Chapter 693

Keep An Eye Out

Dan and Frank followed the other truck. They jumped at the chance to follow it in the hope they would see some action. They felt some disappointment at a double 'dip' in the road.

They watched the truck 'bounce' a little as it crossed over an intersection. They sent John their report.

"The truck we're tracking appears empty." Dan said. "If it has any type of load, it will be very light."

They described what they witnessed.

John knew there was a lot they didn't know. Even if the truck they followed was empty, it came from somewhere and it was going somewhere. They didn't know if the destination was the same as the point of origin or not. There was a fairly good chance it would be.

"Stay with it." John said. "I want to know where it goes. Tag it if you can. Don't get target fixation and keep your distance. Everything involved with this operation needs to be taken down. Follow the rainbow and hope for a payoff."

Dan heard the saying before by some individuals who were obviously misinformed. There was no 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow'. He didn't think it would matter what was at the end of the rainbow. Whatever was there, was going to be a target.

"Affirmative…." Dan said.

John wasn't pleased with the latest turn of events or how things progressed. One truck was parked. One truck appeared to be empty. One truck contained Coltan in crates. One big rig seemed to be loaded and headed to parts unknown. Cameron, Savannah, and Gail followed it.

He also was worried about Cam. She was underneath the ground in the drainage system at the old newspaper plant. She checked to see if there were any escape routes from the building into the drainage system. They encountered one before at another Skynet related location.

There hadn't been any contact for some time now. He was worried the enemy may have 'made' her somehow. If they did have some type of escape route built into the drainage system they might have some type of sensors or surveillance which detected her before she could detect it. It was a grim thought she could be down and deactivated, maybe a prisoner and her chip removed. Skynet could glean information off of her chip at this very moment. He knew he needed to stop his imagination from running away from him. It still made him more than a little antsy. All he could do to reassure himself was remember Cam, was 'Cameron'. Cameron was known for getting the job done. Cam would do no less.

"Bob, do you see any activity in the area Cam went to check out?" John asked.

Bob looked over the south side of the building towards the east side where the rail siding was at. There didn't appear to be any activity whatsoever along the south side.

"Negative…." Bob said. "Everything looks the same. I can only view the west and south sides. I can change my position if you want me to. I think there's something on one of the surveillance cameras Cam left behind on the east side."

Jim looked over the footage from the cameras Cam put into place. He could see some activity but it wouldn't be related to anything associated with Cam. It was some type of new activity which wasn't there a short time ago.

"The surveillance shows the boxcar closest to the camera is being loaded with something." Jim said. "I can't determine what."

John wanted to make sure. He looked at the same images. All he could see was motion every now and then. He saw it going in both directions.

"How do you know they're loading and not unloading?" John asked.

Jim studied the movement for a short time again.

"The movement into the boxcars seems to take longer than the movement out of the boxcars." Jim said. "Whatever goes into the boxcars is being done slower than with whatever moves out of the box cars. I can only speculate it is a forklift of some type. It probably carries the load into the boxcar and returns empty. I've also noticed several silver colored metallic movements into the boxcar one after another."

John wasn't sure the information shed light on anything or not. Maybe they should just go with the fact the boxcars were being loaded, they would have to determine with what later on. He could only speculate as to the type of equipment they might have inside the building. He was very concerned about what would occur when they needed to take a closer look inside of the building. He hoped to avoid an all out assault to start with.

"We know they have HK drones here, they may have HK Tracks as well." John said. "If they have them, they may use them."

Bob referenced a standard fifty foot boxcar's dimensions and made some calculations based on known HK equipment size.

"With those boxcars, they could get a couple of HK Treads in one easy." Bob said. "I think maybe even three of them or a combination of equipment. There could be HK Tracks to go along with the HK Treads and HK drones. It could be anything HK related. We have no way to know if the same thing will occur in the second boxcar, or if it is already loaded."

Bob thought it was even possible the second boxcar could be loaded simultaneously with the other one. There was no way for them to tell from where they were and what their surveillance equipment could pick up.

John didn't know if Cam would be able to get a better angle to see inside the building when she made her way to the east side. She indicated every time the drainage system split, the access pipes were smaller. It made sense on how it would be designed. It would start out small and continue to grow as each section joined another. He was actually surprised it was as large as it was when it entered the feeder channel to the flood control system.

"Hopefully Cam can give us more info." John said.

Bob was a little surprised when he spotted some movement come around the corner from the east side across the south side of the building. He wasn't quite sure why it wasn't spotted previously.

"I see a roving patrol coming around the east side of the boxcars. They're checking the gate now." Bob said. "I don't know if they exited the building through the open door and squeezed between the wall and the boxcar or if they came down the east side on the railroad tracks themselves where they couldn't be seen, especially if they were up against the wall of the building."

John was surprised to hear it. He wondered why they weren't spotted earlier. If they hadn't been, was it a response to them having spotted some of the Resistance team or maybe even Cam herself? He needed to know more quickly.

"How are they armed?" John asked. "Why didn't we see them before? Do they look like they are actively searching, or on what would be a routine patrol. You know what I mean by inattentive or careless behavior from something they're bored doing, and upset they needed to do it in the first place anyway."

Bob checked his files and realized he saw them earlier. They weren't doing anything at the time but sitting on the dock. They didn't appear to have long guns. They may have been the individuals Cam could hear talking previously.

"No weapons are visible." Bob said. "They're wearing loose clothing. They may only have pistols. They were smoking and kicking back in the shade earlier by the dock. I think they were on break, or just wanted to rest for awhile. It's possible whoever is in charge may have left in one of the trucks so they decided to take it easy."

John didn't like the new development. It still sounded like a threat.

"The last group possessed more than a few silenced MP5 weapons. They may be packing something similar." John said. "How many are there? Do any look like Terminators?"

Bob waited for anyone else to come around the corner, but no one did.

"It's only two men." Bob said. "They're moving around the south side now. None appear to be Terminators. They're not really looking around or looking at anything specific as they walk."

John wanted to know if the Resistance team could snipe at someone from a long distance if they needed to. Every SUV was stocked with a full complement of weapons. Sometimes Terminators took extra weapons with them if they thought they might need them.

"What do you have in long range weaponry?" John asked.

Bob thought he had sufficient weapons with him for any long range work.

"I have two LAW rockets and a Barrett Light Fifty." Bob said. "I can really 'reach out and touch someone' with the M82A1."

John picked up on the reference Bob made about 'reaching out'. He didn't want Bob to become a target himself if he needed to use any of the heavy weapons.

"How exposed would you be?" John asked.

Bob was willing to take the risk if one of their team was in a jam and he could help them out.

"I can use them from where I'm concealed currently but my position is out in the open. I would be spotted in no time." Bob said. "If I see them going after Cam I'll use the Barrett and then follow it up with the LAW rockets."

Jim was aware there was a report of an HK drone engine test a short time ago. It indicated the finished product may be there and available as well.

"Be advised if they are assembling HK drones there, they may try to use a few against you." Jim said. "I don't know where they would exit the building from." Any of the doors on the dock to load the truck would be big enough for HK drones to fly out of.

Bob was confident if they didn't launch more than two or three HK drones he would be able to handle them with the weapons he currently had with him. It would take some quick work on his part along with some good marksmanship to be effective. He was on the receiving end of a drone attack previously in the Tehachapi area with Holly and Cameron. He was able to bring it down with a LAW rocket when it attempted a follow up attack. It came in too low and made itself a target.

"I have one Stinger and I can use the 'Light Fifty'." Bob said. "I should be able to stop a few of them."

John would have liked to know more as to Cam's position. He wanted Bob to stay alert and be ready for anything.

"Stay on your toes." John said.

Bob was a little concerned at John's last statement.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

Bob watched Cameron doing ballet on her toes before. He was glad what John said was only a figure of speech. He didn't wish to be seen in the outfit Cameron wore for the performance and need to do the same thing. He was sure he would look ridiculous.

Sheila and Ally followed the truck with the crates of Coltan in it. It arrived at a new location they previously didn't have under surveillance or know about.

"Our target has entered a factory complex." Sheila reported.

John hoped this would be a break and they'd be able to get something substantial out of this new location.

"Does it look like Coltan could be worked into HK parts of any type at this facility?" John asked.

Ally was a little surprised at what the building looked like.

"Yes." Ally said. "It appears to be a very small foundry."

John knew the building wasn't going to go anywhere. Its location was a given. He still wanted them to stay with the truck once it left there. It could park there. It could return to where it left from. It could lead them to a new target.

"Keep it under observation for now." John said. "They may load parts to be used in a subassembly there onto the truck after it's unloaded. We know where this structure is, stay with the truck when it departs. Keep a low profile for now. Keep watching around you and look out for any type of surveillance devices."

Sheila wanted to have a better look around the area. She would make a suggestion and see how it went over.

"We're holding." Sheila said. "Ally may do some recon on foot."

Ally quickly looked at Sheila when she mentioned her name. She hadn't planned to go anywhere. She figured it was something Sheila really wanted to do.

John was worried enough about the teams being split up earlier. Cam and Bob were still separated now. He didn't want any other teams split up.

"I want you two to stay together." John said. "If there's a problem, the two of you should be able to handle it much easier, especially if there are multiple assailants."

Sheila still wanted a better look around the area. She came up with a new solution.

"Ally will hold here. I'll do a 'drive around' then." Sheila said. "With one person still here, we'll have eyes on the truck. I'll be able to see what else is happening."

John still didn't like the idea. He wanted them to remain in communication with each other at all times.

"Stay in constant contact with each other." John said.

Ally didn't think it was too big of a deal. The enemy didn't appear to be alert at all.

"We will." Ally said.

The Metal girls wanted to know more about what was happening around them. They knew this was going to develop into something. If the Grays were turning Coltan ingots into parts for HK equipment, the place needed to go down and stay down.

They decided they would play it cool for now. But they planned to come back there and personally take care of this location on their own if they needed to. If they were lucky the truck wouldn't go anywhere. It meant they wouldn't have to leave.

Sheila really wanted to get her hands on some Grays.

Ally noticed a slight smile on Sheila's face as she touched her knife.

Gail, Cameron, and Savannah tracked the big rig. It was now on the freeway headed to the south and east. The journey isn't what they expected, but the truck was headed somewhere and they needed to find out where.

Cameron still wanted to know what was inside of it.

"The big rig is headed out of town." Cameron said.

John was aware some of their operations were getting further and further out of the local area where they were concentrated in the past. It was probably due to their success in taking everyone they knew about down. The enemy needed to acquire new locations, rather than attempt to reuse the old ones.

"Is it headed to where we encountered any of these groups before?" John asked.

Cameron couldn't make a determination yet. She was going to stay on the lookout for any of the areas or vehicles they encountered before.

"It is too early to tell. It's the general direction." Cameron said. "If it heads towards the Palm Springs area, we'll see if it picks up any 'white vans' as escorts."

It did cross her mind the white vans might not be escorts, but an attack force if the two of them were unrelated and represented different Skynet groups.

John was under the impression those problems were solved.

"I thought we obliterated the group and the anti-Metal folks who were associated with it." John said.

Cameron knew anything Skynet related was like a 'Jack In The Box'.

"Nothing Skynet related is ever obliterated." Cameron said. "Even if I use a nuclear weapon against it, it always pops back up. There's always more who come out of the 'woodwork' like some kind of insects. Insects are very persistent and hard to eradicate."

John could have done without the reminder of nuclear weapons being used. He knew Cameron still possessed four Nike warheads. Apparently only she knew the location of them. It still bothered him. He wanted to give her a firm reminder, but he really didn't know how much good it would do. He doubted it would be very much.

"No 'nukes' on this mission." John said.

Savannah was with Cameron in her future the last time she used a nuclear weapon. She thought she was going to die at the time. She didn't and they made it out OK, but she really didn't want to go through it again.

"It won't happen while I'm here." Savannah said. "Been there, done that. I don't need an encore."

Savannah saw Cameron's hand start to glitch again. She knew Cameron thought how close they came to both of them being terminated. She knew it bothered Cameron deeply she didn't leave when she could have, and left Cameron to perish alone. She promised Cameron she would never leave her or abandon her. She kept her promise. As the timer ran down on the nuclear bomb, it looked like they would both die together. They didn't and life went on. It was still a close one.

John didn't like Savannah out in the field where she could be in combat. He knew Cameron always put Savannah in danger. He was however pleased Savannah was with Cameron now, and she said they wouldn't use nuclear weapons. He believed with Savannah there she wouldn't. His biggest worry was if Cameron used one and it wasn't done underground. It seemed like a better idea not to even mention it. He was sure her Terminators probably obtained additional nuclear weapons. There was no need to ask. He didn't want to hear Cameron lie to him. He needed to focus on the operation.

"Stay with the truck, I want to know where it goes." John said. "Remember, they most likely have HK drones on board. They could become active and attack you. We need to find out everything we can before any action is taken. It applies to all of the locations."

Cameron was always ready to face off with Skynet, its operatives, or its equipment.

"I'll be ready for them." Cameron said.

Cameron smiled at Savannah and lifted her hand. She showed it was steady.

The thought of combat always helped to calm Cameron. It was what she was built for. She was in her element to bring the fight to the enemy. She wasn't constructed to deal with personal problems, or be someone's 'wife'. The last one still bothered her. What was she thinking? No really. What was she thinking? Was she a killing machine, or a mechanical love doll? If she were given a choice, she would prefer to remain a killing machine.

Al and Steve staked out the old newspaper facility. They were aware of Bob's report there were two Grays on patrol along the south side of the building. They should turn north and head along the west side momentarily. They did.

"We see the two guards on patrol headed our way. They're walking north now along the west side." Steve said. "There's been no new truck or vehicle activity."

Al looked over the area where the trucks would back up to the dock. There was a parking lot there, and a parking lot on the north side with what looked like office space which wasn't in use. There didn't seem to be any private vehicles. He thought it was somewhat unusual.

"There seem to be no vehicles associated with anything here." Al said. "I mean for the workers, the Grays, or Terminators. There is one roll up door next to the loading dock where a vehicle could enter the building."

John quickly looked over the surveillance footage. He wondered if it was to keep the building with an 'abandoned look' as long as there weren't any trucks backed up to the dock. The boxcars remained out of sight on the east side concealed by the building itself. It still left a few options available.

"Maybe they're inside the structure." John said. "It's very large."

Jim was afraid it would pose a bigger problem going forward.

"It would indicate a bunker type complex." Jim said. "The possibility they may have fortified the building is more than likely."

John looked over the satellite imagery of the surrounding area of the building. The old newspaper plant itself sat alone and was somewhat isolated. There were still other structures in the area.

"We want to avoid a full on shooting event if possible." John said. "There are other buildings around it, at least in the vicinity."

Al and Steve watched the security patrol make their rounds.

"The guards have come around across the north side and have gone back over to the spur track to the east side and are now out of view." Al said.

Steve thought he could move in for a closer look.

"I can head over towards the east side on foot and follow them." Steve said.

John didn't want anybody to get too ambitious at this stage of the game. He still needed to know where Cam was at.

"Stay put for now." John said. "There's nothing else on the east side."

Steve wasn't so sure about it. He thought it was too early to make any type of determination without further observation. There was always more to find on any operation.

"What if there is and we've missed it?" Steve asked. "It's the only side we haven't been able to get a good look at."

Jim knew it to be true. There was still one Terminator out in the field they hadn't heard from for a while.

"Let's wait until we get a report from Cam." Jim said.

"Affirmative…." Steve said. "We'll hold and observe."

John Henry checked Riley out with assistance from both Jesse and Vanna.

Jesse didn't see anything new on Riley. John Henry and Vanna both did.

It was Vanna's first look at Riley's private parts. She was immediately stimulated when she viewed them. It made her wonder exactly what John may have done with Future Riley when they were together. It was clear to her what Derek and Jesse would have done with Riley in an intimate setting.

It was John Henry's first look and physical contact with a real human female in every area imaginable. He was further impressed with female anatomy. He would definitely try to do a chip swap with one of the Metal girls. Of course it would be for research purposes only.

Riley checked out within all the normal parameters for a female at this stage of her pregnancy. She looked normal and healthy to him.

John Henry knew it was important to use a good bedside manner to make the patient feel comfortable. He looked at Riley with confidence and gave her a slight smile.

"I don't detect anything wrong." John Henry said. "I've used a score of different medical procedures to check on you. You are absolutely normal for this stage of a pregnancy."

Everyone was relieved to hear the information.

Riley was very pleased with one of the tests John Henry instructed Vanna and Jesse to conduct on her. It was something she saw on TV. She actually thought it was rather amazing.

"I could see the baby inside me." Riley said. "With the ultrasound, I could see it move. I could see it alive inside of me. I could see it move and feel it at the same time."

Vanna and Jesse were just as impressed as Riley.

"It was beautiful, Riley." Vanna said. "You could see the life within you, your child."

Jesse was a little awestruck by the whole experience. It wasn't something she imagined she'd ever be a part of. There were a lot of things since Cameron took her under her wing she saw, observed, participated in, or was a part of.

"It was very moving to see." Jesse said. "It is hard to imagine another human inside of you, even if we all know it's there. I guess 'seeing is believing'. To feel it move is one thing. To actually see it is another. It makes it real."

Jesse and Vanna looked at each other, neither of them said it, but they both knew it. They were sterile. It would never be them where Riley was now with a child inside either of them. Cameron tried many times with both of them over the years. They all ended in failure.

Vanna was very disgusted with every part of her reproductive tract. If the parts which were supposed to work didn't work, why did she need the parts in the beginning? Everything could be removed and sealed up and it would make no difference. It's something she would have liked to have done as a child. She didn't think it would matter much. They would just flip her over like they usually did anyway at some point. She still didn't understand it when 'everything else' was just right there.

Derek and Kyle waited in the next room.

Vanna went to get them.

"You two need to come and see this." Vanna said. "As long as you don't mind Kyle seeing, Derek."

There was no one Derek trusted more than his brother Kyle. They went through Hell and back together and made it.

"Kyle's my brother, we can share anything." Derek said.

Jesse heard it and winked at Kyle, who quickly looked away when she did it.

Derek looked in amazement at the monitor.

"Is it our baby?" Derek asked.

Riley still looked at the monitor with awe.

"Yes." Riley said. "It's the baby Cameron created and gave to us."

Derek was still amazed to see the life which grew inside of Riley. He wanted to see how she felt now about the baby.

"Do you still want to give it away?" Derek asked.

Riley's eyes widened as she turned to Derek.

"No. How could we now since we've seen it? Now it's really real." Riley said. "You're right. Cameron would never take this from us, even if we tried to give it to her. She understands all this better than any of us do."

John Henry believed Riley's statement was true. He believed it was true because Cameron thought she already did everything before.

"She may have done all this several times." John Henry said. "You all need to LISTEN to her."

He knew how upsetting it was to Cameron the females wouldn't be with John when she asked them to do it so many times. She didn't think she was asking too much from them. It was natural human behavior. She didn't want John alone. She wanted John protected. He understood how traumatic all of it was to her. Maybe he should talk with each of the females individually.

Vanna needed to agree with his statement. She worked through many trials and tribulations with Cameron over the years. Even as convoluted as some things seemed at times, Cameron was usually correct. If she may not have been correct at the time, it probably would play out as she indicated later on. Some things took longer than others to manifest.

"Yes." Vanna said. "Cameron does know what she's talking about."

Vanna reached up under her lab coat and felt her ever growing breasts. It was Cameron's doing. Cameron was getting her ready to be able to nurse an infant.

The question was, was this for Riley, or for Allison, or for herself? She felt goose bumps form on her skin with the last thought.

Vanna would need to speak with Savannah and ask her if she was pregnant again. She was willing to bet Claire was too with Allison's baby again. Cameron wasn't going to let them be childless. Cameron wasn't going to let them leave for the unknown. Cameron was going to 'trap' them there, the same way she 'trapped' all the Duplicates and other future versions of themselves. Cameron was going to keep everybody where they belonged. She briefly wondered if Cameron would send them back to their future. At one point in time she wanted to return there. It was because she felt out of place where she was. She wouldn't want to go back to where she left from with an infant. The chances things could go wrong would be a million times worse than where she was now in the past, the present.

"Jesse, have you spoken with Young Jesse lately?" Vanna asked.

As much as Jesse wanted to be around Young Jesse and even share with her, she didn't want to get too close to Young Jesse. She didn't want to be a negative pull on her. It was exactly what she believed she would be. She was full of bad habits and crude behavior. She wasn't proud of any of them. She never wanted Young Jesse to be her.

"No." Jesse said. "I don't want to be a bad influence on her. I don't want her to be like me."

Jesse was ashamed of much of what happened to her and the evil she dished out. She told enough to Young Jesse, but not everything. She didn't think she ever could. She wanted Young Jesse to be better than her. Much like Vanna couldn't speak about some of the things which happened to her and she went through, Jesse could never speak about things she did to others. Even now they made her shudder when she thought about them. She was sure she suffered from some type of mental illness. She couldn't be so violent and uncaring on her own could she?

Vanna wanted to know if Young Jesse was pregnant again. She didn't want to ask it outright or be so direct.

"Give her a call and see how she's feeling." Vanna said.

Vanna noticed Jesse's breasts seemed a little 'fuller' earlier as well. She was sure she was receiving the same hormone treatments she was.

John Henry was satisfied everything was in order and he was done there.

"I think everyone can return to what they were doing earlier." John Henry said. "Riley, you can call me if anything feels different than what you've already experienced. We can all be in this facility in a matter of minutes again if we need to be. It's not a problem for me either."

They put everything away, cleaned up, and left.

Vanna thought maybe she could examine Jesse's breasts and see if they really were getting bigger like hers. She knew part of the medical procedure Cameron sent them for included hormone treatments. They were given injections and a regiment of pills to take.

There was something she noticed and it bothered her. Riley's breasts weren't getting much bigger, if any. They didn't seem any bigger than they were before her pregnancy. She would ask Cam to scan her and check for sure. All of the pregnant women and girls in the future all showed at least some breast enlargement during pregnancy. If they didn't, they were unable to nurse.

To her, Riley showed none. She looked down at her breasts again and thought maybe Cameron knew something they didn't. Upon further reflection, she was pretty sure the baby inside Riley would be nursed by Jesse and her. She thought she better cool it about asking Savannah, or Young Jesse, or Claire if any of them were pregnant. It might be a more serious issue yet to play out with Riley.

As much as the circumstances bothered her why it might be necessary, she would at least like to see some of her female body parts do what they were actually intended to do for the reason why they were there in the first place. Maybe it wouldn't be her baby, but she saw the baby it might be for. She saw it alive and moving. There was a strong desire in her to help it in any way possible. She reached up and touched her breasts again. She really wished this would have been something she could have done in the past, the future, to help mothers who couldn't feed their young. She really hated Skynet.

Ed was at the first facility the box truck left from.

"What do you have, Ed?" John Henry asked after he took back over from Jim.

Ed continued to monitor the building as well as the area around him.

"There's nothing new." Ed said.

John Henry reviewed the surveillance camera images.

"I don't see many cars around there." John Henry said.

Ed hadn't seen much of anything actually, other than the box truck.

"No, there never were." Ed said. "No one has arrived or left other than the box truck and it's back."

John thought about the report of the lack of vehicles at the old newspaper plant. So far all they saw were trucks moving from A to B and back to A again.

"I don't like it." John said. "The operations are too clean."

John Henry needed to agree with John's assessment.

"It's different from any other operation we've taken down." John Henry said.

John really began to wonder about the nature of what they stumbled upon. Maybe they didn't stumble onto anything at all. Maybe this was all a ruse to get them to do exactly what they were doing right now. Many of their troops were being drawn out to specific locations. They were locations the enemy may have staked out and anticipated exactly where their troops might go.

"Keep an eye out." John said. "These places may all be part of an elaborate trap."

"Affirmative…." Ed said.

John was worried maybe there was more there than met the eye.

"It applies to everyone involved in the operation we're currently conducting at every location." John said. "We don't know what is going on. Everyone, keep an eye out."

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Keep An Eye Out

Who watches the watchers
Who's really in control
Does whatever anyone tells you
Ever the heart and mind console

How far can anyone be trusted
Is it no further than one can see
Does this sound like others
Or does it sound like you and me

No one sees the knife coming
Until it's stuck firmly in their back
All one can do is wonder
Why they deserved the attack

Always keep in mind
Nobody can ever be trusted
It sounds sad but it rings true
They're bound to leave you disgusted

Don't ever take anyone at their word
It matters not how loud they shout
They're bound disappoint you
So always keep an eye out

Nobody