David Hagberg - Rise of the Machines

T-X glanced at him. He was typical of humans of his socio-economic class in this era: round shoulders, potbelly, wearing a red baseball cap, yellow checked shirt, and dark trousers and work boots. Probably not well educated.

The trailer bore the advertising legend for something called xenadrine efx, with the advice, experience the

POWER.

Ignoring him, T-X raised her jury-rigged weapon and fired a short plasma burst at the side of the hill. Grass and bushes went up in flames and a small area of gravel and rocks was instantly reduced to slag.

Out of the corner of her optical sensors she saw the truck driver turn and run away as fast as his bandy legs could take him.

She would not kill him. He was meaningless.

Her electronic emissions detectors picked up the transmissions from what she determined to be an LAPD

helicopter, flying at one hundred meters above the terrain, two kilometers away.

She adjusted her internal communications circuitry and made contact with the helicopter. "Nancy-one-zero-zero-niner, LA. base," she radioed. "Copy?"

c,20

Angeles National Forest

Beneath the protection of a canopy of trees Connor stared at the empty, mostly cloudless sky.

There had been police activity all morning and into the afternoon. But it was coming up on two-thirty and he hadn't seen a spotter plane or helicopter in at least forty-five minutes.

Kate was still in a state of semishock. Other than drinking from the cool mountain stream, she hadn't spoken or moved to try to escape. Nothing.

The T-X was still out there, coming after them. If being crushed beneath a crane and fire truck hadn't destroyed her, then being struck by a semi truck had probably not even dented her armor.

Terminator had done something to the hearse's engine and he slammed the hood as Connor came over.

"It's been clear for almost an hour."

Terminator didn't bother looking up at the sky. "I am unable to fix this vehicle."

"Will it run?" Conner asked.

"Yes. But not long."

"Then let's find something eke and get as far away as we can," Connor said.

They got back into the hearse and headed farther up into the mountains where within a couple of miles they passed twenty or twenty-five trout fishermen working the stream that was just off the road there. A registration table was set up under a bright red canopy.' The sign flapping in the light breeze read fifth annual angeles forest

TROUT FEST.

No one noticed the heavily damaged hearse as it passed, and minutes later they came across an RV campground filled with campers, but devoid of people. The RVs belonged to the fishermen in the trout contest downstream.

Terminator pulled alongside a midsized Winnebago that appeared to be in good condition, and shut off the hearse's engine. The motor bucked and dieseled for a few seconds and then died.

He got out, went over to the Winnebago, and yanked open its locked door.

Connor jumped out of the hearse. "Come on," he said to Kate. "We have to keep moving."

Terminator came back, scooped up an armful of weapons, and took them to the RV. Connor grabbed the AK-47 and a bag of magazines and brought them over to the Winnebago.

"He was killed because of me," Kate said from the passenger seat. She made no move to get out

Connor gathered four canvas satchels of C-4 explosive and acid fuses. He stopped and looked at her. He could

feel her pain. He knew what it was like to lose someone who was very close.

He shoved a 9mm Beretta pistol into his belt, first making sure that its magazine was loaded and the safety catch was engaged.

"I know it won't help, but sometimes things happen that we just can't change." He shook his head. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't have words to make a difference. "It's not your fault."

Kate looked at him without moving, without saying a word.

Connor took the plastic explosives over to the RV and placed them inside. Terminator was there.

"You're sure about this?" Connor asked him, keeping his voice low enough so that Kate couldn't hear him. "About her and me, I mean."

"I do not experience uncertainty," Terminator replied.

Connor laughed. "Must be nice to be you."

Terminator studied him for a moment. "Your confusion is not rational. She is a healthy female of breeding age."

"I think there's more to it than that," Connor said, feeling a little warmth at the base of his neck.

"My database does not encompass the dynamics of human pair bonding," Terminator said. He went back to the hearse for more weapons. Connor followed him.

"This Terminatrix, how many others does she have on her hit list?"

"Twenty-two," Terminator replied, gathering the belted ammunition for the machine gun. "Anderson, Elizabeth.

Anderson, William. Barrera, Jose. Brewster, Robert—"

Kate sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. "My father?" she demanded.

Terminator turned his optical sensors to her, noting her pupil dilation, the tightening at the corners of her mouth, and her increased heart and respiration rates. But there was no need to lie by omission at this time. "Having failed to acquire its primary target, the T-X will resume its default program."

Kate leaped out of the hearse. It looked as if she was getting ready to spring at Terminator or at Connor. She just hadn't made up her mind. "She's going to kill my father too?"

"There is a high probability."

"No," Kate shrieked. "No!"

This was something new, and it wasn't making sense to Connor. "Who is he? What does he do?"

"He's in the Air Force," Kate snapped. "Weapons design. Secret stuff." She pushed her hair off her forehead. "I don't know exactly—"

Terminator started back to the Winnebago with another load of weapons. He stopped. "General Robert Brewster is program director at CRS—Cyber Research Systems—Autonomous Weapons Division."

Suddenly it began to make sense to Connor. "Autonomous Weapons—Skynet. You're talking about Skynet, aren't you?"

"Skynet is one of the digital defense systems developed under Brewster's supervision."

"Oh, God," Connor said. Everything was crystal clear

now. Chillingly clear. "It all makes sense now." He shook his head in amazement. "If you hadn't come back when I was a kid, if everything hadn't changed, she and I—" He glanced at Kate. "She and I, we would've gotten together then. I would have met her father a long time ago, and—" There was even more. It was unrolling like a gigantic map in his mind's eye. "Do you see? This was always supposed to happen."

Kate shook her head in confusion. It was clear she had no idea what he was talking about. "I don't understand."

"Your father, this is all about your father," Connor told her excitedly. "He's the key! He always was—not Cy-berdyne. Don't you see? We couldn't stop them from creating the technology. That part was inevitable, but we can stop it from being used. Your father's the one who can shut Skynet down. He's the only one who ever could." His jaw tightened. He turned to Terminator. We have to get to him before the T-X does."

"Negative," Terminator said. "I cannot jeopardize my mission." He turned and went back to the Winnebago with his load of weapons.

"This is your mission!" Connor shouted after him. "To save people."

Terminator turned. "My mission is to ensure the survival of John Connor and Katherine Brewster."

"I'm giving you an order," Connor said with a sharp edge in his voice.

"I am not programmed to follow your orders," Terminator replied indifferently. He put the weapons into the

RV. "After the nuclear war you will both lead."

"Nuclear war?" Kate shouted. This was way over the top for her, even after everything else she had been put through this day.

"There doesn't have to be a war," Connor insisted.