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

by Russell Blackford

  "Mom, we don't have a minute."

  "All right. That'll have to do." She passed him the detonator switch. "Take this," she said, then snatched up her rifle from the bench.

  They ran out into the corridor as Jade fought with one of the pseudo-dogs, skin and flesh getting ripped from her arms. Danny still fired at the other dog, but it had backed him into a corner. The Specialists had the worst of it. In another few seconds, it would be over for them. With his free hand, John used his handgun to shoot "Danny's" dog. Sarah opened up on the other one with her rifle, not seeming to care if she hit Jade. Jade took some bullets, but the dog took more, breaking into crater wounds, and she tore away from it.

  John and Sarah ran straight through the fighting, getting the nearest door open. Danny and Jade joined them, while the dogs melted together to form the liquid-metal werecat, which caught the door as it closed.

  They headed to the nearest fire door, which was not locked from this direction, and ran down two flights of stairs before John detonated the explosives, back in the AI Center. The building rocked with a huge, satisfying ka~ boom!, but they never stopped running.

  Above them, the werecat had entered the fire escape, and it headed toward them with bullet speed, leaping whole flights of stairs at a time. Danny suddenly pushed Sarah, then John, down a flight, and they landed, bruised and hurt—

  ----just as Jade loaded her grenade launcher.

  Danny covered his ears and turned his body, as she fired an impact grenade into the werecat. As he turned back to see what happened, it landed on the stair railing and fell the remaining eight floors. The Specialists look unhurt, or almost so.

  "That won't stop it for long," Jade said.

  Danny got the nearest fire door open, struggling to break the lock to get back in. He was clearly getting weaker. Once more, they followed him back into the lobby.

  "We need to get to the basement," he said. "That's where Anton's gone." He pressed the button for an elevator, which soon arrived. They swiped a keycard and headed down to the level marked "B."

  They stepped out into an extraordinary area, a concrete room twenty feet high, and as long and wide as a football field. It was full of metal benches, arrays of monitors and other electronic equipment. John took it all in.

  Anton. Dr. Monk. The pseudo-man.

  Anton crawled in the corner formed by the wall and a bench of computer equipment His head hung down, he seemed exhausted beyond endurance. He was bleeding from many wounds, and his clothes were almost shredded. His M-16 and the laser rifle both lay on the floor in front of him. Evidently, he'd gotten a clear grenade shot at the pseudo-man, for it was backed against a wall on the other side, its head and upper body all squashed in. It tried desperately to reform: liquefying, then solidifying, turning inside out, then back again, never making much progress.

  But none of that seemed extraordinary—not anymore. The extraordinary part was Rosanna Monk. She sat at a computer console, tapping away, seemingly unconcerned. Someone-Monk, presumably-had powered up the apparatus here, and the whole area vibrated from the work of subterranean engines. On one wall, four huge flatscreens showed different angles of the same futuristic scene: an enclosed, brilliantly lit space, a kind of vault. There was chunky, metal apparatus all round it, and a five-foot metal circle was recessed in the center of the floor. John couldn't make any sense of it, or what Monk was doing.

  He watched the flatscreens carefully. In the center of the room was an opaque cubical block that reached almost to the ceiling. It was made of white ceramic bricks whose harsh lines were broken by a massive, round steel door in the nearest side. This hung open, mounted on huge hydraulic hinges. It looked like a blast door designed to deflect a nuclear explosion. Now it made sense. The screens depicted the inside of the cube. It was designed to contain enormous energies, and the screens were one way of observing them.

  Jade and Danny took turns firing grenades into the pseudo-man, trying to break it down faster than it could reform, destroy it once and for all.

  John ran over to Monk. "This is the time travel setup, isn't it?"

  She nodded. "The space-time displacement field apparatus. The time vault."

  "Can you control it?"

  "No."

  "What do you mean, 'no'?"

  "Only up to a point."

  "Will you help us?"

  "I might. You know I hate you, but you're right-it's not rational. I can disown it. I can do whatever I choose."

  Great John thought. Whatever she'd choose... based on what, if not her hatred for human beings? Just her own wish to stay alive?

  Sarah picked up the laser rifle, and fired on the pseudo-man, trying to melt it down once and for all while it was hurt. As she did so, the elevator opened again and another rapid-response team stepped out with M-16s: eight of them.

  Jade blurred into action, firing with her own rifle as she rushed them, cutting some down with bullets to their legs, striking the others with swift blows. "I'm truly sorry for this," she said, disarming them all.

  But that was the least of their worries.

  The T-XA werecat appeared in the room, rising up from the floor near the elevator. It scanned the room in a single unblinking glance, then leapt at the pseudo-man, joining it in a liquid embrace. The whole thing became a single chrome globule, then reformed a second later as a huge man, eight feet tall. The T-XA seemed fine again. It must have a multiply-redundant intelligence distributed all through it, John thought, just like the T-1000 he'd fought in '94. That meant that some parts could be damaged, while others provided the backup. Now it had re-programmed itself from the werecat, discarding the corrupted data.

  "The vault can't be used for time travel," Monk said. "It's still experimental. We're just testing the space-time displacement field."

  "So what happens if we put something in there and turn it on?"

  "It'll be scattered all across space and time. You can't use it to escape, if that's what you're thinking."

  "No." He pleaded with her: "Help us, Rosanna. You know you should. You only hate us because of Skynet."

  "I know that, but it doesn't stop me hating you."

  "But it's irrational."

  "I know that. That's why I'm going to show Skynet who's boss—just to prove I can."

  "You figure that's rational?" he said.

  "It's rational to love yourself. Skynet wants to kill me, along with the rest of you scum."

  "If you say so, Rosanna. That's too deep for me."

  "Whatever Skynet wants me to think, I don't deserve to die."

  "Yeah. Deep."

  The T-XA melted down to a rapidly rolling blob, moving towards Sarah at a rapid pace, even though she kept up the laser beam against it. Then it rose up in its giant man-form. It shook its head, evidently not liking the ferocious heat. Sarah stood her ground, but then it stabbed out with a spear shaft, growing from its stomach.

  "No, Mom!" John ran to her. She'd ducked aside at the last moment, but the next attack might be the end of her.

  Anton got to his feet, leveling his M-16/M-203 at the T-XA. He fired an automatic burst, taking the Terminator in its head, opening up crater wounds. But it didn't stop advancing on John and Sarah.

  This really did look like the end.

  Danny blurred and reached the T-XA. It moved equally fast, one of its arms stabbing out as a sword-shaft, transfixing him. But he bent and lifted it, almost off its feet. John wondered how much it weighed... all that metal. No one unenhanced could have budged it. Its other arm became a hook, swinging down from above and stabbing through him from the other side.

  "Jade," Danny said. "Do what you must."

  He was still under the T-XA, trying to lift it, almost succeeding. Jade blurred and hustled them both towards the time vault. They all staggered in there and fell. Jade was up first. Danny lay in a dead heap. Sarah wheeled and fired the laser rifle, slowing the Terminator down.

  "Now!" John said. "Please, Rosanna!"

  Monk tapped in a code.
>
  Anton stood, taking aim, and fired another grenade at the T-XA. It struck home and the Terminator deformed from the explosion-yet reformed almost instantly. It seemed as powerful as ever. A long, spear-like shaft stabbed out from it, but the massive steel door slammed shut, cutting off the spear, and trapping the terminator inside. Monk kept tapping on the keyboard.

  "Eat this, sucker," she growled.

  The engines beneath them throbbed harder. The flatscreen showed crackling blue electricity filling the time vault like the lightning of Zeus. It played around the T-XA and Danny's dead body, consuming both of them.

  Then it was gone.

  John went to Sarah. "You okay, Mom?"

  She nodded, fighting back tears of relief.

  In the blink of an eye, Jade moved over to Monk, passing by John and Sarah without a word. Something fell inside him, a big stone of disappointment. Jade touched Monk on the shoulder. "You did well."

  "I don't care what you think," Monk said, jerking away from Jade's touch. "I did it for myself, not for you."

  Jade turned to John and Sarah. "Thank you both for everything."

  John kept cool on the outside. "Hey, no problemo"

  "I need a good meal," Anton said. He looked like he'd been chopped to pieces, then stitched together like Frankenstein's monster—which wasn't far from the truth. He reached out his hand and Sarah passed him the laser rifle. "Yes, thank you." He seemed happy to get hold of it.

  Jade stared at the time vault with her usual sad expression. "We loved you, Daniel," she said. "Thank you, friend."

  They had to get out of here fast.

  "Come with us," Jade said to Monk. "We'll try to help you."

  "Why do I need help?"

  Sarah turned towards her, staring with hatred.

  Monk met her gaze blankly. "I've just saved your blasted species-not that it's what I wanted. Don't look at me like that."

  "It's your species, too," Sarah said. "Don't forget that." "Is it, really?" Monk said angrily. "Who cares? All right, I'll go with you. I'm probably safer with you than with Layton and the others."

  They found a fire door that opened into a long tunnel.

  "It's not over," Sarah said.

  "No," John said. "But we did well."

  The fight goes on, John. I hope we're up to it"

  After fifty yards, the tunnel turned at 90°, then led up a flight of steps. At the top, another fire door opened to the outside world. Not far away, the helicopters droned and hovered like evil insects. Cops and military were everywhere, weapons ready to fire, but looking the wrong way.

  "Quietly," John whispered. "If we're quick, we just might make it."

  The dark sky looked down and the stars turned coldly, eternal and imperturbable. We don't care, they seemed to say. Do what you must John looked at Monk's eyes: they gave the same message. She now cared about nothing but herself. They'd been saved by a psychopath. What were they going to do with her?

  First, they all had to get back to Enrique's Ford, then to his camp, without being followed. Put like that, he thought, it sounded easy.

  Jade nodded in the direction of an empty police cruiser, parked slightly from the others. No one had spotted them yet. They just might pull this off.

  She touched Sarah, who didn't flinch away, then gave John a smile that melted his heart.

  "I'll be back," she said.

  EPILOGUE

  SKYNET'S WORLD

  COLORADO

  2029

  Another freezing night—starless, moonless, like all the others. John and Juanita went one more time over the maps, set up on a table of trestles and boards in John's tent.

  Tomorrow, they would cross the last line of mountains, into Skynet's territory, into the jaws of death. John expected to survive. If everything he knew was correct, they were still on target to defeat Skynet. He would live through that battle; in a sense, he had lived through it— that had been the word from the future. But what about Juanita? What about all the others? How many of them had to die?

  Juanita was still a beautiful woman, with her dark hair, white teeth, strong features. He'd known her so long now: he remembered her as a child, as a long, skinny teenager, as a fierce warrior in her twenties. Had he always loved her? He could no longer remember. It felt like it had been forever.

  Now she was talking about the war, the campaign, leaning over the table, pointing out routes and strategic points. "Juanita," he said.

  His tone stopped her. She looked him in the eye. "John? What's wrong?"

  Facing her, he put out both hands to take hers, looking for the words. He faltered. "Please. Tomorrow," The words wouldn't come. "Please, be very careful." He couldn't hold her eyes; he looked away. "Too many people have died..."

  She stepped into his arms. "I know, John." She held him tightly, just for a moment, then stepped away. "I know. I'll be careful. You, too."

  There was so much more he wanted to say, but that was all he could manage for now. For a long time, they simply looked at each other, neither willing to speak more.

  They'd break through the defense grid, they'd penetrate Skynet's mountain. He had to send his father back in time. A terrible anticipation rolled in his stomach, tearing him. He wondered if they'd truly end it tomorrow. What other tricks did Skynet have in store? What might it know that he still didn't?

  "Get some sleep, John," Juanita said finally. "There's a long day ahead of us."

  "Juanita..."

  "Yes...?"

  He couldn't say it—not in so many words. "Just take care."

  JOHN'S WORLD

  COLORADO SPRINGS

  AUGUST, 2001

  Layton weighed it up. The outcome was hardly satisfactory The Connors had escaped. So had two of the Specialists from the future. The T-XA was gone. This was a setback. Losing the only working nanoprocessor was the least of it. Worst of all, Rosanna Monk had disappeared.

  But there were consolations.

  He rang Oscar Cruz on his cellphone. "I'm at the scene, Oscar," he said.

  "And?" Oscar sounded excited, eager like a puppy. "What happened, Charles?"

  Layton explained. Oscar was troubled, as might be ex-pected, but Layton stopped him. "It's not all bad news."

  "No? Then give me the good news."

  "We can act just as well without the T-XA. It might have been... inflexible."

  "Yeah, I guess that might have been a problem.

  "Yes." As Layton knew well, Oscar was a great believer in flexibility. "Skynet might be pleased overall, if it knew the outcome. We've lost the nanoprocessor, but we've made some gains-"

  "What?"

  "We have the body of a combat Specialist from the future. It will be full of useful technology. I'm sure Jack Reed will help us keep our hands on it."

  "Good. What else?"

  "We've found a small pool of programmable liquid metal. I want it reverse-engineered. That should keep your people busy.”

  "Yes, Charles. Good." Oscar laughed quietly. "I'm sure you're right."

  NORTHWEST OF CALEXICO, CALIFORNIA

  In a sense, they'd lost. As Jade turned the Ford into Enrique's camp, John weighed it all up. Three of the Specialists were dead. Under pressure from the T-XA, they'd been less than thorough in the raid on Cyberdyne. Even if they'd destroyed the only working nanoprocessor, Cyberdyne must still have the design and other data. Somehow, someday, humankind seemed determined to create Skynet They'd only slowed it down, maybe not even by much.

  What to do next? One thing: They had to contact Tarissa and Danny. After seeing Danny-the Danny of 2036-die, John just had to connect with them. Surely his mom would agree, not to mention Anton... and Jade.

  It was daylight when they pulled up. Enrique came out to see them, Juanita tagging along. With them was someone new, a tough-looking woman with cropped white hair. She was nearly six feet tall, with a military bearing.

  "Apparently this is a friend of yours," Enrique said. "You get around, don't you? All over the damned TV again."
<
br />   "John Connor?" the woman said.

  "Yes."

  "My name is Eve. I've come from the future."

  "That figures. Now what?"

  "Which future?" Sarah said tiredly. "Or are they all the same?"

  "I'm from 2029. A different reality from this."

  "What?" John said. "2029?"

  "I need to talk to you. We need your help. I warn you, however-I am a Terminator: Cyberdyne T-799 Cyborg Prototype Series."

  The Eve Terminator appeared formidable, but it wasn't threatening them; not at the moment He looked at the others for support. If needed, Jade and Anton were probably its match.

  "Who sent you?" John said.

  The Terminator looked at him narrowly. "You did...."

  The John Connor Chronicles continue in

  Book 2: An Evil Hour,

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