T2 - 01 - The New John Connor Chronicles - Dark Futures by Russell Blackford

here. We're going to have to take you into custody."
    "Wrong."
    As they drew their handguns, she confirmed a course of action. If they lived, they might interfere.
    She marked them for termination.
     
    COLORADO
    THE ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS COMPLEX
     
    The
Colorado
complex was staffed by a mix of military personnel, civilian officers from the Defense Department, and Cyberdyne's own staff. They were rostered on round-the-clock, seven-day shifts. The military staff slept here, and there was adequate accommodation for the entire complement of 120 servicemen and other regular workers. For the past month, everyone had put in crazy hours, getting the Skynet project up and running. It was craziest of all for the Cyberdyne and Defense staff in charge of the project. As Cyberdyne's chief AI researcher and head of its Special Projects Division, Miles Dyson had been stuck here full-time, working eighty-hour weeks, and getting his sleep at odd hours when he could. He'd been worrying over every detail of the project—that, and other things.
    Miles had his own ten-by-ten square office tucked away In a corner of Level A, the complex's top floor. He'd left its walls and its metal shelving almost bare, since his real office and his real life were back in LA. His desk was topped with computer equipment: two screens running, performing calculations; keyboards; processing units; and a high-quality printer. To the left was a framed photo of his wife, Tarissa, and son, Danny. In front of that, Miles had placed a pile of computer printouts, half an inch thick, marked with highlighter pen and indexed crudely with yellow sticky notes.
    He held his head in both hands, thankful that he'd sent Tarissa and Danny on a holiday to Mexico, "just in case," wishing he could have joined them.
    As the digital readout on his computer screen turned over to
23:30
hours, his worries reached a crisis point. He called Oscar Cruz, who was who was still on deck tonight, like everyone else who counted. "You free, Oscar?"
    "Hello, Miles," Oscar said. He sounded pretty tense himself, which was understandable. "Is anything wrong?"
    "No, nothing definite. Nothing's happened—just getting nervous."
    Oscar laughed nervously. "Me, too, of course. I have to ring Charles Layton in a minute—I'm updating him every hour. You know how he feels about all this. I'll talk with you a little later."
    Layton was never an easy man to deal with. Mentally, Miles wished Oscar luck. "Do you mind if I have a word with Jack?" he said.
    "Go ahead. We'll all catch up after I've spoken to Charles."
    Miles would be meeting through the   night with Oscar, Jack Reed and Samantha Jones, but he needed to talk now. He called Jack, who answered his phone immediately: "Reed speaking."
    "Miles Dyson here, Jack."
    "Yeah, Miles, what's up? Anything wrong at your end?"
    "No, nothing actually wrong. I just had a word with Oscar. At my end, everything is nominal."
    "Good. You sound like you want to talk it over."
    "If you've got a minute."
    "Yeah, okay. Come around. I'm damn sure not going anywhere tonight."
    "I know. See you soon."
    "Let's get a cup of coffee first. Then we can talk in my room."
    Miles grabbed the printouts from his desk, and walked next door to a small kitchen with a microwave. He made two cups of plunger coffee and found a wedge of pizza in the refrigerator.
    As he warmed the pizza through, Jack came in, looking tired but vaguely amused. His sun-leathered, wrinkled face was capped by a full head of brown hair, graying only at the temples, combed back in waves over his ears. He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "So what's the story?" he said.
    Miles replied with a rueful shrug.
    As the civilian Defense officer in charge of the Skynet project, Jack Reed was Cyberdyne's immediate client, the man that Miles and Oscar had to keep happy. He was also the only person here with the authority to shut down Skynet. Though Miles had developed some rapport with him, it was currently being