Chapter 14
Michael Coldsmith-Briggs the Third sat behind his desk in his office and gave Hawke the oddest look. He gasped, "You want to change the flight plan?"
He nodded, "I do."
"But our intelligence had already laid out the flight plan," he countered.
"Well, I have intelligence that says we need to change it," Hawke rebutted.
Michael asked, "And what is this new intelligence, Hawke?"
He removed a small Polaroid photo from his pocket of the satellite image from the laptop screen. Hawke knew to be careful not to take any images that would show the computer itself. He handed his the instant photo. "Take a look at this," he told him.
Michael took the photo and gazed upon it. He then looked back up at Hawke, "Where did you get this from?"
"That is a high definition image of your satellite images," he told him. "It's a bit clearer as you can see."
Michael opened up the recent file on Major Rivers on his desk and removed the larger satellite image and then compared it to the little instant photo that Hawke handed him. He looked up upon studying it, "Where did you get this from?" He looked back at it, "We don't have anything this clear." He then added, "Or this precise."
"That I can't tell ya," he smirked. "So, as you can see the flight plan needs to change."
"I can see that," he agreed.
Hawke was about to take the photo back when Michael tucked in in with the folder.
"I need that picture," he mentioned.
"I'm assuming you took more than one of whatever source you got that off of," he insisted.
He stood gaping for he didn't need to take more than one for he had the computer.
"You did take more than one?" he asked him.
Hawke couldn't say and pondered for an excuse.
Michael leaned forward, "Why would you not take more than one?" He then quickly deduced, "You have access to whatever computer did this imaging. You have access to the source."
He couldn't reply and simply stated, "That's classified."
Michael asked amused, "Higher than my clearance level?"
"Matter of fact it is," he stated strongly.
Michael sat back in his chair, "I would say this image can only be the product of a computer engineer, perhaps someone who knows digital cameras." He then leaned forward again in an accusing manner, "Tell me more about Santini's niece! Where did he find her? You see, Hawke…I found it rather odd that she had no idea what a roll of film was and Santini hovering over her the way he did. So I took the liberty of running a background check and found Dominic Santini has a niece but her name is Jo Santini and not Mike. Where did he find his second niece, Hawke?"
He debated what to say and stood puckering in thought, "Would you believe I traveled into the future?"
He reached over to a drawer and unlocked it. He removed a white envelope and placed it on the desk before him. "I found this letter tucked in my front door. It's a letter telling me that I have to trust you. It also told me that Mike Santini is an Air Force Major and she can fly Airwolf as well as you. The letter also said that her last name is not really Santini and it says that I didn't need to know what it is yet."
"Who sent you that letter?" he demanded.
"I did," he confessed. "The handwriting is mine."
"Oh," he then pointed, "you better do what you told yourself then."
He admitted, "If there is a time travel program, I could be a part of it and not even know it yet. I believe you, Hawke. You're not the type of man who would make something like that up. How far did you go into the future?"
"Thirty years," he admitted.
He wondered surprised, "Was I there?"
He gave a nod, "Yeah…You were."
Michael then pondered, "Is Mike Santini from the future?"
Hawke wouldn't reply.
He sat back and asked, "Is she even related to Santini?"
He refused to answer.
Michael asked suspiciously, "Is she related to me?"
He gave a funny look, "What? No! Why would you even ask that?"
He confessed, "She's a Major in the Air Force, she has blonde hair, she shares my name and she seems to know me."
Hawke rolled his eyes, "She does know you but she is not your long lost daughter from the future if that is what you are thinking."
He admitted, "I always wondered if I would ever have kids…"
"Anyone else get any letters like that?" he huffed.
"Not that I am aware of," he confessed.
Hawke pointed to the drawing that Major Rivers had supplied, "That is what sent us into the future and what sent us back. You figure out what the hell that thing is before we end up who knows where."
"I'll see what I can find," he agreed.
"Change the flight plan," he added.
"I will," he told him.
Meanwhile
After Mike had her finger prints and picture taken Dom and Caitlin had managed to find the computer room. As they walked into the large room with huge mainframe computers lining the walls Mike's mouth dropped.
"This is like something out of a history book," she noted.
Caitlin asked, "What are we looking for in here, Mike?"
She quickly found the access panel, "Already found it." She then pulled the laptop out of her jacket and set it down near the panel, "I need that cable and box I gave you to hold."
Caitlin retrieved the items while Dom acted as a look out. "Here," she handed it to her.
Mike quickly set the unit up and then started the computer. She then initiated the modem to dial out onto DARPA. She watched as the screen on the computer went black and a text box opened up. "Boy, they don't upgrade nothing!" she noted and typed in the commands.
Caitlin stood by and watched as her daughter typed in a line of what appeared to be gibberish to her. She wondered what it all meant, "What is all that?"
"Computer code," she replied. "I give the mainframe commands."
"Can't just say 'Find Sinjin', huh?" she gathered.
She smiled, "That's exactly what I am telling it to do but in computer code."
The system found a number of files and Mike saved them to her laptop drive. "There he is," she grinned. "There have a lot of files related to him."
Caitlin wondered, "Can we save them and read it all later? We don't have time to read it all now."
"I'm already doing that," she told her. "Done!" she closed out the program and turned off the modem. "Disconnect it, Mom."
Caitlin admitted, "I know that's a habit for you but it's kind of strange being called 'mom'." she quickly disconnected the cables from the outlet.
"Sorry," she winced. "I imagine that can be a bit freaky."
"It is," she agreed. "But at the same time I like the idea of being a mom." She handed her the cable and smiled, "I'm also glad I got to know you."
"Thanks," she smiled back taking the cable.
Dom stood peeking out the door, "Marella is coming."
They quickly hide the computer and equipment and closed the access panel.
Marella then found the door slightly ajar and opened it up and stepped inside. She was surprised to find them in the room and Dom playing the part of tourist guide.
"This is where they keep all these big computers, Mike." he spoke as if they were just looking about.
Marella noticed that Mike's jacket was zipped higher than before as she spoke, "This is a restricted area." She then handed Mike back the fake ID, "I believe this belongs to you."
"Thanks," she took the article.
Dom made up an excuse, "She wanted to see the big computers."
"It is restricted," she reminded him.
"I didn't see any sign," he rebutted.
Marella then noticed just how much Caitlin and Mike looked as they stood side by side looking sheepish. She told her, "I will have your Firm ID badge ready by the end of the day."
"Great," she gave a nod. "I appreciate it."
Curiously she asked her, "You have any military experience?"
"Why do you ask?" she wondered.
"I noticed the old flight jacket," she lied.
"Nothing that would come up," she stated.
Marella knew better but played dumb, "I see! I think perhaps I should escort you three to the lobby now."
"Sure," she agreed and gave a nod upon looking at her companions.
The three sheepishly followed Marella out of the computer room and down the hall. She spoke to Mike who walked beside her as they made their way. "You're a computer expert. What do you think of the computers onboard Airwolf?"
"In all honestly it's underpowered," she told her.
"It's the most powerful computer system available," she countered.
"It needs to be about million times more powerful," she informed. "Dr. Moffat was long before his time. You need to automate the rotor box but can't do it because the computers are too underpowered for what needs to be done."
"Which is why few people can fly it," she admitted. "Have you flown it?"
"I have," she admitted.
"At full potential?" she asked her.
She nodded, "Yup."
"Few pilots can do that," she informed.
"I figured," she nodded.
Marella asked, "You're a licensed pilot as well?"
"Not currently," she told her.
She asked, "You lost your license?"
"Could say that," she winced.
"I'll see what I can do to get that issue resolved," she stated. They arrived at the lobby to Hawke who was waiting for them. "Mr. Hawke," she greeted him.
"Marella," he gave a nod. "Anything wrong?"
"No," she shook her head. "I was just escorting them to the lobby. They appeared to have gotten a bit lost."
Dom spoke up, "We were just taking a tour."
"I see that," she miffed. She then addressed Mike, "If you could come back in a few hours I will have your badge ready." She then added, "You don't need to bring your uncle next time."
"I'll bring her," Hawke stated.
Marella would rather have been able to speak to Mike alone but feared revealing the letter. She simply gave a nod, "Very well, Mr. Hawke."