Chapter 68

Sam found herself sitting in the office of the airfield feeling more like a prisoner than like family. She figured she could easily have the nanites take her back home by just asking but now felt compelled to help as her family faced an alien invasion even if it was in another reality. She heard her parents voices outside the door as String debriefed them on the situation.

Stringfellow Hawke looked on as his brother and Dom's niece entered the hangar. He waited outside the office door as he had a prisoner inside. Sinjin and Jo had returned from patrolling the area. They were both dressed in black to avoid detection of the alien occupiers.

Sinjin asked, "What's all this about some girl, String?"

"She's in the office. She was able to just walk into the hangar and had a key to unlock the door. She says she's your daughter and she is from the future and from another reality." he informed.

"What?" Sinjin asked bewildered. "That's insane."

"Thing is she knows everyone. She knows who Dom is, who you two are. Knows mom. Knows about Airwolf." he reported. "Sinjin, I can't disprove this. Multi-universe theory is possible and so are wormholes. She's says she has a PhD in physics and was experimenting with a warp drive engine in her reality. I'm not sure how she got here but she did say there is an alien element they are dealing with and the thinks it brought her here." He came closer, "Thing is…she looks a lot like Jo but has mom's nose."

"You have mom's nose." he told him.

He motioned, "So does this girl."

Jo asked, "There is a girl in there who looks like me?"

"She says you are her mom." he informed.

"Oh' boy," she rolled her eyes. "Maybe this girl is just having hallucinations? Since the Visitors invaded, life has been pretty tough on folks."

String agreed, "It could be but she started to draw out plans for a warp drive engine and to be honest, to me…it looks like it could work. I can't disprove what she claims as crazy as it sounds. And she does remind me of mom. Maybe she's telling the truth. When she found out what happened to Dom she was very concerned."

Sinjin figured, "We get Airwolf finished and we will get Dom back. Just got to finish her." He motioned, "Now let's see this girl." He opened the office door and stepped inside with Jo and String behind him. He looked upon the young woman sitting in the chair looked back up at him. He had to admit, she did look a lot like Jo Santini and she did indeed have his mother's nose.

She gave a small smile, "His Dad! I know you don't know me. Technically, I have not been born yet and I'm from another reality." She looked past, "Hi Mom. You look good." She then confessed, "I know if I hugged you two you would be freak out since I'm a stranger to you. It's okay. I understand how weird that would be for you."

Sinjin and Jo traded glances as she seemed very sincere.

She then asked, "Can I ask what is going on with Airwolf? Why do you have her apart?"

Sinjin stated, "We're trying to finish building it. It's not finished!"

She asked, "How come it's not finished?"

"The Visitors showed up!" he told her. "It was String's project. The FIRM was backing it. They showed up and all work stopped."

"Ah," she nodded. "So…it was never finished for you guys. These aliens showed up and just took over?"

He nodded, "Yes! They took over."

Sam pondered, "Do you guys know Michael Knight?"

"No," he shook his head and looked to String and Jo who both denied.

"How about Ralph Hinkley?" she wondered.

"Never heard of him." String told her.

"Colonel Steve Austin?" she asked.

Sinjin mentioned, "He's friend of Dom's. Knew dad during Korea."

She gave a nod, "How about Angus MacGyver?"

He squinted, "He's part of the resistance."

"Good!" she replied pleased. "How about Caitlin O'Shannessy?"

Sinjin stated, "I think she's a cop. We have a number of cops who are in the resistance. Sounds familiar, not sure who she is."

She puckered in thought, "Do you have a man in a red suit flying around? Maybe before the invasion? Flying around like Superman."

"No," he shook his head a bit baffled.

She concluded, "They must have give Ralph the suit to deter the invasion of these Visitors in my world. What are these Visitors? What do they look like?"

Jo replied, "They appear human but they are not. They are reptilian."

She thought back to the conspiracy sites, "So…the reptilians are the bad guys and who are the grays? Could they be good guys? I wonder what my aliens are."

String asked, "You were in invaded in your world?"

She agreed, "We weren't. Least not that we know of. They could have infiltrated I suppose or made some kind of break away civilization. I'm really not sure. There are no floating saucer ships above us."

The three traded glances unsure what to make of Sam's story.

Sam suggested, "Maybe my aliens sent me here to help you guys? I can help. I can help get Airwolf flying. I can help you guys find those who helped me if they exist here. What about the A Team? They are a special military operations team…or least were one."

String asked, "You think you are going to just waltz in here and expect us to believe you, kid?"

"I do." she agreed. She then reached into her pants pocket and removed a cell phone. "You stopped searching me at the revolver." She handed it to String, "I'm sure you can figure this out."

He grasped the futuristic technology. He soon found how to swipe the screen. "What is this?" he asked. "Some kind of computer? A phone maybe?"

"It's a computer and cell phone all in one. You see the tiles. Bring up my files and look at the photos." she instructed.

String complained and found many photos were on the phone. "Hey Sinjin! Look at this!" he handed him the phone. The picture was of Sinjin but much older.

Sinjin quickly figured out how to swiped the screen, "That's me. That's Jo. There is you. There's Dom." he found a video file and played it. It was Airwolf at an air show. "String…Airwolf is flying!" he handed him the phone.

String looked at the footage and then stated, "You got our attention, kid."

Next Day

Sam sat and watched the morning news broadcast in complete disbelief. The aliens from space had taken over, gained total control over every government and had anyone who opposed labeled as "insurgents." She found the alien leader went by the name of John and his right-hand woman was a brunette named Diana who was in charge of research. She found the uniforms were red with black stripe making a V shape. She discovered they even had a youth corps and the symbols did not look anything like the symbol that Ralph had on his suit. She took a sip of coffee as the press conference on television had ended. She asked herself, "How did these guys just show up and take over? This is nuts." she exclaimed.

Jo stood by and watched the morning broadcast as well. She remarked, "They showed up and our government just cratered. So much the nuclear deterrent."

"This is just nuts." she insisted.

Jo shrugged, "It is! Soon as we get Airwolf flying…that will give them something to talk about." she said with a disgusted tone.

Sam asked, "Do the shuttles have warp drive or just the big ships?"

She cocked her head, "Warp drive?"

"That's how the big ships got here." she informed. "If the shuttles have it they can jump about."

"They just fly about." Jo informed.

"Then Airwolf will need warp drive if you are going to take these guys on." she determined.

"We can't even get Airwolf off the ground for a test flight." she countered. "Warp dive!" she shook her head, "I don't see that happening."

"Maybe my Airwolf then?" she pondered.

Sinjin and String came to the door of the office. Sinjin called, "You ready? I sent a message to Julie. She wants to meet you, Sam."

"I'm ready." she stood up. "You guys have McDonald's here?"

Jo looked at String's strained face, flashed a grin and confirmed, "We have McDonald's."

"Oh' good! I can use a cinnamon roll." she mentioned.

"McDonald's does not have cinnamon rolls." Jo told her.

"Oh, right." she sighed. "I guess a egg McMuffin then.

Jo suggested, "They have a danish that's not bad."

String stated, "I disagree with that statement."

"They have a danish!" Sam perked up. "Let's try that."

Sinjin stated, "We can get drive thru on the way."

Short Time Later

Sam observed the situation on the street and found the local police seemed to be working with the alien Visitors. She found it most disturbing considering those Visitors were not even from Earth. They soon came to a road block. String sat behind the wheel of the blue Ford Branco they drove.

"Road blocks?" Sam asked surprised from the back seat. "You are under martial law?"

"The Visitors doing." Jo replied as she sat beside her. "Scientist are being hunted down, accused of being terrorist. They are being black listed for speaking out."

"Scientist!" she grew alarmed. "They could blow the whistle on these Visitors. Expose they are not human."

"Exactly!" Jo agreed.

She asked, "And the people are going along with this shit? What the fuck? Rise up and get your guns people." she spouted.

Jo replied, "It's not that easy when they have floating mother ships and laser weapons. I think they can brain wash people too."

"Holy shit!" she shook her head.

Sinjin turned slightly and looked directly at her. "You are my kid from the future, right?"

"Basically." she agreed.

"Who taught you to swear like that?" he asked.

"Internet." she confessed.

"Inter-what?" he asked.

She explained, "Computers all connected to the world wide web. You can find all sorts of shit on there."

String figured, "A form of DARPA."

"Exactly!" she nodded.

Sinjin stated, "You should probably stay of that internet thing then."

They rolled up to the stop and the alien guard asked for their identification. Sam noticed his voice was unusual and he wore special tinted goggles. String handed him the cards including Sam's as it was the card provided by the FIRM in her home reality and thus authentic.

The guard looked inside the vehicle and asked, "Are any of you scientist?"

String stated, "Out of work mechanics."

He handed the cards back, "Move along."

"Have a good day." String stated and pulled through the stop cautiously.

Sam stated, "That was creepy. Those Visitors do not sound like us."

Jo agreed, "Yup! Creepy!"

Sinjin agreed, "They are not us."

As String continued the drive Sam observed, "Seems not as busy on the streets."

Sinjin stated, "The population is disappearing. They are being taken aboard those ships and never seen again."

"I wonder what they are doing to the people on the ship?" she asked herself. At that moment in Sam's mind she could see a vision of the vessel above. She felt as if she was floating through the air as she viewed a large area with rows upon rows of glass pods. She came closer to a pod and looked at the lifeless figured inside. It was Dom. He was naked and seemed to be floating in some kind of liquid. She then was shown a panel nearby that gave off life signs. He was still alive but appeared to be in some kind of suspended animation. She then heard a loud snap.

"Hey!" Jo snapped her fingers loudly before Sam's face. "You there. You just zoned out on us."

Sam shook herself out of the trance. "I think I just saw inside the ship. I saw Dom! It was like a vision. He's in this glass looking container. It's like he's in some kind of fluid. Maybe cryo-preservation. Like Walt Disney!" she reached for an explanation.

Sinjin stated, "Mike reported seeing something like that in the mother ship."

"Mike?" she asked.

"Mike Donovon." he told her. "Only man ever to have gotten in and out of the ship."

String nodded, "He's helping the resistance and Julie. He's a good guy. Was a cameraman for the news before all this went down. His son was taken too. Whole towns are just sitting empty. Everyone was taken. They come in the middle of the night, round everyone up and take them on the shuttles. They go up to the ship and are never seen again."

"Why are they preserving people like that?" she wondered.

Sinjin stated, "Mike said the Visitors have extreme shortages on their planet and are in some kind of war. They want us for soldiers and for food. They are draining our water supplies as we speak."

She gasped, "Are you serious! Food! They eat us!"

"I guess we're tasty." String miffed.

"This getting crazier every minute." Sam concluded. She then found String had pulled into an old water plant and parked the truck.

"This way." he told her.

"A water plant?" she asked.

"It's abandoned." he declared. "Come on, Julie is waiting to meet you."