Chapter 990

Experienced Leader

CamNet worked with John Henry to get things lined up and into play at the port location. It was the current target. The events of earlier tonight should be behind them. It soon appeared they weren't.

John Henry picked up a hit on some of the surveillance equipment they left at the old supermarket. He wasn't pleased to see the new development. They just finished policing the target area and sanitizing everything. They expected a hit, but they didn't expect it this soon. It was bound to spell more trouble.

"John, I've picked up activity at the old supermarket." John Henry said.

John was very surprised to hear the revelation. He didn't think anything would happen there until at least tomorrow.

"What?" John asked. "Already? We just left there not too long ago. What's there now? Did they finish the cleanup already? Is all of our team clear?"

John was ready to see what unfolded at the port location. The cryogenics lab and old supermarket should be old news at this point. He wondered if more of the homeless people showed up. It proved not to be the case.

John Henry was very displeased at what the hit was.

"There's a black sedan." John Henry said. "The team is away, but still in the area."

It reeked of the Syndicate to John and the thugs associated with it. Maybe John Henry came up with a different assessment. He wanted to make sure the team which just left didn't pick up a tail.

"Do you think this is the Syndicate?" John asked. "We need to make sure our team wasn't made. We definitely don't want them followed by anyone."

John Henry didn't know for sure who they were. It was too early to make a determination. So far the sedans they dealt with in the last few days all turned out to be Syndicate related. The enemy could drive any type of vehicle. It seemed certain elements of the underworld were somewhat tied to tradition. Four door sedans appeared to be a trademark of the Syndicate. It was probably so people could be moved easily into the rear seat for detention, or secured in the trunk if necessary. A closed trunk was always a good enclosed spot to place a body until it could be disposed of.

"Apparently…." John Henry said. "We don't know for sure."

John figured the new development spelled trouble for the girls at the port. The structure there was their next target. He knew the brown sedan followed the truck to the port area. More than likely the black sedan and the brown sedan were associated with each other. Both of them indicated trouble they didn't need, especially right now.

They needed to make sure they didn't get stuck between two groups about to battle it out with each other. The Syndicate wanted their money back. It appeared they were willing to take some extreme measures to do so.

"Alert the girls at the port." John said. "There may be more thugs arriving there as well."

John Henry picked up more disturbing news. He picked up a second hit at another location. It looked like things just took a turn for the worse.

"There's a black sedan at the cryogenics lab now as well." John Henry said.

John was very displeased about the intrusion. He was afraid the police would get involved in things at some point with the Syndicate lurking around. He was sure there were dirty cops on the payroll of the Syndicate. There were in every location or area the Syndicate operated. It didn't matter the country or the time period. Maybe they would make sure the cops stayed away. The Syndicate certainly wouldn't want to attract attention to itself or any of its activities. Depending upon how events played out, there was still only so much anyone could control.

"I don't want the police to get involved in this." John said. "They may end up in a gun battle if they do. I think your preventative measures are going to be needed soon when it comes to law enforcement."

John Henry prepared to send any nearby police units away from where their teams were, as well as where the Syndicate was now spotted. He would need to report an 'active shooter' at a mall across town, or a hostage situation involving children. There might be a lot of 'officer needs assistance' calls as well. It was the most rapid way to draw off a police unit. He possessed the ability to make the changes system wide for the entire division of the police department, or individual squad cars.

"I can direct the police away from any operation." John Henry said. "I can control 911, and their dispatch center."

Now John was really worried about what was going on around the port facility. He felt his teams were about to face a two pronged danger. They currently held the advantage with their drone support, especially when it came to firepower. Their ability for real time reconnaissance was invaluable as well.

"Have the drones picked up anything around the girls at the port?" John asked.

John Henry hadn't picked up anything out of the ordinary. It didn't mean it wasn't happening. It just meant he hadn't detected it. What he would be able to notice would be something which changed. If something was already in place, it would be much harder to detect.

"Not yet." John Henry said. "We don't know what we're looking for specifically, even if we know the things to look for based on a normal operation. I need to look for the not so normal things as well. As far as infrastructure and the surrounding area, I need to look for minor differences or changes there as well in case there's some type of surveillance or reconnaissance going on.

It really seemed the Syndicate wanted its money back. Maybe it was more about principle for the Syndicate at this point. They were wronged in a major way and so far were unable to enact retribution as they saw it. They better start looking harder for any impending threats.

John didn't want to take any unnecessary chances. He didn't think the operation at the port was going to be a big affair. He thought it would be a simple in and out for the Metal girls. Now it looked like they were in the center of something much bigger. We needed to make sure they didn't get caught up in it and became the focus of two, or possibly more, groups simultaneously.

"Expand the search parameters." John said. "There must be more going on than we know about. We may have actually walked into the middle of something already planned. Whoever those sedans belong to already knew about the three locations. They may have something planned as far as we know. I'm sure it won't be anything good. I don't want to end up as the meat in a sandwich."

John Henry agreed with his assessment. It still left a problem for him to deal with. He was fairly certain they knew which group it was and treated it as such.

"What do you want to do about the Syndicate vehicles at the old supermarket and cryogenics lab?" John Henry asked.

John didn't think there was anything left to find at either of those two locations. They sent a crew to remove all the bodies. All anyone would find were two empty buildings.

"Nothing." John said. "They won't find anything at either one."

John Henry didn't think John's decision was going to sit well with everyone. The fact the Syndicate thugs were there was a problem in itself. To let them leave unscathed meant they would most likely need to face them another day at an unknown time and location.

The Terminators liked to deal with threats as soon as possible. Letting an enemy walk away was always a bad idea.

Anna and Young Allison monitored everything from the Young bunker. The recent turn of events wasn't lost on them. It wasn't going to go over very well either.

Young Allison picked up on the 'new' threat right away. She determined it was the Syndicate. She wanted to enact her plan to put the Syndicate on the defensive. She still needed to speak to Savannah and Cameron. They were both tied up right now.

Young Allison informed CamNet what she wanted to do about the latest threat.

Anna could tell Young Allison decided to take some pre-emptive action.

"I see you've requested more drones." Anna said.

Young Allison felt the Syndicate was a threat to their teams. Even if it wasn't a problem this minute, it was going to be sooner or later. She knew resources on the ground were rather stretched currently. There were other avenues available to her.

"We have new targets." Young Allison said. "I want to make sure I can engage them if I need to."

Anna could see Young Allison was itching for a fight with the Syndicate. Right now the Grays would take the blame and if her plans were enacted. The Cartel would need to take the rap as well. It looked like things were about to escalate exponentially in the next short while. She needed to know the extent of Young Allison's plan in the current situation.

"Are you going after the Syndicate yourself?" Anna asked.

Young Allison felt there was a threat to the team. It was identified. Because it was a known and identified threat, it should be dealt with accordingly. They would need to be dealt with at some point in time. How much damage would they do to anyone else, even if it wasn't associated with Skynet or them? The nature of their lifestyle is what determined their fate, not her.

"Those 'soldiers' pose a threat to Cameron and Savannah." Young Allison said. "As long as they exist, they're a threat to everyone."

It was clear Young Allison wasn't going to back down.

Anna wanted to see how far Young Allison was willing to go. She was pretty sure it was going to be all the way.

"Will you do a drone strike in the city?" Anna asked.

It was something Young Allison was prepared to do. She felt if the team was in danger, and the danger could be eliminated without too much collateral damage, it should be dealt with. She already thought of ways to deflect the blame for her actions. Whenever an explosion of some type occurred, there were always more than a few groups where the blame could be directed. Strangely enough, some of the groups tried to claim 'credit' for the explosions, as if somehow it bolstered their position, even if it only occurred within the confines of their small minds. If someone wanted to be a 'patsy', more power to them. As long as it directed attention away from them, she wasn't going to complain.

"YES. I will if it's necessary to protect our people." Young Allison said. "CamNet can spin it as a terrorist attack if necessary. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of those, especially worldwide. Even if we don't pin it on a single group, some other group will claim they were the ones responsible. There are a lot of nut jobs out there for whatever reasons they can come up with."

Anna didn't think John or John Henry should be left out of the loop on a decision so bold. It appeared Young Allison was going to go around the Command Center completely.

"You're bypassing John and John Henry. Is it the best choice?" Anna asked. "Don't you think the Command Center should have at least a clue about what's going on? It's probably going to cause them more than a little concern if things start happening in the background and expand from there."

Young Allison didn't want the Syndicate thugs to go to the port. The threat to Cameron's teams there was already bad enough. They needed to deal with the Skynet forces already there. They wanted to try to rescue the female if it was possible. She didn't want it to seem she was going around the Command Center, even if it's what she was doing. She believed the ends justified the means.

"I'm assisting them." Young Allison said. "They just don't know it yet. I want to try to lead the Syndicate thugs away from there. I want to lure them away from those two locations and get them into a better kill zone. They will be headed straight to the port once they think everyone has cleared out. I want to prevent them from going there."

Anna felt it was a sound assessment. She still wanted John Henry in the loop. It would certainly cause him less stress if he knew what was going to happen when it started to happen. Even if John Henry didn't have any control over it, he would know what it was. She didn't want him to try to take some type of counter action because he didn't know exactly what was going on.

"It's a fair assumption." Anna said. "Maybe I should relay it to John Henry."

Young Allison wanted to try to take care of the threat on her own. It would be a rather aggressive move on her part. None of their troops would be in direct contact with the Syndicate thugs at this point. She wanted to keep it the same way. She didn't want to drag Anna into it earlier, but she knew she could use her help and assistance.

"I want to see if we can handle it on our own." Young Allison said. "I'd like for you and CamNet to assist me."

Anna thought Young Allison may be about to overreach her role. They were low on ground troops at this point. There weren't really any extra troops to spare.

"We're short on Terminators." Anna said.

Young Allison wanted to go directly to CamNet and use Cameron's Terminators. She didn't want to strip any help away from the Resistance.

"I don't want to have to pull Bob and Jim out again." Young Allison said. "CamNet will need to assist us."

Anna was pretty sure what force Young Allison wanted to use at this particular point in time.

"The team which collected the bodies isn't too far from there." Anna said. "They only left a short time ago. It's actually a good thing they were gone before the black sedan arrived. It could have presented a problem otherwise. It still might."

Young Allison tracked them on the satellite overlay map. The cleanup team is what she hoped to use for bait. She knew it was a risk to Cameron's Terminators, but she felt the risk was manageable. As long as things went according to the plan, they shouldn't be in too much danger. She was well aware plans didn't always work out as intended. She thought she developed a good plan with the limited resources available to her and a way to make it all work.

"I think we can have Cameron's Terminators 'spotted' once the Syndicate crew sees both locations are empty." Young Allison said. "Here's the plan…."

Anna listened to the plan in detail. She verified everything herself as Young Allison described it to her. It seemed like it should work as planned. Now they would have to wait to see what variables reared their head which would alter anything.

Young Allison didn't feel anything she planned out was too extreme in any way. Everything seemed viable to her. It was necessary to keep the Syndicate thugs away from the port. She didn't want Cameron's teams to run into any problems. They would have enough to deal with, with the Skynet forces.

Savannah felt they faced a lot of uncertainty at the port location. There were already a lot of unknowns going in and it appeared more unknowns were in the works. She wanted to review everything with Cameron before they committed themselves.

"We don't know if we will run into Terminators or HK equipment." Savannah said.

Cameron wanted to do a recon of the inside of the location. She still believed it was the best course of action, even if it was the most risky for her. It would allow them to know exactly what they would face inside once an attack was launched.

"Let me go in alone and see if I can get the girl out and determine the threat level." Cameron said.

Savannah was prepared to take drastic action to prevent Cameron from acting on her own. She wasn't going to allow it to happen. She wanted to make it clear to Cameron and everyone else. Their team would advance on its own. The other teams could stand ready to reinforce them as necessary.

"No." Savannah said. "You're not going in alone. Have the other teams stand down for now but still be ready to support us."

Cameron tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean stand down?" Cameron asked. "I haven't ordered the assault yet."

Savannah felt it should be obvious to Cameron. She decided to spell it out clearly.

"Cam and Cammy are team leaders. They run your base program. They think like you do. They're planning what you're planning." Savannah said. "We also need to worry about the report of the Syndicate sending more thugs. We don't want them to blow our cover if they spot us when we check out the building. I think there's more going on with them than we know."

Cameron wanted the threat ended. She decided to inform John.

"John, I think we need to take the brown sedan out of the picture." Cameron said. "We don't need any trouble behind our backs."

John was in agreement with Cameron's decision. He hoped the brown sedan would lead them to whatever location it originated from. At this point in time it presented a bigger threat by being where it was.

"OK." John responded. "There are too many variables. One less will be a good thing."

John Henry was a little surprised to see the action was already underway.

"A team of Terminators is moving in." John Henry said.

Cameron just expressed her concern less than twenty seconds ago.

"It was a very quick response." Savannah said.

Savannah knew they already must have been in play before Cameron called John.

Cameron shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"I don't like loose ends." Cameron said.

Cameron could see Savannah wondered about it.

She knew CamNet acted to remove the threat soon after the black sedans were reported at the other two locations. She didn't know for certain, but she was pretty sure there was another influence which initiated the removal of the brown sedan threat.

Cameron would deal with it later. The Syndicate was now more than just an irritant to her. It was a target. She planned to deal with it forcefully. She needed to get Cam and Cammy on board with her plan here. She really wanted to 'save' the female and terminate every Gray there.

It briefly crossed her mind there were other threats which may show themselves before the night was done. She needed to keep in mind there were other groups of different Skynet operatives, the Fanatics, and the anti-Metal faction to worry about.

Anna started to get feedback from CamNet on Young Allison's plan. It was already being implemented.

"CamNet has directed the two Terminators who shadowed the brown sedan to take it down." Anna said.

Young Allison also monitored John's response.

"I see John wasn't too far behind this time." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted to remind Young Allison of a few things.

"He's an experienced leader." Anna said. "Don't ever sell him short. Remember you're to assist him. You should consider it a little more as you take action on your own going forward. Everyone is on the same team. You don't want to work at cross purposes with each other, even if it's done inadvertently."

Young Allison understood the message for what it was. It was time to be a team player. There was a command structure she needed to follow. She didn't want to overstep her bounds and take things too far on her own. She seemed to do enough of it as it was anyway.

"You're right." Young Allison said. "Have CamNet put everyone in the loop as 'CamNet assisting'."

Young Allison decided to remain in the shadows. She was about to make some bold moves with the assistance of CamNet. She felt they were all necessary actions which needed to be taken. She wasn't sure how John and John Henry would feel about her making those decisions. If it appeared CamNet was behind them, no one was going to argue or question them. She was very pleased with the assistance she received from everyone, especially Anna and CamNet.

John Henry received a full update from CamNet. It was apparent there were quite a few things already in motion.

"I have a troubling report from CamNet." John Henry said.

John wondered what else could go wrong at this point.

"Now what?" John asked.

John Henry considered it a plausible threat.

"The Syndicate crews will probably head to the port once they find the Grays have 'cleared out'." John Henry said. "They will most likely assume it's where they headed, since they know the truck was tracked to the port area. They know the port facility is an active target."

John wasn't sure about it, but it was something to consider.

"It's a possibility." John said.

CamNet continued to fill John Henry in with what was planned and in the works already.

"CamNet has a plan." John Henry said.

John wasn't very surprised at the revelation. He felt there was a pretty good chance it didn't originate with CamNet.

"Does SHE now?" John asked. "I take it you think it's a good one."

John Henry picked up on John's inference. He decided not to engage it unless John pushed the issue. He was pretty sure where most of what he heard originated from. He didn't see anything wrong with what was planned. He actually thought it was all a good idea.

"Yes." John Henry said. "It seems workable."

John Henry filled John in on the details of what could be done to eliminate the current threat and help keep the girls safe. He filled Cameron and her teams in as well.

It would be a joint effort.

John was a little skeptical at first, but once he heard the plan in its entirety, he really liked the plan. He thought everything was well thought out and it made maximum use of their limited resources.

He was sure Young Allison was a big influence on whatever CamNet proposed. He really wondered what all was going on inside of Young Allison's head for her to come up with all of the ideas continuously. He really wondered what Cameron 'did' to her. Cameron always maintained she allowed the girls to find the greatness within themselves and she hadn't done anything to them 'yet'. It was always the 'yet' part which bothered him. What did it mean?

Savannah and Cameron went over the new plan once John Henry relayed it to them.

"It's a bold move." Savannah said. "It will help keep our people a little out of harm's way, at first."

Cameron thought so too. She still wanted for free the female. Since the report of her transfer to the port facility where her father was at was several days old, it's possible she may not be there any longer. It was possible she may not be alive. It was what she wanted to find out as soon as she could.

"We need to get the girl out." Cameron said.

Savannah felt the female's father deserved saving too, especially if he was being 'forced' to do Skynet's bidding. She knew any parent would do as he was forced to do to protect his daughter, or any of his loved ones. She knew the threat of having a loved one hurt, abused, or killed was always a bigger motivation than if the same threats were made to the individual themselves. They didn't want to be responsible for anything bad happening to a loved one.

"We need to rescue her father as well. My parents weren't as lucky to just be 'used'." Savannah said. "Let's go."

Cameron was troubled by what Savannah just said about her parents. She could see it was personal to Savannah. If events would have played out differently, Savannah could have been used to force her parents to do Skynet's bidding. It probably wouldn't have ended well for her either under those conditions. She did need to consider the fact Mrs. Weaver didn't get rid of Savannah. She was sure the original intent was to use Savannah for 'cover' to better blend in. She saw there was an attachment there no matter how things started out. It was clear they both cared about each other, even as illogical as it seemed.

She led Savannah and Gail toward the structure. They needed to breach the outer fence first. There were several choices available to them. They could go over the fence itself, or there was a gate over the railroad tracks. There was also a rear gate for truck traffic. Either one of those gates could be forced open. It was decided they would go over the fence behind the cover of some of the containers which were stacked.

John Henry indicated he took control of the surveillance system and looped the feeds. Cameron went over first. Savannah went over next, and Gail followed. They were inside the compound. So far no alarm was raised.

They needed to worry about the prospect of some type of silent alarm raised somewhere inside of the building. It would allow the enemy to better be able to prepare a response, or wait for them to make their move.

Cameron decided not to have the power cut yet. She didn't want to alert the Grays inside the building anything was about to happen. As soon as they were cut, it would immediately send up a red flag. Power and communications were both ready to be severed in an instant.

The trio checked the drone information. There were still no patrols out. Whatever the Grays were doing was now routine to them. They didn't feel any threats and were careless. They must not know the Syndicate was on to them either. Her observation was the Syndicate surveilled them with great care and sophistication. They tagged the truck and they also followed it from a discrete distance so there were people on the ground who could be there within minutes.

Cameron moved along the rail siding and approached the large double doors which closed over the tracks leading into the building. She hoped for a gap between or around the doors, but none was visible. Even the tracks at ground level were flush with the cement. There was only a small gap for the flange of the wheels of the rail cars between the inside of each rail and the cement between them.

Savannah looked at the small gap. It wasn't big enough for her phone to fit. She looked down at the front of her vest. She took off her body cam. It appeared it was small enough to fit.

"Put this in the flange way between the rails and the cement and see if it can pick anything up inside." Savannah said. "It's the only gap I see here."

Gail kept a watch behind them as Cameron tried to position the body cam for a look inside.

Savannah saw Cameron check her phone for an image.

Cameron showed her the image. The tracks inside the building appeared to be empty. There was a large open area inside the building without any boxcars there. It was about all they could see. The tops of the rails looked rusty. It indicated there hadn't been any recent rail traffic.

There could have been boxcars in there before. The HK equipment in them could have been unloaded. The boxcars could be long gone, but the HK equipment could still remain. Their field of view was extremely limited from their current position. They couldn't see anything above the level of the dock from where the camera could be placed in the gap for the rail flange. They didn't see any movement of any kind either.

"There could still be HK equipment inside." Savannah said.

Cameron was aware of it. It was something they would need to deal with once they entered the building. She wanted a better look around before they went in. She hoped to find a better vantage point.

"Let's move to the side where the truck is parked." Cameron said.

They were about to pass by some containers. There was a familiar look to them.

"Are these the same type of containers we encountered at the old steel mill?" Savannah asked as they neared several of them.

Cameron already made a quick visual scan.

"Yes." Cameron said. "Let's take a look."

Cameron looked around and took a step towards the containers.

Savannah reached out her hand and stopped Cameron.

"They may be wired." Savannah said.

Gail spotted another possible problem. She pointed in the direction of the roof of the building.

"What about the security camera?" Gail said. "It was pointed away before. It's now turning in our direction."

Cameron quickly looked around her. She wanted to make sure they stayed undetected.

"Quick, in here." Cameron said.

Cameron led the girls in between two of the containers. It was a very narrow gap.

Gail felt she was being 'compressed' a little more than normal.

"It's a tight fit." Gail said.

Savannah glanced over in the confines of the tight space. She could see what Gail referred to.

"It's because you're 'stacked'." Savannah said with a smile.

Gail tilted her head slightly as she referenced what Savannah said.

"Yes, I am." Gail said with a returned smile. "You could say I'm 'built'."

Savannah smiled at Gail. She was glad she was able to make the reference and turn it into a joke as well. Gail could say she was 'built', in a couple of ways.

Cameron contacted John Henry to see if he was in control of the security system. It was supposed to have happened before they entered the property.

John Henry looked over at John when Cameron contacted him. He understood why they were concerned.

"Yes." John Henry said. "John wanted to watch you advance. I should have warned you. It was us. I'm sorry for the confusion."

Cameron felt it was an unnecessary risk. If the Skynet forces were to regain control of their security system, they would be spotted instantly.

"The drone footage should be enough for it." Cameron said. "I would prefer it if the camera didn't point in our direction at all. How's everything else around us?"

John Henry quickly checked everything again. He didn't detect any changes.

"Everything is unchanged since you started your advance." John Henry said.

Cameron's team moved out from between the containers. Savannah and Gail kept watch as Cameron opened one. She tried to do it carefully but there was still a certain amount of 'squeaking' involved.

"It is empty." Cameron said.

Cameron checked a few other ones. They were all empty.

They would have to come back later and check the ones which were stacked on top of the ones at ground level. They all appeared to be secured with the normal latching system. None of them were locked in any fashion. It didn't appear there was anything of value in them if there was anything in them at all.

Savannah looked at the containers and around the side of the compound she could see from their position. She thought of a few possibilities.

"I think some of the orbiting drones should have targeting information set up on these containers in case there are any surprises in the stacked containers on top." Savannah said. "We have no way to check them right now. If a situation develops, the drones should be able to respond instantly."

Savannah didn't know if there were any HK drones staged inside of the containers. they could be ready to launch and engage them.

They moved to where they could see the refrigerator truck backed up to the dock. It looked like there might be a new twist.

"That's different." Savannah said.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I'm Sorry I Doubted You

Like a hatchet in my back
They watch me with distrust
To endless prove myself
Is an annoying must

I have things to do
That are seen as dubious
They can't understand
Their views are erroneous

I want to follow my heart
I have my previous directive
It may seem as an affront
That I remain so protective

There are good lies
There are lies of omission
Some things are best left unsaid
None are meant with contrition

In the end what matters most
My honor and truth construe
To hear them say with meaning
I'm sorry I doubted YOU

Nobody