Chapter 614

Impressed

Cammy wasn't pleased with Cameron's decision to go into the mine alone. There was absolutely no idea what they would face inside the mine other than some type of hostile force.

She wanted to make her report. She was sure Savannah was going to be upset with her for leaving Cameron alone. She planned to get additional assistance and hurry back to the mine.

Cammy ran back up the hill and made her report. It was relayed out of the 'dead zone'. John Henry was updated and plans were made accordingly. There was still no hostile air activity or reinforcements spotted.

There hadn't been any shooting from the area of the outbuildings or mine detected so far.

There were a group of Terminators who wanted to go back with Cammy when she left. She wasn't sure it was what they needed right now. She wasn't sure if Cameron was able to maintain a clandestine approach or not. It was her goal to do a recon first before any type of assault was launched.

She didn't want to have to make the trip back herself to relay information. She decided to take one Terminator with her. She thought about taking others, but it wasn't in the scope of the mission Cameron wanted to conduct.

Cammy decided to return with Al to back up Cameron. Al would become the 'runner' if they needed to communicate again. She ordered all of the other Terminators to hold their position and prepare for Skynet reinforcements to attack.

If there was an attack, it looked like it would be a drone attack since nothing was spotted approaching the area on land. Then again, no HK drones were spotted yet. It could change fast.

Maybe because John Henry and CamNet blocked all the communications, the Skynet forces didn't know what they faced now either. The jamming field put out by John Henry and CamNet could cover an indefinite area if they wanted it to keep growing in size. It didn't appear Skynet possessed the same ability.

The Skynet forces certainly didn't know they were about to face Cameron. Some of them thought she was a myth, others thought she was a legend. The 'Metal Bitch' they all heard about and feared was on her way.

So was she.

The enemy would have more than one 'Metal Bitch' to deal with. Cammy didn't like being chased over the bleak terrain and shot at. She took it as a personal challenge. It was much the same way Cameron often viewed similar incidents. It was further proof the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Savannah wanted to speak with John before she entered the 'dead zone'. She didn't really care for the name. She would have preferred something like the 'dark zone' or the 'neutral zone' instead. She needed to stay away from the mine area proper to communicate. Steve was able to get her back to the target area quicker than she anticipated. She was geared up and ready to go.

"John, I'm back. I'm ready to reinforce Cameron." Savannah said. "I promised to get Young Allison home in the same condition she left in…. It's what I did. I think we can leave it for what it is, for now."

John was pleased to hear Savannah's voice. He didn't like her in the danger zone any more than he liked Cameron there. She was there now and it was what it was. He didn't want to comment about Young Allison. He didn't like where the conversation always led. It did bother him because Young Allison needed to face a Terminator. It all appeared to end well, even if it never should have happened. It was clear to him Young Allison seemed a little better equipped for her first experience with danger than he did. He didn't think he did too badly when he rode in the back of the truck with the Coltan. He knew it wasn't what his mother wanted, but he did it anyway. It was the right thing to do at the time. He could understand how Young Allison felt.

"Thanks…. I was a little worried, but you all got caught up in events." John said. "I'm glad everything worked out and Young Allison and everyone else emerged undamaged."

John Henry was up to speed on all the events. It seemed everyone performed well. Things worked in their favor this time. It was only the initial encounter. Things were sure to get much worse as they played out. They weren't even sure what the goal was.

"I was impressed. Young Allison took down her first Terminator." John Henry said. "It was her first combat experience."

John didn't care for the fact John Henry said 'first', twice. It indicated there would be more. He didn't comment. He was sure it would only make things worse.

Savannah wanted them to know how critical it really was. She was very close to being injured. She would have blasted the Terminator with her Taser a second later, but he may have grabbed her first. Young Allison prevented it. She could have ended up with a broken bone in her leg or worse.

"Young Allison saved me from being attacked." Savannah said. "I may have been hurt without her fast acting. She didn't even flinch. She was the one who continued to check her surroundings, not me. I was caught up with what was happening in front of me."

John was pleased with the past events. It was the current ones which troubled him the most. His main worry was Cameron all alone inside the mine.

"We need to get Cameron more help." John said.

Savannah was already on her way. She was about to lose communications.

"I'm leading a force of Terminators as we speak." Savannah said. "We'll be in the 'dead zone' soon."

John cringed a little at her description of the Skynet jamming zone. He was worried about both of them. They were both about to go from the frying pan into the fire.

"Please, be careful. Watch out for Cameron and yourself…." John said.

Savannah was concerned for all the Terminators. She was glad there hadn't been any shooting yet. She was sure it would change at some point. She hoped when it did, it was them who did the shooting, rather than being shot at.

"I will as well as for Cammy and all our troops." Savannah said. "Nothing here appears to have gone 'hot' yet."

John thought about the future, their future. There was so much to say.

"Savannah…." John started.

Savannah felt it too. She felt everything as well.

"I know, John, I do too." Savannah said. "I'll try to find what's jamming our communications and knock it out if Cameron doesn't get to it first. We're going dark now…."

John and Savannah both wanted to say more. They didn't need to, they both knew all there was to say and do.

John Henry made sure John and Savannah's communication was isolated from everyone else. Well, CamNet was sure to listen. It was expected about everything. He didn't want John to worry about it. He wanted to keep his head clear and his mind focused.

"John, they'll watch out for each other." John Henry said.

John always felt guilty when Savannah was out in the field with Cameron or Cammy. It seemed to him it should be his place, not hers. Cameron always insisted he remain away from the danger. He understood her reasoning, even if he didn't agree with it.

"I know they will." John said. "I just feel with Savannah out there she's doing MY job. I should be taking the risk, not her."

John Henry knew where the 'General' belonged. It was right where he was at now.

"You know your job is here." John Henry said. "It's the way it needs to work. You did your duty on the front line in the alternate future as well as when you returned to the present. You know what your troops face. It makes you extremely qualified to make decisions.

John frowned. The reality did nothing to ease his inner conflict.

"I do." John said. "It doesn't make me feel any better."

John didn't like Cameron putting herself in harm's way to protect him. Now Savannah did the same thing too. He knew he should be taking the risks, not the ones he cared about. Not the ones he loved. He needed to put his personal feelings aside. He was sure he was going to need to direct a lot of resources before they were finished with the current operation. He still felt a very strong sense of dread. It was exactly the same thing Savannah, Cameron, and Cammy felt.

He really hoped they hit Skynet hard and where it hurt them the most. It was all Skynet's fault, not theirs.

Earlier:

Cameron cautiously made her way into the opening of the mine. She expected there would be some type of ambush. She was relieved there was no 'reception committee' or any HK Tracks when the 'door' opened. She was a little surprised there wasn't anything. It was possible everyone from inside was out and already dead. As nice as it sounded, it was far from likely. Cammy went to deliver the news. She hoped to have things taken care of before Cammy returned or Savannah arrived.

Right now nothing else mattered.

It was Showtime.

Cameron entered the tunnel. It was a horizontal shaft. She could see the remains of rotted wood supports. They now were replaced with steel beams. There was a lot of reinforcement. Someone tried to make the shaft safer, or at least keep it from collapsing. It meant they wanted to use it, or were using it, for something important.

She looked for traces of any Terminators or HK Tracks. None were spotted. The confined space was too small for an HK Tread to be in there, unless there was a larger chamber or cavern and one was assembled from sub-assemblies. She really expected to find just about anything. With each new step she wondered why she hadn't.

Cameron could detect an electrical hum. It seemed to grow louder as she moved deeper into the hillside. She passed two divergent tunnels. One of those ended in a vertical shaft. It went down to a lower level. She wondered what was on the lower level. More than likely there were probably other shafts which led down to it. The pulley system elevator which would have once been in it was long gone. Depending upon what Skynet was up to would determine the extent of what type of elevator system was used. She doubted strongly it would be anything left over from the original construction.

There were several rocks piled up in front of the opening. It didn't look like much of a barrier to her to prevent anyone from falling down the shaft if they weren't careful. She moved past the rocks and looked down into the opening. There was nothing but darkness in front of her. She pushed a small rock with her foot over the side of the opening. She could hear the rock impact with something a few seconds later. The lower level seemed to be about fifty feet below where she was. She moved back to the main passageway and listened. There was no sound in the direction she came from. There is only the sound of the electrical hum in the direction she was going.

At the junction of the second tunnel split there was another vertical shaft. It went up. She looked up the vertical shaft. She couldn't spot any daylight. She didn't know if it continued up to the top of the hill or not. It may only go to an upper level of the mine complex.

She didn't like to leave unexplored tunnels behind her. The enemy could slip in back of her. She could end up trapped between two groups of them. She decided to continue on. She would head in the direction of the increasing louder electrical hum. It was the path she followed. Something was there to make the sound. There may be others there with it.

She left markers to indicate her path if Cammy returned. It seemed to be a mystery which kept growing. The lack of any opposition worried her. Maybe it was a trap. She knew Skynet wanted her. She might not be able to get back outside again. Maybe it would be her tomb.

Right before Savannah and her group started down the dirt road, Mel ran up to them and said they discovered a power tap on the giant transmission lines. It was disguised as part of the tower itself. It went into an underground conduit. It led in the direction of the old mine which was now concealed by the 'barn'.

She thought about her adventure when she followed the power supply in Cameron's future. The heat was oppressive where she was at. She didn't think the current tap would generate the same heat as she experienced there.

"Is there any type of access to the conduit which carries the electrical line?" Savannah asked. "It might be something they constructed for maintenance, or so the line could be replaced or added to at a later date."

Mel didn't have an answer.

"They just found it." Mel said. "I don't know yet."

Savannah didn't know how long the search into the hillside would last, or where it would take them. She wanted to deny Skynet the use of any extra power to do anything. They could have a TDE inside the mine for all she knew. The enemy could escape to anywhere, or 'any when'. She gave instructions to cut the power, or blow the conduit, in twenty minutes. If an attacking force arrived, or any hostile HK drones were detected, they were to blow it immediately. If there was shooting or explosions from anywhere, they were to blow it. She told them not to bring down the tower carrying the power to the city, just the tap. She also directed them to search for other power taps. It seemed likely if there was one, there could be more. If there were other power taps they could lead to additional areas which would need to be searched as well.

She checked her night vision equipment and Taser as she led her group forward. It was a journey into the unknown.

Earlier:

Cammy ran out of the target zone with the news. She ran back in with Al once it was delivered. Cameron should only be ten minutes in front of her, maybe less. She knew if Cameron came across divergent tunnels or shafts, they would slow her down. Cameron would also have to proceed with caution. She knew if she could find Cameron's 'markers' she could move much faster.

She moved up to the barn and peered into the opening of the old mine. She listened for fifteen seconds. There was no gunfire detected. She hoped it was a good thing. She knew Cameron could have already been taken down too and the Grays would be waiting for her next. It didn't matter. She needed to reinforce Cameron.

Into the rabbit hole they went.

Cammy picked up Cameron's trail. She soon detected an electrical hum. The electrical hum grew more intense. Cammy figured it's what Cameron would head for. It's what she was headed for. The indication was it was someone doing something. She wanted to know who it was and what exactly it was they were doing. She wanted to see what Skynet was building. She needed to determine what its impact would be on the future. It could affect the present and the past.

She remembered when they were in Cameron's future when Savannah was about to detonate a Thermite grenade to try and damage a power source which made a hum very similar. She felt a glitch impulse shoot through her left hand. Savannah was near collapse, but she was about to conduct a final act to slow down Skynet before she fell. She didn't like the underground area there. She already didn't like the underground area where she was now either.

Cameron found more shafts, both horizontal and vertical. She also found one passageway with a bad overtone. It was a 'cave in'. There were a series of steel beams stacked on the floor of the tunnel. It appeared they were about to reinforce the area when the 'cave in' occurred. It may even have occurred while they were in the process of reinforcing it. The breakage of the rocks appeared to be recent. The dust which covered them was different from the dust which covered the blind tunnel floors. It would give her an indicator of any other recent work or problems as she went along.

She continued her journey. The hum was more intense the closer she moved towards it. There was a throb to the walls and floor now as well. The journey so far was in total darkness after she was a few hundred feet away from the 'barn' entrance.

It wasn't too long ago when she was in a place similar to this one. It reminded her of 'Skynet Central' in her future. As she moved along she was also aware there may be Terminators in 'standby' there as well. She experienced an unfortunate interaction with one before. It almost ended her mission before it was completed. She needed to focus on the present. She didn't want to end up with another unexpected encounter.

After she viewed the 'cave-in', she slung her M79. She was afraid it may cause another 'cave-in' if she needed to use it in the confined quarters. She didn't want to get trapped inside the mine. One cave in, could lead to another elsewhere. The effects would simulate an earthquake. Even if the walls of the shaft were reinforced, they could still 'cave in' if the movement became great enough.

Cameron calculated she wasn't in far enough or deep enough to use one of her 'warheads' there. Without a clear destination it was too risky, it could change….

If she needed to use one there, she was going to use it. She would only do it if she was sure the radiation would be contained, or there would be minimal exposure. John, Savannah, and Young Allison were out there. She didn't want to contaminate them.

Skynet was going to be terminated or obliterated.

Savannah and her team reached the entrance from the 'barn' into the tunnel. She looked into the darkness and knew Cameron and Cammy were in there. She also knew Al was with Cammy. So far, he hadn't come out and there still hadn't been any shooting or explosions, at least no shooting anyone could detect. She knew if a Taser was used, it would be relatively quiet. It would only be heard in the immediate area where it was used. Since there was one Terminator discovered with the group so far, they would know how to deal with other Terminators to incapacitate them, and deactivate them.

Savannah checked her surroundings and time. She wanted one of her team to guard the entrance. She wanted to prevent any of the enemy from escaping. She also wanted to prevent any more of their group from entering. She was aware of the 'Day Of Loss'. She didn't want a repeat performance or similar events to occur. It didn't matter if they could be 'resolved', they shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"Dan, I want you to secure this opening." Savannah said. "Make sure only our teams come out, and no one else goes in."

Dan would have rather gone in with Savannah. He understood Savannah and the others needed a way out too. It was an important task to make sure the team could return unopposed.

"Affirmative…." Dan said.

Savannah didn't think any ground reinforcements for Skynet would get through. It was always a possibility. She figured the main threat would be from the air. She wanted Dan to use caution so he could remain in the fight and not be terminated himself.

"If hostile HK drones show up, you are to seek cover and try to keep our exit open." Savannah said. "If an energy bubble appears, I want you to enter it. It will be used to conduct a temporal extraction."

Dan appreciated the level of concern Savannah showed for him. It was genuine too. He was aware Savannah was involved in a temporal extraction before. It was when she was almost terminated with Cameron, in Cameron's future. He would do his job.

"I will not fail." Dan said.

Savannah reached up and touched his cheek.

Dan felt impulses shoot through him. The touch was soft and gentle. It conveyed a 'feeling' within him. It was very pleasant. It was quite exhilarating as well. He wasn't really sure how to describe it.

"Thank you." Savannah said.

Savannah moved her team forward.

Dan touched his cheek where Savannah touched him. He could feel the power of the 'Chosen One'. It stirred 'feelings' inside him he didn't know he possessed. Like all of the Terminators, he 'grew' and 'expanded' over time. Their programming was to adapt to blend in better with the humans. The female Terminators were all like human females at this point. The male Terminators lagged behind them. He didn't know he 'felt' what human males feel toward human females. He only knew the 'power' Savannah radiated. He watched them enter the mine.

Into the rabbit hole they went.

Savannah didn't have a good feeling about anything where they were. It was an even worse feeling because Cameron was already inside far ahead of her, so was Cammy. It could be a maze of tunnels and shafts inside the mine. It could be a death trap. It could be their tomb.

The 'dead zone' terminology reverberated in her head.

She tried to convince herself as long as she didn't hear any gunfire, things were still going their way. If they did hear gunfire, they would only have one choice. It would be to advance and find out what actually happened. It most likely would involve Cammy or Cameron, are both of them. She didn't plan to leave the underground complex without both of them.

The darkness was all around Cameron. It seemed like a bad omen. It reminded her too much of the last time she faced Skynet. The ending was what mattered. She won and they lost. She terminated another version of Skynet and was able to walk away, so to speak. She hoped to be able to do the same at her current location.

Cameron could see light ahead. She slowed her pace. The light moved and then it moved again. She knew someone who needed light to see was headed towards her. It meant a human or humans. They were easy targets. They didn't last long. There could be a Terminator with them as well. They were careful to try and remain off of the cameras when they disabled them. Maybe someone was going to see what went wrong. They didn't seem to be in a hurry. There was no sound of an alarm. It could be something routine. She would need to wait and see.

With all communications blocked by both sides, they may not know of the battle which occurred. They also may have been monitoring security feeds and seen Cammy and her earlier. There was no way to know.

If she didn't detected a Terminator with them, she would try to take them down Terminator style. It should be fast, efficient and mostly quiet. It would also depend on the size of the group. It could be one Gray or ten of them. A larger group would take a different tactic. Gunfire would be involved at that point. It was sure to bring a heap more trouble with it. She was sure the gunfire would resonate throughout every shaft and tunnel where she was at.

Cameron could now hear two voices. There was the clang of metal against rock. It meant they were armed. She knew it was a while ago since she encountered the cameras. If the Grays were traveling all this time, it indicated they were in really deep somewhere. It wasn't a good sign. Maybe the place was bigger or deeper than she thought.

She quickly moved back to one of the blind tunnels and waited. She would let them pass and attack them from behind. They wouldn't expect it. Even if they heard her, they would think it was someone from their group who caught up to them. She was now the cat and they were the mice.

Cameron waited in the darkness for her prey to pass. She could hear them getting closer. She could see their light dancing on the tunnel walls and floor. She pressed herself back against the rock in the divergent chamber. The Grays went by the opening she was hidden in with only a glance. They weren't searching for anything as they went. They simply wanted to travel from one point to another. It seems like very lax security to her.

It was time to strike. Cameron moved up to the opening and looked in both directions. She was about to step out and take down the two figures. Something caught her eye. There was another figure hurrying after the first two. He didn't carry a light. It could be a Gray who paused to relieve himself too.

Cameron dropped back into the blind tunnel. She would have to take the new threat down first, and then go after the first two men. She would need to do it all silently so no alarm was raised or any gunfire was exchanged.

There was still the possibility the new figure who approached was a Terminator.

If it was a Terminator, it was bad news for her. When she saw him, he would have seen her. He was traveling without a light. Maybe everything was all about to go hot. Maybe it was where it all ended for her.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Impressed

There are some in life
Who take everything in jest
Most don't think such a path
Should be considered as life's test

There are those few people
In whom one will invest
Most of the other people
They soon despise and detest

There are those that one
Wants to part from and divest
The other clings and hangs on
They become irritating and a pest

Many people become stressed
With life's journey and quest
Few seem to be blessed
Most seem to be distressed

Some want more and seem obsessed
They make the other feel oppressed
There seems little time for rest
As they seek out who is best

When true feeling are expressed
They don't feel like a visiting guest
Maybe soon both are undressed
Hopefully together they'll be impressed

Nobody