Chapter 1623

Emergency Brakes

John woke up and looked around. He could see he wasn't in his room. He looked around for his clothes and got dressed. He knew he was really pushing it. Even as he dressed, he hoped someone would enter. Well, someone other than Cameron. He hurried and made his way towards the Command Center. He thought about stopping at his room but didn't.

He looked at the commissary as he passed. He could really use a snack right now. He didn't think one of the energy drinks would hurt either. There was no way to know what else would come up.

John Henry greeted him as he entered. He gave him a brief rundown as to what was going on and where.

John wasn't surprised to see Summer was there. She added a few details.

Sarah wanted to check in on Kyle. She'd told him she would have dinner ready when he returned. She also needed to check on Jan. She started on her way to the Command Center.

John Henry and Summer noticed she was on the way.

Things might get a little dicey.

"We might have a problem." John Henry said.

Summer didn't think so. There were future Scavengers which needed to be dealt with.

"Sarah told Kyle to take care of business." Summer said. "It's exactly what they're doing."

Based upon what she already knew and observed, it was business which needed to be taken care of. There were some things which couldn't be left the way they were.

John was a little worried. He only arrived in the Command Center a few moments ago. He wasn't sure of exactly everything underway, even if he was able to get the gist of it. He knew his mother could get very intense at times. He knew it was time to step up.

"Tell it to her straight." John said. "If there's any flak, I'll take the heat."

Sarah entered and greeted everyone. She was given a brief rundown on all the operations. She was advised to the state of affairs where Kyle and the rest of the team were currently located.

John wanted to give her a little reassurance. He didn't like the burden to fall on John Henry, or especially Summer. He was a little lax in his work.

"I have everything under control, Mom." John said.

John didn't know all the details of everything which went on for the last few days. He really hoped he wasn't giving assurances where they weren't due. He knew John Henry would be on top of everything. He couldn't help but glance at Summer. He didn't doubt she would be on top of everything as well. He quickly looked away before she looked up at him.

Summer didn't need to look up to know John checked her out. She was actually a little relieved with all of his extracurricular activity. It seemed to keep his mind occupied elsewhere. She wasn't the one in his thoughts currently. It wasn't usually the case.

Samantha and Riley both got dressed. There were a few things they needed to take care of. The operation Derek was on, and Precious, were the two most pressing.

"I'll take care of Precious if you want to go check on Derek." Samantha said. "I haven't received any negative input through my com. I don't believe there are any problems. There's no need to hurry and nothing to worry about."

Riley knew it didn't mean there wasn't some problems. She knew how things tended to play out. Problems tended to find them.

"I want to check with the Command Center myself." Riley said. "I don't think it will hurt anything. I might get something in the commissary while I'm there."

Samantha knew it was important for Riley to take care of herself. She didn't want her to interfere with anything in the Command Center.

"Just try to observe." Samantha said. "If you get any kind of a timeline, you might want to make something for Derek. I can do it too."

Riley nodded and left the room. She didn't think she ever got in the way of any operations. She understood the current operation was a little different than normal. Maybe it was why she wanted to follow up on it. It was personal to her.

She looked in the commissary as she passed by it. There was no one in it. She expected to see Sarah or Claire there.

Riley could hear them talking as she approached the Command Center. The door was open. She thought it was a good sign.

"Hello, Riley." John Henry said.

Riley figured they knew she was coming. She figured they probably knew a lot of things in the Command Center. She smiled at Sarah and nodded at John. She figured she could get right to the point. They all knew why she was there.

"What's the status?" Riley asked.

John was about to speak. He only was there a very short time.

Summer didn't want there to be any problems. She felt she could control the situation. She also believed it would seem less intense if she controlled the narrative.

"Sarah and you can come over here to my station." Summer said. "I can show you some of what they've been up to and are currently doing."

Riley was a little surprised to see Summer there. She figured Claire must be busy.

Sarah and Riley headed over to where Summer worked.

John and John Henry quickly glanced at each other. They didn't think there'd be any problems now. Summer glanced up and winked at both of them as Sarah and Riley moved behind her.

John Henry and John exchanged another quick glance with each other when Summer winked at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Temporal Mission:

Past Timeline:

November 26 1963

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cameron made her way out of the airport. She kept her speed in check. She headed back over towards the main highway. She passed over the two streets with the big dips in them. She really wondered how much they filled up in a thunderstorm. The Mojave rail yard was directly in front of them.

They could see a freight train moving behind another train which was parked. There were a number of tracks in the Mojave yard. There is even a small engine servicing facility there.

"There's a track which goes for several miles to the west where there's some mining at." Cameron said. "I've taken you there before. It's the Oak Creek Branch. What's different in Mojave now is mainly the engine servicing facility which is located there where the track heads off towards the west. It's gone in the time period we left from. A lot of things have changed. I can't say it's necessarily for the better."

Young Allison could see the differences from the moment they needed to cross the tracks at grade to enter Mojave. She thought something else was gone, which was even more important, it was the names of the two railroads which operated on the rail line for over a hundred years. Their original identity was swept from existence. There were a series of mergers which swept the nation and felled a number of long time railroads as independent entities. The railroads west of the Mississippi weren't immune from the mergers which started on the east coast. She looked at a large green structure located between the highway and the railroad tracks.

"The depot looks a little worse for the wear." Young Allison said. "I've only seen pictures of it before."

Cameron was aware the depot experienced some trouble over the years.

"It's burnt down a couple of times." Cameron said. "One time after one of the fires, when the station was being rebuilt, the framing blew down in a strong wind. You know it gets very windy up here."

Young Allison really didn't think it was too much different from where her home was in Palmdale. The strong winds also seemed to bring another problem to the area between Mojave and Tehachapi. It was more than just her opinion.

"I don't think any of those eyesore wind turbines are here yet are they?" Young Allison said. "So far I haven't spotted any."

Cameron agreed with Young Allison's assessment of the wind turbines.

"No, there aren't any yet." Cameron said. "They're still about a decade away. They'll forever destroy the natural beauty of the area."

Young Allison understood the wind turbines scattered through Tehachapi Pass and Beaumont Pass were there because the mountains funneled the wind through them.

"Not only are they an eyesore, they're a threat to the avian population in the area." Young Allison said.

Cameron agreed a lot of it dealt with what was in someone's 'backyard', or in an area they frequented for recreation. She was aware Skynet was able to play 'fringe groups' for its own benefit. It could have them destroy humanity for it. Running millions of gallons of fresh water a day into the desert to evaporate, and into the ocean was another example. She actually questioned the sanity of those involved. She was there to protect the future. Maybe it was time to do something about some of the nut jobs going forward. No. She didn't want to change history going forward from what they already knew with a group of select and targeted terminations.

"I can guarantee they won't put any in the areas where the so-called 'environmentalists' go." Cameron said. "I don't think anybody takes into consideration the amount of energy used to create wind turbines and solar panels. They're both very inefficient ways to produce energy. The actual pollution involved in creating them is extreme and hidden from the public. The pollution created in the manufacturing process will last for centuries."

Young Allison was going to mention power cells weren't very available in modern times, let alone in 1963. She planned to enjoy the natural beauty of Tehachapi Pass while they were there. She turned her attention back to the faded green station across the road. She thought of some of the historic images she viewed.

"The station used to have two stories." Young Allison said.

Cameron actually thought it was somewhat unusual as to why it no longer did.

"The two and a half times it was rebuilt. It was built as a two-story structure." Cameron said. "It was quite large at one point in time. It even served as the division headquarters for a few years. In the Thirties, they actually removed the upper story."

Young Allison thought it seemed like a lot of unnecessary effort.

"I would have thought they would have left things the way they were." Young Allison said. "Extra space can come in handy at times."

Cameron didn't have a good explanation. It did seem rather odd to her. It probably had something to do with property taxes during the Depression era. The failed policies of the administration in power during the time were evident. It was one of the reasons why they encouraged the involvement of the United States in the European war. She didn't want to think about everything else which was done by the administration to get the American people to support the war. To her it seemed like Treason.

"There are many things which are unexplainable based on logic." Cameron said. "The depot will continue to decline and be allowed to fall into further disrepair. It'll be torn down unceremoniously in 1992. There was an effort to have it moved to the Mojave Airport so it could be preserved. Things just didn't work out."

Cameron tried to listen to the rail activity going on around them. There were too many things happening at the same time for her to clearly separate it all. She could hear at least four different groups of locomotives moving.

They watched as a Santa Fe train approached from the north. There were three sets of F7A and F7B units on the point. Since it was now traveling downhill, the helpers were probably already switched out in Tehachapi. It passed in front of them as they sat at the intersection.

Young Allison was about to comment about the dark blue paint scheme on the locomotives. There was only a little yellow highlight on the front. There was an oval with the words 'Santa Fe' with some bands which extended on each side of it. She read it was referred to as a 'cigar band' emblem. There were often a lot of strange nicknames associated with various things. Some of them seemed more appropriate than others.

As they watched, there was a loud 'squeal' sound. The freight cars could be heard banging into each other seconds later. Strangely enough, from the locomotives going back towards the rear of the train, the wheels began to spark on the rails. It happened one car after another. It was rather surreal to watch. There was a time lag involved in the breaking process since it happened through an airline.

Cameron quickly looked behind her. It was clear. She moved the shift selector into reverse but didn't move yet.

"The train has just applied the emergency brakes. The engineer dumped the air." Cameron said. "Someone is going to be in trouble over whatever necessitated it to occur. Both railroads have officials in the station. I'm ready to back up if they start to derail."

Young Allison didn't know what to say. it was something she never saw before. It would be something she never forgot either. It was really something to see an entire freight train with sparks coming off every set of wheels as they slid across the top of the rail in an attempt to stop.

"What do you think caused this?" Young Allison asked. "You can back up now if you want. I've seen how the rail cars stack up on each other when there's a derailment. We don't know if it's carrying any type of flammable or explosive material. I'm sure record keeping was a little more relaxed during this time period than it is during our time period."

Cameron looked down towards the south. She could see there was another train crossing over Route 6. She also noted the cars on the road all tried to move to the east side of the street. Those which were headed southbound stopped and looked to turn off wherever they could. It was apparent they all anticipated a derailment as well.

"There's a Southern Pacific train crossing over the junction where the Santa Fe train needs to turn off to head to the east." Cameron said. "The Southern Pacific train has the right away. It's usually how it works with the host railroad. More than likely, one of the switches was not properly aligned for the movement to take place. I don't believe there's going to be a collision. The train has rapidly slowed. The caboose is coming up."

Young Allison could see the red caboose. There was a giant yellow circle on the side of it below the cupola. It looked like it contained a 'plus sign' with the name 'Santa Fe' across the center of it. She actually thought it was eye catching.

"I only counted fifty two freight cars." Young Allison said. "It's a relatively short train by any standards."

Cameron was relieved to see there wouldn't be an incident. Some of the wheels were bound to have received some 'flat spots' from the friction. She thought about the length of the train.

"The train wouldn't have looped itself on the Tehachapi Loop." Cameron said. "There needs to be at least eighty cars to be able to do so."

Cameron watched as the caboose stopped. There was a series of 'clanging' noises as it did so. It was all the cars bunching up together as the momentum stopped. They all remained on the rails.

"Let's head north." Cameron said. "Route 466 will continue north while Route 6 will head northeast once we cross over the Lone Pine Branch. The track is located at the north end of the yard."

Young Allison wanted to ask about a few things related to the Lone Pine Branch.

Emergency Brakes

There are many things
Which create heartaches
Most of them turn out to be
Nothing but a lot of headaches

It doesn't take too long
To figure out they were mistakes
The problems are still there
Once one stops dreaming and awakes

There doesn't seem to be much difference
Between the fakes and the snakes
It's more than one's opinion
As to what determines the flakes

Some touch the mind and soul
Others are more like earthquakes
The crude reminder always comes
When the other forsakes

The one to nourish and keep
Gives more than takes
When the heart and mind fall
There are no emergency brakes

Nobody