The Dodge and Mercedes had already left the city, and now the cars were moving one after another along the federal highway towards Edwards Air Force Base. Although John, Kate and Terminator were in a hurry, they did not exceed the speed limit for this type of road — once again they did not need the attention of the police. Moreover, it is unclear whether Mrs. Adams reported to 911 or not.
But so far, they have not been persecuted. The sky was sparkling clear, there were no helicopters, and traffic on the highway was free enough for a highway of national importance. It all looked like a pleasant country trip if you didn't know the circumstances and its goals.
Connor's Mercedes drove first, while T-850 in his pickup truck stayed a little behind, covering them in case they were chased. He was constantly scanning the space around him, as well as just looking in the rearview mirror.
Kate tried several times to reach her father, but to no avail. The phone didn't pick up the network. Even the radio didn't work, especially in the FM waves, although it was possible to find something vaguely reminiscent of music on AM waves.
She sat in the back seat next to Scott, who had already regained consciousness, and as soon as he realized where he was, he began to remonstrate.
"Oh my god, my head is splitting… What's wrong, Kate? It's like I've been hit with a sledgehammer!"
John chuckled, and Scott noticed, immediately returning to his indignation.
"Did you kidnap me? Where are we going? And why is he driving my car?"
"We're going to see my father at Edwards Air Force Base," the girl explained calmly, deciding not to go into any details.
"So, why did you and your friend take me? Do you want Daddy to decide which of the two of us you choose?" Scott quipped.
"Please don't start," Catherine sighed and handed him a bag of things.
"Here, you'd better get dressed."
"How kind of you to take care of me!" Scott began to pull on his pants. Then, as if coming to his senses, he exclaimed, "What time?"
Kate answered.
"I've got to go to work! And I'm here with you! Now I won't have time — I'll have to call and tell them that I'll be late!" Seeing Catherine's cell phone in her hands, Scott immediately grabbed the phone. "Let me call!"
"It's useless, there's no connection!" The girl said pessimistically.
"Oh, shit!" Convinced of the truth of her words, Scott leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
"You're like a child, honestly!" Kate's voice was clearly reproachful.
"I told you we shouldn't have taken him with us!" John said. "Just mess around now!"
Before Catherine could say anything, Scott himself rebuffed the boy's words, "Look, shut up! I didn't ask to be kidnapped, by the way!"
Connor preferred to remain silent, but Scott continued, "I demand that we stop at the nearest gas station! There's probably a phone there. Oh, and I'm taking the car! I'm the one who paid for the rent and for a full tank of fuel!"
"What about us? Are you suggesting that we walk to the airbase?" Kate asked sarcastically.
"Why walk? You'll catch a ride, and that's it."
For a while, the altercation stopped, and there was silence in the car. But it wasn't long before Scott spotted a pickup truck following them and Terminator in it. It was pretty obvious that this man didn't even think of overtaking, even though there was plenty of room on the road. This seemed strange and suspicious to the guy.
"Did anyone notice that bully in the Dodge? Looks like he's following us!"
John and Kate looked at each other, and Connor said, "No, he doesn't. He's with us.
"And who is he? Another friend of yours from high school, Kate?
"Oh, you'd better not know the truth," said Catherine, sighing heavily.
"Of course, why do I need it? I'm the only one here who doesn't know anything! I guess I'm too dumb to know what the three of you are up to!"
"No, you're not…" The girl immediately responded. "It's just, it's really... It's not easy to explain to a person... unprepared."
Her serious tone seemed to give Scott pause. In any case, he did not rush to make new claims. But soon the coveted gas station appeared on the side of the road ahead, and all Mason's thoughts turned to the need to make a call to work. However, John didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down.
"That's the gas station! Come on, turn it off!" Scott called back to him with sarcasm.
"We really don't have time! We need to get to the base as soon as possible, and from there you can call!" Brewster said.
"To hell with the phone, I want to go to the toilet!" The thought came to his mind, but Scott jumped at it, reasoning that it was a stronger argument if he wanted to finally get out of the car.
"You can't stand it?" Connor threw over his shoulder in exasperation.
"No, I can't! Come on, slow down if you don't want me to do it right here!"
"All right, John, let's stop — it's only for a few minutes," Kate agreed reluctantly.
"Okay," Connor gasped. A satisfied smile crossed Scott's face, for the first time in the entire trip.
John turned on his right turn signal to indicate to Terminator that they were stopping, and began to gradually slow down while pulling the car to the right. T-850 decided that there was some kind of breakdown in the Mercedes, because of which the movement should be interrupted, and also began to take the right.
As the two cars parked near a gas station, Scott jumped out of the Benz, took a quick glance at T-850, which had also climbed out of the pickup truck, and sped toward the entrance to the annex, which housed a shop, café, and restrooms. Following his gaze, Terminator approached John and Kate. They went out to get some fresh air and stretch their stiff limbs a little.
"What happened?" The cyborg asked.
"Scott had to deal with... natural need," replied Kate, not quite sure that Terminator knew what it was.
"We must not linger. If T-X is chasing us, she will soon pass through here," T-850 reminded.
"Yes, we kind of remember!" Connor quipped.
But T-850 had little understanding of human irony, so he said artlessly, "Good."
"That's fast," Catherine said, looking in the direction of the building. Through the transparent glass wall of the façade she could see shelves of goods, several people loitering around the sales floor, the cash register with the employee standing behind it — a plump, middle-aged man with a neat beard — and the figure of Scott asking him something.
"He must be wondering where the restroom is," Kate decided. For a while, other people overshadowed Scott, but then she saw that he was standing next to the cash register, dialing a number: "He's decided to call work, after all." But as she looked closer, she saw him glancing anxiously in their direction as he spoke into the phone, and the gas station attendant was also looking at Scott with concern, then through the glass doors into the street, what must have been the three of them.
"Damn it, he's calling the police!" The girl guessed at once.
"What an asshole!" John exclaimed. "Hurry, we need to stop him!"
"No, we shouldn't linger. Hurry up to the cars!" Terminator's words sounded rational.
The company immediately got back into the car and moved forward rapidly. Kate managed to see Scott's face in the rearview mirror, which was a mixture of annoyance that they had taken his Benz away after all, and triumph at the fact that he had managed to on them by making this call.
"What an asshole you are, Scott!" ran through the girl's mind. In a fit of anger, she pulled the wedding ring from the ring finger of her left hand and threw it violently through the open window of the car, as far as possible into the desert.
Connor chuckled, noticing this, but she, still on edge, only threatened.
"Not a word!"
However, the trio was lucky at least in that the police, whom Scott called, due to communication problems, could not fully hear and record his message, so they were not in danger of a collision with law enforcement officers. The trip continued.
Finally, a large road sign appeared: "Edwards Air Force Base, Rosamund Gate, 16 kilometers." A hundred yards later, there was another sign: "Exit 6 Lancaster. Quartz Hill, 1 mile."
The cars swerved off the federal highway and sped east through the desert. Three roads led to Edwards: to Rosamund Gate on Route 1-14, to the north gate on Highway 58, and to the south gate at the southeastern end of Rogers Dry Lake. The company headed for the south gate, as they had done more than once.
A couple of guards at the checkpoint gestured to stop the car. John pulled up and opened the side window. Kate bent down to speak to the soldiers.
"I'm Kate Brewster, and my father, General Brewster, is waiting for us."
"Can I see the documents?" The technician sergeant demanded.
Kate took her driver's license out of her jacket and handed it to him.
"My fiancé, Scott Mason," she said, referring to John, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"And this—" Kate nodded toward the pickup truck directly behind their car, — "Tom Mason, his brother. Our best man. He likes, you know, to always drive only his own car."
John felt he had to react somehow, too, so he smiled and nodded his head.
The sergeant walked into the guard room with Kate's papers, and the second guard kept a watchful eye on them.
A couple of minutes later, the technician sergeant came out and handed Kate back her driver's license.
"The general is busy right now, ma'am. But his secretary has been informed of your visit."
The second guard turned to open the gate.
"Drive to the main entrance," the sergeant said. "You'll be met and escorted."
"Thank you," Kate said.