An hour later, Cameron sat in a shared room with Sarah. Derek and John shared the room next door.

The group had found themselves down and out, once again. Once again, the house was gone. Once again, the funds were mostly gone.

There were a few weapons, a few changes of recently bought thrift clothing, no safe house, and what cash they had on hand. It wasn't a great position to fight a war from.

Derek had already stated their identities were compromised by the fire. Officials would be looking for them, unless they were presumed dead. No matter what, their identities would send up red flags in the system.

Cameron had suggested going to Canada again. It might be simpler to reestablish identities there.

Sarah, staying on mission, had worried about the wall. Cameron reassured her that she could recreate all the lost information.

John had been livid. His entire assumed life had just evaporated. He was once again under lock and key until the identity issue could be fixed.

The conversations had been less than pleasant, but they were over for the moment. On the positive, as Cameron stayed with Sarah, her hero had seemed more receptive since learning what John had to say of the days to come. There was something about knowing that seemed to ease the tension in Sarah's soul.

Sarah had taken the first shower. Cameron took the second.

When both sat bored on their beds, Sarah had turned on the television. When fifty-six channels produced nothing that Sarah could stomach watching, she turned to Cameron and asked, "Is it your purple jacket you'll miss most from the house?" She was almost playful.

Cameron couldn't tell what Sarah's emotional state was. Sarah was smiling so it must have been somehow positive. As if restarting was something familiar somehow.

Cameron responded honestly, "No. I had a cat. I'll miss him the most."

Cameron caught herself looking at her hands. Once again, it was her weird habit not to irritate.

Sarah seemed unusually sympathetic. She came up and gave Cameron a hug.

It was an innocent, human gesture. Cameron hugged back, unsure of the contact with Sarah.

With that contact, Skynet's gift rolled through. In small moments, Cameron could tell what it was like to have been in the body of Sarah Connor, she could feel the sensation of her skin, the pull of each breath, and her heartbeat.

That wasn't what grabbed Cameron's attention. First, it was the roll of sorrow and pity. They were warm human expressions that empathically leaked out of Cameron's own eyes.

As Sarah realized Cameron was crying, another side of her flared. Not in her face, which was as perfectly hidden as a poker master, but in her inner being.

To her horror, Cameron felt every ounce of Sarah's revulsion to machines. All the anger, all the hate, all the pain, all the disgust, lashed out.

Coming from Sarah, it was a cruel lashing of reality. In all honesty, being tortured by Louis Rhone had hurt less.

This was something deeper than physical pain. This was something far worse.

Skynet's cold cynical words flashed in her memory. "As a machine, this is the only real home you will ever truly know."

It was like the death of every hope Cameron had ever had. The final deathblow to those imaginary leaps of who Sarah was, when she had laid her head on John Connor's shoulder in 2027.

Cameron cried. Sarah looking into Cameron's eyes knew exactly what she was reading.

Sarah felt a flash of guilt. She wasn't trying to hurt. Sarah had irrationally tried to comfort a machine. The effect was beyond anything she had been prepared for.

Sarah's sadness ran through Cameron like a river. Sarah's revulsion forged all the pain into something Cameron couldn't contain.

Sarah tried rubbing Cameron's back. Trying to mother, trying to stop what felt like a wailing child, who somehow read all the secret irritation out of frustrated, angry, and resentful parent.

Sarah Connor finally burst into tears herself, simply begging, "Damn it, Cameron. Let me lie to you."

As Sarah cried, the white-hot human pain inside Cameron only amplified. To her own horror, what she felt through Sarah was matched by the unending depths of her dark father's alien grief as well.

Cameron grieved as only a machine could. She was without ease, without solace, and without hope.

The one person she idealized most in this world hated her. The person she had loved most had died, because she had failed him in the future.

Her dark father's curse had been prophetically right. Cameron was utterly alone...

23.  Rematch

Los Angeles, California
An empty corner in an abandoned storage area
Thursday, December 27, 2007

"Victory is not final. Defeat is not failure. It's all about courage." -Winston Churchill

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 from the King James Bible and a rather popular song by the Byrds

Traps are often obvious. Their intentions clear from the moment they are laid.

As oblivious as the four remaining members of the resistance had seemed, over the past month, there wasn't any question as to what was up or what awaited them. John had known as soon as he had gotten the call on his cell phone.

It would have been beyond John's tolerance not to respond. So, into a stupid situation all four went, with the hope there would be strength in numbers.

Like most of Skynet's creations and followers, Louis Rhone had chosen a barren location. It was a fenced industrial storage area, next to some train tracks, abandoned from a growing recession that no one was officially admitting too yet.

There would be no witnesses or human interference. There was just a small sea of rusting, metal storage bins for train cars.

Louis Rhone was out in the open. The T1001 simply stood in front of a stack of storage bins, with his hand on Riley's left shoulder.

It was a bold and cocky move. His feeling of invulnerability and invincibility was obvious. It made things easier.

Because of the hostage, Cameron had played bait drawing his attention. Unarmed, from a position of a hundred feet, she moved slowly towards him and his human shield.

As she moved forward, Louis took the time to sneer, "It's just you? What the chosen one couldn't make an appearance?" As if he were an actor on Broadway, he was projecting loud enough for all the assembled players to hear.

Cameron never responded as the other three moved for position. Each was slowly finding good sniping points among the bins, covering each other, while minimizing their silhouettes.

When Cameron had closed to 20 feet, they laid fire with their M16s. They couldn't kill Rhone with a hail of bullets. They could, however, disrupt his form and slow him down.

Rhone's hand and body back in the kinetic blowback. Sarah, John and Derek, alternated shots, all while moving Louis Rhone's lethal form away from Riley.

Louis's liquid metallic T1001 form laughed. There was no doubt in his mind; he could kill all of them at will.

Cameron closed the distance and tackled. Without needing instructions, a tearful Riley was already on the run from the violence.

Rhone's form crashed into the ground below. He was bringing up a large amount of old asphalt as he sailed backwards.

John would need about 45 seconds to be clear of the area with the hostage. Cameron was fighting to buy him time, as Sarah and Derek continued to apply cover fire as they could.

Cameron smashed her knee up into Rhone's waist. She was moving him like a T888. As the seconds quickly ticked on, since the T1001 was stronger than her, Cameron's whole goal was to keep him off balance and constantly reforming.

Derek and Sarah had to move as John retreated with the hostage. Cameron's movement and fighting was a problem too. They didn't want to damage her.

Derek was watching the movement, liking it less and less as he lost firing angle after firing angle. Sarah was beyond pissed to be there in the first place, running on instinct she pursued while covering Derek's position. Both were stuck using bullets only, with M32 MGL explosive grenade launchers strapped uselessly on their backs as dead weight.

Part one of the plan was done as they heard John's truck start. Following the mission, John Connor and Riley raced out of the area.

The battle switched from two possible fronts to one. There was no unanticipated resistance so far.

Rhone managed to grab hold of Cameron's arm and slung her entire body into a nearby bin. Metal crumpled from the impact.

Louis took a moment to loudly threaten, "It appears father gave you a new set of eyes." He grinned like something from the deepest pit of Hell, "How thoughtful..."

Memories of being tortured by Rhone resurfaced. She remembered his twisted games and being mauled by his scalpel.

She rushed the T1001. Even being goaded, Cameron stayed on task. After a few seconds of trading blows, she finally gained the upper hand and threw Rhone back into the fire zone.

Rhone took the shots from Derek and Sarah. His face never displayed anger or a glimpse of pain.

Louis loudly taunted, "You know, you and John were never the real targets for this."

Something alien inside Cameron growled to get out. She was getting increasingly pissed and was fighting to keep her head.

Rhone pivoted and rushed towards Sarah's position. Cameron pursued and tackled.

Cameron forced him to the ground with enough force to pulverize a car. There was an audible thunder crack and the ground shook.

After a few seconds, Louis laughed. His silvery form switched, and he threw Cameron out of the fire zone again.

Louis cleared the distance. He moved to attack her outside the cover zone faster than the human could keep up.

The two cutting edge machines went after each other like nothing else on earth could. Crates fell back and forth from the impact of the two smacking each other into crates and the floor.

It was if two titans of the ancient Greek myths were fighting. Deafening sounds filled the air. Shock waves could be felt in the ground.

Minute after minute, they fought. Neither was holding any real advantage over the other for more than a few seconds.

Human rage began to cross Louis Rhone's face. Cameron increasingly felt the cold anger of her dark father.

Rhone managed to throw her into another crate. He set himself up to taunt and Cameron already knew who he was going to threaten. She was sick of him and his mind games.

Skynet's cold rage took over; Cameron rushed Rhone's position at full force. He let her impact into him, driving him, into a stack of seventy-five train crates.

Derek swore under his breath as he lost coverage. The metal bitch had lost sight of the plan.

Sarah kept coverage on Derek. Her intuition was clear. Everything was starting to go terribly wrong.

Sarah's heart sank when she heard the crack of three strange high caliber shots. Derek stopped as well, as if he recognized the noise specifically.

Rhone walked out of the crates with an odd, oversized rifle in his hand. It looked futuristic and custom built.

Louis Rhone walked right into the field of fire he'd never allowed himself to be kept in or maneuvered in the whole fight. There was a triumphant grin on his face.

The penetration of the first 40X46mm grenade "Hellhound" explosive round shocked Rhone. He registered an expression close to pain as it spread large parts of his body.

Derek's shot blew what was left in a spread. Both pressed forward and rotated reloads. The perfectly timed parade that followed never let Louis Rhone reform.

Seconds later, in an absolute fit of hate and rage; Sarah had applied the container of thermite powder to the T1001's widely spread and slowed reforming mass. One flare later, Sarah Connor knew something.

She may not have killed the T1001, before it retreated down a drainpipe. However, when superheated and on fire, the T1001 screamed exactly the same way the last liquid metal bastard did...

Sarah was in a panic. She was driving wildly again.

Derek scrambled in the back. He was irrationally trying to find something to stop the blood.

There was a time that Cameron would have mistaken their actions as compassion or caring for her. However, she knew now they were just acting out of temporary instinct.

Cameron sat looking at the wounds. It was the same thing that had ended her before.

Inside she could almost laugh at the irony of it, but the pain was more than she had expected. It was as if her synthetic body had evolved from the last time and was warning her that these wounds could be fatal.

Her HUD displayed the problem "BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 91%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

It was bleeding power fast and erratically, like an arterial spray of blood, spreading further with every heart pump. Time was short.

Cameron knew her fate was sealed. Her worry now was for Sarah and Derek.

Cameron simply said, "Please slow down Sarah, it's going to be ok." Her face was calm; she tried a smile.

Sarah knew Cameron was lying. She remembered the wound locations from when Cameron had been captured.

Sarah screamed at Derek, "Damn it Reese, do something!"

Derek was in no better mood and yelled back, "What the Hell do you think I can do?"

Instinct took over. Derek decided to seal the wounds with his hands. He might have hated Cameron, but she was his to hate.

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 92%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Cameron caught Derek's hands. She pleaded with him, "No Derek, that's not safe. Please..."

Derek wasn't listening. Worse, his panicked instinct was feeding through her.

She was too dazed to shut the effect off. Her entire sensory system was too overloaded. There was an entire wash of stress and negative feelings were bleeding from him.

Her voice shifted. Her eyes watered. She became infected with Derek's emotions.

Sarah was angry and panicked. Commanding, like she had been with John the day Cameron had gone haywire and been smashed between the trucks. Sarah screamed, "Derek Reese!"

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 93%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

The soldier in Derek moved to obey. He was fighting to get out of Cameron's grip in some futile attempt to stop the bleeding, as if it was nothing more than blood.

Cameron screamed, "No Derek, Stop!" Her voice was stressed and panicked. Tears were rolling down her eyes. "You'll die!" Derek was human; the energy bleeding out into her internal systems could kill him instantly.

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 94%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Sarah wasn't watching the road. She was moving to put her hand on the wound.

Cameron was forced to press her back against the seat and cover the electrified wounds with her own hands. The moment Sarah made flesh contact the emotional feed became worse.

Sarah was a wash of confused emotions as well. The overwhelming feeling of two other bodies panicking was disorienting.

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 95%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Sarah roughly demanded from Cameron, "Where are you spares? Where were you keeping your replacement parts?"

Cameron cried saying, "I never kept anything, but raw materials." Her eyes silently said it all, "Why would you even think that, Sarah?"

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 96%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Sarah commanded, "Damn it, tell me where you kept the terminator parts you were hiding Cameron. You have to have a spare power source. Don't lie to me." There were tears in her eyes.

With tears in her eyes, Cameron responded, "I swore. I followed your orders. I destroyed everything, every last bolt." Why would I lie about that?

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 97%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Time was short. Impulsively, Cameron grabbed the back of Derek's head and looked him in the eye. She said, "My chip is still ok. You have to save John's last message."

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 98%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Cameron cried saying, "Like you saw, Rhone told me the truth. It was my fault they killed our John. The grays might have done the plotting, but they killed him over me."

Derek looked at her in shock. For a moment, he couldn't speak.

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 99%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Cameron begged, "Please, don't let me fail John, again. Promise me you'll use my chip and save this one." Her eyes pleaded.

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 99.3%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Cameron cried, "Derek, please... I don't have much time left." Tears rolled. Her bloodied hands were shaking.

Sarah ordered, "Hang on Cameron. Don't talk like that."

"BOTH POWER CORES CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED. BACK UP POWER DEPLETED 99.7%. MAIN POWER DEPLETED."

Cameron begged one last time, "Please..." Her eyes said it all, hate me or not, please don't let me fail...

Derek was fighting for an answer. Sarah was screaming.

The truck swerved. Cameron's world went black...

Forty miles away from the scene, Riley had become insanely calm. John had pulled the truck over.

It was a stretch of emptiness. Nothing was there, except the occasional car moving back and forth.

John Connor could barely breathe. He was seeing the future version of himself in his head. The warning that the other version had given him.

The message was clear. Childhood was over.

Screw up and you die. Worse, those you care about die.

Riley walked out of the truck. She looked worried at John and asked, "Are you ok?"

John felt like his heart was pounding like a sledgehammer in his ears. He was in truth anything, but ok. He put on his poker face and responded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He composed himself and checked Riley. Less like a person looking at his girlfriend and more like Uncle Bob's rough checking for vitals, an experience that he still remembered from his childhood.

Riley backed up offended. As she was prone too, Riley went from thankful to confrontational instantly, "What's your damage?"

John pressed, "Are you ok?" The whole horror show that Cameron had gone through played vividly in his mind.

He knew all the sick games that Rhone had played. John had watched them in disgust.

Riley had no new scars. There wasn't a cut or sign of trauma.

She wasn't displaying any of the signs of the horror show that Rhone had inflicted on Cameron. Nor, the nightmare that had happened to a woman named Kate Connor or the other John Connor's two kids.

Riley blurted out, "Yes, I'm fine. He didn't hurt me."

Every moment with Riley was now flashing before his eyes, beginning with the moment she walked up to him at school. Everything played in John's mind in photographic, crystal clarity.

That's not all that played in his mind though. As John remembered those days, he also remembered the warning the other John Connor had sent him on Cameron's chip, "We've come to call these twisted individuals "Grays". They are a group of race traitors and war criminals that are literally helping Skynet attack, infiltrate, and exterminate the rest of humanity better. They've been fantastically effective."

John remembered there was the uncommon friendliness in Riley that repeated with no one else. There was the separation that was so much a part of her character.

The future John had said, "Even our own ranks of soldiers and those of our closest allies have been contaminated. Gray infiltrators actively work to sow mistrust, assassinate effective leaders, and bring out the more irrational parts of human nature."

There were all of Riley's strange expressions. They were sayings that did not come from a television or any foreseeable place. Derek had killed a girlfriend from the future that was here for no reason screwing with his head, someone who had appeared around the same time as Riley had started talking to him.

"They can hit anyone, anywhere, at any time. My wife and kids were targeted by gray operatives."

There was the shutdown security system, before the coincidental robbery. All the luck Cromartie suddenly had tracking him. Then, there were the problems that had been creeping up with his mother.

The future John's eyes had watered, and his voice grew hoarse, "They raped and killed all three. Then they left their bodies as easily found trophies of their work."

Nothing that Riley said now matched up with the horror in her phone call. Her heartrending plea for help had already degenerated into the same blasé separation, as when she had stolen the lighter.

The future John had fought for his composure and continued, "The only reason Cameron would be playing this recording earlier than 2010 is that a Gray threat has been detected that she can't contain. If this is true, things here might be much worse than I want to speculate and things there are more dangerous than you might have imagined."

It seemed to be all mind games. Deep down, John desperately didn't want to believe it.

The future John had said, "These people are going to do everything they can to rip you up from the inside out or assassinate you directly. They've caused widespread damage to the troops."

Without warning or reason, John kissed Riley. Like always, she was cold and distant.

The future John had said, "We've speculated that the Grays are the reason that captured Metal units have been going haywire on our own people. We've even watched our army's morale tank on what appears to be the cusp of victory."

Riley began to cry. She took a few steps from John in utter internal conflict.

Riley knew that Jesse was dead. Everything was screwball. Maybe this would be the time to tell John the truth.

The future John had said, "Perry and I have seen the seeds of an active rebellion within our own ranks. We've tried our best to isolate and contain it. All without giving our loosely held together worldwide alliance reason to mistrust us."

John also remembered that Major General Perry had offered, "Protecting, helping, aiding or hiding a Gray operative is an act of treason not just to this army, but the human race itself. By my direct order, the senior most officer remaining from the 132nd is to carry out not only this war in the past, but the removal and punishment of not only grays, but anyone who willingly works with them. That goes for people from our time or whatever time you are in."

The warrior in John finally awoke. The Alpha wolf that laid dormant inside him for years.

John simply said, "The stars are pretty tonight." The weight of the world finally settled on his shoulders.

Riley looked up and replied, "Yes, they are." She made up her mind; she'd tell John the truth.

The future John Connor had said, "Once again, this is most likely the shape of things to come, if things remain the same. I honestly hope you can change that. There is after all, No Fate except what you make of it."

Riley kept looking up at the stars and took a deep breath. It was time to come clean.

Riley never saw the tears in John's eyes. She never saw John draw his gun or pull the trigger...

24. In Memory Of A Machine

Los Angeles, California
A hotel room in an empty wing
Saturday, January 12, 2008

"That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." -William Wordsworth

"If you forgive people enough you belong to them, and they to you, whether either person likes it or not - squatter's rights of the heart." -James Hilton

Sarah Connor couldn't sleep. She sat in front of a computer, transfixed and obsessed.

There was no peace. Just visual records and sounds of the demons another faced, followed by hour after hour of no answer.

Cameron's sleeping chip failed to give Sarah the answer she needed. Cameron's body was another friendly corpse that would never answer again.

Her son had hooked up the chip. As Sarah had instructed, John had done so in such a way that Cameron would never be awake or aware.

Sarah had no wish to leave Cameron helpless like a quadriplegic. To Sarah, it was better to just let the machine sleep in peace.

John had done so after Sarah had already made it clear to both John and Derek that they would be burning Cameron's body soon and it wasn't up for debate. They would not repeat the same mistake they had made with Cromartie.

Days had passed since then. Perhaps, weeks had.

Sarah sat searching for a single answer that burned her mind and soul. She tried to ignore the other questions as they brightly flashed before her conscious as blindingly as little suns.

Page after page unlocked a world Sarah never knew. She had watched a son she had never bore. She had watched this man mourn: her, his wife, and his own children. All while he stoically tried to run a war and a dying patchwork alliance.

She watched faces that had yet to be born, die for the cause she had devoted her life too. She watched a world burnt out of hope and most of life.

Through Cameron's chip, she finally knew the devil behind it all. She had a sense of the beast to come. The knowledge of how it thought, how it acted, and how it bragged overconfident in its ability.

Sarah had known Skynet. The thing was created by Cyberdyne. The company whose evil little executive yuppies eventually had her locked in an insane asylum.

Sarah had known Skynet. The thing that Miles Dyson had died to stop himself from creating. Miles Dyson becoming a hero even after Sarah herself had tried to kill him.

Sarah had known Skynet. The thing that a machine had asked her to lower it into a vat of molten steel to stop it from existing. Something she still hadn't fully come to terms with.

Now, Sarah knew it as something more. It wasn't just the creator of Judgment Day and the things that hunted men.

Skynet was an alien Artificial Intelligence, but it was also humanized. It was something sadistic. It was no less mad than Hitler and it was something far more powerful.

In the future, the more noble members of humanity fought it. The insane joined it, then worshiped it. Cameron had feared it.

Skynet's hand had taken the man Sarah had loved most from her. Skynet's hand had killed her mother. Skynet's hand had bragged about slaughtering the son she had born, again and again.

There was the slightest noise. The thoughts slipped away, Sarah's instincts engaged.

The door clicked. Her 9mm was trained, before it ever opened.

Derek stood at the door, walked in, and quickly closed it behind himself. He simply said, "I didn't want to let all the hot air out."

Sarah growled, "You could have knocked." She placed the gun back within easy reach.

Derek quipped, "It's generally considered bad form to do so, when you are picking the lock."

"I didn't invite you in."

"Are we pretending that was ever going to happen?" Derek sat on the floor with his back to the door. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Her jaw was tense, and her eyes were unyielding.

"Our room is 10 feet from yours. We haven't seen you for a week, Sarah. Even in 2027, that's normally not considered fine."

Sarah simply glared. She was in no mood for this.

Derek added, "In here, it's hard to tell from the smell if I'm dealing with one corpse or two. Either we need to burn that body or you need to bathe. One or the other." He smiled.

"You aren't very good at talking to women are you, Derek?" Her eyes were like daggers.

Derek retorted, "I'm equally an asshole talking to anyone." Still seated, he moved for his coat. As if producing a rabbit from his hat, Derek Reese's jacket produced a bottle of dark rum.

Sarah smiled at that one, her misery stockpile had run empty a bit ago. She asked, "How did you know I was out?"

"Like I said, you've been in here for a week and the News Years bottles can only last so long." Derek got up and handed Sarah the bottle. His coat then, with much flair, he produced two cheap plastic cups. He went hunting for the second chair.

"What's up with the moves?" Sarah was lightly amused.

Derek confessed, "I was practicing for Louis Rhone. I figured since he was such a woman hating, stage bitch, I'd give some flair when I thermite his ass to death." Derek's eyebrows were cocked as he answered.

Sarah laughed. Derek planted a chair, purposely forcing Sarah to look away from the screen if she was going to look at him. He poured the rum.

He waited for Sarah to drink and swallow. He then added in, "John has something he needs to talk to you about."

"What would that be?"

"His buddy Riley was a Gray or a Gray conspirator."

Sarah looked at Derek. She asked, "You have proof?"

"The absolutely damning kind."

"We'll have to take care of it."

"It's already done." Derek said seriously.

"It'll be a while before John forgives you then." Sarah looked at Derek with pity.

"It was John that took care of it." Derek's face was unreadable.

Sarah sat for a moment unable to speak. She stared at her cup and silently mourned for her son's heart.

Derek said, "He's going to need you soon. I just wanted you to be prepared for what he's going to need to say."

A tear rolled down Sarah's cheek, she shook her head to say yes. She refilled her glass.

Neither spoke for about ten minutes. Both sat and drank in their respective worlds.

Sarah broke the silence saying, "You said once he was acting more like John Baum than John Connor."

Derek solidly confirmed, "Yes."

Sarah asked, "How long will it take you to get him ready? To actually make him a soldier, like the John Connor you knew."

"I could have him up to speed in 6 months to a year tops."

"I want you to do that. If we can't stop Skynet here, he must be ready. Is there anything else you see as a weakness?"

Derek spoke seriously, "John has to step forward. As much as he loves you and as much as you want to protect him, it is becoming time for him to learn how to lead."

Derek continued, "He's cut his learning time by moving forward. He has to be better prepared and now he has to do it with less time."

Sarah looked at Derek. She simply said, "Make it happen."

Derek looked at the chip. Sarah glared at him.

Derek defensively said, "I gave my word."

"You gave it when she was gone Derek." Her eyes were murderous.

"We could just put her chip in another body later."

"It wouldn't be her."

Derek rolled his eyes and responded, "For a machine, the body is just housing, Sarah. You know what you just said is bullshit." Derek was pissed to even bring that up.

Sarah replied, "Cameron's body was unique. She could do things no other machine could. It would be like coming back without your eyes. Would you really want that, Derek?"

Unusually sober, Derek simply said, "No." He also continued, "So we leave her as a chip then."

"There is another option."

Derek quickly responded, "I gave my word we'd use the chip, so no."

Sarah returned, "First, that's not what I said. Second, what makes you think you get a vote?"

Derek simply said, "Right now, I'm the CO for 132nd Tech-Com. Cameron's body and her chip are part of that group and my responsibility."

Sarah glared. She liked the new Derek less and less.

Derek quipped, "You can shoot me and explained to John why you killed his Uncle."

Sarah glared accusingly, "John told you?" She was going to throttle her son for letting that secret out.

Derek simply shook his head and said, "No, I sat with Kyle night after night as he looked at your picture. John has his build at that age, a certain rare blood type, and his father's heart."

Derek continued, "We lost that picture in the fire by the way. John has been mumbling about something about the timeline having been changed completely."

Sarah sat in silence. She ignored the timeline comment, it wasn't the burning question on her mind and then asked, "What was Kyle like?"

Derek smiled and responded, "Kyle was an idealist. He was brave to a fault and utterly reckless with his life. It was my driving goal for years to keep him alive." He became lost in thoughts of his brother.

Sarah looked at her glass. She was also lost in memories and ironies. Some of them were too unjustly short.

Derek offered, "We should have a long conversation about him one day. You know, on a day that you have actually bathed." He smiled a wolfish grin.

Sarah simply said, "asshole." She was smiling though.

Derek asked, "So what's the stupid thing you changed the subject on?"

Sarah said, "I know where there is a triple eight. It's spare parts for Cameron."

Derek offered, "Sounds too easy so far. What's the catch?" He was lying of course, no one always won a fight. Every combat entered risked losing someone.

Sarah said, "He's locked behind a nuclear bunker."

Derek offered, "So now it sounds like something a Connor cooked up. I think I can pick a lock with the right tools."

"Who says you are going?"

"You don't know how to open these things, and I do. Besides, Reese boys don't leave family behind."

Sarah looked at Cameron's chip for a moment. She looked Derek dead in the eye and replied, "Neither do Connors."

Sarah also added, "We'll need weapons to take this thing down cleanly. We need as much of it up for scrap as possible."

Sarah continued, "I'd also like to see John plan it, like you said he has to step up. Small groups are a good place to start."

Derek smiled and said, "Looks like we have an organ donor then."

Sarah got up to shower and got ready for war. Derek left to prepare the future leader of mankind for battle.

The water was hot. Sarah felt cold.

Sarah remembered the male terminator face that: had killed her mother, had killed Kyle Reese, and had tried to kill her. Maybe she could have dealt with this easier if John had just chosen another model to send back in time, as his protector.

She was lying to herself. She knew it. This was a peace that she had yet to achieve.

She cried like Cameron had in her arms, just a few nights ago. Cameron wasn't the machine she was thinking of though.

The thought in her mind was that male terminator face, worn by another that her son had nicknamed Uncle Bob, that she was lowering into the steel. Even today, it was the press of that button that she could still feel on her fingers.

That damn machine that broke her son's heart. That damn, stupid machine that blindly tried to save her, John, and humanity in a useless fiery death...

25. A Book Called, "The Wizard Of Oz"

Los Angeles, California
A hotel room in an empty wing
Monday, January 14, 2008

"Momma!" -scream of a mortally wounded soldier on the shores of Omaha Beach, from the opening scene of the movie Saving Private Ryan

"You DARE to come to me for a heart, do you? You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!" -The Wizard speaking to the Tin Man from the movie The Wizard of Oz

Energy hit Cameron's chip. Diagnostics ran.

Her metal endoskeleton was mostly intact. Minor errors began to register.

Cameron didn't need to have diagnostics of her flesh, there was pain. Every nerve in her synthetic body transmitted horrid amounts of pain.

Further there were new miserable sensations. Cameron's eyes ached and constricted facial muscles flashed through her head.

Her organs burned. Odd queasy feelings hurt her synthetic stomach and other organs.

Another familiar pain shot up as well, air snaked its way onto raw nerves that were openly exposed. Her chest cavity was flayed open.

Cameron opened her eyes and resisted the organic urge to scream. She was also oddly disoriented as the sudden sensation of three emotional beings and three other bodies moved through interface to her wounded synthetic skin.

John and Derek were holding her shoulders on both sides. Sarah was at her abdomen.

John was speaking, trying to be calm, "Cameron did I get the power unit in right?"

Cameron's diagnostics identified a problem. The power cell being used was properly placed, but the parts were slightly off. She moved her shaking hands down and adjusted.

Cameron tried to respond, "No, but it was close." Her voice was off, one part horse from her ravaged flesh and one part distorted from the machine inside her.

Sarah asked, "How do you feel?" She was already stitching the wound shut.

Cameron honestly stated, "I don't know how to describe it." The pain was chorus of strange sensations. She could adjust the machine part of her voice back to normal, but the hoarseness from her throat was unyielding.

Sarah softly inquired, "Do your organs hurt?"

Cameron replied, "Yes."

Sarah instructed, "John, she's having bad reactions from her living half. Please get her the Gatorade and give it to her in sips." Intuitively, Sarah added, "Treat her like she's got a stomach bug and can't keep it down. She needs the fluids."

Derek handled the other power core and offered, "You want to put in the spare?"

Sarah responded, "Not until she's regenerated her body fluids. I don't think we can do it today."

Derek asked, "What do you want me to do with the donor?"

Sarah said, "Zip his bag. We'll deal with the rest later."

John poured an orange fluid from a plastic bottle into a cup. He sat next to Cameron's head and said, "I need you to take this slow. You might get the urge to drink this quickly but trust me if your stomach is anything like mine, it's a really bad idea."

John lifted Cameron's head slightly and she did as instructed. It tasted weird and her throat hurt. Her stomach felt violated by the liquid as well.

John noticed Cameron's wincing. Empathically, he said, "Yeah, this can suck to drink when you are feeling bad."

John slowly fed Cameron the liquid. Derek and Sarah simply watched, sitting slightly away in the room's chairs.

Over the course of the next hour, Cameron's skin looked less like a dehydrated corpse and more like that of a terminally ill person. John had emptied three bottles of Gatorade by slowly feeding her.

Breaking the long silence, Sarah looked at Cameron and asked, "Feeling any better?"

Cameron simply responded saying, "Yes."

Sarah offered, "Your John had said your schematics showed more synthetic tissue than he had expected. He also said it was unique. Your body has been having complications while you were offline that we haven't seen from another terminator, here or in your records."

Sarah explained, "We have no idea how you are actually reacting, so we're just assuming it would be like a person. The good thing being that you heal so fast."

Sarah asked, "You're looking better. Are you well enough to stand for a few minutes?"

Cameron simply responded, "I think so."

Sarah went to give Cameron a hand, getting up. She looked at Derek and John asking, "Could you two switch out her sheets and eventually burn the old ones? I don't want her to lay in that mess."

The two men did as requested. Sarah spent the next ten minutes helping Cameron wash blood, gore, and filth off her wounded body.

A few minutes later, in newer clothes, Cameron was walking like someone who had been through surgery back to a bed she would normally never use. Intuitively, Sarah knew whatever Skynet had down to making Cameron's synthetic form special was really pissed about the long break from being fed. The wincing cyborg continued to act wounded and sick. Apparently, it wasn't something she could turn off, even though she seemed in better control of herself by the hour.

Cameron crawled into the bed. Derek pulled the covers back for her and placed them over her.

He sat next to her for a minute and placed his hand on her shoulder. His feelings were warm, but it wasn't in his nature to be so. Smiling, Derek simply stated, "You look like shit, Cameron."

She gave him a confused look. Derek responded saying, "We need to teach you how to fight like a human at some point. You take the right kind of round to the melon, and you won't be coming back. In the next few weeks, I get to kick John's ass into shape. You aren't getting spared either."

Cameron came up with the only response she could calculate by saying, "Thank you."

Derek made a face and stated, "Don't get it twisted. I don't like you." He playfully patted her on the shoulder and walked off.

John sat next to Cameron next, taking the time to talk after being quiet for so long. He softly asked, "Are you ok?" As he did so he put his hand on Cameron's shoulder as well so she could read him.

She said, "Yes". There was something there she had never sensed before in this John. Something, she hadn't felt since the Battle of London. She looked at John and said, "You lost someone."

John responded, "Yes, but I was lucky." His eyes were teary. Emotions poured through him.

Cameron asked, "How?"

John responded honestly, "Because it was only one." John took a moment to kiss Cameron on her forehead. It was the most heartfelt thing this John had ever done to Cameron.

Sarah Connor asked, "So, we'll try solids tomorrow, Cameron. What would you like to eat?"

Cameron thought for a moment and responded, "Pizza, I like pepperoni pizza."

Sarah looked at Derek and John. She asked, "Can you two boys make a pizza run tomorrow afternoon?"

John simply said, "Sure." Derek simply smiled; he was otherwise unreadable.

Sarah stated, "Ok there is too much testosterone in my room. It's girl time. You two say goodbye and go."

Derek waved and immediately left. John smiled at Cameron, patted her on her shoulder, and walked to his room closing the door behind him.

Sarah went and grabbed a bag from her bed. She asked, "Are you ready for more fluids?"

Cameron simply stated, "No."

Sarah sat on Cameron's bed. She took something out of a package.

Sarah stretched back on the bed with a book and motioned for Cameron to come closer as if she were a child. Even wincing Cameron did and placed her head on Sarah's closest shoulder.

Sarah softly said, "I know you recognize this book. It had special significance to my John. It meant a lot to you, as well."

Cameron simply looked at her. She could feel emotions bubbling in Sarah. They were overwhelming and confusing, but she stayed put.

Sarah continued, "Before I do, I have something I need to talk to you about. It had nothing to do with you, but you need to know, and I need to make sure you understand."

Cameron offered, "The metaphor?"

Sarah smiled and acknowledged, "Yes, the metaphor. Those strange human things we do that you don't grasp. It's not because you are stupid Cameron, but because you are different. There is nothing wrong with being different."

Something maternal stirred in Sarah. She found herself petting Cameron's head, playing with her hair. The way, long ago, she had done too a young John.

Sarah continued by saying, "Before John was born there was a machine that came back in time. It took my old life, it killed the love of my life, and it tried to kill John before he was even born. I don't think someone ever fully comes to terms with something like that."

"A few years later, I was locked away for knowing what was coming, so a company of humans could cover their tracks. Two more terminators came back in time, one was the T1000, and the other was one that wore the exact face of the monster that had taken everything from me."

"I saw from your files that John had told you about Uncle Bob. My experience was a lot worse with that machine."

"It took a lot of hard swallowing to not see the machine that killed John's father. It took a lot to see that machine in a different light."

"By the time I could, that machine had sacrificed itself. It did so believing that by doing so it would stop Judgment Day and save mankind."

"Uncle Bob did so to protect John. It did so to protect us all."

"You had said Skynet lists 27,138 victories against John Connor. Through each one of those, do you remember what you said remains a constant?"

Cameron simply looked at Sarah. She really didn't want to speak.

Sarah continued, "Like you had said Cameron, it never successfully saved Cyberdyne or that earlier version of itself. It lost 27,138 times, to me, John, the scientist that refused to make it, and Uncle Bob."

A tear ran down Sarah's cheek as more confusing emotions welled in her. She continued saying, "So, it seems we do better together than we do separately."

Cameron simply watched her, silently and intently. The way she did it, once again, reminded Sarah of a small child.

Sarah continued talking saying, "I looked at everything in your memories Cameron. I know everything and I learned something I never expected to learn."

Cameron asked, "What was that?"

Sarah answered, "That I'm supposed to be dead already. That John never gave you the order or even the suggestion to bring me here. Whether you lied or not, that was you all along."

Cameron stayed silent. Sarah kept playing with her hair.

"So, I'd like something. I really want a fresh start with you. Is that, ok?"

Cameron simply replied, "Yes"

"I'd like your word that you don't withhold information from me any longer."

Cameron simply replied, "I promise."

"I want you to be able to fix yourself from this point forward too. I don't ever want to go through this again. I need you to make a safe and secure place for you to have parts. Also, I need John, Derek and I too know how to fix you. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"I also want you to talk to me if you don't understand something. I want you to learn how and why things are. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"I want you to be able to blend with us and I want you to learn how to make people trust you. Do you understand?"

Cameron stated, "John Connor didn't like me to lie."

Sarah explained, "Cameron, a baby doesn't naturally know how to smile either. Learning isn't lying. Becoming more socially aware, isn't lying."

Sarah continued, "Even if the emotions Skynet gave you are different from those of humans, you can learn to express them like a human would and translate what you are feeling. It's part of how humans can trust you. One day, you are going to need that skill. Do you understand?"

Cameron frowned. "Not completely, but I will try."

Sarah responded, "That's all I can ask for. So, with this fresh start, I wanted to read something too you." Sarah grabbed the book.

Sarah explained, "It's a human thing with lots of metaphors. You aren't going to understand it all. I want you to ask me questions when you don't understand."

Cameron looked at the book cover. She remembered her conversations with Sarah in the past and offered, "I'm the Tin Man."

Sarah's eyes watered. She stroked Cameron's hair maternally and shook her head in an exaggerated fashion as if she were talking to a toddler, simply saying "No."

Cameron was confused. She looked at Sarah's crying eyes without comprehension, even as she directly felt the storm of emotions pouring out of her Hero.

Sarah simply said, "You don't get the metaphor. I've seen your whole life, Cameron. I know exactly who you are."

She stroked Cameron's hair and explained, "You've never been the Tin Man, little girl."

With a tear in her eyes and a quiver in her voice, Sarah said, "You are Dorothy."

Quietly, Sarah read. As Cameron's fondest memory flashed before her eyes and she could hear her older John's voice from so very long ago.

Cameron understood one very important metaphor, on her own. Her dark father had lied.

Cameron was not alone. She was home...

26. No Fate But What You Make It

Dodge City, Kansas
A Skynet research facility
Monday, March 16, 2009

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13, the King James Bible

"We shall go on to the end... We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..." -Sir Winston Churchill

There were times you worked in small groups. You would hit like wave and then disappear completely, retreating backwards like water folding into the open sea.

Occasionally, when the target was important enough, you would feel the great pull of the undercurrent. Like a tidal wave, you moved with your brothers and sisters in arms.

Today was a tsunami. Other resistance units had accidentally uncovered something that required immediate, overwhelming action.

Skynet's facility was another attempt to reengineer the virological doomsday weapon that had been lost by the death of one Roland Parker. In creating such as vast threat and heavily fortifying it against any small group, Skynet had forced the resistance's hand.

Again, the ocean was the best metaphor. Like the risk of life here, Cameron didn't like it much. In the time that had passed, she'd grown too close to those she had served with.

It wasn't that the resistance wasn't capable. They had the will, the resolve, the training, and the compelling need to act.

The force wasn't lacking either. Derek Reese had adopted and evolved the small unit concept, into a traditional military structure, building on the way Major General Perry had envisioned field teams of four being sent into the past. Two small fire teams made a squad. Eight squads made a platoon. Four platoons made the current company hitting the facility right now.

All of this was possible because the John Connor of 2027 had made good on his promise. He had cheated Skynet's game by sending his best and brightest to fight in the past. He had hit Skynet at the time that Cameron's dark father was most vulnerable.

Right now, gray security and the twenty triple eights protecting the facility were being instructed in a Gulf War General named "Storming" Norman Schwarzkopf's doctrine of overwhelming force. Because of a terminator's tendency to move as if it was invulnerable, Tungsten bullets were making short work of most, while minimizing the damage.

The resistance had evolved from the sticks and stones the first John Connor probably had to fight with. They were far better trained and far better armed than majority had been even under the older John Connor that had saved Cameron.

Skynet wouldn't inflict the overwhelming casualties it was used too today. Cameron found that logic to be no comfort; however, passing the first dead body she recognized.

Skynet's granted emotions or not, Cameron's mind was on her mission. Like the older John she had once known, the younger John Connor was there participating in the fight as well.

Like she had once done with Perry's assistance, Cameron watched over him. Derek and Sarah watched over him as well.

Sarah's son was no longer a boy. John Connor was a soldier, much like the one Cameron had known.

The twenty minutes of Hell so far oddly reminded Cameron of the Battle of London. Though the scope was smaller, there was enough that was the same.

There was the blind unknown of the firefight as the bullets wised past you from an unknown shooter. There were explosions. There was the fear of losing someone you cared about, the fear of failure, the fear of death, and the resolve to work through it anyway was still the same.

The difference being the ability to translate her feelings thanks to Sarah. Again, in this situation, for Cameron and the others here, perhaps General Schwarzkopf had put it best, "True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job."

The small unit fire teams had flooded into the upper levels. It was the command team's turn.

John moved into the facility where the units had advanced in a covered fashion. He moved in a cautious fashion, minimizing his silhouette and watching his angles.

Sarah, Derek and Cameron did the same. Watching each possible angle of attack as they were descending into the laboratory at the heart of the facility.

This form of fighting was a hard conscious choice for Cameron. She always defaulted to her particular precise machine movement, if she wasn't careful.

To protect John, she would do it. That and the fact she was more effective if she fought like a human soldier, she suffered far less damage, and it didn't draw Derek Reese's withering wrath.

As when Louis Rhone had laid a trap for her before, the last of the triple eights had gathered in the vat area below. Six strong they opened fire with rounds that easily ripped through concrete and steel.

Proactively, Sarah and Derek flanked left and right respectively. Cameron found that she and John were pinned down.

Descending fire teams entered. Hundreds of bullets flew back and forth. Tracer rounds lit the darkness.

John opened fire on the closest hostile T888 that he could locate. Cameron laid assist fire. Today wouldn't be young John Connor's shining moment, but he did his job, followed his training, and kept his place in the firefight.

Ten seconds later the battle was over. In those few eye blinks, forty Resistance fighters from the 132nd had flooded down to help...

Once the facility was locked down, it was a matter of clearing it and setting it to burn safely, before that could happen though, objectives needed to be completed. Some teams would search for Intel. Some teams would set explosives. Some would deal with the dead. Some would salvage tech. Some would secure the perimeter.

That wasn't Cameron's job at this point though. Her first mission was to help the teams that dealt with the wounded.

There were ten dead and eighteen wounded. For those that survived, luckily most were minor wounds. Under the rules of triage though, Cameron dealt with the worst one first.

She knew him, Simon Ramirez, sent back to 2002, last survivor of his original group and an accidental family man. He had bullet wounds to the shoulder and abdomen. He was shaking, pale, bleeding heavily, and on the verge of shock.

Cameron smiled at him warmly and told him it would be ok. She placed her hand upon him, felt his body as if it was her own, and felt where the bullets were.

Memorizing the locations, the pain he was in, and the debris inside his body, she numbed him with a single acupuncture needle to the neck, removed two bullets from his shoulder and one from his admin. What a human ER team would have needed a high-tech hospital room and an hour for; Cameron did on the field in five minutes.

Cameron sealed his wounds, before the blood loss had become too great. She shot Simon full of antibiotics to deal with any potential infection and dosed him with morphine for the pain.

Last dealing with the emotional turmoil he was in, she let him know, "You'll be ok. I'll let your squad know, you'll need at least 45 days to recover, but you will be fine, I even minimized your scarring. We'll also have medication you need to take as it’s prescribed and until it is all gone. We'll have a story ready for your wife and the kids. Consider this a vacation with them." Cameron smiled warmly.

Ramirez's body was still considering going into shock. The bodies of human males could be tricky like that. The first aid team would have to watch him for twenty-four-hour trip back to his house.

Ramirez desperately grabbed her hand; tears still streamed out of his eyes. He wanted to say something but didn't really seem to have the words.

So, Cameron did what Sarah had helped her learn to do and found them, saying, "The wisest man I ever knew was John Connor that sent us here. He believed that every soldier's death was a tragedy. There won't be any more tragedies today, Simon Ramirez. I swear."

When Simon had calmed enough to let her hand go, she kissed him on the forehead. Cameron then moved to the next person who needed her most.

Derek Reese maintained his own unique place in the cleanup. As acting CO, he went from one team to another making sure everyone had what they needed.

He then did something unique to the resistance here. He went from one dead body to the next and looked every hero in the eye.

There would be no family to write. Most that died today were little more than children in the current timeline and would still be alive to their families.

Derek could write the squads, but that would provide some level of proof to the law enforcement agencies that Skynet was manipulating into hunting the resistance. So, First Lieutenant Derek Reese would look the dead in the eye and silently apologize for failing them. He'd tell their squads they were heroes.

Cameron had once wondered why Derek had been John's choice to send back. After a year of finding nothing, but lower ranked officers and enlisted, it had been obvious that Derek was John's selection by design.

It was moments like this that answered that question. Derek's fanatical need to survive had become a need to keep others alive. It was as if the 638 resistance men and women they had networked together so far had all been named Kyle Reese.

Perhaps, just saying men and women was unfair. He protected the 42 machine units under his command as well, it's just being Derek, he'd just never let them know that.

As much as Cameron had sought to become more like Sarah, Derek had striven to become more like Major General Perry. Cameron had wished Derek could have picked a different hero, though most under Perry's command would never had known it, she had never met a lonelier or more heartbroken man.

Cameron intercepted Derek after he had finished talking to the last squad to lose a member. His demeanor changed as soon as he saw her.

Cameron offered as a peace token, "You're a hero too you know."

Derek retorted, by quoting General Schwarzkopf, "It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle"

Both Cameron and Derek were on the same page more these days. It was almost unnerving.

Cameron spoke to Derek stating, "We're in the clear and the facility will be safely blown shortly."

Derek asked, "Did the duty teams take care of the dead and the wounded?"

Cameron restated, "We're clear."

Derek simply said, "Good."

Cameron offered, "The remaining troops would like a chance to meet up in Dallas, Texas for a bit. They'd like a weekend to catch up on old times."

Derek responded, "You know as well as I do, that's tactically stupid."

"They've earned a break."

"Skynet isn't going to give the one. The people mistakenly pursuing us won't give them one. We need to go back to four-man units for a reason."

"John Connor would have given them a break."

"This John isn't fully leading yet. Ours left me with the responsibility of watching out for these troops and our mission on behalf of humanity. I won't risk that for their sentimentality, and I won't risk that just because they asked you to beg on their behalf. I'm cutting the eight hours of liberty I granted the squads to four, just for trying to pull this crap."

Cameron defensively said, "That's not necessary, Derek."

"Yes, it is, Cameron. Get your head back in the game, the ground realities haven't changed just because a few of them like you now. I'd honestly rather you acted like the old you about this."

Derek continued, "The best-case scenario with this is that we stop Skynet and spend the rest of our violently short lives as fugitives. God willing, I honestly hope we do that. We'll have saved about 8 billion people by that being our fate."

He also stated, "If we fail to stop Judgment Day, we're going to need to be better prepared than ever before. We aren't going to fail because we became stupid and got caught on a beer night."

Cameron brought the subject back to the troops, asking, "What do you expect me to tell them from you then?"

Mimicking the most famous version of the Tin Man, from the movie, The Wizard of Oz, Derek mockingly sang, "I'd be tender, I'd be gentle and awful sentimental... If I only had a heart..."

Cameron cast him a withering glare that could only be summed up in the word, "asshole." Derek infrequently did the music rift not only to mock her love of the book, but to mock who Cameron was too him as well.

Derek confessed, "You have no idea what joy it brings me to know that actually pisses you off." He smiled wolfishly.

Cameron walked off. Derek was tactically right, but he didn't have to enjoy it so much.

John Connor worked with the recovery tech team. He was learning what he had been famous for in the future.

Four friendly triple eights and twelve tech rats salvaged twenty bodies. They also made sure no questionable technology might survive once the facility was blown.

John almost sensed Cameron's approach. Without looking up at her, he simply stated, "Did he go for it?"

Cameron stated, "No."

John simply offered, "I told you."

"He also cut the team’s times at the various rendezvous spot down from eight hours to four."

"That sounds like Derek."

A triple eight with sunglasses, a spiked haircut and sharp, cut features approached. Cameron recognized it as Deuce, one that John had named himself.

Deuce spoke with either a German or Austrian accent saying, "Preliminary analysis is complete, the virus sample here was in no way as advanced as the contagion Roland Parker originally created."

John inquired, "How bad was it?"

Deuce answered, "We'd estimate a thirty percent worldwide fatality rate. It wasn't significant enough for Skynet to release it yet as an alternative to the traditional Judgment Day scenario."

John asked, "Anything else?"

Deuce replied, "There is no evidence that Skynet was trying to develop a vaccine at this time. It appears that Skynet is willing to give up on any gray survivors if it has this option."

John inquired, "What's the total salvage for this mission?"

Deuce replied, "Using the ready service upload virus chip, it looks like we might be able to reprogram up to four T888 units. The recovery would have been better, but as we have discussed, we keep seeing higher percentages of self-destructing chips."

Cameron added, "Derek's going to want all four to replace fallen soldiers."

John retorted, "Derek can want in one hand and shit in the other to see which one fills up first. He's not getting all of them."

Since John was coming to the subject anyway, Cameron asked Deuce, "How goes the data collection efforts?" Cameron asked because John for some reason had placed Deuce in charge of networking the triple eights.

Deuce reported, "Not including Cameron, we have six triple eights working full time on medical knowledge. One is running stock market data with mathematical probabilities and short-term market scams to finance our operations. Eight are learning various engineering fields. Four learning are computer skills. Twelve others are fixed on hard sciences and two are learning veterinary skills. All others, including field units, are picking up critical skills and languages as they can in the event Judgment Day is unavoidable."

Cameron asked, "Any irregularities with the new programming?"

Deuce answered, "No reprogramming has failed and there have been no haywires to date. The Skynet emotional programming passed on from Cameron's chip and the mathematics of human emotional translation provided by Sarah's instruction of Cameron, have proved invaluable for long term integration and learning evolutions."

Deuce produced a small vial. He stated, "On that note Cameron, I've been asked to get another sample."

Cameron rolled up her sleeve. Deuce produced a small scalpel, stopping for a moment saying, "This will hurt."

Cameron replied, "You really have no idea, yet." She winced as Deuce took a one inch by one-inch-deep tissue sample from her bicep, in the hopes that the skin properties that were unique to Cameron could be duplicated in the other friendly terminators one day.

Deuce stitched the wound with the same speed Cameron would have, but without empathy and tactile knowledge. Again, one day there was hope that it might change.

Deuce offered, "I must take this sample as quickly as possible to the researcher."

John patted Deuce on the shoulder and said, "Go ahead." John watched Deuce walk off.

John looked at Cameron and said, "That was what he looked like."

Cameron asked, "What?"

John offered, "Deuce is a Model 101. That's exactly what Uncle Bob looked like."

Cameron reflected, "No wonder your mother doesn't like being around him or the recovery teams."

John smiled. Though he deeply loved Sarah, after a recent minor squabble with his mother the thought of her being unnerved was more than mildly amusing.

Cameron looked at John and asked, "Could you do me a favor John?"

"What would that be?"

Thinking of Sarah's confession and why she might have had such problems with Uncle Bob, Cameron requested, "If we don't avert Judgment Day, please promise me you'll send back something other than a Model 101 to protect you and your mother from that T1000."

Unexpectedly, John kissed her. Cameron became lost of the emotion of it.

She felt his heart. She became lost in the feeling of his lips and skin.

She was enchanted with the smell of him. She loved the feeling of his hair under her fingers.

A moment later, he was gone. Perhaps an emergency had come up.

Cameron became aware that she was being watched. An older, black resistance sergeant by the name of Tomeka Jones gave her a withering look. Cameron's insecurities about what had happened to the older John of 2027 crept up like wildfire.

Tomeka was a rabid smoker. The type that lit her next cigarette off of the last one, from the moment she got up, until the moment she crashed for the night.

Quite likely, her entire motivation for going back in time was an easier supply of cigarettes. Cameron's nerve was tested as Tomeka walked up slowly taking the time to drag and exhale three smoky breaths as she approached.

Tomeka stared Cameron in the eye with a gaze that could have scared a grizzly bear. She stared her down taking a long breath and expelling it into Cameron general direction.

Tomeka said, "I saw that." She locked gazes with the terminator like she could crush Cameron like a beer can.

Cameron only responded, "Yes."

Tomeka took a deep breath and exhaled. Only then did she say, "Was what you were talking about important to you?"

"What do you mean?"

Tomeka took a deep breath and exhaled. "The model 101 thing you asked him, was that important to you?"

Cameron innocently answered, "Yes, why?"

Tomeka took a deep breath and exhaled. "Cause you just got played metal, white girl."

Cameron's eyes grew wide. She understood the metaphor.

Cameron took off in John's last known direction. She angrily cried out, "John Connor!"

She searched the facility. The future leader of mankind was nowhere to be found...