Chapter 1188

Fifteen Minutes

Sheila, Ally and Hanna didn't sleep. They planned to return to the small theater at the rear of the ship after everyone was asleep and use the musical instruments which were kept there. They decided to watch the group who used them actually play so they could emulate them. They were there now to do exactly that.

They watched the Rockabilly Trio play several songs. The girls knew they could play those same songs now. The more they watched, the more they knew what to do to make every instrument make each note, dyad or chord. They were confident they could play any music now in rockabilly style.

They watched the entire performance which lasted forty five minutes. The band was going to take a fifteen minute break and return for another half hour set. The fifteen minute break just started.

"We have fifteen minutes to kill." Ally said.

It sounded good to Sheila. She was ready to pull her dress up now. She was always ready for a little action.

"We can knock off a quickie." Sheila said. "None of us is wearing underwear. All we need to do is hike our dress up and we're good to go."

Ally considered sliding her hand inside Sheila's dress. She'd done it earlier in the private box. It made Ally smile to think they'd all touched each other's 'private box' in the private box. She wondered if it was why they called it that or maybe it was where the name came from in the first place. She wanted to mess with Sheila.

"I just need to reach my hand into the slit of your dress and you're good to go." Ally said.

Sheila was always ready anytime. She didn't care who saw her.

"One slit leads to 'another'." Sheila said.

Ally giggled. She'd just been thinking about the same thing.

Hanna looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. They weren't. They drew a lot of looks, especially Ally since she looked like Cameron right now. It was seldom the case. Nobody appeared to try and listen to them. Everyone was on vacation. It looked like Sheila and Ally were about to get 'hands on' contact with each other. She really didn't think it was the proper place for them to do anything of that nature.

"You two did enough of that during the performance in the main theater earlier." Hanna said.

It seemed like a win – win for everyone to Sheila. Nobody should need to worry about it.

"You got your turn." Sheila said. "You liked it too."

Ally knew Sheila was always ready for more.

"Everyone gets a turn when you're around." Ally said.

Sheila liked the way she looked and what she was able to offer others. She knew a happy customer was a repeat customer. She felt she had something to offer to everyone. She would accommodate any request no matter how profane or perverse it was.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am." Sheila said. "If you've got it, flaunt it."

Hanna needed to agree with her statement.

"You do both of those things." Hanna said.

Sheila wanted some action now.

"I can't wait until tomorrow." Sheila said.

Ally offered her a workable solution. It was all a matter of perspective.

"It's already 'tomorrow' on the east coast." Ally said. "Does that count?"

The thought of being nude in front of others with no hassle excited Sheila. She was ready to put her body up against any of the human females on the ship. She was willing to bet her jewelry would seal the deal.

"I meant for the nude sunbathing." Sheila said. "I can be out in the open with other people around me and it's no big deal. They'll all be doing it."

Ally wondered how far Sheila would go.

"You'll be like a kid in a candy store." Ally said. "You'll be the one checking everyone else out."

Hanna doubted Sheila would be able to keep her hands to herself.

Sheila remembered how she got carried away at the club they were at recently.

"You got that right." Sheila said. "It won't be like that crazy nude beach joint we were at either."

Hanna looked around. She'd lost track of the team. Holly and Gail were gone too.

"Where did the others go?" Hanna asked.

Ally checked out the area. They were the only ones left.

"They probably went to look around." Ally said. "We can do that too."

Hanna didn't think that Cameron and John had gone too far. She didn't see them. She figured they were close by somewhere.

Sheila didn't want the immediate issue forgotten. She wanted some fast action.

"What about our quickie?" Sheila asked.

Hanna offered a suggestion to Sheila if she couldn't wait.

"You can always replay a file." Hanna said. "It doesn't get any quicker than that."

Ally watched Sheila do it often enough already.

"She does it all the time anyway." Ally said. "It gets dangerous when she is driving and does it at a stoplight. It's even worse when she's maneuvering through traffic."

Sheila didn't see it as a big deal. She was confident in her abilities.

"I can do more than one thing at a time." Sheila said. "What makes you think I'm not doing it right now?"

Ally looked around the small theater. She spotted a place close by that they might be able to use.

"Let's go behind the stage curtain." Ally said. "We can be like the 'Wizard Of Oz'."

Sheila wasn't exactly sure what Ally meant by her statement. She tried to think of any perverse acts in the movie or book. She hoped when they remade the movie, like they do all the other ones, someone would put some in it.

Hanna worried about accidental exposure.

"What happens if the curtain opens up?" Hanna asked. "We'll be right out in the open in compromising positions in front of a room full of strangers on a stage."

It was all Sheila needed to hear to seal the deal. She liked when an audience watched her. Normally it was only a few individuals. The idea of an audience consisting of a room full of strangers was very appealing to her.

"We instantly become the biggest hit on the ship." Sheila said. "I'm in."

Sheila planned to 'headline' the event if it happened.

Hanna and Ally both thought it was a bad idea. They figured the best idea was to get Sheila out of the view of everyone else before she did something crude and lewd. Besides, they didn't think it would hurt anything to knock off a couple of quickies.

The three Metal girls headed for a door next to the stage, it led behind the curtain. It seemed like a more clandestine way to get onto the stage and not attract attention.

Sheila looked around for some automatic way to open the curtain. She was sure she could steal any show.

Earlier:

Cameron and the group were in the rear theater to watch the performance by the Rockabilly Trio.

There was some dancing to the tunes on the small dance floor. None of the group ventured out into the brightly lit area. It was one thing for the males in their group to fumble through a few dances in the darkness of the sky lounge. It was another thing for them to do it in the bright lights of the rear theater. The majority of the songs played were done in a very high energy style. It was clear some of the people who danced were acclimated to the type of music and dancing associated with it.

They all played it low key and just watched the performance and enjoyed the music. They were a little disappointed when it stopped but they understood the musicians needed a slight break.

Cameron wanted everyone to know they didn't need to sit there if they wanted to go to some other spot on this ship during the break. It was supposed to only be for fifteen minutes but it could be longer.

"You can all do whatever you want right now." Cameron said. "You can look around on the Promenade deck or go outside to the open deck. Everything is right near where we're at."

The three couples talked everything over amongst themselves and decided what they would do.

Cameron kept an eye on Sheila, Ally and Hanna. She didn't want them to get carried away during the intermission. Currently they talked among themselves as they looked at the instruments the musicians set down when they left for their break.

Derek and Riley headed for the shops during the break.

Riley wanted to look at what was in the shops. She decided to bring Derek with her.

Derek looked in back of them. Holly tagged along at a discreet distance.

"I see we have a shadow." Derek said.

Riley looked back and spotted Holly. A wave of excitement flooded over her. It reminded her of past times and what 'could have been'. She'd been so close to 'taking' Holly before. She'd never sealed the deal. She would be with Holly now instead of Derek if it would have happened. Then again she wouldn't have Precious. She wasn't willing to trade Precious for anything. She was very pleased Samantha sent her an update every hour about Precious. She felt bad about calling Vanna all the time previously. It made her wonder why Samantha hadn't sent the information earlier. It didn't really matter at this point. She could still get an hourly update and not need to bother anyone. She took another quick look at Holly behind them. It was Holly's dress that reminded her of her earlier ambitions.

"It's just Holly." Riley said. "She looks just like she did when I first tried to hit on her before. She was dressed exactly the same way."

Derek thought Holly was a knockout.

"I think she's beautiful." Derek said. "Look at her."

Riley watched Derek earlier. She'd watched him check out all of the Metal girls. She noticed he'd concentrated on Gail and Holly the most. She knew what Derek liked. The low cut dresses they all wore only seem to heighten their assets.

She was a little self conscious about herself. She looked down at her low cut dress. She was bigger than the other females in the Resistance except for Gail and Holly. There was a big difference in the way they looked. She just didn't have the same shape and proportion the Metal girls had. To her, they looked much more appealing than she did. She was aware where Derek's eyes went on every female. She didn't think she could complain too much since hers did as well. She just tried to be a little more discreet about it.

"You just like her knockers." Riley said.

Derek felt a little defensive. He knew it was a true statement. He liked more than one thing about all of them.

"I like her face as well." Derek said. "I like everything about her, not just one part. She's really nice too. I always need to remind myself she's a Terminator. She is very pleasant to be around as a person."

Derek also liked how modest and almost shy Holly seemed at times compared to the other female Terminators. She was about as opposite from Sheila as could be. He was told before he couldn't really blame Sheila for the way she acted because a lot of it dealt with the 'Neural Interface' she shared with Jesse. He could personally attest to some of Jesse's questionable behavior from his long term association with her. Sheila seemed to carry it a couple steps further.

Riley really wished she could have been with Holly before. It made her 'hungry' for a female right now. It was one thing she often missed.

"It was what I liked too." Riley said. "She'll always be beautiful like that. Nothing can ever spoil her beauty. I hope she's never damaged."

Nobody had a clue how badly Holly was damaged at one point. Cameron, or at least 'a version' of her, was able to rectify the problem with 'temporal management'. The damage that occurred to Holly actually never happened to her. She was removed from the danger zone before the events occurred. A 'temporal loop' was created which she wasn't a part of.

Riley looked at some clothes in one shop and then some jewelry in another. She held a few items before handing them back to the clerk. She could see the beauty in them but she couldn't see the practicality in them. She was pleased with the jewelry Cameron provided for her to wear.

Derek looked around at all the high priced jewelry. He was surprised at how much was available on the ship.

"There are a lot of diamonds in here." Derek said.

Riley looked at the astronomical prices. It made her think about her past, the future.

"They seem to have a lot of value here in the past. I mean where we are now, the present." Riley said.

Derek understood exactly what Riley meant. He'd watched how the value of things changed in the future. He was old enough to watch items of traditional value become absolutely worthless in a Skynet future.

"Money or precious stones didn't have much value after J-Day." Derek said.

They both knew the commodities that were valuable in the future were food, firearms, ammunition and females, in that order.

Riley didn't want to think about the 'items of value' from the future. She'd needed to use parts of her body to trade for food on more than one occasion. It wasn't something she wanted to do. It wasn't something she was proud of. She needed to survive. She'd faced abuse previously so it really wasn't a big deal. There wasn't a gun or knife involved and she wasn't slapped around or beaten. Things were usually over in a few minutes. She was glad when she received enough food if it took her longer to actually eat the food than the act to earn it had taken. It wasn't always the case.

She looked around where they were at now and thought about the other places she'd been to on the ship earlier. It was just hard to imagine all those things happened in a Skynet future. It only reminded her people didn't know how good things were right now for all of them. She'd watched a few of the talk shows on TV and how people complained about their lives or what predicaments they'd gotten themselves into. It sounded like a total whine-a-thon to her. They just didn't know how bad it could get. She really doubted any of them would survive very long after J-Day.

They headed to the specialty restaurant that was their muster station. It was just down the central aisle way.

Derek was in his element.

There was a steak house type eatery just past it. It was near the Italian place.

Now there was a dilemma over which one to check out.

Earlier:

Cameron watched Derek and Riley walk down the interior of Promenade. She told Holly to follow Derek and Riley.

She wanted to surprise Riley and do something nice for her.

"See what Riley looks at and I'll have CamNet send it to her room." Cameron said.

Holly wondered why the extra step was necessary.

"She can purchase it directly with her card." Holly said. "She can obtain anything."

Cameron didn't think so. She watched the people from the future. They obtained little more than they needed to exist. She was the one who needed to buy clothes for the girls and give them to the girls as gifts. They were still worried about personal items becoming a liability. They'd all seen people die over their possessions. It was a waste and the people ended up with less than nothing. Some ended up in work camps. Others suffered a fate worse than death, they were captured by Scavengers.

"She won't get anything on her own." Cameron said. "None of them will buy anything. They're still haunted by the past, the future."

Holly nodded and followed Derek and Riley. She figured they would think she was just providing security for them. Her mission right now was a little more clandestine.

She thought it would be nice to pick something out for Riley and surprise her with it. She might even do it herself. Riley was always nice to her. So is Derek.

Earlier:

Sarah enjoyed the performance and the music provided by the Rockabilly Trio. It appeared to her Kyle did as well. The more open and brightly lit atmosphere kept her from doing too much during the performance. It was intermission time now.

Kyle and her went outside of the rear theater. They were in an intersection where the elevators were and a long aisle way. It went down the center of the Promenade deck. On either side of them were glass doors that led to the outside. She was aware it was an open deck.

Sarah saw someone come in from outside.

"This deck opens to the water." Sarah said.

Cameron wanted to take advantage of where they were at right now.

"You can see the water up close outside, at least closer than from your balcony." Cameron said. "It's dark out but you can still see some from the moonlight."

Sarah watched Derek and Riley go down the center of the Promenade deck where the shops and smaller specialty restaurants were located.

Kyle thought Sarah wanted to go outside. He knew she didn't want to look in any of the stores or shops along the Promenade.

"We can take a look outside if you'd like." Kyle said.

Sarah and Kyle headed outside.

Kyle held the door for Sarah.

"Thank you, sir." Sarah said.

Kyle wanted to make Sarah feel special.

"You're welcome, Miss." Kyle said.

Sarah smiled. She was able to suppress a laugh.

"I think I'm a few years past the 'Miss' title." Sarah said.

Kyle moved up behind Sarah after she passed outside.

"Not to me." Kyle said.

Sarah didn't believe it was true but she appreciated hearing it. It made her feel good inside. She turned and gave Kyle a kiss.

"I can tell someone wants to get lucky tonight." Sarah said.

She took Kyle's hand and they walked up to the railing.

It was dark and serene as they gazed out over the ocean. The sound of the waves could be heard as the ship sliced through the water.

There was a bit of a cool breeze. The superstructure and lifeboats overhead blocked most of it.

Kyle put his arm around Sarah and drew her in closer to warm her.

Sarah wanted to stretch her legs a little bit. There were two directions they could go. They could simply walk around the rear of the ship which housed the small theater and come back in on the other side or they could walk down the length of the ship and take the long way around the front. She didn't want to go too far.

"We can walk around the back of the ship and come back in on the other side." Sarah said.

The outside walkway on the Promenade deck was continuous around the ship. The path they would take went around the back of the small theater. It was the short way. They headed towards the stern.

Cameron motioned for Gail to follow Kyle and Sarah.

Gail nodded and headed out after them.

She stopped just inside the door and didn't go out. Kyle and Sarah were at the railing as they looked out over the water. She wanted them to have a little privacy.

Gail waited until they headed aft on the deck and then headed out the door to tag along.

She made sure she kept a discrete distance. There were no threats apparent. She kept a lookout for the older couple and the disrespectful individual from the buffet area. She took another look around her. There weren't too many people out on the open deck right now. She glanced over the short railing at the water below. The smile quickly faded from her face as she remembered she was on protection duty for Sarah and Kyle. She would need to deal with anything personal later on.

John watched the other couples head in different directions. It seemed to him everyone was having a good time so far. It was what he wanted for them. It was what he wanted to share with them. He'd watched Cameron send Gail and Holly to tag along with the other couples. He didn't want to say anything negative about it. He did want to address the issue.

"They really don't need to do that." John said.

Cameron told it like it was. Gail and Holly were originally on the ship to provide additional security for him. She was with him now. Gail and Holly still wanted to carry out their mission. Now the other two couples were on the ship. They could still carry out their mission, even if it was modified. It was a 'Terminator thing'.

"John, it's their mission." Cameron said. "They feel compelled and obligated to carry it out. It's what they want to do."

John thought about giving them an 'order' to have fun instead. How does one 'order' someone to have fun? If Savannah was there, he would have her to 'ask' them to do other things. Even better, Savannah would do it with them and show them some fun things.

They were just outside the entrance to the rear theater. John looked back inside of it.

"Where did Sheila, Ally and Hanna go?" John asked. "They were there just a minute ago."

Cameron seemed unconcerned as she answered John without looking directly at him. She'd kept an eye on the trio to see what they did. It was much as she'd anticipated. She was just a little surprised where they ended up at.

"They're having sex on the stage behind the curtain." Cameron said.

John laughed. He didn't realize Cameron was being literal.

Cameron tilted her head slightly. She thought John would be disturbed by the revelation, not amused. She almost suggested he peek in and observe them. She thought it might benefit her plans for later on.

John looked at where Kyle and Sarah went. He was ready for a little fresh air.

"Can we walk around the entire deck outside?" John asked.

Cameron knew they could traverse the entire circumference of the ship from the Promenade deck outside.

"Yes." Cameron said.

John wondered about the time.

"Can we make it back here before the band plays again?" John asked.

Cameron calculated if they walked briskly, they could make two circuits. She wondered if John wanted to get some exercise in based upon his excessive calorie count from earlier.

"Yes." Cameron said. "We can complete two full circuits around the deck and still be back before they start. We need to start now."

John felt more like a slower pace. He wanted to enjoy the atmosphere of being on the ship at sea more than he wanted the exercise.

"We can just do one and make it more leisurely." John said. "We can enjoy the view and fresh night air."

John took Cameron's hand and led her toward the door to the outside. They chose the opposite side to start on from where Sarah and Kyle exited. They wanted to give them some personal space as well as have some of their own.

Cameron started to reach for the door handle.

"I've got it." John said.

He moved quickly to open and hold the door for Cameron.

Cameron smiled.

"Thank you." Cameron said.

John wanted to make Cameron feel special.

"Anything, for Mrs. Connor." John said.

"Anything?" Cameron asked.

"Anything." John said.

Cameron planned to hold John to his word. The term 'anything' covered a lot.

"I want you to remember that tonight." Cameron said. "We're both going to have a 'new experience'."

Right away John knew what he said was a mistake. He knew Cameron wanted to be in a different chassis for him each night. He did want it too but didn't think it was fair to the other Metal girls. It sounded exciting and alluring to him. Cameron was her program. He could experience her being in five different chassis. He wasn't sure what would be different between her chassis and Ally's chassis. He actually looked forward to finding out. Then reality hit him. He thought of what Cameron was going to take from each of them.

"I want to hear it from the girls first. I want to make sure it's what they want." John said. "I don't think it is. I just don't think so. I wouldn't want my body to be used by someone else in such a way. I want to hear them say it to me first."

Cameron was determined to have the new experience.

"They will all carry your seed, where it belongs, before the cruise is over." Cameron said. "It doesn't matter if they're 'machines' either."

John wasn't really sure what the last part of Cameron's statement meant.

They headed towards the bow on the open deck.

John realized he'd issued a 'challenge' to Cameron. It would only make her more determined to get her way.

Savannah stripped off Cam's clothes.

Cam took off Savannah's clothes.

They stood naked before each other.

Cam looked directly at Savannah.

"Thank you." Cam said.

Savannah smiled at her.

"I'm happy you're undamaged." Savannah said.

Cam wanted to confess her rash actions. She was very aware without Savannah's intervention that things would have turned out a lot differently for her.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. It was." Cam said. "I need to repay you."

Savannah understood Cam felt much the same way she did when Gail jumped behind her and took the force of the blast and the damage that would have killed her. It was from another encounter with the Fanatics in Las Vegas. She'd repaired Gail's sheath damage and shared her love with her.

She didn't want Cam to worry about it. She needed to refocus her train of thought. The need to worry about something that didn't happen served no purpose.

"You can wash my back." Savannah said. "It will be payment enough for me."

Cam figured she could start with Savannah's back but she intended to work her way around to the front.

Savannah led Cam towards the shower.

Cam stopped and looked in the mirror.

"I wouldn't look like this now." Cam said.

Savannah gently touched Cam's cheek. She didn't want her to get into a 'Terminator line of thought' about it.

"You do, so let's not worry about it." Savannah said. "Nothing bad happened. There's no need to think about it or 'what ifs'."

Savannah gave Cam a kiss.

Savannah was worried about Cam. She reminded her a little bit of too much of Cameron right now. They shared the same base program so it was understandable. Cam and Cammy weren't as 'troubled' as Cameron was. Cameron firewalled most of her 'problems' from them. Cameron said she 'fixed' them.

Cam pressed Savannah's hand to her cheek.

"Thank you anyway." Cam said.

Savannah wanted to move forward and not dwell in the past.

"Let's have a good time like always." Savannah said.

A smile blossomed on Cam's face.

"OK, Savannah, just for you." Cam said.

Savannah led Cam into the shower.

Cam knew anytime with Savannah was a good time. She glanced back at the mirror one more time. She was very pleased she still looked the same.

Cammy worked to condition Summer. When she first found Summer, she was in an uneasy sleep with her head resting on her open book. Once the conditioning started she seemed to relax and maybe even smiled a little.

After a few minutes, Cammy felt confident enough to carry Summer to her bed and tuck her in. She continued whispering the entire time. It was on the subject Summer studied in her book. She would know the material when she woke up.

Cammy heard Jan stir behind her. There wasn't normally someone in the room with Summer. She didn't want to be spotted. It was clear Jan was waking up. She couldn't make it out the door back into the hall, she spotted the pass door into Claire's room wasn't closed tight. It looked like the best escape route.

Jan sat up and looked around.

Cammy slid behind the pass door into Claire's room. It appeared Claire and Jesse were both asleep. She watched Jan through the crack in the door.

Jan got up and looked at Summer. She then headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

Cammy was about to go back into Summer's room to go out. She hadn't closed the door tightly from the hall into Summer's room so she could make a silent exit back into the hall.

There was some stirring noise behind her.

She looked over in the darkness and saw Jesse's head lift up and look around. Jesse couldn't see her in the darkness. Jesse looked over at Claire sleeping next to her and lay back down.

Cammy decided to move out of Claire's room and back into Summer's room.

The bathroom door opened in Summer's room and Jan came back out.

Cammy was almost caught again. She would rather be caught in Claire's room and say she 'came' to join them. She didn't want to need to explain why she was in Summer's room.

She moved back behind the pass door. She could hear Jan approach. Jan paused. She figured Jan checked on Summer again. The soft footsteps started and came closer.

Jan was on the other side of the door. She listened to see if anything was happening in Claire's room. It was quiet. The door opened a little more and she entered the room. She couldn't see anything in the darkness.

Cammy pressed herself against the wall.

Jan continued into the room and was just inches from Cammy.

It was clear if Jan touched her it would startle Jan and she would probably scream. Jan was close enough to her that she could feel the heat radiating from her body. One more step and Jan would bump into her. She couldn't move without being spotted because Jan was so close to her.

There was some noise from inside Summer's room.

Jan stopped and moved to peer around the pass door back into Summer's room. It moved her away from Cammy.

Cammy moved further into Claire's room in case Jan came back.

Jan looked in Summer's room. In the faint light from the bathroom night light she could see Summer was still in her bed. She'd only turned to her side a little.

Jan slipped inside Summer's room and went back to bed.

Cammy moved back to the door and looked in. In a few minutes it sounded like Jan was asleep. She took one last look at Claire and Jesse and went back into Summer's room.

She checked both girls and they were asleep. She resumed Summer's conditioning. She didn't think there would be any interruptions for a while.

It had been a few tense moments for her earlier on several occasions. She really would have liked to have seen Claire and Jesse share with each other. It could still happen before she left. She wanted to finish Summer's 'conditioning'.

Vanna was soundly asleep.

Precious stirred and let out a soft whimper from her crib.

Allison awoke.

She looked over at Precious and at Vanna.

Vanna was still asleep.

Allison saw Samantha was there and appeared to be in standby. She was aware Samantha would come back online if Precious cried for fifteen seconds.

She quickly got up and went to Precious and picked her up. The whimpering stopped. It didn't appear she needed to be changed.

Allison was still naked as she held Precious. She thought Precious wanted to nurse. She was about to wake Vanna up. Precious fell back to sleep so she carefully placed her back in her crib.

She checked Precious again to make sure she was asleep and covered. She looked at Samantha who was still in standby and then went back to bed.

She snuggled up to Vanna and went back to sleep.

Samantha watched everything unfold. She'd just been about to act when Allison got up. It actually surprised her a little Allison woke up before Vanna did. She figured it was because Vanna was so tired from her lack of sleep so far. She decided the next time she would act quicker herself so neither one of the girls was disturbed by Precious.

Fifteen Minutes

Time
Does it matter
It allows one's thought
To drift and scatter

Time
Eats away at the soul
It alters one's feeling
It leaves them far from whole

Time
Never slows or stops
What around one is real
What are only props

Time
Attacks one's mind
It opens it up from inside
What darkness will it find

Time
Is supposed to heal
Maybe it's just a saying
It doesn't seem real

Time
Will it ever end
Reality itself
One tries to bend

Time
What would one do
For fifteen minutes more
With one they once knew

Nobody