This jungle was a kind that John had never seen before, though Jade had briefed them all on what to expect, and he'd heard from Sarah and some of the others of similar strange jungles in the equatorial zones back in Skynet's World. Near the equator, the climate had become unstable since Judgment Day, with long droughts—sometimes broken by sudden floods and storms, sometimes by long periods of wet as the Earth's atmosphere adjusted to its cooling. This would probably go on for decades, perhaps centuries. The Amazonian selvas had shrunk back, leaving an ecology of savanna on its edges, with trees growing during the periods of rain.
Deeper within the old selvas a new ecology had evolved. The tall trees had died, unable to survive the months of darkness after the nuclear holocaust, and the ongoing gloom thereafter. Many shallow-rooted forest giants had fallen, bringing down lesser foliage with them. A few still stood, towering two hundred feet in the air, but brown and dead. Eventually all of the giants would crash, their root systems, adapted to a wet climate, unable to anchor them forever. For now, they were monuments to the destruction of Judgment Day. Some were covered with strangler vines and other climbing plants. The plants beneath the canopy—the bottom tier of the old rainforest—had survived, since they were well-adapted to low light. The drop in temperature had not killed them all.
Here at ground level, the vegetation was still thick, but there were breaks in the foliage overhead, not like the forest that had grown here in John's world and time. Through the gaps, the sky was a dirty gray. Right now, the jungle was silent except for the pecking of some kind of bird in the near distance. A few flies drifted around them, but nothing like the masses of insects that John had known, growing up in places like Nicaragua, back in his own world. So much life had gone. There was a strange mix of scents on the air. It was different in essence not only from anything he had encountered in his own time, but also from what he'd found in Skynet's World.
The Terminators reacted to something. John heard a branch snap and turned in that direction, but Jade was even faster than the machines. She pushed aside a T-799 as a group of men and women burst through the bushes, clad in light military uniform and carrying huge guns. Two of them—a young black woman and an equally young Caucasian man—handled their weapons with the same immense strength as a Terminator or as Jade herself. John recognized some of the weapons as phased-plasma laser rifles of the same design that they'd had taken from the T-XA when they'd fought it back in his own world. Judging by their construction, others seemed to be anti-armor weapons, though not of any make or design he'd ever seen.
The word is forest," Jade said slowly. "Don't shoot—it's me. I've had to come back." Several of the guns were aimed straight at her head. John, Sarah, and Cecilia signaled to the Terminators not to move, Jade walked toward the group slowly, raising her hands and holding them far apart to show she was unarmed. Of course, that would have made little difference if she'd been a Terminator—she'd still have been dangerous, armed or not. "Krystal, Dmitri, please don't shoot. It's me."
Not far away, a dog started barking. More people pushed through the grass and bushes, one of them with a dog that began to go frantic as it got closer to the Terminators. Jade moved, rushing in the direction of the dog; she bent down to comfort it, letting it lick her hands, shoulders, and face. It stopped barking, seemingly mollified.
John waved the Terminators back.
There were now a dozen of the newcomers, all of them heavily armed. "Why have you come back?" the black woman said. She carried a laser rifle one-handed. She was covered from head to toe in camouflage gear, including her helmet, canvas boots, and a pair of combat gloves. Only her face was exposed. Her rifle was aimed at Jade's chest, and she looked like she meant business. "What about your mission?" "If I hadn't come back, every world would be in danger," Jade said.
"What do you mean?"
"Krystal..." Jade stood sadly, leaving the dog be.
She looked imploringly into the woman's face. They
obviously knew each other. "Where do I begin?" Jade
said "So much has happened to me. There is so much I now understand. For everyone's sake, I needed to.”
"Where are the others?"
Jade set her jaw before she gave the bad news. "Robert, Selena, Daniel, and Anton are dead. All killed by Skynet's machines."
For what seemed like minutes, no more words were spoken between Jade and the woman called Krystal. John guessed that Jade could communicate with these people using throat mikes, just as she had with Anton. She was probably giving them detail more quickly than he could have followed.
At last, the woman lowered her rifle, and the others followed. "All right. I've got the picture, Jade. You're really you...but this is a helluva way to come back. Right now, we're in danger. All of us."
Sarah interrupted, sounding exasperated. "For God's sake, is there any clothing you people can give us?"
Krystal nodded at her respectfully. "Are you Sarah Connor?"
"Yes...nice to meet you. Now what about some goddamn clothes? There must be something we can wear—"
Some of them opened the leg pouches in their uniforms. They handed over small objects made of a kind of plastic, which unfolded into garments a little like boilersuits, colored a mix of tan and olive drab. The fabric looked and felt flimsy, like spider web, but as John wrestled it on he found that it had unexpected strength. It didn't tear.
"We don't have enough for all of you," Krystal said.
There were enough clothes for the humans, which was all that really mattered. The Terminators needed no protection from the elements. To John, the costume seemed kind of dorky, but he was thankful for an thing that kept away the cold. Above all, he could have used a pair of sturdy boots—but, hey, you couldn't have everything. Not in a situation like this.
"Thank you," Sarah said, struggling into her own garment. "That's a good start."
"We can do better," Krystal said, nodding. "We'll get you boots and proper uniforms—back at our base. Sarah and John"—she nodded at them both—"you died in this world, trying to stop Skynet. People admire you here. But something is coming. Skynet has detected you."
Just then, the dog's ears pricked up. John listened lor any new sound, but the dog began barking furiously.
VILA NOVA DO SUL
Hiro's analysis showed that whatever Skynet had sent to the Amazon from Colorado had arrived at almost the same spot as the first event. There might be a few hundred yards' difference, since there was a margin lor error in the analysis. For the moment, there was no more that he could do about that situation. Anxiety gnawed at him about Jade. Had her team returned? Even if it had, was she among them? He finished the conversation with Joe Vicario. For now, there was nothing more to discuss. He would wait to hear from Vicario when contact was made, At least he'd warned them that Skynet had acted. They would need to make their own decisions. "Tough, huh?" Merrillee said, wish I knew its significance. Did they come back help?"
"Assuming it's Jade and the others?" " He felt his face redden—he must not make assumptions. "Yes, that is what I meant."
She shrugged. "Maybe they want to help us?"
They used the sensors that fed information from outside, seeking an update on the fierce battle for Vila Nova do Sul. A force of eleven aerial H-Ks, supported by Juggernauts and an army of endos, had surrounded them, and was relentlessly moving in. Fast light-armored skimmers—the Humvees of the air—harassed Skynet's machines, firing their own phased-plasma mini-cannons, but their numbers were now too few. Despite all their efforts, Vila Nova could not last much longer. Even if they repelled the current force, Skynet could send more.
Once Vila Nova do Sul fell, no other human enclave in the Western hemisphere could hold out for long. Small groups such as those in the Amazon jungle might survive a little longer, hiding away from the enemy and avoiding conflict unless discovered, but they offered no real hope; sooner or later, Skynet would find them all. The army gathered by Ramsey Devaux had made a last effort to attack the computer in Colorado.
Humanity's only real chance for survival was in another reality where Judgment Day never happened. So much hope had gone with Jade and her team, though he'd never expected to find out its fate...
Even as he watched on his screens, an H-K came too low, and was struck by an anti-armor missile; it exploded across the screens, and Hiro could imagine the momentary celebration outside on the front line.
"Looks like we got one," Merrillee said. A few others cheered, but Hiro shook his head, giving just a thin-lipped smile. There were other war machines to defeat, and Skynet's factories kept turning out more.
Soon, Skynet would have what it wanted: the extermination of the whole human species.
AMAZON BASIN
The T-XA emerged from the coiling lightning, and immediately plunged a shovel-sized hand deep within its own chest—then withdrew the phased-plasma laser rifle that it had carried on its journey from Colorado. Its liquid-metal opened up with the texture of chilled honey, then closed with the hardness of steel. The T-XA's mission was to investigate the anomaly that Skynet had detected in the space-time field, and to destroy any hostile forces that it encountered. It had taken the form of a gigantic, shaven-headed man, but it could adopt any other appearance it desired, even splitting into multiple components if need be.
The T-XA was almost indestructible, with advanced cybernetic abilities. It was well equipped to succeed.
Its sensors detected only the ghost of a fluctuation in the space-time field. The fluctuation was a quarter to half a mile away, which meant that the T-XA's displacement across space had been acceptably accurate. However, it had arrived too late to obtain a more precise target location. That was a minor setback, but it would cover the distance rapidly, and find anything unusual. As it pushed through the bushes and grass, it made contact with the artificial intelligences controlling Skynet's closest aircraft—the H-K and the transporter assigned to assist its mission.
Both machines were within fifty miles, and approaching at near-supersonic speed. At the T-XA's command, they deviated marginally from their course, headed for the same approximate target.
"Aircraft approaching," Jade said. "And something else." Krystal put her finger to her lips, and walked stealthily toward a thicker part of the foliage, motioning for the rest to follow. John picked his way over the grass, avoiding roots and fallen branches. He noticed that it was not unbearably cold this close to the equator. In the odd garment he'd put on, he'd probably be okay. The worst part was walking through this strange terrain without shoes, trying not to stub his toes.
The high-pitched whine of powerful engines filled the air. Through the foliage, he caught a glimpse of two dark-gray aircraft, skimming quickly overhead. Neither had quite the sinister insectoid shape of the aerial H-Ks he'd seen in Skynet's World, though one was similar. John picked it as this world's version of an H-K, larger than those he'd seen in Skynet's World, and with swept-back wings more like those of a conventional plane. The other was a flatter kind of design, like an airborne barge or troop carrier—which he guessed it might be. Inwardly, he thanked Jade for all the briefings she'd given him and the others on this world's weaponry and tactics. Though nothing looked familiar, he could match what he saw against her diagrams and descriptions.
Wordlessly, Jade's people took up positions. For John, it was frustrating working with fighters who didn't need to talk out loud. It seemed that all of them were linked to sub-vocalize to each other, a point that Jade had not made clear before they'd left, or perhaps he had not properly grasped it.
She moved to his side. "They haven't detected us yet," she whispered. "They're still circling."
He nodded. "Right."
"But they know we are here. Their sensors are highly accurate."
"If one of those is a transporter, it'll need a landing area," John said,
"Yes, it will, once it knows where we are." Jade nodded at her comrades. "We know the terrain here—where they will try to land."
"You'll target them there?"
"Yes, when they are most vulnerable."
"Then we've got to use the Terminators," John said. He looked at her meaningfully. "Use one of the T-1000s. Capicse?"
She stared at him, puzzled for a moment, then said, "You are right."
"It's our best chance, Jade."
"I agree," she said. "Skynet has given us an opportunity." Moving like a ghost, she stepped over to Sarah, to have the same conversation. She must have been subvocalizing to the others, because some of them handed weapons to the Terminators. Jade spoke to the machines, too quietly for John to make out, but the machines had better hearing.
The nearest one to Jade was a T-799. It must have understood the need for quiet, for it said, in a surprisingly soft voice, "Affirmative."
The H-K flew directly toward them. Krystal spoke out loud: "We've been spotted."
Jade shouted, "Down, John! Everybody down!"
And then a giant figure plunged through the grass and scrub, firing a laser rifle.
Sarah knew immediately what they were up against—the same kind of monster that they had fought in her own world and time, first in Mexico City, then in Colorado Springs: a T-XA. Without a weapon there was little she could do, but their own Terminators were thoroughly briefed on the T-XA and its abilities. One of the T-800s rushed directly into the super-hot laser beam, which struck it in the chest—not a useful place to hit a T-800. Even as flesh burnt away from its hyperalloy chassis, the T-800 reached the T-XA and grappled with it, trying to seize the rifle from its grasp.
Meanwhile, the H-K swooped low, firing laser cannons mounted in turrets on its wings and undercarriage. Bolts of light penetrated the jungle foliage, incinerating anything they touched. One of the Terminators was hit, but it survived—they were hard to kill unless you could actually take out a GPU with highly accurate fire. The H-K passed by overhead, then released a missile. Sarah realized that the T-XA and the T-l000s could withstand almost any explosion, but the other Terminators might not; humans could certainly not.
She flattened herself on the ground, taking cover behind a knotted mass of tree roots, holding both arms over her head. As she moved, she saw jade's people firing their laser weapons, trying to shoot the missile out of the sky. She'd seen Jade and Anton do that; she hoped these fighters were just as skilled. Within seconds, that hope was answered. A huge explosion almost deafened her, and the concussion wave shook her body, but the missile had exploded in the air.
As the H-K circled back to make another pass, the T-XA and the much smaller T-800 grappled. The T-800 smashed the laser rifle from the T-XA's hands, then drove a powerful blow into the giant Terminator's upper body, but its fist stuck there—the T-XA's liquid-metal softened to absorb the impact, then hardened. No one dared rush for the laser rifle as the two powerful machines fought, the T-XA easily gaining the upper hand. It picked up the T-800, which must have weighed over three hundred pounds, and tossed it twenty feet. The T-800 smashed against the trunk of a huge, dead tree. But before the T-XA could retrieve its rifle, two more T-800s tackled it. John, Jade, and some of the others were frantically organizing a team to deal with the transporter and whatever machines it carried. Sarah saw her chance to make a contribution. As the T-XA struggled to beat down the two T-800s, she dived for its laser rifle.
Krystal rushed away on a track to Sarah's left, along with a handful of her fighters, plus the two T-l000s and most of the other Terminators. The T-XA overpowered one of the T-800s, then clubbed the other to the ground with powerful blows that ripped away much of the flesh on its face, and left one ear almost red. Of course, those "injuries" meant nothing to a Terminator.
Before the T-XA could act any further, Sarah opened fire on it with the laser rifle, holding the heavy weapon in both hands. She'd learnt in previous battles with liquid-metal Terminators that point-blank fire from such weapons had some effect on them, burning off the top layers of metal and causing some kind of confusion in their circuitry. She knew she could die at any second, as she
heard the H-K skimming back toward them over the treetops. In a moment, it would launch its missiles or fry them with its laser cannon, but that didn't matter. Right now, this was personal -just her versus the T-XA. It was the focus for all her anger, for her thoughts of everything that Skynet had done to her, the people it had killed, the pain she'd had to go through time and time again in the struggle to save the Earth from Skynet. "Eat this!" she shouted, her face contorted in anger.
She fired a super-hot bolt of light directly into its torso, and the T-XA stepped back. She stepped closer, firing again. And again. She squeezed the trigger back fully, and laser bolts streamed from the gun in a continual burst of fire. The T-XA held its ground, neither staggering back further nor advancing. Sarah gritted her teeth, continuing to fire. "Come on, eat some more, you goddamn metal freak."
A swordlike shaft twenty feet long stabbed out at her, formed from one of the monster's arms. But she'd been focused—she'd fought this kind of Terminator before—and she'd expected something like that. This time, it missed, as she hurled herself to the ground.
So much was happening around her. High-powered bolts of laser light from the H-K pierced the tree cover, some of them striking the grassy ground—but one punched straight through one of the fighters who had come to meet Sarah and the others. It consumed and killed him instantly. Another hit a T-800, burning through its shoulder and melting the metal skeleton underneath. The arm dangled like it was on a string. A third went through the body of young Curtis Suarez.
Cecilia cried, "No!" She raced to him as shafts of burning light stabbed down all round.
The uniformed fighters shot back with their laser rifles and anti-armor projectile weapons. Sarah passed her newly acquired laser rifle to Jade—good as her own skills were, Jade's were even better. An unremitting barrage of fire drove the H-K away; it climbed higher, but launched a salvo of three missiles. Sarah got down; there was nothing else she could do. There was an explosion high in the air. At the same time, two of the T-800s that had fought the T-XA resumed their battle with the shapeshifting Terminator. A T-799 threw itself across Sarah, its body like a wall of flesh-and-metal armor.
T2 - 03 - The New John Connor Chronicles - Times of Trouble Page 22
