Chapter 33
Ralph had returned to class Monday morning with the weekend events swirling in his mind.
Tony walked into class first. He greeted, "Morning Mr. H."
Ralph recalled what older Tony confessed about having a crush on Sam and wishing he had invited her to the prom and how Sam said she would have said yes and she never went to a prom. He knew he had only a few seconds before the rest of the class filtered in. He called, "Can I talk to you for a moment, Tony?"
He stopped halfway to his seat and turned around. He walked up to the desk and asked, "What is it, Mr. H?" He wondered if there was something wrong.
Ralph gave a small smile as he pondered what to say. "This is between us. Just over the weekend, I saw Sam and well," he cocked his head as the thought of his words, "she mentioned she would like to go to the prom with you."
He asked surprised, "She did? I mean I was thinking of asking her. Of course she's two years younger than me and then there is Rhonda…" he winced confused.
Ralph casually mentioned, "I noticed you and Rhonda have been having some issues lately."
"Yeah," he nodded a bit down. "We're having some issues."
"We're you planning on taking Rhonda to the prom?" he questioned.
"She thinks it's stupid. Come on…me…at the prom. Sure, I kind of would like to go but…I'm one of the rejects." he excused.
"I suppose that's up to you. It's just you only get to go to the prom once and there is no second chance. Sam would like to go with you." he assured him. "I hate to see regrets later in life."
"I'll think about it." he gave a nod and then went back to his seat.
Jose entered next. Ralph's heart sunk as he knew the boy's fate. He called the boy to the desk, "Can I see you for a minute, Jose?"
The boy walked up to the desk, "What's up, Mr. H.?" He had no clue why he wanted to speak to him.
Ralph pondered how to approach the subject. He started, "I just want you to know…if you ever need me, for anything and I mean anything, I'm there for you."
The boy gave a confused expression, "Am I in trouble?"
"No," he assured. "I just want to make sure my students know that I am always there for them…even years from now."
"Oookay," he slowly replied and then took his seat wondering what Ralph was talking about.
Ralph found knowing the future could be an asset or a hindrance. Knowing someone will die and not being able to do anything to stop or alter that fate seemed cruel to the man.
Rhonda walking into class next. Instead of sitting right next to Tony, she sat a seat away from him as she growing tired of tension in their fading relationship. Ralph understood Rhonda could accomplish far more if she put her mind to it and she would even become a medical doctor. He pondered if he should change up his teaching a bit to get her interest. He wondered if a Red Cross First Aid course would help get her on the right track a little early. Then entered Karl who he knew would join the Air Force and do rather well in the ranks.
Finally, Sam walked into the room. She looked a bit disheveled and wore tan cargo pants, work boots and the purple flannel shirt. In her wrist she sported a watch but it was not the watch she bought in the 80's. It was a smart watch as she forgot to remove it before school.
Ralph called her to the front, "Can I see you for a minute, Sam."
She made her way to the desk. She looked exhausted. "Yup?" she asked.
"Did you get any sleep?" he wondered.
She shook her head, "Nope! Was up all night tracking the internet. It's gone mega viral. Never seen anything like this." she told him.
"Um…" he pointed, "Your wrist."
She looked down at her wrist and then realized, "Crap! I forgot."
"Slip it off." he instructed.
She removed the watch and placed it in her pants pocket. She gave a heavy sigh, "I need a pot of coffee and case of candy bars to wake up."
"Just try to stay awake." he pleaded.
"Try," she gave a sleepy nod and then wandered to her seat. She plopped down ready to go back to bed.
Tony asked, "You up all night, Sam?"
She nodded, "I was."
He grinned, "What party did you go to?"
She was too tired to make up an excuse. She replied, "The 'let's blow up the internet' party."
The class had no idea what she was talking about. They looked at one another rather confused and shrugged.
Ralph needed to keep their attention off Sam for she was tired and with her tendency to chat about her engine and the future he figured he better keep their attention on him. "Class! I got a new course for us to take. It's for extra credit."
Karl asked, "What's the extra credit, Mr. H.?"
"First Aid." he sounded. "A Red Cross Advanced First Aid course." He looked upon Sam who sank in her seat and had closed her eyes. She seemed to be falling asleep in the class.
Jose rebutted, "That sounds lame."
Ralph assured, "It's not and I've have taken that course myself. Matter of fact, I have a friend in the fire department and he would let us go to the hall and use some of their equipment."
Tony stated, "Fire hall sounds neat. Can we drive one of the trucks?"
He gave an expecting look, "I doubt they will let you drive the truck, Tony. But we can do first aid as an extra credit and…" he held out his hands palm up, "Some of you can really use the extra credit."
Karl asked, "You gonna wake Sam up?"
"She said she's feeling a bit under the weather. I think she has a cold coming on." he excused. "She should probably go to the nurse." he determined. He went to her side, "Sam." He nudged her.
She gasped as she was jolted awake, "Red suit!" She then realized she was still in school and she was having a dream about the events.
Ralph knelt down beside her chair, "You should go lay down at the nurses office, Sam."
"I pulled all nighters before." she insisted.
"You were sleeping in class." he informed.
She grudgingly got up from her seat, "I'll go to the nurses' office." She wandered out the door to find the office hoping she could get a nap in.
Ralph returned to the head of the class. "Okay class." He handed out permission slips, "Have your parents sign and bring this back." He then warned, "Do not sign it yourself." He turned, "That means you, Tony."
He smirked as he already signed the slip and held it up, "Right here, Mr. H."
Ralph gave a displeased look as he took the slip for he knew the boy would not take any slip to a parent to sign.
2022
Older Michael Knight pulled into the garage to see Tony at his place of business. Tony looked on and wiped the grease from his hands as he spied the mustang. He watched as Michael emerged from the car. "Tony!" Michael recalled what the man looked like from his younger self meeting him in the hangar. For Tony the meeting was just yesterday but for older Michael it was 38 years ago.
Tony smiled in greeting, "Hey! Mr. Knight! I saw your Youtube channel last night. Little tough getting on the web but I managed to see a few videos."
"The internet last night was insane. It was weird, I remember being in the hanger 38 years ago when Sam was streaming the results of Ralph's test flight. And there I am watching it unfold in real time decades later."
Tony figured, "For you last night in the hangar was decades ago."
"Buy for you it was last night." he agreed. "This timeline stuff can get a little confusing."
Tony started to laugh, "Now I know what Sam was talking about in class. She shows up, dragging herself, falls asleep and when I asked what party she went to she replied along the 'lets of blow up the internet party'. She must have been up all night watching all that." He shook his head, "And I had no idea I helped."
"Yeah, last night was weird." Michael agreed. "I got a hold of our Ralph Hinkley. I thought maybe you would want to go with me to see him. He's gonna meet up at a local restaurant."
"I would love to see him." Tony agreed. "Let me get washed up." He then motioned, "Nice mustang."
"Thanks," Michael replied. "You ever get a hold of the junkyard that has the Trans Am?"
"I did. Made a deal this morning. That body is being shipped to my shop. Needs some work though." he informed as he went to a nearby degreasing sink.
Michael followed admitted, "It would be nice to have the Trans Am back. You know that was my car. After the ambush, Knight Industries did some serious work to it and installed KITT."
"Ambush?" he asked.
"I used to be a cop. I was ambushed; shot in the face." he informed.
Tony dried his hands, "Man…that's terrible. Glad they were able to put you back together."
Michael admitted, "They gave me a new face."
He paused, "They did?"
"The face of Wilton Knight's son." he admitted.
Tony blinked, "That messed up man."
"It is." he agreed.
1984
The nurse let Sam rest a bit in the office. After an hour she woke her up with a nudge, "Miss Santini. It's been an hour. You think you can go back to class now?"
She sat up grateful for the nap. "I think I can." She climbed off the cot unaware her watch slipped out of her pocket during her nap. She rubbed her face and thanked the nurse, "Thanks for letting me crash for a while. I'll go back to class now." She left unaware she was missing her futuristic watch.
The nurse removed the blanket from the cot and the watch slipped out. She picked the device up and looked upon it wide-eyed. "Wow…what is this this?"
2022
Michael Knight pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant with Tony as his passenger. He debriefed the mechanic on KITT and the origins of the A.I. and told him all about his adventures for Knight Industries in the 80's. He pulled up next to a car he recognized, Jo Santini's Subaru. He mentioned, "Our Caitlin wanted to see Ralph too. She borrowed Sam's mom's car. That Subaru."
Tony added, "Good cars! What does Sam drive?"
"Her mom's car." Michael stated. "Know what I think? I think she's waiting for her mom to go get a new car and giver her the Subaru."
Tony pondered, "That does happen a lot. I bought my first mustang. Worked for it at the garage. Nothing was ever given to me."
"Nothing was given to me either." he agreed. "Kids nowadays seem to think they should just get whatever they want."
He agreed, "I noticed! I used to hire teens to train as mechanics. I used to get applications every day. Now, I hardly get any job applications. The world certainly has changed."
"So true." he agreed. They emerged from the car and made their way inside. Michael spied Caitlin sitting at the table. Mr. Hinkley was also at the table. His hair was white and he sported a mustache. He seemed a bit heavier and wore cargo pants with a red stripped shit, tan vest and had a floppy hat hanging from the chair. They made their way to the corner table to join them.
Tony held out a hand, "Mr. H."
"Tony!" Ralph stood up and shook his hand. Then he wrapped his arms around him in a hug. "It's good to see you again."
Tony returned the hug, "Good to see you too, Mr. H."
Ralph released the man and then offered a hand to Michael, "Been a while."
"Same." he agreed.
Michael and Tony took their seats. Caitlin looked at the three men, "So…why did you call for this meeting, Ralph?"
"Sam." he reported. "I understand the timeline is fluid. It's changing even now since they can go back and forth. Sam goes back and forth like stepping through a door. I've noticed my memories are changing. It's like I've got different sets of memories. I think maybe when the aliens took the suit the first time and left my memory intact but erased everyone else's that somehow affected me. I remember the first timeline when Reagan was elected, then the altered timeline. I remember a timeline where Tony didn't go to the prom and a timeline when he did go. I remember just briefly seeing Airwolf in flight as I passed them and then I recall a time, on the same flight where they landed and I meet the crew including you, Cait. I remember you being in school and remember you not being school. I remember a timeline with no Sam in it at all and then this altering timeline with Sam in it."
Michael asked, "You can remember the original timeline? Because I can't. As things change, I just get a weird feeling…gut instinct. I have no idea what changed unless KITT tells me."
"Did KITT tell you that Sam got kidnapped and we were too late to save her?" he asked.
"No," he came to attention. "KITT can only record the new timeline as it happens on the other end of the wormhole. My memories are being affected by this shifting timeline thing too."
Caitlin agreed, "My memories are shifting too. Some of it makes no sense."
Ralph explained, "You are having alternate memories. The Mandela Effect. It's real! Sam will be kidnapped by mercenaries. They were ex military who were wanted men. The time they figured out they were being used by some really bad people it was to late and Sam died. Her engine was taken. Her father killed. Airwolf in our time will be destroyed by a bomb in the hanger. The mercenaries were told that we were the bad guys and we were purposely altering time to be able to rule the world. By the time the mercenaries figured it out…Sam didn't stand a chance. She was killed in the cross fire. Now, we can change that. I know who these guys are. The call themselves the 'A Team'. The leader is long gone. One surviving member reached out to me. He was a sergeant. Bosco Baracus. They called him B.A. or Bad Attitude. He told me what happened to them after that mission that cost Sam her life. The Colonel killed himself. The one they called 'Howling Mad Murdock' went completely insane and eventually died in a mental hospital. A guy they called 'Face' just disappeared and became a hermit. When they realized they just handed a warp drive engine over to the power elite, they lost it. I didn't go to Sam and Sinjin with this information because they are trying to save String and Dom from a bomb. So, it's up to us to change this and I think we can. I've spent a lot of years waiting for this moment. I knew once I saw myself on the internet it was time to contact you and tell you what I know."
Caitlin stated, "I'm glad you are helping us, Ralph. All this time Sam thought she was helping you."
"She already did help me." he explained. "The first time, with no Sam…I was left alone, trying to prove I wasn't crazy and I really had a red suit that aliens gave me. Now, I'm not alone and people know I'm not crazy. I had a lot of followers messaging me last night about that trip I took. Asking if it was me and if I had the suit back. I couldn't tell them about Sam's engine so I came up with a cover. I told them that back in the 80's I had a trip to 2022 and was on a mission and yes it was me. I let them believe the suit has time travel capabilities."
Over Michael's smart watch a notice appeared. He brought the watch up, "Yeah KITT?"
"I have documented Mr. Hinkley's testimony. Also, do inform him that it is possible for the suit to have time travel capabilities, Michael. The nanites operate on a sub space level."
Those at the table heard KITT's report.
Ralph puckered, "I could have traveled through time with that suit? Well…damn, I really should not have lost that manual." He handed Caitlin a paper, "This is the team that will be recruited to get Sam and the engine. Get to the them first. Get them on your side. The elite will have a much tougher time getting their hands on that engine with these guys on your side."
Caitlin placed the paper in her purse. "I will." she promised.