The Santini Air jeep screeched to a halt by the white FIRM open-topped version in the Lair. Dom threw open the jeep door and hurried over to the platform where Michael was waiting for him. Dom barely noticed that the pilot was dressed in his usual all-white three piece suit.

'What's happened?' Dom demanded. 'Are they OK?'

'They haven't found them yet.' Michael said rising to his feet.

'They?'

'The CIA.'

'The CIA?' Dom checked. 'They have jurisdiction?'

'For this they do. Let me explain.' Michael held up a hand to stop the barrage of questions he could see in the other man's eyes. 'The CIA warned the President this morning that they believed a group of terrorists planned to fly a plane into the Range with the purpose of detonating a nuclear bomb.'

'So?'

'So just before Caitlin's mayday, a plane was spotted flying on a parallel course to Hawke and Caitlin's plane. Now they know Hawke and Caitlin had a legitimate flight path which was close to the top of the range but they think the terrorists were trying to confuse the radar by flying close enough to fool the sensors. They think the terrorist's plane accidentally collided with Hawke and Caitlin's and they think both planes went down in the same terrain.' He gestured at a monitor which was displaying a map of the White Sands Missile Range. 'Here.' He stabbed at a point on the map.

'You mean Hawke and Caitlin could have crashed along with a group of terrorists?' Dom gestured at the spy.

'That's exactly what I mean.' Michael's good eye stared seriously at the older pilot. 'If Hawke and Caitlin made it down in one piece, there's a good chance those terrorists made it too. These guys are determined to set this bomb off and if they come across Hawke and Caitlin…'

'You think they're in trouble?' Dom concluded.

Michael nodded. 'I'm afraid so.' He sighed. 'There's also the CIA to consider.'

'Oh?'

'They got permission from the President to handle this and they are looking for the terrorists that went down but it's not a rescue operation.' Michael turned the cane around in his hands, an uncharacteristic nervous gesture. 'They told me they're looking for Hawke and Caitlin too but I know how this works, Dominic…'

'And?'

'And the likelihood is that there has been no order for the men on the ground to distinguish between the terrorists and Hawke and Caitlin. They can't waste time rescuing innocents when they could be being fooled by the terrorists.'

'Are you telling me that the CIA is looking for Hawke and Caitlin so they can shoot them?' Dom's voice rose.

'I think so.' Michael said anxiously.

'We need to find them.' Dom said and started to strip his jacket off. 'Before those terrorists or the CIA do.'

'Dominic, I've orders to stay out of it.' Michael admitted. I'm taking a risk just being here. Marella's covering for me but she won't be able to do that for long.'

Dom's eyes hardened. 'You've got to be kidding me.'

Michael shook his head. 'I'm not.'

'After everything String's done for you, you're going to just leave him and Cait hanging out there?' Dom said furiously.

'Don't you think I know that? Dammit, Dominic, I care about them too.' Michael said heatedly.

'Then help me find them.' Dom insisted.

'I can't.' Michael said forcefully. 'I have to attend a Committee meeting back at the FIRM this afternoon…'

'So you blow off a meeting…'

'If I'm not there then suspending me might be the best of what happens to me.'

'So you get suspended…'

'I said suspension was the best option not the only one.' Michael pointed out. 'I'm no use to Hawke if I'm dead, Dominic.' He saw the realisation of what the consequences might be dim the anger in the older man's eyes. 'I can't take that risk not now.'

Dom sighed. He knew the spy was referring to his newly discovered ten year old daughter. Michael had turned into a doting father and Dom knew it wasn't fair to ask the other man to risk his life and leave his daughter fatherless. He levelled a determined look at the other man. 'I'm still going.' He braced himself for an argument.

Michael simply nodded. 'I thought you would.' He pointed at the computer console. 'Marella's put everything we know about the situation on disc. It's compatible with Airwolf's computers.'

'Thanks, Michael.'

The spy nodded again and headed down the steel ramp to his vehicle. He threw his cane into the passenger seat and turned to look sadly at Dominic. 'I wish…'

'I know, Michael.'

Michael smoothed his moustache. 'Good luck.' He got into the jeep and backed out of the Lair.

Dom watched Michael leave and sighed. He glanced up at the computer console and walked over to the lockers to change. He was just tying the last knot on his boot laces when he heard the sound of footsteps. He picked up his gun and crept along the edge of the platform to stand next to the wall just before the entrance. A shadow appeared forewarning of someone about to enter the Lair. Dom let them take another couple of steps so they were parallel with him. It looked like a young kid; trainers, jeans, a baseball jacket and a baseball cap pulled low over their face.

'That's far enough, friend.' Dom took the safety off the gun and the audible click echoed in the cave. 'I've got a gun trained on you. Put your hands on your head and turn around real slowly to face me.'

The intruder followed the instructions and Dom's eyes widened with recognition before they filled with anger. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'I followed you.' Jo admitted unashamedly. She gestured at the gun. 'You want to put that away, Uncle Dom?'

Dom looked down at the pistol in his hands as though surprised to still find it there. He lowered it immediately. 'You shouldn't be here.'

'I was concerned.' Jo said lowering her hands. 'You just took off.' She glanced around the Lair. 'Exactly where is here anyway?' She asked as her eyes landed on the black and white helicopter sat in the shaft of sunlight in the centre of the Lair. 'Oh my God! This is incredible.' She walked over to peer into the machine, run her hand against the glossy black armour even as her eyes met his. 'What's going on?'

'It's a long story,' Dom said gesturing impatiently, 'and I don't have time to tell it to you right now. I have to go.'

'Something's wrong isn't it?' Jo followed him across the Lair to the lockers. 'Tell me.'

Dom marched up the steel platform and ejected the disc from the computer console. 'You stay here and I'll explain later.'

'Is it Hawke? Is he in trouble?' Jo grabbed his arm as he went to walk past her to the helicopter. 'Maybe I can help you.'

Dom stopped and looked at her. She gazed back at him with eager, concerned eyes. 'OK, OK.' He said. He waved at the lockers. 'Caitlin should have a spare uniform in there. If you're changed by the time I do the flight check, you can come with me.'

It wasn't long before he was settling her into the engineer's console.

'This is amazing.' Jo said awestruck as he helped her put on the helmet.

The memory of Hawke recounting Caitlin's first time in the Lady bubbled to the surface of his mind. 'Do not touch anything.'

'OK.' She agreed quickly.

He harrumphed and took the commander's seat at the front. He switched on the engines, heard the systems powering up and breathed a sigh of relief. His hand hovered over the cyclic. 'I mean it, Jo. When I say do not touch anything, and I mean do not touch anything without my telling you to.'

'Yes, Uncle Dom.' Jo withdrew her hand that had wavered over the computer console. She took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her ears as the helicopter rose smoothly up the funnel. Her chest was tight as they cleared the walls and hovered over the Valley of the Gods. She realised belatedly that she needed to breathe. She took another breath and lost it immediately as the helicopter shot forward, the g-force pressing her back into the seat. Were they doing mach speed? In a helicopter? Jo slowly released her grip on the console.

Dom headed for White Sands and filled Jo in on what had happened to Hawke and Caitlin before he told her the story of how Hawke had recovered Airwolf.

'So let me get this straight,' Jo said, 'Hawke's flying this helicopter for this intelligence agency, the FIRM, whilst they look for Saint John?'

'That's right.' Dom said.

'And you and Caitlin help him fly her?'

'Yeah.'

'And the weird guy in the white suit I saw leaving the cave, he works for the FIRM and helps you guys?'

Dom almost smiled at her description of Michael. 'He helps as much as he can.'

'But isn't Saint John MIA?'

'As it turns out, no.' Dom said. 'We got some information recently that proves he escaped from the Vietcong.'

'So where is he?'

'Well according to the information we got, he went to work for an intelligence agency after he left the army and kinda disappeared again.' Dom admitted.

'My God.' Jo shook her head. 'I can't believe it.'

'I know it's a lot to take in, kid.'

'So Hawke really might find Saint John?'

'He really might.' Dom said. 'If we can find him and Caitlin first.'

'We will, Uncle Dom.'

'OK.' Dom checked their coordinates. 'We're almost there. I need you to access the information on the disc. I need the exact coordinates Caitlin radioed in with her mayday.'

'I'm ready.' She said.

Dom gave her the instructions carefully and Jo punched in the commands to the Airwolf computer. The disc whirred and the information came up on the monitor. Jo obediently recounted the coordinates and Dom adjusted their course. He brought Airwolf to a hover over the exact location and instructed Jo on running the surveillance scans.

'I have something.' Jo said excitedly.

'Well don't keep me in suspense, what have you got?' Dom demanded.

'Oh no.'

'Oh no?'

'There's wreckage.'

Dom stilled. 'Is it theirs?'

'I can't tell.'

He told her how to zoom in on the picture, clear it up.

She swallowed. 'It's not theirs. It looks pretty intact.'

'Is there anybody down there?'

'No, not in the immediate area.' Jo shook her head.

'Well keep looking. If that was the terrorist's plane, Hawke and Caitlin's must be close by.' Dom encouraged.

Jo nodded. The monitor suddenly went blank; pictures of aircraft zipped across the screen. 'Uh…Uncle Dom?'

'What?'

'The computer's doing something back here. All I'm getting is a…a search on some aircraft?'

'That's the automatic identifying program. There must be aircraft approaching.'

Jo nodded as the computer settled on an id and flashed a description up on the screen. 'We have two US attack helicopters vectoring in on the terrorist plane.'

Dom veered away and ascended to a safe height. 'We need to raise our radar suppression.'

'Why are we leaving?' Jo asked.

'Because we can't take the risk of those helicopters attacking us.' Dom said before he told her how to work the radar and infrared jammers.

'I don't understand.' Jo said following his instructions. 'Why would they fire on us?'

Dom sighed. 'I told you, Jo. We don't have any friends in Airwolf.' He looked helplessly at the clouds hiding the ground below. 'Besides if we stay, we'll lead them right to them.'

'So what do we do now?' Jo asked despondently.

'We wait,' Dom said reluctantly, 'and we pray they're alright.'