Chapter 13
KITT was silent about his encounter with Sam all the way to the rendezvous point. The car rolled up the back of the moving black semi-truck that housed the roving computer station manned by Bonnie.
Michael emerged from the driver's side to greet Devon Miles and debrief him on what he found so far.
Bonnie greeted him, "Michael! Any issues with KITT?" she asked as she set up the computers.
"He's been kind of quiet on the way but no, nothing." he reported. He went to Devon, "Are you sure this Airwolf team are top notch?"
Devon assured, "One of the best."
He cocked his head, "They haven't found anything yet. Nothing! Caitlin O'Shannessy is on the team. I know her. She was a damn good cop. She's got nothing on this…which I found kind of strange."
"Does Caitlin know your real name?" he asked concerned.
He nodded, "She knows who I am. She's holding back. That much I can tell you. It's not like her to hold out like this."
As Devon and Michael talked Bonnie climbed into the car to adjust a sensor. She looked on the floorboards and found a shiny new penny. She assumed Michael dropped it and picked it up. She rose from the car and noticed the penny was lighter and had a shield on the back and a date of 2021. "Hey Michael! Devon…Look at this?" she handed the penny to Devon.
He grasped the coin and took a closer look, "Where did you find this, Bonnie?"
"In KITT on the floor." she stated.
Devon asked, "Was anyone else been in KITT today, Michael?"
He nodded, "Santini's daughter, Sam. She's sixteen and wanted to check it out."
Devon cocked his head, "The file I have on Dominic Santini does not indicate that he has a daughter."
Michael cocked his eyebrow, "He doesn't?"
"He has a niece, Jo Santini. She is also a pilot." he reported.
Michael rubbed his chin, "What is going on there?"
Bonnie shrugged, "I would say that penny came from the kid if she was the only one in KITT today. Unless you had it and didn't realize it, Michael."
"I emptied my pockets so I would not get that quarter mixed in with my change." he informed.
Devon stated, "I will contact Archangel and see if the FIRM has more information on the girl."
"Sounds good. I can keep a closer eye on her at school." he figured.
Bonnie went back to the computer station for there was nothing she could do about the penny. She started to run the diagnoses. "Uh…" she made a face.
"What is it?" Michael came to her side and looked at the screens.
"KITT's emergency protocol has been activated. Only one who can do that Wilton Knight himself." she continued to dig deeper into the computer read outs. "KITT has been breached." she determined. "He has downloaded more information today…a lot more information."
"No one has had access to KITT." he insisted. "I would have seen anyone with a cord or cable…"
Bonnie interrupted, "This is through his signal receivers. Over 500 megabytes of information has been accessed and stored. Whatever he was exposed to ate up half his memory."
Michael stated, "We can't let KITT get exposed again. I'll go to the school without him as you take care of this."
KITT spoke, "I must return to the school and assist Samantha. It is of vital importance."
Michael's eyes squinted, "What did she do to you, KITT?"
He paused and the replied, "I cannot say."
"KITT!" he grew worried. "Is Sam the one passing the money around?"
He replied, "That information is not accessible to you, Michael."
He looked to Bonnie, "Can you see what information was downloaded?"
"I can try." she agreed. She opened a program on the computer. "I do have a file name. Samantha Hawke. 2022." she reported. "I can't open the file, KITT won't let me."
"Samantha Hawke?" Michael asked. "Why use Santini if her last name is Hawke?" he asked.
Devon asked, "Could 2022 by the years our time traveler is from?"
Bonnie shrugged, "KITT made the files name off whatever information she exposed him too."
Michael pressed, "What did Sam do what she was sitting in the car, KITT?"
He got no reply.
Bonnie stated "He can't say, Michael. She found the primary command and took control of him."
"Anyway of getting control back?" he asked her concerned.
"Wilton Knight would have to give us the code words." she told him.
Devon replied, "I will make the call."
Next Day - School
Ralph Hinkley stood at his desk early in the morning before the start of class. His friend and FBI agent, Bill Maxwell had come to the school to investigate the allegedly counterfeit money issues that they had been experiencing.
Bill wore a tan suit with vest and an open black tie. He stated, "What's this quarter your student found, Ralph?"
"Right here." he retrieved it from the drawer and handed it to Bill.
Bill squinted and look closely at the coin. Ralph stood by rather anxious. He asked, "What do you think?"
Bill told him, "This is a real coin, Ralph. This is not from any private mint."
"You think it's real?" he asked surprised.
He nodded, "You don't counterfeit coins! Only silver or gold coins would you bother to counterfeit. This is a real minted coin from…" he looked at the date again, "the year two thousand." He then reached into his breast pocket and retrieved a plain white envelope. "I've been on a money trail. These bills are all real and they have been passed at the school, the mall, all around town. Ralph, the FBI has brought in special agents from outside the agency to crack this case. There is talk of a time traveler doing it."
"Time travel?" he asked unbelieving.
"Come on, Ralph. Is that hard to believe with the red jammies and all?" he rebutted. "You said a student claimed the coin."
He nodded, "Sam! She's a bright kid." He then let out a heavy sigh.
"What?" Bill asked.
"She was doing really well on all her test. I talked about having her moved to a more advanced class then suddenly she starts failing her test."
"Why would she do that?" Bill wondered.
"I have no idea." he admitted. "I'm worried about her. It's like she's purposely throwing the test."
"Maybe she is." Bill suggested.
He asked, "Why would she do that?"
Bill suggested, "If she is the time traveler then maybe she's here for a reason, Ralph?"
He balked, "Sam! A time traveler?" He couldn't believe the suggestion.
"We've seen some strange things, Ralph." he reminded him.
"But time travel?" he asked still unbelieving.
Sam walked into the class early in an attempt to get the quarter back. She dragged a large book bag to conceal the collection and sported jeans and a red flannel shirt. She greeted, "Morning Mr. H." She noticed the new face and wasn't sure who he was. She wondered if he was the FBI agent that Ralph had wrote about in his blog. She smiled and greeted, "Hi! I'm Sam." She tried to get information and not look like she was trying to gain information.
Ralph introduced them. "Sam…I would like you to meet a friend of mine, Bill Maxwell. He works with the FBI and he wanted to see the quarter."
Bill looked at the girl. He gave a smile, "Nice to meet you, Sam." He held up the quarter, "Ralph was showing me this. It's very interesting."
She thought aloud, "So you are Bill."
Ralph cocked his head for he never told her about his friend before. He wondered for she seemed to have heard of him.
Bill pressed, "Ralph said you have a collection of these weird quarters."
She nodded, "My dad's collection." She removed the collection from the bag and opened it. The slot for the New Hampshire coin was empty.
Ralph stated, "I guess this proves the collection belongs to you." He handed her the quarter.
She placed it in the empty slot grateful to at lease get one quarter back. "Thanks Mr. H."
Bill then asked, "Can I look at that book?"
"I suppose." she agreed knowing if she refused it would look suspicious.
Bill grasped the large book and examined it thoroughly inside and out. He turned it over and looked at all the markings. He found a hand written note on the back cover in the bottom corner indicating the name of the book's owner. He made a mental note of the owners being Stringfellow Hawke and Saint John Hawke. He handed the folder back to Sam, "Thank you young lady. What's your dad's name again?"
"Dominic Santini." she told him. "You can call him and he will tell you it's his collection. I didn't steal it."
"I never said you stole it." he assured her.
Tony walked into class next. He spied Sam with Ralph and the FBI agent. He asked, "Can I have my quarter back?" He was hoping he could keep it through he also knew it was a long shot.
Ralph stated, "She brought in the collection. I gave it to, Sam to put back in the collection."
His shoulders slunk but he kept a cheery face, "Glad you got it back, Sam." he wanted to see the collection. "Um…can I see what your dad collected?"
She removed the book and opened it for him to see. His eyes lit up, "Wow…that's kind of cool. I like the bright colored map."
She promised, "I'll make sure you get your own someday."
"You mean I could get my own collection?" he wondered.
She nodded, "Will have to wait a while but I will send it to you myself."
"Neat!" he grinned. "That's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me." He handed her the book back.
"You're welcome." she replied and then gave him a grateful hug for he could have kept the coin and made it very difficult to retrieve.
Bill watched close. To him Sam was not a child and did not act like a child. He doubted her age was sixteen. He placed her in her early twenties.
The rest of the class began to filter in. They were rowdy and talkative as they readied for the day. Sam took her huge book bag and then sat down.
Bill decided to go run the names he got off the folder. He said his goodbye, "See ya later, Ralph." He then spoke to Sam, "Nice to meet you, Sam."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Maxwell." she remained courteous. She watched him leave.
Ralph started, "Okay class. Today we are going to do some science."
The class moaned.
Tony miffed, "What we going to do? Make a clock out of a potato again?" So far science lessons were aimed more towards Junior High.
The class laughed.
He replied, "We are going to take a field trip!"
Sam asked, "Where to?"
He cheered, "The planetarium."
The class moaned for they had so many times before it was now boring for them.
Sam agreed, "That sounds like fun." She looked at the class, "You learn about the planets, moons, the sun."
Karl stated, "We go every year for the last 5 years. It's boring! Same old stuff." He then suggested, "Be cool if we could go to your dad's airfield and see a plane close up."
Half the class cheered and the other half moaned.
Ralph held up his hands, "Settle down class."
Rhonda suggested, "Can't we just go to the mall for field trip?"
Ralph slouched his shoulders and gave a displeased look. "Really Rhonda! The mall?"
Jose suggested, "Let's go to the movies. I want to see Ghostbusters. We can use that as a science project." he grinned at his idea.
Ralph gasped, "The movies! Ghostbusters." He motioned, "Sam likes my idea of the planetarium."
"But she's a nerd like you." Karl spoke up.
She rolled her eyes, "Maybe I should just take ya all on the trip to the future." she miffed to herself. "Show ya dead mall and eat the dry, horrible baked McDonald's pie." She wasn't aware that her words were louder than she assumed. She sat back and crossed her arms annoyed.
The class fell silent.
Tony asked, "Trip to the future?"
Sam rolled her head back as she realized she spoke her thoughts too loud.
Karl admitted, "Now that sounds cool!"
Rhonda rebutted, "She was just being a drama queen. We can't go to the future. That's impossible."
Sam corrected, "Drama llama is the new term."
Tony cast doubt, "I don't know. That coin collection looks like it could be from the future. Show the class, Sam!" he urged.
She looked to Ralph.
The teacher wanted to see the class reaction to the book as Bill thought the money was real and not some mock up collection. He urged her, "Please do, Sam. It's very interesting."
She reluctantly came to the head of the class with the collection in hand. She opened the book debating what excuse she would come up with. She lied, "My dad has from friends in the mint and they had this preview mock collection of a new series called the State's Quarters made up. The coins won't come out until 1999. But this is what they will look like." she excused.
Tony asked, "So…these are mock coins of what will come?"
She nodded, "They plan things decades in advanced."
Karl came up and looked hard at the collection, "Hey it's all fifty states. These coins are neat." he concluded.
A number of other students walked up and looked at the coins as well. Rhonda didn't bother for she saw Sam as a potential rival for Tony's affection.
Tony figured, "So…when you said you could get one later you mean when the coins started coming out…in 1999?" he clarified.
She nodded, "Yes."
He told her, "That's fifteen years from now."
"Give or take." she agreed. After the class done looking at the coins she returned to her seat and put the collection away.
Jose raised his hand. "I have a question for Sam."
Ralph suggested, "Ask."
He rose to his feet and came to the front of the class. He dug into his pocket and retrieved a dollar bill. "I got this bill here at the school when I bought lunch. They gave it to me for my change. Things is, it's dated 2013." He looked to Sam, "They doing the same for bills?"
The class all looked at Sam.
She asked, "Do you know what Occam's Razor is?"
Ralph knew but waited. The class didn't seem to understand. The teacher explained, "It's when the most obvious answer it the correct answer. For example: you set a trap and find a dead mouse in the trap in the morning. You know it is dead and not sleeping."
"Ah!" Tony nodded along with the class.
"Continue Sam." The teacher urged.
She spoke to the class. "What would be the most likely answer to the question of why the money has the wrong dates? It could be a misprint. It could be fake. It could be something in development that accidentally got out. Or it could be from the future. Which is the most likely answer?" she figured the class would pick one the first three possibilities.
Karl declared, "I say it's from the future."
Rhonda huffed, "It's just a misprint." She looked to Tony to back her up.
Tony debated for a minute in his mind. He puckered and then declared, "I think it's from the future too." He then asked, "Hey Sam! How would you make a time machine?"
She gave a heavy sigh, "With a warp drive engine."