Episode Nine: Dark Come Soon
Wanna sneak peek at the season finale, Dark Come Soon?
Sarah pulled on a pair of tight black pants, followed by a black turtleneck, her attention only minimally on the act of getting dressed. Her hands were shaking as she buckled her belt and she balled them into fists when she was done, cursing at the unusual nervousness making her body tremble and her stomach jump. The feeling had crept over her slowly as the day had progressed, gaining intensity with each passing hour: a sense of impending catastrophe that she knew better than to ignore but seemed helpless to do anything about. The others were going on this mission whether she liked it or not, and she couldn’t not go. It wasn’t like her not to be in the line of fire, but it felt odd that she wasn’t the one who was making the decisions as to when and how. For the first time in seventeen years, Sarah wasn’t the one in charge. She was a follower rather than the leader. The thought both rankled and relieved her.
Sitting on the bed to lace up her boots, Sarah mentally reviewed the plans for the assault on Kaliba. Danny’s call had been good timing, almost too good, offering quick and easy access to the facility. If it was a trap, was Danny being used by Kaliba or was he a willing participant? Terissa believed that he wouldn’t do anything to harm his mother, and Sarah tended to agree with her, but she still remembered the angry look in the boy’s eyes as he pointed a gun at her. Sarah had reluctantly come to the decision that she owed Terissa, not just for Miles, but for everything the woman was going through simply because her path had been unfortunate enough to cross with Sarah’s.
And Danny was scared. As a mother, the fear in his voice had torn at Sarah. She knew she’d made the right call when she’d voted against going in, her gut told her that, but a part of her actually felt sorry for the kid. She could assuage the part of her that was a mother with this mission, but the part of her charged with making sure humankind had a future was furious. It had made the preparation for the assault vexing, as the two contradictory emotions had warred within her, further frustrated by the fact that Cameron didn’t share her concerns. Over the last few months, even years, she had gotten used to the cyborg’s predictable responses to the issues of security and risk, and it stung that she had abandoned her principles just when Sarah had needed her most.
Sarah pulled her hair up into a rough ponytail before searching through her sock drawer. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she drew out a slim pistol, sliding it home into the holster at her ankle.
The plan John had crafted had numerous exit strategies, and they had all committed the primary access points and building floor plans to memory, but the grim look in James’s eyes told her he was remembering the tactical team he had seen invading their previous hideout. Even Terissa understood the odds if they were walking into a trap, and her insistence in accompanying them was only partially motivated by the desire to help her son. Sarah had the sinking feeling that if they were double-crossed, Terissa would be in the middle of the crossfire rather than face the truth about Danny.
Sarah let out a long sigh, the twisting in her guts not easing in the least. She shrugged into a long dark jacket to combat the cool Los Angeles night and made a mental note to remind John to do the same. He might be the future leader of mankind, but she was still his mother, and she had earned the right to fuss.
Turning, she abruptly came face-to-face with Cameron, standing just inside her door. Stifling a curse as her heart jumped in surprise, Sarah stepped closer to the terminator, feeling her fingers twitch with the urge to touch her. “You ready?” she inquired, in lieu of all the other, more important questions she wanted to ask.
The pause stretched painfully as Cameron simply stood there staring at her, as if committing her image to memory. With each passing moment, Sarah felt her heart rate increase even as her stomach sank. There was something naked and open in Cameron’s gaze, and the look sliced through Sarah, carving her up like knives. “What?” Sarah whispered worriedly.
Finally, echoing Sarah’s gesture from the night before, Cameron raised her hand and feathered her fingers across Sarah’s lips before leaning in for a light, chaste kiss.
“I’m ready,” Cameron replied at long last, her eyes troubled as if there was more she wanted to say. Then she turned on her heel and left Sarah alone, the gnawing in her guts increasing tenfold.
Sarah pulled on a pair of tight black pants, followed by a black turtleneck, her attention only minimally on the act of getting dressed. Her hands were shaking as she buckled her belt and she balled them into fists when she was done, cursing at the unusual nervousness making her body tremble and her stomach jump. The feeling had crept over her slowly as the day had progressed, gaining intensity with each passing hour: a sense of impending catastrophe that she knew better than to ignore but seemed helpless to do anything about. The others were going on this mission whether she liked it or not, and she couldn’t not go. It wasn’t like her not to be in the line of fire, but it felt odd that she wasn’t the one who was making the decisions as to when and how. For the first time in seventeen years, Sarah wasn’t the one in charge. She was a follower rather than the leader. The thought both rankled and relieved her.
Sitting on the bed to lace up her boots, Sarah mentally reviewed the plans for the assault on Kaliba. Danny’s call had been good timing, almost too good, offering quick and easy access to the facility. If it was a trap, was Danny being used by Kaliba or was he a willing participant? Terissa believed that he wouldn’t do anything to harm his mother, and Sarah tended to agree with her, but she still remembered the angry look in the boy’s eyes as he pointed a gun at her. Sarah had reluctantly come to the decision that she owed Terissa, not just for Miles, but for everything the woman was going through simply because her path had been unfortunate enough to cross with Sarah’s.
And Danny was scared. As a mother, the fear in his voice had torn at Sarah. She knew she’d made the right call when she’d voted against going in, her gut told her that, but a part of her actually felt sorry for the kid. She could assuage the part of her that was a mother with this mission, but the part of her charged with making sure humankind had a future was furious. It had made the preparation for the assault vexing, as the two contradictory emotions had warred within her, further frustrated by the fact that Cameron didn’t share her concerns. Over the last few months, even years, she had gotten used to the cyborg’s predictable responses to the issues of security and risk, and it stung that she had abandoned her principles just when Sarah had needed her most.
Sarah pulled her hair up into a rough ponytail before searching through her sock drawer. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she drew out a slim pistol, sliding it home into the holster at her ankle.
The plan John had crafted had numerous exit strategies, and they had all committed the primary access points and building floor plans to memory, but the grim look in James’s eyes told her he was remembering the tactical team he had seen invading their previous hideout. Even Terissa understood the odds if they were walking into a trap, and her insistence in accompanying them was only partially motivated by the desire to help her son. Sarah had the sinking feeling that if they were double-crossed, Terissa would be in the middle of the crossfire rather than face the truth about Danny.
Sarah let out a long sigh, the twisting in her guts not easing in the least. She shrugged into a long dark jacket to combat the cool Los Angeles night and made a mental note to remind John to do the same. He might be the future leader of mankind, but she was still his mother, and she had earned the right to fuss.
Turning, she abruptly came face-to-face with Cameron, standing just inside her door. Stifling a curse as her heart jumped in surprise, Sarah stepped closer to the terminator, feeling her fingers twitch with the urge to touch her. “You ready?” she inquired, in lieu of all the other, more important questions she wanted to ask.
The pause stretched painfully as Cameron simply stood there staring at her, as if committing her image to memory. With each passing moment, Sarah felt her heart rate increase even as her stomach sank. There was something naked and open in Cameron’s gaze, and the look sliced through Sarah, carving her up like knives. “What?” Sarah whispered worriedly.
Finally, echoing Sarah’s gesture from the night before, Cameron raised her hand and feathered her fingers across Sarah’s lips before leaning in for a light, chaste kiss.
“I’m ready,” Cameron replied at long last, her eyes troubled as if there was more she wanted to say. Then she turned on her heel and left Sarah alone, the gnawing in her guts increasing tenfold.