Chapter 67
Sam rode in the passenger's seat of the jeep that Caitlin drove after school. They talked on the way back to the hangar. Sam asked, "How did it go last night with String in the same apartment as you?" she flashed an amused grin.
"Nothing happened!" she held up a hand. "He slept on the sofa. This timeline shift had got my head tripping." she confessed. "Last night we found all of String's clothes were in my closet, there is a picture of both of us that we do not remember posing for. I found an engagement ring and String found a set of wedding bands with a receipt for sizing."
She wondered, "You two gonna tie the knot?"
Caitlin smirked, "The way your grandparents are going on about the wedding, I think we should go elope and not show up. They can eat the wedding cost."
Sam placed her hand over her heart, "That's cruel."
She huffed, "They actually want me to get pregnant. They act like I'm some incubator to kids they want to have. They have you. Why can't they just focus on being grandparents to you?"
Sam shrugged, "Babies are more fun!"
"They are driving me nuts." she complained. She looked over and spied Sam grinning from ear to ear. She held up a finger, "And wipe that grin off your face."
"Welcome to the family, Aunt Cait." she laughed.
They pulled into the airfield and found a large black truck sitting in by the hangar. Sam figured, "Must be Grandpa Hawke's friend."
Caitlin agreed, "I wonder who this retired Colonel is that he was talking about last night."
They emerged from the jeep and made their way into the hangar. They found Dom, String and his father John Hawke showing Airwolf to a new face. He was tall, had light brown hair and an athletic build. He wore blue jeans and a white and red western style shirt with boots.
As the girls approached they could hear John Hawke speaking to his friend.
"Check this out Steve! Airwolf is the only chopper capable of mach one. And this particular Airwolf has a warp drive engine in it. Theoretically, it could be a space ship." he told him.
"That sounds like a hell of a project you got going here, John." the man replied.
He bragged, "My son helped designed Airwolf and my granddaughter designed the warp engine." He glanced up and spied Caitlin and Sam walk into the hangar towards them. "Hey! I got someone for you two to meet." he called towards the women.
Caitlin and Sam walked to the chopper. They both found the retried Colonel to be rather handsome.
John Hawke stated, "Steve…meet my future daughter in law, Caitlin O'Shannessy and my future granddaughter, who is literally from the future, Dr. Samantha Hawke. Girls, this is an old friend of mine. Retired Colonel Steve Austin. He was test pilot for NASA, Sam."
Her eyes grew wide much like a groupie of a rock band, "You flew for NASA?"
"I did." he gave a comforting smile. His mannerisms were that of a mild mannered man which both Caitlin and Sam found charming. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. John and Dom were telling me about your recent trip to Korea and about that MASH camp that helped you out."
Caitlin smiled back, "Pleasure to meet you, Colonel." She offered a hand shake.
"Pleasure's mine." he politely replied with a gentle grasp of her hand.
Sam let her thoughts slip once again. "Damn, he's cute. My grandpa has all the cute friends."
Steve blushed, "I beg your pardon."
Dom laughed, "Sam tends to just say what she is thinking. I guess it's a trend with her generation."
String disagreed, "I think it's just her."
Dom asked with a cocked eye, "Have you seen TikTok?"
"I avoid those sites." he admitted.
Sam asked, "So…Grandpa…why did you bring in a former NASA test pilot for security?"
"Watch!" he held up a finger. He then stepped over to pile of scrap metal that was laying in the corner of the hangar. He retrieved a long copper pipe use for plumbing. He then handed the pipe to Steve. "Show them, Steve."
Steve took the pipe and bent in in half with his bare hands. He then handed the pipe to Caitlin for she and Sam to inspect.
The two traded glances rather surprised.
"How did you do that, Colonel?" Caitlin asked.
"Bionics!" he told her. "Little over ten years ago I was in a near fatal crash. I lost both my legs, my right arm and my right eye. They rebuilt me using the bionics."
Sam gasped, "They had bionic technology back in 1974?"
Steve nodded, "I was the first human they put it in. Then my wife was in a sky diving accident and she became the first woman to get the bionics. Her dog, Max was the dog they experimented on in the lab. He's a Sheppard but up there in age. Only reason he gets around is his bionics. Dogs don't live as long as people and he's an old dog now." He looked to John, "Not sure how much of a guard dog Max will be for you on this end of the wormhole. Jaime will help. You know she will."
Sam squinted, "You are a bionic husband and wife team and you have a bionic dog?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Steve found her humorous and laughed, "I guess you could say that."
Sam's face went pale as she wondered aloud, "Well shit! Now I wonder what the deep state actually has. Bionic troops? Full blown Terminator shit! Maybe those conspiracy sites are right. Maybe we do have cloning and half the would leaders are robots."
Steve turned to John and stated, "She's just like her grandmother, huh."
He nodded, "She's a little Maggie."
Dom reminded them, "She's half Santini too."
Steve asked, "The Santini gene for food?"
String nodded, "And how."
John assured his granddaughter, "Steve and Jaime will be here to help us with security for not just the wormhole but your engine and the bird but you too. I brought them in because of how big this whole thing is and you could be a target since you are the inventor."
Steve agreed, "Airwolf is impressive but that engine…that's the stuff that can change the course of history. You need protection, Sam. The bigger this gets the more security you will need."
"I know." she agreed. She grasped the pipe that Caitlin was holding and held it up to her face, "Wow!" she repeated. "I wonder what we have that is top secret in my time."
Caitlin agreed, "Does make you wonder, huh."
Steve asked his friends, "Do I get to see her time?"
Later that Evening
Sam was feeing rather overwhelmed as her project creamed out of control. Her whole life had been turned upside along with the lives of her family and friends. She wondered why the orb left here with nanites and no idea how to control them or why the nanites were even given to her or for that matter maybe it was all an accident and the orbs were not supposed to leave the alien technology at her disposal. She was scheduled to go back to 2022 to discuss the possible sale of the engine and decided to take a walk in the cool night air to clear her head. She walked a small creek by the airfield and sat down on the bank and listened to the soothing sound of the stream. She spoke out loud to the alien technology.
"Okay alien guys. Why me? Why did you saddle me with these nanite things?" she wondered. "You already saw how badly I can screw things up with the wormhole. I mean, least with Ralph you gave him an instruction manual even if he lost it. You also gave him a suit and told him he would be able to do shit. Nope, I don't even get that." She grasped a pebble off the shore and tossed it into the creek. "I don't get it. Why are you doing this? Why the orbs? Why the probing? Is this some kind of alien reality TV show and you guys are broadcasting all our screw ups back to your planet for entertainment? If that's the case then I should be number one in the ratings." She tossed another pebble. "I mean what the fuck! Could this shit get any worse? Why is my engine so damn important? Why are you screwing around with me like this?" she threw another rock. "If you won't speak to me, then fine…at least show me." She tossed the final pebble from her hand. She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around herself and placed her head down. She closed her eyes wondering if she should sell the engine or not. She felt a slight wave come over her. At first she thought she felt a tremor from a small earthquake. She looked up and everything was quiet. She wiped the tears back and then stood up and brushed off her jeans of any dirt. She adjusted her purple flannel shirt and then headed back towards the hangar to face the future once more.
Hangar
She noticed the outside lights were off and she found that unusual. She also found the side door locked. She took her key and opened it wondering why Dom locked her out as she told him she was going for a walk. She stepped inside and found Airwolf was sitting in the middle of the hangar but was not complete. The chopper's side door was open and the engine compartments were exposed. She asked herself, "Uncle String is going to take her apart and walk her through the wormhole piece by piece?" She found it rather strange for String did not want to make such a drastic effort.
"Hold it right there!" she heard a voice call out. It sounded like String.
She turned around and spied her uncle standing behind her wearing tan cargo pants and a blue shirt with a gun leveled at her. He had a look of suspicion upon his face. "Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"Uncle String?" she asked. "What are you doing?"
"Who are you?" he repeated.
"It's me, Sam!" she told him. "You're niece."
"I don't have a niece." he stated squinting at her.
Her head rolled back, "Ah' fuck!" she waved her hands, "What the fuck alien robots? What did you do to me now?"
He huffed, "Hands up! Don't move."
She stood with her hands up for she could tell it was not some strange joke. She knew he was serious about the demands by his tone and manners. She asked, "You don't know me?"
"I've never seen you before." he told her. He slowly approached and used one hand to pat her down. He found a holster with a revolver in it. It was the 38 special that her parents requested she carry. He held it by the butt of the gun before her, "What's this?"
"A gun." she flatly replied. "Where is Dom and Cait?"
"You know Dom?" he asked.
"He's my uncle." she nodded.
"Really!" he smirked. "Who sent you? Diana!" he accused.
"Who is Diana?" she asked bewildered. "No one sent me. The wormhole!"
"What wormhole?" he asked.
"The one…" she sighed. "Never mind. Where is Cait?"
"Who is Cait?" he asked her.
She blinked, "Your fiancée. Caitlin."
"I don't have a fiancée. I don't know any Caitlin." he proclaimed.
"Where is Dom?" she asked.
"They took him." he told her.
She paused shocked, "What? Who took him?"
"The…Visitors…" he stated with anger.
She asked, "What visitors?"
"Diana and her fleet." he replied.
"What fleet?" she asked.
He squinted, "The ones with the space ships all surrounding Earth."
She gasped, "What?! No fucking way."
"Who sent you here?" he asked.
"No one! This is my home." she informed. "I'm Dr. Samantha Hawke. Sinjin is my dad. You are my uncle."
"Sinjin?" he cocked an eyebrow.
"I'm from the future and I traveled through time." she stated.
He smirked, "With a time machine I suppose?"
"Wormhole." she admitted. "Wait! They did something. The nanites did something to bring me here. Question is, where is here?"
"Nanites?" he questioned.
"The orbs." she stated. "The little UFO encounters we have been having."
"I haven't seen any orbs." he told her. "The aliens are here. The Visitors!"
"Who are these Visitors?" he asked him.
He motioned, "This way." He led her towards the side door. He opened it and pointed up, "There!"
She looked up and could clearly see a huge saucer shaped vessel floating about the city. Her eyes grew wide, "Holy fuck!" she gasped.
"The got Dom up there." he huffed.
"Oh no!" she winced. "We got to get him back."
"That's what I am trying to do." he told her and led her back inside.
She stood shocked, "When did all this happen? When did these ships come?"
"Last year." he told her. "You part of the resistance? Julie send you?"
"Julie?" she asked.
"Julie Perrish." he stated. "Did she send you?"
She cocked an eyebrow, "Her cousin sent me…Rhonda Blake." She recalled the name as Rhonda spoke of her cousin the doctor. "Julie is a doctor."
"She was a doctor." he agreed.
She then asked, "Where is Archangel and the FIRM?"
"FIRM was taken over by the Visitors. How do you know Michael?" he wondered.
She then figured, "This is not an altered timeline. This is another universe." Her mind put together the puzzle, "I've somehow slipped into an alternate reality. Multi universe theory is correct!" her eyes grew wide.
"Multi-universe theory?" he asked her. "You think you came from another reality?"
She grinned at him, "I know that you know what I am talking about. You know the theory. I had an alien encounter too but in my reality. I asked them to show me why they were so secretive? Why they were screwing with me and then I slip here. They are showing me."
"Showing you what?" he asked.
"What could happen if they didn't intervene." she figured. "There must be more than one alien presence. Why is Airwolf sitting here in piece like this, Uncle String?"
"You know about the chopper?" he asked her.
"In the future when it's old and obsolete my dad buys it and we fly it air shows…in my reality. I'm not sure what the future will be in your reality." she admitted. She soothed, "I know he's a POW and he's missing right now. You will get him back."
He cocked his head, "My brother is not a POW and is not missing."
She asked confused, "He's not!"
He shook his head as he holstered his side arm and then tucked the thirty eight into his belt. "Nope! He's out on patrol with Jo. Do you know who Jo is too?"
"Jo Santini?" she winced.
"That's her!" he nodded.
She confessed, "She my mother." She pointed towards her nose, "You and I have the same nose. We get it from my grandmother, Maggie."
"You know my mom?" he asked shocked. So far she knew everyone.
She wondered, "Did they die in a boating accident in your reality?"
He nodded, "They did."
"We changed that in mine." she confessed.
He crossed his arms unbelieving, "So…you are my niece from an alternate reality who is from the future?"
"You got it!" she cheered.
He stated, "You know how that sounds, right?" he asked.
"Crazy!" she nodded with a sour look.
"Yeah, crazy!" he agreed wondering if perhaps it was so crazy it was true.