CONTINUUM Serrano Point: 2028

CHAPTER XIII

-Monday, August 20 2028 (11:38)

104 Miles North of Serrano Point

Allison lay on her stomach with a pair of binoculars atop a small hill near where the rest of the company was waiting. About a foot behind her was another soldier, Private Jon Billings. The terrain around them was fairly open, with only a few low hills and the occasional tree. There were a few buildings scattered here and there, most of them in an advance state of disrepair. An old, cracked highway wound its way through the area.

They had arrived at the rendezvous coordinates almost two hours ago. After sweeping the area for any SkyNet activity Savannah had sent out Allison and several soldiers to nearby positions to act as sentries. Since then things had been fairly uneventful. Allison began scanning the land before her again. With the exception of several birds, the occasional coyote, and once what Allison thought might have been a rabbit she had seen no sign of movement. Not that she was complaining; a little boredom was better than excitement any day.

“You see anything,” Billings asked.

“Nothing worth mentioning.”

“Any idea how much longer this will take?”

“We did get here a few hours early,” Allison pointed out. “Another half an hour and we’ll be relieved to go wait with everyone else.”

“It’s not the guard duty that’s bothering me,” Billings said. “We shouldn’t be out here. The sooner we get back to Serrano Point the better.”

Allison didn’t respond, though silently she agreed.

-13:06

Savannah made her way through the makeshift camp. There were three troop trucks, plus four open top jeeps and an old pickup truck, all sporting heavy machine guns mounted on their rear. In total there were about fifty soldiers, most of them scattered around in groups of five or six.

“Ma’am,” Kyle said approaching her.

“Captain,” Savannah answered.

“Still nothing.” he reported.

“He’s only about five minutes late Captain.”

“Ma’am, it’s possible that SkyNet’s satellites have picked us up. Sooner or later it’s going to investigate.”

“SkyNet can’t watch everything. And even if it has seen us there aren’t that many of us and we’re nowhere near anything important. I don’t think we look interesting enough to bother with.”

“If SkyNet’s noticed us, then it’s only a matter of time before it wonders why were just sitting here, or what we’re doing so far away from Serrano Point in the first place. Sooner or later it will investigate.”

Savannah was silent for a few moments. “They’re only five minute late,” she finally repeated.

After a moment Kyle nodded. “Yes Ma’am,” He moved off towards the pickup.

Savannah continued on towards one of the troop trucks. Reaching it she looked in the back and as expected found John sitting alone. Savannah climbed in and took a seat on the bench across from him.

“How long before he’s due,” John asked after a moment.

Savannah glanced at her watch. “Eight minutes ago.”

“Is that bad?” John asked.

“I won’t start worrying until he’s twenty minutes over.”