Infiltrator

she knows is being a riding horse, she doesn't know how to work.'

'Oh,' said the foreman. 'I'll put her to bed then.' He led her off without another word. So Senora Krieger was going away; that was interesting. He wondered why, but in a relaxed way; Epifanio knew he'd find out the rest in time. Once Marieta got started, he'd probably end up knowing more than the Senor.

Von Rossbach watched him go, grateful that his foreman had decided not to chat. He quickly unhooked the trailer, and leaving it where it was, drove toward the house.

Dieter returned to them with his own camping equipment, some food for the next day, a bunch of maps, and a lot of plans.

She watched him setting up with a closed expression on her face and he began to feel impatient. Though he understood her concerns, he also knew that she should

let him lead for now. How to convince her of the Tightness of this was going to be… difficult, he could see.

'Where had you planned to go?' he asked, rolling out his sleeping bag.

Though they'd agreed to accept his help, Dieter's presence troubled Sarah. First of all, he'd always worked for the authorities—the enemy— and if push came to shove she wasn't sure which way he'd jump.

Hell, I'll bet even he's not sure what he'd do if we have to get… unorthodox.

Second, he was used to being in charge, but then, so was she. I do not want a discussion about who's giving and who's taking orders every time we have to make a decision. Especially if that decision had to be made fast. Especially if that decision might involve damaging cops or soldiers. Not that she'd ever intentionally killed anybody herself. But there are times, she thought grimly, when you have to be mentally prepared to go to the next level. So that left her with two questions, would he surrender control, and could he be trusted?

'Look,' she said out loud, 'if we let you come with us you have to understand that your whole life has changed…'

'Sarah,' he interrupted, 'after what I've seen tonight my whole life has already changed. They have to be stopped. That's the mission. The mission comes first.'

Sarah studied him for a long moment. Then she pursed her lips and looked at John. He gave her no help, just looked back at her blankly.

'Actually,' she said, 'we have two missions. One'—she held up a finger—'and

least important, try to keep Skynet from being built. Unfortunately, judging by the way it keeps coming back at us, that may be an impossible task. One thing I'm learning is that changing how things are supposed to be is like pushing on a rubber wall. It might take time, but it will return to its original shape, or close to it. Two,' she held up a second finger, 'keep John alive. This is vital. Not just because he's my son, but because he may be the only thing that saves humanity from the machines should we fail to stop Cyberdyne.'

'I understand,' he said.

'That means,' Sarah continued, 'that ultimately /make the final decisions on everything that we do. Can you accept that?'

'I suppose if John can, I can,' he said cheerfully.

Sarah frowned at the implications of that remark and moved closer to him on hands and knees until they were almost nose to nose.

'Understand, Dieter. Everything that I have done for the last sixteen-and-then-some years has been to give John the skills to be the leader he needs to be. John is our only hope. Not me, not you—John. If necessary, we scrap the mission, go into hiding and let Judgment Day happen. I lost sight of that once,' she said. 'I won't do it again.'

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. 'What I'm saying is, sometimes I'll let you lead and sometimes I'll ask you to follow. Those times might come up unpredictably. Can you make the jump between them?'

'Yes,' he said with certainty. 'I'm with you. I recognize that you're more

experienced with this… situation than I am. I'm not such an egotist that I won't let you tell me what to do, Sarah. All I ask is that you respect my opinion.'

He'd never shared leadership before, but if she was willing to be flexible, so was he.

'All right,' she said. Sarah settled herself more comfortably. 'So, our goal, I think we can all agree,' she looked at John, who gave her a brief smile, 'is to get to the U.S. and stop Cyberdyne.' She turned to Dieter. 'So what have you got for us?'

Dieter shook out a map.

'We drive to Sao Paulo in Brazil,' he said. 'I have a contact there who can make us forged documents. Then we fly to Colombia and from there to Grand Cayman.'

'Cool!' John said eagerly. He hadn't seen the ocean in what felt like a lifetime.

Sarah looked at von Rossbach, puzzled. 'Okay,' she said, 'why the Caymans?'

'Hack in and trace Cyberdyne's financial records to find their remote sites,' John said, surprising them both. 'The ones that are used as off-site data storage for Cyberdyne's most sensitive material. Eliminate those and go for the main facility!' He and Dieter did a high five.

'But that will alert them,' Sarah objected. 'Whoever Skynet sent back will know immediately what we're up to. And while we can only strike these places one at a time, they must have the resources to cover all of them, as well as beefing up

security at the main site. I say go for Cyberdyne immediately, then we can pick off the storage sites at our leisure.'

'Surely, when the Terminator doesn't return, whoever sent it will be alerted that you're coming, yes?' Dieter asked. At her reluctant nod he continued, 'So they'll be waiting for you. But they might not be protecting these storage dumps. Hit a few of those and they might begin to spread their forces thin enough to give us a better chance at the main facility. Also we can perhaps learn more about that facility from these same storage dumps, and the more we learn about that the greater the possibility of success.'

Sarah leaned her chin on her fists and thought.

'Yes,' she said at last. 'That makes sense. Especially since the cards seem to be stacked against us this time.' She sat up straight, a rueful expression on her face.

'A buried facility on an army base. That'll be a pretty tough nut to crack.'

'It will,' von Rossbach agreed. 'But let's take it one step at a time. Maybe we can hack into their system and do some damage that way, too. We'll see what we can do. I have friends in strange places, Sarah. You'll see; you'll be glad you let me tag along.'

Sarah gave him a noncommittal smile and thought, I had better be or I'll take you down in a white flash. You won't even see it coming. She sensed a disturbing lack of conviction behind the thought. .Trouble is, I like this man. He wasn't like the flakes, nuts, and murderous eccentrics she'd associated with in her wilder days. In fact, he was as close to being a solid citizen as a trained killer could get.

And I suspect he likes me.

'All right,' she said aloud. 'I concede that it might be a good idea to eliminate these remote sites Cyberdyne probably has. Although, I'll say it now, touching Cyberdyne's computer system could lead them right to us.' Sarah looked Dieter in the eye.

'But we can hack in from anywhere with a phone line. So, I repeat, why the Caymans?'

'Because I think we'll find those sites by studying Cyberdyne's financial records,' Dieter explained. 'Grand Cayman has over five hundred banks from all over the world. One of those is sure to handle Cyberdyne's business. Being inspected from there might be less conspicuous.'

Sarah looked doubtful.

'Trust me on this, Sarah,' he said.

She looked at him, considering.

'Hey guys, it's a long drive to the coast,' John suddenly pointed out. 'I suggest we all turn in and get some sleep. Leaving before dawn would probably be a good idea.'

Sarah smiled and got up. 'I'll be back,' she said, and headed out toward the lean-to.