Free T2 - 01 - The New John Connor Chronicles - Dark Futures by Russell Blackford Page A

Terminator. It took the printout, read it quickly, and passed it back.
    "Very good."
    "Cool, you mean," John said, still trying to teach the Terminator how to lighten up. "That's cool. Got it?"
    "That's cool."
    He'd grown used to the T-800, but the novelty had worn off. In fact, it could be a drag always having it around, cutting down his privacy. But he needed it to guard him. Sooner or later, the T-1000 would track him down again. When it found him, he knew he'd need all the help he could get.
    Sarah, Raoul, and Gabriela were out on the back porch of Raoul's house, sharing a drink with Willard and a few others.
    "Read this," John said, passing the printout to Sarah.
    The Tejadas watched her expectantly. "Good work," she said to him. To the others, she added, "We've got the Salcedas on board."
    "Ah, excellent!" Raoul said. He sounded a bit drunk. Hard though they were working by day, the Tejadas were not denying themselves any of life's good things in the evenings. Those things would not be around much longer. "Here's to Enrique and Yolanda!"
    Sarah allowed herself a satisfied smile. "That's a very good start, John."
     
    Another week passed, and the Salcedas arrived in a 4WD truck they'd picked up second-hand in Buenos Aires . "Nice to see you again, Connor," Enrique said, embracing Sarah. "It looks like we're in for a fight."
    "Oh, Sarah!" Yolanda said tearfully. "John!"
    The adults all knew each other well, for they'd often worked together, but the kids had to be introduced. The younger Salceda kids were confused and homesick, but Franco looked determined. He walked over to John and shook his hand. "Well done, man," he said. "You're cool."
    Hercules checked out the Salcedas ' dog, while Enrique approached the T-800, clapping it on the shoulder. "So, 'Uncle Bob,' huh? It's good to see you here, friend."
    "It's good to see you, friend," the T-800 said. "Cool."
    John felt like covering his face. The T-800 was learning, but it could still sound dorky.
    Enrique shrugged glancing over at Sarah. "Bob doesn't waste words, does he, Sarahlita?"
    "He's the strong, silent type," she said.
    "Yeah. Fair enough, too."
    From then on, the population at the estancia kept expanding. Some of Sarah's old friends from Nicaragua showed up, even her one-time boyfriends, who looked at her with new respect. A force was gathering.
     
    COLORADO
    AUGUST 28, 1997
     
    A dark road wound gently up the mountain's lower slope, through ponderosa pine and mountain scrub, then climbed more steeply towards the rugged granite peak. Near the road, a series of electrical flashes lit up the night sky, just before
midnight
. They were visible for miles—a twisting, morphing spider-web of blue lightning.
    For several seconds, the light show went on, crawling over treetops, amongst branches, then ceased as abruptly as it began. The "Eve" prototype T-799 Terminator materialized in mid-air, falling to the forest's grassy . floor, then quickly sat up, assessing its situation. The time transfer placed stresses on its body that a human would have registered as extreme pain—but that was unimportant. The Terminator quickly confirmed that its systems were fully functioning. That settled, it discarded the "pain" readings—they would soon cease.
    Eve stood and surveyed her surroundings: darkness and vegetation all round, no useful infrared readings, no relevant animal life. She would need to orient herself quickly to meet her programmed objectives.
    In 2026, Skynet had not yet solved the problems of preparing non-living matter for travel through a space-time displacement field, so Eve traveled naked on the voyage back in time. All her external layers were well-maintained living flesh, which interacted most favorably with the displacement field. Her white-blonde hair was razored into a bristling flattop, imitating the style of the human Resistance warrior whom Skynet had chosen as a template. It had copied Eve's appearance and voice carefully from that of Sergeant Helen