Chapter 97
Santini-Hawke Airfield
The morning sun shined bright on the airfield as employees started to stream in for work for the day. A working airfield didn't hold to a 9 to 5 schedule nor was it a five day a week job but rather a job that ran all hours of the day and night depending on the job. It was Saturday and thus the local high school was closed leaving Sam to spend her time doing more practical work much to her relief.
The new plan was to convince those who saw the Airwolf tape and whoever had possession of the player and DVD disk that Airwolf was nothing more than a movie prop. Thus, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs the Third and his assistant, Marella were requested to the airfield to be debriefed.
Archangel stood before the two Airwolf teams and Sam in the hangar that morning. He was pleased to see Sinjin alive and well and returned home early. He was also briefed on the orb encounter and the mental memory imprinting it did to the man. He had listened to the proposal of how to go forward with Airwolf.
"You want to bring Airwolf public." he assessed.
String asked, "You got a better idea of how to handle this, Michael? Airwolf isn't need to know. Sam's engine and that wormhole is." he motioned towards the back corner of the hanger were the wormhole sat yet invisible to the naked eye.
"I can't say I do." he regrettably sighed.
Marella saw an opportunity. "Actually, the movie prop cover could be an advantage. We could hide Airwolf in plain sight. We could get access to restricted airspace and not so friendly countries if they think Airwolf is just a movie. We can say the documentary is an advertising campaign and then bring the bird out as movie chopper." She then continued, "It's not that hard to sell Airwolf as a movie prop to gain access. National Geographic uses the magazine as cover for some of our agents."
Sam gasped, "Wait! What? National Geographic is a cover for spies?"
Marella gave a grin, "Some."
She sat beside herself, "Well…damn…now I wonder what else is actually a cover for something else."
String cocked and eyebrow, "You mean like Twitter, Facebook, social media…?" It was obvious to String that the social media sites of the future were more than just web sites.
She nodded understanding, "Tik Tok."
"That too." he agreed. He looked to his family and friends, "If our cover is that of a movie prop then we won't have to hide Airwolf anymore. We can bring here to the hangar."
Sinjin recalled, "When Jo and I flew missions it was right out of the hangar. We didn't have to hide her the first time around. That would be better than driving out to the lair."
"And the logistics." String agreed. "Our cover would be Airwolf is a movie prop. Thing is…we need a movie to go with it."
Dom perked up, "I can write a script for a movie. We can produce it ourselves." He began to see the advantage to the cover. Airwolf could be stored in the hangar and they could even take her to the local air shows. They could make a movie as cover for the real missions and keep attention away from the engine and the wormhole they were protecting.
Sinjin volunteered, "I can work on the script with you, Dom."
Sam asked, "What are we going to do? Make a You Tube channel?"
String smirked, "No! This will have to be a real movie. Production level stuff. No cell phone selfies."
Caitlin stated, "I think we should all have input into the movie. Especially, since we have to star in it too." she reminded them.
String agreed, "We will have to star in the movie. Wilton Knight and Charles Winchester the Third can be the financial backers."
Archangel assured, "The FIRM would back the movie as a cover for Airwolf and her true nature. Using the movie as open disclosure and hide it at the same time."
Sam then pondered, "I wonder if we could do that with KITT?"
String shrugged, "That would be up to Knight Industries." He then got an idea, "Ralph loses the suit because he becomes famous. I wonder if we used the movie cover for him and the suit of maybe the aliens will leave him alone."
"You mean tell everyone it's fake and not real and a movie." Caitlin understood.
"Exactly!" String agreed.
"It's worth a shot." she agreed.
Dom was ever to eager to write the script for the Airwolf movie. He cheered, "I'll get my typewriter out."
Sam gasped, "Typewriter!"
"To write the Airwolf script." he told her. "We don't have them fancy computers here like you do in the future."
Amused Caitlin suggested, "You should have Sam help you with it, Dom."
Sam shook her head wide-eyed. "I don't know anything about writing a movie script."
"It's easy!" Dom told her. "I'll teach ya. It's all in the formatting."
Archangel instructed, "Get Airwolf into the local air show, String. Get the movie prop cover going."
"Will do." he agreed.
Sam asked, "Won't this affect the future air shows that I do with mom and dad? In the future it's a defunct top secret chopper. Not a movie prop."
Archangel stated, "You will have to change that to a movie prop in the future."
Sinjin soothed, "Don't worry, Sam. I bet if Airwolf had her own movie and was seen as a star we would get more sales at the booth."
She countered, "But Airwolf is a living museum. Not a movie prop."
Her father rebutted, "But the movie prop cover will sell better."
"There is more to Airwolf than sales, Dad." she huffed annoyed.
"I know but in 2022 fuel is an arm and a leg and so is insurance." he reminded her. "This will keep future Airwolf in the air, Sam. It's a struggle paying for it all with just sales from the booth."
"If it keeps Airwolf flying." she agreed. "So, what kind of movie will be Airwolf's cover?" she asked displeased.
Dom told her, "We fly top secret missions for the FIRM. That's the cover. We can use models to recreate some of the battles. With movie magic, we don't need to use Airwolf herself. We got some air show footage already. We need to mount a came on another chopper and follow Airwolf for some in flight footage." He then snapped a finger, "And a theme song."
String looked at his amused, "A theme song, Dom?"
"If the Lady is going to be a movie star then she will need her own theme song, String." he told him.
He chuckled slightly at Dom's enthusiasm.
Sam stood cross armed and pouting. She miffed, "Might as well turn the airfield into a zoo."
Surprised Caitlin asked, "Why do you say that, Sam?"
"Because it's beginning to feel like one." she noted. "What about my cover? On the documentary I introduce myself by my real name, introduce my parents. Here…I'm Sam Santini, high school student." She figured she had a good point as she cocked an eye.
Dom grinned, "Here you are Sam Santini, I'm your dad and you're a budding actress."
Her shoulder's slunk, "No way am I going to be an actress."
Archangel backed Dom's suggestion. "I think Dom is right. You have already been established as Sam Santini here. Tell everyone that you were just playing a part in the documentary. Tell people that isn't a mock version of a documentary and it's not real."
"You mean I cannot even take credit for the documentary that I filmed for Airwolf." she figured.
Caitlin tried to cheer her up. She made a suggestion, "You can be a star in the film."
She turned and puckered in doubt, "Star in the film. Doing what? I'm supposed be a 16 year old kid here."
Dom conjured up a roll. "You can be Sam Hawke, daughter of the inventor behind Airwolf."
"I stated on the documentary my uncle designed it and my dad restored it. How do we square that in this fake movie about Airwolf?" she asked.
Caitlin suggested, "Simple. Give movie Airwolf time travel capabilities. Stick with the niece of the inventor. We make it seem like Airwolf can travel through time. Like a time machine."
She smirked, "So Airwolf has to be hit by lightening while traveling 88 miles per hour?" She referred to another popular movie that was about to hit the theaters in 1985.
Archangel quickly assessed, "We will need to use the movie cover to explain away the money from the future that you brought here."
String stated, "In the movie, Sam is the teenage daughter of older Sinjin and Jo. She takes over the Airwolf missions and becomes trapped in 1985. She has to seek out her uncle, that would be me, to fix the bird and get back home. We say it's fiction, that Sam's real name is Santini and she's just an actress for the part and a kid in the local high school. This keeps eyes away from her engine, that wormhole and strengthens her cover as a teenager in school. We can have older Sinjin and Jo come back through the wormhole, give them fake names and say they are also actors for the movie. This can work."
Sam asked, "And if it doesn't work?"
"Then you will be in more danger than ever before." he warned her. "You have to maintain the cover of a sixteen year old kid at all cost when you are here."
She gave a heavy sigh knowing her uncle was correct.
Dom promised "Don't worry, Sam. I will give you a real good role. No one will know you are a child prodigy, genius inventor."
She smirked, "Going to make me a dullard?"
"And how!" he assured. "No one will connect you to your engine or that wormhole we are protecting."
She rolled her eyes unbelieving.
Caitlin stated, "I've seen you in action, Sam. You can pull off being a disgruntle teenager with ease. It's pretty amazing really. I've seen you go from Dr. Samantha Hawke and speaking on a level of a college professor to a gum chewing smart mouth in the blink of an eye."
Sam pleaded, "That's not reassuring, Aunt Cait."
Dom was eager to work on the movie. He soothed, "Don't worry, Sam. I will write you the best character cover ever."
"Oh' boy!" she sighed rather worried.
Later That Day
A red jeep pulled into the airfield and parked near the hangar. The driver, a chubby man with light brown hair and thick mustache emerged from the vehicle wearing brown trousers and a white shirt under a leather A2 style flight jacket. Sporting a crusher hat remnant of the bomber pilots of world war two, he made his way into the hangar and to the office.
He came to the doorway of the office and peered inside. He spied Dom sitting at the desk with Sam as he typed out the script for the fake movie. His eyes settled on the pretty young blonde haired woman beside the owner and he couldn't help smile. He gave a rap on the door frame. "Hello there." he greeted smoothly.
Dom and Sam looked up from their work. Dom asked, "Can I help you?"
He stepped into the office and offered a hand, "Name's Jack Dalton. Mac sent me. He said you need another stunt pilot. I'm your guy." He flashed a smile to Sam, "When I laid eyes on you, I heard angels sing." Upon shaking Dom's hand he grasped Sam's hand and then gently brought the hand to his lips and ever so slightly kissed the back of her hand.
Sam retracted her hand feeling rather annoyed and alarmed. She warned him, "Do that again and I will kick you so hard in the nuts they will get lodged in your nostrils."
Dom grinned amused and nearly laughed as the smooth pilot's advances were shot down by his great niece. He then watched as Sam retrieved an anti-bacterial wet wipe from her pocket and disinfected her hands rather disgusted.
"Um…" Jack was used to women turning him down but not with such blanket disgust. He found that he liked her even more as a result. She was pretty and spunky and he was attracted to woman who could put him in his place. "You're a spicy little thing." he noted.
Dom stated in warning, "She's my niece. Mac sent you. You're a pilot."
He addressed Dom, "Yes sir." he felt embarrassed. "I didn't know she was your niece. This won't affect me being hired, will it?"
Dom looked to Sam who stood annoyed. "That's up to Sam. Should I hire this guy?"
"If Mac sent him then, yeah." she agreed. She shook her head disappointed.
"I was just being a gentleman." he told her.
She warned, "Where I come from that's just creepy." She looked him up and down. "Mac sent us the Pillsbury Doughboy." she remarked.
Jack looked to Dom a bit miffed by the comment.
Dom laughed, "He's one of them minions, Sam." He referred to pop culture of the future.
"Minion?" he scowled unsure what they were even talking about.
A grin crept across her face as she nodded in agreement. "He kind of does remind me of the Minions. Let's keep him." She then recalled a line from the movie. "This is my minion."
The pilot stood bewildered, "Minion! What are you two talking about? Some kind of inside joke?"
Dom grinned, "You will find out."