Chapter 346

Low Pass

Cameron was on the platform as it went down to the lower level with the HK Track on it. She couldn't get off the platform because she didn't want the technician to spot her and raise the alarm. She was just as worried when the platform reached the lower level she would be spotted by someone else. There wasn't much she could do about it at this point.

She moved around to the backside of the HK Track. She was better shielded from where the workers were at. She didn't want to be spotted yet. She needed to see what else was down there. There were sure to be additional threats.

Cameron quickly moved off the platform and behind some equipment once it stopped. No alarm went off or was sounded. She knew it could change in an instant. If a Terminator spotted her, they would try to move in on her for the 'kill'.

She looked around the area. There was no assembly line present as she thought there would be, at least not yet. They would have one up soon enough. There was plenty of space in the lower level. The floor plan was set up for it, but the large machinery wasn't present. It appeared the HK Tracks were either being assembled from parts. or each one was hand fabricated, one at a time. Either way the parts came from somewhere. It wasn't there.

She tried to move away from where there was sound for right now. She wanted to learn as much as she could before she was discovered. There were a lot of wooden shipping crates. She was between several rows of them. From the crates present, it confirmed her suspicions the HK Tracks were being made from parts and sub assemblies. There were most likely several different locations. Each one would make specific parts and then they were shipped there for assembly.

It reminded Cameron of a story she read about aircraft parts being manufactured at varied locations in European nations during World War II. The sub assemblies were brought elsewhere for final assembly. The technique helped hide what they were doing. She knew Skynet and all of its illegitimate offshoots tried to hide from them.

Most of the crates were empty. She tried to calculate the HK Tracks she spotted above and the number of empty crates below. There were more HK Tracks than empty crates to put them together. Some of the empty crates must have been disposed of. It also raised the possibility some HK Tracks were assembled elsewhere and then brought there for testing or storage.

There were no answers yet. There were only more questions. It was very evident she would need to track down more locations related to the endeavor. They'd tried to track some leads on Coltan over the last few months, but they always came up short. Maybe this was the end result of the search.

She also needed to consider something else. With Skynet, there was always more going on behind the scenes wherever it was located. It was possible they only uncovered the tip of the iceberg. She would need to find out more before they acted. She needed to maintain situational awareness so she wasn't inadvertently discovered.

The drones on patrol scouted the surrounding area. John Henry compiled the information as it came in. He'd identified a few contacts. He now tracked them. It seemed they were headed for where the team was at. The choices for them to turn off for another destination were soon exhausted.

"There are two large trucks headed for your location. Both appear to be fully loaded." John Henry came over the com. "They seem to ride with a heavy load. They are low on their suspension."

John knew they lost contact with Cameron. He took over the operation. He was the one with the most data available to him currently. When Cameron resurfaced, he would let her take over the operation again. There were additional items in play. He wanted some answers. The prospect of additional Skynet material arriving was worrisome. It could be more than just equipment. There could be additional Grays or Terminators. Both of them would pose a serious threat.

"We're going to take those trucks." John said. "Whatever is in them, I want to know. I also want to know where they came from."

Savannah was ready to act.

"We have Cameron covered." Savannah said. "We're ready to move in if we hear gunfire."

John Henry was ready to support them with any of the four drones.

"All the drones are where Cameron wanted them." John Henry said.

John knew there were more troops on the way. He didn't want the Skynet forces to be able to concentrate their resources before they acted. He wanted the trucks intercepted before they arrived there.

"What about our backup and the trucks?" John asked.

John Henry already put a scenario into action.

"The Blackhawk has touched down." John Henry said. "You have two more teams of Terminators on the ground. Each team will attempt to intercept a truck. They have appropriated two vehicles. They are staging a simulated traffic accident now. It should slow or stop the trucks. Our teams will make their move then."

John was worried about collateral damage. The truck drivers might not be a party to what they assisted with. They might be full time truck drivers and not Grays. It could be some guy just making a living. He hoped they could make some type of determination before any permanent action was taken.

"What about the drivers?" John asked.

One of the teams on the ground was ready to act.

"We will attempt to take one of them alive and turn them over to Cameron's team for interrogation." Ed came over the com. "If they try to fight us, I think it will determine their fate."

It wasn't really what John wanted to hear. The truck drivers knew the location of where they picked things up from and where they took them. They needed the information.

Savannah listened and wondered what Cameron did to the people she 'interrogated'. She figured it wasn't anything good. She didn't think anyone ever left Cameron's facility alive. She decided to follow up on it later and ask to be a part of whatever happened. She wanted to see how an interrogation was conducted. She wanted to know everything which went on, especially what Cameron was doing.

She knew at the Resistance base nothing 'questionable' ever happened. Cameron's base was a different story. She operated alone and not under the watchful eyes of John and John Henry. Cameron maintained her operation was not part of the Resistance, but a private endeavor. When no one was around her, there were no ethics or morals. There was only a Terminator.

Cammy looked at Savannah and figured she knew where her thoughts were headed. She knew exactly what happened at Cameron's base, in detail.

"It's not pretty…." Cammy said. "Cameron does what's necessary to protect all of us."

Savannah knew Cammy watched her and anticipated what she must have wondered. She hadn't actually said anything. Maybe she could get Cammy to say a little more.

"What exactly does it consist of?" Savannah asked. "I want to know what's involved."

Camille felt Cameron's actions were justified. She really couldn't feel otherwise based upon the program she currently ran.

"Cameron does what is necessary to protect the future." Camille said. "By protecting the future, she protects all of us."

Savannah made sure her com was off. She didn't want John to hear her. She didn't want anyone to hear. She was ready to take a much bigger step into the dark side of operations. She knew they weren't technically Resistance operations either. She hoped it would give her a better look at Cameron's 'off the books' operations as well. She was aware they were quite extensive. She knew they protected the future as well. There was no need for anyone to abuse females under any circumstances. The illegal narcotics and associated crime only festered, and fostered, future Scavengers. It was time for her to grow a little more.

"I want to be a part of it. I want in on the interrogation." Savannah said. "Make sure Cameron knows. It's a personal request from me."

Cammy and Camille looked at each other. It was a serious step. Savannah was hesitant before when Cameron experimented with the females. Perhaps her recent termination of a Gray in combat changed her perspective.

"I'll inform Cameron when we update." Cammy said.

Savannah knew she'd killed a man in self defense before. Now she would watch and be part of Cameron brutalizing and terminating someone else. This would be in cold blood. It was like an execution. It was what Cameron was constructed for, termination.

Cammy released some additional information. She wanted to see how Savannah reacted.

"She still has the female prisoner…." Cammy said.

Savannah thought about it for a little bit. It was most likely the female prisoner Cameron captured the day she terminated the Gray in the shed. It didn't bother her as much now as it did a few hours after the fact. Someone tried to hurt her group. She prevented it from occurring. What else was there to think about? It was how Cameron told her to view it. It was what Vanna said as well. The enemy chose to be the enemy. They weren't the ones who made the choice for them. The enemy was the disease. The Resistance was the cure.

As far as the prisoner went, there was probably some 'Skynet type activity' going on with it. She needed to 'toughen up'. She needed to deal in death to protect John and the future. She was the one who was expendable.

"I wish to be in on it as well." Savannah said.

Camille was a witness to the fact it wasn't a typical interrogation. It was a little messy at times. She figured Savannah should know a little more. Things were already more than a little questionable.

"The 'process' has already started on her." Camille said.

Savannah wondered what the 'process' was. It only seemed to confirm Cameron was still using 'enhanced' interrogation methods. They were very invasive and of questionable moral and ethical standards. She wondered exactly what was part of the 'process'.

"Process?" Savannah asked. "How complicated or invasive is it?"

Cammy decided to fill Savannah in. She would be with her in the future. She didn't know exactly when. She would need to finish Resequencing first. She wanted her sheath to be a one hundred percent copy of Cameron's.

"The 'Neural Interface' is the process." Cammy said. "It's a procedure Cameron has…."

Ron stayed with the operation while the three girls carried out their private discussion. The others needed to get back to what was happening and be ready for any new developments. He also didn't want more of Cameron's operation revealed. Even though they all ran 'Cameron's program', they acted differently on some things. The current issue was one of them.

"Everyone get your coms back on." Ron said. "Don't lose focus. Things can turn critical at any moment."

Savannah knew Cameron must 'go Skynet' on humans. She wondered how many people Cameron may have already done the 'procedure' to. She hoped Cameron hadn't grown to enjoy it. She wanted to know more about the 'procedure'. She learned of Sheila's immense acts of cruelty on humans. She didn't think Cameron operated in the same way. She understood Sheila's 'problems' originated from the 'Neural Interface' with Jesse. She wasn't sure where Cameron's issues came from. She didn't think it was from Future Allison. She didn't know Future Allison, but she did know Allison. She also knew Young Allison. She didn't see cruelty in them. Then again, she knew the future could change anyone into a different person. It made her contemplate what it would do to her.

She often wondered if Cameron needed some more humanity or moral guidance at times. Any form of experimentation seemed like one of them. She loved Cameron dearly. If she was with her all of the time, she would work to 'help' her. She wondered if it would make a difference or not when she wasn't around. She learned at an early age she could 'control' Cameron to some extent with her behavior and actions. She just wasn't sure how long those effects lasted when Cameron was away from her.

She learned from watching videos on YouTube when a dog was usually told not to do something, and disciplined in some manner, it didn't do it again. When the same procedure was done with a cat, it didn't do it again until the owner was away. Once the owner was away, the cat resumed the previous behavior it was disciplined for. It made her wonder about the intelligence of the animals. Would Cameron be the cat or the dog? Maybe she would be neither.

Cameron was on the lower level. She knew a Terminator went down earlier. She determined it was probably her biggest threat. She looked for the Terminator who came down to the lower level earlier, as well as the 'Clean Room'. She wasn't sure there would be a Skynet 'main frame' there. It would probably be something, even if it was an interface with another larger 'main frame' elsewhere. The facility appeared to be relatively new.

She was able to look at some more of the crates. Parts and sub assemblies were sent there for final assembly. The real target would be where these parts came from. There must be several other locations tied to it. She knew she would need to track each one of them down, deal with them, and terminate them.

Cameron continued her stealthy search. She wanted to see if there were any parts there for HK drones, HK Treads, or her biggest worry, Terminators. So far everything was HK Track related.

There was always the possibility the other HK equipment was being assembled at a different location. It could be they wanted to keep the parts inventory localized in each of the different facilities for the specific equipment involved.

Cameron pulled out her multi shot Taser. She readied the electric pulse device as well. She held her Glock in her other hand. She moved around the crates as she searched for targets.

She moved forward around some equipment and spotted the enemy. There were half a dozen workers down there. They were moving parts around. They seemed to arrange them in some type of order. It was like a manual assembly line.

Cameron spotted the Terminator. Now there were two of them, one was female. She seemed to be the one in charge. The male was doing the heavy lifting. He was literally lifting the large components into place, while two workers secured them. The technicians were Grays to her at this point. They could see what they were a part of. They knew they were working with a Terminator. To her, they all just signed their own 'death warrant'.

She saw enough to know what was happening there and to what extent. She wanted to tell the others. She tried her com but there was no response. She figured there wouldn't be since she hadn't received any updates either. She would need to take matters into her own hands.

Cameron would have to do it the hard way….

'What else was new?' She thought.

Savannah moved her team closer. She didn't like the fact Cameron was on a lower level. They didn't know where it was or how deep it was. There was no way for them to know how long it would take to get to her. They only knew they couldn't reach Cameron.

"Cameron is below this level, we can't communicate with her. We need to secure this level for her withdrawal when the shooting starts." Savannah said. "I don't want her to get stuck down there."

Cammy looked at Savannah and nodded.

It was clear to Cammy that Savannah 'stepped up'. It was what Cameron indicated would happen. It was what all of Cameron's clones thought would happen.

Savannah wanted to be able to hit hard from the start. It would call for using all of the personnel there. She also needed to make sure John was protected. She wanted to do it diplomatically so there wasn't an issue raised about him being 'sidelined'. Cameron told her of the difficulties she faced when John needlessly endangered himself. It was the main reason she moved her team in already to take the lead.

"I want to call in the four lookouts who eliminated the guards and patrol. I want to have John's team ready to reinforce us." Savannah said. "They will be our backup and keep the rear door open for us if it starts to fall apart."

Cammy looked out at the 'test track'. There were other considerations. There were a number of unknown variables.

"What about the HK Track?" Cammy asked. "At least one is active. It's armed. There could be more. Anything Cameron disabled could be restored."

Savannah didn't know the exact capability of an HK Track, but she thought it could be 'played' some in an unknown situation. It may have programming and 'intelligence', but it lacked experience.

"I want the drone at altitude to make a move. It can fire a decoy flare to attract the attention of the HK Track. I'd like the other drone to make a low pass from the blind side of the structure and pop up from behind it and use the minigun on the HK Track." Savannah said. "It won't have time to process the new target. It should arrive unannounced."

There were now two of Cameron's Terminators on each side of the building ready to move in.

Savannah looked over the group of Grays or technicians. They were outside with the HK Track. The individuals were all a party to what was going on. Their actions determine their fate, not her.

"I still make only six targets on this level." Savannah said.

Cammy knew they were blind as to what was inside the building. There were several variables involved with the interior as well.

"Maybe there are more you can't see." Cammy said. "We know there is more than one level."

Camille saw it as the real threat. It was the threat of the unknown.

"Maybe more will come up from the lower level." Camille said. "We don't know what's down there."

Ron pointed out there could be more Terminators there as well.

"How many Terminators do they have?" Ron asked. "There could be one, or one hundred. What else could be in there we haven't even thought of?"

Savannah took some pause. She could lead the group into a slaughter, their slaughter. She wanted a safety factor built into her actions.

"I get it. There are a lot of unknowns." Savannah said. "Don't let me endanger anyone. If I start to mess up, stop me. I don't want any of our team endangered by a mistake on my part. We all need to work together. Part of learning is to make mistakes. To be corrected of those mistakes before they can occur is actually the best form of learning."

Cammy thought maybe they leaned too hard on Savannah to slow her down some. She didn't want Savannah to start to second-guess herself. She wanted her to continue with her original proposal.

"Keep going." Cammy urged. "You're doing great so far."

Savannah looked at a satellite image of the structure and some recent drone footage. She wanted some 'fields of fire' set up. She wanted to make sure everything was covered and put some contingencies in place.

"I want the drone which draws the attention of the HK Track to target the east side of the structure. I want the second drone to target the west side. I want the drone which makes the low pass to turn and target the center." Savannah said. "With the targeting set up in such a manner, we'll already have selected parts of the building targeted to cover Cameron withdrawal. We can attack any sector Cameron is not in once she starts to withdraw."

Cammy liked the plan. It showed forward thinking on Savannah's part. There wouldn't be any confusion on the part of the drones where they were supposed to attack initially.

"It sounds good." Cammy said.

Camille wondered about the last drone.

"What will be the mission of the last drone?" Camille asked.

Savannah wanted one drone in reserve. She wanted eyes on the area around the compound. She also wanted to be able to cover John's withdrawal if it became necessary. She decided to keep her explanation simple.

"The drone on long range recon will come to assist where it is needed." Savannah said.

John Henry moved the first three drones into position. He made one final sweep with the last drone he'd dispatched. He ordered it to return.

"It's on the way." John Henry said.

Savannah checked her weapons and her troops.

Bob motioned for John to turn off his com. He was concerned for Savannah's safety. It looked like she was going to lead the assault. He didn't think it should be her job. There were a lot of unknowns.

"Who put Savannah in charge?" Bob asked. "Did Cameron or Cammy do it? She'll be in great danger."

John felt Cameron made it clear what she wanted to happen and what she expected from him about what was about to happen.

"Savannah put herself in charge." John said. "So far it looks like a good plan. This is what Cameron has trained her for. We will make sure she misses nothing. I want her to 'grow' and get the experience. I don't want to interfere with her decisions unless we see there's going to be a problem. She would want us to correct a mistake before it became a problem. I know I would."

Bob wanted Cameron to exit the building or at least contact them.

"We need Cameron to come out." Bob said.

Ronny, a clone of Cameron in a male chassis, watched Bob and John. He didn't like it because John was there to begin with. He didn't think Cameron needed any babysitting.

"Cameron can take care of herself." Ronny said. "There's a copy of her program and a spare chip."

He didn't mention there were spare chassis as well. There currently were more than a few, even if some of them hadn't finished Resequencing. They would soon enough.

Bob and John both looked at Ronny. They knew he was a 'Cameron clone' and would push Cameron's agenda. They turned their coms back on. 'Cameron' was always nearby. In this case, 'she' was literally looking over their shoulders.

John liked Savannah's plan. He also saw she did everything to protect him and take the risk herself. It was clear she acted before he did to keep him where he was. He blamed it on Cameron.

A Gray turned the corner and was right in front of Cameron. She quickly grabbed him and snapped his neck. It may have caused some noise she didn't want.

She decided it was time to get the ball rolling. Things could only escalate from where they just started. The element of surprise was with her at this moment. It wouldn't last long.

The female Terminator moved away right before Cameron emerged from her place of concealment. She headed straight for the Terminator and the Grays which were working.

Cameron fired the Taser at the male Terminator. He went down. The large section of the HK Track he just picked up, fell and landed on top of him. Her Glock fired six times. She scored six hits. She expected to engage the female Terminator at the same time she did with the male Terminator. She looked around again. The female Terminator was gone….

It was a problem.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Burn Baby Burn

I see the dancing fire
I reach into the flame
I know what I am doing
There's no else to blame

I know the pain will come
I will not back away or stop
I want grasp the flaming mass
I refuse to let it drop

Defeat is not an option
I reject any form of surrender
Are they for real
Or just another pretender

So it goes without saying
No matter how many times we are burned
We can not accept the results
Therefore nothing is ever learned

Incinerate my bloody shredded heart
For I am never letting go
Burn baby burn
Who don't think so

Nobody