Chapter 7

The hangar fell quiet as the employees had gone home leaving just Dom, String and Sam in the building. Sam entered the office and took one look at String and then asked Dom, "Okay! What happened?"

"He found the cell phone your father gave me." he explained. "So, I had to tell him. Well, your father told him. We called."

String calmly stated, "I need to see this engine you made?"

"Okay!" she agreed figuring her uncle would find out the truth sooner or later. She motioned, "Come on." She led the two men into the hangar and to the area where the portal lay dormant. She removed her cell phone her pocket and called. "Dad! I got String and Dom. String wants to see the engine. Start the retrieval program." She disconnected the call and simply waited.

String felt the wave come over him and floor shake like a small earthquake. In mere seconds it was over. He blinked and discovered he was still in the hangar but there was no planes anywhere. He found a table and a desk nearby. On the table was the contraption and sitting at the desk was an older version of his brother Saint John Hawke. String let out a deep breath, "Sinjin."

Sinjin stood up and made his way to his brother. He paused for a moment upon seeing him. "I forgot how you were back then." He then wrapped his arms around him and held him tight for a moment.

String could not believe his eyes. He knew his brother would be older but now his mind had to process that his brother was not only alive but decades older as well. He shook for a moment and then gather himself. "I missed you." he told him.

"I missed you too." he assured releasing his embrace.

String took a look around the old hangar, "Wow…this place had better days."

Sinjin agreed, "Needs some work if it's even going be a working airfield again. But for now it's a good, out of the way place for Sam's project." he motioned towards the table.

String made his way to the table and looked the contraption over. He looked at Sam, "You made this by yourself?"

She nodded, "I did."

"Whew," he gestured. "Computer?"

She pointed to the desk.

He went back to the desk and took a seat. He found the computer was far more advanced than the most sophisticated computer in 1984. "I see computers have made some progress." he mentioned. He started to type on the keyboard and brought up a black box on the screen. He was looking at raw data. He cocked an eyebrow at the results. He looked to Sam, "Why am I not helping you on this?"

"You died three years ago." she told him. "And before that you didn't want me around. You were sick."

String looked to his brother, "I was sick?"

He nodded, "Dom died the first time in an explosion that injured you for life. Then you were in a car accident that broke your back. You just couldn't recover from that. You didn't want Sam to see you like that so you kept her away from you."

He pondered, "Is that what this is about? Saving Dom and preventing me from having an accident?"

Sinjin nodded, "Yup."

"Who authorized this project? The FIRM." he wondered.

"Sam is doing this on her own. The mission to save you and Dom is something we are doing by ourselves. No government oversight, no committees…it's just us, String. We are doing this for our family." he explained.

He pondered, "No oversight. No federal funding. No FIRM. Total independence."

Sinjin smiled brightly, "Yup! You in?"

"You know I am!" he agreed. "Just us…no one else." He nodded in agreement. He existed the black box and scanned over the programs. He clicked on a icon and found a search engine. He asked, "What's this?"

"The internet." Sinjin replied. "It DARPA for civvies. Watch…" he typed in word and a number of links came up.

String blinked, "This is intel." His mind put the possibilities together. "We can use a warp drive engine to create a stable wormhole to a fixed time period, send operatives through and give support using an open source intelligence site that information at your finger tips." He cocked his head, "What the firm would give to get their hands on this…" he tailed off in thought.

Sinjin nodded with a smile, "And we got it all to ourselves."

String pondered, "This could be a secret civilian ran project that only we know about. This can help the Airwolf missions."

"It could," Sinjin agreed. "But our primary mission is our family. You and Dom are our first priority."

"Bringing you home." he countered.

"In less than two years time. Otherwise, I won't fly with Jo and she's my wife and Sam's mom." he reminded him.

Sam asked, "Well…who did you fly with other than mom?"

"Two guys from the FIRM." he told her.

"And that only lasted one year?" she asked.

He nodded, "Then I became and stunt pilot for the business."

"Well, just cut out the FIRM dudes and have the missions be completed with String and Dom." she suggested.

Dom spoke up, "I like that idea."

"That's a bit of work." Sinjin replied.

Sam stated, "While I'm here I need to make a few trips and get some more clothes from home. Can I have the keys?"

Sinjin tossed her the keys to his truck, "Be careful not to scratch it this time."

"Well, why did you have to buy such a big ass truck in the first place?" she countered. "That thing sucks gas."

"Put gas in while you are out." he added. "And pick up a pizza. I'm hungry."

She rolled her eyes for she just ate pizza. "Fine." She made her way out the door leaving her engine in the hands of her father and uncle.

String sighed, "She's got some of Santini blood going through her alright. She sounds like Jo at times."

Sinjin agreed, "But she got mom's nose."

"I got mom's nose." String mentioned.

"Yup." he agreed.

"Where are her notes and files?" he scanned the screen, "Found them!"

Dom stated, "Boy String. You already picked up how to work that computer. Took some time for me."

"It's actually easier to use than what we got." he mentioned. "It's called windows. Who made it?"

"Guy named Bill Gates." Sinjin stated.

"Bill?" he soured.

Dom asked, "You know him?"

String nodded not enthused, "Yup."

Meanwhile

Sam drove the truck through town. She got some belongings from home and picked up a pizza for the men. She then pulled into a drive-thru automatic teller machine at her bank. She spoke to herself, "I better get some cash." Hmm, 200 should do it." She placed her card in the machine and go the money out in twenty dollar bills. She folded the cash and placed it in her pocket never thinking of the dates on the bills.

Hangar

Sam pulled back into the airfield and grabbed her bag and the pizza box. As she entered she could hear her father telling a story about her childhood.

Sinjin began, "As you know, Jo likes to do puzzles. Those big complicated fifty thousand piece puzzles. Well, when Sammy was three years old she found the puzzle that Jo was working on. These can take weeks to complete. Sammy climbed up on the chair, sucker in hand. She completed that puzzle in an hour. She got so focused on the puzzle she forgot all about her sucker and it got stuck in her hair. We had to cut it out." he laughed. He spied Sam standing in the door smirking at him. "You get everything?"

"I remember the sucker stuck in my hair." she complained. "Why tell them that?"

"It's who you are." he insisted. "A three year old completes a puzzle most adults can't do but gets a sucker stuck in her hair."

"I think I am beyond the sucker stuck in my hair phase, Dad." she miffed. "Here's the pizza."

"You having any?" he asked as he opened the box.

She shook her head, "I'll pass. Had pizza earlier today. I got myself some Mickey D's." she cheered and held up a paper bag.

String soured, "That stuff is disgusting. You're coming to the cabin and I'm going to teach you how to make a real meal."

Sinjin warned him, "Don't know, String. She actually likes MRE's."

String paused and looked at the young woman. "You actually likes those things?"

"Once you get past the funky taste it's not too bad." she shrugged.

He looked to Dom who shrugged as well. "MRE's are better than the rations I had during the war. I don't mind them."

Sinjin figured, "Ah, she gets her taste buds from the Santini side of the family." He picked up a large slice of pizza and gently placed it on a plate. He then grabbed a fork and knife to cut it with.

String asked, "You are cutting your pizza, Sinjin?"

"When you get older, String…you find a fork and knife keeps your fingers clean." he explained.

Dom dug into the pizza, "See…it's not just me."

Sam plopped down and opened her paper bag and began to eat her food. He noticed it wasn't the same old hamburger and french fries he associated with the chain. "What are you eating?" he asked her.

"A spicy chicken sandwich, mocha and a cinnamon roll for dessert." she replied.

He squinted, "Don't they make cheap burgers and fries?"

Sinjin stated, "Oh' they still do but they got a little more style with some coffee and desserts now. They kind of made it more like a coffee house inside. Got ride of the old cartoon characters too."

He gasped, "McDonald's is a coffee house now?" He watched Sam sip her coffee and nibble at her food. "A coffee house?" he asked himself again. "McDonald's?" he shook his head in disbelief.

Sinjin stated, "You might like it nowadays, String."

Sam complained, "I miss the old McDonalds with the characters and the old happy meals. The ones with the cookies."

Dom asked, "Do they still have the deep friend apple pie? I used to really like those."

Sam notice String make a sour face at the pie suggestion.

Sinjin replied, "No, they went to backed pies."

Sam admitted, "I want to try a deep fried pie."

Dom cheered, "You and I will take a trip to McDonald's once we get back."

"Okay." she agreed.

It was obvious to String that his niece had the Santini gene for junk food. He shook his head figuring he would need to introduce her to some of his cooking.