Chapter 90
The two highway patrolmen returned from their brief trip to the future. They never left the hangar but did see Sinjin, the engine and the new computers. They discovered they were both alive in 2022 and fully retired. KITT would allow them access to limited information as a security step. They were given information about themselves and nothing more after both Charles Winchester the third and Wilton Knight used the information to further their fortunes.
They emerged from the hangar to return to their motorcycles. Ponch placed the helmet on and looked upon the faces of his new friends. "We will get those movies and the player back, Sam. Me and Jon will keep an eye out. Once we get them, we will bring them directly here to you."
She smiled grateful, "I appreciate that, Officers. Thank you."
Jon spoke, "Thank you for letting us see that. Now, I know I live to be an old man and I happily retire. That's a gift you gave me today. I never know if I will make it home to my family when I go to work." He too placed the helmet on and then straddled the motorcycle.
She admitted, "I guess I never thought of that. Thank you for what you do out there on duty."
Michael Knight stated, "If you find anymore money, bring that here too. Don't turn it in. We have to get it back to the future where it belongs."
Ponch agreed, "Will do!" He flashed a bright smile, "See you around, Michael." He was happy to know his fellow officer was alive and well.
The motorcycles started with a roar and soon both officers were on their way with a wave goodbye.
Sam stood between Caitlin and Michael. She grinned, "Those two are two cool cops."
Caitlin grinned, "They are! I rode in that division for a while with them."
Michael confessed, "I never rode motorcycle. Kind of wish I did now."
Sam cheered, "I want to learn to ride a motorcycle."
Stringfellow Hawke lingered behind and listened. He stepped closer and spoke in her ear, "I don't think your parents will approve."
"I'm an adult." she reminded him.
He smirked, "Most of the time."
Caitlin also reminded her, "You still can't drive a stick shift."
She excused, "I've been busy."
"Ah-ha," she laughed and placed her arm around her shoulder.
The group turned and entered the hangar once more.
String spoke to Colonel Austin. "What's the latest on Baltar Research and Development?"
He replied, "They have robotics far beyond what we have. Mac can tell you more." He looked over at MacGyver.
Mac stated to the audience, "Baltar's sentinels are more advanced than what you got in 2022. They are wireless, fully mobile machines that can out maneuver and out perform any human…" he glanced at Steve "bionics or not."
Sam asked, "Can we hack them?"
He replied, "I did manage to get some of the computer code and gave it to KITT and Ziggy to examine. They said it will take time. It's pretty advanced."
Apollo asked, "Did you contact the Galactica recently, Sam?"
"I haven't been sleeping well so I haven't been able to dream contact anyone." she shook her head.
He suggested, "We need to get a message to the Galactica about Baltar and his sentinels here on Earth." He looked to Ralph, "How about you do it using the suit."
"I've tried!" Ralph told him. "I need Sam to do it. I can't do it alone. I think her nanites are more advanced than one I got with the suit."
Apollo stood frustrated, "The Galactica is literally sitting on the edge of the solar system with and cannot go further because of two Cylon basestars. I feel so helpless just sitting here doing nothing."
Steve glanced at Sam and then reminded them. "We do have a space shuttle and a warp drive engine that is stable."
All eyes fell on Sam.
She replied, "But it's just an orbiter. It's not designed for deep space travel."
String stated, "If we use that warp engine and warp space around that orbiter it should be able to make it to the Galactica and warping affect should protect it like a shield."
She had to admit, "The warping affect will act as a shield for the vessel."
String stated, "We put the engine in a shuttle, send a crew into orbit, engage the engine and get it to the Galactica. It has landing bays. We can land it on the Galactica. The Galactica can bring it back to Earth once we take out the two base stars."
Apollo stated, "The Galactica needs fighter pilots." He then looked at the pilots in the group.
Sam asked, "Let's say we do this and put the engine into a shuttle. How are we going to launch it into orbit without the media knowing? Everyone can see it!"
Steve stated, "We come up with a cover story. A new mission. The Challenger is the only shuttle we can get ready at a moments notice at this point. It just came off of overhaul."
Sam blinked, "Did that one blow up?"
String told her, "Not for another year." He then debated, "Should we warn them about the disaster? It wouldn't hurt to try." he determined.
Steve stated, "Whatever happens it won't be for another year. We can warn them and use the Challenger for our mission. I want you, String as my co-pilot. We can give the crew a cover." He looked at the faces before him and picked out his crew, "String and myself with pilot the shuttle. We will need Sam as an engineer for her engine. Caitlin work coms and Apollo on navigation and Mac can be the shuttle's engineer. We can do this." he told them.
Mac asked, "What if Baltar gets wind of this and releases his sentinels on the population? He's crazy enough to do that."
String suggested, "We will need a backup crew for Airwolf." He looked at Dom and puckered in thought. "You will need a replacement for me and Caitlin. Jo can fly it." He then concluded, "We need to bring Sinjin home early. Dom can fly missions with Sinjin and Jo to keep the sentinels at bay if Baltar releases them." He then looked to Ralph, "And Ralph has that suit. That should help."
Dom agreed, "We need Sinjin! Young Sinjin. Him and Joe will need to take over flying Airwolf." He grinned, "Except now I get to fly with them."
Steve concluded, "Then let's bring your brother home, String."
Next Morning
Sam returned to school with Caitlin as she maintained her cover despite the documentary floating about the student body. Caitlin was only mentioned on the film and most did not connect Caitlin Santini to Caitlin O'Shannessy thus leaving her cover intact. Sam on the other hand was getting far more attention than she preferred.
Johnny Lawrence felt bad for it was he who stole the movies and player from the classroom. He assumed his karate teacher would go to the police with it but instead he made copies and sold them out the back door of the business. He wished he could make things right. He hated how Sam was being targeted with the attention that she obviously did not want. He couldn't bring himself to confess. He figured if he told her the truth she would have him arrested and never speak to him again. He also feared what Tony would do to him in retaliation. He approached Sam as she walked the hall dressed as a teenage girl in high school once more.
"Hey Sam." he greeted her.
"Trouble." she replied not amused. She needed to prepare for her shuttle mission, not be in high school.
"Hey…there is a beach party tonight. Wanna come?" he asked trying to sound upbeat.
"I'm busy." she flatly replied.
"Everyone will be there." he told her.
Daniel LaRusso walked with Ali Mills and spied Johnny walking with Sam ahead of them. They assumed he was harassing her and came to her aid.
Daniel huffed, "Leave her alone! She doesn't need you bothering her." He spoke, "You okay, Sam?"
She stopped walking and replied, "I'm fine. He's not bothering me. He just invited me to a beach party."
Ali cheered, "You want to come? Everyone will be there. It's tonight."
Sam looked at the trio of faces and declared, "Only if my whole class is invited. You know…the rejects." She figured no one else in her special class would be invited.
Daniel cheered, "Bring them all!"
Johnny hated the idea for it meant Tony would be there and he wanted to get to know Sam personally. He grudgingly agreed, "Yeah…invite them too."
Sam smirked, "I see you all there. I got to get to class now." She excused herself and walked away wondering if she should just ignore the invitation or actually go.
The trio watched Sam walk away. Daniel couldn't help but ask, "Do you think she really has the time machine and really flew the top secret helicopter?"
Ali rolled her eyes, "Do you know how silly that sounds?"
"I know it sounds silly but I kind of wonder." he admitted.
Johnny stated, "I think she has a time machine. I think she flew that chopper and is from the future."
Daniel cocked an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Because I saw the originals. They are not on tape. It's on this little shiny disk." he confessed.
Daniel squinted at him, "And how did you see this original?" He suspected Johnny had something to do with the movie tapes.
He confessed, "Because it was me. Me, Dutch and Billy. We got the tapes. We wanted to see what movies they were watching. It wasn't what we expected so we brought the player and the disk to Kreese and he said he would take care of it. I thought he would take it to the police that we found something illegal. He made the tapes and passed them around." He looked at Ali and Daniel who stood shocked by the admission. "I didn't think he would do that. I didn't know this would affect Sam like this. I don't know what to do now."
Ali suggested, "You should tell her that it was you who took the player and the tapes."
"They were not tapes." he reminded her. "It was all disk."
"Whatever!" she huffed. "You stole the movies from the class and you need to make that right."
He asked, "How? I didn't know Kreese would bootleg it all."
Daniel asked, "Can you get the player and these disk back?"
"He has it locked up." he shook his head. "I can't get near it."
Daniel insisted, "You have got to make this right. It's not fair to Sam to have half the school thinking she some secret agent or something…" he reached to describe the situation.
Ali mentioned, "We all saw the tape. She said the original crew of the helicopter was her uncle, her great uncle and a woman named Caitlin O'Shannessy. They flew top secret missions for the CIA and didn't she say her family owned an airfield?"
Johnny nodded, "Santini Air. Kreese was asking about it. I think he plans on going there today. Santini-Hawke Air." He stood pondering the name on the tape and why is was different from the name of the airfield that Sam hung out at.
Ali grew suspicious, "What for?"
He shrugged, "I don't know."
The bell rang.
"See ya later, Ali." he then sneered, "LaRusso." as he walked away.
Daniel kissed Ali on the cheek, "See you at lunch." The couple then parted ways to get to class before gaining a dreaded detention slip.
Meanwhile
Dominic Santini worked with John Hawke at the airfield for their business. As the two pilots went over coming stunt projects for major film productions a visitor arrived.
John Kreese walked into the hangar wearing jeans and a flannel over a black undershirt. He made his way deeper into the hangar looking for Dom in particular. He then came across a familiar face sitting in a chair outside the office acting as a guard.
Colonel Hannibal Smith was guarding the invisible wormhole that resided in the hangar. He spied the special forces man approach. He was guarding alone as he sent Lieutenant Peck to the other side of the wormhole for a briefing with Murdock and Baracus.
Kreese smirked at the Colonel for he knew he was onto something big if it involved the man's team. He greeted, "Smith!"
He stood up, "What do you want, Kreese? Tired of your little dojo? Looking for to play with some big boys again?"
"Where is Dominic Santini?" he asked him.
"Office." he motioned.
"Great!" he smirked back and walked over to the office. Colonel Smith followed.
Kreese stood as the door and looked inside the office with the two owners going over the day's work. He called, "Santini!"
Dom looked up from his papers. He did not recognize the man. "I'm Dominic Santini. What can I help you with?" he asked him.
Kreese held up a VHS tape. He stated, "Same Dominic Santini that Sam Hawke referenced on this tape?"
Dom's eyes grew narrow as he was put on the defensive. "What do you want?"
He stepped into the office. Colonel Smith stepped into the office right behind him ready to shoot the man if forced. He didn't bother trying to gain the tape for he knew it was not the original.
John Hawke also came to attention. He asked, "What is this all about?"
Kreese stated, "I just want in on whatever little program you got going here."
Colonel Smith rolled his eyes annoyed.
Dom smirked, "Oh! You want to be a stunt pilot or would your rather be the dummy we throw from the plane? I got an opening for a dummy in the next stunt."
Kreese narrowed his eyes for he did not liked to be mocked especially by an old man. He shifted his weight debating if he should make a move to show the old man who is boss. From behind him he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his back.
Hannibal stated, "I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you, Kreese."
He held his hands up, "I wouldn't dream of it, Colonel."
"Now you would not have anything to do with the bootlegged movies would you?" he asked him.
He stepped forward and then turned to face the old Colonel. Keeping his hands up he challenged him, "That depends on how cooperative you want to be with me. Let's face it, you would not be just hanging out at a hangar for no reason, Colonel? Where is the rest of your team anyways? Did they go to break the crazy one out again?"
He cocked his head to the side, "Running some errands. Who is making the tapes?"
He lied, "Don't know." He glanced about, "I saw the tape and just wanted to see what you all are up to here. That tape! It's not a hoax. It's real. That is a real documentary about a top secret chopper. Airwolf! So, where you hiding the chopper?"
Dom growled, "Get out of my hangar!"
Colonel Smith soothed, "Easy Dom. Kreese is a pain in the ass and out for his own skin but he could come in handy. He is special forces."
John Hawke asked, "What you got in mind, Colonel?"
He insisted, "First we test his humanity." He looked at Kreese, "You want in on this you need to prove you are loyal to the cause."
He asked, "What's the cause?"
"Stopping an alien invasion." he flatly told him.
He blinked a bit stunned, "What?"
"Aliens! You know…little green dudes. Well, they are not green…but you get the drift." he informed.
Kreese never expected such a claim. "Aliens! Are you shitting me?"
Hannibal grinned, "I would never shit on you, my boy."