Trial By Fire

“Forget it,” Barnes growled. “Maybe Preston will listen to reason.”

Smith angled his head backwards, peering out the side of the window.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” he said. “Here he comes now.”

Hope hadn’t seen Susan and the other two scientists since her father and Jik had rushed everyone over to Annabel’s house and started collecting and preparing the equipment for their attack on the T-700s. Knowing Susan, Hope expected her to be waiting when she and her father arrived back in town.

Sure enough, there she was, standing by one of the trees and picking restlessly at its bark.

What Hope hadn’t expected was that Lajard and Oxley would be with her.

“So it’s done?” Lajard demanded as the two Prestons came into sight. “You’ve destroyed them?”

“That’s right, we did,” Preston said. “Which you could have found out from any of the others who just came through here.”

“Yes, well, none of the others seem all that excited about talking to us right now,” Oxley growled. “Like this was our fault.”

Hope looked sideways at her father, wondering if he would point out that it was at least partly their fault. Willingly or not, the three of them had worked for Skynet.

But as usual, her father was diplomatic.

“That’ll pass,” he said instead. “We got both Terminators, and no one got hurt. It’s over.”

Lajard hissed. “Right. No one got hurt except a couple of valuable machines that weren’t bothering anyone.”

“Give it a rest, Remy,” Oxley said sourly. “And it’s not exactly over yet. We still have to decide what to do with Barnes and Williams.”

“We’re going to let them go, aren’t we?” Hope asked.

“That’s up to Connor,” Oxley told her. “He’s the one they seem out to get.” He looked at Lajard. “And since Connor’s the one who came up with the plan to take down the T-700s, I’d say he’s proved his credentials.”

Again, Hope looked at her father. Again, he passed up the obvious comment.

“We can discuss it when he gets back,” he said. “In the meantime, Hope and I need to go home and clean up.”

“Actually,” Susan spoke up hesitantly, “I was wondering if I could borrow Hope for a while.”

“What for?” Preston asked, frowning.

“What else?” Susan bent over and lifted her bow and a quiver of arrows. “Someone needs to keep the food coming. With everyone else busy with the Terminators, I thought she and I could see if we could find some game.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Preston said. “But we should have enough food in town to handle a night or two.”

“I’m not so sure,” Oxley warned. “I was talking to Vic earlier, and he said the cupboard’s looking pretty bare.”

“If I can’t have Hope, can I go out alone?” Susan persisted. “I’d like to do something today to earn my keep.”

Preston looked at Hope. “What do you think?”

Hope hesitated. The Terminator battle had left her pretty worn out, emotionally as well as physically. On top of that, she really wanted to be there when her father talked with Blair and Barnes.

But the forlorn, desperately eager look on Susan’s face was impossible to ignore.

“It’s okay,” she said, suppressing a sigh. “I’ll go with her.”

Her father looked at Susan, then reluctantly nodded.

“All right,” he said. “But I don’t want you going any farther than Crescent Rock. Clear?”

“Clear,” she confirmed.

“Get going, then,” he said. “And be careful.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Susan promised. She gave Hope a tentative smile. “We’ll both be just fine.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

The concrete turned out to be tougher than Kyle had expected when he’d suggested the plan. Callahan did his first shift, digging away with his knife until his arms were too weary to lift anymore. Kyle had taken over from him, then Zac. After that it was back to Callahan and once again to Kyle.

Along the way they ruined both Callahan’s and Kyle’s knives, first dulling the edges and then grinding down or breaking the blades themselves.

It was on Kyle’s turn, as he was dragging a piece of bent metal through the enlarged groove, when it finally happened. The section of slab abruptly shifted, the end swinging down half an inch as if on hinges, closing the groove and trapping the end of their cutter.

“Got it,” he whispered down to the others, trying to blow out the concrete dust that had settled into his lungs without the noise of a cough.

“Okay, get down,” Callahan whispered back. “Hurry—they’ll be back any minute now.”

Carefully, Kyle climbed down from his perch on the door frame, wincing at the fresh cuts and scrapes on his hands as he steadied himself on Callahan’s and Zac’s shoulders.

“Wait—you left the cutter up there,” Zac said, pointing urgently.

“I couldn’t get it out,” Kyle told him. “It’s wedged in too tight.”

“But—”

“It’s okay,” Callahan said. “It shouldn’t fall until the slab breaks. Once it’s mixed in with the rest of the rubble, there’ll be no way for Skynet to make a connection.”

“Assuming we’re not in the open at the time,” Kyle said. “Where are we going?”

“Over here,” Callahan said, picking his way quickly across the debris. “Watch your step.”

Callahan’s hiding place turned out to be all the way across the chamber, behind a heavy and nearly intact slab of concrete that was leaning up against another equally impressive piece. The angle between them wasn’t very big, but there was enough room for the three humans to squeeze in between them.

Kyle shivered as he wedged himself into place just inside the open end, sitting with his knees pressed up against his chest and Zac pressed against his side.

“It’s like cold storage in here,” he muttered.

“Cold is good,” Callahan murmured back from over on Zac’s other side. “Helps mask infrared signatures.”

“Shh!” Zac hissed. “Here they come.”

For a few seconds there was silence. Then, once again, Kyle heard the familiar rumble of metal feet overhead. He listened closely, wondering just how fragile the slab was. Wondering whether this line of T-700s would do the trick or whether they would have to wait here pressed against cold concrete until the next cycle before the floor gave way.

And then, abruptly, with a thunderous crash, it did.

A crash that was followed by utter silence.

Kyle froze, staring out at the underground chamber, wanting desperately to lean an eye far enough out of their shelter out to see what was going on.

He fought back the temptation. If any of the Terminators happened to be looking in his direction at the time, that would be the last mistake Kyle would ever make.

So he sat there quietly, listening to his thudding heart and waiting for something to happen. The silence stretched out...

And as Kyle strained his eyes, he spotted a small, subtle red glow out in the chamber. Not a stationary glow, but one that slowly swept across the walls and rubble.

The glow from a Terminator’s eyes as it carefully and systematically scanned the chamber.

Kyle’s reflexive impulse was to press closer to Zac and get as far away from the opening beside him as he could. Once again, he resisted the urge. The Terminator out there might pick up his heat if he stayed where he was, but it would certainly pick up any noise he made while trying to change position. The glow brightened as the