Terminator 2: Judgment Day by Randall Frakes

Author:Randall Frakes [Frakes, Randall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0747410321
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 1991-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

HIGHTAILING

Heading South

On Highway 33

10:45 P.M.

The hospital-security car blasted across the lonely stretch of moonlit highway, headlights off, a ghost car punching a hole in the wind.

Air blasted in the shattered window as Terminator drove, easily staying aligned with the dotted dividing line. John could see the cyborg’s eyes glow faintly red in the rearview mirror.

“Can you even see anything?”

Terminator’s real eyes behind the prop human ones were on night-vision mode, probing the view ahead, drinking in the reduced photons to form a monochrome image of the highway that was bright as noon on a sunny day. Various readouts flashed by, giving Terminator a holistic sense of motion and mass that made him the safest autopilot in creation.

Terminator replied in a matter-of-fact tone that would have sounded like bragging if Sarah and John didn’t know their companion was a machine. “Everything.”

“Cool,” John said, somewhat comforted.

Sarah was studying Terminator, still not quite believing this was happening. The Sarah who was always a few minutes late to her waitress job at Big Buns so many years ago needed to spend only another second or two dealing with the unbelievable. Then she turned to the most vital priority of her life. She faced John in the backseat. “You okay?”

He nodded.

She reached out for him. John’s heart raced in his chest. His mother had never taken much time to show affection. There’d been too many other priorities. But now she was actually pulling him into an embrace. Maybe she’d changed. Maybe now she really cared about him, not his stupid mission in the future. Happily, he flung his arms around her. But instead of hugging him, she rubbed her hands over him, checking for injuries. To John it seemed very clinical, the way a vet checks a dog for broken bones. There was concern.

But not real love.

He angrily pulled away from her. And this was no act. He hated her always checking him, treating him like he might break, like some piece of rare china. “I said I was okay.”

Sarah looked at him, exasperated and stern. “It was stupid of you to go there.”

John could not believe her. Usually, you expect your mother to razz on you for doing something wrong, but now he was getting yelled at for saving her goddamn life! Before he could respond with his own consternation, the fires of her anger flared. “Goddammit, John, you have to be smarter than that! You’re too important! You can’t risk yourself, not even for me, do you understand? I can take care of myself. I was doing fine. Jesus, John. You almost got yourself killed!”

His chin quivered. The old feelings were coming back now. She was putting up this image of some kind of superman and trying to shove him into it. It was way too big, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. She never did. And, as usual, anything he did was inadequate. To stop the hot, shameful tears, he blurted, “I … had to get you out of that

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