Chapter 1648
Long Night
A Resistance drone detected some movement at a location the Resistance took down previously. There were two female Terminators in close proximity. They were directed to determine what was going on.
Gail and Camille-Hanna both exited the SUV and started towards the damaged building. It was time to find out who was there, and why. The most likely explanation would indicate the individual was the enemy.
They parked a few blocks away and walked in. They watched the drone image over the location as they did.
They talked about splitting up. One would approach from the front, and the other from the rear. CamNet told them to stay together.
The drone made another low pass. It gave them a better look at the individual. They could see the person was on the move.
"I think they're searching the location." Gail said.
Camille-Hanna knew it would depend on what they were searching for. It would indicate what would happen to the individual involved. They didn't know if it was Skynet related, or a common thief. Both of them were a threat to the future.
"Their actions will determine their fate." Camille-Hanna said.
The two female Terminators made their way towards the burnt out back of the building. It was where the individual moving through the wreckage was last detected.
Gail and Camille-Hanna were close enough to hear things moving. They could see a light shine every now and then. It was never directed where they were concealed in the shadows of the darkness. The individual sounded as if they were moving a multitude of different items. They were clearly searching for something. They didn't know what. They didn't want to interrupt too soon.
"Let's see what they come up with." Gail said. "It will save us the trouble of looking."
Camille-Hanna figured if the person knew what they were looking for, they were the enemy. There might be Skynet related technology they missed when they went through the wreckage of the building previously.
"They don't seem to have a specific location to search." Camille-Hanna said.
They entered the burnt out building. They decided to check each side of the building towards the location where they could see the light and hear the noise. They hoped to determine if there were other assailants inside of the remains of the building.
Gail moved forward. There was a fair amount of debris on the ground. She needed to make sure she didn't step on any of it and give away her position. She was able to close up to within thirty feet of the man. She was a little surprised when she got a good look. It wasn't a man. It was a female. She silently communicated at a low decibel level through her com with Camille-Hanna and CamNet.
Camille-Hanna made her way through the debris as well. She was a little further away when Gail communicated with her. She knew what to expect. Most likely it was going to be a homeless individual. There was a chance it might not be. They could always be a female Skynet, or SkyMaster, operative. They could be used as a patsy by one of the enemy groups too to retrieve something. She soon was able to take the female under direct observation as well.
She saw the female look up and look towards the front of the building. She didn't hear anything herself. She could see Gail on the other side of the building. She wasn't sure what caught the female's attention.
Gail continued to observe the female. It appeared to her she was randomly searching. She didn't know why she looked towards the front of the building. The longer she observed her, the more she determined she was most likely homeless. They could initiate contact with her or continue to avoid her.
She was aware of the need for a female Terminator where Bob's team was at. It would probably be best if they didn't collect another homeless individual.
Camille-Hanna was a little surprised when the female moved in her direction. She passed by within seven feet of her, but didn't spot her. She held her Taser in one hand and her silenced M9 in the other. She backed up and moved behind a burnt workbench. The light shined in the area where she just was three seconds ago.
She noticed the female held a knife in one hand and a small flashlight in the other one. She didn't believe the female held the knife when she first spotted her. She informed Gail of the new development.
Gail moved over to the location where the female was searching when they arrived. She didn't spot anything of value. She could understand a homeless female with a knife. It may or may not prevent her from being abused in a homeless camp.
She wanted to see if there was anything towards the front of the building where the female looked earlier. The drone did another low scan along the front side of the building. Nothing was detected.
Gail and Camille-Hanna continued to observe the female as she searched the interior of the burnt out building. They knew she would most likely to attempt to stab anyone she encountered in the darkness before she determined who they were. It was the way things worked on the street. No one wanted to get 'jumped'.
Cam-Holly continued to work with Claire. It would be safe for them to leave the recreation room and go on to the commissary at any time. It wouldn't matter now if they stopped by the Command Center on the way there.
"If you're good for now, I think I need to start on dinner." Claire said. "You can practice here, or come with me."
Cam-Holly thought it would be a good idea to keep tabs on Claire. She could always redirect her if it became necessary. She knew Summer was in the lab with the others right now. She would need to make sure Claire didn't go in the direction of the lab.
"We can go to the commissary." Cam-Holly said.
Cam-Holly and Claire returned everything to its proper location.
They left the recreation room and started in the direction of the commissary. They would need to pass by the Command Center to get there.
Cam-Holly was certain Claire would look inside of there. She would probably give John and John Henry a greeting if nothing else. She would probably also look to see if her younger daughter was in there or not. It would be against her wishes.
John and John Henry were both in the Command Center. It was quiet since the girls left earlier.
"It doesn't look like much is happening right now." John said.
John Henry could see they were about to get some visitors. There was one group coming from the direction of the commissary, and another group coming from the direction of the recreation room.
"We're most likely about to get some more guests." John Henry said.
John looked through his screens for the security monitors.
He spotted Jan pushing the stroller with Vanna and Jesse walking behind her. They just passed by the commissary. Claire was on her way there as well. It looked like Cameron was with her. He knew it wasn't Cameron. He would have to ask who it was when they arrived. He could never tell Cameron's clones apart from her. It was somewhat irritating because most everyone else could.
John Henry didn't think John knew who was with Claire. He did.
"It's Holly in Cam's chassis who's with Claire." John Henry said. "You were with her earlier."
John decided not to respond to John Henry's comment about who he was with earlier. It was quite an extensive list. He hoped someone was going to start on dinner soon. He was a little hungry, for food this time.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 26 1963
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Cameron and Young Allison approached the Mojave Depot. They spotted one of the motels almost across the street from it with a 'vacancy' sign.
Young Allison downshifted and slowed. She saw there was a clearing coming up in the oncoming traffic. She turned into the parking lot of the motel.
Cameron looked over the other vehicles in the parking lot. There were seven of them. None of them were more than a few years old. All of them were in good condition. They didn't have body damage. It was usually an indication of the type of clientele the motel would have. It was probably also an indication of the price.
She noticed at a couple of the shabbier looking locations, there were older vehicles in various states of disrepair. No doubt the clientele would reflect the vehicles they drove.
Young Allison could see Cameron check everything out.
"Is this place fine?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron didn't know for sure, but so far everything appeared to be satisfactory.
"Let's see what kind of a room we can get." Cameron said.
Young Allison backed into a parking spot. She wanted to be ready in case they needed to make a quick departure.
Cameron was a little wary of the last hotel they checked into. It was the one in San Antonio. She didn't care for some of the shenanigans which went on in the hotel and in the surrounding area. She knew there were questionable individuals everywhere in the world. The best thing to do was to avoid them. She learned to rely on human intuition from the various members in the Resistance, especially Savannah. She wanted the same feedback from Young Allison. It never needed to be anything concrete. usually a 'feeling' would be a good indication.
"Let's go inside and check it out." Cameron said. "If you get any bad vibes, I want you to say something immediately."
There was the sound of an air horn from the south side of town. It wasn't a P3. It seemed rather loud.
"I guess we'll be hearing a lot of air horns through the night." Young Allison said.
Cameron knew it would be.
"There are four crossings in total." Cameron said. "I don't know if there's some agreement worked out with the community or not. There are Federal standards they need to adhere to for crossing protection. What we just heard was where the Southern Pacific, and soon thereafter, Santa Fe tracks cross over Route 6."
Young Allison could hear the sound of locomotives running on the other side of the street. There was a loud hiss of air occasionally and the random thumping of air compressors.
"I guess it's just the way it is in a railroad community." Young Allison said.
Several trucks passed by in both directions along with a group of cars. They all made noise. Mojave was constructed on a slight incline where it was higher on the north side and lower on the south side. The big rigs would often downshift and use the engine as a brake. It made a lot of noise.
"There's the vehicle traffic as well." Cameron said.
They entered the office area. There was a little bell on the door which rang when they opened it.
A short time later, a desk clerk appeared from a back room and stood behind the desk.
"May I help you girls?" The desk clerk asked.
Cameron wasn't sure if she liked the looks of him. She didn't like him addressing them as 'girls'. She would have preferred young ladies for a title based upon his appearance.
"We'd like to get a room for the night." Cameron said.
The desk clerk took a moment to look them over in a little more detail.
"We have several in the back." The desk clerk said.
Cameron didn't want to be in the back.
"We'd like one with a view of the street." Cameron said.
The desk clerk winced a little bit.
"There's a lot of traffic through at night." The desk clerk said. "It's quieter in the back. It's the junction of two US Routes on the section of the road outside. There's a lot of rail activity as well in the yard and on the main line next to the road."
Young Allison could see Cameron's apprehension.
There was the sound of an air horn as a train signaled for a crossing.
"I'm sure it sounds about the same in the back, as it does in the front." Young Allison said. "A few hundred feet won't make a difference."
The desk clerk shook his head.
"There are thirty to forty trains through here a day." The desk clerk said. "There will probably be ten to twelve more tonight."
There was a loud 'clang' of metal across the street. It was followed by the sound of a locomotive accelerating for a few seconds. It sounded as if there was some switching going on.
Cameron looked at the selection of keys hanging on the wall and the numbers associated with them. She could see there were a few rooms she would like to obtain for the night.
"We'll take the one with the street view." Cameron said. "The second floor will be fine."
The desk clerk went ahead and checked them in. He gave them a room key.
"Can we have the second room key as well?" Cameron asked.
The desk clerk handed them the second key. They headed out of the small office.
Young Allison looked back for a moment.
"The guy gave me the 'creeps'." Young Allison said. "I think most of these people do."
Cameron was sure it was because it was a low paying job. Low paying jobs tended to attract people with minimal qualifications and experience. Minimal intelligence seemed to go along with a lot of it as well. It tended to allow people to stray more easily into questionable activity.
"It seems to be standard for the job." Cameron said. "Let's check out the room first."
They went up the stairway to the room.
Cameron looked at the layout of the stairways. She was satisfied the room would work for what she wanted. She would be able to leave the room and exit the motel without the desk clerk being able to spot her. It was what she wanted. She planned to conduct a few investigations on her own.
She opened the door to the room and went inside first. There were two beds, a small dresser with a mirror, a chair, and the bathroom area. It consisted of a sink, toilet and bathtub with a shower curtain.
Young Allison walked over to the window. She went ahead and opened the drape. She knew no one would be able to look in since they were on the second floor. She could look over the road into the small rail yard at Mojave. She could see there was activity going on in several areas. She could see the station located a little to the north.
She could hear the rumble of several locomotives coming. She looked to the north and didn't see anything. She looked to the south and could see there were some Santa Fe locomotives coming. It was probably the ones she heard earlier when they crossed over Route 6. It was right before the junction with Route 466.
"Somehow this reminds me of our journey from Texas to California, except everything looked nicer on the train." Young Allison said. "I think because it was isolated, it was probably a little safer as well."
Cameron looked at the beds.
"I can always move the bed closer to the window so you can look out without having to get up if you want." Cameron said.
Young Allison thought she would be able to sit up and look out the window if she wanted to.
"I think everything's good where it's at." Young Allison said.
She didn't know what the level of housekeeping was, but she didn't think it was probably too proficient. Who knew what they would find if they moved the beds. It seemed like a good idea not to find out.
Cameron looked out the window. She was satisfied no one could look in. There was another window on the back side of the room where the door was to enter. She went over and made sure the drape was secured so no one could look in.
"Do you want to get anything at the diner?" Cameron asked.
Young Allison didn't really want to go out.
"We can wait until morning." Young Allison said. "Let's go down and get our stuff. I don't even know what I have."
Cameron smiled.
"I have everything you need." Cameron said. "You can get cleaned up. There's not much to carry. I'll bring it up."
Young Allison figured Cameron wanted to do something else as well.
"Are you going to check up on the desk clerk?" Young Allison asked.
It was something Cameron planned to do.
"Yes." Cameron said. "I don't like problems. You can put the chair against the door handle when I leave if you want. I don't anticipate any problems. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
Young Allison watched Cameron go out the door. She went over to the door and checked it. It was secured. If she put the chair under the door handle, Cameron wouldn't be able to enter the room when she returned. She checked the door again. It seemed secure enough to her.
She could hear the rumbling a little louder outside. She looked back out the window as a Santa Fe train passed. She could see it was four F Units on the point. They were set up in ABBA configuration. It seemed to be something she saw on most of the Santa Fe trains. She watched them pass by the station. A few seconds later, she heard them blow for one of the crossings north of the station. She figured she would wake up multiple times during the night. She agreed with Cameron about the location. A few hundred feet wasn't going to make a difference in the decibel level of an air horn.
"It's going to be a long night." Young Allison said.
Cameron looked back at the door as she walked away from it. She heard Young Allison check it. She made her way down the stairway and moved back towards the small office. She could hear the clerk talking.
Long Night
It doesn't always take darkness
To mask another's slight
It depends upon their actions
If they will be polite or incite
There are always those
Who want to revise and rewrite
To challenge them on it
Will probably lead to a fight
One can stick around
Or they can take off in flight
It all depends upon
Their personal level of fright
When it's the same story
It becomes worn and trite
It's easier to get the answers
When one is put in the spotlight
Take a good look around
What's there to ignite
There's often plenty to find
When it turns into a long night
Nobody