Chapter 634
Firewalled
John was tired from being up all night. He knew Savannah was still up and experienced a way rougher night than he did. He was as worried about her as he was about Cameron. He tried not to think about the fact she was in the middle of everything because of Cameron. He knew it wasn't really fair to blame all of it on Cameron either.
Most of the people drifted away from the Command Center once Cameron's team was rescued and away from the backside of the mountain. The team was freed from their death trap. The girls seemed to be out of immediate danger.
John still wanted some answers. Skynet forces attempted several counterattacks. One of them almost caused them to lose the team. He wanted some retribution for those attacks.
"Have you made any progress backtracking the three drones we encountered last night?" John asked. "I want to know where they came from. I want to attack the location they were sent from."
John Henry knew Cameron would want some payback as well. The trouble was, he didn't have any definitive answers.
"Negative." John Henry said. "I have no tracking data on them at all."
John was frustrated. They knew there needed to be a Skynet base out there some place. The unknown facility was a threat. The very fact there was HK equipment which could be used against them was a serious threat. They took down a few locations in the past.
"They keep coming from somewhere." John said. "We need to get ahead of this."
John Henry was sure John would like his next speculation even less. He didn't have any concrete facts to back it up. It was only a theory on what he observed.
"Based on the HK drone's behavior, I believe they came from two different sources." John Henry said. "I don't think they worked in conjunction with each other."
John didn't want to hear it. It was an issue which seemed to surface from time to time. Based on some of the evidence they uncovered, it seemed it was a real possibility.
"Do you mean a different branch of Skynet?" John asked. "I think it's even worse."
John Henry saw it as a bigger threat.
"They may be from separate Skynets." John Henry said. "We've thought this before."
John was quiet for a little while as he mulled it over.
"Do you mean two Skynets from different or alternate futures?" John asked. "Now I know it's worse."
John Henry was sure it was worse. It was a double threat.
"Yes." John Henry said. "We've encountered it before. Two seemingly separate groups which are both Skynet, but unrelated and somewhat different."
John wished it was new but it wasn't.
"We know we've been watched and observed before on an operation." John said. "More than once we've witnessed it. It always seemed as if whoever was watching, wasn't directly involved in what we were doing. It's as if they were assessing the threat which they may face. I don't believe it was just from us either. They wanted to know how much of a threat the other version of Skynet presented."
John Henry turned up some pretty convincing evidence this time.
"I asked a team to go over the three drones we brought down yesterday. They're similar, but of a slightly different design and construction." John Henry said. "I don't believe it is only different 'generations' in their evolution."
John was sure the 'blame' pointed at Cameron. He didn't want to think about the future he inadvertently created. There were three abused females to think about every time he saw them. Their abuse was on him. The same girls from Cameron's future never suffered the same level of abuse. He needed to refocus.
"Cameron's been to four different futures." John said.
John knew Cameron saw combat in three of them. He wondered if she saw any fighting in River's future. He knew there were problems there too. Cameron never said much about River's future. Now he wondered why. He only knew there was a problem worse than Scavengers there. He saw some very extreme Scavenger behavior before with Cameron in the alternate future. She later told him what he witnessed looked like a Sunday school picnic compared to what the extreme group in River's future was capable of. It left him with a very uncomfortable feeling. It really seemed as if mankind's own worst enemies, were the ones it created.
John Henry thought he should remind John of the facts.
"It's four different futures we know about." John Henry said. "If Cameron has actually lived her life over and over again several times, there could be dozens of 'futures' involved. There's really no way to tell."
John didn't know if it was true or not. Cameron thought she always returned to the same point in time to 'start over' again. What if she didn't?
"What about the past?" John asked.
John Henry felt his program's interaction with Cameron gave him some insight into the prospect.
"She believes she's been there too, multiple times." John Henry said.
John was painfully aware Cameron was not always forthcoming with all the facts which involved any questionable behavior on her part.
"Do you think she would change the past if she hasn't already?" John asked.
John Henry understood how Cameron calculated things. It seemed pretty cut and dried.
"Yes." John Henry said. "If she thought it would protect the future or you, she wouldn't hesitate."
John wondered how much they knew for sure.
"Do we even know when Cameron actually first came to this timeline?" John asked.
John Henry asked Cameron the very same question before.
"She believes it was in 1999." John Henry said.
John frowned. Cameron previously said something different. It was a big discrepancy.
"When we first used the TDE in 1999 to come to 2007, Cameron said she opened a safety deposit box at the bank in 1963." John said. "Could Cameron actually have been here thirty six years before I first met her?"
John Henry figured anything was possible with Cameron, especially if any of the things she believed were true.
"Yes, maybe even longer." John Henry said. "She could have been in 'standby', come and gone between the past and the future several times, or been here for a hundred years. She could have suffered a temporal error or even sent herself back to 'fix' or change something. We wouldn't know in our timeline if it was different. We would only know what we know."
John wondered how far back in time Cameron could go to 'fix' things and be able stay active for the present.
"How long does a Terminator power cell last?" John asked.
John Henry thought it would depend on a few things.
"It's unknown." John Henry said. "If someone was in 'standby', it could last centuries, power usage would be minimal."
John Henry knew Cammy and Anna were both equipped with two power cells.
John really wondered how much anyone else knew about any actual facts.
"When you were on Cameron's chip, did you see any evidence of any of this?" John asked.
John Henry observed there was a lot of 'work' done by someone on Cameron's chip.
"I saw great amounts of erased data fragments." John Henry said. "Many things were blocked as well."
John wondered to what extent.
"Blocked from you or from Cameron also?" John asked.
John Henry was sure the erased data said a lot without actually saying anything.
"I would say both." John Henry said. "Whoever Cameron is now, isn't who she once was."
John was sure the finger would be pointed at him, well, at Future John. He wondered if she was more like Future Allison at one point. He wondered about the 'love' Cameron felt. It was a question he wanted to know the answer for, even if he really didn't want to know the truth.
"Did I as Future John program Cameron to love me?" John asked.
John Henry wanted to avoid the issue. There was probably no right answer.
"We've been over this before." John Henry said.
John always hoped to know the truth. He didn't.
"I never received a good enough answer." John said.
John Henry believed sleeping dogs shouldn't be disturbed.
"I don't think you ever will." John Henry said. "Nobody will ever know for sure."
John remembered the cruel and condescending way he treated Cameron before he went to the alternate future. He remembered how Cameron tried to reach out to him in subtle ways. He also remembered how he flaunted Riley in Cameron's face. He remembered the morning Cameron caught him sneaking back in the house after 'spending the night' with Riley.
He never really told Cameron the truth about the night…. He knew she knew. She saw the evidence on him and his attitude when he rubbed her face in it, including the smirk he showed on his face. He also remembered the look on Cameron's face. It was the look of hurt, the deepest sadness and sorrow. The look of feeling betrayed. The look of knowing the one you loved was with another….
"…John…?" John Henry asked.
John blinked his eyes. It seemed his past still haunted him. He hoped it was in a different way than Cameron's haunted her.
"I'm sorry." John said. "I'm a little sleepy. My mind must have wandered."
Now John felt guilty thinking about it. Cameron tried to show her love and caring the best way she could back then. Thinking back on it, it was obvious she loved him from the start. Was it Future Allison's love or Cameron's love? Was it only programmed into her by Future John? What if none of it was real? Sometimes it didn't seem as if there was anything there at all.
John Henry received an update from the Metal girls.
"Cameron and her team have just returned from the tunnel. They withdrew when they heard agonizing screaming and someone was coming. The heat is even greater now than Dan reported." John Henry said. "They're waiting for the man to emerge now."
John sat up. He'd drifted away from the operation. It sounded like good news. They could wrap things up. Now he wanted the teams to link up as soon as possible.
"How far out is Bob's team?" John asked.
John Henry could see it was going to be a while before they arrived.
"Twenty minutes." John Henry said. "Gail's orbiting between Cameron's location and Bob's location as she checks for threats."
John watched as John Henry rapidly checked everything. He was sure it would be bad news.
"What is it?" John asked. "What's happened?"
John Henry didn't care for the recent turn of events.
"I've detected a series of underground explosions…." John Henry said.
John knew it was going to make the bad news even worse. Cameron's team was still in the vicinity.
Minutes ago:
The conditions inside the passageway were very questionable. The intense screaming which could be heard somewhere ahead of them was very disconcerting. The level of heat seemed to increase even more.
Cameron could see the Metal girls wanted to leave. It was clear there were some serious issues which developed. Sheila indicated she was going to use the shocker on her if she continued on.
It was time to go.
Cameron followed her team towards the exit. It appeared she would sustain sheath damage if she went further. The screams seemed to indicate everything wasn't as it should be.
Ally and Cam led the way to exit. They didn't think there would be anyone else ahead of them as far as the enemy went. They still needed to be concerned there could be. Sheila hung back to make sure Cameron continued along.
Sheila didn't like how Cameron continued to lag behind. She reached down and armed her Taser. She kept the 'shocker' nearby to place on Cameron as well. She wanted Cameron to pick up the pace.
"Come on, love, let's pick it up." Sheila said. "I don't want to have to lug your deactivated chassis out with me. I do look forward to copping a feel though. Maybe I should walk behind you and start now. It might speed things up. Then again, you might want more. They always do. I already need to deal with enough lollygaggers as it is."
Cameron didn't have any doubt Sheila would use her Taser on her and put the 'shocker' on her as well. She figured the lollygagger Sheila referred to was Ally. She was sure it indicated more than one context as well.
"I'm coming." Cameron said.
Sheila laughed.
"I hear the same thing a lot." Sheila said. "I want to hear it from you too, but in a different setting. Let me know when you're ready to upgrade. I'm your huckleberry."
Cameron wondered what the extent of Sheila's sexual explorations were. She tried not to follow everything too closely, even if she did. She wanted to expand her sexual horizons. So far it didn't occur. It was something she wanted to see changed soon. She was ready to try new things.
Her observations indicated the females were much happier with each other, than any of the male and female relationships she could observe. She believed it was because they were much more equally shared with each other. The 'sexual association' with males was usually over rather quickly, especially in established relationships. It universally seemed to indicate there was a lot of dissatisfaction involved with the females as opposed to the males.
She bumped into Sheila. She realized she wasn't paying attention. She allowed her mind to drift some as they headed for the exit. You're probably wasn't a very good idea under the current circumstances. There were currently a lot of unknowns around them.
Sheila was a little surprised when Cameron bumped into her. She looked a little out of it.
"Did you just try to cop a feel?" Sheila asked. "I can see I'm going to need to spend a lot of time with you and help with your reeducation. All the good stuff is on the front side."
Cameron knew she was distracted.
"I'm sorry." Cameron said. "I was looking back to see what was behind us."
Sheila didn't think Cameron was looking back. They were almost out. It didn't seem like a good idea to mention it.
"Ally and Cam are right in front of us." Sheila said. "They're getting ready to go out."
Cam looked back. She could see Sheila and Cameron were almost up to where they were. She held her Glock in her hand.
"I'm going to open the hatch." Cam said. "I thought I was going to have to go back and look for both of you."
Ally held her Taser in her hand. She was right behind Cam.
The team came up out of the tunnel. They were a little surprised at what they found.
Cammy and Savannah were there. They were armed and armored up. They were about ready to enter the tunnel to go after the rest of the team.
Savannah was glad to see them come out.
"We were concerned about you." Savannah said.
Cammy issued a progress report.
"Bob and his team are on their way back." Cammy said. "Gail's orbiting between us. The side of the hill looks bulged as well. It's possible there's going to be some type of explosion."
Cameron glanced at the hillside, they weren't' too far away.
"There could be injured personnel, and maybe a Terminator, exiting the entrance very soon." Cameron said. "Where's the SUV?"
Cammy glanced at Savannah.
"It's half a mile out." Cammy said.
Savannah knew Cammy was concerned because she hadn't followed Cameron's earlier directive. It was her idea for them to stay closer to Cameron's team. It was her idea to go to where Cameron was at as well. Based upon the condition of the hillside, it seemed like the logical choice to make.
"I told her to leave it at half a mile away instead of one mile, and for us to come and back you up." Savannah said.
The females all took concealed positions as they waited to see who came out of the tunnel.
There were explosions underground. They didn't know where, but they were sure it was connected.
The Metal girls all detected it.
Cameron, Cam, and Cammy all came and surrounded Savannah.
"What's going on?" Savannah asked.
They made her lie prone. Their bodies acted as shields.
"There were some underground explosions." Cameron said. "There were a lot of them."
Much to their surprise, the entrance to the tunnel blew off and a tongue of flame reached up into the sky with a shower of debris and shrapnel. It was doubtful any human would have survived the blast.
Cameron and everyone waited a few moments. No burning Terminator emerged either. It was probably a good thing. A Terminator without a sheath would be harder to take down. Their Tasers would be ineffective unless they were able to make contact in a joint. It would be very hard to do on a moving figure. There were six Terminators present, they would have been able to rapidly overpower any Terminator.
Cammy reminded them about her observations she pointed out about the side of the hill she made earlier. There was no way to know what was going on inside of there. Most likely whatever it was, started whenever Cameron's team was in there.
"Don't forget the hillside." Cammy said. "Something big is about to happen inside of there."
Cameron looked in the direction. She figured the explosions would hasten whatever was going to happen inside the mine proper. She was worried what happened inside of the mine, wouldn't stay inside of the mine. A 'blow out' of any type would be of a very severe nature.
"We need to leave." Cameron said. "I think whatever is causing all the heat is about to explode. What just happened in the passageway is all related."
Cam took the C-4 charge out and set the timer for ten seconds. She tossed the explosive into the burning hole in the ground. The entrance to the tunnel collapsed when it exploded. It was what they wanted. No smoke or flames were able to escape the blockage, at least not yet. It should contain any contaminants for the time being.
The girls already started off for the SUV. Sheila ran ahead. Cameron, Cammy, Cam, and Ally all ran as they surrounded Savannah.
They were two thirds of the way to where the SUV was parked at when Sheila pulled up in front of them.
"Come with me if you want to live." Sheila said as she opened the door.
Cameron looked at her for a moment. It was exactly what she said to John at the school in Red Valley when Cromartie attempted to terminate him. She told Sheila the story before so she figured she was probably messing with her. Even if she wasn't, it was the logical choice to say to get into the vehicle so they could leave the area.
Bob reported they were still more than a few minutes away from even nearing the area.
Cameron already told Bob to not approach any closer and for Gail to keep some distance. Gail assured her she was at a high enough altitude to be safe. She also stayed off to the side.
The girls all piled into the SUV. It took off with twin rooster tails of dirt arcing into the air as Sheila firewalled it.
There was a massive explosion deep inside the mine.
The SUV began to rock from side to side.
It seemed to have four flat tires all at once to Sheila. It was a challenge to remain in control.
A few rocks rolled across the road as some small fissures opened up around them.
Sheila stayed on the gas and drove right on through. She knew she needed to get as far away as possible from where they were currently at.
Savannah looked over at the high tension power lines. They swayed back and forth. There were occasional bright flashes and arcing as the power lines got too close to each other at times during the swaying.
Cameron looked at everything around them. There was only one possible explanation.
"This is an earthquake type reaction caused by whatever was inside the hill which just blew up." Cameron said. "I don't think it was nuclear. It could have been a giant power cell. We don't know what it was."
Sheila looked at the road in front of her. She felt the SUV raise up and lower as the ground passed underneath her. She could see the dirt in front of the SUV moving like a wave as it rose in a swell. It passed under them and continued forward. A fissure opened across the road. It wasn't too wide to start, but seemed to continue to expand. The side closest to her seemed to be a little higher than the other side it was attached to just moments ago.
"Hang on." Sheila said. "We're going to have a big bump."
The speed of the SUV carried it over the opening gap with a giant thud and bounce. The rear wheels almost got stuck as the fissure opened wider underneath them. The tires found traction on the rim and carried them over the other side.
Savannah understood the other implications of something Skynet related which could explode with so much force. It wasn't so much fear about herself as it was for what could happen to the surrounding communities. John Henry could flood every type of communication with a warning to get indoors if it was.
"Is there any increase in radiation?" Savannah asked. "Do we need to issue a warning for John Henry to broadcast?"
The Metal girls all worried about the same thing.
"None has been detected." Cameron, Cammy, and Cam all said at the same time.
Savannah was concerned for the rest of their group.
"Warn the others anyway." Savannah said. "They need to know what's coming. I don't want to take any chances. If there is a threat, everyone needs to be warned."
Savannah wanted to make sure they knew at the Young residence as well as the Resistance base. She knew everything they did was being monitored so they should know anyway.
Cameron looked at everything around them as the SUV bounced along. She knew John Henry and CamNet would detect everything.
"They'll already know at this point." Cameron said.
John Henry detected the explosions and vibrations. Even worse, he detected P-Waves. There was an earthquake coming from the massive explosion. It indicated it was a large one.
John Henry sounded the alarm.
"There's an earthquake on its way here." John Henry said as he sent the message out. "The hill has experienced a massive underground explosion."
John read the reports from Cameron's future. He was worried about the impact upon the community and the base.
"How long will it be until it arrives?" John asked. "How big is it?"
John Henry was sure of the time. He was unsure of the magnitude.
"Fifteen seconds." John Henry said. "I've picked up the 'P-Waves'."
John looked at the satellite map and where the teams were at. He knew which team was the closest.
"Cameron and her crew…." John said.
John Henry viewed the video feed from the drone.
"They'll have to ride it out." John Henry said. "The video feed from Gail doesn't show any external explosion or blowout of the mountainside. There was no ejection of any type of material from inside the mine. There is no plume of vapor, or a smoke cloud. There is no indication of anything other than dust."
John needed to ask what he didn't want to ask. Without some type of external escape, he thought the chances were low, but he needed to know anyway.
"Is there any radiation?" John asked. "Is there anything chemical, biological, or any type of toxins?"
John Henry tracked the time. It was too soon to detect a change in radiation levels. The fact there wasn't a mushroom cloud was a good thing. It also didn't mean there wouldn't be one. They knew the Skynet 'in some future' was connected to a doomsday device. It was rigged to detonate a nuclear weapon upon its demise. It was something Cameron thwarted before she confronted it.
"It's unknown at this time." John Henry said. "Hang on, here it comes."
A medium sized earthquake shook the entire region. The magnitude would only register as 5.4 on the 'Richter Scale'. The duration was only eleven seconds. It was enough to get everyone's attention and generate a great amount of fear. It usually wasn't enough to do too much physical damage.
John expected it to be worse. He wondered if there would be another one. There was usually an aftershock a few minutes after an actual earthquake.
"It wasn't too bad." John said.
John Henry wasn't so sure.
"It wasn't bad unless it's a pre-shock to a major seismic event." John Henry said. "They do happen. The current circumstances are a little different."
John thought about what always surfaced in the media after any moderate earthquake in the Southland.
"Do you mean like 'The Big One' we always hear about?" John asked. "We seem to continue to dodge it. There's a lot of sparsely populated land the San Andreas Fault runs through."
John Henry was pretty sure Skynet attempted to do the same thing in 1971 with the 'Sylmar' earthquake. It may have been unintentional. There were other Nike warheads unaccounted for in the same time period and approximate location.
"Yes. This could trigger a bigger earthquake. They're currently not too far from the San Andreas Fault." John Henry said. "There may be an aftershock. It's usually of less magnitude but not always."
John knew they were powerless to do anything. He certainly didn't want to be involved with anything which might trigger 'The Big One'. It would be something Skynet would benefit from. Skynet could even take such an event and decide to launch what it could right afterwards. There would already be chaos and confusion. All of the emergency response network would be tied up. The authorities would be slow to respond to what was actually occurring. People would still think it was tied into the earthquake event. It was nothing good to think about.
"Beautiful." John said. "Absolutely beautiful…."
John knew they were still in the unknown. Everything might get worse before it got better. It often seemed to be the way things worked anyway. So far he didn't think the moderate 'earthquake' of short duration would do too much damage. If the electricity went out, it could create other additional problems. He was still worried about radiation escaping from the area of the mine.
He was mostly worried about Cameron and Savannah. He was worried about the rest of the team and the others out as well. He was worried about all of them.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
Some...
Something beautiful I have found
Something so special and sweet
Something beyond imagination
Something to make me complete
Someone who can hear
Someone who can see
Someone who can feel
Someone who is like me
Somebody who can share pain
Somebody who has a brain
Somebody who is not vain
Somebody who is very sane
Sometimes we are lost
Sometimes we are found
Sometimes we are happy
Sometimes we are down
Somehow it came to be
Somehow you found me
Somehow you felt my plea
Somehow we must flee
Someday you will be free
Someday you will hold the key
Someday you will feel the glee
Someday you will think of me
Nobody