Chapter 63

Airwolf landed on the chopper pad of the MASH 4077th. Hawkeye slid the door open from the inside of the chopper as Colonel Potter rolled up with Klinger in a jeep with a litter.

Hawkeye called, "He's wounded. Left shoulder blade."

Sherman Potter and Maxwell Klinger helped Hawkeye place the clerk on the littler. Hawkeye climbed out of the chopper and walked with the litter down the side of the landing pad towards the operating theater.

Sam and Caitlin made their way up to the chopper and spied Radar as they passed. They came to the side door.

Caitlin asked, "Where is the Father?"

"Stayed back with the other wounded." Dom replied. "We will be going back to get the kids out. How did Operation Frank go?" he referred the crazy doctor.

"Major Winchester has him in the O.R. They are going to remove his gallbladder to keep him bed ridden while he's here." Caitlin informed. "Kind of unethical but it keeps him away from Airwolf."

Sam asked, "Do you need one of us to go with you?"

Dom assured, "We got it! Make sure Rizzo had more fuel for us."

Caitlin asked, "The sniper?"

"Neutralized him." he told her. He confessed, "I never imagined I would be flying Airwolf into battle with both your uncle and your grandfather, Sam."

She grinned positive, "That's a head trip."

He had to chuckle, "Sure is!"

String's voice came over the radio, "We need to get going, Dom."

"Right!" he agreed. "Close the door and stand clear, Sam. We're going back for another round of wounded."

She gave a nod, "Stay safe!" She then slid the door closed and then she and Caitlin stepped away. They watched as Airwolf lifted off once more for the rescue mission.

Caitlin stated worried, "Let's go see how Radar is."

Sam agreed, "Seems they got him just in time."

The two started to walk back down towards camp.

"I can see why this place stuck out for Dom." Sam mentioned. "Kind of hard to forget."

"I'll say." Caitlin had to agree. "Maybe when we get back to 84 we can try to contact some of them."

Sam agreed, "I do wonder what became of all them. It would be nice to contact them again. Of course, first I have to get us back to 2022 and I still don't know what went wrong."

"You will figure it out." she assured her.

"I hope so. Something pushed us here! My best guess is nanites. I'm not sure through." she admitted. She paused, "I wonder if that orb that went into my head did something to me. Maybe I'm passed out and dreaming all this." she guessed.

Caitlin pondered, "I wonder if that orb did something to you too. Remember when Jo brought Murdock the dog. String said he thought he saw a lion standing right next to the engine and you were telling us about your cat."

"I remember." she nodded. "Anything could have caused that."

"You said you wanted a large lion to guard the place." Caitlin pointed out. "Then String saw the lion."

"Power of suggestion." she shrugged.

"Didn't Dr. Beckett say they could bring Al back in the form of a hologram? The nanites could bring him back. He told us that at the debriefing after he got to the hangar. When everyone could see Al in 2022 it was the nanites that did it, not Ziggy."

"Right!" she nodded.

Caitlin suggested, "Could the nanites have pushed us here? Dom was telling you about this very camp and about Klinger right before we started the test. You would have been thinking about it."

"But I didn't tell the nanites to bring us here." she countered.

"You were thinking about it." she reminded her. "Maybe the nanites just did it because you were thinking about the story Dom told."

Sam came to an abrupt halt. She concluded, "If the nanites are reacting to me and my thoughts…then I would just have to think us home." She then became disturbed, "What if the orbs tagged me with the nanites they had in that suit? What if that orb injected me with the nanites?"

Caitlin asked, "Is there any way to test for them here?"

She shook her head, "They would be too small to see with a standard microscope. I can test it though. She then closed her eyes and imagined the deceased Admiral staining before her.

Al suddenly appeared. He called out, "Sam!" he was calling for Dr. Sam Beckett. His eyes landed on Sam Hawke instead. "Okay, where is my Sam? You barged in on another leap, kid?"

Caitlin gasped, "Holy shit! This proves it, Sam. It's the nanites. There's Al."

He asked, "You can see me?" He then looked at the hand promote and found it did not work. "Ziggy! Gushy!" He chomped down on the cigar.

"Nanites, update hologram Al with current information." Sam stated.

The hologram of the Admiral was suddenly very much aware of his true nature. "Wait! I'm a hologram. A real hologram. I'm a copy of the admiral."

Sam grinned, "That's right! You are a computer simulation of the real Admiral. The nanites did it. You are an A.I. version of Al. Dr. Beckett emerged from the accelerator in 2022. He's helping my project now. The nanites did something to me and they made you. Al, you have quantum properties. You are self aware and are made up of nanites. You are an artificial intelligence."

The nanites gave the hologram all of Al's memories right up until his death. He recalled the old project and how Al helped Donna keep the power going long after everyone thought Dr. Beckett was dead. "I'm a ghost." he concluded.

"No," she shook her head. "You are a hologram but you can also be solid. The nanites can give you a solid form." She gave a command, "Make Al solid."

Catlin then reached over and gently touched Al. He felt real to her. He didn't feel like a copy at all. "The nanites can do all this?"

"The orb did something to me. They gave me nanites and gave me command of the nanites they gave me." she explained. "I don't know why they did this but this is a huge technical tool."

A grin crept across Caitlin's face as she got an idea. "Since this Al is a computer, can we change his outfit?"

Sam agreed, "We should! Nanites, change Al into dress clothes." She recalled seeing a picture of Al in his Navy whites.

Al then found himself in his Navy whites and looking rather spiffy. He chomped on his cigar pleased, "I clean up nice."

"How about we blend in with the camp." Caitlin suggested. "Or better yet, make him a full bird Colonel and here to finish the inspection. He would know how to do that. Al's an Admiral." She beamed, "We got an Admiral at our disposal."

Al took offense, "I am not at your disposal. I am at your service. I'm still…" he debated, "Am I even human anymore?"

"You are an A.I. like KITT and Ziggy." Sam told him. "And you are right, you are not at anyone's disposal."

Caitlin caught her mistake and had to agree, "He's an intelligence. He has a mind. I'm sorry Al. Kind of still getting use to this whole artificial intelligence thing."

"I am an artificial intelligence and I'm still getting it too." he confessed. He then declared, "I can change myself, thank you very much." Suddenly, he was dressed in an Army officer's uniform with the rank of Colonel. He then conjured up a small mirror into his hand and held it up so he could inspect his handiwork. "Hey, I could make myself look younger too." he grinned. "I'll make my hair a little less gray and my skin smooth as a baby's bottom."

Caitlin warned, "Not too young, Al. You need to look the right age for the rank."

"Right!" he returned to the age he was when he was the guild for Dr. Beckett. He pondered, "Now that I have been reincarnated as an A.I., what else can I do?" He stood puckering in thought.

Sam warned, "You can't return to your wife and daughters. For them, this would be too…what's the word?" she looked to Caitlin for help.

"Creepy!" she figured. "The real Al died at eighty, five years old."

Al rebutted, "I'm still me."

Sam stated, "You are made up of nanites, Al. You can go anywhere at anytime, just like you did when Sam Becket was leaping through time. Just this time, it's you who can be seen and travel through time. You are not in an imagining room. You would be the leaper...kind of. How would your wife and daughters react if you just popped into their lives? You have no lifespan, Al. You will outlive everyone as long as the nanites exist."

He pondered, "Hmm…I guess I can't go back home then."

Caitlin assured, "But you can help us get back home."

Al figured, "If Sam can have the nanites resurrect me then she can have them bring you back."

Sam agreed, "They can push Airwolf back through. We just start the warp engine like before. The nanites will do the rest."

Caitlin figured, "You just have instruct the nanites to return us to when we left."

"Right!" she agreed with a hard nod.

"Can nanite Al just come and go as he pleases?" Caitlin wondered looking at him.

Al replied, "I'm connected to Sam. I'm made up of her nanites. I'm her guild now." he declared.

She smirked, "So…I'm your Sam now?"

"Unless, you tell the nanite go to Sam Beckett." he had to agree.

Caitlin wondered, "Why would the orbs give you a bunch of nanites to control, Sam?"

Al suggested, "Maybe there are more than one group of aliens. Maybe…we are in the battleground for some kind of alien war."

Caitlin asked, "Like a battle for Earth."

He agreed, "Exactly like that, Caitlin." He suggested, "Maybe you have good aliens and bad aliens all fighting over our little planet."

Sam couldn't help but ask, "Why fight over Earth? We're on the edge of the galaxy. We're some dinky little planet way out in nowhere land."

"A proxy war." Al suggested. "After nukes came along we couldn't fight traditional wars. So, we fought proxy wars. Vietnam was a proxy war. Those wars in the Middle East were proxy wars. A nuclear power cannot launch nukes without total annihilation. So, you find a little country in the middle of nowhere and fight it out there. And…" he rose a finger, "you can make the 3rd world countries into chessboard pieces by who you control. Think of it as a chess game, Sam."

She slowly nodded, "All wars are proxy wars today."

Al then looked upon his hand unit, "I'm getting a reading. Says I'm in the Korean War, MASH 4077th." He recalled, "I was a cadet during the Korean War." He looked at the hand unit as the nanites used it to instruct him on what to do. "I need to pass camp inspection and get Colonel Burns sent state side."

Caitlin stated, "The doctors here are removing his gallbladder. Should be able to send him stateside for recovery."

Al agreed, "Medical transfer."

Corporal Klinger came up to the trio wearing a nurses outfit. He spied someone new as he called, "Cait! Sam! Radar is in surgery. He will make it." he told them. He addressed the man, "Corporal Klinger, sir."

Al looked him up and down and then looked to Sam. "And you said I was out of fashion."

"Rhonda said you were out of fashion." she corrected with a grin. She addressed Klinger, "This is a friend of mine…Colonel Al Calavicci. He's here to finish inspection for Frank."

"Sir!" he went into his routine. "I'm a section eight, sir."

He glanced at the hand unit that he kept from Klinger's view. He stated, "Corporal Maxwell Klinger!"

"Yes sir!" he grinned figuring the new Colonel was his ticket home.

Al stated, "You are not crazy, Klinger."

"Yes I am." he declared.

He told him, "You meet your wife here. You go home now and you won't meet her."

"My wife." he came to attention. "You are from the future too, Colonel?"

"I am." he confirmed. "You need to stay. I like that outfit. I would like to see one of these two dressed like that." he motioned towards Sam and Caitlin who both soured at the idea. "I'm here to help Airwolf get back home, Klinger. I can't help you get home."

He was grateful Al was honest with him. "Well…they do need help getting back home I guess. What's her name?"

Sam motioned, "Al…" she shook her head. "Let him find that out on his own."

"That's classified." he told Klinger.

He gave a defeated look, "I have to wait to meet her."

"I'm afraid so, son." Al confirmed.

Caitlin asked, "Can we see Radar?"

"Soon as the doctors get him in the recovery ward." he assured them.