Chapter 41
Dominic Santini sat at the controls of the yellow biplane as he flew over the camera crew of the movie set in the desert. MacGyver was seated in the first cockpit as he was to be the image caught on film for the action scene of the movie.
The stunt involved a mock dogfight with green tri-plane painted to resemble the German Air Corps of World War One. As they completed the stunts Dom caught a glimpse of a bright light in the sky. He pulled out of the maneuver and looked in the distance. It was something that had not seen in a very long time. He tapped Mac's shoulder and pointed off in the distance.
The orb of light came close and began to circle Dom's plan. It weaved in an out and the movie crew kept rolling as the orb took the show.
Mac yelled back, "That's what String and I saw flying Airwolf in the future."
"That's a foo fighter." he informed. "They buzzed me in over the channel during World War Two."
The orb didn't stay long and soon shot straight up into the sky and disappeared.
Mac looked back at Dom, "Seems we're being tailed."
"I see that." he agreed.
Meanwhile - 2022
String and Caitlin had gave a quick debriefing to Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith and his men who were known as the A-Team. The team found themselves in the same hangar looking at the engine and about to embark into the outside world.
Remarkably, the insane Captain seemed to be able to handle the situation the best. The team was worried that he might lose what was left of his sanity and actually kill himself when faced with the reality of traveling 38 years into the future. Instead, he seemed to emerge for his insanity much like an addict emerging from a bad trip. He stopped petting the imaginary dog and suddenly became the officer that he once was. He shook for just a moment. He confessed, "When I crashed and my best friend died, I thought I had died too. I saw that engine and then I took this odd tour of the future where I saw this angel and she told me we were on the edge of the precipitous of going into deep space. I thought I lost it." He looked back to his team. "I saw all this before."
The Lieutenant patted his shoulder, "Maybe you are not crazy after all, Murdock."
Meanwhile
Sam had stepped outside and was on the phone with Donna. She glanced back at the security team that her uncle had hired to protect the engine and guard the wormhole. She winced, "Now I got mercenaries in the hanger. Great…" she miffed.
Donna's voice came over the phone, "Dr. Hawke! I have some bad news. The military was here, they were going to shut down the accelerator so your friend, Tony went in to stop them. He's leaping too now."
"I think he's leaped into his own body." Sam told her. "I think he can see Dr. Beckett."
"If he's leaping he will be able to see Sam and Al…my Sam…Sam…" she started to chuckle, "Going to have to label you two: Sam One and Sam Two."
"Oh, I met Al today. He's a hoot. I wish I got to meet him before." She then asked, "What did he die of?"
"About eight years ago he had a stoke. He died of natural causes at eighty five." she told her. "I'm glad you got to meet him now. Al was a hoot." she agreed.
"Me too." she replied. "I spoke to Sam. He doesn't remember you."
Donna gave a sigh, "I know. The side effect of leaping is memory loss. Al described it as swiss cheese. Parts are there, big holes in between. Leaping required Sam to get close to others to change their life for the better. I thought it would be best if he didn't remember me and didn't know about me."
She winced, "He knows now. I told him."
"Oh!" Donna stated surprised. "Well, Sam spent two decades helping everyone else. He helped total strangers have a better life. I guess it's time someone helped him. Maybe it's better if he knows after all." she presumed.
"Ziggy and KITT have connected and are working together. Can they retrieve him? I know both retrieval programs Dr. Beckett wrote failed." she stated.
Donna shrugged, "I have no idea if they can or not. There have been so many times when I thought Ziggy had control but she never really had control. Not sure if KITT can really help that much either. They can try. But it kind of depends on Tony's intent. The reason the retrieval program failed is because Sam didn't want to leap home. He had convinced himself he needed to keep leaping to save as many people as he could. The programs were not faulty." she concluded. "It just did not take into account free will."
"So, Tony will only leap back when he is ready too." she figured. "How about Ziggy and KITT addressing the memory issues then? There would be some kind of neurological cause for it."
Donna agreed, "I can have the two A.I.'s examine that factor. Now they have two minds to compare with Tony in the accelerator as well."
"That would be great. If we can restore Tony and Dr. Beckett's memory maybe that can aid them in returning." she figured.
"It wouldn't hurt at this point. Maybe he needed to remember after all. Maybe I was wrong?" she wondered.
"Don't be hard on yourself. You would be amazed how much I have screwed up at this whole time travel thing. I spent money from the future in 1984 and got the CIA on my tail. All I did was go to the mall and buy and pair of sneakers and play some video games." she shrugged.
Donna laughed, "We call them clowns for a reason." She then suggested, "You and my Sam should sit down and write a book together."
"Call it the 'Explorer's Guild to Time Travel"?" she laughed.
"Warped!" Donna suggested. "Time travel is pretty warped."
"I like it." she giggled. "Thank you for talking to me. I was feeling like a total screw up."
"There are no rules to time travel." Donna assured. "Do be aware. There are other leapers and some are not friendly. Sam came across a few. He also came across what he thought was the devil. He took Al's form. Ziggy thinks it was an alien species. It's possible there is some kind of alien element. He also believes he came across an angel once too. I'm not sure what the angel was. Maybe a good alien? Just be aware, you are not alone and there is more than one method of travel."
"Thanks for the heads up." she nodded. "I think we are dealing with an alien element too."
Donna suggested, "Or even a break away civilization."
She nodded, "Possibly!"
Donna gave a heavy sigh, "I just hope we can get Sam and Tony back before the D.O.D. comes in with bull dozers."
"We will get them back." she insisted. She noticed String walking towards her with the A-Team in tow. "I got to go. I'll give you a call later."
"I'll be here." she assured and disconnected.
Sam looked upon the men. She told String, "Tony put himself into Dr. Beckett's accelerator to prevent the D.O.D. from cutting power. He leaped to himself in 1984. Dr. Beckett leaped into Ralph. That project is operating in the year 2000. We now have a warp drive engine, a wormhole and two time traveling leapers." She then stood with a look of disgust on her face as her project was out of control.
The Colonel asked, "Where is this accelerator?"
"Arizona." she told him.
"Murdock and B.A. will go to the Arizona facility to ensure no one touches that accelerator. Me and Face will stay here." he informed and bit the end of the cigar, grinning much like a cat with a mouse.
She looked to String, "These guys are your problem. Not mine!" She then walked by with a world of trouble on her mind.
The Colonel looked to String rather amused. "Tough cookie."
"Just a disgruntle millennial." he excused.
1984
The black Trans Am roamed over the desert highway as night fell. KITT was tasked with scanning for energy signatures for the evening as they looked for any clues of warp drive engine. Michael took a nap behind the wheel as he was tired from a long day at the school. "Michael!" KITT alerted.
He nudged himself awake, "What is it KITT?" he asked sitting up.
"I am picking up an energy signal that is similar to Samantha's warp drive engine." he reported.
"Where?" he looked for a location.
"Above us." he informed.
Michael looked up through the moon roof of the car. He spied what looked like a bright glowing orb in the sky above him. He squinted and then pulled the glass back to open the moon roof to get a clearer look. The orb paced the car directly above the roof. Michael instructed, "Loose it, KITT."
KITT then employed elusive maneuvers but the orb stayed right on top of the car.
"I can't seem to shake it, Michael." he stated. "I am picking up frequencies. I do believe the orb is collecting data on us."
Michael become alarmed. "Collecting data?"
"It appears so." KITT concluded.
Then the orb zipped back into the sky and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Michael asked, "What just happened?"
"I am not sure, Michael." KITT replied.
Next Day
Dr. Sam Beckett had returned to the school as Ralph Hinkley. He found his memory had improved slightly but he still struggled with some events such as recalling his wife and their wedding.
The imaging room door slid open with a flash of light and Al appeared. He was dressed a shiny silver jacket with black trousers. "Sam!" he called. "Ziggy was able to detect and make a connection with the nanites in Ralph Hinkley's blood stream. Ziggy thinks if you put the suit on, she might be able to utilize the nanites for communication without blowing up the electric grid."
Sam Beckett asked, "Where is this red suit?"
Al reported, "Ralph says he keeps it in a suitcase in the back of his car."
"I can't go get it now. What about Tony?" he asked.
"Ziggy detected the signature of his leap in. He's leaping too. I did get some more information. KITT stands for the Knight Industry Two Thousand. It's an A.I., Sam. Like Ziggy! You said that in 2022 they have Ziggy and KITT working together."
"Sam said they established a connection." he nodded.
Al wished, "Boy if we could just connect to 2022 and get all of us on the same page."
"Maybe we can?" Sam Beckett replied. "Sam said the engine created a wormhole that connects 1984 to 2022. It's stable. I should be able to go through it and come back." He then grinned, "And Ziggy can use that wormhole to establish contact with the imagining room. She could contact herself and KITT is 2022 through the wormhole. You would be able to keep contact with me in both 1984 and the year 2022, Al."
"That's brilliant, Sam." he agreed. He then figured, "I would be an old man in 2022."
Sam Beckett knew Al had died 2021 but decided to not say anything. He told him, "Only Donna is manning the store, Al. The project is defunct by then. If I can leap back, to my own time and remove myself from the accelerator then maby…" he tailed off in thought.
"Maybe what?" he asked.
"I could be there to help Samantha with her engine. She was working all lone in an abandon hangar. If I could be there, helping her…" he squinted in thought. "Maybe it wouldn't get so out of hand."
Al stated, "You could help her, Sam! In her time. 2022! You just need to get back before they pull the power."
"I know." he agreed.
Tony walked into the room next. He found his memory had been restored fully and he recalled what had happened. He smiled, "Dr. B." He looked to Al, "You must be that Admiral that I was told about."
Sam Beckett asked, "You remember, Tony?"
"I remember everything." he assured him. "I was a little fuzzy yesterday and then last night…just all came back me."
"I noticed some improvement with my memory but it's not completely resorted." he confessed. He figured, "Ziggy in 2022 must have done something to alleviate the memory loss."
Tony agreed, "Probably…she's working with KITT. Between the two…you got some serious power there."
Samantha Hawke returned to class next. She grudgingly returned finding herself out of clean laundry and having to borrow a pink and flowery blouse from Caitlin with a pair of jeans. She spied the trio, "Morning Dr. B, Al and Tony. KITT told me they were able to fully restore your memory, Tony. They managed to improve Dr. Beckett's. KITT thinks if you put on the red suit then Ziggy might be able to fully restore your memory using the nanites."
Al mentioned, "Put on that red suit, go through that wormhole and we should not only make contact, Sam but also maybe get your memory back."
Sam Hawke nodded, "Dr. Beckett should be able to go through the wormhole and return even in Hr. Hinkley's life. Just you won't have the Superman powers." she told him.
"If helps establish contact with 2022 and my project, that's all we need." he told her.
Tony asked, "How is Mr. H. doing in your time?" He looked to Al and Dr. Beckett for an answer.
Al replied, "He's in the waiting room. I debriefed him about the situation. He knows you went into the accelerator in 2022 and have leaped into your younger self."
Tony confessed, "Odd living your life all over again. I'm seeing kids from school that I haven't seen in years. Old teacher that died off, classmates that had died. Just really weird."
Sam Hawke stated, "Hopefully we will get you back home soon, Tony." She gave Dr. Beckett a smile, "And you too."
Al asked, "You got some kind of security on this engine and the wormhole, Dr. Hawke?"
She nodded, "My dad and uncle hire a group of mercenaries. They call themselves the A-Team. Colonel John Smith is their leader."
Al stated, "I will have Ziggy get some information on them."
She replied, "KITT recommended we find them. In another altered timeline they would have been hired by the elite to get the engine and I apparently was killed. KITT is actively trying to keep anything bad from happening to us." she informed. "Now he's working with Ziggy in the future so…we got two very powerful A.I.'s assisting with the situation. When this whole thing started, it was just me a laptop and an engine in an old hangar."
"You don't have a commission project." Dr. Beckett concluded.
She confessed, "I didn't want the government being able to come in a take it or just take over. They would do that."
Sam Beckett figured, "I guess that was my mistake."
Tony soothed, "We all make mistakes."
The class began to filter in. Rhonda didn't see Al and Dr. Beckett appeared in the image of Mr. Hinkley for her. She greeted, "Morning Mr. H." She gave Tony a look and then went to her seat.
Karl and Jose came in next, greeted the teacher and also took their seats.
Tony spoke to the two scientist and the Admiral, "See you after school." He then went to his seat.
Sam Hawke took her seat as well.
Tony spoke to Sam Hawke, "Sam!"
Both Dr. Beckett and Dr. Hawke looked to him.
He smiled, "I really like your blouse. You should war pink more often." he complimented.
She winced, "I borrowed it from Cait. I hate pink and she knows it. She was trolling me this morning."
Not even Dr. Beckett understood what trolling was but in the context figured it meant to tease.
Tony grinned, "Cait is an epic troller. But seriously, you look good."
Karl asked, "Troller man? What is that? Future talk or something."
He nodded, "Means to pick on ya."
Rhonda rolled her eyes, "Let me guess…Sam gave a ride in her time machine." She was angry and sarcastic to her boyfriend.
He candidly replied, "I stepped into a quantum accelerator."
She wrinkled her nose confused, "You what?"
Karl huffed, "Quantum what?" He looked to Sam Hawke, "Come on! I want a ride in the time machine too."
She shook her head, "Can't!"
Karl asked, "Why not?" The boy was sure she had a time machine.
"Because two of the guys that my dad hired borrowed my mom's car and I don't have a car and my dad won't let me use his truck since we are down to one vehicle." she explained.
Tony rubbed the side of his head as he realized she was telling the class exactly what happened on the other side of the wormhole.
Karl stated, "But you ride in with your sister to school. Can't you borrow her car?"
She shook, "Won't fit." She stated in regards to the jeep fitting trough the wormhole in the hangar.
Tony teased, "Just get some motorcycles. That should fit."
She rubbed the side of her face in thought, "That might."
Tony shook his head trying to not laugh.
Al shook his head in disbelief, "And that is why we have oversight committees. I'll see you later, Sam. Just teach the class." The imaging room door slid open and Al was gone.
Dr. Beckett looked at Tony and Sam Hawke. He shook his head and laughed, "Motorcycles."
Karl asked "You know how to ride a motorcycle, Mr. H.?"
Dr. Beckett replied, "I rode one once." He recalled leaping into a biker once before. "Now class, lets go over your homework from last night."