Trial By Fire

It was Halverson. And he was furious.

“What the hell’s going on?” he snarled as the group emerged into view along the trail. His eyes flicked across Jik, shifted briefly to Barnes and Blair, then settled on Preston. “We heard gunfire.”

“That was us,” Preston confirmed. “We were out doing a little hunting.” He nodded toward Jik. “We think we’ve found—”

“What part of them coming to my house didn’t you get?” Halverson cut him off.

Blair looked sideways at Preston. His throat was tight, but when he spoke his voice was calm enough.

“They did go to your house,” he reminded the other. “What happened after that was none of my doing.”

“You saying they just sneaked out of my bedroom window on their own?” Halverson demanded. “That you didn’t call to them, or invite them, or anything else?”

“I did nothing at all,” Preston said. “I didn’t even know they’d left your house. If I had, I’d certainly have urged them to return.”

“Sure you would.” Halverson shifted his glare to Barnes. “My hospitality not good enough for you?”

Unfortunately for him, glares didn’t work nearly as well on Barnes as they did on Preston.

“Your hospitality’s fine,” Barnes told him. “Wish I could say the same about your attitude.”

Halverson’s face hardened.

“What did you say?”

“I said you’re an idiot,” Barnes said flatly. “Are you even listening?”

“I’m listening just fine,” Halverson shot back. He jabbed a finger at Jik. “If this is the guy the Terminators are after, what the hell are you doing bringing him into town?”

“You really think his presence will affect Skynet’s decision about what to do with you?” Preston asked.

“Not having him here has worked pretty well so far,” Halverson bit back. “So has leaving Skynet alone.”

“So that it will leave you alone?” Jik spoke up. “Yes, I’ve heard that philosophy before. The people who live by it usually don’t live very long.”

“Maybe you’d like to debate the point with the philosopher himself,” Halverson said sarcastically.

Jik smiled faintly. “Indeed I would,” he said. “Perhaps you’d like to fetch him for me.”

“While you’re at it, go get the other two,” Barnes added. “Tell them to meet us at Preston’s place.”

“Forget it,” Halverson said. “If we’re going to meet anywhere—” He broke off, and Blair saw in his eyes the sudden recognition of what having a prime Skynet target in his home might mean. “Fine,” he said. “Preston’s house. I’ll tell them.” With a final glare at Barnes, he turned and strode off.

“My house is this way,” Preston said, beckoning to Jik.

“He’s right, you know,” Jik commented quietly as they set off again. “My presence here does put you at additional risk. Whatever happens, I’m afraid your life here will never be the same again.”

Preston shrugged, a little too casually.

“That possibility’s been hanging over our heads for a long time,” he pointed out. “Since Judgment Day, really.”

“True,” Jik agreed. “The difference is that while I bring danger, I also bring hope.”

“What kind of hope?” Blair asked.

“The very best kind,” Jik assured her. “Before I go into that, let’s hear what these pacifist philosophers have to say.”

Blair exchanged looks with Barnes.

“Yes,” she murmured. “Let’s.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

For someone who’d seemed as nervous about Terminator attacks as Halverson, Barnes thought more than once, he didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get Jik out of his town. At their home, Hope had enough time to throw together a quick meal, and they all had enough time to eat it before Halverson finally arrived.

It was just as well they’d opted for Preston’s house with its larger living room. Not only had Halverson brought the three scientists, but he’d also grabbed a dozen other men and women. His closest friends and allies, Barnes had no doubt, and all of them armed.

Idiots, Barnes thought darkly as the people settled onto chairs or couches or found sections of wall to lean against. Idiot Halverson for stirring up a turf war; idiot Preston for letting him get away with it. Barnes had seen too much of this sort of political infighting among the group leaders when Connor first moved their team from Los Angeles to General Olsen’s Resistance group, and it led to nothing but trouble.

At least the mayor was smart enough to get in the first word.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said, nodding to everyone as if he’d actually invited them all. “I’d like you to welcome our visitor, Jik, who seems to be the man the Terminators have been searching for. We asked you here —”

“They’re looking for him,” one of Halverson’s buddies interrupted, “and you brought him here?”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got some time,” Jik said calmly. “We know Skynet still has two T-700s in the area. If it was in a hurry to get me, it should have attacked us on our way into town. The fact that it didn’t means that it has something else in mind.”

“Probably waiting until nightfall,” someone else muttered.

“Possibly,” Jik agreed. “If they want new instructions or data, that would be the time when Skynet could get it to them.”

“Or possibly the whole thing is a misunderstanding,” Lajard put in, eyeing Jik curiously. “Who exactly are you, friend?”

“As you say, a friend,” Jik said. “Before we go into specifics, I’d like to hear a bit more of your story. I’m told you worked for Skynet in that big underground lab to the southeast.”

“You make it sound like we had a choice,” the woman scientist, Susan Valentine, said quietly. “We were taken from our homes, all of us, and forced to do what Skynet wanted.”

“I’m sure Skynet was quite insistent,” Jik agreed. “But you did have a choice. People always have choices.”

Oxley snorted. “You sound like Barnes,” he said. “It’s all very well to talk about sacrificing your life for a noble cause. It’s a lot different to just stand there and get yourself killed.”

“I never said all the choices were pleasant,” Jik pointed out. “But they’re always there.”

Oxley snorted. “Right.”

“And if more of the people like you had chosen that option,” Jik added pointedly, “it might very well be that we’d be facing Terminators that weren’t nearly so dangerous.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Oxley growled. “You’ve got guns—you get to shoot back. We didn’t have anything.”

“Yeah, we’re the lucky ones, all right,” Barnes growled. “Tell us about Theta.”

The room went suddenly silent. Valentine’s face looked all pinched and pained, and Oxley shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lajard, in contrast, met Barnes’s gaze without flinching.

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“Let’s start with the designation,” Jik said. “Theta, the Greek TH. Was it a plan for turning human beings into Terminators?”

Halverson’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“You make it sound sinister,” Oxley protested. “It wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like?” Preston asked, his voice as cold as Halverson’s.

“Oh, don’t be so squeamish,” Lajard chided. “It was a solid and practical idea, and it might have gone somewhere useful if people hadn’t turned Skynet against them.”