decades out of date, with plenty of kids and dogs. The Major was sitting in a lawn chair out front waiting. He checked his watch.

'On time, as ever,' the Major said, rising.

Dieter grinned and waved. Then he lifted the canvas and dragged out the case of beer.

Ferri's face lit up and he waved his arms in a mock bow.

'I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy,' he said with a grin.

'You know what? You're right,' Dieter said. 'I'll take it back and get a refund.'

Alarm flashed across the Major's face and he rushed forward to gently remove the case from von Rossbach's arms.

'No, no, no!' he said. 'You just let me take care of these babies.' He cocked his head toward his front door. 'C'mon in, set a spell, tell me what you've been doing.'

'In a word, cows.' Dieter said surrendering the carton. He glanced at a grill by the corner of the house as he opened the door. 'You're not going to barbecue anything, are you?'

'I thought you might be homesick,' Ferri said innocently. 'Kung Pao chicken,'

he said. 'My best chicken dish.'

The Major led him into a small, sparsely furnished living room. Ferri had never been one to put his imprint on his quarters. Probably because early in his career he'd been on the move so much. A lot of guys acquired souvenirs of the places they'd been, but Ferri found they lost their charm fast when you had to pack and move 'em twenty or thirty times.

In the kitchen, he put his prize down on a gray-and-red Formica table, then ripped open the box and pulled out a sweating bottle.

'Hey! It's cold!' he said in delight.

'Well, I knew you would want one right away,' Dieter said.

He reached in and took one out for himself. Ferri produced an opener and they sat down at the table. For a moment all that could be heard was men swallowing good beer.

The kitchen was full of late-afternoon sunlight and smelled fantastic, suffused with the rich aromas of good cooking. The counter bore evidence of much meat and vegetable chopping having taken place.

'When do we eat?' Dieter asked, a greedy look on his face.

' 'Bout twenty minutes,' Ferri said with a grin. 'You hungry?'

'Now I am,' von Rossbach said fervently.

Grinning, Ferri brought out a plate of cheese and a box of crackers.

'Don't eat too much,' he cautioned. 'But good cheese does go well with good beer.'

Sarah waited for what seemed forever; ten minutes as the universe counted time.

Then, when she heard no sounds from outside the Humvee, she pushed against the front of the locker with her hands and knees. It slid out slow and even and for a moment she just lay on her side breathing the sweet clean air that cooled her face and chest.

She rolled out, pulled out her supplies, and after a brief struggle in the semidarkness pushed the false front of the trunk back into place. Cautiously she sat up, lifting the edge of the canvas, she quickly checked the area around the car. People were visible in the distance, but their attention was elsewhere.

Excellent, they hadn't aroused the guards' suspicions. She could neither hear nor see Dieter or his friend. The coast was clear.

Sarah sat still for a while, letting the worst of the sweat dry from her face and hair. She'd been in the trunk only about thirty minutes but it had quickly become stiflingly hot.

Sensibly, she'd not donned her uniform blouse and it waited beside her to be put on. About her hair there wasn't much she could do. At least it was short. Maybe anyone who noticed it was wet would think she'd just taken a shower.

Ten minutes later she was striding away from the Humvee in the direction of the Cyberdyne facility; information John had teased out of the contaminated brain of the Terminator they'd destroyed. She carried a battered brown briefcase and wore the boxy cammo fatigues of the modern army, with an MP armband circling the sleeve, and a peaked cap worn level on her head.

In the briefcase were a set of detonators, timers, and several tools that would hasten her work. They'd made the fairly safe assumption that they would find everything else they'd need at the site.

We did the last time I blew up Cyberdyne, she thought grimly.

In the pocket of her fatigue jacket was a taser. It looked almost exactly like one of the bulkier cell phones on the market. The laser they'd adapted to disrupt a Terminator's electronics was clipped to her belt. She really didn't expect to find a Terminator minding the front desk after all and that one would fry a human—so she didn't want to get them mixed up.

Sarah crossed what felt like a mile of the compound before coming in sight of Cyberdyne. She kept her eyes front and by her manner indicated that she knew exactly where she was going and exactly what she was doing. No one gave her a second look.

She boldly approached Cyberdyne's glass front door and pulled the handle.

Nothing happened. I guess maybe they're waiting for us. Her breath grew shaky and her palms began to sweat.

The glass was tinted; from four feet away it might as well have been opaque.

Sarah leaned forward and made out a man behind a desk watching her. She tapped on the glass and waved the security guard toward her.

He mouthed, 'We're closed.'

She took the laser out of her pocket and pretended she was a phone; lowering her head, she pulled her ear. She continued to wave the guard toward her, looking up at him from under the rim of her hat.

He kept waving his hands in a negative sign and saying they were closed, and she continued lo alternately lap on the door and wave him forward. Al last, looking intensely exasperated, he pushed himself up from his seal and came lo the door. Unlocking it, he pushed it open a few inches.

'We—are—closed,' he enunciated.

'Hold on, please,' Sarah said lo The taser. 'I have an appointment,' she said to the guard.

'There's nobody here,' he insisted. 'The place is empty.'

'Check your appointment book,' Sarah said. 'I'll be listed.'

He glanced al The MP armband and looked uncertain.

Sarah, holding The laser against her shoulder as though she didn't want it to overhear, sighed noisily.

'Will you just check. Please,' she said. 'I'm sure I would have been contacted if my appointment was canceled.'

'We-11,' he said. 'I guess Ms. Burns is still here…'

'Thai's who I'm supposed lo see,' Sarah told him. 'Could you please just let me in and tell her I'm here.' He stood looking al her uncertainly. 'Sometime today would be good,' she said sarcastically.

The guard stood back and gestured her in with his head. Then he locked The door behind them and led her lo his desk. He sat down and called up a page on the computer.

'I'm sorry about This,' Sarah said quietly.

The guard turned toward her and she triggered the taser; the twin cords shot out with an electronic zzzzrrrnng, hitting him full in the stomach. He went down and bounced and jittered on the floor while fifty thousand volts shot through his body and his muscles convulsed.

Sarah pressed the button that released the cords, snapped a new set into the

taser's base, and stepped over his body before he even became still. Placing her briefcase on the desk, she opened it and took out some duct tape. Bending over the guard, she checked his pulse; fast, but steady. Then she slapped a piece of tape over his mouth and turned him over. With a few quick moves she had him bound, feet to wrists, and more securely gagged. Quickly she patted him over and withdrew his master key-card, then she shoved

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