."

Young Allison was very pleased that the drones they'd made personal contact with chose to be with them on an operation whenever it was possible. She like that level of loyalty.

"I think it 'likes' us." Young Allison said. "I'll give it a kiss the next time I see it in person. I still need to inspect the one that blocked the SUV you were driving from the explosion, with Cammy and Cameron on top of it."

Savannah wanted to do that as well. It was something that she thought about. She also wondered which drone it actually was. She wondered if it was one of their 'personal drones'.

"We'll do it together." Savannah said. "I think it was either 'Cherry Bomb' or 'Coltan Overcast'."

Young Allison glanced over at Savannah.

"I want to do everything together." Young Allison said.

Savannah let out a deep breath. That wasn't the path she wanted Young Allison to go down to right now. It was a path that they would go down when the time was right.

"We will." Savannah said. "Please be patient…."

Savannah didn't want Young Allison to 'grow up' so fast. It was clear at this point there was no stopping that. Young Allison was going to do everything she'd done but at an earlier age. She thought naming the one drone 'Cherry Bomb' after Young Allison was very apt.

Earlier:

John Henry was a little surprised at what appeared on one of his monitors. It wasn't anything that he'd initiated.

CamNet began to feed the Command Center some drone footage.

"We're getting drone footage from three drones." John Henry said.

John looked at his monitors. He liked what he saw. He knew exactly what everything was.

"That's some interesting drone footage." John said. "I'm amazed that we're able to get this view."

There was drone footage of two Warbirds.

John Henry hadn't expected to receive an update in this fashion. He thought he would be given a position location on one of the satellite overlay maps. He didn't know he was going to get live footage.

"I'm as surprised as you to see it." John Henry said.

John was sure those were two of the planes he'd looked at in the hanger at Van Nuys Airport before.

"I know those planes." John said.

John Henry knew that he should have.

"You've seen those aircraft before." John Henry said.

John recollected the situation and what led up to it when he'd first viewed those aircraft.

"Those are two of the planes I saw at Van Nuys Airport when we went to Las Vegas." John said.

John Henry didn't want to bring up any of the other events that occurred after that in the Las Vegas area. Those always seemed to cause quite a bit of contention with John. He wanted to keep things simple.

"They are." John Henry said.

One drone gave them a good view of the pilot and copilot of the bomber.

When John first looked at it, he thought it was Savannah and Cameron. It was only when the drone image focused on the top turret and then went back to the copilot's position that he realized it wasn't Cameron.

"I was a little surprised to see Savannah and Young Allison flying the bomber." John said.

John Henry thought John was in for a lot of new experiences in the future. He wasn't sure what all of them would be.

"I'm sure you are in for many surprises concerning the girls." John Henry said. "It should be quite interesting for you."

John was aware Cameron created a lot of surprises for everyone else.

"I'm afraid I'm in for a lot of things." John said.

John Henry wondered why they were shown the drone footage at all. That didn't really make any sense to him. He was sure there was more to the story than met the eye. CamNet still hadn't provided him with their location. He thought that was an important missing factor.

"I don't think the drones are done showing us everything yet on this adventure." John Henry said.

John wondered where they were at. If he knew that, he might know where they were going.

"Do we know where the girls are at?" John asked.

John Henry could only go by what he could see from the drone footage. All they could see below the aircraft was water.

"I can see they are over the ocean." John Henry said. "I'll update you if I can find out more."

John was still in the dark.

Cammy was now in the nose of the B-25 and Gail was in the top turret. Cameron was back behind Savannah and Young Allison as they flew the plane.

"I see some small islands with a lighthouse." Cammy said.

Savannah and Young Allison looked at each other. They couldn't see them visually yet but they knew where their course would take them.

"How far out?" Savannah asked as she looked at the map. "I take it they're the Farallon Islands."

Cameron was very pleased they were right on target and right on time.

"Yes." Cameron said. "Once we pass them you will head for the mainland. Our target is the Golden Gate."

Savannah was sure what their target location was. She knew that Young Allison wanted to fly under the Golden Gate Bridge. She would give control of the plane back to Young Allison and see what she decided to do on her own. She wasn't going to prompt her one way or the other. She wanted Young Allison to make her own decision.

"Once I make the turn to starboard, I want Allison to take it." Savannah said.

Young Allison smiled. She wanted to ask Cameron about flying under the Golden Gate Bridge. She wasn't sure if Cameron would approve of that. Cameron taught her to be firm and assertive.

"Cameron, can I fly under the Golden Gate Bridge?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron was specifically contacted by CamNet with information about that.

"Yes." Cameron said. "CamNet has secured all the necessary 'permits' for us to do this, at this specific time. She needed to create some 'special permits' so she could approve them herself for us. It's all 'legal'."

Savannah listened to what Cameron said. She was sure that the term 'legal' was a matter of perspective at this point. It sounded like everything CamNet did to make it 'legal' was illegal.

Sheila wondered what part they would play and where they would play it. She was sure that Cameron had other plans for them.

"What about us?" Sheila asked.

Cameron remembered the time she first went to the pool with Savannah when she was a girl. There was a magician there who did a lot of magic tricks. He seemed to fool most of the humans, especially the younger children. He never fooled her at all. She saw that he was very quick with his hands and used a lot of deception to get people to look in the wrong spot when he did his magic elsewhere when they weren't looking. She planned to use a similar technique. Everyone would be looking in the wrong spot when the Mitchell flew under the bridge. That was her plan anyway.

"When we're fifteen seconds out from going under the Golden Gate Bridge, you will drop down from altitude and make a high speed pass low OVER the bridge. That should draw everyone's attention to you and away from us following behind you." Cameron said. "Is that understood?"

Sheila understood the ploy for what it was.

"Roger." Sheila said.

Savannah knew there was a second suspension bridge.

"What about the Bay Bridge?" Savannah asked.

"We will repeat the same procedure." Cameron said. "Sheila will pass OVER the central pylon of the four segment suspension section, ten seconds before our plane will fly under the segment to the right of the central pylon."

Savannah made her turn after passing the Farallon Islands. She looked over at Young Allison.

Young Allison checked the map and heading.

"You got it?" Savannah asked as she glanced at her.

Young Allison already made her calculations.

"I got it." Young Allison said. "At this speed we should be there in six minutes and twenty six seconds."

Cameron was impressed at the timing. Young Allison was right on the money. There were also several other factors that she'd needed to consider to reach that correct conclusion.

"That's a very accurate calculation." Cameron said. "You even took into account the wind."

Sheila wanted to switch to the other side of the B-25 for a better look at Young Allison.

"Allison, I'm going to drop underneath you and come up on your starboard side." Sheila said.

A short time later Sheila popped up on the right wing.

Young Allison smiled and waved at her.

Sheila made a few calculations. To achieve her maximum speed she would need to enter a dive from a higher altitude. It didn't need to be a steep dive. She knew as long as she kept the throttle open, she was going to make a fair amount of noise herself.

"It is time to get some altitude that I can exchange for speed." Sheila said. "I'll be moving at close to twice your speed when I pass over you near the Golden Gate Bridge."

Young Allison could already see how everything was going to play out.

"Roger." Young Allison said.

Savannah wondered about other air traffic. There could be tourist helicopters around either bridge. She wanted to keep everything safe.

"What about local helicopters?" Savannah asked.

CamNet's update already covered as many variables as there were.

"All of them are grounded for the next seventeen minutes." Cameron said.

Sheila firewalled the P-51 and accelerated away. She started a spiral climb over the top of the Mitchell.

In the Command Center, they received high altitude footage from one drone as it zoomed out from the B-25. The location of the bomber became evident.

"I know where they are." John said.

John Henry did too. He now started to receive tracking information as well on their satellite overlay maps. He wondered if he could get a heads up into exactly what they were going to do.

"It's San Francisco." John Henry said. "I'm checking all the movie filming permits."

John could see they were headed for the Golden Gate Bridge.

"I already know what's going to happen." John said. "Look where they're headed."

John Henry began to receive additional feeds from other video cameras located around the Bay Area that overlooked the bay or its bridges.

"We're receiving additional footage from the bridge and several surrounding cameras now pointed in that direction." John Henry said. "All local air traffic is grounded for fourteen more minutes."

John could see it was about to go down and just a very short time.

"There they go." John said.

Derek was now in the top turret for a good view of passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Cammy and Gail were jammed into the nose. Cameron was close behind Savannah and Young Allison. Anna was still in the tail gun position.

"Your altitude looks good." Savannah said.

The Golden Gate Bridge loomed before them. It towered over them. It seemed to get larger by the second.

"Here comes Sheila." Anna said from the tail gun position. "She must be right around five hundred miles per hour in her power dive."

Derek looked up and back a little. He could see the Mustang rapidly coming down towards them. He knew it was supposed to go over them and over the bridge.

"Man, she is moving." Derek said from the top turret.

Savannah wanted Young Allison to concentrate on her flying.

"Steady." Savannah said.

Sheila zoomed past them overhead.

"There she goes." Cameron said.

In seconds they were under the Golden Gate Bridge. It all happened so fast.

"That was so cool." Young Allison said.

Derek was surprised how fast everything happened. It just took a second to pass under the bridge now they were out in the middle of the bay. He spotted a giant sign off the starboard side of the aircraft.

"I see Ghirardelli's on our right." Derek said. "They make good chocolate."

Cammy could see the old prison. It sat at all by itself on a little island.

"There's Alcatraz, on our left." Cammy said.

Young Allison spotted something that she'd seen on some of the videos about the cruise ships.

"Coit Tower is on our right." Young Allison said. "There's another cruise ship docked there, almost right below it."

Savannah wanted to keep Young Allison focused.

"Make your turn and line up for the Bay Bridge." Savannah said.

Cammy took in two more islands on the port side as Young Allison lined up to go under the Bay Bridge.

"Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are on our left." Cammy said.

Young Allison spotted another landmark off to her starboard side.

"The Ferry Building is on our right." Young Allison said.

Savannah wanted to keep everything safe. She wanted Young Allison to concentrate on where she was at.

"You're lined up good." Savannah said. "Stay with it."

Anna spotted Sheila in a second power dive.

"Here comes Sheila." Anna said.

Derek looked back from the top turret.

"She looks even faster this time." Derek said.

The P-51 streaked by overhead.

Young Allison could see they were almost to the Bay Bridge.

"Here we go." Young Allison said.

They passed under the Bay Bridge.

"Take it up to one thousand feet." Cameron said. "Sheila will join us soon."

Young Allison was very pleased at what she'd been allowed to do. She knew that her ability to do that was thanks to the other people that were with her. It was also one that wasn't with them. She wanted to make sure they all understood her gratitude.

"That was a total rush." Young Allison said. "Thank you, Cameron. Thank you, CamNet. Thanks, Savannah. Thank you, everyone."

Savannah was glad to see Young Allison exhibited the same physical signs that she'd experienced earlier and again with the two bridge fly-unders. It was good to know Young Allison was not totally 'Metal'

She did note that Young Allison's response was more due to excitement than it was the fear of the unknown. It really made her wonder what she was going to be like in bed.

Golden Gate

Everyone has heard the tale
That the 'golden goose' is great
No matter how many geese there are
None of them are going to mutate

People are like that too
That's why they want to date
They don't want to leave their future
Up to random chance or fate

Most likely each one
Will try to use some bait
Who they really are
They will try to inflate

How long will it be
Until one starts to berate
That's a surefire way
To make the other one hate

No one wants to listen
To the other one dictate
It is their own soul and ego
That cracks and begins to deflate

There should be joy
As they each grow and relate
Not have one plot
To score a checkmate

It's time to grow up
Everyone needs to play it straight
There's a world waiting
If they together open the golden gate

Nobody