okay,” Barnes said, wincing a little as he eyed the bewildering collection of tubes and monitor wires sprouting from Connor’s arms and chest. Barnes had seen plenty of people die, most of them violently, but there was something about medical stuff that still made him a little squeamish. Probably the feeling that all patients who looked like this were dying by degrees, the way it had happened to his and Caleb’s own mother.
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Kate soothed.
Guiltily, angrily, Barnes wrenched his attention away from the tubes and bottles. He’d sort of gotten used to Connor reading his mind that way, but he hated it when Kate did, too.
“Yeah,” he said. “I have a request.”
Connor nodded. “Go ahead.”
“You told me that Caleb was on the surface when Skynet blew its research lab,” Barnes said. “That means he wasn’t underground with the others.” He braced himself. “I want to go and bury him.”
Kate stirred but didn’t speak. “Are you sure?” Connor asked. “It’s been a couple of weeks, you know.”
“It’s a desert,” Barnes growled. “He’ll still be... You know that thing Kowlowski used to say? That Skynet leaves its fallen lying on the streets?”
“But that we bury ours,” Connor finished, a flicker of something crossing his face. Maybe he was thinking about Marcus Wright, too.
“The clean-up’s going fine,” Barnes said. “It looks like the outer sentry line were the only Terminators that survived the blast, and most of them are pretty smashed. You’ve got more than enough people to clear them out—”
“All right,” Connor said. “You can go.”
Barnes stopped, the other four points he’d been planning to make fading away unsaid. He hadn’t expected talking Connor into this would be that easy.
“You’ll need a pilot,” Connor continued. “I’ll have Blair Williams check out a helicopter for the two of you.”
A knife seemed to twist in Barnes’s gut. Williams?
“Can I have someone else instead?” he asked.
Connor shook his head. “You two have been avoiding each other ever since San Francisco,” he said. “It’s time you cleared the air.”
Barnes clenched his teeth.
“All due respect, this isn’t the right time to do that,” he said.
“Let me put it another way,” Connor said. “You go with Williams, or you don’t go at all.”
If the man hadn’t been hooked up to a hundred tubes and wires, Barnes reflected blackly, he would have considered hitting him. Not that he actually would have hit him, but he would definitely have considered it. As it was, he couldn’t even have that minor satisfaction.
We bury our dead .
There was no point in stalling. Connor had him, and they both knew it.
“Fine,” he bit out. “ If she’s willing. Otherwise, I get someone else.”
“She will be,” Connor promised. “I’ll make sure of that. Go eat and then get some sleep. You can leave in the morning.”
Barnes nodded, not trusting himself to say anything else, and stomped out of the room.
He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
CHAPTER THREE
The eight-point buck was nibbling on the ends of some tree branches when it suddenly froze.
Hope Preston felt her cheek twitch. So the animal had heard them. She’d been afraid it would. Hope herself was more than capable of silent stalking, but this was the first time out for Hope’s new hunting partner Susan Valentine, and the older woman simply wasn’t experienced at moving through the twigs and dead leaves that matted the forest floor beneath their feet.
But it was too late now. The deer had been alerted to their presence. One more suspicious sound or movement and it would be out of here, escaping from the clearing into the deeply forested mountain slopes behind it.
Keeping her head motionless, Hope looked at Susan out the corner of her eye. There was an intent, grimly earnest expression on the woman’s face, and Hope had no doubt she was going to
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Kate soothed.
Guiltily, angrily, Barnes wrenched his attention away from the tubes and bottles. He’d sort of gotten used to Connor reading his mind that way, but he hated it when Kate did, too.
“Yeah,” he said. “I have a request.”
Connor nodded. “Go ahead.”
“You told me that Caleb was on the surface when Skynet blew its research lab,” Barnes said. “That means he wasn’t underground with the others.” He braced himself. “I want to go and bury him.”
Kate stirred but didn’t speak. “Are you sure?” Connor asked. “It’s been a couple of weeks, you know.”
“It’s a desert,” Barnes growled. “He’ll still be... You know that thing Kowlowski used to say? That Skynet leaves its fallen lying on the streets?”
“But that we bury ours,” Connor finished, a flicker of something crossing his face. Maybe he was thinking about Marcus Wright, too.
“The clean-up’s going fine,” Barnes said. “It looks like the outer sentry line were the only Terminators that survived the blast, and most of them are pretty smashed. You’ve got more than enough people to clear them out—”
“All right,” Connor said. “You can go.”
Barnes stopped, the other four points he’d been planning to make fading away unsaid. He hadn’t expected talking Connor into this would be that easy.
“You’ll need a pilot,” Connor continued. “I’ll have Blair Williams check out a helicopter for the two of you.”
A knife seemed to twist in Barnes’s gut. Williams?
“Can I have someone else instead?” he asked.
Connor shook his head. “You two have been avoiding each other ever since San Francisco,” he said. “It’s time you cleared the air.”
Barnes clenched his teeth.
“All due respect, this isn’t the right time to do that,” he said.
“Let me put it another way,” Connor said. “You go with Williams, or you don’t go at all.”
If the man hadn’t been hooked up to a hundred tubes and wires, Barnes reflected blackly, he would have considered hitting him. Not that he actually would have hit him, but he would definitely have considered it. As it was, he couldn’t even have that minor satisfaction.
We bury our dead .
There was no point in stalling. Connor had him, and they both knew it.
“Fine,” he bit out. “ If she’s willing. Otherwise, I get someone else.”
“She will be,” Connor promised. “I’ll make sure of that. Go eat and then get some sleep. You can leave in the morning.”
Barnes nodded, not trusting himself to say anything else, and stomped out of the room.
He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
CHAPTER THREE
The eight-point buck was nibbling on the ends of some tree branches when it suddenly froze.
Hope Preston felt her cheek twitch. So the animal had heard them. She’d been afraid it would. Hope herself was more than capable of silent stalking, but this was the first time out for Hope’s new hunting partner Susan Valentine, and the older woman simply wasn’t experienced at moving through the twigs and dead leaves that matted the forest floor beneath their feet.
But it was too late now. The deer had been alerted to their presence. One more suspicious sound or movement and it would be out of here, escaping from the clearing into the deeply forested mountain slopes behind it.
Keeping her head motionless, Hope looked at Susan out the corner of her eye. There was an intent, grimly earnest expression on the woman’s face, and Hope had no doubt she was going to
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