Chapter 925
You Heard
John looked at some past satellite photos and current imagery from the drone tracking the armored car. He attempted to determine what was there. From the satellite imagery it was clear the road ended at a mine. There were other dirt roads in the area, but the one with the armored car in it seemed to stand out more than the rest by far.
"The dirt road seems to have seen quite a bit of traffic recently." John said. "I don't like where it leads."
John Henry looked at the images John indicated. Based on other dirt roads in the area, it was clear the road the armored car was on was used considerably more than any other dirt road around it. There was one possible reason which came to mind.
"It appears so." John Henry said. "This may be a storage location for assembled HK equipment."
John widened his view of the satellite map he looked at. He wanted to take in the bigger overall picture. He spent a moment to look at the large circular depressions lined up in neat rows in the desert floor near the area. He knew each one of those was an underground nuclear test. There were hundreds of them. It really made him question how safe the area actually was around there. There was the same amount of radiation with an underground test as there was in any test of a nuclear weapon. He really wondered if it always remained contained or not. He switched his focus from the test site to the roads around the area.
"It's out of the way, but still close enough to the Interstate system and the rail lines." John said. "The fact there was massive nuclear testing nearby helps keep away some of the 'lookiloos'."
John Henry was aware the incidence of cancer of various types was greater in areas where there was nuclear testing, or the handling and storage of nuclear materials.
"It's a factor. The warnings about cancer do worry people." John Henry said.
John looked at some old aerial imagery taken in the past. He was able to get a good 'before and after look' of the nuclear testing grounds. The landscape was very bleak in all of the images. He wondered if anyone other than prospectors ever visited the area before it became a test site.
"I can clearly see where some of the testing occurred." John said. "The size of the craters are not uniform. I think it indicates the size of the bomb and the megaton yield of the test."
Images appeared on one of his monitors taken from Las Vegas. There were casinos in the foreground and mushroom clouds in the background from some of the above ground tests. He found it a little hard to believe they would do above ground testing so close to a population center. It also reminded him how small of an area was damaged by the actual explosion of a nuclear weapon. The real damage was done by the spread of radiation, and how long the radiation would last. The fallout would probably be the biggest killer in any nuclear blast. Those afflicted died a slower death.
John Henry checked records of the atomic testing from the different time periods. He found some very confusing and conflicting information. It appeared to him there were a lot of questions which went unanswered over the years for some of the events and especially for some of the non events.
"It makes me wonder about some of the tests." John Henry said. "It seems not all of them occurred as planned. Some were canceled with no explanation. I can't track what happened to some of the weapons. I don't know if they were dismantled, or rebuilt. It seems everyone wanted to cover their backside with any of the testing in case there was a problem. No one wanted to be responsible if there was."
It made John think about it. He wasn't sure if it was something he should be worried about or not. There was one question which kept occurring in his mind.
"Did they ever 'lose' any of the test bombs?" John asked.
John Henry actually understood what John's question really was. It was the same question he began to contemplate himself.
"Are you asking if anyone stole any?" John Henry asked.
John's initial suspicion was some variant of Skynet from the future would go back a little further in time. The access to nuclear weapons would have been a little less secure and probably easier to steal. It would be hard for 'orders' to be verified in the past because there was no easy way to double check them. The remoteness of Nevada at the time would have only made doing so even more difficult.
"Yes." John said. "We know Skynet may be operating in the past as well. We know they tried before to get a shipment of Nike warheads. It was apparently covered up. We, well, Cameron anyway, recovered the warheads. It was something we stumbled into."
John Henry didn't think Skynet would be the only culprit in the past who would try to put the grab on nuclear weapons set for testing.
"Cameron may have been in the past as well." John Henry said. "I don't think she would hesitate to alter events if the opportunity arose to 'fix' something."
John didn't doubt Cameron would change past events either. He still remembered her talking about events from 1963 at a bank. He attempted to find out more about what happened in 1963 from her, but she didn't reveal anything. It actually made him wonder about some of the events which occurred in 1963. Some of them were pretty extreme. It really made him wonder what actually occurred, other than the history they knew. Any changes Cameron, or the Metal girls made in the past, would be the history which they currently knew. It left a lot of unanswered questions, as well as a lot of speculation.
"She told me she opened a safety deposit box at a bank in 1963." John said. "I wasn't sure if she really meant it was her specifically, or the Resistance. At the time I didn't think much about it as to her literally being there in 1963. Now I wouldn't doubt it."
It actually made John wonder about a lot of things. Who knows what Cameron may have done in the past or the future? He knew he didn't. It made him wonder if Cameron actually knew herself. Somehow he doubted it. He was sure there were a lot of files which were deleted or firewalled.
John Henry tried to look into some of those things previously when he shared 'chip space' with Cameron. He was always met with a stiff firewall and a stern warning to not go there.
"She may have been." John Henry said. "If she's lived her life over like she thinks sometimes, she may have done a lot of things."
John was worried about some of them actually were. It was another subject which caused him a lot of concern and worry. Sometimes he wondered if it was all worry for nothing. Cameron hadn't been able to offer any proof of what her beliefs were about previous lives. Maybe none of it ever happened. How many different timelines would there be if she did? There could be dozens.
"We still can't prove she has." John said. "Nobody can prove anything."
John really about some of the events Cameron described in the different timelines she could have created herself. She told him about some of the things she thought she did. If some of those were true, then there would definitely be additional different timelines.
John Henry believed there was only one way to verify Cameron's theory. So far it hadn't happened.
"No." John Henry said. "Until we find a bunker or warehouse with her 'replaced chassis' from the future, there's no proof of it. I have attempted to determine a location for such a cache. I have found nothing."
John always needed to worry about the time he asked Cameron if she lied about things. She told him she did. He asked her if she lied about important things. She said she did. He really wondered what her true mission was, or if she even knew what it was herself.
"There's no proof about a lot of things involving Cameron." John said.
John Henry could see John was going to get lost thinking about all the possibilities of things Cameron could have done. There was no reason to go down the road at this time. It could turn into a very rocky road. The speculation could turn into an endless amount of different things. None of them would have any proof one way or the other. It was pointless to go there. He wanted to refocus John.
"What about the armored car?" John Henry asked. "It needs to be our immediate concern."
The reminder brought John back to now. The armored car was clearly headed for what would be a mine. They weren't going into any mines, period.
"I want to hit the armored car as soon as it heads into the mine entrance." John said. "We will take out the armored car and collapse the mine entrance at the same time."
John Henry saw it as a short term fix at best. Actually it didn't really fix anything at all except to destroy the entrance into and out of the mine. It could easily be reopened. They're most likely where other entrances or air shafts. It could be like in the last mine they were in where they were covered over and not visible from the outside.
"But…." John Henry said.
John cut him off. He knew what he was going to say but he really didn't care. He didn't want Cameron or any of the team to go inside of the mine.
"Don't tell me, we need to know if there's a version of Skynet inside and what it has control of." John said. "Do you detect any power source?"
John Henry already began to check for any of a power source or a power tap around the area.
"No." John Henry said. "If there's a Skynet in there, there will be a power source as well."
John believed there needed to be a way for Skynet to communicate.
"They also need to get information in and out." John said.
John Henry checked the satellite map of the surrounding area again.
"There are high tension power lines which run nearby." John Henry said. "There is no apparent tap on any of those lines detected. It doesn't mean there isn't one though. We only know one hasn't been detected."
John let out a long breath with a sigh. What he looked at now reminded him too much of what he looked at not long ago with the last mine episode Cameron and Savannah needed to deal with.
"This looks like what we've seen before." John said. "It almost ended very badly for some of our team."
John Henry was aware of a chain reaction of events which occurred when Savannah asked for the power to be cut on the energy tap they found going into the mine.
"Maybe if we cut the power on the transmission lines, the same thing will happen again." John Henry said. "We won't need to send anyone in."
John was aware of what seemed to be a giant power cell in the process of being created. It exploded catastrophically when they interrupted it from being completed. If it were the case there, they could cause the complex to destroy itself. The trouble was, they still didn't know what was inside or how far along anything was to completion. This facility could have been much further along in its construction or even completed decades ago if Skynet sent its operatives into the past. He wanted to take some kind of action before Cameron could act. He wasn't sure what that created action would actually do elsewhere.
"What will we 'blackout' if we do it?" John asked. "What additional problems will be created by shutting the power down?"
John pictured the power for Las Vegas going off and the massive disruption it would cause. He didn't know Young Allison was willing to do the same thing. In fact, she directed CamNet to do it at one point to assist Savannah. CamNet was able to isolate the tram's power source and didn't need to do it.
John Henry looked into the maintenance of the power grid and how work was accomplished on any particular section at any given time. The system was constructed so the power could be transferred to different feeder lines at different times.
"If I spend a few minutes, I can reroute power around the section I cut off." John Henry said. "Very little would be affected. It's how they do maintenance on the lines. It is when it all happens at once when everything is overloaded and blackouts occur."
John wondered if they should put Cameron in the loop, or just go ahead and act. She would still want to go in herself. There would most likely be an argument over it. If he acted while they were there ready to go in, it would create an additional problem. He didn't need any more problems with Cameron. She was the commander of the force on the ground at the target area. It seemed like a good idea to make her aware of some of the things they came up with first.
"Let's run this by Cameron." John said. "I'm sure we'll receive a lot of negative feedback."
Vanna and Allison were in the Command Center because John asked them to stay earlier. They tried to remain quiet and in the background. So far they were able to do so. The discussion about Cameron and the past in 1963 troubled both of them.
Allison wanted to point something out about the time right now.
"I think you may be too late." Allison said.
She looked at a satellite map with the trackers for the personnel in the area.
John wasn't sure what he was too late for. He hadn't authorized any action to be taken yet.
"What do you mean?" John asked.
Allison watched all the little blips begin to move around which represented their troops on the ground.
"Look, they're already moving." Allison said.
John quickly checked his screen.
"Beautiful…." John said.
Vanna couldn't imagine they would attempt any type of incursion during daytime.
"It might be to check something out. It's still broad daylight." Vanna said. "It doesn't look like they have much cover in the bleak landscape."
John Henry could offer them one option to get a closer look at the girls.
"I can pull the drone off recon to take a look at them." John Henry said.
John wanted to know what was happening.
"Do it." John said.
John Henry looked around the images the drone on recon sent. He didn't like what he discovered.
"I don't think I better do it yet." John Henry said. "There may be a new problem developing. You'd better take a look at this."
John wondered what could be worse than Cameron entering a situation from which she would have no way out of, again. Since it was broad daylight, he didn't even know if she would be able to make it in the first place.
"Now what's wrong?" John asked.
What John Henry looked at seemed to be highly suspicious. There was a group of big rigs traveling together, all one behind the other.
"One of our drones has detected a convoy of trucks approaching the area." John Henry said.
John looked at the images from the drone which 'inspected' the truck convoy. He wasn't sure if it was something to be concerned about. It did seem to be highly irregular though. It would make more sense for them to be on the Interstate. To try to get wherever they were going on the back roads didn't seem to be the most efficient or even intelligent choice. It did raise more than a few questions. He did recognize the name on the trailers.
"They may be passing through." John said. "Those are all trailers of a large trucking firm."
John Henry already checked on the trailers. It was the truck cabs, the tractors, which were his concern.
"They are." John Henry said. "The tractors are all different from the line."
John knew the big trucking company tried to use all of their own equipment when possible. It helped reduce their overall cost if they did. He knew there could be exceptions for anything.
"They usually use their own tractors to pull their trailers with." John said. "It's not always the case though."
John Henry was worried about the timing too. Where did the big rigs come from? Where were they going? Why were they on the same road as the armored car, during the same time?
"We don't have enough information." John Henry said.
The more John thought about it, the more he thought about how a large convoy of trucks like it should be on the main highways, not on the back roads.
"Beautiful…." John said. "Stay with the new threat and search for more. They could be reinforcing the operation. As far as we know they're bringing more HK equipment to the location."
John Henry thought of the flip side of the coin as well. They might be there to pick up what was in the mine instead.
"They could also be pulling out." John Henry said. "They may think we've gotten too close with the events of the last few days."
John shook his head in disgust. It seemed like every time when they figured something out, there was some new problem or twist which developed. It threw everything back into flux again. He needed to know where the trucks came from. If they were reinforcements, wherever they came from would be a new target to hit. If they were to pull anything from the operation out, they would have a new destination to hit as well. Whatever was going on, they didn't really have any idea whatsoever yet.
"See if you can tell where the rigs originated from." John said. "I think it's something important based upon the timing. All I can offer is a hunch."
John Henry hoped to get some answers. He also wanted Cameron's team to know about the new threat.
"I'm checking now." John Henry said. "I'm also informing Cameron."
John Henry was very worried about all the information he uncovered about events around the area. The operation seemed to be expanding. The atomic tests which never happened without any explanation worried him the most. He was sure someone 'put the grab' on those weapons. His first worry was someone from the Resistance pulled a fast one in the past. Now he was even more worried it was Skynet who did it instead.
What were they up to? What was the plan? He was fairly certain they would have made their move by now if they prepared so far in the past. It could still be something related to the Resistance, specifically Cameron. Right now it was all guess work. What else was new?
John didn't think he would have much control over Cameron one way or the other at this point. She needed to be notified of their latest suspicions and concerns. More players on the battlefield would certainly bring more problems to hurt them.
"It's fine, go ahead and do it." John said. "We need to make sure all of our team is on the same page. Everything looks like it just went from bad to worse."
Previously:
There were files on Cammy's chip which started to unlock.
"Cameron, I think I need to talk to you." Cammy said. "I think something happened in the past related to this. I'm talking about what's happening as we watch it happen."
Cameron didn't want to hear it. She knew whatever Cammy said would affect what she did going forward and when she went to the past, if she knew more information than she needed to. There were things she probably wouldn't do, or things she would do she probably shouldn't.
"NO." Cameron said.
Savannah was more than a little worried about the turn of events. Something inside her told her thing's weren't right.
"If it is something which will protect us, I think you need to do it." Savannah said. "Set some kind of a restore point, or create some sub file and hear her out. You can always delete it later on if you do it where it's contained. I don't want any of us needlessly terminated."
Cameron could see Savannah was very worried. If Savannah felt this amount of concern, she better address it. The last time she didn't listen to Savannah, they were almost ambushed. The Terminators would have all been terminated. Savannah would have been killed.
"OK, Savannah." Cameron said. "I don't want to endanger you."
Savannah looked at Samantha.
"We can wait in the SUV." Savannah said.
Cameron and Cammy got out and walked into the desert for a short distance.
Savannah watched them go. She felt a sense of doom.
Samantha could see Savannah was troubled. She wanted to help refocus her thoughts.
"Do you want to check my back?" Samantha asked. "I think everything is healing properly, but you can verify it for me. Unless I have a mirror, I really can't look at myself."
Savannah promised Samantha she would do it later on. This wasn't exactly the setting she meant to do it in. She was worried about a lot of things. She knew Cammy must know some information which was important. She thought to check Samantha over would help take her mind off the current situation.
"OK, let me see." Savannah said.
Savannah glanced over to where Cameron and Cammy were at.
"I don't want you to listen to them." Savannah said. "It might be something we're not supposed to know."
Samantha was programmed to respond to Savannah's 'suggestions', as were all the other machines. She was very displeased with some of the results.
"I've reduced my hearing range to the level of a human." Samantha said. "It's very inefficient."
Savannah didn't think Samantha was taking a jab at her, but making a general statement. There was something else on her mind she wanted a better answer for than she received earlier.
"How much 'Cameron' are you?" Savannah asked. "I want a straight answer too."
Samantha felt the information on her chip was very limited. She knew it was done intentionally in case she was captured and someone tried to access the information on her chip.
"It's a lot." Samantha said. "My chip will be erased after this operation…."
Samantha removed her top. She could see Savannah look at her breasts. Savannah started to reach for one but stopped short.
Savannah liked the way Samantha's breasts looked. She also saw the bullet wound damage. It was sutured closed. She reached out to touch the sutures, but stopped when she realized it would be somewhat intrusive just to touch Samantha's breasts unannounced.
"May I?" Savannah asked. "I apologize if I seemed a little too forward. I'm used to being around the other Metal girls. We see each other without clothing all of the time. It's no big deal when anyone touches anyone else."
Samantha didn't think it was a big deal. She was a machine and her sheath was only a part of her.
"Of course, I have no problem with anyone seeing or touching this sheath." Samantha said.
Samantha would like to spend a little time alone with Savannah to see exactly what it was she did with the other Metal girls without clothing. As Samantha Smith she didn't have any experience being with a male or a female. She saw plenty of activity between humans though.
Savannah looked at the bullet wounds. They were all sutured expertly.
"I see…." Savannah said. "It's some nice stitching."
Samantha was pleased with the workmanship as well. She knew who was responsible.
"Claire did it." Samantha said. "She wants to be more involved."
Savannah was already worried about the current situation. To hear Claire wanted to be more involved with the Resistance caused her even more worry. She wanted Claire to remain as a mother, not become a Resistance fighter. She would need to watch over Young Allison and Summer. She did express some interest in having another child herself, for herself. Claire didn't belong on the battlefield.
"I don't know if it's a good idea." Savannah said.
Savannah thought if Claire moved to the base it would provide Young Allison with the opportunity to start going on operations. It would also expose Young Allison to more opportunities for 'other things'. It would be even more so after her return from the past as an older teenager. She honestly didn't believe Young Allison was going to wait very long before she tried to be with John.
Whenever they talked about anything dealing with sexuality or the future, Young Allison made it very clear she wanted to get 'popped'. The concept bothered her immensely. She hoped to establish a 'relationship' with Young Allison prior to her involvement with a male. She was very aware if Young Allison started a sexual relationship with John prior to their relationship being established, Young Allison's life may take a totally different direction than what she anticipated. She did want Young Allison to have freedom of choice so the decision would be up to Young Allison.
Samantha thought it would be a good idea for the younger girls at the Resistance base.
"It would be better for Jan and Summer. It would give both of them more time to associate." Samantha said. "They wouldn't be as isolated, especially Jan."
Savannah didn't need to be reminded about isolation. She felt isolated for much of her life. She understood it was for her own protection Skynet believed she was killed when Mrs. Weaver's building was attacked. It was the day, for all practical purposes, when both Catherine Weaver and Savannah Weaver died. Mrs. Weaver was alive and well 'in some future'.
"I know about isolation." Savannah said.
It made Savannah think of both her parents and why they were gone. She also knew everyone was there for her. When she told Cameron she needed more, Cameron provided it for her. First it was Young Jesse, and then Cammy. In a short time it was almost everybody. It was also multiple individuals, which strangely enough, were mostly the same individuals in different timelines.
Cameron and Cammy returned a few minutes later. Neither one of them looked very happy.
"We're pulling out for now." Cameron said. "All of us."
Savannah knew it was unusual. She doubted the decision would apply to every one of their group.
"Are you coming back alone?" Savannah asked.
Cameron glanced over at the mountain range.
"Yes." Cameron said.
Savannah didn't want Cameron to go off on her own.
"I don't think it's a good idea." Savannah said.
Samantha looked at Cameron, Cammy, and then Savannah. The choice seemed obvious to her.
"I'll do it." Samantha said. "I exist for this one mission. I'm expendable."
Cameron didn't know what was going to happen yet. They needed the input from one more individual first. Cammy was certain it was necessary to put more pieces of the puzzle together.
"When Sheila gets here we'll discuss it further." Cameron said.
Savannah didn't want to know too much but it didn't look like she needed to. It appeared things looked very grim.
"I take it there's no happy ending?" Samantha said.
Cameron needed to deal with several more issues than she needed to deal with a few minutes ago. There was also a new threat on the horizon.
"There seldom is when dealing with Skynet." Cameron said. "We're all going to join back up at the 'rest stop' we passed earlier. I received word there's a convoy of big rigs headed this way."
Savannah found the news of the big rigs troubling as well. She wondered what the connection was. She wondered if there was more to the story than she knew.
"How do we know they are associated with this operation?" Savannah asked. "If they are, are they delivering or picking up?"
Cameron hoped to find where the big rigs originated from. It might give her a better answer. Right now she didn't have the answer.
"It's unknown at this time." Cameron said.
It seemed to Savannah there were a lot of things which were unknown. They seemed to keep piling on top of each other. she was sure things were about to go from bad to worse.
Earlier:
Gail's team received the recall notification.
"You all heard it." Gail said. "We need to go back."
Ally understood the danger level for them was about to go up.
"We'll meet up at the rest stop." Ally said.
Sheila found files which began to unlock in her chip. They seemed to be tied to Cammy. At least some of them did. She found it to be very frustrating. There seemed to be gaps and voids which didn't need to be there.
"I know why they want to talk to me." Sheila said. "I just don't know about what specifically."
Gail was concerned about contamination of the timeline. She didn't want information she wasn't supposed to have.
"If it's something we're not supposed to know, don't tell us." Gail said.
Sheila felt it was a little more complicated than just what she knew.
"It's just the thing." Sheila said. "I don't know on my own. I need to interface with Cammy. Somehow we both need to be there to get the information out. I'm not quite sure how or why."
Ally was very concerned about something Sheila talked about earlier. It sounded very catastrophic and terminal to all of them. It was something she heard about a few times. It was always in a different context.
"You mentioned a 'Doomsday Device' earlier." Ally said. "Is there one here?"
Sheila looked off into the distance at the mountain range where the armored car was headed for.
"It came into my thoughts as we neared here." Sheila said. "It was triggered by observing the landscape and its unique features."
Gail wondered if Sheila was specifically in their current location.
"You were around here in the past?" Gail asked.
Sheila didn't have any of the details. Based upon what was visually triggered by viewing the landscape, it seemed like she may have been. She could only go with what she actually knew. It wasn't much.
"We were in Las Vegas. It's one thing I know." Sheila said. "We needed to make some quick money to get everything started. There was a lot of military activity in the desert then. There were atomic tests as well. We ran into some trouble with the Syndicate, I don't know the specifics."
Ally was sure Sheila and Cammy must have changed things in the past based upon everything she just said. It seemed like something they didn't want to know.
"I don't think you should talk about it." Ally said. "I mean if it involves Cameron, Savannah, and Young Allison."
Sheila believed everything she wasn't supposed to discuss was blocked already.
"CamNet blocked most of those events." Sheila said. "It happened as soon as we returned to Cameron's base."
Gail wondered if the same things were blocked on Cammy. She thought it was possible they might have different things blocked.
"Did she block Cammy's too?" Gail asked.
Sheila's next statement just popped out of her mouth.
"Yes." Sheila said. "They'll be blocked until Young Allison returns from the past for the first time."
Ally was a little confused about the number of times Young Allison would be in the past. It also raised the question as to why.
"What do you mean by the first time?" Ally asked. "Does it mean there's a second time?"
Sheila tilted her head slightly. She didn't know the information until she just said it. She didn't know why either.
"Yes." Sheila said. "It's all I know."
Gail was very concerned about what Sheila just disclosed.
"There is only one reason to send Young Allison into the past a second time." Gail said. "Savannah has forbidden 'that'."
Sheila was a little worried about what she just said.
"Maybe I've already said too much." Sheila said.
Sheila didn't know what was happening. The files were still blocked as to content, even though she now knew they were there. Some of them were tied to Cammy.
Cam's team received the recall notification.
"We will meet up with the rest of the team at the last rest stop we passed." Cam said.
Hanna received the transmission. It sounded like bad news.
"We heard." Hanna said.
Holly felt everything just took a negative turn.
"I don't think it's a good development." Holly said.
Cam looked over at the mountain range in the distance.
"Is it ever when Skynet is involved?" Cam asked.
Hanna and Holly looked at the mountain range in the distance as well. It was already evident whatever was there was trouble. It was only going to get worse.
"No." Holly and Hanna said at the same time.
The Metal girls in the desert didn't know exactly what was in store for them. They knew something was in the works. They didn't know any details. They only knew it would be Skynet related. They would need to wait for things to unfold.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
You Heard
There will be times in life
Where the lines become blurred
One will do things which were
Once thought to be absurd
Through the motions of life
They think they're going forward
When it's not the true case
Things actually went backward
Everyone wants to be unique
They want to soar like a bird
The reality and sad fact is
They're just part of the herd
The heart beats faster
The inner feelings are stirred
It's all boils down to
The one thing that's furred
Don't be too surprised
When everything is deferred
It's about who's preferred
I'm sure you heard
Nobody