She still had a war to fight.
EPILOGUE
Losenko reported to the command center aboard the Wilmington. A messenger had informed him that General Ashdown required his presence. As he entered the compartment, Losenko wondered if this was about Ivanov’s unauthorized flight to Alaska. That deployment had cost the Resistance a valuable warplane and a veteran officer. Ashdown had yet to raise the matter, but Losenko expected to face the music eventually.
He was prepared to take full responsibility for his decision.
But Ashdown had more important affairs on his mind.
“We’ve found it,” he announced jubilantly, as though he couldn’t wait to inform Losenko of the news. He gripped a rolled-up computer printout. Losenko had seldom seen him so enthusiastic. He thrust the paper at the Russian.
“Read it.”
Losenko skimmed the document. It was a classified intelligence report suggesting that Skynet’s top-secret shutdown code could be obtained at an underground enemy communications complex in the sector of North America not far from the bombed-out ruins of Los Angeles. A substantial array of satellite dishes was the machine’s primary shortwave transmission hub for the entire region. If the hidden code was recorded anywhere, it was there.
“This looks very promising,” he agreed. The implications of the discovery—if they could be verified—were enormous. They might finally be able to win the war, just as John Connor had always said they could. He wondered if it was just a coincidence that the code was hiding in the very same territory in which Connor was now serving. There were those who believed that Connor was destined to be the one who ultimately found the key to victory over the machines.
An idea occurred to him.
“I suggest we send in General Olsen’s forces to secure the code.”
Which would include John Connor’s Tech Comm unit.
“My thoughts exactly,” Ashdown said. “Contact Olsen and get this thing done.”
Losenko smiled. A sudden renewal of hope dispelled whatever melancholy had lingered in him after Ivanov’s death. He could hardly believe his long voyage might at last be nearing its end. It was a shame that Alexei, and so many others, had not lived to see it.
After fifteen long and brutal years, it seemed as if salvation was at hand....
The End
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I still remember being blown away by the original Terminator movie when I first caught it at a multiplex outside Seattle way back in 1984. Three exciting sequels and a TV series later, it’s tremendously exciting to finally get to write a little bone-crushing, killer robot action of my own.
Many thanks to my editor, Cath Trechman, for thinking of me and helping me throughout the writing and editing of this book, thanks as well to Steve Saffel and designer Louise Brigenshaw at Titan Books. Many thanks to James Middleton of The Halycon Company for graciously letting me pick his brains on all things Terminator. I also want to thank my agents, Russ Galen and Ann Behar, for handling the business end of things.
Finally, as always, I could not have written this book without the unwavering support and assistance of my girlfriend, Karen Palinko, who kept the household together while I chained myself to my keyboard despite near-daily Pennsylvania thunderstorms that kept knocking out our computers. Karen also looked after our growing family of four-legged children, Alex, Churchill, Henry, Sophie, and Lyla, who often kept me company while I was working. Here’s hoping Skynet never goes after our pets, as well.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following books were invaluable in my research for this novel.
Submarines
Clancy, Tom with John Gresham.
Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship.
New York: Berkley Books, 1993.
Huchthausen, Peter.
K-19 the Widow Maker: The Secret Story of the Soviet Nuclear Submarine.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2002.
DiMercurio, Michael with Michael Benson.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Submarines.
Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2003.
Waller, Douglas C.
Big Red: Three Months on Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine.
New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
Terminator
Bennett, Tara.
Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Companion.
London: Titan Books, 2009.
Bennett, Tara.
The Art of Terminator Salvation.
London: Titan Books, 2009.
Foster, Alan Dean.
Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization.
London: Titan Books, 2009.
Hagberg, David.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
(official movie novelization). New York: Tor Books, 2003.
Naraghi, Dara with art by Alan Robinson.
Terminator Salvation: Sand in the Gears
(graphic novel). San Diego: IDW Publishing, 2009.
Sterling, S. M.
T2: The Future War.
New York: HarperEntertainment, 2003.
Zahn, Timothy.
Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes.
London: Titan Books, 2009.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GREG COX is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels and short stories. He has written the official movie novelizations of such films as Daredevil, Death Defying Acts, Ghost Rider, and all three Underworld movies. He has also written books and stories based on such popular series as Alias, Batman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Countdown, C.S.I., Fantastic Four, Farscape, The 4400, 52, Infinite Crisis, Iron Man, Roswell, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Xena, X-Men, and Zorro. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.
His official website is: www.gregcox-author.com.