Chapter 1505
Pool Confession
John Henry was able to find out a little more about the mine activity. Bob and Jim were in the Command Center with him. They received the information as well.
Bob wanted to take control of the situation before the others became involved.
"We can go back there and look around after dark." Bob said.
John Henry didn't want to make any waves. He didn't want Cameron upset at him later on.
"You'll need to act quietly." John Henry said. "We don't want the others to know and then want to go along with you."
Jim understood John Henry's concern. John would want to go along if Cameron was tied up any longer. He would see it as an opportunity to get out into the field and back into the action.
"Do we know where Cameron is at?" Jim asked.
John Henry looked at some images.
"She's currently on her way to San Francisco in the B-25." John Henry said. "She needs to make one more stop before she returns."
Bob knew Cameron wouldn't be back for at least three hours if it was the case.
"It should give us a four or five hour window to work in." Bob said.
John Henry thought he could buy them some extra time.
"The Blackhawk can fly you to the backside of the mountain and you can hike in from the rear unobserved." John Henry said. "It won't take you long to do."
It was a technique they'd used before.
Jim wanted to get going. If they were going to go, there was no point to delay any longer. The longer they waited to act, the higher the chances where others would want to go.
"We should leave now." Jim said.
John Henry wanted them to have some additional Terminator support.
"One or two other teams can accompany you." John Henry said.
Bob thought some backup would be useful.
"Get them ready and we'll all leave together." Bob said.
Bob and Jim left the Command Center and went to collect their gear.
John Henry made the arrangements.
He was unaware Summer was there in the background.
Mary and Laura set their drinks down and dove into the deep end of the pool.
Cammy and Ally went down the steps into the shallow end.
Leticia stood next to Sheila on the side of the pool. There was no one else in the private pool area.
"I can teach you how to swim." Leticia said. "I saw how powerful you were in the ocean."
Sheila didn't want to get into it.
"The shallow end is fine." Sheila said. "I don't swim."
Sheila went down the steps after Cammy and Ally. Leticia followed her in.
"Let me hold you up." Leticia said.
Sheila didn't want to seem rude or indifferent.
"You can, as long as you cop a feel." Sheila said.
Leticia smiled and lifted Sheila in the water. The water made Sheila feel lighter than she was.
"Stretch out." Leticia said as she copped a feel.
Sheila stretched out in the water as Leticia held her.
Cammy and Ally watched.
"She's going to sink." Cammy said.
Leticia didn't think so.
"Just kick your feet and move your arms." Leticia said.
Sheila started to do it. Leticia let go of her and backed away. Sheila dropped almost straight down. She'd only moved forward slightly. When she reached the bottom she rolled over on her back and looked up.
Leticia wondered what happened. 'Sue' sank like a rock.
"Is Sue holding her breath?" Leticia asked.
Mary and Laura swam past them. They touched the end of the pool and changed their stroke and swam back past Cammy, Ally and Leticia again.
Ally hoped to avoid any details.
"Maybe, you know she likes to play around." Ally said.
It made Leticia wonder about the shark.
"Was there really a second shark?" Leticia asked.
Cammy didn't want to tell too many lies. The girls weren't bad people.
"No." Cammy said. "It wouldn't have mattered if there were five of them. It was just to impress the lifeguard."
Leticia noticed the lifeguard was totally freaked out.
"She took everything really hard." Leticia said. "We were worried too, but knew you possessed special 'abilities'."
Ally thought of her near sexual experience with the lifeguard. It would've happened if it hadn't been for the shark episode.
"The body on the lifeguard was 'hard'." Ally said. "I really liked it."
Mary and Laura swam by them again. They reached the end and raced back past them underwater.
Leticia watched them underwater. 'Sue' was at the bottom still.
"I'll say." Leticia said. "I'm worried about her. When is Sue going to come up?"
Cammy looked at Sheila on the bottom. She was touching herself.
"I'd say she's about to come right now." Cammy said. "I don't think it's up either."
Leticia took a breath and went under the water for a better look. She could see right away 'Sue' was pleasuring herself. She moved closer to her. 'Sue' reached up with one hand and pulled her closer as she continued to stimulate herself. They kissed under water. She started to lose a lot of air with the aggressive kiss. She needed to come back up for more air. 'Sue' continued to hold her. She shook her head and pointed up. 'Sue' still held her firmly. She couldn't get free. She briefly wondered if 'Sue' was going to drown her. She stopped struggling and looked 'Sue' directly in the eyes and gave her another kiss. She offered her life to 'Sue' at that moment. In an instant she was back at the surface. She took a big gasp of air followed by some coughing.
Sheila was 'caught up in the moment' until she'd finished and realized Leticia was in distress. She launched herself up from the bottom with Leticia in her arms.
"I'm sorry about what just happened." Sheila said. "I wanted to finish. Your last kiss did it for me."
Leticia was still a little short of breath. She wanted 'Sue' to know how far she was willing to go for her.
"It's because it was my last kiss." Leticia gasped. "I wanted you to know I would give you anything and everything, Sue…."
Sheila didn't think she'd pushed Leticia too far but once she replayed everything, she saw she really did take it way too far. It was clear Leticia thought she was going to drown her and embraced her own death. It was devotion. It was love. This female was special to her. She wanted Leticia to know the truth. She pulled Leticia in close to her and moved her mouth to her ear.
"It's Sheila." Sheila whispered. "My name is Sheila."
Leticia's eyes widened. In that instant, she realized 'Sue' – Sheila, really did love her. She held her tight and they kissed again. It was the trust she wanted.
"It means everything to me." Leticia whispered back.
Cammy and Ally heard what Sheila said to Leticia. They didn't think it was a good idea. Maybe it didn't really matter at this point. The three human girls were their adopted family now.
Mary and Laura swam up to Cammy and Ally. They took them by the hand. They wanted to do what Leticia did with 'Sue'. They didn't know 'Sue' almost drowned Leticia. They would have been a little more hesitant to do so if they did.
Sheila and Leticia watched them.
Her carelessness and selfishness to 'finish' almost drowned Leticia. She felt very 'guilty' about it.
"I'm really sorry I took your breath away." Sheila said. "It will never happen again."
Leticia wanted to ask Sheila what she really was. It took her about a millisecond to realize it didn't matter. She loved her for who she was and how she was. What it actually was didn't matter. She still was who she was.
Sheila loved Leticia. She knew the girls knew they were all more than human. As to what they actually were, and where their chassis were from, was a whole other story. It was clear to her Leticia cared for her and loved her even knowing what she did or suspected about her. It meant something to her.
Her dealings with the anti-Metal group showed her there were a whole bunch of people out there who held her true nature against her, just because she was a cyborg. They didn't care who she was. It was all Leticia cared about. She questioned some of her past actions with humans she'd 'interrogated'. She realized it didn't really matter. They were all terminated. The process was a little more drawn out for some of them than others.
She led Leticia off to the side of the pool.
"Hang on here." Sheila said.
Leticia grasped the handrail.
"I'm going to send you to Heaven." Sheila said.
Leticia thought she'd been pretty close to Heaven when she almost drowned. She understood what Sheila meant in this context.
Sheila went under the water.
Leticia looked down and soon felt where Sheila was at. She hung onto the handrail and went along for the ride. Sheila got her there in no time and kept it up. She was really glad Sheila didn't need to breathe. Somehow it made her even more special. She didn't want the underwater pleasure to stop.
Earlier:
Summer was in the commissary when she received an alert from CamNet.
She prepared to quietly slip out. The only one who saw she was about to leave was Samantha.
Samantha moved deeper into the commissary. Most of the eyes followed her. She 'accidentally' spilled some water on her top. It was like the ultimate 'wet tee shirt' contest. What was clearly visible before, was even more prominent now. Soon every head turned her way as she took a towel and dabbed at her wet top.
Summer winked at Samantha and disappeared from the commissary. Nobody noticed she'd slipped out. She headed for the Command Center.
She entered the Command Center from the back and listened. She didn't like the idea Bob and Jim were about to go off on their own, more or less, with one additional team. She also understood their concern to get things taken care of before Cameron returned.
She listened to what John Henry proposed with Bob and Jim.
Summer made some additional plans of her own.
She returned back to the commissary when she was done.
Jan looked around and approached Summer.
"Where did you go?" Jan asked.
Summer looked around at the people there.
"Did anyone miss me?" Summer asked.
Jan smiled.
"It was just me as far as I know." Jan said.
Summer filled her in on a few of the details.
Joe and Ted took in the flight. It was clear the girls knew how to fly the aircraft. They switched around from the various positions in the front. Anna moved around as they did to give them plenty of space.
Anna made sure everything was good with Young Jesse and Young Allison. The aircraft operated at one hundred percent efficiency.
Young Jesse checked her position on the map with observable landmarks on the ground. They were right where she wanted to be. They were just past San Jose.
"I'm going to cut across the peninsula and parallel the coast." Young Jesse said.
"It sounds good." Young Allison said. "It's a beautiful view."
It's what Young Jesse did.
"I remember there are some islands outside the bay as well as those inside the bay." Young Jesse said. "I spotted them on the flight in."
Young Allison was familiar with all of them.
"The Farallon Islands are about twenty five miles out from the land." Young Allison said. "There's a cool old lighthouse on one of them, well, what's left of it anyway. There are a lot of birds too so don't go too low over them."
Young Jesse looked at the map and adjusted her heading. She also gained a little altitude. She didn't want to reduce the avian population, or do any damage to the aircraft.
Cameron and Savannah kept watch out of the waist gun positions. They were over the water now. They were aware where they were headed.
Previously Savannah asked Young Jesse not to fly under the bridges, even if Young Allison urged her to do so. She didn't want to cause any problems, especially with guests on board.
Cameron really hoped Savannah would 'make a move' on her but it didn't look like it was going to happen.
Savannah went back to the tail and checked on Camille. She was pleased Camille hadn't turned around once to 'watch' Cameron and her. They hadn't done anything, but Camille gave them privacy to do so. She returned to Cameron and sat on her lap.
Cameron was surprised when Savannah sat on her lap. She was unsure what she was supposed to do. She thought back to when Savannah was younger and would sit on her lap as she read stories to her. She always held her gently. She did the same thing now.
Savannah snuggled back into Cameron and felt her gently hold her. It was like she used to do. It was very reassuring and comforting to her. She could have used her gentle touch more often, especially in the last week. It was a rough one for her.
She leaned her head back above Cameron's breasts and looked up and back at her. Her brown eyes were so beautiful.
Cameron watched as Savannah moved her head back and looked up at her with her beautiful blue eyes. She knew if Savannah faced her right now, they would kiss. How Savannah was seated now, it would be very awkward. It was exhilarating for her just to hold Savannah as she scanned her and felt her rapid heartbeat. It was clear Savannah was very sexually aroused right now.
The vibrations of the airframe found their way to Savannah. She was able to direct them to where she wanted them. As Cameron softly held her she felt her excitement build. She wanted to be with Cameron so much. With Young Allison and Young Jesse there, it wasn't the right time or place.
Cameron could feel Savannah was close to a finish as she scanned her. She held her a little tighter.
"Go ahead." Cameron whispered in her ear.
Savannah looked back and up into Cameron's eyes as she 'made it'.
Cameron was exhilarated to scan Savannah as she finished. She was sure it was what she'd whispered in her ear which brought Savannah over the top. She never imagined it would be the first time, and way, she would feel Savannah finish. It was very innocent and beautiful. It was in her arms too.
"I love you, Cameron." Savannah whispered.
Her message sent Cameron over the top as well. She'd become highly stimulated as she felt Savannah become aroused.
Savannah could tell Cameron made it too. She smiled and winked at her.
"I love you, Savannah." Cameron whispered.
Savannah wanted Cameron so very much, but she needed to be careful. She was worried Cameron would become obsessed with her at the wrong time. She was aware of what Cameron did for John and allowed. It was very generous of her. Everyone seemed on board with it, so maybe it was what everyone wanted. She was sure Cameron would direct all of her pent up feelings at her when they shared. She also knew the longer they waited, the more focused Cameron would be.
She looked back at Cameron again.
"It will happen soon enough when the time is right." Savannah whispered. "We need to be alone."
Cameron thought back on the many times when they were alone and things almost happened. There was always a last minute interruption. It usually involved Skynet. It was another reason why she wanted to see every version of Skynet terminated.
"We'll see." Cameron said.
Savannah snuggled back into Cameron a little more. She silently moved Cameron's left hand onto her left breast as Cameron's right hand continued to scan her. She wanted Cameron to feel her heart beat in more ways than one. It was hard to say who was more excited at this point.
Young Jesse overflew the Farallon Islands. She then headed straight for the Golden Gate. CamNet cleared the airspace for them.
Young Allison wondered if Young Jesse was going to push it.
"Are you going to fly under the bridges?" Young Allison asked.
Young Jesse wondered if this was what Savannah warned her about.
"I'd better not." Young Jesse said. "We have guests."
She also knew the guests could become witnesses if the authorities leaned on them.
At this point the Golden Gate Bridge loomed ahead.
"I can see it." Anna said.
Ted was in the nose.
Joe was in the jump seat behind the pilots. He looked but he couldn't see anything. He decided to go through the crawlway and see what he could from the nose. It would be a tight fit, but it was the best seat in the house for the view.
Young Allison looked back at Anna.
"Would you like to be the copilot for the trip back to Castle?" Young Allison asked.
Anna wondered if Young Allison was worried about what Savannah might be doing. She hadn't looked back and previously moved some things around on the crawlway over the bomb bay to block the view when Ted or Joe moved around.
"I'm good." Anna said.
Young Jesse felt she was hogging all the flying time.
"Once I do the two bridges, Cameron and Savannah can take over." Young Jesse said.
Anna glanced back and could see Savannah snuggled into Cameron's lap. She was surprised to see Cameron's left hand on Savannah's left breast. She was even more surprised to see Cameron's left hand slide inside Savannah's top and fondle her. It looked like Cameron wanted direct contact with Savannah. She glanced down at herself. She remembered she was the same as Savannah when she was created. She knew Young Jesse and Young Allison should stay right where they were at for now.
Everyone seemed content where they were. There was no need to rock the boat. The boat seemed easy enough to rock as it was.
"It's not too long of a flight." Anna said. "Maybe after we get back to Castle we can see about changing things around."
In a few more minutes everyone could see the Golden Gate Bridge.
Young Jesse stayed at five hundred feet so there was a good view all around. She passed over the Golden Gate Bridge. She thought the towers were really tall. They were at a higher elevation when they flew in on the jet from Australia so the view wasn't as good. There'd been some fog too. She did notice a landmark which stood out amongst the landscape.
"There's a really big sign over there." Young Jesse said.
Young Allison already viewed the landmark several times.
"It's the Ghirardelli sign." Young Allison said. "It was originally a chocolate factory."
Young Allison pointed out all the landmarks to Young Jesse.
Joe and Ted could hear it all through their headsets. They'd both been to Frisco a few times but it was always on land or a harbor tour. They thought about taking one of the helicopter tours but they were rather expensive. Where they were at right now in the Mitchell seemed even better. It was certainly a view from an aircraft not too many people would ever experience.
Young Jesse looked at Alcatraz and thought what a nice place it would be for a resort rather than a prison. She was aware of its past as a fort to help protect the harbor.
Young Allison kept up the narrative as they passed the other islands and landmarks.
Young Jesse was over the Bay Bridge in a few minutes. She'd cut back on the power earlier for a nice slow look at everything. Once they passed the USS Hornet at Alameda, she picked the speed back up. They flew along the east side of the bay and then cut back inland.
Young Allison looked over at the USS Hornet. It was CV-12. It wasn't the same USS Hornet which launched the Doolittle Raid. It was CV-8. Its career was rather short. It only was in active service for one year and six days.
The USS Hornet CV-12 was commissioned in 1944. It served in World War II and in the Vietnam War. It was decommissioned and recommissioned at various times. It also was involved in recovering several capsules from the Apollo space program. The first one was unmanned and used in a test. It later recovered the capsules from Apollo 11 and Apollo 12. Both of those were moon landings. It didn't contain a lot of aircraft exhibits like some of the other retired aircraft carriers did which were used as floating museums. It did however have a lot of exhibits related to the Space Program.
They would be back to Castle in less than an hour.
The party in the commissary broke up.
Everyone started to drift off in couples.
Derek and Riley left with Samantha and Precious.
Kyle and Sarah left with Jan.
Claire wanted to stay to do the dishes but Allison and Summer did them.
Jesse led Claire back to her room instead.
John was going to go back to the Command Center. He was surprised to find Vanna waiting for him.
"Can we talk for a little while?" Vanna asked.
John looked towards the Command Center and then back at Vanna. The last time he'd checked, Cameron wasn't going to be back for a few more hours at the earliest. He smiled at Vanna.
"I have some free time right now." John said.
Vanna took John's arm and led him to his room.
Allison left the sink to see where they went. She returned back to the sink.
"I see you're a little meddler." Allison said.
Summer smiled.
"Everyone is happy." Summer said.
Allison looked at the dishes.
"I'm not." Allison said. "I need to clean up."
Summer decided she would finish up.
"I can do it." Summer said. "Besides, it was your choice to let Vanna go with John. I asked you to go."
Allison knew what Summer did and why.
"I wanted Vanna to have a good time." Allison said. "I want her to find peace. She's very close to it. I want her to beat the past."
Summer needed to make a couple of changes from her earlier plan.
"Holly will be in your room when we finish." Summer said. "The dishes I mean."
Allison smiled. She was aware Summer spied on her almost as much as Young Allison did. She could just never catch her. Somehow Summer always knew when she tried to catch her. It seemed somehow Summer always knew everything….
Bob and Jim stopped by Sheila's room. They were supposed to collect Holly and Gail. There was a last minute change and Cam would go with them instead of Holly. They watched Cam dress.
Hanna was naked. She left like that and went down the hall to join Jesse and Claire in Jesse's room. She received a message from CamNet. She was going to need some clothes. She also needed to hurry. Samantha was to assist her.
Bob, Jim, Gail and Cam left. They were to conduct a recon at the newly discovered Skynet location. Gail insisted on going on the next operation earlier. Holly was going to go with her. There was a last minute change and Cam took her place.
They were all aware it was what CamNet wanted right now.
None of them knew Summer orchestrated everything to keep John from going out on the recon. The last minute switch of Allison and Vanna to be with John changed the other variables some.
It again reminded Summer not everything could be 'controlled', even with her 'influence'. It appeared the only thing predictable, was the unpredictable.
The Terminator watched the drone image from altitude where the man was headed. It was clear he was headed to a different location.
He pulled up in back of a nightclub. The man hurried inside of the building. There was a limousine parked along the side of the building. There were a few other cars in the back. There was nothing in the front lot. The limousine indicated there was someone of higher standing inside of the building.
CamNet didn't want to wait until darkness to act. More than likely the later it got, more people would arrive at the location. Right now it should only be the group of thugs associated with the drug and sex trade inside of the building. She wanted to shake things loose.
She called up the plans for the building and determined where the gas lines would be for the major appliances associated with it. There was a large heating and air conditioning unit on the roof. There was a large stove and oven in the kitchen area.
The drone at altitude dropped down to twenty five thousand feet. It was still five miles in the air. It fired two gravity shots fifty feet apart. One of them struck the heating unit, the other one struck where the gas line should be for the cooking appliances. The two locations of the building which were hit with 'metal hail' began to smoke. They were on fire. There would be no emergency response.
Based upon the plans of the building on file, she chose several more rooms to receive a dose of 'metal hail'. Within thirty seconds the limousine started to move. It pulled around to the front of the building very close to the door. Two individuals hurried out. One of them opened the door and the other one quickly climbed inside. The individual who'd open the door followed them inside. The limousine drove off.
Several calls went out to 911 for assistance as the fire got out of control. CamNet intercepted them and told them help was on the way. There would be no help. Any emergency response unit which happened to go near the area, would be directed elsewhere.
The drone overhead fired several more short bursts into the building.
Smoke poured out of the windows and doors. Flames were visible through the roof. Two men exited out of the back. One of them was the man who'd just arrived in the rear. The drone fired some more 'metal hail'. Before they could reach the vehicle he'd arrived in, both of them were down. A third man came out of the building and drug both of them back inside by an ankle. They both wedged in the doorway when they arrived simultaneously. One man was pulled in first.
The drone lined up for a new shot. Even before the second man started to be pulled inside, the drone fired. The man was pulled inside of the doorway half of a second before the 'metal hail' arrived in the area inside the doorway. The third man should be down as well. If the first two men weren't terminated before, they would be now. The building continued to burn. No one else exited.
The Terminator waited down the street from the nightclub. He watched the activity from the drone footage. He saw the direction the limo was headed. He followed it on a parallel street. The second drone stayed with the limo. He would know its destination, or if anyone got out of it. If anyone did get out of it he would deal with them personally. All of their communications were currently jammed. It was possible the man who'd opened the door might be sent out as a 'runner'.
CamNet directed her Terminator to continue the loose pursuit. The hope was the limousine would lead them to someone else higher on the food chain.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 24 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron and Young Allison started their bus journey. They passed through downtown and headed west towards Hollywood. They were on Sunset Boulevard and then Hollywood Boulevard. It wasn't long before they were on Highland Avenue. The bus made stops every now and then.
"Wasn't the final run on the former Pacific Electric passenger system just a few months ago?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron was aware of the transition.
"The MTA took over running the operation in 1955. They shut down lines as rapidly as they could replace them with bus lines. The final streetcar route was shut down at the end of March of this year."
Young Allison remembered seeing photos of rows streetcars stacked five high on top of each other in a scrap yard.
"It's really a shame how all those streetcars ended up." Young Allison said.
Cameron often wondered if it would happen to her. Is it where she would end up? Would she be replaced by a newer model of Terminator? She didn't necessarily think newer was always better. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind.
"It happens." Cameron said.
Young Allison shook her head in disgust. They were still all perfectly functioning pieces of equipment. Each one of them would be worth a fortune in the future. Only a few survived.
"What a waste of machinery." Young Allison said.
Highland Avenue soon curved to the west. They were now on Cahuenga Boulevard.
"The curve we just took is the route the Red Car used to go. When it was built in 1911, there was only a dirt road through the pass. Now the 101 Freeway occupies the right of way." Cameron said. "For a few years they operated side by side with the Pacific Electric going down the middle of the freeway."
The bus climbed a slight grade to reach the crest of Cahuenga Pass.
Allison spotted an unusual feature on the bridge near the top.
"I can see the stairway from the bridge above the freeway." Young Allison said. "It just goes down into the center divider and stops. I bet it was for the Pacific Electric at one point in time."
Cameron looked at the tribute to the past.
"You're absolutely correct. Electric railroad passenger service ended in the valley in 1952." Cameron said. "In your time period, there are still traces of the Pacific Electric everywhere with curved streets and other features. We're going to see more of them."
Young Allison was aware of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, more commonly known as BART.
"It's a shame the Greater Los Angeles area didn't keep its transportation system intact." Young Allison said. "They should have created the Los Angeles rapid transit system, they could have called it LART."
Cameron knew a lot of it had to deal with the ever expanding freeways tearing through neighborhoods.
"You need to remember San Francisco is only less than fifty square miles in size. It's approximately seven miles long by seven miles wide." Cameron said. "The Bay Area encompasses a large mass of land. The voters up there were willing to approve bonds to help with the construction. The voters in the Los Angeles area were not."
Since she was aware of what would happen going forward, she did find it somewhat unusual BART would chose to use five foot 'wide gauge', instead of 'standard gauge'. On 'standard gauge' the distance between the insides of the rails was four feet eight and a half inches. Some people believed BART ran on rubber wheels because the ride was so smooth. It didn't, it was steel wheels on steel rails.
Cameron read every periodical from the time period before they'd left. She wanted to know what all the events were so if she needed to change something, she changed it to what actually happened. She realized she could do, or prevent, something from happening which already did. Even if she was responsible in the first place, she wanted it to remain the same for what history knew. There could be times she was faced with a choice. She wanted to make sure she made the proper choice.
The way the remains of the Red Cars and Yellow Cars were brought down troubled her.
"The biggest factor was a conspiracy by a pair of brothers who worked in cohorts with the largest automobile manufacturer, one of the largest oil companies, and a large tire manufacturer. They made millions of dollars 'modernizing' the transportation systems. While they lined their pockets, they made things worse." Cameron said. "It was something they'd done in more than one major city around the nation. Politicians on the take were all too eager to look the other way or turn a blind eye. They all held out their palms and they were 'greased' with a little cash."
Cameron was aware money is what made the world run. She thought it was somewhat humorous people worshiped pieces of paper with green ink on them. They worshiped minerals from the ground as if they actually had value. They didn't. None of it did. Since everyone believed they were worth something, they were. The value only existed in their own heads. Once Skynet took over, all of those things became worthless. The things which mattered were firearms, ammunition, drinkable water, food and females used for barter.
Young Allison looked over to her right side.
"I think Universal Studios and Warner Brothers Studios are on the other side of the hill." Young Allison said. "I don't think they're the tourist attractions today they would turn into in my time."
Cameron liked taking the girls to all of the amusement parks and theme parks in the Southland. She tried to make their lives as 'normal' as possible. Skynet was always around every corner. Savannah had been targeted for termination since she was a young girl. The story was always spun she was killed, along with her mother, when an aircraft struck the building they were in. It was a tragic 'accident'.
There were locations on the Warner Brothers lot which always looked very familiar to her. She couldn't quite place what they were. They reminded her of school at times. They also reminded her of some of the other places they'd visited.
The bus finished its journey over Cahuenga Pass. They turned north on one of the major streets. It was more or less the route the Red Car once took starting in 1911. They were soon on Sherman Way. At Sherman Way and Van Nuys Boulevard Cameron pointed something out.
"The Red Car line divided at this intersection." Cameron said. "You can see off to the left the curved street coming around from Van Nuys Boulevard onto Sherman Way. It was the route the streetcar took. It was the Canoga Park line. The other section of the streetcar line continued down Van Nuys Boulevard to Parthenia Street. There's a big sweeping curve to the west there which follows the route. Just before Sepulveda Boulevard there's another sweeping curve to the north. The Pacific Electric tracks continued down Sepulveda Boulevard, past where the Bear Pit is located now, and turned east onto Brand Boulevard, again with another large sweeping curve. The tracks passed by San Fernando Mission and continued to the city of San Fernando. They stopped at the Southern Pacific main line there. There was an interchange with the Southern Pacific for freight cars for the citrus packing plants located along the line."
Cameron was aware the freight business is what kept the Pacific Electric out of the red as far as their expenses went. The freight operation would be merged into the Southern Pacific in a couple of years and the Pacific Electric would cease to exist.
Young Allison had looked at all the books and periodicals she could find about the locations for the time period they were currently in. She wanted to make sure she didn't change anything which they already knew as history. She also wanted to make sure Cameron didn't change anything either.
The bus continued down Sherman Way. There was a large center meridian along most of the way except in 'downtown' Reseda.
"I can see where the right of way used to be, right down the middle of the street." Young Allison said.
Cameron previously viewed maps for the proposed route of LART.
"If the heavy rail proposal would have been adopted here, one of the segments would have gone under the street right along here." Cameron said. "It never happened. Many of the old Pacific Electric routes would have become sections of subway or elevated rail lines. The hodgepodge system which was designed later on, largely ignored the San Fernando Valley. The majority of those routes were once Pacific Electric routes."
Young Allison was aware politicians were very short sighted. They couldn't see any further than what would line their pockets. It was shameful. What she thought was even worse, was when a politician was elected with the intent to try to do good and change things, but soon got caught up in the sewer of the system. Money, alcohol, drugs, sex partners of either gender, and even blackmail, usually based on their vices, seemed to have a way of controlling things.
She thought about having Cameron try to clean up some of the corruption on her own. Sheila and Cammy were somewhere where they were at. They weren't to be contacted by them. They were the ones who'd been in the past for eight years setting everything up for them.
Young Allison looked around at their surroundings.
"I have a feeling we're going to be on foot soon." Young Allison said. "I'm pretty sure there aren't any buses going in the direction we're going to go."
Cameron hoped to be able to use the transfers they'd purchased.
"We may be able to catch a northbound bus on one of the cross streets." Cameron said. "Either way, we're going to have to do some walking. You wanted to get your exercise in. You'll have a chance."
They made the connection and rode it north to the end of the line.
Cameron thought back on some of the maps she'd viewed of the construction of the Pacific Electric through the valley in 1911 and up to San Fernando in 1912. Almost every street had a different name. Van Nuys Boulevard was called North Sherman Way. She'd read the reason why the Pacific Electric needed to turn at Parthenia Street was because the owners of a large ranch wouldn't allow them a 'right of way' access. They simply went around the property and up Sepulveda Boulevard instead. The ranch eventually sold for a million dollars and became Panorama City. Now a single house located in the large land area was worth half a million dollars. There were hundreds of them located in the geographic area along with a multitude of businesses.
One thing Young Allison noticed once they were in the Valley was there were a lot of gas stations. Some of them had names she'd never even heard of before. They seemed to be located everywhere. Many intersections had four gas stations. There was one on each corner. She knew later on the majority of those all became small strip malls or fast food restaurants.
"I take it we're not going to try to hitchhike." Young Allison said.
Cameron thought it would be a bad idea.
"In a few more years it will become very commonplace for people to do." Cameron said. "Currently it's looked down upon. The only reason anyone would stop to pick us up would be for what they thought they could do to us. It would be their mistake."
Young Allison was aware of some of the 'off the books' operations Cameron and the Metal girls conducted against sex traffickers and sex abusers. they were all done outside the scope of the Resistance. It was the reason why Cameron created CamNet and her own base as a separate entity. She didn't want what she did to taint the Resistance.
It was dark when they got off of the bus.
"Maybe someone will try something anyway." Young Allison said.
Cameron felt a slight glitch impulse in her left hand. She would terminate anyone who directly threatened them in any way. It didn't matter who they were.
"I think the only thing we need to worry about will being out past curfew." Cameron said. "Once we reach the safe house and have proper identification, we will be of 'voting age'."
Young Allison liked the idea.
"I'll get to eighteen a little quicker than I thought." Young Allison said.
Cameron smiled at her.
"It's twenty one at this time." Cameron said. "The age won't change for a few more years."
Young Allison remembered reading about young men complaining they were old enough to go die for the country, but they weren't old enough to vote. It all made sense now.
"Well at least we won't have to worry about the driving age then either." Young Allison said.
Cameron was going to miss something from the time period they'd left.
"We won't have John Henry or CamNet to direct the authorities away from us." Cameron said. "The closest we have will be police scanners, and the ability to interact with their dispatch system. If for some reason we need to operate in an area for any specific reason, we can direct the police away ourselves."
Young Allison was glad to get the exercise in. It wasn't too much longer before she spotted something familiar. It was a place she'd only eaten at a few times. The yellow painted building was unmistakable. The neon lights lit up brightly.
"I see the Munch Box." Young Allison said.
Cameron was pleased at how excited Young Allison looked.
"Are you ready for a root beer float in a frosty mug?" Cameron asked.
Young Allison was a little tired and she was definitely thirsty.
"I'm in for a soda as well." Young Allison said. "It will go good with my hamburger and chili fries. I'm pretty sure the price is going to be right."
Cameron always thought the price was right. The money she'd acquired was always taken from those who'd taken it from others, through whatever method they chose to obtain it.
As they approached the Munch Box they could hear the sound of an air horn in the distance.
Confession
A new direction can be taken
When one arrives at an intersection
It depends on the choice
What will be the new direction
Everything can move ahead
As long as there's some motion
Changing events along the way
Are bound to create a distraction
Interactions of long standing
Will face different types of erosion
They may be good or bad
In life's continual evolution
The focus may be narrowed
If someone becomes an obsession
They need to take a step back
They must not be treated as a possession
When the vision becomes clouded
There is always some type of transgression
To make things right again
There will need to be a confession
Nobody