Chapter 617

Taser Time

Cameron moved down the tunnel she selected. Savannah was at her side, slightly behind her. Tom brought up the rear.

The further along they moved, the warmer it got. The rest of the system they were in was all the same temperature. It was only after they left the cavern when the heat picked up. It wasn't uncomfortable, but noticeable.

There was an occasional scraping sound. It was hard to tell if it was metallic or something scraping on rock.

Cameron indicated Savannah should fall behind her even more. There was a faint glow ahead now. Cameron was unsure if it was some emergency lighting, or an electric lantern of some type. It indicated there were Grays ahead. If there were Grays, there could be Terminators.

The closer Cameron got, the more she heard what were tools being used to work on or adjust something. There was definitely someone up ahead doing something.

Other than the Terminator who spotted her peering out from the blind tunnel, no one seemed to be aware they were there. It seemed somewhat strange in itself.

Cameron crept closer as the tunnel widened into another man made cavern. She motioned for Savannah to stay back and Tom to move forward.

Savannah understood the danger level was going up, she fell back to watch their six.

Tom moved forward. He was ready for combat.

Savannah would keep their exit open and prevent any newcomers from joining the party from behind them. It seemed unlikely, but was always a possibility. Not much of what happened so far was how she thought any of this was going to play out.

Other than her brief encounter with a damaged Terminator, who Young Allison brought down, all of her exposure to the enemy associated with the mine complex was after they were dead. She might be able to get a look at some live ones. She didn't think they would remain alive for very long.

John decided to risk it and send more Terminators in to get Cameron out. He wanted to end things once and for all. He couldn't help but think about the 'Day Of Loss'. The first reports which came back didn't please him. There was some kind of a hold up at the mine entrance.

"What do you mean Dan won't let anyone else in?" John asked.

John Henry was a little surprised himself at the origin of the reason.

"Dan said no one else is to enter." John Henry said. "So no one will."

John wondered about it. It sounded like something Cameron would pull to prevent him from pulling her out. It was extremely irritating to know she would prevent him from assisting to protect her.

"Don't tell me, it's 'Cameron's orders'." John said.

John Henry didn't say anything at first. He understood when John said 'don't tell me', it meant just the opposite. Once he found out the details he understood why no Terminators would enter.

"No." John Henry said. "They're 'Savannah's orders'."

John Henry knew Cameron told all the Terminators the 'Chosen One' knows best.

John was told by Cameron if there was an issue or problem, Savannah and Young Allison could countermand any 'order' given by her. All of the Terminators would follow those new 'orders'. Any 'order' given or implied by Savannah or Young Allison was to be carried out or enforced as if it was her 'order'. He knew he couldn't make any Terminator go against those 'orders'.

"They're the 'orders' no Terminator will violate." John said. "Beautiful."

It reminded John of the time a similar situation happened in the lab when Cameron was damaged. Vanna told Al, Savannah said no one else was supposed to enter. He wouldn't let anyone else into the lab including him, even if he was the General. When the other Terminators who came with him heard the source of the instruction, they all turned around and blocked the entrance as well. Nobody would go against Savannah's 'order', even if it wasn't an 'order'. Cameron told all of them Savannah knew what was best

John Henry was aware of what else Savannah did. It said a lot.

"Dan stated Savannah waited for thirty seconds before her team went in." John Henry said.

John wondered if they waited to hear gunfire. It seemed like a long time. Thirty seconds went by slowly when one just stood there and waited for it to pass.

"What did they wait for?" John asked.

John Henry thought it was a good sign. It seemed to say a lot because nothing happened. He thought it was good foresight on Savannah's part. He actually believed the 'restore point' would need to be when Cameron first entered the mine opening. The most logical choice would be to prevent her from going in. None of the rest of it would follow.

"It was to see if an energy bubble appeared." John Henry said. "None did, so Savannah led her team in and left Dan outside to make sure they would have a way out and no one else followed. She wanted to make sure no one else was endangered."

John knew right away what it was about. It was exactly what he thought earlier.

"Savannah's afraid of repeating the 'Day Of Loss'…." John said.

John thought back on the day and the time of sorrow and sadness which followed it for over a year. If they wouldn't have tried to rescue Cameron, they wouldn't have stripped the protection Details and none of the girls would have been lost. The baby Allison carried would be with them now. Cameron tried to do it all on her own to prevent the very thing he made happen by launching the rescue effort. It turned out it was Duplicate Cameron, and the girls were all Duplicates too because of a TDE malfunction. It was also of his doing by attempting to change or stop what Cameron set into play.

It seemed the bad decisions all fell back on his doorstep. The alternate future he created was another reminder of how his bad decisions all seem to compound on each other. The only good thing about the alternate future was they were able to get Kyle, Derek, and Riley 'back from the dead'. The things which happened to the girls, especially Jesse and Vanna, was a bad thing. Allison suffered a little less.

John Henry snapped John back to reality. He could see his mind drifted from the current subject. Savannah wasn't alone. She was in good company.

"There are six Terminators in there with Savannah." John Henry said. "The mission has a high probability of success."

John could only feel more frustration as events happened on their own and rapidly grew in scope. There was no time to plan anything. He saw it as three separate incursions into the mine with no set goal, other than each group wanted to find the group which went in before it.

"What's the mission?" John asked. "This was another unplanned event which spiraled into a semi-major battle."

John Henry didn't really have an answer. They just reacted to the events as they unfolded. It was the enemy who chose to attack Cammy when she drove through the area which showed recent tire tracks. It may have been touch and go a few times, but the Resistance forces came out on top. It was something, even if not much.

"Our Terminator force in the area is now dispersed and hidden. They will be able to quickly reinforce each other." John Henry said. "A hostile HK drone strike is what I would expect at this point."

John wasn't sure what else they could do. Without being able to enter the mine with additional personnel, all they could do is wait.

"We're as ready as we can be." John said.

John Henry took some other precautions as well. The threat of an HK drone strike is what they were the most worried about.

"We've established an LP on each of the routes any HK drones would likely take if they came in on the deck. Anything in the air CamNet or myself would observe." John Henry said. "We are tied into all air traffic control systems. We've modified all the local weather radars for our purposes as well."

John snickered a little at the last revelation.

"No wonder they never get the weather forecast right." John said. "You've hijacked their signal and purpose."

John Henry thought 'credit', or 'blame', should go to where it belonged.

"Cameron likes to cover all the bases." John Henry said. "Our two drones in the gravel pit are ready to go at a moment's notice. They're even positioned in the pit so they can cover each other and launch their air to air missiles. All their weapons systems are hot. For all practical purposes, they are now a surface to air missile site."

John was a little worried about an errant missile. He didn't think it would be from one of their drones either. There was always the concern about a 'moon shot'. An errant missile might accidentally lock onto an unintended target.

"What about any other air traffic?" John asked. "It needs to be diverted."

John Henry didn't want any accidental 'shoot downs' either. Something similar happened in an Eastern European country a few years back. Their missile didn't miss its target. The problem was, the target wasn't a target. It was an airliner full of people on an established route over the area. The group of 'rebels' was eager to try out one of their new 'toys' from a nation which many considered low on morals and ethics in certain areas. The point was, it would be something hard to cover up. there would be a lot of finger pointing and accusations. He would need to pick a 'terrorist group' and put the blame on them.

"I've redirected as much of everything as I can away from the area." John Henry said.

John really wished they could hear from Cameron and her team inside the mine. There was no way to know how things were going.

"Now all we can do is wait." John said.

John didn't like the waiting game. There were too many unknowns and no way to communicate with Cameron's team. He thought the only good thing about it was Cameron couldn't get word out to retrieve one of her nukes, unless she sent word out before she left to go inside. She may have set a time limit which would trigger events. He began to wonder where the Metal girls were at. He knew they were all loyal to Cameron and would do her bidding.

He needed to think about what happened already at the mine entrance. He knew their Terminators wouldn't violate Cameron's or Savannah's 'orders' to not enter. If someone did show up with a nuke they couldn't get it inside. A sick feeling hit him all of a sudden. There was still another player out there. Maybe there was ONE person who could change those 'orders' and get the warhead inside. She seemed willing to take bold action when it was necessary.

"I want to know where Young Allison is." John blurted out.

Cammy moved up and took stock of the situation. There were three Grays present. There weren't any Terminators apparent. She dropped back and quietly told her team to take them down silently. She motioned for Al and Frank to be ready to move.

She knew they could use their Tasers, but any Terminator below may hear it. They would take them down Terminator style. She wanted them alive if possible. They would go for the throat and choke them out. They would be bound and gagged until they determined what they faced and what was going on there. She decided they needed to get some answers. If they terminated some time during the process, it wouldn't bother her. They would be terminated anyway before they left.

Cammy and her team crept forward and made their move. They each grabbed a man and choked him out. It was over in seconds. They were incapacitated, bound, and gagged. They would deposit them with Ed for now. Al and Frank carried them away.

It left Cammy on her own.

It was how she liked it anyway, just like Cameron….

She could do what she wanted without interference.

Cameron saw several large electrical components. She was sure one of them must have been responsible for the jamming field. She wasn't sure what they were all for. It looked like a TDE was being constructed, but it was different. The system may be able to transport objects of non living tissue, or perhaps if they were covered with Liquid Metal.

It would be a 'game changer' no matter how one looked at it. HK equipment could be sent from the future, or sent to the future, or sent to any time period. She would need to take some scans of everything and run them by CamNet and John Henry. If there was improved technology in the works, she wanted it. Besides, it would be nice to use the TDE and still have clothes on when she arrived. She would prefer it on any mission she took Savannah or Young Allison on. There was no need for the girls to worry about being naked upon their arrival.

The unknown device could also be a 'receiver', not a 'transmitter'. It would work the same way as the method they used to reach the second set of Duplicate girls and Mrs. Weaver 'in some future'. She would need to make sure there were none of the improvements River made. It would be Troublesome if there was. It would open up a whole new can of worms. She hoped it was all new technology.

It didn't look like it was ready to test yet. It was a good thing. The bad thing was it looked as if there were two Terminators working on it. The good thing about it was one of them was female. She wanted the 'Metal Bitch'. She wanted every 'Metal Bitch' she could get her hands on. She wanted to make cyborgs of all the females associated with the Resistance. She knew Sarah wouldn't agree with it outright. It would need to be done clandestinely. At some point the 'Neural Interface' would need to be used to complete the process. She would be a little hesitant to make one of Riley. It was still something she should do. Riley wasn't Future Riley. Future Riley was terminated.

There were also two Grays off to the side. One was fooling with some dark computer screens. The other was down on the floor trying to hook something up. They worked in dim light. It was something they didn't need. It was obviously for the benefit of the Grays working with them.

Cameron informed Savannah and Tom what they were going to do. She planned to take both of the Terminators herself and Tom was to go after the Grays.

They all took out their Tasers. Savannah exchanged one of hers, for the one Cameron already used a shot from. She wanted to make sure Cameron was offered every advantage.

Savannah was instructed to remain where she was. She didn't plan to remain there for long. She decided she was going to back up Cameron anyway. She was aware Cameron couldn't see the entire chamber they were in from her position. She also remembered the last time Cameron couldn't see everything, she ran into an unexpected Terminator with a plasma rifle. She was there to take him down, but not before Cameron was damaged and unable to use a TDE energy bubble to escape.

She briefly reflected on the whole chain of events. She prepared to move forward to assist Cameron. She wanted to help protect her. Maybe Cameron didn't think so, but she did. Everything inside her head told her to do it and be prepared for the worst. The sense of 'doom' still hung over her.

Cameron motioned it was time to move. She and Tom moved forward.

Savannah waited a short time and followed Cameron. She would try to watch both of their backs as well.

A few seconds later there was the sound of Taser fire, a lot of it.

Savannah knew it wasn't going as planned. She entered the combat zone.

Young Allison went back to monitoring the feeds from John Henry and CamNet. She was very displeased when she was 'forcibly' removed from the combat zone. She thought she earned her place to be with the others. She was further upset when Anna and Hanna didn't stay to assist, especially since Savannah went back.

"You should have stayed to help them." Young Allison said. "I should have stayed."

Anna didn't really want to have the same discussion again.

"It's not your function yet." Anna said.

Young Allison felt even more frustration. Since everything was planned out for her, it might as well all start to happen now. She didn't need to be older to do any of it. She was ready to try it all. She studied everything enough. She was sure she would rather be with Savannah than John. She couldn't help but think about some of the videos she watched online. They were a lot different than what was usually indicated in a movie. She strongly doubted when people made love it was underneath some type of cover. It seemed they would limit some of the things which could be done with each other. When she watched Allison and the other females, both human and cyborg, everything happened on top of the sheets, not under them.

She thought what she witnessed on the internet was closer to what actually occurred. It still looked like more of an 'attack' on the female body when a male was involved. It also seemed incredibly messy. She was sure the consistency of some things wasn't too much different than 'snot' from someone's nose. She knew they were just some things she wasn't going to do, and others she wasn't going to allow.

"I already know my future." Young Allison said. "What's the purpose of waiting for anything? What's going to change or be different? The only thing different will be the time lost when nothing happened when it could have been useful. Why shouldn't everyone be happy now? I want to be happy."

Anna knew Cameron only held back because of the 'negative feedback' she expected from the humans if Young Allison were put in her proper place now.

"There are a few of your future functions some will think you aren't ready for yet." Anna said. "Cameron wants you ready and trained before you assume your place. The future will depend on you."

Young Allison didn't want to get into the 'age' issue everyone else seemed to have. It was their hang up, not hers. She wasn't so sure she liked certain things being referred to as 'functions'. There were other things which troubled her as well.

"Savannah's out there risking herself all the time." Young Allison said. "Any Terminator could do much of what she does. It doesn't need to fall on her back every time."

Anna was aware Cameron saw Savannah's involvement as a much greater benefit for the future where any Skynet was located. Savannah provided a 'real human' touch to everything. It was humans and machines working together to defeat Skynet.

"A Terminator can't perform all of her functions." Anna said. "Savannah will be the interface between all machines and humans. Skynet Terminators will seek to join the Resistance to serve under John Connor, Savannah Weaver, and Allison Young."

Young Allison didn't believe it. There was no evidence of it.

"You can't know how things might happen." Young Allison said. "It's a guess. It's Cameron's belief if Judgment Day comes. It hasn't happened in any future I've learned about. There are three different Futures we know a lot about, not including River's future."

Anna believed it was the present future which would emerge.

"It will be YOUR future." Anna said.

Young Allison didn't think anything was written in stone. What was or would be, might not be. She needed a stress reliever. She needed her mind to work elsewhere simultaneously.

"Let's just deal with the current operation for now." Young Allison said. "Continue my academic instruction as we do this so it helps take some of my worry away."

The waiting was traumatic for Young Allison. Testing herself at the same time would ease her mind. The more she needed to think, the less she could think about things which bothered her. It didn't seem there was any shortage of them, especially under the current circumstances.

Anna was ready to start.

"Which subject would you like to review?" Anna asked.

Young Allison thought she was proficient in all of them. A Terminator might see it in a different way. Maybe if she took too long to give an answer, or gave an answer but quickly corrected it, they would see it as an area which needed more work.

"The ones you think I need additional instruction on." Young Allison said. "You can mix them up and combine different subjects. Give my brain a workout."

Young Allison took out some paper and a pen and pencil.

Anna took in the 'old school' method.

"You don't want to use your tablet or laptop?" Anna asked.

Young Allison was aware the future would be full of hardships.

"No. In a Skynet dominated future, those things will be rare. I need to know how to do things the traditional way with pencil and paper and my brain." Young Allison said. "I need to know them or how to do them, not for a computer to do it for me. I can use one of those anytime. I could ask you. It wouldn't benefit me if I did."

Anna kept her face expressionless, but 'smiled' to herself. This was the sign of true greatness and determination. It was time to start pushing Summer as well. It was clear at this point Summer was more advanced than other humans. That was a new variable to Cameron's planning.

Hanna would be instructed to keep Claire busy a few more hours everyday….

The Young girls appeared to be the Prime Specimens.

Ally and Sheila entered the building. They weren't met with a challenge or any gunfire.

They both held their Taser and an M9 ready as they moved forward. They weren't armored up, nor did they carry any long guns. It was one of the drawbacks of operating in the daylight.

They were both upset because the van drove away. They didn't know who was in it or how many there were. They may have missed a whole crew. It could impact negatively on the team at the mine. They sent a warning out to CamNet about their 'failure'. CamNet instructed them not to dwell on it since things only started to develop with the new leads. It was a matter of timing. They responded as soon as they were given the new instructions. If everything would have happened five minutes earlier, they would have been able to enter the building and catch whoever it was while they were still inside.

They began a search of the interior. They didn't know who they would run into. So far it was quiet inside.

They spoke in tones at a decibel level only another Terminator could hear.

"I think we just missed everyone." Ally said.

Sheila wasn't too happy about it. She wanted to know if the group currently in the location did the same things as the other Grays associated with this group did.

"Let's find the sleeping quarters." Sheila said.

Ally passed by what appeared to be a closet. She thought it was unusual because there was a lock on it. She tried the handle to see if it was open, it was. She looked inside. She was a little surprised at what she'd found. It wasn't a closet.

"This is their armory." Ally said.

Sheila came over and looked. She could see there was a problem.

"They have RPG rounds in here. It looks like a few are missing." Sheila said. "There's no launcher."

They both knew Savannah and Cammy were attacked with an RPG once.

Ally touched the dust. There was no dust under where the missing RPG rounds looked like they were at.

"Someone took some." Ally said. "This looks fresh. I think whoever left took the launcher and the rounds just a few minutes ago. Now I'm really upset we missed them. It's most likely our group they plan to use them against."

They informed CamNet of the discovery. CamNet said she would notify John Henry when it was appropriate. They both thought 'now' was appropriate.

They made it to the sleeping quarters.

Sheila looked at all the beds twice.

"There's no 'comfort bed' here." Sheila said.

Ally didn't like the term. It was as inaccurate as it was degrading to females.

"It's only a 'comfort' to the Grays." Ally said. "It's Hell on earth for the female until she's terminated and disposed of."

Sheila thought about it for a few seconds. It all began to click. She can only come to one conclusion.

"There was a Terminator stationed here." Sheila said. "It would be something the Terminator would view as a distraction for the Grays. It's possible they would have taken the females elsewhere for their pleasure, or visited one of the other locations where there was a 'comfort bunk'.

Ally looked around. Everything was neat and orderly. There weren't any dirty dishes and trash piled up. Normally there were both at a location with Grays.

They contacted CamNet with the latest info.

They were instructed to take the hard drives and rig the building to explode with a delayed timer. It was to be tripped as a booby trap. It could be 'command detonated' as well.

The Metal girls set up some surveillance cameras so CamNet could watch their backs as they worked. They didn't want a Terminator to show up while they were in the middle of booby trapping the place. The surveillance devices would also give CamNet the prerogative to command detonate the building, or prevent the booby trap from exploding.

Once everything was set, they left with the hard drives. They went back over the rear wall with everything.

Because there was a Terminator involved with the building they just left, they searched their SUV twice before they touched it. It still seemed rather coincidental whoever was in the building left as soon as they arrived and we're on the far side of where the van was parked. It left more than a few unanswered questions about the timing.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Mine In The Mind

There are many escapes in life
Few are neat and concise
Everything comes with a price
The ruin of mankind is vice

Maybe every form of escape
Is really another prison itself
It isn't anything new to some
To be placed away on a shelf

The mind is a terrible place
It can always find new pain
When it screams to be heard
It may accidentally cause disdain

Is insanity actually insane
How does one ever know
The sewer of a mind runs deep
Who don't think so

A mind is a terrible thing to waste
There are many more things to find
Its hypocrisy knows no bounds
Beware of the mine in the mind

Nobody