Chapter 3

Dom stood by Jo in the airport. He found he was required to wear a mask. He asked, "Why do I have to wear this mask?"

"There is this bug going around that can be very dangerous for older people." she explained.

"What good is a mask?" he balked. "This thing won't stop no bug." He tugged at the disposable mask that was handed to him on entry.

"You can take it off once we are outside." she assured him.

He rolled his eyes, "All this for a bug."

"I know…" she sighed.

Down the concourse Caitlin walked towards them wearing a white blouse and tan slacks with brown loafers. She instantly spied Dom by his iconic hat and blue jacket. She nearly ran as she walked as fast as she could. She too wore a mask as she grinned under the cloth and then wrapped her arms around Dom after letting her bag fall to the floor. Tears ran from her eyes as she squeezed him tight. "I couldn't believe it when Sinjin called me last night. You look just like I remember." She couldn't release him as the embrace lingered.

He assured her, "I'm okay, Cait."

She finally relaxed her arms still reeling from the news. She wasn't even sure where to begin. "You can stay. You are here and that's all that matters." She looked about, "Where is Sinjin and I really want to meet Sam. I follow her on Facebook but I never met her in person."

"You will." Jo assured. "She's with her father at the old hangar. We can stop there next."

"Sounds good." Caitlin agreed. She hugged Dom again, "I'm so glad I got to see you again."

"You are not gonna lose me." he assured her. He was still getting used to all the changes. Caitlin had aged as well. She was still just as pretty but the young pilot he knew was now closer to his own age.

She confessed, "I don't want to let you go, Dom."

Jo admitted, "None of us do." She feared they would cause a scene and someone would record them and place it on the internet. "Come on…let's get going." She picked up Caitlin's bag.

"Good idea." Caitlin agreed.

The three left the airport before anyone could tell it more than just a simple reunion.

Santini Airfield

Sinjin waited for the women and Dom to arrive as Sam worked on the engine. She made a repair, "That should to it!" she cheered pleased. "It was a circuit that overheated."

"You fixed it?" he asked.

"Yup." she nodded. "Not as bad as I thought it would be. Now I just have to figure out how to get Dom back home. I figured it I place him in the die hold and start the engine he should go back…or…go forward again. Not sure which…" she confessed.

Sinjin stated, "But how do you come back after you take Dom home?"

"I've been thinking about that. I need to do a retrieval test. I can use my phone to send a message to my computer. The computer can start the engine. I figure we need the warp from engine to enter the wormhole. I can send the phone back and then have the phone send an automated message to be retrieved.

"Okay, let's do that." Sinjin agreed.

Sam informed, "I will need a day to write the program and tweak my phone."

"Take your time." he soothed her.

Jo soon arrived with her passengers. Upon parking the Subaru they filed out of the vehicle. Caitlin looked upon the old hangar as she walked inside, "Lot like I remember." she noted. Her eyes settled on Sam, "You must be Sam." She held out a hand to the young woman.

Sam shook her hand, "You are Cait. Nice to meet you."

"I feel like I've known you for years." Caitlin explained. "I see pictures of you that your dad posted online. Gosh, you do look like a Santini." She gave the young woman a hug.

Sinjin teased, "Acts like a Hawke though."

Sam stood in an awkward way and gently patted Caitlin's shoulder, "You can let go now."

"Sorry." she told her. "Just all this brings back so many memories. And Dom! I'm still in shock." She looked to Sinjin, "He's here to stay? I have an extra room at my house if he needs a place."

"We have him all set." he assured.

Sam stated, "He's going back to his own time."

Caitlin shook her head, "Please don't send him back. Let him stay. He will only die anyways. He can just stay here and live out the rest of his life with us."

Sam explained, "Dad has a plan to save Uncle String and Dom. It requires we send Dom back and…I go back with him." she stated disgustedly.

"What?" Caitlin asked surprised.

Sinjin stated, "We have a chance to save String and Dom both. Sam, why don't you explain what your engine did?"

Sam looked upon her audience, "This engine is a miniaturized prototype of a working warp drive engine. It uses an artificial gravitational pull to warp space around a craft, thus sending it through space like a surfer riding a wave. When I was running some basic test the circuit overheated and a large spike of energy forced an opening in the space around the engine. The engine is off right now but the hole is still there. It's a wormhole. I should be able to use that hole and the warping affect from the engine to send a object or person through it and to the other side. In theory, the other side should be a question of when more than where. It should be 1984 and the present is connected to 1984 by what should be a wormhole." She continued, "I am theorizing I can send Dom back with myself and then still be connected to the present via a radio or my phone. I should be able to use the same warp effect to retrieve a subject as well. Like a swinging door."

Caitlin grinned, "What's the plan?"

"Dad…" she looked to her father.

Sinjin started, "We send Dom and Sam back to 1984 and use the wormhole to send information as they work to counter threats. We can use the internet to research and send them the dates, times…whatever they need."

Caitlin asked, "Will Michael help us?"

"Michael died last year." he told her. "I don't want the FIRM to know."

Sam asked, "What is the FIRM?"

Her father explained, "It's a CIA front."

"Oh, Clowns In America! Got it." she rolled her eyes.

Caitlin grinned, "I knew I would like you." She looked to Sinjin, "Kind of has String's personality a bit there."

"She's a Hawke." he agreed.

Caitlin assumed, "You must have been close to your uncle."

She shook her head, "No."

She looked to Sinjinn for an explanation. "Why? She's his niece."

"String asked me to not bring her around him. He didn't want her to see him like that. He was ill." he explained. "She never really got to know him…" he grinned at Sam, "Until now…"

She sighed, "Finish telling them your plan, Dad."

"Right," he gave a nod. "Sam will go undercover as Dom's daughter. We will say she is 16 years old. That would place her birth to 1968 when Dom was…"

Dom puckered, "Oh…I see…when I was still able to get a date…before I got old and feeble." he complained.

Sinjin stated, "You had loads of girlfriends back then. If she just shows up and says she's your niece, String won't believe it. He know you only have one niece."

Dom asked sarcastically, "Do you think he will believe that she's my daughter?"

"Yes!" he nodded. "She looks like her mother, your niece."

Sam complained, "He thinks I should go to high school too." She fully expected her mother to nix the idea.

Jo beamed, "That would be a perfect cover and you can see what it was like back then and maybe find some friends."

She stood shocked, "Are you serious, Mom?"

Jo explained, "You were a kid genius and you were so far ahead of other kids you never really made any friends. Think of it as…research." She looked to Caitlin, "Sam can also fly Airwolf un assisted. Only her father and String could do that."

Caitlin looked to Sam, "You're a pilot too."

She nodded, "Yes…I have my pilot's license and can fly choppers and two engine craft."

"That's a good skill to have." Caitlin told her. "Especially, where you are going."

Sam asked wide-eyed, "Where am I going?"

Sinjin told her, "Not where. When!"

Two Days Later

Dom adjusted well to future living. He was able to navigate a computer with relative ease and was able to get familiar with the touch screens on the phones. He found the internet was an open source intelligence site and quickly became familiar with Youtube and other similar platforms. He sat at Sinjin's computer in the home office as he filtered through all sorts of videos.

"Boy, String would love this you tube stuff." he mentioned to Sinjin. "I can see him doing videos about his cabin, flying and playing the cello."

Sinjin mentioned, "Sam can play the cello too."

"She can?" he asked brightly.

He nodded as he looked at the screen, "And the piano, the guitar, the trombone, the violin, the flute…" he shuttered, "but her favorite is the drums. She can play classical music like a pro but would rather bang those stupid drums. She can play the harmonica too. She would play that during camping trips. And a drum…" he miffed.

Dom suggested, "Maybe she just needs someone to play with."

He shrugged, "Maybe. But she doesn't have any friends. I guess that's my fault. I did shelter her a bit. Least she never joined a rock and roll band." He shivered at the thought of Sam in a rock band.

Dom suggested, "When she goes back with me, I'll get her to join the school band."

"If you can." he replied amused. "Now, let's see if that birth certificate is ready?" He reached over and grabbed the mouse. He opened email and retrieved a download. He opened the attachment and there on the screen was the fake birth certificate for Sam. It was done old style and dated to 1968. In the package was also a reproduction driver's license dated to 1984 that didn't require a photo ID. Sinjin stated, "These reproductions look just like the real thing."

"Sure does." Dom agreed.

Sinjin gave the command to print the documents. As they waited he requested, "When you two go back tomorrow…take care of her. I won't be there with her."

"You know I will take care of her like she's my own." he promised.

"I know." he agreed.

Jo hollered up the stairs, "Movie is ready to play."

"Coming." Sinjin stated.

"What's this streaming online thing?" Dom wondered.

Sinjin explained, "Like those videos but on TV."

"Ah," he understood. He followed Sinjin down the stairs to the living room. There on the sofa sat Caitlin, Jo and Sam with a big bowl of popcorn as they waited for Dom and Sinjin to take a seat. Dom found the large flat screen TV's was much like a movie theater screen. He mentioned sitting down on a large chair, "That big flat screen is like having a theater right in your home." He settled in for the movie.

Sam candidly spoke, "I've never been to a movie theater."

Dom asked, "You've never been to a movie theater."

She shook her head, "Nope."

Jo requested, "When you guys go back tomorrow, take her to the theater to see Star Wars, Dom."

"Star Wars!" he replied surprised by the request.

"I've seen it a number of times, Mom." she rebutted.

"But never in a packed theater during the height of it's release." she grinned. "Seriously…take her to the movies." she requested.

"I'll take Sam to the movies." he promised. "What film are we watching?"

"Jungle Cruise." Jo replied as the Disney streaming service came up.

Sam pouted, "I want to watch the new Pixel film."

Jo sighed, "That's a kid's movie."

Caitlin smirked, "I like Pixel too. Wall-e was so cool." She asked Sam, "What's your favorite one?"

"Up." she declared. "And Frozen…and Finding Nemo…" she found she liked them all.

Sinjin added, "I liked Frozen too. The snowman was great." he laughed, "String even liked some of the stuff."

Jo asked, "Really! String liked the kids movies?"

Caitlin countered, "I can see him liking some of those films. They were family movies. I can see String sitting with little Sam watching Wall-e together."

Jo pushed the button on the remote and the movie began to play.

The image of String watching a kids movie with his young niece ran through Sinjin's mind. He wanted to give String that chance to be an uncle to Sam. He promised himself that somehow he was going to save String one way or another.