Chapter 44

Santini Airfield

Dr. Sam Beckett drove Ralph's car to the airfield after school. Much to his surprise Tony arrived with his classmates in his mustang. Bill Maxwell waited at the hangar as he was called prior for a meeting. Dr. Beckett then observed as the black Trans Am, Caitlin's white jeep and the brightly patriotic painted jeep pulled in behind him. He wondered just what was going on.

Sam Hawke emerged from Caitlin's jeep. She grinned at Dr. Beckett, "Ralph keeps the suit in suitcase in the car." she told him. "Bring it."

Dr. Beckett then retrieved the suitcase and looked upon the class. He was most surprised to see the students at the airfield. He asked, "The whole class?"

Tony nodded, "Sam…my Sam…wants to show them a movie."

"Which movie?" he asked.

"Frozen." he replied.

Dr. Beckett knew nothing of the movie. "What movie is that?"

"You'll see." he told him. He walked with him into the hangar. "Your memory any better, Dr. Beckett?"

"Little bit." he agreed. "Why did you do it? You are risking your own life for me, Tony." he stated.

"I'm just doing what anyone would do." he assured him. He patted his shoulder, "Ya know, one man cannot do it all alone. Super heroes are real…just they don't have special powers and don't go around in capes and underwear. You are surrounded by super heroes. Look around you. They are everywhere."

Dr. Beckett looked about the faces. He asked, "Can everyone see me?"

String stated, "Not yet! Right now, you still look like Ralph. Come this way." he motioned for Dr. Beckett to follow him.

The group gathered around and String pulled out the cell phone. He sent a text to Sinjin on the other side of the wormhole.

Dr. Beckett and the group felt a wave and a shaking much like a small earth quake. He blinked and found the inside of the hangar had changed. He spied a helicopter sitting in one corner and a large table with the engine nearby. He spied three men in the area as the Colonel and the Lieutenant guarded the engine while Sinjin waited for them to arrive.

Over a wireless speaker on the table Dr. Beckett hear a familiar feminine voice. Ziggy spoke, "You are in a secured space-fabric area, Dr. Beckett. The aurora program cannot conceal you and you are visible to all."

"Ziggy?" he asked.

"It's me, darling." she stated.

KITT then introduced, "I am the Knight Industry Two Thousand or KITT. Ziggy and I have been working together to re-write the retrieval program in a joint effort to bring both you and Anthony Villicana home."

String stated, "We got two A.I.'s working on bringing you home, Dr. Beckett."

"Can everyone see me?" he asked looking about.

Karl stated wide-eyed, "You went from being Mr. H. to being someone else in a split second."

Rhonda gasped, "Time travel is real!"

Ziggy confirmed, "Indeed it is, Dr. Blake."

"I'm not a Doctor." she told her.

"You will be." Ziggy told her. "A top neurologist."

"I will?" she asked surprised. She had to admit she liked the title of Doctor in her name.

"Indeed," Ziggy agreed. "An older version of yourself is already in contact with us and has been giving us medical advise remotely."

"You mean there is an older version of me here?" she gasped.

"That is correct." Ziggy stated.

Dr. Beckett asked, "What year am I in, Ziggy?"

"It's the year 2022." she told him. "Using the suit the aliens that the gave Mr. Hinkley, I do believe I can establish contact with the imaging room in the year 2000. You will have to place the suit on, Dr. Beckett." she instructed.

He looked down at the case in his hand. He placed it on a nearby table top and opened it. For the first time he got a good look at the suit. He hands grasped the material. "It's like something out of a comic book." he noted.

Jose cheered, "I knew it was Mr. H.!"

Tony nodded, "I remember! He got famous for busting crime. So, the aliens took the suit back and wiped everyone's memory of it clean. The memory wipe didn't effect me. Mr. H tried to go on with his life but it eventually got to him. Now he's seen as some crazy old man chasing lights in the sky and a conspiracy theorist. It ruined him."

Karl huffed, "Seriously! Them aliens made Mr. H. go crazy?"

He nodded, "Yup!"

"If we ever find them aliens; I'll give them a piece of my mind." the boy huffed. He looked to his classmates, "Doing that to Mr. H. He's the best teacher I ever had."

Jose agreed, "That does suck. Mr. H. doesn't deserve to go crazy."

Sam Hawke nodded and miffed, "Fucking aliens."

Dr. Beckett asked, "Is there a place where I can put this suit on?"

Dom grinned, "There is a toilet right behind ya, near the office."

"Right," he found the rest room and walked inside and closed the door behind him.

As they waited Sam Hawke pulled her out cell phone and made a call. "Hey Mom!"

Jo Santini answered the call, "Yes honey."

"Can you get Dad's old video player and grab the Frozen CD for me?" she asked.

Sinjin asked baffled, "You going to watch a movie?"

"I'm going to show it to my class." she told him. "I figure I can hook it up to one of those old tube sets back in 84." she figured.

Jo asked, "You want to show your class a movie?"

"They only have the old player decks here with VHS or Beta." she replied. She then suggested, "Actually…can you grab my PIXAR collection. Just bring all the DVD's I have."

Sinjin cocked an eyebrow, "You are going to show your high school class a bunch of PIXAR movies?"

"They will like it." she assured.

He gently took her phone and placed it on speaker setting, "Jo! Bring the hard copies of the a few air shows while you are at it. Might as well show them what Airwolf can do."

Jo rolled her eyes, "Fine! Anything else?"

Sinjin asked, "Who is hungry?"

Karl and Jose both cheered, "Me!"

Jo stated, "I am not getting more McDonald's."

String sighed relieved, "Thank you."

"Get us a big sheet pizza then." Sinjin suggested.

Dom grinned, "And wings!"

"There is a wing shortage, Uncle Dom." Jo explained. "They jacked all the prices."

Dom assured, "I'll pay for it. How much a dozen?"

"Fourteen dollars a dozen." she reported.

He gasped, "Fourteen dollars! Are they gilded on gold?" he complained.

Sinjin stated, "Get about three dozen wings and sheet pizza. We got a big party here."

"Okay," she agreed. "Cait and I will be there in a bit." She then asked, "When do I get my car back?"

The Colonel stated, "Your car is in good hands, Mrs. Santini. B.A. is a good driver. You will get your car back soon."

"Couldn't they rent something?" Sam Hawke complained concerned. "I drive that car. That's my car too."

"Renting wasn't an option here, kid." Hannibal smirked at her.

Tony suggested, "Have my truck brought back here. We can drive that when we are here."

Sam Hawke soured, "I like my Subaru."

Jo's voice came over the phone, "It's my Subaru, honey. You can always go buy one of your own."

"Used car prices are through the roof right now." she countered. "Remember, the chip shortage. How about you go buy a new car and give me your old car."

String gasped at the banter, "It's just a car, Sam!"

"It's a Subaru." she rebutted. "It's not just a car."

Tony stated, "Subaru has a cult following. I did get the Trans Am body. Needs a lot of work. I also have a used Subaru Outback for sale at my shop."

Her eyes grew wide, "How much for the Outback?"

Jo interrupted over the phone, "Wait! Just what year is the Outback and how many miles?"

"It's a 2018 and has 40 thousand mile. I could get 25 grand easy for it." he told them. He looked to Sam, "I'll give it you and your mom to drive. You guys have done a lot on your own to help, Mr. H and Dr. Beckett." he offered.

Sinjin asked, "You are giving us a car, Tony?"

He nodded, "You need another vehicle."

Jo stated, "I get the Outback! You can take the Forrester, Sammy."

She gasped, "I want the Outback!"

Sinjin rolled his eyes annoyed as he wife and daughter argued over a car. "It's a cult." he miffed.

Dr. Beckett emerged from the bathroom wearing the red suit with the black cape. He felt funny, "Well…how does this look?"

Rhonda grinned, "Like the man in the red suit!"

Dr. Beckett stated, "Can you use this suit to connect me to the imaging room in the year 2000, Ziggy?"

"Attempting to establish contact now." she reported. "Contact established."

A bright light was seen in the area as the imaging room door slid open and in walked Al with Ralph Hinkley wearing a white body suit. Everyone could see the pair as the door closed behind them.

Karl gasped, "It's Mr. H!" he looked up and down, "Boy that's one tight body suit."

"Not my choice to wear this." Ralph told the boy.

Al figured, "Everyone can see us?"

Ziggy's voice came over the speaker once more, "Yes Admiral. They can see you and Mr. Hinkley. I have established contact with the imaging room in the year 2000 using the nanites in the suit. Absent those nanites this not be possible." she reported. "It's good to see you again, Admiral." she added with a slight tone of sorrow for Ziggy missed Al.

Rhonda cocked an eyebrow at the loudly dressed Admiral. She wondered, "What happens in the year 2000?"

Sam Hawke grinned, "I was born!"

Rhonda asked, "So…you caused the fashion disaster?"

Dr. Beckett shook his head, "Nah, that's just Al." He then realized everyone could see him and Al and knew about the project. He smiled brightly, "Class…everyone…meet my friend, Admiral Allen Calavicci."

Al stood grasping his cigar, "Um…Nice to meet everyone. I'm in my time, in the imagining room but I'm connected to the year 2022, correct?"

Sam Beckett grinned, "It's like being a party line."

Sam Hawke suggested, "Or Zoom meeting."

"I don't know what that is." Dr. Beckett admitted.

Sinjin explained, "It's like a party line but on a camera." He then greeted, "I'm Saint John Hawke. Sammy is my daughter."

Dr. Beckett smiled, "You must be very proud of her."

"I am." he nodded. He looked to his daughter who was staring at Al. "What is it?" he asked for she seemed to be in thought.

"He's a hologram and Ziggy got the nanites to bring his image here." she gently let her hand run through Al's image. "This is incredible technology."

Al rolled his eyes, "Yes…I'm a hologram."

Dr. Beckett stated, "And everyone can see you, Al. Dr. Hawke just explained why. The nanies are projecting your image here. That's how everyone can see you now. It's nanites doing it, Al."

He paused, "Oh…" he cocked his head. "No brainwaves?"

Dr. Beckett shook his head, "Not everyone here is on the same brainwave as mine. Only Dr. Hawke. For everyone else, it's the nanites allowing them to see you."

Sam Hawke stated, "Donna told me about you, Al. You helped her keep the power on until last year."

"What happened last year?" Al wondered.

"You passed away of old age." she informed. "I never met you before."

Al figured, "Least I lived to be an old man." He sucked in a breath as now he knew his future demise. "Even if I am alone…" he tailed off in thought.

She cocked her head, "Donna mentioned you had a wife a kids."

"I'm not married." Al stated.

She paused, "I thought she said your wife's name was Beth." Perhaps, she misunderstood.

Al gulped and stood beside himself, "Beth…?" He stated, "She was my wife when I was a POW. They declared me dead and she married this loser…"

Sam Hawke looked to Dr. Beckett, "Maybe you changed something?"

"I suppose that is possible." he figured.

Ziggy confirmed, "Dr. Beckett was able to get a message to Beth before we lost contact with him. That altered the Admiral's future. His wife waited for him and he has five daughters."

Al gasped, "Five daughters!" His eyes grew wide.

Dr. Beckett smiled wide at him. It was poetic as Al seemed to be a ladies' man.

String asked, "You are not married and don't have kids now, Admiral?"

"I don't." he nodded.

String figured, "Must be on another timeline then."

Al asked, "Timeline?"

String explained, "Alternate timelines. The timelines are shifting. KITT has figured the timeline changed at least four times after my niece, Sam went back. We found that you can change a major event, like the outcome of an election but over all that had no bearing on future elections. This last election changed. Mondale was not supposed to win but he did." He pondered, "Can the timelines be going all the same time?"

Dom suggested, "Then we just branch off or cross over timelines?"

Dr. Beckett slowly nodded, "Could be."

Al stated, "That doesn't match up with your theory, Sam." He then looked to Sam Hawke and pointed to Dr. Beckett, "My Sam."

She replied, "I figured who you were talking too."

Ralph asked, "What is Dr. Beckett's theory?"

Sam Beckett glanced about and found a piece of string laying near some packages on a table nearby. He stated, "I think I can explain it to you with this, Ralph. Let's say this string is your life time. If you take each end and connect it, you have a circle and you can go to any point in time in your life time."

Sam Hawke puckered in thought, "What if that string was a rubber band instead?"

Dr. Beckett looked at her in wonderment.

She went to the packages and grabbed a rubber band from the mail. She held the rubber band up, "Let's say this rubber band is your life after you connect the ends of the string. It's elastic, it can stretch and change and…" she cocked her head as her mind and Dr. Beckett both came to the same conclusion.

Dr. Beckett stated, "It can snap back."

Al asked, "What does that mean, Sam?"

He replied, "It means they need to cut the power to the accelerator. That should bring both me and Tony back to 2022." He spoke to the air, "Ziggy…you have to let them cut the power."

Ziggy countered, "The probably of death…"

"It won't affect me in 2000 but it will pull future me out of the accelerator." he insisted. "You have to cut the power, Ziggy."

Ziggy regretfully complied, "Cutting power."

Dr. Sam Beckett then suddenly disappeared in a bright flash of white light without a chance to say goodbye. The connection with the year 2000 was lost and Ralph then reappeared in red suit where Dr. Beckett once stood.

Ralph asked, "Did it work?"

Tony shrugged, "I'm still here."

Ziggy's voice came over the speaker, "Dr Beckett and Tony Villicana have emerged from the quantum accelerator. They are both alive and well."

Tony shook his head, "I'm still here, Zig."

"Correct." she agreed. "Your mind had been imprinted permanently into your younger self. You will continue on your life with the memories your older self possessed at the time you leaped. But your older self had returned along with Dr. Beckett."

Tony asked confused, "You mean…I'm stuck like this?"

"You have retained the memories and knowledge from your older self." she confirmed.

Tony looked to Sam Hawke, "This means what?"

"You are a young guy with an old guy's mind." she told him. "You are also back as an older man in your right time. So, when you go back to 84, you will know everything for the next 38 years from your older self."

"Hah!" he debated what to do with the knowledge.

Ralph asked, "You mean Tony will remember his life? He knows what is to come?"

Ziggy stated, "That is correct."

Ralph asked, "What will you do with such a gift, Tony?"

He shrugged, "Don't know yet." He then wrapped his arms around his teacher, "I'm glad we got you back, Mr. H."

Ralph became grateful, "I'm glad to be back too." He looked at his class, "I guess you all know Sam's real name and about this place now."

Karl asked, "What? What's her real name? Isn't it Sam?"

Ralph laughed at him and admitted, "I love my students."