Chapter 1175

Spill it

John watched as the lights dimmed on the stage. The curtain came down. In just a few moments the curtain went back up and the lights slowly came back on. They'd rapidly changed the sets again on the stage. He was amazed at how quickly they could do it. Everything seemed precision timed and all looked beautiful.

The next group of songs was from the 'Beatles'.

'I Want To Hold Your Hand', reached out and touched the audience.

John previously heard most of the songs at one time or another on the radio. Some of the small towns they'd lived in played a lot of 'oldies'. He liked the songs that were about love. Even something as simple as holding one's hand could be done in a loving manner and say so much without a word being said.

"I know some of these songs." John whispered.

Cameron moved her hand close to John's hand. He looked down and saw it there. He took it in his hand.

"I like this song." Cameron whispered.

Cameron and John looked at each other as they held hands while the song played.

They gave each other's hand a gentle squeeze.

John turned his eyes back to the stage but his mind drifted a little.

He thought of all the struggles Cameron went through. She never left him. She was always still there at the end of the day. Maybe it was her programming. Her own independence was what drove her sometimes, which always led to a conflict within her. There was what she wanted to do and what her programming forced her to do.

It saddened him some to think Future John's directives stifled the individual Cameron could have grown into on her own. He was sure it would have been without him. If it was something she could have done on her own, he would accept that. Who was he to hold her captive when she wanted to be free? He felt he could offer Cameron something but he didn't believe it was enough on his own. She was clearly superior to him in what she could feel.

Maybe it was the whole purpose of the 'Natural Order'. Maybe it was so they could all continue to grow and expand. They could all lean on each other. It was what Cameron told him it was like in her future when she'd visited the last time. He'd asked Savannah and Cammy about it as well. They both told him the same thing. He figured if Savannah said it, it was probably the most accurate portrayal he was going to receive.

John felt Cameron lips touch his cheek as her hand gave his hand a gentle squeeze. It brought him back to the present and the music. He looked over at Cameron and smiled. They shared a quick kiss.

He knew he needed to listen to her more. She did try to tell him things for years but he didn't want to hear them. Here she was at his side right now. He knew she would do anything for him. He really hoped he would do anything for her. Maybe he needed to do something just as simple as listen to her.

Kyle really enjoyed the show. He'd watched concerts and performers on TV before but the live entertainment was really out of this world for him. He'd seldom even heard music after Judgment Day. Sometimes someone would have a harmonica and play that. He once saw a guitar and there was an older man who played it. It was missing two strings and the old timer did his best. He thought the man said they were 'Country Western' songs. He seemed to only know a few songs. It was still entertaining since there was nothing else like it.

It was something to take away the sounds of the misery and suffering of the people who were sick and wounded around them in the tunnels and bunkers. It may not have been much but it was something. Maybe it was the effort that the older man put into it. There seemed to be real feeling and emotion behind the words he sang. He really wished he could remember some of them.

He remembered some of the other people in the Resistance were deeply touched by the man's performance. He wasn't really sure why at the time. Now that he thought back on it he realized it was because they were all older individuals, well, older than him. He figured the man's music reminded them of the past before Skynet ruined everything. He'd been pretty young at the time everything happened so he really only remembered a Skynet future.

It made him wonder what the current state of the future he came from actually was. Maybe it was better not to know. The last update they'd received was when Riley returned.

Right now the current song touched him. He heard the simple message.

Kyle looked over at Sarah and took her hand.

Sarah looked at him and smiled.

Kyle wasn't a gambling man but he felt he'd hit the jackpot with Sarah. She was everything he'd ever imagined in a woman and a mate. They'd created a beautiful daughter and a son, even though it was more complicated. 'Kyle Reese' was still John's father even if it was 'Kyle Reese' from a different timeline. It was still him, even if it wasn't.

It was true Sarah was in the present but it didn't matter. She'd forged herself into a fighter for the future. It was something she'd done on her own. She told him she needed to do a lot of things that she didn't want to do. She needed to protect John, so she did what she needed to do to make it happen. He was aware it took a lot of courage and determination on her part. He'd feel honored if all he'd ever been able to do was hold her hand like he did now. He's been able to do a whole lot more.

Kyle gave Sarah a kiss on the cheek and watched the performance.

Holly listened to the music and the lyrics. It made her feel a little lonely for Allison. She glanced back at where Sheila and Ally were. She wanted to trade places with Sheila and be with Ally herself now. Ally wasn't Allison but she was as close as she was going to get for now. Ally also shared the 'Neural Interface' with Allison. There was a lot of 'Allison' in Ally.

Hanna missed Claire as the song played. She watched Holly look back at Ally and knew what she must have thought about. She could see Holly wanted to be with Ally as a 'stand in' for Allison. Maybe she could offer her 'Allison's lover' 'Vanna' instead.

Hanna silently reached over and took Holly's hand.

Holly looked at her and smiled.

Their fingers quickly interlaced. They shared a lot at night at the Young residence in Palmdale. It seemed that most of the time they tethered and spent hours sharing with each other that way. They also physically shared quite a bit. They started out once a week and before the move to the base, it was almost every night. They would be with Allison and Claire until they fell asleep. They would wait for each other and head down to the bunker. Anna would always leave to give them privacy. She would go up to 'condition' Young Allison and Summer as they slept.

Hanna and Holly would do whatever they wanted and then head back up to do their own assigned 'conditioning' duties. They would trade off two nights a week with Allison and Claire. Sometimes after their private sessions they would switch anyway Allison would have gone to bed with her and woke up with Hanna and vice versa with Claire. The variety seemed to work for everyone so it was never a problem.

Everything would change if Claire and Allison stayed at the base.

Cammy waited with Savannah and Cam for something further to develop. So far there'd been nothing. The drones kept watch on the collapsed building to see if anyone either left the area or arrived at the area to check things out. Neither one happened. Steve and Tom moved in a little closer so they would be able to put the grab on anyone who showed up.

No one showed up. It looked like it was time to wrap things up for the night.

Savannah was tired and hungry. She was glad when they were finally given the clearance to leave. They were headed back to the base. She could wait until then to get something to eat and use the restroom. She didn't like to be a distraction to the Metal girls. They'd offered to stop but she hated to be a bother.

The day so far wasn't what she imagined it would be. She could be on the ship right now with Cammy. She wasn't. Instead they'd been caught up in an operation that developed. The teams with her experienced a few close ones. There'd been a number of dead left behind from the local street gangs who'd attempted to engage the two homeless men and the junkie. It was all an attempt to draw them out so they could be caught up in the crossfire. It didn't work. It appeared the individual who orchestrated everything died in the drone attack when the building was collapsed.

Now she was ready to go back and take it easy for the rest of the night. She was going to be with Cammy or Cam, maybe even both of them. She would like to be with Allison too but she was probably tied up with Vanna. She didn't want to mess anything up. If she had the opportunity, she would like to be with Claire as well. More than likely Jesse was with her. She wouldn't mind to share with her too.

She needed to stop by and see Young Allison at least a few more times this week. She also needed to see CamNet. She knew what CamNet wanted and she was willing to share with CamNet. She made CamNet promise not to pursue anyone else and she promised to be there for CamNet when things worked out for it to happen.

Savannah needed to be sure everything was under control. She'd checked the drone footage of the collapsed building as well as the two locations where the vehicles of gang members were taken down. There were no cars in the vicinity of any of those three locations that looked like they were there to check things out. They still didn't know how many groups were involved from the operation a week ago. She needed to be ready if there were any last minute changes.

"Did John Henry or CamNet come up with anything new, Cammy?" Savannah asked.

Cammy didn't say anything at first.

Savannah sat up in her seat. It was a warning sign. Something must have developed.

"Is there a problem?" Savannah asked.

Cammy glanced quickly at Savannah.

"Cam can take you back to the base." Cammy said.

Savannah could tell there was more happening and Cammy didn't want her in it. It was time to get to the bottom of it. No one was supposed to sit on any information if it was relevant to the current operation. She wanted some answers and she wanted them now.

"Spill it, Cammy." Savannah said.

Young Allison was dissatisfied that something else hadn't developed yet. She was sure the strike on the building would produce some type of counter response. It wasn't the case. Nothing happened. She watched the drone footage over the collapsed building. No one left the area and no one approached the area. She asked CamNet to direct Steve and Tom to move closer to the location in case there was a development.

She was satisfied the earlier incidents with the blue sedan in the brown van would simply be written off as gang activity. So far any reports which were generated seemed to indicate exactly that. The initial report was the blue sedan attacked the occupants of the brown van. In their attempt to flee the scene, the driver of the blue sedan lost control and impacted with the billboard support post. CamNet was the one responsible for those reports.

Young Allison turned her attention back to the collapsed building. She didn't want the drone operator to get away earlier. She didn't think she'd acted too harshly or too soon. Since the drone operator could have been a sniper as well she believed all of her actions were justified. She really hoped they would pick up another contact but it didn't appear it was going to happen. She directed Steve and Tom to leave some surveillance devices in place and be ready to pull out.

She wanted to kill a little time while she waited. She would check out what was happening around the Resistance base and then see what was happening on the ship. She glanced quickly over at Anna has she started her review of the 'security protocols' at the Resistance base.

Young Allison checked out the security feeds from the Resistance base.

Earlier she'd seen Jesse and her mother strip their tops off before they entered her mother's room. They seemed in a really big hurry. She wasn't sure why. They weren't going anywhere until tomorrow. They had all night to share. They'd shared quite a few times since her mother had been at the Resistance base. She thought maybe a high level of passion and excitement was good to maintain.

She spotted Jan out for a walk. It was clear Jan saw Jesse and her mother. She expected Jan to go back and spy on them but she didn't. It surprised her. If she was there, she would have gone and looked herself, just to see Jesse. She'd already seen her mom plenty of times. It was the girls her mother was with she wanted to see. It didn't matter if they were a Metal girl or human. She knew Savannah was with all of them at some point and even with her mother, for some reason it didn't really bother her. She didn't want to deprive either one of them any happiness they could share with each other.

Young Allison looked forward to the day Savannah and her would be together. She would ask about each one of the girls and what was different about them or what they liked. She planned to experience everything Savannah experienced. Well, almost everything.

She watched Jan move to a different area. Jan was headed for Riley's room now. Maybe she was going to see her cousin. Maybe she was going to spy on Vanna and Allison. Maybe she would do both.

That's it. Jan wanted to 'see' Allison. Jan wanted to see 'her'.

Anna watched Young Allison for a while before she said something. She felt she'd waited long enough before she spoke. Curiosity was one thing, spying was another. Her words caught Young Allison off guard.

"Is that what you should be doing?" Anna asked. "What if it was you?"

Young Allison was well aware the Metal girls knew what she did. None of them ever said anything to her about it. She didn't know Cameron told them to allow her to watch and 'learn'. She never realized they did something different or extra or a different way so she could observe it specifically. They were silently 'instructing' her.

"No." Young Allison said. "I was just curious as to what was happening."

Anna decided to hit home a little.

"It's the same thing that happens around here." Anna said. "You've witnessed quite a bit of it."

Young Allison was very aware Anna knew everything she did, even at night when she was alone.

"I have." Young Allison said. "I'm going to be doing…."

A priority message popped up from CamNet. A new threat was identified.

Young Allison didn't like the new development.

"Great." Young Allison said. "I wanted Savannah to go back to the base."

Anna offered the suggestion that CamNet could cover the information up for now. She decided to point it out. Young Allison could 'control' the flow of information.

"You can have CamNet suppress the information." Anna said.

Young Allison wanted everything to operate as it usually did. She didn't want to control an operation like that. Savannah would be upset with her if she did it.

"No. I want everything to operate as normal." Young Allison said.

The information went out to everyone. There was a new threat.

"Cammy and Cam have received the information." Anna said.

Young Allison checked the positional satellite map with the team members. She wanted a team other than Cammy's team to take the lead. She could see where the other teams were at in relation to Cammy's team. Steve and Tom were the last two to leave the area of the building that was brought down earlier with the sniper.

"Steve and Tom are following Cammy's team." Young Allison said. "Have CamNet send them now."

Young Allison knew Cammy's team would back them up. Maybe it gave Savannah a little bit less to deal with, maybe it didn't. Either way Savannah would be in the middle of it. At this point Young Allison doubted she would get a chance to do anything else tonight. Her studies and practice would have to wait. She wanted to make sure she could provide each of the teams with additional and sufficient support to deal with any threat.

Cammy checked with John Henry and CamNet. John Henry didn't have anything new, CamNet did. It was only a lead and it might involve the Fanatics. She didn't want Savannah anywhere near those psychos.

Savannah looked at Cammy and waited for an answer. She was about ready to ask Cam what was going on.

Cammy tried to downplay the information.

"It's a weak lead." Cammy said. "I can check it out later on."

Savannah figured since they were already out, they should check it on the way back to the base if it was anywhere near their way home.

"Is it on the way back?" Savannah asked.

Cammy knew she couldn't lie about it.

"It sort of is." Cammy said.

Cam thought Savannah should go back. They were going to end up doing what Cameron did to her. She decided to handle it herself. She didn't see any need to tie up unnecessary personnel for a minor lead.

"Let's stop and acquire another vehicle." Cam said. "I can check it out and you can take Savannah back."

Cammy was updated. It was good news.

"Wait." Cammy said. "Steve and Tom are going to check it out. They're already headed there."

Savannah knew it should have been their team who was the lead team. They were ahead of Steve and Tom. Someone tried to take the heat off of them. She wanted to back their play. She looked over at Cammy.

"We're going to back them up." Savannah said. "Do it right now."

Cammy glanced back at Cam and then looked at Savannah.

"We're on our way." Cammy said.

Jan figured she would come back and check Jesse and Claire out later on. She knew where they were at and she knew what they would be doing.

She made her way along the backside of the base. She passed by the lab. She looked in the door as she passed. Most of the lights were off, it was quiet in there currently. She moved past the other girl's rooms. Jesse's door wasn't closed but she already knew where Jesse was at. She passed by Vanna's room. She paused for a second to listen. It was quiet inside. She knew where Vanna currently was anyway.

Jan made her way to the main hallway. She paused and looked in both directions. There was no one in sight. She crossed the hallway and went to Riley's room. She paused at the door and listened. She could hear some noise in the distance inside. She figured everyone was in the bedroom. She took one look around in both directions, opened the door and slipped inside.

She wasn't exactly sure where everyone was at as she entered the main part of Riley's quarters. It was clear after a few seconds they were in the bedroom. She paused at the door to the nursery. It was quiet inside. She remembered Samantha was in there before. She was in standby earlier. She passed by Precious room, it was empty. She was a little surprised to see the crib was missing. She wasn't sure if it had been moved to the nursery where Samantha was at or if it was in the bedroom where Allison and Vanna were at.

Jan quietly moved up to the door of the bedroom. She peered around the corner. She could see Vanna nursing Precious. The crib was next to her. She could also hear the sounds of two people sharing. She was well acquainted with what those sounds indicated. For a moment, she thought maybe Jesse had left Claire's room and came to Riley's room instead.

She peeked around the door even further. Wait. It looked like the nude form of Claire. Allison was with her. It can't be. She quickly glanced over at Vanna with Precious and looked back over at the bed. She watched Allison change her position slightly and realized it was Samantha who was with Allison. They seemed very eager to please and satisfy each other. She knew she needed to be more careful if there was a Terminator involved with one of the sexual encounters. They would be more likely to identify her as an intruder as she spied on them. Then again, with her past encounters it didn't appear any of them minded if she did or not. They never even looked in her direction or said anything later on. She didn't know Cameron instructed them not to worry about who saw them when they shared.

She was very thrilled to watch them share with each other. She lost track of the time and maybe hadn't been as careful as she should have been. She watched Vanna put Precious down in the crib and start to turn in her direction. She took it as her cue to leave. She all but ran from the bedroom door and back out the front into the main hall.

Allison was all over Samantha. She thought Samantha was beautiful how she was now. She wondered how much more she would change as her mother's DNA Resequenced her sheath. She didn't realize it was complete, except for her face. The parts of Samantha she thought were beautiful were identical.

Vanna was almost done with Precious. She changed her and carefully put her in her crib. She started to walk away and went back and checked her again. Precious came first for the next few days. She was satisfied everything was as it should be. She stripped off her pants and underwear. She was about to join Allison and work on Samantha with her.

She thought she heard a noise. She went to look and saw Jan hurry out the door of the main room. Vanna figured Jan probably came by to see Precious and saw a little more than she'd bargained on. They again, she may have been spying on them. She'd seen her do it before. She never said anything. Everyone did a little spying in the future to some extent. It was no big deal really. There was no real privacy. Everyone did what they needed to do and tried to be quiet about it. They all understood they might all be dead before morning. It was a sad truth of the future. They all deserved some comfort and love. It needed to be shared when it could be found.

Vanna went back and checked on Precious again.

She joined Allison and Samantha after that.

Jim noticed Bob was on his way to the private area of the giant suites. He checked all his monitors again. Everything looked good. He went out of the Control Center to meet with Bob.

Bob entered the private area and looked around. They greeted each other and then got down to business. They were in a spot that wasn't covered by one of the security cameras.

John previously asked Bob to play it low key and let him know anything if he needed to know it. Since the port change didn't happen, he didn't see any reason to bring it up.

"Everything looks good." Bob said. "I have nothing to report to John."

Jim was to do the same thing.

"I don't either." Jim said. "I'll let John know."

Bob was a little confused about the cloak and dagger routine.

"I'm not sure what John wants to know." Bob said.

Jim wasn't either, other than John didn't want any surprises or problems.

"Everything I've observed is fine." Jim said. "I've been watching Cameron to make sure she doesn't have any problems."

Bob believed Cameron was the one most likely to have a problem but anything could happen with any of them.

"What about the others?" Bob asked.

It appeared to Jim the Metal girls were all very pleased with everything.

"Everything is fine. They're all having a good time." Jim said.

Bob nodded. It's what Cameron wanted.

"It's important to Cameron." Bob said.

With the extra people already on the ship and those on the way, it looked like what Cameron wanted to happen was happening.

"Cameron seems to have gotten her way." Jim said.

Bob didn't think it should be a surprise.

"She always does." Bob said.

Jim didn't see Savannah scheduled to make an appearance.

"Savannah isn't on board." Jim said.

Bob felt anything could still happen. There were a few more days and ports left to visit.

"Not yet." Bob said. "We don't know what all the cards are that Cameron can play. You know she always has a few tricks up her sleeve."

Bob went to leave. He wanted to let Jim know what would happen once things settle down.

"I'll meet with Cameron later on once John is asleep." Bob said. "I'll find out if there's any concerns she wants to address."

Bob thought about the older couple who'd irritated Cameron at lunch time.

Jim was satisfied at the events so far.

"I don't anticipate any problems." Jim said.

Bob looked around. He could see one person was missing.

"Where's Sheila?" Bob asked. "This is her duty station as well."

Jim briefly wondered if Sheila did something he'd missed. He would need to go back and check the files once he plugged it back in. He wanted Bob to know Cameron sanctioned Sheila's absence on this particular occasion.

"Cameron allowed her to go with Ally and Hanna." Jim said.

Bob already knew it. He wanted to hear what Jim said. Jim told it to him straight.

He was aware of another possible problem. He was worried about Sheila for another reason.

"Has Cameron switched chips yet?" Bob asked.

Bob's statement caught Jim off guard. He wasn't even sure he understood correctly.

"What?" Jim asked. "Switched with who? I don't think so. Why would she do that?"

Bob was surprised Jim hadn't been notified. He wasn't sure the main problem would be with Cameron or any of the Metal girls. He figured it would be with someone else.

"Cameron mentioned she thought about switching chips with each of the Metal girls for a day. She wants to give John some variety." Bob said. "John may have a problem with it."

All of the Metal girls switched chips before at some point with each other. They were still their program even if the sheath and chassis were different. Jim didn't see it as a problem. From his personal research, it seemed like something any human male would desire.

"Why?" Jim asked. "Cameron is her program. It shouldn't matter what chassis or sheath it's in. It sounds like a good idea. I think anyone would like it."

Bob wanted to know who was who if it happened. He didn't want to confront Cameron as one of the other Metal girls by mistake if he thought something was happening that shouldn't happen.

"If it happens, I need to know." Bob said.

Jim decided he needed to watch all the Metal girls for any changes. It would give him some cover if he paid a little too much attention to any of the Metal girls later on and was called out about it.

"I'll keep a watch out for it." Jim said.

Bob left to check out the casino. There was a report of 'card counting' earlier.

Jim checked the rooms to make sure everything was still perfect in each of them, it was. He returned to the Control Center.

There was a new development while he was gone. He was more than a little surprised. He'd been gone for just over a minute.

The first Beatles song just finished when they started on the second one.

'A Hard Day's Night', was the next one up.

"I love these songs." Riley said. "They're great to listen to and I can relate to the lyrics."

Derek teased Riley a little.

"Do you love the songs more than you love me?" Derek asked.

Riley caught his drift. She decided to play back a little on her own.

"Hardly." Riley said. "I expect a 'hard night' every day from you, mister. That's if you can keep up."

Derek liked the request. He planned to fulfill it. He was a little worried he was out of shape and might not be able to keep up. Riley had been out of the game for quite awhile and he attempted to make up for lost time. He's been able to keep up so far. He didn't know if his performance would start to slack off relatively soon or not. He certainly hoped it wouldn't. It wasn't something he really needed to think about before. He needed to think about some way to assist himself.

"I'll do my best." Derek said.

Riley hoped it was true. When Derek did his best, she made it to heaven. When he finished early, she was always left hanging. It could be her fault too. Sometimes she just wanted Derek to finish because she felt so tired. It was over with fast. She wanted to change everything back to the way it was before she was pregnant. It was when everything was still good. She wanted to share all her lady parts with Derek like she used to before Precious.

Now she started to think about Precious again. She wanted to call Vanna or Samantha and see what was happening. Maybe Jim could tell her what was going on. It seemed like he could access just about anything.

If she called again, Vanna would feel bad and think she didn't trust her. She decided to enjoy the show and listen to the music.

She gave Derek a kiss on the cheek

Everything was fine for now.

Summer finished up her calculations. She decided to track down Jan. She left her room and saw her mother's door wasn't closed tight. She moved closer to check it out. She could hear her mother and Jesse before she saw them. She watched them for a few seconds before she reached down and moved the shoe that blocked the door from closing. She looked one last time and quietly closed the door. She didn't see anything new. They were in a fairly common position. They usually stayed that way for a while.

If it would have been Allison with someone, she would have watched a little longer.

She hurried away towards Riley's room. It was her best guess as to where Jan would have gone. As she neared Riley's room she saw Jan hurry out. She wondered if she'd been spotted spying. It sure looked like it.

"Quick." Jan said when she saw her. "Let's go this way."

Jan hurried around the corner. Summer followed her.

"What happened?" Summer asked.

Jan didn't want to get too detailed.

"I needed to leave." Jan said.

Summer figured out what she was doing.

"Were you spying on them?" Summer asked.

Jan didn't want to lie to Summer.

"Yes." Jan said. "Vanna almost caught me."

Summer didn't see it as a big deal.

"They don't really care." Summer said.

Jan wondered if they liked to show off. It seemed that way at times.

"I guess they don't." Jan said. "Still, I don't like being caught."

Summer wanted to diffuse the situation.

"Let's go back to my room." Summer said. "It's where we're supposed to be."

Jan was aware they were always being watched or the potential was there anyway.

"John Henry knows where we always are at." Jan said. "Anyone can ask him."

Summer wasn't so sure. She seemed to have a lot of clandestine support in her movements.

"He doesn't always know where I'm at." Summer said.

Jan was really surprised to hear that. She didn't think anyone could sneak up on a Terminator.

"Really?" Jan asked.

Summer didn't want to get into any of the details.

"I can sneak up on him sometimes." Summer said.

Jan was still really surprised.

"Really?" Jan asked.

Summer knew she got a lot of help from CamNet.

"Really." Summer said. "We need to go back to my room."

Jan wanted a few things from her room.

"We can go by my room for a little bit." Jan said.

Summer knew her mother and Jesse would be busy for at least an hour. It might be all night too. Jan and her needed to be responsible and do the things they were supposed to do on their own.

"Only for a little bit and then we need to get ready for bed." Summer said. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Summer wondered if she was the only 'adult' around there now. It sure seemed like it sometimes. She wondered if maybe she shouldn't have removed the shoe from the door to her mother's room. She figured when they went back to her room Jan would like to take a look inside her mother's room and see what was going on.

Spill It

If there's something specific
One needs to address
It's time to come clean
It's time to confess

There's nothing to think about
There may be a few regrets
It's what always happens
When there are too many secrets

A lie is a lie
Even if it's a good lie
It's a way to remain unaccountable
While one thinks they're sly

Take a good look around
How long until it will crumble
One is just a slip away
From a major fumble

It's time to commit
To show one's true grit
It's not hard to admit
Go ahead and spill it

Nobody