Chapter 21

Sam stood behind the cabin with Caitlin as Dom had set up a few tin cans on a log for target practice. String approached her with his side arm in a holster on his hip. He asked, "What did Sinjin teach you about guns?"

"Not to touch them when I was little. Then he got me a pink BB gun and I learned gun safety on that." she started to explain. She didn't get to finish as String assumed all she ever shot was the BB gun as Caitlin had interrupted.

"They have pink BB guns?" Caitlin asked

Sam nodded, "It was a pink…like the Red Ryder…the one from the movie."

She asked, "You mean a Christmas Story? That came out last year. That was so cute." She giggled, "You'll shoot your eye out kid."

"It's a classic." she agreed.

String removed his 1911 semiautomatic pistol, dropped the magazine and cleared the chamber in a swift motion. He placed the gun in her hand, "This is not a BB gun, kid."

Sam tried to replied, "I know…"

String then took the gun out of her hand and went over the piece. "This is your trigger, this is your safety. Front sight is fixed." He then rammed the magazine back into the butt of the gun and racked the slide. He placed on the safety. He then held it before Sam to take.

She asked, "What about ear muffs and eye protection?"

"You need to be able to fire while under fire. You won't have time to get your ear muffs and shooting glasses. You have to return fire without using that stuff." he explained.

"That will make my ears ring." she figured.

"You have to get past that." he told her. "Now, aim for the can on the left." he instructed.

Caitlin added, "Just line up the sights on your target."

Dam had also reached the cabin and added, "Keep a firm grip, kid."

String fully expected to have to adjust her grip but found she already had good hand placement. He correctly assumed String must have taught her to use an actual firearm after all.

They stepped back as Sam took aim and fired. She hit the target dead on and winced.

"Ah damn!" she complained about the noise. "No wonder my dad is half deaf and can't hear half the time."

String instructed, "Keep going. Take the other three cans."

She asked, "What did you say?" She could not hear over the ringing in her ears.

He spoke louder, "Finish shooting."

She put the safety back on and handed him the gun, "I'm finished!" She shook her head trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop.

String held onto the weapon. After a minute he asked, "Can you hear me now?"

"Little better." she informed not happy.

Dom reached in his shirt pocket and retrieved a small ear plug case. He stated, "You can carry these with you and if you know you are about to go into a fight, put them in your ears."

She gratefully took the ear plugs. She stated, "Why not get those game ear plugs the hunters use. You can hear sounds and it will automatically filter out the gunshot."

String asked, "Where do you find those? We don't have that here."

"A hunting store." she replied. "I know how to hunt, fish…play sports. My dad taught me all that."

The three traded glances. Dom admitted, "An ear plug you can hear normal with and will filter out any loud sounds would come in handy. How much does a set cost, Sam?"

She took a guess, "I don't know. I think you can get a good pair for less than a hundred dollars."

Caitlin asked, "It's size on an ear plug? It goes in the ear?"

She nodded, "Like a pair of ear buds."

She wondered, "What's an ear bud?"

"Ear phones but wireless and go in the ear." she explained. She put the new pair of standard ear plugs in her ears that Dom had given her. She then retrieved the pistol, took a shooting stance and popped off three more rounds hitting each can in seconds. She then emptied the last two shots on a large free standing target 20 yards down range. It rang out like a gong with each hit. She then dropped the magazine and handed the locked open pistol to String.

String glanced at his friends. "So, she can shoot with ear plugs."

Dom suggested, "Let's take a trip back to the future and go find some of them fancy ear plugs that Sam was telling us about."

Caitlin agreed, "I wouldn't mind a shopping trip in the future. Sounds like fun!" she grinned.

String asked, "And what money will you use?"

"I've got a few gold coins I can sell." she suggested. "I did look at the price of gold when we were on the computers. Spot is over eighteen hundred dollars an ounce. I can get close to that."

Dom's eyes grew wide, "Gold is how much?"

"One thousand and eight hundred dollar an ounce spot price. I might even get a bit more. I got a few rare coins too." she figured.

Sam asked, "How much is gold now? In 1984."

"Three hundred an ounce." Dom told her.

"So, we go to a dealer, buy a few coins, take them to the future and cash them in." she figured. "That way you don't have to sell your own coins, Aunt Cait." she suggested.

They traded glances.

String admitted, "That's not a bad plan."

Dom agreed, "Heck that's a good plan. Cait can keep her coins and we can instantly make a profit. More than enough for those fancy ear plugs. And we can get the money back we spent on the coin. Just need one to buy gold coin. We can all pitch in a hundred dollars."

Caitlin cautioned, "But we can not bring a hundred dollars in future money back here to spend."

Dom waved it off, "The ear plugs would cost us about hundred dollars anyways. Just this way we can get the ear plugs and have extra to buy other things in the future and not have to rely on Sinjin so much. Heck, this will give us each five hundred dollar to spend in the future minus the hundred we each chip in."

String teased Caitlin, "You could get yourself a pink BB gun."

She blushed, "When I was a little girl my dad gave me a Red Ryder BB gun. It was considered a boy's BB gun and my friends at school teased me. If it was pink…I bet I would not have been teased."

Sam confessed, "I wanted the wood stock one. I hate pink. I wanted it to be just like the movie with a compass in the stock and a time piece. So, when Daisy made an special edition, I went a got it for myself."

String puckered, "So, as a grown woman you went and bought a BB gun for yourself."

"Yes!" she gave a firm nod. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I like pink." She then added, "But they do have a teal stock BB gun that I like."

String gave a funny look, "It's a BB gun! How many colored stocks are there?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. "And it's an air rifle." she corrected him. "Some of those air rifles get really expensive too. The PCP ones…whew…" she motioned wide-eyed.

String figured, "Sinjin taught you to shoot a handgun. Long gun too?"

She nodded, "I prefer the level actions. Like cowboy shooting."

He asked, "An M-16?"

"We can't get those." she rebutted. "That's a military gun."

"Shotguns?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Semi rifle?" he asked.

"A 10/22 Ruger." she replied.

"Anything useful?" he wondered.

"Define 'useful'?" she rebutted.

Dom figured, "She's not going to be using an M-16, String. We can go over Airwolf's systems with her. She's good with a sidearm. She can shoot. She hit the gong way back there."

Caitlin agreed, "She needs to learn some hand-to-hand and how to disarm someone." She then wondered, "Just how much of that did your parents teach you, Sam?"

"They put me in karate class when I was little. I did that until I was sixteen. They taught me basics, like what to do if someone tries to rob me or car jack me." she explained.

String stated, "But you won't be up against some punk trying to rob you. You will be up against military trained mercenaries working black budget projects."

She gave a heavy sigh, "They say modern problems require modern solutions. Thing is, with time travel there is no modern anything."

Caitlin assured, "We are going to teach you everything we know, Sam."

She gave a grateful half smile, "I appreciate that."

Next Day

Sam was brought to the lair that housed Airwolf. The scientist looked at her uncle sitting behind the wheel of the jeep. "You hid it in a cave, Uncle String?"

Dom and Caitlin sat in the back. Dom laughed, "Can't exactly keep her in the hangar." He patted her shoulder, "Come on! Let's see what you and the lady can do."

She let out a breath with a puff of her cheeks as she climbed out of the jeep. She miffed, "I should trade with Michael Knight. Ha can have Airwolf and I can get KITT."

String asked her, "Really! You would trade Airwolf for KITT?"

She nodded, "I would!"

Caitlin suggested, "You should just put KITT in Airwolf."

Sam puckered in thought, "I could do that. Dad's air shows would be awesome with KITT."

String chuckled slightly, "Awesome! With KITT!" He rolled his eyes amused. He then opened the door of the fuselage and dug out his flight suit and gear. Caitlin gathered an extra flight suit from the inside compartment. She handed it to Sam, "Here! We do have four."

She gathered the old suit. She gasped upon examining it, "Wait! These are the same old suits. These are the ones mom and dad use for the shows."

"It's Airwolf's suits." String told her.

She gasped, "How old are these old suits?"

"Apparently older than you!" String snapped. "Now put it on!"

"Fine," she rolled her eyes as she put the flight suit on over her pants and shirt. She looked into the cargo hold compartment and automatically searched for her boots. "Where are my boots?" she then whacked herself outside the head as if she was dense. "Dummy! You have not placed the boots there yet."

String told her, "Just wear your hiking boots."

Caitlin soothed and touched Sam's shoulder. "Don't be hard on yourself, Sam. I know you fly Airwolf in air shows and it's easy to think something is there when it's not."

"It's like for moment, I thought it was an air show." she confessed. She gathered the helmet and stated, "Looks brand new." She sighed, "It is brand new."

String stated, "Cait, you take the jump seat. I was to see if Sam can fly like Sinjin said she can." He spoke to Sam, "You are my co-pilot."

She agreed, "Okay!" She climbed in behind the controls. She started the pre flight check list like she had done many times before.

Dom started up the engineer's section as Caitlin took the observer's seat.

String settled in as the pilot. He found Sam was right on task with the check list as she made notes. Confident he stated, "Let's see what you can do, Sam. You take her up." He let Sam take over the controls.

"Roger that." she replied in the microphone of the helmet. The engines roared to life and soon after completing the pre-flight task Airwolf was rising up out of the lair. She pressed the yolk forward and they began to move over the landscape.

Dome stated, "Doing real good, Sam. Steady. Just like a pro."

She reminded the crew, "I have flown Airwolf before. In air shows."

Caitlin asked, "How many air shows did you fly with Airwolf, Sam?"

"Seventy five. I would gotten a hundred if weren't for the bug." she informed.

String looked over at her as she flew. He said, "Stretch her legs, Sam."

She asked, "Do you mean engage the jet engine?"

Annoyed he nodded, "Yes!"

"Just says so." she miffed. She pushed the control on the yolk and the secondary engine engaged, She was able to maintain control with ease during the transition and without the aid of a computer.

Caitlin spoke, "She's as good as you, String."

String was rather impressed and agreed, "She's good."

She shook her head, "My dad is better. It's like he can feel the controls like a Jedi."

String told her, "You mean like a Hawke." He mentioned, "Like what you just did."

She smiled, "Must be the force."

Dom spoke up, "I promised your mom to take you to a movie theater. We still have to do that, Sam."

"This is way better than any movie theater." Caitlin spoke up.

Dom told her, "Sam has never been to a movie theater."

Caitlin stated, "Then we should take her. How about we go see that new movie…Gremlins."

"Seen it." Sam nixed the idea.

"Gremlins?" String asked.

Dom stated, "Gremlins is what we used to blame mess ups on in the war."

Sam replied, "The movie is about these cute little monster things that got wet, made more monster things and then they ate food and turned into green monsters that went nuts all over the town."

Dom cheered, "Let's go see it."

String asked, "What other movies are out, Cait?"

She rattled off a small list, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Friday the 13th, Against All Odds, I think that's a love story and there was this other one, last week…Last Star Fighter."

"Let's see the Last Star Fighter!" Sam chirped.

String asked her, "Is it good?"

She shrugged, "I have no idea. It's sounds cool though. It's the only movie on the list I have not seen."

Caitlin figured, "Let's go to that one then. It will be the one movie none of us has seen."

String agreed, "The Last Star Fighter it is."