Chapter 20

The cabin sat nestled in the base of the mountain with a large lake. The helicopter landed on the dock and the crew made their way up the trail to the quaint cabin carrying boxes of supplies and bags of clothing.

Sam found herself wearing a pink puffy jacket with a hood and fluffy fringe lining the article. She was given white mittens to wear and opted to keep her hiking boots for she refused to wear the pink winter boots that Caitlin offered.

She grumbled as she made her way, "I can't believe how bright this coat is." She waved a hand in front of her face, "Who wears mittens?"

String wore his leather jacket to keep warm. He looked back at Sam as he heard her complaining. He smirked, "But you look cute in pink."

"Scientist don't wear pink." she muttered not happy.

Caitlin wore the white winter coat and glanced back at her, "What do girls wear in the future then?"

"White will work. Blue, purple, green…" she looked down at the fluffy coat, "Not this."

Dom rolled his eyes and muttered, "Millennials."

They soon entered the cabin. String stated, "I'll get the fire started." He placed the bags down and went to the fireplace and began to work. He wondered what Sam's reaction would be to the paintings hung on the wall.

Caitlin wondered. "You remember this place, Sam?"

"A little of it." she gave a nod. She recalled, "I remember an old crank style hospital bed where the sofa is and a wheelchair. The bar was full of medication bottles. Lot of this stuff was cleaned out. I was never upstairs."

String stated, "Go check it out, kid." He placed more kindling on the small fire.

She placed her bag down and removed her coat to reveal the pale green flannel she wore underneath. She started up the stairs as her mind recalled what the cabin looked like when she was a small child. She didn't recall the paintings but she knew they were of museum quality. She made her way up the stairs to the loft bedroom that housed another fireplace. She found String's private bedroom and it was rather tidy and neat. She came back down the stairs after observing the area.

Sam mentioned, "Are all Hawke's neat freaks? It's like my dad's office up there."

Dom nodded, "Both boys were always very clean."

String didn't say a word and waited for her to mention the paintings. She did not and instead spoke of the general cabin. "I remember some of this. Lot like I remember."

Caitlin asked, "Do you remember the paintings?"

She shook her head, "No those weren't there. I think they were sold. I'm not sure. Nice paintings though."

String turned his head and stated, "Your grandfather got those for your grandmother. They are museum pieces."

She squinted, "Was Grandpa an art thief?"

String let out a deep sigh.

Dom chuckled slightly, "To some extent."

She took a seat for a moment and grinned, "Cool! Tell me about Grandpa Hawke."

"I flew with him in the war. I'll tell ya all about him, kid." Dom assured.

Caitlin spoke, "Let's not forget the main reason we are here. We need a quiet, out of the way place to teach Sam self defense and combat techniques."

Dom agreed, "We also should take her up in the lady and go over to combat maneuvers." He referred to Airwolf.

String agreed, "We should do that. Sinjin says she can fly her without a computer to assist in engaging mach one. It's been a week. We should introduce her to Airwolf."

"I already know Airwolf." she reminded him.

"With a fully operation weapons system?" he asked.

"No," she confessed. She then suggested, "I should get a drone and put in Airwolf."

"Drone?" Caitlin asked.

"I can make a drone platform and you can launch it off Airwolf. It will be a little bigger than a commercial drone but not nearly as large as the military ones. It would be an vehicle with a camera on it. Can use our cell phones as a screen. You can get a closer look at a target with the drone."

String admitted, "That would be an advantage. Just can't let the drone get shot down or fall into the wrongs hands." he warned.

She nodded, "True."

Caitlin suggested, "Another rule for your book."

She nodded in agreement.

Dom stated, "Come on, Sam. You can help me put the supplies away and start dinner."

"Okay," she agreed and followed Dom to the kitchen area.

Caitlin took a seat near String. She handed him some fire wood to add to the flames. "Sam has never seen conflict. Sinjin and Jo sheltered her growing up. We don't know how she will do under fire."

String stated, "She's a smart, kid."

Caitlin reminded him, "She's not a kid. She looks young for her age but physically, she's only three years younger than me. We need to stop treating her like a sixteen year old girl."

"That's why we brought her up here." he reminded. "To do some basic training."

"I wonder if it's a good idea to arm her." she confessed. "She left phone just laying there where I could find it. What if she does that with a pistol?"

String countered, "You just said we should not treat her like a kid. It was a phone. Apparently, losing phones happens a lot along with dropping them in toilets." he smirked.

She asked, "Who dropped their phone in a toilet?"

"You did!" he grinned. "Older you called Sinjin when I was there. You dropped your phone in the toilet and asked where the rice was. I guess the rice is a trick to drying it out. Not sure if it worked."

She asked, "Old me dropped a phone, like what Sam has, in a toilet?" She sat baffled by the information.

String asked, "Have you ever dropped your gun in a toilet?"

"Of course not!" she balked.

He smirked knowingly, "You think Sam ever dropped her phone in a toilet?"

"I don't know." she pondered.

He chuckled slightly, "She left it on the table. You dropped yours in a toilet. Let's see how Sam does handling a weapon before we worry about her leaving it on a table someplace."

"Alright." she agreed. She wrinkled her nose, "I dropped my phone in a toilet! Am I getting senile?"

Meanwhile

Archangel spent hours going over the social media page that his older self had been administrating in the future. He left clues in the form of riddles and puzzles to be deciphered. He finished decoding one of the clues he embedded in the work. He gasped, "Sinjin." He called his host.

He looked over from monitoring the engine. "What is it?"

"I think there could be another time travel program already in existence." he declared.

Michael Knight cocked an eyebrow as he too sat at table with a laptop, "Another program? Who?"

"Black budget." he reported. "I left clues to it in this…Facebook…site." He glanced up, "I don't think Sam is the only one to come up with this technology. There seems to be a connection to Operation Paperclip."

Sinjin stated, "The Nazis?"

He slowly nodded, "They were ahead of use in some weapons development and we brought many of those scientist here."

KITT's voice came over Sinjin's cell phone as he had been monitoring the other side of the wormhole though the device. "Might I suggest that is there is another time travel program then we do not know what their goal is nor if the timeline has already been altered."

The men and women sitting around the table doing research all traded glances.

Marella had agree, "The timeline could have already been altered and what we see on these computers could be an altered timeline."

Bonnie wondered, "How could we tell if it's been altered?"

KITT answered, "One would have look for another energy signature that would indicate a warp drive engine in use. The energy signature of Sam's engine is unique. I have mapped it."

Archangel asked, "Could we scan for this signature using Airwolf?"

Bonnie confirmed, "I got a good look at Airwolf. We can adapt the sensors and I could even update those sensors in 84's Airwolf to get better results. We should probably be scanning both 84 and today for that signature."

Sinjin stated, "Jo and I can take up our Airwolf and under the cover of doing air shows and routine flights…like chopper rides." He then figured, "We can send String up with Dom and Cait in 84 to scan."

KITT concluded, "You will need to send Samantha up with them in 84 to help scan. If they find a signature she will have to analyze it further."

Michael Knight asked mocking, "Samantha, KITT?"

He became defensive, "I like her full name. Samantha! Dr. Samantha Hawke."

Michael looked to Bonnie who winced as she realized KITT was rather found of the scientist.

Marella confessed, "I always liked Samantha for a girl's name. I was never fond of calling a girl 'Sam.'"

"KITT, why are you insisting that Sam goes with them?" Michael asked knowing the answer for KITT liked Sam on a personal level.

KITT then suggested, "You could go with them Michael and Sam can ride with me."

He slowly nodded, "I see."

Sinjin asked, "What is wrong with your car?"

Bonnie explained, "KITT has emotions. He's not just self aware. He feels as well and it seems that he likes Sam."

Sinjin pondered, "I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or terrified."

Michael assured him, "KITT is not like the machine in that dumb Terminator movie that just came out."

Sinjin pondered, "Damn, that came out in 1984! Boy they have been making movie for a long time."

Michael asked, "How many Terminator movies did they make?"

KITT answered, "They will produce six Terminator movies as of 2019. I have access to Google through the cell phone."

Michael gasped, "Six! They make six of those stupid movies?"

Sinjin nodded, "Arnold was in every one of them too."

He let out a depressed sigh.

Archangel stated, "We must find the other engine and uncover this other time travel program. We have to know if the timeline has already been changed and by who and for what reason."

Bonnie assured, "We can upgrade KITT's sensors as well. He can scan in 84. I can also tether KITT from a central computer to a vehicle today. Like Sinjin's truck and my car. We can network KITT into roaming vehicles today using cell towers and have his mainframe centered right here in the hanger. I could even network KITT to Airwolf today. I can't do that in 84 but with today's network, I can put KITT in a lot of vehicles."

Michael Knight asked, "Would older me agree to let you put KITT in whatever I am driving here?"

She grinned, "It was your idea. You suggested it to me."

He gasped, "I came up with that. How did I come up with that idea?"

"You hate Alexa. You find her annoying." she confessed.

"Who?" he asked.

"You'll find out." she replied.