Chapter 65
Lt. Colonel Frank Burns woke up in the recovery ward. He was rather groggy from the surgery and gazed over to see the company clerk also in a bed in the recovery ward. He squinted wondering why Radar was in the ward. Then he recalled that the boy and the company Father were tasked with delivering medication.
Charles Winchester the Third made the rounds. He came to Frank's bedside and asked, "How are feeling, Colonel?"
"Fine," he replied still a bit tipsy from the medication. "Is that Radar?" he questioned.
Charles stated, "Yes. He was shot in the back by a sniper when he was helping Father Mulcahy deliver medication to an orphanage. Brave young lad. He deserves a medal." he hinted.
"He does." he agreed. He confessed, "I always liked Radar. Though, he could be irritating and always underfoot but I always liked him. I won't want anything bad to happen to him. He will be alright?"
"He's lucky." he nodded. "The bullet was lodged in the left scapula."
Frank asked, "What's that?"
Charles cocked an eyebrow, "The left shoulder blade?" He wondered if the medication was affecting Frank's medical knowledge or if the man truly was a bad doctor with little knowledge.
"I knew that." he bluffed. "When can I finish my inspection?"
Charles beamed, "The good news is, you do not have to finish the inspection. Colonel Calavicci has finished it this morning. The 4077th passed with flying colors."
"Who?" he asked.
"Colonel Calavicci." he repeated. "He arrived last night when you were in surgery. He heard you were sick and came to ad your inspection. Now that is an officer and a gentleman." Charles spun the information like a professional newscaster. He convinced Frank that the new Colonel was there to help him out of a tough spot.
"Oh," he smiled still feeling light headed. "Okay." he then closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Charles then glanced up as Colonel Potter made his way to Radar's bedside. He sat beside the boy as he regained consciousness. "How you doing, son?" the old Colonel asked.
"I'm alive so I guess I'm doing good." he figured.
"You took a bullet to the shoulder. Luckily it hit in such a way it didn't shatter the bone. It was lodged in pretty good though. Yours truly operated." he told him. "I'm putting you in for a purple heart and a citation for a bronze star, son."
"You are?" he asked.
"I am." he confirmed.
He asked, "Was I in the chopper?" He confessed, "I seem to remember me being in it with Captain Pierce."
He nodded, "Airwolf got you and the Father out. Neutralized the sniper and air lifted the wounded kids and nuns. It would have been another outcome if it weren't for that chopper."
He glanced at Frank across from him and asked, "He didn't see it, did he?"
"Nope." he gave a firm nod. "Sam says she knows how to get back home now. They will be leaving after we ship Frank out. She gave me an address and told me to give that address to the other officers, you and the Father with instructions to go there in the year 1984."
He stated, "That's over 32 years from now."
"I know!" he agreed. "If I'm still around I'll be in my 90's. But ya know something, it's a great year to look forward to seeing."
He confessed, "I kind of wish I could go with them to Sam's time. I would like to see it all and…" he blushed.
"And?" he asked knowing the boy had a crush.
"Take Sam on a date." he confessed.
He smiled and gave the young man a pat on the arm, "I see."
Meanwhile
Major John Hawke sat across from his adult son at breakfast in the mess tent. He picked at the food on the try as he spoke to Stringfellow. "Dom told me about the boating accident." he informed. "I'm not going to buy the boat."
String looked up knowing that decision could change the future. "In that case, I hope to see you when we get back."
"You will." he promised. "Matter of fact, I'm going to take Dom up on that offer to go into business with him. Santini-Hawke Air. We will be stunt pilots!"
All he could say was, "I look forward to seeing that."
"You will! I promise!" he declared. He then glanced over at Caitlin as she made her way through the line with Sam for breakfast. He asked, "So…what's up with you and Cait? Sam mentioned earlier that you two are getting married."
He smirked, "Sam thinks we should get married. When I went to 2022 and I saw Cait, she was older and…" he gave a heavy sigh, "I'm dead and I guess she misses me. The whole reason Sinjin even sent Sam back through that wormhole was to fix me. I apparently ended up in a wheelchair and drank myself to death."
John stated, "If I'm still around in 32 years, I'll be there for you. And Cait…she's a good choice." he gave a grin. "I like her. You're mom would like her too." He confessed, "I wish she was here to see you and meet her granddaughter. Sam reminds me of your mother."
"She does a little." he agreed. "She eats like a Santini though."
"She lives on salami?" he asked bewildered as Dom loved salami and other meats.
"Worse! McDonald's." he informed. "She and Dom are both junk food junkies."
He asked, "She likes to eat the stuff Dom will eat? Liverwurst? Limburger cheese? Olive loaf? Pickle loaf? Baloney? Pickled eggs?" he made a sour face.
"Not sure about the pickled eggs but she will eat the rest!" he nodded. "Don't forget those little cans of sausages too."
He figured, "Must be a Santini thing."
He agreed, "Her mother is Dom's niece. Not sure how Sinjin gets through lunch time." he confessed.
Sam and Caitlin made their way to the table and sat beside String and his father.
John Hawke looked at Sam and asked, "You like pickled eggs?"
She admitted, "I've never had pickled eggs."
Caitlin cheered, "That's a Texas thing. I got some of the best pickled egg recipes. When we get back, I'll make up a batch."
John looked at String, "Hope you like Tex-Mex, son. Texans like their food."
Caitlin agreed, "We can put on some real big barbeques."
Sam suggested, "Let's do a big barbeque when we get back to 84."
String asked, "Why not have it in 22?"
"Shortages and inflation." she explained. "Plus, food taste better in 84 for some reason."
John promised, "When you get to 84, I will be there waiting for you. I'm going to go into business with Dom and we're going to buy that hangar together."
Sam suddenly realized, "Dom doesn't own the hangar yet?"
"He will!" String assured her.
John smiled, "Santini-Hawke Air! And I can help fly Airwolf in the shows too."
Sam informed, "In 84, Airwolf is top secret and they can't do shows. In 2022 we can do shows."
"Maybe I can go to 2022 though the wormhole too." he suggested. "I will be there for you too, Sam. I'm your grandfather." hew promised.
String mentioned, "84 could be drastically altered when we get back by this little trip to Korea."
"They already drastically altered it." Caitlin reminded him. "Remember Dr. Beckett's theory. You can altered a person's life and it will have a greater impact than a huge event." She smiled at Major Hawke, "I hope to see you in 84 when we get back."
Sam suggested innocently, "And I can meet my grandmother too."
String told her with a smile, "You are a lot like your grandmother. You two would get along great."
"I am?" she asked. "I always thought I was more of a Santini than a Hawke."
Her grandfather assured, "You are the best of both all rolled into one."
Sam confessed, "I love this mission being about family. That's the reason I went back in the first place."
John asked, "You got a fella, Sam?"
She shook her head, "No. So far, the two guys I like would both be senior citizens in my time."
He balked, "What does that matter to you? You have time travel at your finger tips. You can just got to where ever you want."
She countered, "The wormhole only connects 2022 to 1984. I can't go wherever I want."
He asked, "What about the microscopic robots that Dom was telling me about? They pushed you and Airwolf here, right?"
"When we entered the warp." she nodded.
"Can they push you through time without a warp engine?" he asked.
She cocked her head and paused in thought. "I have no idea."
Caitlin warned, "You do not going screwing around with the nanites, Sam. Once we get back we need to study them and find out what they can and cannot do."
String agreed, "Cait's right! We need to study them and that will take both KITT and Ziggy to do. Don't screw around with them."
She countered, "But what if they can make me leap like Dr. Beckett did. He leaped into the power plant and gave Mac that business card. It's possible the nanites can do that to any given subject."
String added, "And they may not leap you out. You could get stuck there. We do not know the perimeters, the programming the fail safes. We are in the same boat as Ralph. He lost the instruction manual to the suit. In this case, they didn't give us one. Once we get back we need to study the nanties."
Caitlin added, "And Dr. Beckett can help. He blows you out of the water, Sam."
She miffed, "Thanks."
Caitlin sighed with a dreamy look, "And he's so sweet and cute…" She noticed String cock an eyebrow at her. She caught herself, "Of course he's no Stringfellow Hawke." she smiled at him for she did like Dr. Beckett.
Sam wondered, "Why didn't the orbs give the nanites to Dr. Beckett? He is way more qualified than I am."
String suggested, "Maybe they are testing you?"
Caitlin agreed, "Could be a test."
She declared, "This test sucks." She glanced up as Dom walked into the mess tent with Nurse Baker on his arm. She watched as he escorted the nurse through the chow line and then to the table to join them for breakfast.
The pair sat down as Dom greeted his companions. "Morning everyone."
The audience returned the greeting.
Nurse Baker sat beside Dom. She looked at the paper he had given her, "This is where I will find you in California?"
"That's where my business will be. Young me hasn't gotten it yet so give him about a year or so." he told her.
She smiled, "Stunt pilot by day and secret agent by night, huh." She figured he must have done some top secret flying with Airwolf.
"Not really a secret agent." he told her. "I'm just a flight engineer." He looked to String, "He does all the secret agent work."
String gave a sigh. He found living in Dom's time was different than he ever imagined and felt more like a fish out of water. The only time he felt useful was flying Airwolf to rescue Radar. The rest of the time in camp, he tried to stay out of everyone's way. He had a new found respect for Dom and the previous generation. He looked at Sam and asked, "What happened to our new Colonel friend?" He alluded to the nanite version of Al Calavicci.
"He went back home." she told him. "He wanted to see Dr. Beckett."
John Hawke clarified, "That Colonel was a robot?"
She shook her head, "Not a robot! He's an artificial intelligence that has the mind of an actual man, an Admiral who is deceased in my time. In a way he's a vessel that preserved the mind of the Admiral and has in a strange way, been brought back to life through advanced technology that we don't fully understand yet."
Nurse Baker stated, "That's a little beyond me and all but I can say is thank god he came when he did and saved us all from the wrath of Frank Burns. He's an angel as far as I'm concerned."
Caitlin agreed, "In some odd way…he kind of is an angel."
String stated, "Think of him more as an highly advanced life form." He then pondered, "Or immortal! If you can just preserve your mind and transfer it to a computer that can give you a body that would be immortality and boy, some of the ruling class would like to get their hands on that technology."
Sam pondered aloud, "Maybe that the real push behind trans-humanism and cloning? Make themselves a new body and transfer their minds into the new body using a computer."
"That's a scary thought." Caitlin shivered.
John Hawke agreed, "I can see some of the elite trying something that crazy."
Sam squinted as she cocked her head, "I wonder if they already have."
Catlin shivered as she sat beside String. She requested, "Can we change the subject. That's freaking me out."
String gently grasped her hand in assurance, "It's is freaky. What you going to do when we get back home?"
She confessed, "Change my clothes, have a nice bubble bath and eat anything but Spam."
Nurse Baker agreed, "Amen to that sister."