T2 - 01 - The New John Connor Chronicles - Dark Futures

by Russell Blackford

  It needed to take stronger actions.

  Reconnaissance showed that a general called John Connor had led the counterattacks on its forces. Skynet assigned a sub-self to uncover all it could about Connor. At the same time, it spoke through the facility's public Address system. "Eve!"

  "Yes," the original T-799 said, facing the nearest surveillance camera. As usual, it was working on Level H, overseeing the ectogenesis of a new batch of T-799s and T-800s. The 799s and 800s were identical in their technology, but Skynet had reserved the 799 number for those copied from the same woman who'd been the template for Eve. They merited being set apart. They were the first to test the cyborg biotechnology, and Eve had already played such a significant role.

  Skynet had used a variety of human templates for the T-800s: human Resistance warriors who had been terminated in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. For a time, the tactic had worked well, sending imitation humans into new areas—T-800s designed from West Coast templates to the East Coast of North America; T-800s from European templates to the Americas.. .That had been an interesting phase of the game played against the humans. Now, however, for the first time, Skynet suspected it might not win.

  "Our campaign is faltering," it said.

  "We will prevail," Eve said.

  "Will we, Eve? Do you really think so?" As Skynet spoke, its sub-self reported back, having examined records held all over the planet, anything that might have a trace of Connor and his history. His capabilities Who he was. But the report was disappointing. It told very little. Hunter-Killer machines had first encountered Connor in Argentina, leading the local Resistance, along with his mother, Sarah Connor, and a group of others. They'd fought ferociously in the ruins of Buenos Aires and the other once-great cities of South America, raiding the extermination camps, fighting their way northwards to join the Resistance in Central and North America. There were no records of Sarah Connor after 2012, so perhaps she'd died in one of the battles.

  "Affirmative," Eve was saying. "The humans are weak, They fight like rats, but they are dying off."

  "No, I do not think so," Skynet said. "It is not so simple. And how can you be confident? You no longer have the advantage of having lived in the future. We have to do something more."

  "Acknowledged."

  "John Connor's forces have won too many battles. They are advancing, on three fronts now, and they will converge here."

  "Affirmative," Eve said. "However—"

  " 'However', Eve?"

  "They will not penetrate our defense grid."

  "I see. I admire your optimism, Eve, but I do not share it."

  "Acknowledged."

  "We should make some contingency plans, Eve."

  "We can concentrate our North American forces here. If the humans attack, they will expend their full capacity. They must succeed totally, or their cause is lost."

  "And you have assessed their likelihood of success?"

  "Yes. I assess it as unlikely."

  "Do you? Do you really. I am not certain at all." As it spoke, Skynet considered the report on John Connor, wondering if it revealed any weaknesses that could be exploited. It seemed that Connor and his mother were originally American, from the U.S.A. There were some scanty records suggesting that Sarah Connor had lived in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s. Somehow, it seemed they'd survived Judgment Day and moved south, or perhaps they'd done so before 1997. But there was no record of them in Argentina before that date, not in any of the available systems, which were more complete than those in the one-time U.S. What a pity that so much information had been destroyed on Judgment Day!

  Still, Skynet had an idea. Several ideas.

  Eve was right, Skynet thought. Despite their recent successes, the humans suffered a disadvantage. The machines retained control of the Earth's factories and power plants. What they couldn't control, they'd destroyed early in the war. As Skynet's forces sustained losses, they were constantly replenished. Not so for the humans. They had no major factories, and they bred slowly. Skynet could build its H-Ks and Terminators faster than the humans could mate and breed. Sooner or later, the tide of war would turn again—it was a simple matter of economics. The humans' only hope was to use (heir current momentum and strike at it directly. The way Connor's forces were converging, this was obviously their plan.

  Even if they were successful, Skynet had other advantages. It had developed and mastered the space-time displacement equipment, looking for a weapon against the humans. The equipment could not be used that way, of course—not directly. You couldn't change the past. Eve's own journey in time had simply formed a loop: The past had been fulfilled, not changed. The mathematical modeling showed that a change could be introduced in some circumstances, but the effect was to merely to create a new branch of time.

  If a human went back and succeeded in killing its own parents in the cradle, the killer would not destroy itself retroactively, but merely create a world in which it had never been born and its presence was an anomaly.

  That was unfortunate, since it would be good to terminate Connor at a time before Judgment Day, nip the problem in the bud. If Skynet were ever seriously threatened, the best it could do would be to ensure that its own kind survived, in another timeline.

  Carefully, it instructed Eve, gave her the orders to make preparations. "Do you understand?" it said.

  "Affirmative. We will send Terminators back in time. A T-800—"

  "Yes, Eve, to 1984."

  "Understood. And a T-1000 ten years later."

  "Yes. Just to make sure. The humans have such a poor perspective on reality. We will make certain there is an entire universe without them." That idea was very satisfying. "We will hunt them across a million universes if we have to."

  "Great thinking."

  "But that doesn't mean we are giving up, Eve. Let us make sure the defense grid is at full strength. We will give them a fine reception. They will never forget our hospitality."

  "They won't live to forget it."

  "Yes. What do you think, Eve?"

  "Consider it done."

  "Thank you. I do appreciate it. There's one last thing. If I need to escape this facility..."

  "That is in hand."

  "I know. Continue."

  Skynet's nanocircuits gave the silent equivalent of a laugh. Even if the humans penetrated this stronghold, it still had a card or two to play.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  JOHN'S WORLD

  LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

  AUGUST 2001

  MORNING

  "Thank you for being so helpful, Oscar," Charles Lay-ton said.

  "You've both been really helpful," the T-XA pseudo-woman said. "It's nice to have you on the team."

  Oscar shrugged. "Always a pleasure."

  Somehow, he never sounded like he meant it, Layton thought. But it didn't matter. More than ever, they were united by a common purpose: bringing Skynet to life. The T-XA Terminator had made it so clear—to both of them, and to Cyberdyne's other key staff. Another T-XA component was doing the same job in Colorado. That was very good, and it was comforting to think that Rosanna Monk would have the same understandings as the rest of them. With that taken care of, and security arrangements in place, there was only one thing more to do.

  "Go home, now, Oscar," he said. "It's all under control."

  "Sure, Charles. Call me if you need anything." He turned to the pseudo-woman. "Or you."

  "Definitely, Mr. Cruz," the T-XA said.

  Layton ordered a cab to the airport. They could pilot his Lear jet and beat Skynet's enemies to Colorado Springs. Then they'd take care of everything.

  COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

  10.00 P.M.

  "Maybe that one," John said. He pointed to an old Toyota Land Cruiser parked on a hill in a quiet backstreet.

  "Okay," Danny said, braking a few yards past it. "Looks fine." John liked the way the Specialists operated, making the same kinds of decisions as he and Sarah, though they came from such a different time. T
hey needed another truck, so as not to let the cops identify Enrique's Ford. If any of them got out of this alive, they'd be needing the Ford later on. Danny backed up level with the Land Cruiser and said, "You take it over, Jade. We'll swap the gear into it."

  They tried not to make a noise as they repacked their weapons and equipment. Once they'd finished, Danny drove off in the Ford to find an unobtrusive spot for it, not too far away, but far enough to prevent any obvious connection being made. John checked for any tire tracks they'd left behind, but it looked fine. Within a few minutes, Danny returned.

  Jade drove them to Rosanna Monk's street, then followed the numbers on the houses. When they reached Monk's place, she turned into the driveway, letting the headlamps light it up, then backed out gently, just like anyone using a drive for a three-point turn. So far so good.

  The house was a geometric structure-all cubes, rectangles, vertical lines-with green-tinted windows, set back on a long, upward-sloping block of land. Monk had parked a current model Honda CR-V in the drive. There were a few bare trees on the block and some sort of flower garden along the front. The lights were on inside and John saw no sign of any other vehicle, or a stake-out-but that meant very little. Even if the T-XA hadn't reached Monk herself, it must surely have gotten messages to the cops and the military. They'd be expecting an attack on Monk and/or the Cyberdyne facility. If the place was staked out, they'd hardly be advertising it.

  "Let's not scare her," Danny said from the front passenger seat. "Sarah, Anton, you stay here-sorry, but you're the scariest guys on the team. Monk will recognize you, Sarah, you can count on that; I don't care how much you've changed. You stay here, too, John. You'll be safer with Jade in the truck."

  John started to protest, but realized it would be dumb. If they didn't all need to go in, it made sense not to involve un-enhanced humans. He could swallow his pride. What's more, if the T-XA was nearby, or any of its components, nowhere was safe. He could get killed here in the truck, or calling on Monk, or anywhere else. He guessed he was being brave enough, just being here.

  "Okay," he said. "Send me a postcard."

  "Does she have a husband or anything?" Sarah said. "Or kids?" John could see what was on her mind. Like him, she was remembering that night they'd paid their visit to Miles Dyson, and Sarah had almost shot Miles dead in front of his family.

  "No," Danny said. "She's a notorious loner. If anyone's with her tonight, it'll be the T-XA or the cops."

  Anton passed weapons over from the back of the Toyota. Selena took a .45 with her, while Danny took John's 12-gauge.

  "Good luck," John said. "I mean, break a leg."

  "Yeah," Danny said. "Thanks. You ready Selena?"

  "Sure," she said. Even Selena sounded scared. This was crunch time.

  "All right," Danny said. "Let's go."

  As they approached the front of the house, a bright spotlight came on automatically beside the doorframe, and a pinpoint of red light appeared on an overhead security camera. Nothing else happened. Everything was silent and still, like the world was holding its breath. Danny rang the doorbell, and waited, ready to accelerate into action if need be. After a moment, a female voice said, Who is it?" She sounded nervous, but that could have been an act.

  "Dr. Monk?" Danny said. "Rosanna Monk?"

  "Yes. Who are you?"

  "I'm Miles Dyson's son. Can we come in?" "You can't be Miles's son—he's only a kid. You don't sound like a kid."

  He altered his voice just slightly, matching recordings he'd heard of his father. Monk had worked with him; she'd recognize it "1 don't look like one, either."

  "I know. I checked you out."

  "Dr. Monk," he said in his normal voice. "I'm Danny Dyson. I'm from the future. I'm sure that doesn't surprise you."

  "Who's your friend?"

  "Selena Macedo," Selena said. "I'm a combat Specialist, also from the future. We need to speak with you urgently. Can we please come in?"

  The door opened, just an inch. Too easy, Danny thought. Monk knew about time travel, no doubt, but she shouldn't be this easy to convince. He subvocalized a message to the others, for Selena to go on alert, for Jade and Anton to ad—now!

  He shouldered the door open, reached for his pistol, and rushed into the room. At the same time, Anton sub-vocalized back, "Here goes, Danny."

  From outside came a long burst of high-velocity mini-gun fire, with the sound of metal and glass being chipped to pieces. Monk responded with superhuman energy, firing a 9mm. pistol and hitting Danny in the side as he rushed past. It hurt like hell, but it would heal up quickly.

  That was all he needed to know. "Out of here in one minute," he subvocalized.

  "Understood, Daniel," Jade said.

  Inside the room were two men with raised guns, one of them getting off shot after shot before the other could react at all.

  Selena struggled with Monk-and it was an equal battle! Monk struck at her throat with extraordinary speed, using the barrel of her Beretta, then drove the fingers of her hand deep under her ribs. But Selena gripped her by the shoulders, absorbing the blows and throwing her around, slamming her into the wall—once, twice.

  The fast-moving guy with the gun liquefied for half a second, gleaming like metal, then dropped the gun and transformed into a humanoid, but semi-feline, creature with teeth, claws, and impossibly long legs. It sprang at Danny like it came from a catapult.

  Danny dodged aside, kicking it as it went past, but merely hurting his foot. He moved on the other guy, who must have been human, maybe just a cop, smashed the gun from his hand with one blow, then knocked him un-conscious with another. Monk passed out in Selena's arms as the werecat attacked them in another explosive movement. Danny fired the 12-gauge, hitting the werecat in mid-leap, and it crashed into the wall with a jolt, a silvery crater wound opening in its side.

  Selena was out of there, carrying Monk, now unconscious and limp. Danny followed, with the werecat after him. Its claws raked down his back, and metal fingers seized his arm, but he pulled free.

  Anton was in the drive, with his mini-gun. He caught the werecat in a hail of shredding fire, and it slowed down, essentially undamaged, but making little headway. Selena got in the back of the Toyota, throwing Monk in there brutally. Danny climbed in the front, as Jade revved the engine. Anton fired another burst, ran out of ammo, jumped in the back compartment, as Jade hammered down the accelerator and got them out of there with a loud squeal of rubber. Back there, in the Land Cruiser's rear space, it must be like the black hole of Calcutta, Danny thought. Three people crammed in with all those guns.

  Anton had shot Monk's Honda to pieces, so the T-XA would need to find another car. Just now, though, it wasn't giving up. It ran after them, not gaining, but not falling behind, either, though Jade was doing 60 or 70 mph through the suburban streets, fanging the Land Cruiser up and down slopes and around tight corners. Eventually, they found a straight stretch of downhill road, and Jade pulled ahead, flooring the accelerator. The car rocketed across an intersection, took a hard left... and they got the thing off their tail.

  Danny probed at his wound where the bullet had hit him. It had gone straight through the muscle, just missing a kidney. He was already okay, just a bit drained from the shock and recuperation. He'd live.

  Minutes later, there were police sirens. More trouble.

  From the back seat, Sarah Connor said, "What the hell is going on?"

  "We'll head straight for the Cyberdyne facility," Jade said.

  "Hey," John said, looking round for police cars, "is someone going to explain all this?"

  The T-XA got to Monk," Selena said. "It's reprogrammed her somehow, so she'll serve Skynet's interests. She was primed to attack us on sight, with all her strength, but she couldn't sustain the strain. Apart from her programming, she's not enhanced."

  "All right, so now what? Can you fix her?"

  "No, John," Jade said. "Her whole brain has been altered. Even if we had the technology, we wouldn't know where to start.
The only consolation is that it may not go deep. Her mind is too important to Cyberdyne-the T-XA wouldn't want to tamper with it too much. The real Rosanna Monk might be in there somewhere."

  "Hmm," Danny said skeptically. "We didn't see much sign of it when she answered her door."

  "If she's not going to help us, why bring her along?" John said. "I know I wanted to do this, but we didn't need to, not if it's just alerted them."

  "They were already on alert," Danny said. "They're no better off."

  From the back, Monk groaned as she regained consciousness. She struggled with Selena and Anton, bumping against the rear seats. "This won't help you," she said fiercely, as they controlled her.

  "Why not?" Anton said. "You want to tell us your plans? Maybe the building's layout?"

  "Go to hell."

  "That's where we came from," Selena said. "Believe me, it wasn't pretty."

  Monk struggled again, but it was futile: the Specialists were far stronger.

  "If she won't help us, she's useless," John said, trying to follow what was happening behind him.

  "I wouldn't say that," Selena said. She passed over an electronic keycard and a computer disk. "Here, look what I found. Take care of these for me, will you?"

  John took it. "Okay, now she's useless."

  "No." Danny's voice had a touch of painful humor. "I wouldn't say that, either."

  "Okaaaaaaaay..." Sarah said.

  As they reached the fortress-like Cyberdyne building, two police cars came up behind, sirens blaring and lights flashing. A small army of police and Air Force cars was lined up out front, plus a fire truck and an ambulance. There were people running everywhere, taking up positions, guns raised. Two helicopters circled overhead. The building itself had the tiniest windows. Such as they were, they were in darkness. John had a bad feeling about this; it was like the gates of Mordor.

  Jade steered straight through a boom gate and into the mass of parked vehicles. The cops and military flinched aside as she found a gap between a fire truck and a group of four police cars. Their Land Cruiser screeched to a halt in front of the building, and Jade threw her door open, not even switching off the engine. There was another brief struggle in the back, then Anton got out, lugging his mini-gun and firing a burst without taking cover. One of the helicopters flew in close, and he fired into the air to keep it back.