Infiltrator

'Tomorrow's Sunday, should be a fairly easy day. How about six?'

'I'll bring the beer,' Dieter said.

'Outstanding!' Ferri said. 'See ya.'

'Tomorrow,' von Rossbach agreed.

He hung up and looked at Sarah. She seemed to be all eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile.

'We're on,' he said.

ROUTE FIVE, JUST OUTSIDE L.A.: THE PRESENT

'Major Ferri, I'll be at the base in twenty minutes. That's seven-fifteen. Would you please meet me at the main gate?' Jordan asked, steering one-handed through the insane Southern California drivers.

Ferri sighed. 'Sure,' he said. 'See you in twenty.'

'Thanks Ralph. I owe you.'

'You do,' the Major agreed.

Ferri hung up, chuckling. He really did like having people owe him favors.

Especially for things that weren't going to inconvenience him in any way. As for meeting Dyson at the gate, well, he was looking forward to a full rundown on this situation anyway and this would be the quickest way to get one.

Ferri never had taken to the Burns woman. She was a looker all right, too gorgeous to be real; you kept expecting to see some guy with an airbrush pop out

of the bushes and give her a touch-up.

But the base dogs couldn't stand her and showed it, growling and showing their teeth. Ferri had been a dog handler early in his career, and knew that if the well-trained MP dogs couldn't keep discipline around that woman it had to mean something. What that might be he didn't know—yet. Maybe Dyson would be able to give him some insight.

Meanwhile, until he knew what was wrong with her, putting one over on that corporate snob was going to be absolutely delicious. And if it worked out that he could in some way embarrass Burns, or if fortune allowed, get her fired, well, that would just be the icing on the cake.

He glanced at the clock. It would take ten minutes to walk to the gate if he hurried, so he might as well start now and take it easy. This promised to be interesting, maybe even fun.

Jordan glanced in his rearview mirror at the boy. He looked a little more pale than he had when they started out, but not frighteningly so. He appeared to be asleep. Should I wake him up? he wondered. Head wounds were supposed to be kept awake, weren't they?

Whatever! He was an investigator, not a doctor. Hey, he's breathing. And in twenty minutes he'll be in the base hospital getting transfusions. He tried not to think of how he'd react if it was Danny bearing those wounds. Of course, Danny wouldn't get himself into a situation like this, he decided with certainty.

Then he remembered what Dan had told him about the Connors, his ardent young face making it impossible to misjudge his opinion. So maybe Danny

would lend a hand at blasting Cyberdyne sky-high, after all.

Thank God the perimeter fence was finally in sight.

Ferri came out of the guard shack and hopped into Jordan's car. Then he pointed forward and Dyson took off.

'Whaddaya think?' Dyson asked.

The major turned in his seat and looked at Connor.

'What the hell do I know? I'd say he's asleep.' He shook his head. 'But for all I know, he's in a terminal coma.'

'Jesus,' Jordan breathed.

'The doc will tell us,' Ferri said calmly. 'Until then, just drive.'

When they pulled up at the base hospital the Major went in and got a gurney and some attendants to take the boy out of the car. Inside he asked for two doctors by name. The second was on duty and was duly paged at the Major's request.

When he arrived, Ralph explained that the boy and his injuries were secret Cyberdyne business and that the hospital staff were bound to aid them as a matter of national security.

'Major, this boy looks to be under eighteen by a good few years and he's been shot! We can't keep something like this secret! At the very least his parents need to be notified,' the doctor said reasonably.

'All I'm allowed to tell you, Doctor,' Jordan interrupted, 'is that this boy is in danger and must be guarded. I assure you, this won't be swept under a rug someplace. But sometimes timing can be more important than strict adherence to the rules.'

'We're not talking rules here,' the doctor insisted, 'we're talking laws.'

'If laws are being broken here, Doctor, I will take the responsibility,' Jordan said gravely. 'My object is to keep this boy alive. If you take it upon yourself to report his presence here, you may cost him his life and that will be your sole responsibility.'

The Major and Dyson stared the doctor down. Reluctantly he agreed to abide by their conditions, then he got to work.

Jordan blew out his breath in relief and looked at the Major.

'I didn't think he was going to agree,' he said quietly.

'Oh, he would have,' Ralph assured him. 'He was just trying to make me order him to do it. That way, see, it's totally my responsibility. But he's too good a doctor to let the kid lie there bleeding while he played that game.' Ferri grinned.

'Sometimes having a conscience can be really inconvenient, y'know?'

Jordan's mouth tightened. 'Unfortunately, yeah.'

'And now,' the officer said cheerfully, 'It's your responsibility.'

'Thanks.'

CYBERDYNE: THE PRESENT

Serena sat in her darkened office watching the digital readout projected onto her eyes count down the seconds, the minutes, the hours. It was nine-fifteen and twenty-seven seconds. She had sent the doctor and nurse home at nine.

It was obvious that Dyson wasn't going to show up. Serena had been sifting through police reports, looking for arrests or accidents, or even abandoned cars.

Nothing.

Jordan should have been able to handle him as a trained agent.

The other and less palatable possibility was that Connor had subverted Dyson.

No.' she thought. Not possible. Why would he aid and abet the people that he knows killed his beloved brother? Answer, no reason.

Still, he was human. Best to keep an open mind. The adult John Connor had a record of inspiring humans to insane actions.

She blinked and the time readout stopped. No sense in wasting time; she had work to do, her own and Cyberdyne's. If Dyson showed up, he did. If not, not.

She thought that whatever had happened she could still look forward to a visit from Sarah Connor in the near future.

Two hours later, a considerable amount of report reading and writing had been accomplished. The phone rang and Serena patched in.

'Burns,' she said crisply.

'Uh, Ms. Burns, this is Joe Cady of Aadvanced Security,' a man said.

In the background she could hear shouting voices, trucks, running feet, a siren.