Chapter 23
The crew of Airwolf returned to 2022 with Sam after returning from the flight. The first thing they noticed was that Airwolf was now in the old hangar and the hanger was getting full.
Beside Airwolf was a black mustang and Jo's Subaru as Bonnie Barstow was busy doing the upgrades for the new KITT network. The crew quickly figured the mustang belonged to Michael Knight of the future.
Dom asked, "What ya think of the new mustang, Sam?"
"I like the vintage ones." she confessed. She then spied her mother and father sitting at the table with older Michael Knight. She asked, "Where is our Cait?" She referred to the older Caitlin in 2022.
Jo explained, "She went back to Texas. She will be back soon. She had some things to do." Her eyes settled in String, "Finally decided to step outside the hangar, huh?"
He agreed, "Might as well…everyone else has." He noticed Michael, "Good to see you again."
He stood up and looked upon the crew and Sam. "You know, back then I couldn't really grasp what you guys had accomplished. I knew but didn't really comprehend it until now." He looked to Sam, "You made getting back possible. You made all this possible and gave me something important to do. Thank you, Sam."
"Welcome," she quietly replied a bit bashful.
Michael insisted, "We're gonna fix things. I'm not letting Dom get killed and String get injured either. You got my full support and what ever you need, you just let me know."
She gave a smile, "I appreciate that. I can use the help." She then mentioned, "Nice car."
He looked over to his mustang, "I think KITT will like it. Bonnie is installing the sensors and doing some upgrades. On this end of the wormhole we got you covered, Sam. Just wish I could do more on the other end but you are kind of stuck with young and dumb me."
"Young and dumb you will work." she assured. She then added, "I like your hair better this way. The curly hair…" she shook her head.
He laughed, "It was the 80's! Everyone had big curly hair."
Dom and String traded glances. String huffed, "I don't!"
He rolled his eyes, "There is always the exception." He then asked, "Taking your Uncle String out on the town, huh?" He chuckled slightly as he could imagine the culture shock the pilot was about to experience.
"Yup!" she grinned wide.
Michael cheered, "Have fun with him."
Bonnie called from under the car, "Michael…I need a hand with this sensor." She raised her foot so Sam and the crew could see her working under Jo's car. "Hey guys!"
Dom stated, "There she is! I wondered where she went."
Michael came to her side. "What you need me to do?" he asked.
As Michael assisted Bonnie with the sensors Sam made her way to the engine. She checked it over and then went to the computers to read the reports.
Sinjin held the keys to his truck up, "Put gas in it."
"I will, Dad." she assured. "Seems stable." she concluded.
He handed her another key, "Sam! Swing home and open the gun safe. Get your side arm, my side arm and you mom's. We think we should take some extra security measures."
"Which side arm do you want, Dad?" she knew he had a few options.
"My forty-five." he requested. "Extra mags and rounds too."
Jo requested, "Get my Kimber 9 mil, Sam."
"Got it." she nodded.
Her father requested, "Don't take your compact 380. 9 mil or above."
Jo suggested, "Take the 38 special with you."
Sinjin nodded in agreement, "That has stopping power and you can conceal it."
"But it so much heavier than my 380." she complained.
Her father stated, "This is not a case of protecting yourself against some thief trying to carjack you. This is far more dangerous. Take the old snubby."
"I will." she assured.
Caitlin asked, "She owns a 380 pistol?"
Sinjin nodded, "They came out with these subcompact little guns. Hers is purple."
Sinjin looked at Sam, "Purple? What was all that about hating the color pink?"
She shrugged, "Purple is not pink."
He looked to her father.
Sinjin nodded, "She doesn't like pink."
Jo spoke up, "To be honest, when she was little, we did over do it with the pink in her bedroom."
She miffed, "Everything was pink in my bedroom." She gathered the keys, "Let's go!" She motioned for String, Caitlin and Dom to follow.
String followed her outside and for the first time actually looked at the air field. He admitted, "This needs some work. Tarmac is full of weeds, hangar needs a paint job."
Caitlin agreed, "Sad to see it like this."
Dom countered, "Actually…we can't clean it up and need to leave it like this."
All eyes fell on Dom as the walked to the large pickup truck.
Sam asked, "Why? It looked so nice back in 84."
"Because the hangar is housing your engine. It needs to look like there isn't much going on. Otherwise you will have city and county inspectors at your door. This is camouflage." he explained.
String had to agree, "Leave it looking run down. Won't get much attention." He got the passenger's door and looked the vehicle over. "If anyone ask, it's just an old run down hangar." He opened the door and climbed inside. He looked over the dashboard and the new features before him.
Sam climbed behind the wheel as Caitlin and Dom got in the back seat. She started the engine as String watched. She looked back at him, "What?"
He gave a smile and became meek, "Can I drive?"
"I'm pretty sure your license has expired by now." she rebutted.
He countered, "But this is my brother's truck. It's a nice truck. I can drive it."
She rebutted, "He gave me the keys…not you."
"But I want to drive it." he confessed.
Caitlin laughed, "I want to drive it too, String."
Dom agreed, "So do I!"
Sam put her preverbal foot down. "Now listen! You are in my time now. This is my dad's truck and none of you have valid driver's license. I did what you told me to do in 84. I even went to high school. But we are in 2022 and you three…shush!"
String stated, "Rule number four in the Explorer's Guide to Time Travel is whoever's time you are in calls the shots."
Sam agreed, "That's right! And I will write that one down."
They left the airfield and entered the highway. String noticed the older shopping plaza seemed empty and where a field once stood a new plaza was built. He also noticed a number of empty store fronts. He glanced at Sam as she fiddled with a button on the steering wheel. He found she had cruise control at her finger tips. He then noticed the screen in center of the dashboard change to radio station. Music began to play over the speakers of the cab.
Caitlin tapped her toes and swayed. She grinned, "I know this song."
Dom waved it off, "Just more of that silly rock and roll stuff."
"It's brand new." Caitlin stated. "Photograph…" she sang along to Def Leppard. The song faded as it ended. Another song that Caitlin recognized started, "Jesse's Girl!" she cheered for she knew the song.
String glanced at the station, "The Oldies!" He cocked his head, "I thought this station played 50's rock."
Caitlin paused, "What? It's the Oldie's Station."
Sam nodded, "They play it the other stations too. Dad likes the Oldies station because they will sometimes go back to the 70's music." She asked, "This station used to play 50's rock? That would be so neat."
Caitlin figured, "The music that was brand new in the 80's is playing on the Oldie's station now?"
Dom smirked, "Now you know I feel. No station plays Glenn Miller anymore."
Sam grinned and spoke aloud, "Play Glenn Miller!" She gave a command to the radio.
Over the speakers a familiar tune started to play. Dom's face lit up, "You can play Glenn Miller on that contraption. Moonlight Serenade is one of my favorites."
She grinned, "I downloaded his albums. I love some of the old 40's stuff. There's channels on Youtube that play the old stuff from the 20's, 30's and 40's for hours. You would like it Dom."
"I'll have to look for it." he smiled pleased.
String asked, "Why would someone born in the year two thousand be listening to stuff written in the 40's?"
"Because modern music all sounds the same. It's something different. It's…new again." she explained.
Caitlin agreed, "I do like Glenn Miller. It is nice to listen to some older stuff now and then." She wondered, "Can you play country music?"
"Sure," she nodded. "Play…" she paused, "Tim McGraw."
The radio switched to a modern country tune.
Caitlin stated, "That's not country. That sounds like…pop with a little country mixed in."
"Some of it is played on pop stations." Sam had to agree.
Caitlin suggested, "Play Kenny Rogers."
A Kenny Rogers song started to play. She smiled, "Now that's better."
String asked, "Can we just turn the radio off?"
"Sure," she agreed and radio went silent.
They rode in silence for a minute. Then from behind him String heard the sound of a song playing low. He turned and found Dom had his phone in hand and playing Glenn Miller over the phone. He looked to Caitlin who then retrieved her phone and was scrolling through country music. He then looked to Sam who was busy driving.
Dom stated, "These new phones are neat. I can play my game and listen to Glenn Miller at the same time."
Caitlin agreed, "There is so much more online."
String looked to Sam and asked, "Does that happen a lot now? They just use those phones like that?"
She nodded, "It does! Mainly my generation but if you get someone like Dom who can easily adjust…" She then figured, "I bet his days as Airwolf's engineer kind of primed him for the phones a bit."
String sat back, "Long as they don't give them phones to kids."
"Kids can get them too." she informed.
He cocked an eyebrow, "Kids have cell phones like what Sinjin gave us. Hope they got some kind of parental controls for it."
"They do." she nodded.
He glanced back at Dom and Caitlin as they immersed themselves in the phones.
Caitlin mentioned, "You can really get the full affect what these phone can do in the future. The phones a bit limited in our time."
"It's a radio and computer all in one." Dom agreed.
They soon arrived to the sporting good store near what was once a premier mall in the area. String noticed the cars was sparse as the parking lot was half empty.
Sam gave a sigh, "I went to this mall with Tony and my friends from school. It was so much better in 84. Now, it's a zombie mall."
Dom and Caitlin also looked about as well.
"Zombie mall?" Dom asked.
"Dead mall." she replied. "What they call an old mall that is half empty and no one goes to anymore. It's sad inside. I couldn't believe the difference when I went shopping there with my friends."
String stated, "That sporting goods store looks new. It's not there in our time."
"It's been there a good twenty years now." she figured.
Caitlin figured, "When you travel 38 years into the future I guess a 20 year old store would be new."
Sam soon parked the truck. "This is it! Let's see if they have those ear plugs in stock."
String asked, "If they don't have them?"
"Order online." she replied sliding down.
It was a sight to see as they made their way into the store, dressed in classic 80's style. They were greeted by a display of coolers. Yeti was the name brand.
Dom gasped, "How much for a cooler!"
Caitlin figured, "Inflation must really be bad."
String suggested, "For that price that better be one heck of a cooler." He had to agree, the price was much more than he could have imagined.
Sam stated, "Rich man's cooler. This way!" She grabbed a cart and they followed her to the hunting department. Soon, Sam found the ear protection as String, Dom and Caitlin began to explore the store.
Caitlin wandered over to the shooting department and found a large display of guns in cases and a display of long guns on the wall behind the clerks. She couldn't believe the prices as she gazed over the selection of handguns. She came to the polymer handgun that were made in different colors. She found a pink handgun in the display. She spoke to herself, "Look at that. A pink gun."
Dom also found the handgun display. He came up to Caitlin, "I wonder how much I would get if I brought in my old 1911? I can't believe how expensive everything here is." He spied the guns, "Oh…those must be those subcompact guns that Sinjin was talking about."
"I like the pink one." Caitlin grinned.
String wandered into the area next. He held a package in his hand as he found his companions. "Looking at the guns, huh?" he asked.
Dom nodded, "And the sticker shock." He noticed String held something in his hand, "What ya got there, String?"
"It's called trail cam." he replied. "It's a camera that can take day and night video and still shots. I thought I would get one for the cabin."
"That sounds neat." he agreed.
"It's digital. No film." he added looking the package over. "I will need to use a computer to see what is captured. I figured I can take the memory card to Sinjin."
"Have you shown Sam it yet?" Dom wondered.
"No," he shook his head. He admitted, "I'm still taking all this in." he motioned to the store.
Dom agreed, "This is a big store."
"I'll say." he nodded. "You see the smokers and the grills. I bet Sinjin would love one of them." He noticed Caitlin had moved on from the handguns and onto ammunition. He wondered what she found. "Cait?"
"Critical defense 9 millimeter ammo." she looked at the box. "Designed for self protection." She handed the box to String, "I wondered how well that will run through my semi."
"It's a fancy hollow point." he remarked.
Dom grinned, "Hey! You see this. It's called a Tazer. I think it's like a stun gun." He looked at the package, "Shoots electrified darts on a wire." He pondered, "I wonder how many times you can jolt someone with it?"
Sam soon found her crew. "Oh! There you guys are. What ya got there?"
Dom held up the package, "A Tazaer."
She winced, "Um… why?"
"You can zap someone." he replied.
Caitlin stated, "I found some ammo that would work in my 9 mil."
String placed the trail camera in the cart without a word.
She picked up the package, "A trail cam! This is a nice one too. Where you going to put it?" she wondered.
"Cabin." he mentioned. "I will need your dad for a computer to get the imagines off."
She grinned, "You are going to love this thing. You see the grills and the smokers?"
He nodded, "I did. Some big grills."
"My dad has a nice grill. Did you see the turkey fryers?" she wondered.
"I did. Turkey fryer?" he cocked an eyebrow.
"It's all the rage. Deep fried turkey at Thanksgiving. Just be careful to not catch it on fire." she chuckled.
String made a disgusted face, "Deep fried turkey."
Dom grinned, "That sounds good! We should do that. Let's get one of them fryers while we are here."
String looked at Caitlin for her opinion. She shrugged, "I'm from the south. We deep fry everything."
Dom asked, "Where is the turkey deep fryers?"
"By the grills." String sent him in the direction. He looked at the camera in his hands. He pondered if he should not get it for it was future technology. The digital cameras of 1984 were nothing in comparison. "Should I get this?"
Sam and Caitlin traded glances. Sam shrugged.
"Why not?" Caitlin asked him.
"It's more advanced than what we got." he cautioned.
Sam stated, "Get it! Your cabin is in the middle of nowhere. Who is going to find it? A bear!"
He placed the item in the cart unsure if he would even use it after all.