Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

‘I can’t believe I agreed to this.’ Stringfellow Hawke muttered as he paced the brightly lit white corridor. His blue eyes glared at the closed door behind which various tests were being performed and pushed away the rising panic that something was really wrong. He pushed a hand through his short brown hair in frustration. ‘It’s taking too long; it should have been over by now.’

Dominic Santini sighed deeply and gestured at the younger man with his red baseball cap. ‘Will ya stop pacing String? She’ll be fine.’

‘For once, Hawke, Dominic’s right.’ Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, the deputy director of the FIRM, stretched out his bad leg with a wince. He was only just recovering from surgery to fix his busted knee but he was sat in a wheelchair dressed impeccably as always in a white suit with a black eye-patch adding a touch of additional eccentricity to the outfit. He nudged his wire-frame glasses back up his nose. ‘These things take time.’

Hawke simply glared at him.

‘Hawke, stop glaring at Michael.’ Caitlin Hawke chided her husband, smiling to soften the admonishment. ‘Airwolf’s in good hands.’

The technologically advanced helicopter was undergoing a series of tests to check her programming after she had seemed to act independently on a couple of previous missions. They’d arranged with Michael to have her tested at the FIRM’s laboratory out at Devil’s Anvil and Hawke had relinquished the helicopter reluctantly to Karen Hansen, the FIRM’s expert on Airwolf’s complicated computer programme. They were all a little nervous; the last time Airwolf had taken control she’d been under the influence of a logic bomb hidden in her computer code and left there by her twisted creator, Moffett. If Airwolf’s recent actions were down to another logic bomb then Hawke knew he would have to ground the helicopter permanently. Given the possible outcome, it had been a difficult decision for Hawke to agree to the testing; Airwolf was the only leverage he had to force the FIRM to search for his missing elder brother, Saint John, but Michael had given his word to Hawke to find Saint John regardless of whether Hawke had Airwolf or not. Hawke was trusting in the deep friendship that had evolved between them that the spy would keep his word.

He sat back down by his wife and clasped her hand in his. He ran his thumb over the plain gold band around her finger, brushed against the solitaire on her engagement ring and wondered at both. They had married in a quiet ceremony in front of the lake by their home only a month previously and they were both still slightly in disbelief of their new marital status. It didn’t seem that long ago for either of them that they had settled for their relationship never moving beyond friendship. Thank God, they hadn’t continued to settle, Hawke thought. He caught Caitlin’s amused blue-green eyes with his and smiled as his gaze ran over the delicate features liberally covered in freckles. He brushed a stray lock of red hair away from her eyes and back behind her ears.

‘Why don’t I get you some coffee?’ Caitlin suggested.

Hawke sighed. ‘Good idea.’ He kept hold of her hand as she stood and made the offer to the others; kept hold of it until the last possible moment. His eyes watched her disappear down the corridor. When his gaze finally flickered back to Dom, the older man was grinning with amusement.

‘What?’ asked Hawke.

Dom held up both his hands in supplication as he chuckled. ‘I’m just happy you’re happy.’ He sat down opposite the boy he’d raised as his own son and smiled at him. Hawke’s marriage to Caitlin had changed the younger pilot; there was a sense of contentment and stability to Hawke that had been missing before, Dom realised.

‘I guess you two are still in honeymoon mode.’ Michael commented.

Hawke’s blue eyes flickered warningly to the spy.

Michael brushed a finger across his silver moustache. ‘Of course, if this waiting for Airwolf’s results is any indication of how you’re going to be when Caitlin’s in labour having your children, I’m telling you now that I won’t be in the waiting room with you.’ He said dryly.

Dom started laughing as Hawke glared at Michael.

‘Funny, Michael.’ Hawke muttered crossing his arms across his chest.

The spy’s good eye twinkled irrepressively. ‘Are you telling me we’re not going to be hearing the patter of tiny feet soon?’

Hawke shifted on the hard plastic seat and scowled at the older man. ‘You’re worse than my mother-in-law.’

The comment sent Dom into fits of laughter again.

‘Angelina wants to know.’ Michael said defensively. His ten year old daughter was the apple of his eye and had acted as flower-girl at the wedding.

‘Sure.’ Hawke said. ‘Angelina wants to know. She’s ten.’

‘They’ve just done reproduction in her biology class.’ Michael explained.

‘Isn’t she a little young for that?’ Hawke asked trying to divert the topic.

Michael shrugged. Angelina was extremely smart and taking classes ahead of her age group. He smiled knowingly at Hawke. ‘You still haven’t answered the question.’

‘You know I’m kinda interested in hearing the answer myself.’ Dom admitted.

Hawke shot the older pilot a dirty look before he caved under the combined pressure from both men. He sighed. ‘We thought we’d spend some time just the two of us before we add kids to the equation.’ Hawke viewed the differing reactions on both men with a well-hidden amusement.

Michael was relieved. Hawke guessed the spy had been concerned that if Caitlin were pregnant it would curtail her Airwolf activities and probably he would prefer to have the crew intact for a while longer.

Dom had openly sighed in disappointment. Hawke guessed that it wasn’t a surprise to the older man that the couple were going to wait but that Dom had hoped to be able to fuss over a surrogate grandchild sooner rather than later.

Dom frowned at Hawke. ‘You’re not waiting until you’ve found your brother, are you?’

Hawke wasn’t surprised at the question; he’d put a lot of his life on hold with the search for his brother. ‘No.’ The answer was short and sincere. ‘Like I said, Dom, we just want to spend sometime together.’

Dom nodded in acknowledgement. He fidgeted for a moment. ‘I can’t believe you rebuilt this place.’ He said to Michael and gestured at the building around them. ‘I thought it would be the last place on earth you’d want to be.’

Michael looked around at the structure and shrugged. ‘I wasn’t going to let someone like Moffett drive me away from Red Star.’ Airwolf’s creator had destroyed the FIRM’s Airwolf command centre when he’d stolen the machine but they’d slowly rebuilt it. Michael was currently using it as the base for his new project; the design and build of a new generation of Airwolf helicopter.

Hawke nodded at Michael. He could understand the sentiment. ‘How’s your leg?’

‘Holding up.’ Michael said shortly. The original injury had been sustained during Moffett’s attack but it had been injured again on a mission to retrieve his ex-wife from a scientific research project in the Antarctic. He knew from painful experience that it was going to take weeks of therapy to achieve the same amount of motion he’d had before his surgery.

Hawke smiled as Caitlin rejoined them. She handed him one cup of coffee and handed the other one to Dom who thanked her with a smile.

‘Any news?’ She asked.

Hawke shook his head and blew on the hot black liquid before he took a scalding sip. ‘No.’ His hand slipped around hers again.

Caitlin leaned into him as her eyes wandered to the closed door. ‘What is taking so long?’

‘I have no idea.’ Michael admitted. He tapped his ever present cane on the linoleum floor. ‘Maybe they’re rerunning…’ He broke off as the door opened and Karen Hansen stepped out.

If Hawke hadn’t been so intent on hearing the results of the tests he would have marvelled anew at the change in Karen since his initial experience of her on the original Airwolf project back in the early Eighties. Gone was the dumpy geek and in her place stood an independent handsome woman in her late thirties with her dark red hair cut into a sharp, medium length bob that just missed her shoulders and bright hazel eyes that were no longer hidden behind thick brown glasses. An ubiquitous white lab coat covered the fashionable but comfortable clothes and her hands were pressed deep into its pockets.

‘Well?’ demanded Hawke rising to his feet.

Karen shrugged. ‘You’d better come through.’

Hawke exchanged worried looks with Dom and Caitlin before he led the way into the lab. Airwolf was parked by the large outside doors; cables ran from her open doors out to the consoles on the other side.

Hawke’s stomach churned uneasily at the sight. ‘What’s all this?’ He said waving at the sight.

‘I’m still running some tests.’ Karen explained. Her hand patted his arm comfortingly as she took a seat. ‘Don’t worry. She’s fine.’

Hawke leaned against a console and folded his arms. Caitlin flanked him on one side; Dom on the other. The older pilot had brought Michael’s chair to a halt next to them and when Karen spun around on the chair to face them, the sight of all four lined up behind her and looking at her expectantly gave her a small start.

‘OK,’ she began hurriedly, ‘the good news is that it isn’t a logic bomb.’

‘So, this isn’t Moffett trying to exact some kind of revenge like last time?’ Michael checked. Moffett had left a logic bomb in Airwolf’s programming designed to destroy his creation if he had lost control of her. It had been a simple enough device; a password not entered over a period of time would prompt Airwolf to self-initiate her autopilot and weaponry in order to destroy Moffett’s designated target; the FIRM. They had almost lost Airwolf before they had been able to purge the code from her programming.

‘I think Moffett was under the delusion that his original logic bomb was too brilliant to ever be disabled.’ Karen said dryly. ‘As far as I can tell, he only left the one we dealt with a couple of years ago.’

Michael nodded. ‘So what’s this if it’s not a logic bomb?’

‘This…is a little more complicated to explain.’ Karen admitted. She clasped her hands together. ‘Let’s start with the logical explanation.’

‘Yes, let’s.’ Michael agreed dryly.

‘The first incident where we think there may have been independent thinking was during a mission to rescue Zeus, correct?’ Karen continued.

‘Correct.’ Hawke said.

‘Airwolf’s computer had accessed an external security system which the in-flight engineer was using to provide access in and out of buildings?’

‘That’s right.’ Dom said. ‘But there was no one at the engineer’s console when String inputted that code to get into the basement.’

Karen nodded. ‘Well, her logs basically show that she saw the code register, recognised it as the Airwolf security code and determined that she should open the door.’ She sighed. ‘Based on the logs, I would agree with the original assessment that she was just extrapolating the external system as an extension of her own programming.’

‘See?’ Dom slapped Hawke’s shoulder. ‘What did I tell you?’

‘What about the next incident?’ Hawke asked.

‘Her recognition of the SOS in Morse code and pinpointing of your and Caitlin’s position?’ Karen shook her head. ‘Same thing. Airwolf constantly initiates a variety of scans as part of her programming. She identified the SOS just like she identifies an approaching aircraft. There was nothing personal in it. If the bombers had sent the SOS, she would have identified that communication and pinpointed their location.’

‘OK, but how do you explain her shooting down a chopper?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Or taking off on her own without a pilot?’

Karen sighed. ‘Now those are the more interesting questions.’ She picked up a remote and hit the top button. A portable projection monitor slid down from the ceiling and Karen transferred the output from her computer to the larger screen.

‘What are we looking at?’ Hawke asked perplexed.

‘Code.’ Karen stated succinctly. She stood up and walked over to the monitor before pointing at a couple of lines on the screen. ‘I think this explains it.’

‘And for those of us who don’t read computer code?’ asked Hawke impatiently.

‘According to the logs, these were the codes activated just prior to both actions.’ Karen said. ‘I think these two lines are a self-preservation command.’

‘A self-preservation command?’ Dom frowned and gestured at the computer programmer. ‘You mean, if Airwolf was in danger of being destroyed, she has a command that…that means…’

‘That means she can act to save herself.’ Karen completed. ‘Yes although this code doesn’t say that exactly.’

Michael rubbed his moustache. ‘I didn’t realise you had programmed such a command.’

‘I didn’t.’ Karen sighed and slumped back into her chair. ‘When I recreated Airwolf’s programme after the logic bomb, I used a copy of the original programming that I’d taken as back-up when I had tried to fix her. Obviously I deleted out the redundant code where Moffett had hidden the logic bomb but otherwise it was the same code.’

‘So this is part of her original programme?’ Caitlin clarified.

Karen nodded. ‘And Moffett didn’t leave a manual.’ She gestured at the screen. ‘I remember he used to claim that Airwolf was more of a living creature than any of us realised. I used to think he was just referring to the educational module he programmed her with.’

‘Education module?’ Caitlin asked.

‘Airwolf has the ability to record every moment of her existence, to analyse it and to improve her performance if she encounters a similar situation.’ Karen explained. ‘It enables her to keep her systems at optimal performance during flight and combat in ways that her pilot and engineer are just physically not capable of doing because of the speed at which the adjustments are required.’

‘But that wasn’t what Moffett was referring to?’ Michael prompted.

‘Well as you know Robert Winchester discovered to his cost that Airwolf contains her own design as part of her programming which is another attribute of a living creature; we all contain a copy of our design within our DNA.’ Karen sighed. ‘But this…the instinct to survive is a very basic animal instinct.’

‘And Moffett gave it to Airwolf?’ Michael asked. ‘Why?’

‘I think…’ Karen sighed uncomfortable with what she was about to say and gestured at her boss. ‘I think Moffett…’ she searched for the right word, ‘seeded the ability for Airwolf to simulate artificial intelligence within her programming.’

‘But only simulate artificial intelligence?’ Michael checked. ‘You don’t think she actually is exhibiting artificial intelligence?’

‘Logically, that’s correct.’ Karen said carefully.

Michael gave a sigh of relief.

‘Then why don’t you sound convinced?’ Caitlin asked Karen.

‘Because the first time the code was executed was July last year.’ Karen said. ‘Airwolf sustained some kind of massive disruption to her systems but somehow she managed to activate this code.’ She pointed at the monitor. ‘It allowed her to effectively reboot critical systems which returned control to the pilot.’

‘My God.’ Caitlin murmured. ‘That has to have been the night we almost crashed.’

Hawke shuffled a little disturbed. He could clearly remember the events of that night; they had just shot down a helicopter when a secondary explosion from within the burning debris of the helicopter had sent Airwolf’s systems haywire; they’d been in a dive and hadn’t been able to pull up…until the very last moment when her systems had suddenly responded as if by magic. He gestured at the helicopter. ‘So do you think she’s acting independently or not?’ He asked bluntly.

‘Logically, all of the instances you’ve detailed can be explained by her programming.’ Karen admitted.

‘So no artificial intelligence,’ murmured Michael unsure whether he was pleased or not.

‘Great.’ Hawke shoved away from the console he was leaning on. ‘Then I’m taking her home.’

‘I’d like to run some more tests…’ Karen said trying to halt his march down the ramp to the helicopter.

‘What for?’ Hawke asked.

‘To see why she initiated the code that first time.’ Karen said. ‘I haven’t had a chance to review the logs.’

‘We were about to crash.’ Hawke stated with exaggerated patience. ‘It required a survival response; Airwolf acted on this…’ he waved at the monitor, ‘this code you found. End of story.’

‘I guess that’s possible.’ Karen admitted. ‘But I’d like to confirm that.’

‘I agree with Hawke on this, Karen.’ Michael said almost smiling at the brief flicker of shock that crossed Hawke’s face. ‘You’ve identified that she is acting within her programming. There doesn’t seem to be a need for further tests. You’ve done a good job.’

Karen sighed at the note of finality in Michael’s voice and started to assist the Airwolf team as they unhooked the cables from Airwolf’s systems and readied the helicopter for departure.

‘You need a lift somewhere?’ Hawke zipped the lilac uniform and turned to Michael.

The spy shook his head. ‘I have some things to do here. I’ll catch up with you later.’

Hawke nodded and said his goodbyes before he climbed into the cockpit where Dom and Caitlin were already settled into their usual places. Karen pressed the button to open the hangar doors before she went to stand by Michael to watch Airwolf taxi out and depart.

Michael waited until the hangar doors were shut before he turned to her. ‘You took copies of Airwolf’s logs?’

Karen blinked in surprise at the question. ‘Yes sir.’

‘Then continue with your analysis.’ Michael said.

‘But I thought…’

‘Moffett put that code in Airwolf for a reason. I want to make sure we know exactly what it’s meant to do.’ Michael said firmly as he motioned for one of his aides to collect him.

‘Yes sir.’ Karen nodded. When she was alone she sat down heavily in the office chair and frowned at the monitor and the lines of code written there. ‘OK, Charles Henry Moffett’ she murmured, ‘what are you planning this time?’

Hawke hit the turbos and sent Airwolf flying back towards the Valley of the Gods and her Lair; he settled back in his seat to enjoy the flight. Her last mission had left her needing multiple repairs and apart from the brief trip to the Red Star complex, it was the first time he’d been able to take Airwolf flying without wondering whether one or more of her systems would crash. Airwolf streamed forward through the blue sky and Hawke let his own mind drift as he considered the results of the tests.

‘OK,’ Caitlin said shifting awkwardly with the heavy helmet to glance across at him, ‘what’s wrong?’

His blue eyes flickered to hers. It seemed to him that she was getting better at reading him every day.

‘String,’ Dom chimed in from the back where he was sat at the engineer’s console, ‘you heard Karen. Airwolf’s just acting on her programming.’

‘Maybe.’ Hawke allowed.

Dom rolled his eyes heavenward. ‘There is no maybe.’ He chuckled. ‘Believe me I wish there was.’ He smoothed a hand over his console. ‘I kinda liked the idea of her having artificial intelligence.’

Hawke glanced over his shoulder at the older man. ‘I’m not saying that I think she’s alive.’

‘Then what are you saying?’ Caitlin asked as he turned back to the front. ‘I thought you’d be pleased at the results.’

‘I am.’ Hawke said a little defensively. He sighed. ‘I just can’t help wondering why Moffett give her the code in the first place.’ His words were coated with the distrust he’d always had for Airwolf’s creator.

‘I don’t know,’ Dom said firmly, ‘and I don’t care.’ He harrumphed. ‘All I know is that little itty-bitty piece of code has saved our lives three times now.’ He gestured at Hawke. ‘You should just be grateful.’

Hawke sighed again. ‘I guess you’re right but I think we should still keep an eye on her.’

‘You really think Moffett had an ulterior purpose in writing a self-preservation code?’ Caitlin asked.

‘I think Moffett had an ulterior motive for everything.’ Hawke stated bluntly.

‘Well, I guess keeping an eye on our baby wouldn’t hurt huh?’ Dom said finally.

Caitlin nodded. ‘Copy that.’

Hawke felt some of the tension ease out of his shoulders and he glanced over the cockpit at his wife to see her smiling back at him.

‘You know,’ Caitlin said, ‘I’m surprised Michael didn’t insist we stay for more tests.’

Hawke shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if he had Karen reviewing the copies of the logs.’

‘Now why would he do that?’ Dom asked.

‘Because he doesn’t trust Moffett either.’ Hawke said.

‘I still can’t believe they rebuilt that place.’ Dom said. ‘That plaque in the reception area…’ The small gold rectangle pinned to the wall had paid tribute to the people who had lost their lives in Moffett’s attack on the building.

‘Yeah,’ agreed Hawke. He’d recognised some of the names on the list; people had worked with when he’d been part of the Airwolf project.

‘I guess that’s why Michael kept our visit quiet.’ Caitlin said. They’d moved in and out of the Red Star complex under stealth mode. ‘Having Airwolf back…it probably would have brought up some bad memories for a lot of people.’

Hawke nodded. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they get the new chopper built.’

‘How far along did Michael say they were?’

‘Apparently the frame is done and they’re working on the shell.’ Hawke commented. ‘At this rate, she’s going to be flight ready by the end of the summer, way ahead of schedule.’

‘I still don’t believe it.’ Dom shook his head. ‘Another Airwolf. I kinda like our baby being unique.’

‘She always will be, Dom.’ Hawke said glancing back again. ‘To us.’

Dom smiled. ‘You got that right, kid.’ He checked the monitor. ‘Coming up on the Lair. We’re all clear.’

Hawke shifted in his seat. ‘Disengage turbos; reengage rotors.’

‘Rotors reengaged.’ Dom confirmed as they came to hover over the Lair’s funnel. Hawke lowered Airwolf slowly past the rock, automatically adjusting position without checking his clearance. He landed bringing Airwolf down carefully on the new wheel prop ensuring it could hold the weight. Hawke still couldn’t decide whether he believed Dom’s tale of what had happened to the old one; Airwolf being charged by a rhinoceros seemed a little unbelievable to him.

It didn’t take them long to secure the Lair and climb into the Santini Air jeep for the drive back to Dom’s air service. Hawke’s eyes remained firmly fixed on the sight of Airwolf drenched in the last of the evening sun as they reversed out until the shadows closed in and obscured the view. Maybe he was worrying for nothing, he thought. Maybe the self-preservation code was nothing more than it seemed and maybe his old distrust of Moffett was just making him paranoid. His mind turned back to their first meeting…

Hawke glanced around the bustling reception area of the Red Star compound and wondered what the hell he’d signed up to. His hand swept through his short brown hair; he’d worn it long for his last assignment as a FIRM operative and he was still getting used to the new cut. He scowled. His last assignment as a FIRM operative…that’s what he’d promised himself and where was he? He was standing in the middle of a FIRM building waiting to begin his next assignment for them. He sighed. Dom had definitely not understood his decision; he wasn’t sure he understood it himself but a week before, he’d sat in the FIRM headquarters and watched an incredibly boring presentation except for one thing…the idea of flying a helicopter that could make mach speed. Not that he could tell Dom that was his reason for returning, he thought wryly.

He glanced up at the click of stiletto heels walking across to where he sat and got to his feet to greet the Hawaiian woman approaching him.

‘Captain Hawke.’

‘Marella.’ Hawke took the hand she offered and shook it solemnly. She was a stunning woman. Dark curly hair that fell in waves to her shoulders; dark eyes swimming with secrets; smooth café latte complexion; a slim, attractive figure…and an intelligence quotient that was probably five times his own, he concluded. Not to mention the only man he’d ever seen her pay any attention to was her boss.

‘If you’d like to follow me, Captain Hawke, Archangel is running late.’ Marella led the way into the building. She reached into a pocket and handed him a badge. ‘This is your security badge. You have Alpha clearance which means you have clearance to every security level.’

Her voice was slightly disapproving as though she had disagreed with his status. Hawke clipped the plastic onto his suit jacket as Marella punched in a code to take them through a secure door.

‘Red Star has a number of buildings including this main office and laboratory complex.’ Marella said in the manner of a bored tour guide. She waved at the buildings on either side of the glass walkway they were walking through. ‘We’ve arranged temporary quarters for you in the building to your left; to your right are the hangars and flight centre. The flight control tower and test centre is approximately ten miles due east in the centre of the test range itself. You’ll want to familiarise yourself with the layout.’

‘Sure.’ Hawke said keeping pace with Marella as she strode to the building in front of them.

‘This is headquarters.’ Marella explained as she opened the door and led him down a pristine corridor. People moved past them, hurrying to whatever job they had in the complex. ‘We run three projects out of Red Star; you’ll be joining the main one.’ She led him into an elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. ‘Do you have any questions?’

‘No.’ Hawke said.

Marella sighed and they made the rest of the elevator trip in silence. Hawke followed as Marella moved out of the elevator and down a corridor. She opened the smooth wooden door and motioned him inside. It was an outer office with two desks; one was empty and one was occupied by another of Michael’s aides, a blonde who he didn’t recognise but the flirtatious smile was certainly welcoming.

Hawke raised his eyebrows at the sound of shouting coming from behind the closed inner door.

‘Why don’t you take a seat, Captain Hawke?’ Marella indicated the sofa. ‘Can I get you something to drink?’

‘No thank you.’ Hawke replied. He spun around as the inner door was yanked open.

‘I’m telling you Archangel, I cannot work under these conditions.’ A mature man with grey hair yelled over his shoulder before he took an angry step into the room and stopped at the sight of Hawke.

‘Dr Moffett…’ Michael stalked out of his office after the genius and also came to a halt.

Hawke took his measure of the man staring at him. He was a compact man who carried the little extra weight on his frame well and there was an air of absent professor in the way Moffett was dressed; beige slacks, checked shirt and a brown cardigan. But the blue eyes in the sparrow-like face were cold and they ran over Hawke insolently before settling on the younger man’s ice blue eyes. One predator recognised another.

It was instant and mutual antipathy.

‘And who’s this?’ Moffett asked in his clipped cultured accent when Hawke didn’t speak.

‘Allow me to introduce Stringfellow Hawke.’ Michael said. ‘Hawke, this is Dr Charles Henry Moffett, the designer of Airwolf.’ He noticed that neither man offered their hand to the other. ‘Hawke will be leading the flight test team.’

‘Leading?’ Moffett raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought that decision was still to be made.’

‘It’s been made.’ Michael stated firmly and folded his arms over the tight white suit he wore.

Moffett glared at the spy before he turned and swept out of the room. Michael watched him go torn between frustration and amusement.

He held out his hand to Hawke. ‘Welcome to the Airwolf project.’

Hawke shook Michael’s hand slowly.

‘Come on in.’ Michael ushered Hawke into the inner office and closed the door. He waved Hawke into a chair. ‘Would you like a drink?’

‘No. Thank you.’ Hawke declined.

Michael poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat down in the white leather chair behind the antique desk. ‘You find the place alright?’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke said. ‘It’s…impressive.’ He added when he realised he was meant to say something more.

Michael hid his smile by brushing a finger over his moustache. ‘Well, Marella will take you over to the flight centre where you’ll have your main briefing shortly. I just wanted to say hello and welcome you here first.’ He rose to his feet.

Hawke stood up too recognising the dismissal. They shook hands again and Hawke made his way to the door. He hesitated with his hand on the door handle and turned back to the spy.

‘Archangel…’

‘Yes?’ Michael pushed his glasses up his nose and regarded the other man with some surprise.

‘Moffett…’ Hawke straightened his shoulders. ‘Don’t trust him.’ He opened the door without waiting for a reply and left the office…

‘Earth to Hawke.’ Caitlin’s teasing drawl had Hawke blinking and he focused on his surroundings. They were coming into land at the cabin. He couldn’t remember making the transition from the jeep to the chopper. He rubbed the back of his neck in chagrin.

‘Sorry.’

‘You’ve seemed like you’ve been in a different world since we left the Lair.’ Caitlin murmured as she landed the chopper and pulled off her headset.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke sighed and reached over to cup her cheek. ‘I was thinking about Moffett.’

She leaned into the palm of his hand. ‘This thing with Airwolf and the code really has you worried huh?’

Hawke shrugged. ‘A little.’ He admitted.

‘We’ll work it out.’ Caitlin said.

He warmed at the reassurance in her eyes. ‘Have I told you today how wonderful you are, Mrs Hawke?’

Caitlin smiled; she loved the sound of her married name. ‘You can tell me again.’

He reached over and kissed her. Michael was right, he thought; they were still in honeymoon mode. ‘Come on. Let’s get inside.’

—

Hawke zipped up the flight suit and tugged at the close fitting green. Why did all these flight suits have to be green? He grumbled to himself. Why couldn’t they make them a different colour for a change? His fingers brushed the hand-stitched name above his left pocket. ‘Capt. Stringfellow Hawke.’

‘Hey, Hawke.’ Adam Fellows slapped the pilot on the shoulder. ‘You ready to go meet our new bird?’

‘Sure.’ Hawke slammed the door shut on the locker and turned to smile at his African-American co-pilot.

‘Gee, Hawke.’ James Byrne, the final member of the crew, grinned at him. ‘You could sound, you know, like the teensiest bit excited.’

‘It’s a chopper.’ Hawke said.

‘It’s the world’s most technologically advanced, only mach capable helicopter.’ Byrne said. ‘And we’re going to get to fly her.’

Hawke and Fellows exchanged a shared look of cynicism. Both of them were ‘Nam veterans with combat experience; Byrne was a MIT graduate with degrees in aeronautical engineering and computers. He was brilliant but young and untried.

‘Kids.’ Fellows hooked an arm around Byrne’s head and rubbed his fist in the pristinely arranged hair, mussing it up. ‘So idealistic.’

‘Hey, watch the hair.’ Byrne said his hands already smoothing the blonde locks back into place.

Hawke shook his head as the two of them continued to banter as they all left the locker room and made their way over to the main hangar. They slowed seeing the group standing waiting for them; Archangel, Marella, another couple of the pilots who’d tried out and Moffett.

‘Damn.’ Fellows muttered. ‘Why’d Moffett have to turn up?’

‘He is the designer, Adam.’ Byrne said.

‘He’s a snake.’ Fellows said. ‘And he wants our jobs. I heard he called the Committee and asked them to replace us with him, Gordon and Sinclair.’

‘Those guys couldn’t even hold a candle to us.’ Byrne said.

‘Well, we’ll just have to prove that, won’t we?’ said Hawke quietly. They came to a full stop.

‘Hawke. Byrne. Fellows.’ Their names rolled off Michael’s tongue with a hint of the slow Southern twang that had coloured his childhood accent. ‘Are you ready?’

Hawke’s eyes slid coldly to Moffett before returning to Michael. ‘We’re ready.’

Michael led the way inside the hangar. It was in darkness and Michael waited to call for the lights until the Airwolf test crew was lined up in front of the shadowy outline of the helicopter. The sudden brightness had them all blinking but Hawke recovered first.

Instant recognition.

The picture Michael had showed him; the designs he’d reviewed…all faded into meaningless chatter; this was the real thing and he wanted her badly…

He walked around her, examined her from every angle; sleek, sharp and deadly. The black and white was more reminiscent of a killer whale than a wolf but it worked. He laid a hand on her nose and slid it over the black shining armour as he moved around to the cockpit door. The hiss of the depressurisation when he opened it startled everyone but him. He climbed in and settled into the seat, checked the arm reach to the consoles and the cyclic. It was a perfect fit. He was barely aware of Byrne and Fellows taking their places.

‘Man, would you look at this!’ Byrne rubbed his hands as he sat at the in-flight data centre and the consoles lit up automatically.

‘This is something.’ Fellows said awestruck.

‘So what are we waiting for?’ Byrne asked.

Hawke reached for the helmet and grimaced at the heavy football style. ‘Nothing.’ He said in answer to Byrne’s question. ‘Let’s start her up.’ He punched the button and heard the reassuring sound of her rotors powering up and the engines starting. He taxied out to open space and as he passed Moffett he glimpsed the unbridled hatred on the other man’s face.

Hawke manoeuvred forward; he was smiling when he grasped the cyclic and made her airborne; he was grinning when he accelerated and sent her flying; and then it happened…something intangible clicked between him and Airwolf, and she wasn’t Moffett’s any longer…she was his…

Hawke’s eyes snapped open. It took a moment for him to reorient himself. The familiar ceiling calmed his racing heartbeat; he was in bed at the cabin. Caitlin shifted beside him and he carefully eased away from her to slip from the bed. Tet, his dog, raised his head from where he was lying in front of the bedroom hearth curious at the movement. Hawke pulled on a pair of jeans and padded his way downstairs. He headed for the kitchen and gulped down a glass of water. He refilled the glass and raised it to his forehead and let the cool beads soothe the ache there.

He glanced back up the stairs and frowned. He was too wired from his dream to sleep. He could wake Caitlin…Hawke sighed. As much as he was tempted to wake her, Caitlin didn’t need her sleep disturbed just to deal with a neurotic husband. He stoked the living room fire back to a cheerful blaze and sat down on a cushion by the hearth to watch the flames. He wasn’t surprised when Tet joined him, flopping next to him and laying his head on Hawke’s lap. Hawke stroked Tet’s soft fur absently. Maybe his worry about Airwolf and the code was getting to him more than he realised, he mused, or maybe being back at Red Star had just jogged his memory.

He hadn’t thought about the early days of the Airwolf project in…in a while, he realised. Not since they had ran across James Byrne on a mission the year before. Byrne had helped save Caitlin’s life; an act of redemption the younger man had needed…

‘I cannot believe you took Airwolf.’ Michael’s anger radiated through every sinew of his tensed body, through the clenched line of his jaw and shone like a laser from the piercing blue eyes. He stabbed a finger at Hawke who was slouched in one of the office chairs, his hands folded defensively over his stomach. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’

Hawke returned the glare. ‘I was thinking I was going to catch the little…’ He bit off the swear word.

‘Well, you’ve just made a bad situation a hundred times worse.’ Michael said pacing back to his white leather chair and throwing himself into it.

‘He shot Adam…’ Hawke began.

‘And betrayed us to the KGB.’ Michael said. ‘Yes, I know and I know what a shock that was for you but Airwolf…’

‘Was the only thing that could have caught up with him.’ Hawke said forcefully. ‘If the little weasel hadn’t hacked into the computer.’

‘But he did.’ Michael stated. He sighed. ‘Moffett thinks the damage Byrne caused is going to take weeks to sort out.’

‘I’m sure he’s just loving this.’ Hawke muttered.

‘Do you blame him?’ Michael asked exasperated. ‘You know he’s wanted your position from day one and you just handed him enough ammunition to argue for your removal as lead pilot on the project particularly as it’s likely I’ll be replaced.’

Hawke flinched inwardly and his blue eyes narrowed on the other man. ‘Why?’

Michael sighed. ‘I handpicked the test team, Hawke. The Committee are not going to let me continue working on the project when I selected an escaped traitor for one position who killed another member of the team and selected a lead pilot who tried to pursue the traitor in a four billion dollar aircraft as if it was ready for battle for another.’

Hawke rubbed his chin. ‘I’m sorry, Archangel.’

Michael nodded hearing the quiet sincerity in the words. ‘Don’t worry, Hawke,’ he leaned back in the leather chair, ‘I’ll survive and I intend to come back to this project. Eventually.’ He clasped his hands. ‘I’d like you still to be here when I do return.’

Hawke shrugged not wanting the other man to see his disappointment that he might be pulled from flying Airwolf. He loved flying her; it was almost a spiritual experience for him. ‘I guess that’s up to your Committee.’ He said evenly.

Michael nodded. ‘I’ll recommend you stay on but politically that’s probably not going to count in your favour just at the moment.’ He sighed. ‘They’ll probably make you try out for the position again.’

Hawke gestured. ‘That’s not a problem.’

‘No.’ Michael agreed his eyes twinkling. ‘You can out-fly every other pilot here.’ He sighed. ‘You’d better make your way back to your quarters. I’m sure the Committee will have questions for you when they arrive.’

Hawke nodded and left the office without another word. He made his way back to the living quarters but couldn’t sit still and he eventually left the institutionalised rooms to wander over in the darkness to the hangar where Airwolf was tethered. He entered quietly and made his way to the dark form of the helicopter. He laid a hand on her flank and the hiss of hydraulics had a sudden wave of emotion sweeping through him, constricting his chest so it hurt when he breathed. Tears pressed against the back of his eyes and throat. He leaned against her and folded his arms tightly across his chest. He’d lost a good friend, two good friends that day. Fellows had been a good pilot, a solid man and Byrne…Byrne deserved shooting, thought Hawke as the anger stirred again in his breast. He’d thought he’d known the younger man but evidently he hadn’t known him at all. He bowed his head.

‘If you’re looking to take her out for another spin, you’ve got a long wait.’ Moffett’s clipped accent sounded across the hangar and Hawke happily exchanged the sadness he felt for anger.

‘It’s going to take weeks to repair the damage from your last little jaunt.’ The designer continued.

‘Stow it, Moffett.’ Hawke growled. ‘I’m not in the mood.’

‘I guess you wouldn’t be. After all, you failed to save one team member and the other is selling secrets to the KGB.’ Moffett taunted. A flame flickered into life briefly lighting Moffett’s face as he puffed on the slim cigar he held.

Hawke froze. ‘How did you know?’

‘Know what?’

‘About Byrne.’ Hawke turned to fully look at the other man. His blue eyes narrowed on Moffett’s face, half-hidden in the shadows that filled the hangar. ‘Only myself and Michael know exactly what Byrne was up to when he shot Adam.’

Moffett blew out a stream of smoke. ‘Perhaps it was a lucky guess.’

‘And maybe Byrne had help setting up that meeting with the KGB.’ Hawke deduced. He took an angry step forward.

‘And who do you think the Committee are likely to believe?’ Moffett said smoothly. ‘You? You’re the idiot who almost got their investment shot to pieces today. I’m the genius that’s going to put her together again.’

Hawke’s fists clenched and unclenched by his side. ‘If I ever find any proof that you had anything to do with helping Byrne…’

‘You’ll do what?’ Moffett laughed. ‘You really think the Committee are going to let anything happen to me? I’m the designer; pilots like you are ten a penny and as soon as Archangel flies away and you don’t have your protector anymore, you won’t be flying Airwolf.’

‘We’ll see, Moffett.’ Hawke bit out. ‘You haven’t won yet.’

‘Maybe not today,’ Moffett smiled, ‘but soon.’

Hawke thrust a finger at the older man. ‘One day, you and I are going to go head to head, Moffett, and that’s a promise.’

‘I look forward to it.’ Moffett said matching Hawke’s angry stare.

‘I wouldn’t.’ Hawke warned him and before the other man could reply, Hawke spun on his heel and marched out into the night air.

Hawke breathed in the fresh mountain air and let the wash of the cool breeze flow over him. His blue eyes scanned the moonlit lake and the dark peaks rising beyond the silvery water. An eagle cried in the distance and its haunting echo had Hawke staring into the night sky eager for a glimpse of the bird.

Michael had been right about the outcome of Byrne’s defection; the Committee had replaced Michael with another man, Ellison and they had made Hawke try out for the lead pilot position again with a number of other pilots. He’d regained his position with difficulty. Ellison had been a supporter of Moffett’s and had almost insisted that the designer be allowed to have the position he coveted so much; Ellison had been overruled by the Committee. They’d allowed the director of the Airwolf project to choose their own team once; they were not about to make that mistake a second time.

Of course, in the end, it hadn’t mattered. Hawke had stayed another year but looking back he could see that as the animosity between Moffett and he grew, it became easier for the designer to take advantage of Hawke’s temper. The designer had taken falsified test data to Ellison and claimed Hawke wasn’t doing his best to push Airwolf to her limits and Ellison, being the suck-up little jerk he was, had fallen for it. Ellison had confronted Hawke, there had been a big argument and Hawke had walked out on the project. He’d let Moffett win that battle, Hawke thought ruefully. His expression sobered…but Hawke had eventually won the war even if it had come at a huge personal cost…

Hawke swung Airwolf away from the destruction and rubble of the courtyard of the Libyan summer palace where they had retrieved Airwolf and gave Dom the instructions on how to activate the surveillance scans. It felt good to be back in the helicopter. He’d missed this, he realised, as the invisible connection between him and the machine clicked right back into place. He was damned if he was handing her right back to the FIRM…he pushed the thought aside; there was a more important task to focus on; Moffett had Gabrielle out in the Libyan desert somewhere.

His throat closed abruptly on a surge of panic. Moffett had killed the previous girl he had held hostage. It couldn’t happen to Gabrielle, it just couldn’t…he’d lost too many people, he couldn’t lose Gabrielle too…they had only just begun their relationship but the short time they’d had together already meant something to him and had the potential to mean more to him than all the other relationships in his life that had gone before. Hawke peered anxiously through the windscreen at the stretch of sand in front of him.

‘See anything?’ Hawke asked.

‘Ah nothing.’ Dom said from the engineer’s console. ‘But I ain’t sure I’m working it right either.’

Hawke spotted something in the sand. ‘Tracks.’ He murmured altering course to follow them.

‘Hey String.’ Dom laughed delighted. ‘I got it working. Yeah…oh I can see real good. Hey, I…I can see…’ his voice trailed away before he quietly murmured; ‘oh my God.’

Hawke saw why a moment later; Gabrielle was sprawled on the sand and not moving. He set Airwolf down close by and shouted for Dom to bring the cantina usually stowed in the back compartment. He ran to her, kneeling down beside her before he gently eased her into his arms.

‘Gabrielle.’

She stirred.

‘Oh easy baby it’s over.’ His blue eyes ran over her. Her dark hair hung limply around her face and her brown eyes blinked up at him in disbelief as though she couldn’t believe the reality of him. Her creamy skin was badly burned and blistered from the heat of the sun. He searched for Dom…where was the water? Her lips were dry and cracked, barely able to move as she murmured his name.

‘It’s OK,’ he said softly, ‘it’s OK. It’ll be alright.’ Desperation edged his words and he wondered who he was trying to convince her or himself. He stroked her hair and face gently.

‘The flight was booked…’ her words were barely audible and he took the cantina from Dom hurriedly.

‘I was going to go but Moffett came.’ She continued.

‘I know.’ He smoothed the cooling water over her face and her lips. ‘I understand.’

‘I wanted to see the eagle.’

‘You will.’ He hugged her to him tighter.

‘I thought about you and the eagle…all the time. All the time.’ His hand stroked down her neck as she fell silent and he suddenly realised that he couldn’t feel a pulse.

‘Gabrielle?’ He said urgently. She didn’t respond. ‘Gabrielle.’ He shook her hopelessly; she was dead. ‘No.’ His voice broke on the single word of denial. Dom laid a hand on his shoulder.

Hawke chocked back his tears, found strength momentarily in anger. ‘She promised me, dammit.’ He looked at Gabrielle and felt the anger go as abruptly as it had come. ‘She promised me.’ He repeated plaintively and gently kissed her forehead.

He raised his head and his eyes narrowed; tracks in the sand…Moffett. The anger returned. He gently laid Gabrielle back down on the sand and stood up.

‘String…’ Dom looked down at Gabrielle’s body and back at the boy he’d raised as Hawke turned to walk back to Airwolf. ‘String,’ he gestured, ‘we can’t just…just leave her.’

Hawke looked back down at Gabrielle and again at the tracks. There was no practical way to take her home and he had confidence Michael would find a way to retrieve the…the body. ‘Come on.’

Dom picked up the cantina and followed Hawke back to Airwolf. The younger man already had the engines and rotors started when Dom retook his seat.

‘What now?’ Dom asked. ‘Are we heading home?’

‘No.’ Hawke said grasping the cyclic and raising Airwolf back into the sky. He didn’t explain just started following the tracks.

‘Ah…String…I have a blip on the screen back here.’

‘Raise our radar suppressor.’ Hawke ordered.

‘Right.’ Dom looked around the console and turned the dial on the right knob; he hoped. He checked the monitor and swallowed hard as a second blip appeared. ‘I think he got one off at us.’

Hawke checked the front monitor and fired the turbos, pulling back on the stick so Airwolf climbed. The missile flew past their belly and impacted the sand below. Hawke turned Airwolf and fired at the attacking chopper. He didn’t wait for the explosion; he was intent on returning back to his previous course following the tracks.

Two more choppers joined the pursuit and they dodged another missile; Hawke shot down one, took the other one out with the chain guns. He had to fly back through a canyon to get back to the tracks; anti-aircraft missiles exploded around them.

Hawke weaved Airwolf through the gauntlet; it was all coming back to him and there was an eerie synchronicity between him and Airwolf as if she knew who and why they were hunting…they swept past the barrage as though it was meaningless and shrieked away with a howl of engines.

He was back on the trail of the tracks, back on the trail of Moffett.

Another missile headed their way. It was locked on target. Hawke fired the turbos tried to get some distance…tried to shake it…tried a counter-measure; nothing worked…Hawke focused on a ridge ahead and continued to weave over the sand dunes, still trying to confuse the missile even as he called for the hellfires over Dom’s panicked voice…

It was going to be close…

He dived…

Fired the hellfires…

The missile followed them…

He yanked Airwolf to the left…

The missile impacted behind them.

A huge black cloud of smoke plumed into the sky. Hawke ignored it; he knew where Moffett was.

Hawke swung Airwolf around and raised her in front of the stopped jeep. His fingers hovered over the trigger but he waited…he wanted Moffett to know who he was facing. Hawke’s icy calm blue eyes met Moffett’s across the stretch of sand as Airwolf’s creator climbed out of the vehicle.

Moffett aimed a gun at Airwolf. The fuel line, thought Hawke incredulous. He’s trying for a single shot to the fuel line – the only thing other than a direct missile hit that could destroy Airwolf. His gaze hardened. Fury, unmitigated fury, swept over Hawke and without another thought he hit the trigger.

The missile slammed into the jeep and exploded. Hawke kept firing; missile after missile hit the sandbank in a cacophony of explosions. Hawke kept firing although there was nothing else to fire…the trigger clicking in the deadly silent cockpit.

‘String…’ Dom began hesitantly, ‘it’s done.’

Reason returned slowly to Hawke as he registered Dom’s paternal tone and he stilled his fingers. He looked out at the burning debris in front of him and the anger that had sustained him through the flight, through the final confrontation, drained away and left only the reality of his loss. Hawke blinked back tears as they flew forward, over the smoke and fire, the carcass of Moffett’s jeep.

It was time to go home…

Hawke leaned against the bedroom doorway and looked over at his wife asleep in their bed. Caitlin was curled on her side, her hair spread out across the pillow like a copper banner. She looked so innocent asleep, he thought as he crossed the room. Her freckled features gave her a childlike air. He sat down on the bed and brushed her hair away from her face. The memory of losing Gabrielle had sent him hurrying to the side of the woman who currently occupied his life.

He’d never compared Caitlin with Gabrielle…in his heart the two women occupied very different parts of his life. He remembered Gabrielle with fondness but without the heart-wrenching grief that had once led him to hunt Moffett with a single-minded determination. He knew time was one reason for the change but Caitlin was the other; she had balanced him and filled the spaces that had been left empty with loss.

Caitlin stirred and her eyes opened sleepily. She reached out to Hawke and frowned at the icy touch of his skin. ‘You’re cold.’ She complained.

‘Went outside for some air.’ Hawke said.

‘Want to talk about it?’ She asked brushing back the errant lock of hair that had fallen in his eyes.

‘No.’ Hawke kissed her before he stripped the jeans off and climbed back under the covers. He pulled her into his arms tightly and she cuddled closer seeming to realise that he needed more than just the physical warmth of holding her. He felt her hand stroking over his hair and fell asleep.

The sun was streaming through the bedroom window when Hawke awoke. He sighed and sat up. He was alone. He rubbed a hand over his face before he flung the cover back and staggered into the bathroom. The hot shower revived him and he dressed quickly. He found Caitlin sat on the bench on the porch with Tet by her feet. She was reading; one hand held the book and the other a large mug of coffee.

‘Hey.’ He sat down beside her and kissed her before he nudged her until she was tucked under his arm. She set the book and mug aside.

‘You want to talk about what was bothering you last night?’ Caitlin asked.

Hawke shrugged and knew with a glance at her serious blue-green eyes that she wouldn’t accept another evasion. ‘This thing with Airwolf and being at Red Star stirred up a lot of old memories for me.’

Caitlin searched his expression for a long moment. ‘About Moffett.’

‘About Moffett.’ He sighed. ‘About how it began.’ He paused. ‘How it ended.’

She stilled. ‘We’ve never talked about that before.’ Her information about the recovery of Airwolf from Libya and the death of Hawke’s lover Gabrielle had come from Dom. She believed that he’d only told her to make sure she never raised or stumbled into the subject with Hawke.

‘The way I hunted Moffett down and killed him,’ Hawke said finally, ‘it’s not something I’m proud of Cait.’

‘Because he killed…’ She bit her lip. ‘When Dom told me what had happened, he said that…that it was because of what happened to Gabrielle that you went after Moffett.’ She hated the jealousy that knotted her stomach and sharpened her words.

Hawke sighed and stroked her hair back over her shoulder and met her eyes calmly. ‘What he did to Gabrielle was part of it.’ He admitted. ‘He tied her up and staked her out in the desert without water or protection from the sun; raped her, tortured her. She had a slow agonising death, Cait. Nobody deserves that.’ His voice rang with remembered anger. ‘But I realised last night that Gabrielle’s death wasn’t the only reason why I went after him.’

‘What do you mean?’ She asked puzzled.

‘From the moment we met, Moffett and I competed for Airwolf. He created her but I flew her. When he got me off the programme he won one of our battles for her.’ Hawke sighed. ‘When I recovered Airwolf from Moffett…’

‘It felt like you won the war.’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke frowned. ‘I think that’s why I went a little crazy when we discovered Gabrielle.’ He gestured. ‘I felt guilty that I’d gotten what I wanted and she…she’d had to die to make it happen and it was a shock.’ His eyes never left Caitlin’s; he wanted her to see the truth in his. ‘She’d promised me she wouldn’t die…’

‘And then she did.’ Caitlin concluded softly.

‘And Moffett was responsible.’ Hawke shook his head again. ‘So I had the excuse I needed to go after him.’ For the first time, he looked away from her not wanting to see the disappointment or worse in her eyes at what he’d done. ‘Even if Gabrielle had lived I’m not sure the ending would have turned out different.’

‘Maybe not.’ Caitlin caught his chin with her hand and nudged his gaze back to hers. ‘But the world’s a better place without him, String. You’re still one of the good guys.’

Her use of the softer derivative of his name brought a fleeting smile to his lips; the look of absolute faith in him soothed him. ‘I’m not sorry I killed him,’ he said finally, ‘but like I said it’s never going to be something that I’m proud of, Cait.’

‘Maybe that’s the way it should be.’ She commented. ‘Maybe it’s about time you made your peace with that.’

He kissed her. ‘Maybe.’ He settled them back on the porch bench.

‘I guess if this code thing is down to Moffett you’re going to feel like you’re back competing with him over who really has Airwolf.’ Caitlin commented.

Hawke hugged her closer as he realised she’d pinpointed the reason for his unease. The last time with the logic bomb, it had felt like Moffett was reaching out from the beyond the grave to claim her.

‘Karen will figure it out.’ Caitlin reassured him.

‘Yeah.’

She twisted her fingers together and sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘What for?’ Hawke asked surprised at the apology.

‘For being jealous…about your relationship with Gabrielle.’ Caitlin admitted blushing. ‘I guess some part of me has always worried a little from what Dom said that she was the love of your life…’

‘Hey. You’re not the one who should apologise, and Cait,’ Hawke framed her face with his hands. ‘You are my life.’ He kissed her.

‘Have I told you recently that I love you, Stringfellow Hawke?’ Caitlin said when they finally broke apart.

Hawke smiled and stood up. He offered her a hand and when she took it, tugged her off the bench and into his arms. ‘Why don’t you show me, Mrs Hawke?’

‘Show you, huh?’ Caitlin’s smile widened as she hooked her arms around his neck. ‘You have some ideas about how I might do that?’

‘Some,’ agreed Hawke as he dipped his head to kiss her again. A sound caught his attention and he groaned.

‘Chopper?’ asked Caitlin torn between frustration at the interruption and amusement at the disgruntlement on her husband’s face.

‘Phone.’ Hawke scowled. The faint sound of the incessant beeping drifted from the open cabin door.

‘We’d better answer it.’ Caitlin kissed him lightly and headed inside.

Hawke leaned on the porch railing as he waited for her to pick up the FIRM satellite phone. Apart from the radio it was the only communication device they had at the cabin. He didn’t have to wait long before Caitlin rejoined him. She handed him his jacket.

‘That was Michael. He needs to see us right away.’

Hawke nodded. ‘Karen found something?’

‘He wouldn’t say.’ Caitlin sighed. ‘He’s contacting Dom. I told him to tell Dom we’d pick him up on the way to the FIRM.’

Hawke sighed and took her hand as they headed to the chopper.—

‘Well?’

Michael adjusted his glasses at Hawke’s terse question and met the pilot’s hard blue stare with one of his own.

Hawke gestured impatiently. ‘Did Karen find something?’

‘Yes but it’s not what you think.’ Michael leaned back in his white leather chair and gestured at all three of the Airwolf crew to take a seat. He nodded at Marella to bring up the details on the computer monitor that filled one of his office walls. ‘I have a mission for you.’

Hawke subsided unhappily into a chair. ‘A mission?’

‘Karen reviewed the logs of the July incident.’ Michael confirmed and sighed at the knowing look Hawke gave him. ‘She found something interesting.’

‘About Airwolf?’ Dom asked rolling his sleeves up.

‘About the explosion that caused Airwolf’s systems to go haywire.’ Michael corrected him.

‘What about it?’ Hawke asked slumping back, his interest waning since it had been established that Airwolf wasn’t the subject.

Michael gestured at Marella.

The Hawaiian woman cleared her throat. ‘As we know, on the night in question, Airwolf was assisting with entrapping John Castle and his security advisor, Jackson Shaw who were trying an insurance scam where they would claim four of the five jade artefacts they had supposedly recovered had been destroyed or stolen by a terrorist group when in fact they had only ever recovered one of the jade artefacts in question.’

Hawke tensed. Until that night, he’d considered Shaw a friend having worked with the former FIRM operative. ‘We know all this, Marella.’ He pointed out.

Marella glared at him and clicked a button. ‘This is the film from Airwolf’s video surveillance the night of the incident in question.’

An ordinary chopper flying in the night sky with the city lights of LA reflecting off the cockpit appeared on the computer monitor. A missile streamed into view and hit the chopper; it exploded in a ball of fire and smoke. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the burning cockpit; the film shook and filled with white static.

Marella rewound the tape and froze the image at the point where the bright light had appeared. ‘This was a secondary explosion that caused Airwolf’s systems to go haywire.’

Michael gestured at the screen. ‘At the time we figured that this was an electro-magnetic type of bomb that Shaw had acquired and had set off in the split second as your missile hit.’

‘Where’s this going?’ Hawke asked impatiently.

Michael glared at him. ‘Karen was reviewing the logs and she realised that Airwolf had performed a usual scan of the helicopter for weapons…’ he paused, ‘apart from the chain guns he’d fitted, Shaw had no other weapons on board.’

‘So are you saying…’ Dom gestured as he searched for a suitable deduction and threw his hands up, ‘what are you saying?’

‘Karen established in the logs that the only other foreign item Airwolf identified within the cockpit was the artefact Shaw had; the Incan jade figure of a wolf.’ Marella said. ‘She also discovered Airwolf had automatically calculated the ignition point of the explosion and that it matched with where Airwolf had located the jade during her initial scan.’

‘You think the secondary explosion was caused by the artefact blowing up?’ Caitlin surmised her voice rising with surprise. ‘I wouldn’t have thought jade would have that kind of explosive property especially to affect electronic systems.’

‘It doesn’t.’ Michael agreed.

‘We reviewed the report from the independent laboratory where Castle had the jade wolf independently verified. It makes for some interesting reading.’ Marella said. ‘They established that the jade was the surround to an oblong piece of rock about this big,’ she measured a length of about three inches with her fingers, ‘the lab was unable to determine more about the rock because Castle took back the artefact.’

‘So it was this rock that caused the explosion?’ Dom said doubtfully.

‘That’s our conclusion.’ Michael said.

‘So what does this have to do with an Airwolf mission?’ Hawke asked.

‘The legend around the artefacts claims that there are five in total.’ Michael said. ‘Castle and Shaw only found one; the wolf.’ His good eye met Hawke’s. ‘We need you to find the other four.’

Hawke scowled and ignored Caitlin’s hopeful expression; she loved South American mythology and he knew the mission would appeal to her. ‘I’m not Indiana Jones, Michael.’

‘If each of the artefacts is set up in a similar way then potentially there are four objects out there that are capable of being exploded and causing massive disruption to electronic systems.’ Michael stabbed a finger at Hawke. ‘I don’t need to tell you what could happen if they fell into the wrong hands.’

‘These artefacts have been lost for thousands of years, Michael.’ Hawke pointed out. ‘Don’t you think they’re pretty safe?’

‘I agree.’ Dom said. ‘I think we should leave them where they are. Besides, how are we supposed to even find them?’

‘Airwolf has sophisticated surveillance technology not usually available to your average treasure hunter.’ Michael said.

‘As much as I hate to say it,’ said Caitlin trying to hide her disappointment, ‘the guys are right. From the report of Castle’s expedition he followed the main clue to the artefacts but it led to just the wolf. The clues he said led them to the others were made up. We have nothing to go on.’

‘Actually we have more than you think.’ Michael nodded again at Marella.

She punched another button and the photo of a grave appeared complete with skeleton. ‘In the original expedition Castle found this grave of a disbeliever buried close to the temple where the jade wolf was discovered.’

‘Castle dismissed the grave as not being important but a couple of the men took photos.’ Michael passed a folder to Hawke who handed it to Caitlin.

She took it eagerly and stared at the photos of the grave with a morbid fascination. ‘There’s a picture on the wall of the grave.’ She said.

‘We think they buried him alive and he scratched the painting using his own blood.’ Michael said.

Dom pulled a disgusted face. ‘Nice.’

‘We also think it could be a clue to where another one of the artefacts is buried.’ Michael continued ignoring Dom.

‘Michael,’ Caitlin said peering at the photo, ‘you can’t even make out what this picture is.’

‘That’s why you need to go to the grave itself.’ Michael said. ‘Take the search from there.’

‘And then what?’ Hawke asked. ‘Apart from Cait, we’re not exactly knowledgeable about these things.’

‘And I’m hardly an expert.’ Caitlin admitted.

‘Which is why I’ve requested Professor Simon Armitage join us. He’s waiting outside.’ Michael said smoothly. ‘He can accompany you and provide you with the expertise you need to find the artefacts.’

‘Simon Armitage?’ Caitlin’s face lit up. ‘He’s one of the world’s leading experts on South American mythology. I’ve read all his books.’

Hawke squelched the bubble of jealousy at the open adoration in Caitlin’s voice; for all he knew the guy was in his sixties with a beer gut.

‘Why don’t you show the professor in, Marella?’ Michael suggested.

The Airwolf crew turned to face the office door as Marella walked over and ushered in the waiting man.

Hawke frowned; Armitage was a dark-haired man in his early forties with a tanned, lined face and dark green eyes that shone with intelligence. He was slim built and the hand that shook Hawke’s had quite a grip. He was dressed casually; khaki trousers, a cotton shirt and a battered leather jacket that looked like it had seen better days.

‘I’m very pleased to meet you.’ The English accent took Hawke by surprise.

‘Likewise.’ Hawke muttered.

‘It’s a real pleasure to meet you.’ Caitlin said offering her hand. ‘I’m a big fan.’

‘Really?’ Armitage looked delighted taking her hand in both of his. ‘And here I thought it was just my students who bought my books.’ He winked at her. ‘And then only because I have it as required reading.’

Dom chuckled and Armitage finally relinquished Caitlin’s hand to shake the older pilot’s. ‘You must be Mr Santini. Archangel described you perfectly.’

‘Oh?’ Dom sent a questioning look to Michael who avoided his eyes.

‘Shall we move on?’ The spy said smoothly. ‘Professor Armitage has agreed to provide the expertise you need to carry out your mission in exchange for being able to study the artefacts once they are recovered. He’s aware of the potential explosive elements we may find within the artefacts and the reason why we would want to recover them.’ He looked at Hawke. ‘I think that covers your concerns?’

Hawke nodded slowly. ‘OK, Michael. We’ll go take a look but if we can’t find them quickly, I’m not spending weeks in the middle of a South American jungle.’

‘Fair enough.’ Michael concurred.

Hawke turned to Armitage. ‘How quickly can you leave?’

‘Whenever you’re ready.’ Armitage said.

Hawke sighed and glanced back at Michael. ‘We’ll pick up at the usual spot in two hours and we’ll need a fuel pick-up.’

Michael nodded. ‘Marella will drive the professor out there and make the arrangements.’

Hawke stood up and there was a flurry of goodbyes before they headed out. It was a hectic two hours as they gathered supplies, did a full pre-flight check and organised leaving Santini Air in the capable hands of Dom’s niece, Jo. They just made the two hour rendezvous and picked up an awestruck Armitage. They stowed the books and baggage he’d brought as he changed into an Airwolf uniform before climbing aboard. They were soon back in the air and flying at mach speed.

‘This is incredible,’ the professor babbled, ‘I mean Archangel explained but still…this is incredible.’ He was sat on the jump seat next to Dom.

Hawke and Caitlin were sat in the front. They would take turns at flying Airwolf on the long journey to their first destination; the abandoned grave.

‘How fast did you say she could go?’ asked Armitage.

‘Almost mach two,’ Dom said cheerily, ‘but that’s pushing her to the limits.’

‘Incredible.’ Armitage murmured. He sat back to peek over Dom’s shoulder at the computer monitor which was tracking their progress down the Pacific coastline. He peppered Dom with questions for most of the journey and Hawke quietly thanked God that Armitage seemed to realise that he wouldn’t have had the patience Dom was exhibiting.

Dom cleared his throat and checked the coordinates. ‘We’re almost there, String.’

Hawke eased up on the speed. ‘Prepare to reengage rotors.’

‘Rotors reengaged.’ Dom confirmed.

Hawke hovered over the small clearing in front of the abandoned temple and scowled. There was jungle in every direction. He lowered Airwolf carefully. They all took a moment to remove their helmets and stretch.

‘Wow.’ Caitlin’s eyes widened at the complicated pyramid structure in front of them with a large statue of a wolf guarding the entrance.

‘Indeed.’ Armitage leaned on the back of her seat and gestured over her shoulder through the windscreen. ‘At one time all that stone would have been covered with gold and jewels. There would have been golden statues of the Gods by the door and…’

‘We should make camp for the night.’ Hawke said interrupting Armitage’s flow.

‘Well,’ Armitage grinned seemingly oblivious to Hawke’s annoyance at him, ‘we still have some daylight left perhaps I could go and find the grave.’

‘In the morning, professor.’ Hawke said firmly. He pointed at the sky which was just visible beyond the tree canopy. ‘Night’s closing in and it has a tendency to be real quick in these places.’

‘You’re right, of course.’ Armitage said. ‘I’m just so excited.’

Hawke was barely able to suppress the urge to roll his eyes and settled for climbing out of Airwolf instead.

Armitage was an experienced camper and Hawke was impressed with how quickly the other man helped him set up hammocks, which they covered with mosquito nets, to the nearby trees as Dom and Caitlin built a campfire and started cooking a meal. They all settled around the fire after their makeshift dinner.

‘Professor Armitage…’ Caitlin began.

‘I’ve told you; it’s Simon,’ insisted the professor.

‘Simon,’ Caitlin corrected, ‘why don’t you tell us the story of how the five artefacts were made? It may help provide us with some clues.’

‘An excellent suggestion.’ Armitage beamed and Hawke didn’t bother to hide his rolling eyes. Caitlin poked her husband in the ribs as Armitage began the tale…

One day, the Incan God Urcaguary created six fearsome warriors to help protect his valuable collection of precious metals and jewels. He made the warriors strong and tall, imbued them with an intelligence that would match any thief and planted the art of war within their minds so they would be able to defend his treasures well. He also gave them a special gift; a chimera himself of a serpent and a deer, Urcaguary, gave the warriors the ability to transform into different animal creatures.

Eons passed and the warriors became dissatisfied with simply guarding Urcaguary’s wealth. They pleaded with him to be allowed to leave the underground chambers and go out into the world. Urcaguary had become very fond of the warriors and agreed to speak with the Sun God Inti to see what could be done.

Inti finally decided after much cajoling from Urcaguary that the warriors could leave the underground if they swore to help protect the Incan people from the demons Supay, the god of the underworld, would sometimes send to menace them.

The warriors soon agreed and eagerly set about their new duty. There were many stories told of each individual warrior; their skill and prowess. Time passed and the warriors became restless. One moonlit evening they gathered together in human form. It was just after a particularly hard campaign against Supay’s forces and there were many exchanges of stories about their tough and difficult battles. Eventually silence fell on the group until the warrior known as Cat stood and stretched out her long golden limbs.

‘It seems to me,’ Cat began, ‘that we’re fighting the wrong battles.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Falcon, his brown eyes meeting hers.

‘Well as soon as we eliminate some of Supay’s demons, he simply sends more so…’

‘So you think we should get rid of Supay.’ Bear concluded. He folded his huge arms and pondered the idea thoughtfully.

‘The suggestion has merit.’ Dragon said.

Serpent’s beady eyes gleamed. ‘But how?’

‘We will have to hunt as a pack.’ Wolf said getting to her feet and shaking back her long white hair. ‘Only together will we have the strength to defeat Supay and it may well mean our own destruction.’

‘Surely this would be an honourable death.’ Bear proclaimed. ‘We can do this and the world will no longer be ravaged by Supay’s evil.’

‘Are we all agreed then?’ Cat asked.

‘Agreed,’ said Falcon and the others soon followed.

They made their plan that very night and determined to rest in the heat of the day to carry out that plan as soon as darkness fell again.

But as the others slept, Serpent slipped away and betrayed their plan to Supay in return for being granted the status of Supay’s supreme warrior. He returned to join the others as they woke oblivious to his betrayal.

Their plan was simple; as humans were spotted easily by Supay, they would change into their animal selves and sneak into Supay’s underworld by way of a tunnel. Once inside Supay’s chamber they would change back into human form and attack as one. They made excellent progress but came upon two identical chambers.

‘Which one is Supay’s?’ growled Cat.

‘This one,’ hissed Serpent, ‘I can taste his essence on my tongue.’ Serpent hurriedly slid into the chamber and the others had no choice but to follow him. As soon as they passed the doorway a strange green glow surrounded them. They struggled in their animal forms against Supay’s magic and seeing Serpent slither from the chamber, they realised what had happened but were helpless to do anything. In moments all the five remaining warriors were encased in jade and Supay added to their humiliation by reducing them to the size of ornaments and displaying them in his great hall.

Urcaguary was furious when he heard what had happened to his warriors and pleaded with Inti to do something. The Sun God called forth Supay and ordered him to bring the figurines of the warriors and the traitor Serpent.

‘Supay,’ Inti proclaimed, ‘I cannot break the spell you cast to bind the warriors but I can alter it.’ He raised his golden staff and pointed at the warrior figurines. A golden glow encased them. ‘I decree that from this day the figurines will be taken forth individually and kept hidden amongst the Sun temples in this world.’ His staff moved to Serpent. ‘I also decree the one known as Serpent will from this day only exist in his animal form and shall no longer be able to exist as a human. His strength will be distributed equally amongst the five others. For on the day that the figurines are brought together, the spell will be broken and their spirits will pour forth and have the strength needed to destroy the underworld.’

A bright white light hit Serpent and when it had dissipated, only the long coiled length of a hissing serpent was left on the ground and the warrior figurines had disappeared.

Supay realised that unless he acted quickly, someone else would find the figurines and he would be destroyed. So he sent serpent out to search for the figurines whilst he spread stories amongst the people that on the day the figurines were found, the earth would shake and the sky would fall. Eventually, Supay’s serpent became lost in the jungle and people no longer tried to find the warriors believing Supay’s poison that the world would end. Urcaguary. though, always believed that one day the right person would find the figurines and unite the warriors to finally defeat Supay…

‘Of course, eventually time passed and their existence was believed to be nothing but a myth,’ concluded Armitage, ‘until John Castle found the wolf. When he said he’d found all five we couldn’t believe it.’ He gestured. ‘I was at the opening of the museum that night for the show. I was so eager to see all five. It was heartbreaking to learn Castle was a criminal and only had the one…and that you blew that up.’

‘Sorry.’ Hawke said insincerely.

‘It was a damn shame but still…’ Armitage took a gulp of his coffee, ‘I guess you had no choice.’

‘Do you think the jade figurines do contain some kind of other element?’ Caitlin asked.

Armitage nodded. ‘It makes sense to me.’ He waved his hand vaguely at her. ‘If you take the view that myths have a fundamental core of truth. Supposing that an explosive element was created and used for many years to deter an evil person, X, from gaining control but then X gains control of the element and decides to hide it in jade; he knows where it is and can use it but no one else does.’

‘But then someone else finds out and steals the jade from X, hiding it from him.’ Caitlin continued.

‘Perhaps leaving instructions on how the element can be used to destroy X once and for all if all five pieces of the element are brought together. And so X sends someone off to find it before anyone else only they get lost in the jungle and people scared of the element’s explosive power decide they won’t search for it either.’ Armitage ended with a flourish.

‘It makes you wonder doesn’t it?’ said Dom. ‘All those people decided not to search for it because they feared it and here we are searching for it anyway.’ He shook his head. ‘It kinda makes you wonder if we’re doing the right thing.’

‘Progress, Dominic.’ Armitage said smiling, creasing his well-worn face. ‘Progress.’

‘Well we can progress more tomorrow.’ Hawke said. ‘We should get some sleep.’

‘Now that’s a good idea.’ Dom said laughing. ‘I’ll take the first watch.’

Hawke nodded in agreement and stood up. He offered his hand to Caitlin who took it and rose to her feet. Hawke felt a moment’s satisfaction at Armitage’s surprise as he led Caitlin away from the fire to the double hammock he’d put up for them.

The night passed slowly. No one slept well with the strange noise of the jungle around them and it was with relief that they rose at dawn and had a quick breakfast. Hawke, Caitlin and Armitage set out to explore the ruins leaving Dom to look after Airwolf.

The professor led the way to the abandoned grave and gave an exclamation of delight when he saw the dug out ruin. ‘Wonderful.’ He knelt down beside the grave and peered into it. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a brush which he began flicking over the skeleton and ground.

Caitlin began to take pictures with the camera. She zoomed in on the bloody pictograph on the side of the grave that had been the reason for Michael sending them. She stared at it for a while trying to make out what the scrawl meant. She sighed. ‘You know I can’t work out what that picture is even when I’m stood right in front of it.’

‘That’s because it’s meaningless.’ Armitage said off-handedly. ‘This on the other hand…’ He reached into the grave and held his discovery aloft; it was a doll.

‘What is that?’ Hawke asked.

‘An Ekkeko doll, if I’m not mistaken.’ Armitage said. ‘The Incans used to make dolls in the likeness of the God Ekkeko and hide miniature versions of their desires inside so they would receive them. They also made great hiding places.’ He examined the clay doll carefully before he smashed it on the ground having determined there was no other way to open it. He carefully lifted away the shards of pottery and smiled at the parchment left. He rolled it out and gestured for Caitlin to take a photo.

‘And this,’ Armitage said with a smile, ‘is a map.’ He pointed at the rough sketch that covered the ancient parchment and the Spanish writing. ‘It looks our disbeliever may well have been a Spaniard. The bones would tell us.’

‘A Spaniard with an Ekkeko doll?’ Caitlin asked sceptically.

Armitage shrugged. ‘Like I said they made great hiding places.’ He pulled out a clear plastic folder and carefully placed the parchment inside. It was still visible but out of the elements that might have destroyed it. ‘Look, here’s where we are.’ He pointed a finger at the map excitedly. ‘We’re at the Southern most position but according to this, one of the others is holding the centre position and the other figurines are in a compass formation around it all equidistant to the centre.’ His face fell. ‘But there’s no indication of what that distance is.’

Caitlin smiled. ‘We can fly due North in Airwolf though and search for ruins along that line. We should find the centre that way…’

‘And once we find the centre we can work out the distance to the other locations.’ Hawke concluded. ‘Works for me.’

‘Brilliant idea.’ Armitage beamed at Caitlin.

Hawke scowled. ‘Come on. Let’s get back to Airwolf.’

They filled Dom in and were careful to make sure they had eradicated all signs of the camp before they lifted off. They flew at was a relative snail’s pace for the helicopter carefully keeping to the due North course and utilising every scan available to them through Airwolf’s surveillance system. They put down twice at possible ruins. It took time for them to explore and ascertain that neither held the artefact they were looking for.

Caitlin collapsed next to Hawke in the open Airwolf doorway and massaged her calf with her hand.

‘Cramp?’ Hawke asked.

‘Yeah.’ Caitlin sighed as Hawke handed her the water bottle and slid his hand down her leg and took over; his fingers kneading the knot from the tensed muscle. ‘Thanks.’ She said taking a gulp of water.

He straightened and tapped the tip of her nose which was turning pink despite the precautions she’d taken. ‘You need more sun cream.’

She sighed. ‘I need a rest. I feel like I’ve been walking through ruins all day.’

‘That’s because you have.’ Dom pointed out with a laugh.

‘We should set up camp.’ Hawke said gesturing at the sky. ‘We’re unlikely to be able to search any more ruins today.’

Caitlin stood up and stretched. ‘I’ll go collect some firewood.’

Hawke pushed her back down to sit. ‘I’ll collect the firewood; you rest.’ He picked up the sun cream and threw it at her. She caught it one-handed. ‘And put some sun cream on.’

She stuck her tongue out at him but once he was out of sight did as he had ordered. Dom chuckled at the couple’s interaction but stopped as Caitlin glared at him.

‘So,’ began Dom, ‘is this trip living up to your dream of searching for hidden treasures?’

‘Honestly, Dom, no.’ Caitlin admitted. ‘I guess the romance is wearing thin with the heat and the insects,’ she slapped at her arm, ‘and the sunburn.’ She sighed. ‘I’m praying we find the centre location tomorrow, find the rest of the artefacts and go home.’

‘I know what you mean, honey.’ Dom said sympathetically. ‘I’m getting too old for this kind of adventure.’

Hawke put the stack of wood down and looked up.

‘What?’ Dom asked.

‘It’s another chopper.’ Hawke said. ‘High altitude.’

Dom shrugged. ‘Well, unless they’ve got surveillance equipment of their own, they won’t see us with the trees and the camouflage net.’

‘I think it was with us at the last set of ruins.’ Hawke said.

‘Oh?’ Dom looked up. ‘You want me to go run some scans.’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke nodded. ‘Let’s cover the bases.’

‘Sure thing.’ Dom hurried into Airwolf and started scanning the chopper. He frowned. ‘It’s a little souped up but nothing special, String. It’s moving away now.’

‘Let’s keep a scan going.’ Hawke said. ‘I want to know if it comes back.’

Dom nodded. ‘I’ll set it up.’

The second night in the jungle passed just as uneasily as the first and they were all grumpy as they set off early the next morning; even Armitage’s enthusiasm seemed dampened.

‘I have something.’ Dom said. ‘It looks like the ruins of a temple and…the scan is picking up the presence of jade.’

‘Let’s hope this is it.’ Armitage said a gleam of renewed hope in his eyes.

‘Let’s.’ Hawke agreed tersely.

They landed and organised with practised efficiency; Dom staying with Airwolf whilst the others went exploring.

The temple was a simple structure but the ornate carvings around the entrance were beautifully hewn into the rock and depicted a bear.

‘Looks promising.’ Armitage said. He switched on his torch and walked through the dark entrance. Hawke followed him with Caitlin bringing up the rear. Both shone their torches around the structure. It was a simple square room with a shrine built in at the far end. Armitage headed for it, held the torch in his teeth and went to shift the top off a carved stone chest.

‘Wait.’ Hawke said. ‘What if there’s a booby trap?’

Armitage smiled and took the torch from his mouth to reply. ‘You’ve been watching too many Indiana Jones movies, Hawke.’ He gave a grunt and tried to push the top. Hawke handed Caitlin his own torch and helped him. There was a grinding sound as the lid gave way and moved to let them into the chest. All of them gagged at the smell that sprang up from its confines. Armitage held a handkerchief to his nose and peered inside. He lifted out a beautifully carved wooden box and opened it; the jade figure of the snarling bear looked up at them.

‘Magnificent.’ Armitage said in a hushed whisper.

‘It certainly is.’ Caitlin smiled happily. Suddenly the bugs, the sweat and the endless walking seemed worth it.

‘Come on. Let’s get going.’ Hawke said.

They hurried back to Airwolf where Dom exclaimed over the bear before stowing it carefully by the console.

‘Now, I’ve worked out the distance from here to the location where the wolf was found and Airwolf has marked a spot due North, due East and due West for us.’

‘Great.’ Hawke swiped a hand over his brow from the doorway. ‘We can use the turbos.’ His head lifted, tilted to the sky almost of its own accord.

Dom saw his movement and quickly ran a scan. ‘They’re back.’ He noted grimly.

‘Who?’ asked Armitage.

‘That’s what I’d like to know.’ Hawke growled. ‘Apart from Archangel and Marella, we’re supposed to be the only ones who know we’re out here.’

‘Are you accusing me of something?’ Armitage asked a picture of affronted dignity.

‘Who did you tell?’ Hawke demanded.

Armitage looked from Hawke to Dom and then to Caitlin for support and found none. All three of the Airwolf team looked back at him expectantly for an answer.

‘Well, I told no one,’ he began flustered, ‘Archangel was quite specific and I…’ Realisation drifted across his face.

‘Who?’ Hawke asked seeing the truth with Armitage’s evident dismay.

‘My colleague, Doctor Livingstone.’

‘Doctor Livingstone?’

‘Yes,’ Armitage gestured, ‘that’s really his name. When the request came in from Archangel’s office, I initially assumed that it wanted one of us in my department and not me specifically so I consulted with Howard about which of us should go…I decided to come myself in the end although Howard was very keen’ he sighed. ‘It was only when I got to the US that I realised Archangel had been expecting me all along. But I would never have thought Howard capable of coming after me like this.’

‘Some people will do for money, fame, power.’ Hawke said quietly.

‘I guess you’re right. The serpent is everywhere.’ Armitage proclaimed dramatically before he slumped into the Airwolf doorway. ‘So what now?’

‘They’re not going to be able to keep up with us when we hit mach speed.’ Hawke noted. ‘So whichever direction we go in next, they’ll have to pick one of the other locations and try to set a trap for us.’

‘So after the next location, we could be walking into a trap?’ Armitage seemed outraged at the idea.

‘Yep.’ Hawke said. He patted Armitage’s arm and couldn’t help grinning. ‘Exciting isn’t it?’

It didn’t take them long to pick up the second jade artefact, the Dragon, and head to the third. Their ground scans didn’t pick up any movement and there was no sign of the chopper. The recovery of the Falcon figurine was relatively easy and they stopped to rest before heading to their last location and the last figurine of the Cat; due North.

Everyone was tense as they hovered over the final ruins.

‘Dom?’ Hawke peered out of the windscreen but couldn’t get past the canopy of trees.

‘They’re down there alright.’ Dom said grimly. ‘Six of them; two in the temple and four outside. The chopper’s parked over the next ridge.’

‘What do we do?’ Armitage asked fretfully.

‘We’re going to go in by stealth.’ Hawke said. ‘Dom, you drop me, Cait and Armitage as normal but we’re going to loudly state you and I need to get back in the air to radio our progress.’

‘When in actuality you’ll stay on the ground hidden and I’ll be standing by?’ Dom checked.

‘Exactly.’ Hawke turned to Caitlin. ‘You and Armitage head to the temple as normal. I’ll circle around and take out the four on the outside of the temple. I think they’ll want us inside with the jade before making a move.’

‘You expect me to walk into that temple knowing there are men there waiting to…to…’ Armitage stuttered.

‘Caitlin will be with you.’ Hawke’s eyes slid to his wife. ‘She’s a crack shot and a karate expert. She’ll protect you until I’ve eliminated the rest of the men and can join you.’

Caitlin smiled at his confidence in her and knew it had taken a lot for Hawke to let go of his fear of losing her and trust that she would be OK.

Hawke sighed. ‘Once we have the jade and the men prisoner, we’ll call in Airwolf and take off.’

With the plan outlined, Hawke wasted no time in setting Airwolf down, using the monitor to pick a spot where they would provide the least visibility to the men waiting on the ground. He checked his gun even as Caitlin checked hers.

‘Ready?’ He asked.

‘Ready.’

They climbed out and Armitage followed them.

‘Hey, String!’ Dom’s yell could be clearly heard over the abandoned ruins. ‘We’d better go check in with Archangel.’

‘Sure, Dom.’ Hawke replied. He nodded at Armitage and Caitlin. ‘You get the jade; we’ll be back in two minutes.’ His hand caught Caitlin’s and squeezed it. ‘Good luck.’ He whispered before he ducked under Airwolf and scurried into the undergrowth.

Caitlin patted a sweating Armitage on the arm as Airwolf took off. ‘Come on.’

They walked unhurriedly but without seeming to dawdle over to the temple.

Armitage swallowed hard at the dark entrance. He gestured. ‘Ladies first.’

Caitlin took out her gun and her torch. She moved cautiously into the dark chamber using her police training to swing the gun and torch effectively from side to side. The chamber was vast. Dust and dirt had settled over the once beautiful mosaic floor but the grandeur of the room could be seen in the large cat statues that adorned every wall. The men could be hiding anywhere, thought Caitlin as Armitage nervously followed her.

‘There.’ Caitlin motioned with her torch at an alcove in the far wall. She covered Armitage as he examined the nook carefully and gently pressed down on the statue there. A grinding sound could be heard beneath their feet and they both took a hasty step backwards as the floor parted to reveal a spiral stairway going down into the earth. They looked at each other.

‘I’ll go; you stay here.’ Armitage said.

‘Good plan.’ Caitlin said. She held her breath as he disappeared slowly down the steps. Every sound; every rustle within the chamber startled her and her nerves were stretched by the time Armitage reappeared. He was carrying the jade figurine in his arms.

Caitlin breathed out sharply; now all they needed to do was get out of the temple safely. ‘Let’s go.’ She said.

They were walking out slowly when the merest whisper of a sound behind her had Caitlin spinning. She blocked the blow with her forearm and kicked out at her attacker.

‘Run!’ She yelled at Armitage who started to comply when a man stepped out of the shadows by the doorway and aimed a gun at him.

Caitlin slammed her gun into the face of the man who was attacking her and he went down in a heap.

‘Stop!’ The gruff English voice had her spinning back to the entrance.

She was panting as she took in Armitage’s raised hands; the jade at his feet and the short, squat man who was holding a gun on him.

‘Howard.’ Armitage shook his head. ‘How could you?’

Howard ignored him and gestured at Caitlin. ‘Drop the gun and join us over here.’

Caitlin reluctantly complied. She wondered briefly where Hawke was; worried if his dealing with the other guards hadn’t gone to plan but dragged her attention back to Howard; she needed to stay focused on keeping herself and Armitage alive. ‘Doctor Livingstone, I presume?’ She quipped to hide her nerves.

Howard scowled.

‘So now what?’ She asked Howard deciding to swiftly move on.

‘Simon, pick up the jade.’ Howard ordered. ‘Both of you into the clearing.’

They followed his instructions.

‘Now what?’ Caitlin demanded.

Howard glanced around and frowned.

‘Were you expecting someone?’ Hawke’s gruff tone had Howard spinning towards the pilot as he slowly made his way from the tree line into the clearing. There was a bruise forming on his left cheek and his lip was split. His gun was clearly aimed at Howard.

‘Drop the gun.’ Howard ordered furiously. ‘Or I’ll kill her.’ He stretched his arm out fully to aim the gun at Caitlin and she delivered a roundhouse kick to knock it out of his hands. She dived and rolled to pick it up and aim it at the pale Englishman.

Hawke breathed out deeply. She was OK. He took out the small radio and gave Dom the signal to pick them up.

‘What are you going to do with me?’ asked Howard miserably.

‘Nothing.’ Hawke said.

‘You’re just going to leave me here?’ Howard looked at his colleague with horror. ‘Simon…’

‘You would have killed me, Howard. I’m not inclined to be merciful.’ Armitage marched away as Airwolf landed only barely remembering to duck under the rotors.

Hawke and Caitlin followed after him.

‘String, that chopper took off two seconds ago and is heading for us.’ Dom said as they took their seats.

Armitage put the final jade figure down beside the other three. He sighed as they took off. ‘It’s such a shame the wolf was destroyed…’

Hawke sent an incredulous look over his shoulder before calling for the turbos as the chatter of gunfire on their tail sounded in the cockpit, startling Armitage into silence. Hawke hit the turbos and ascended sharply before turning around and heading back to the chopper at mach speed. He zipped past shaking the chopper badly from the force of the backwash. He repeated the manoeuvre until the chopper broke away and fled.

‘Shall we go after it?’ Dom asked.

‘Nah.’ Hawke rolled his shoulders. ‘I think we scared them enough.’

‘Well I have to say that was a close call…’ Armitage stopped suddenly and stared at the figurines by his feet. ‘What the…’

‘Oh my God.’ Dom murmured.

‘What’s the matter?’ Caitlin shifted to look into the back. Her jaw fell open. The jade figurines were breaking apart. ‘Hawke, we need to land.’

‘If we land we’re a target…’ he began.

‘And if we don’t land we’re going to blow up.’ Caitlin said interrupting him.

Hawke took Airwolf down sharply and landed.

‘Hand me the jade.’ Caitlin ordered removing her helmet.

Armitage thrust them at her.

‘I’ll go.’ Hawke said.

‘There’s no time.’ Caitlin said as she staggered out the cockpit and ran away from the helicopter.

‘String…’ Dom called after Hawke as he followed after his wife.

Caitlin dropped to her knees and placed the vibrating figures on the ground. Hawke helped her up and he held onto her arm as they ran back to the helicopter. They shut the doors hurriedly and pulled on the helmets.

The electronic system on Airwolf suddenly shutdown and her previously lit up consoles went dark.

‘What the…’ Dom managed before there was a flash of bright light that had the visors slapping down on the helmets. Hawke threw himself across the cockpit to shield Caitlin with his body as Airwolf rocked with the force of the blast.

There was a deadly silence.

Hawke raised his head slowly and slid back into his own seat as he removed the helmet. Caitlin levered herself up and did the same. They both stared at the total devastation in front of them. There was a crater where Caitlin had placed the figurines that extended to a foot in front of Airwolf.

‘Good God in heaven.’ Caitlin muttered.

‘Mamma mia.’ Dom murmured.

‘Good Lord.’ Armitage moved to get a better view. ‘Is there any sign of the figurines?’

Hawke stared at him.

They all jumped as the system suddenly powered back up; the lights reappearing, the engines starting and the rotors engaging.

‘What now?’ Hawke said plaintively.

‘Is she meant to do that?’ Armitage asked and flinched at Hawke’s flinty look.

‘Take your seat, professor.’ Hawke said as he replaced the helmet.

‘String, that chopper turned around they’re coming back for us.’ Dom said as the automatic identifying program skipped over his monitor.

Hawke grasped the cyclic and raised Airwolf as two missiles slammed into the ground where they had been.

‘Give me a redeye.’ Hawke ordered sending Airwolf into a wide arc to come back around.

‘Redeye.’ Dom confirmed

Hawke slid the visor down and targeted the chopper. He fired. The chopper exploded. He clicked the visor back up.

‘Let’s go home.’ He suggested.

‘I hear you.’ Dom said. He started laughing. ‘I can’t wait to see Michael’s face when we tell him what happened to his artefacts, huh?’

Armitage started to chuckle as Caitlin joined in with Dom’s laughter. Hawke looked at them and allowed himself a small smile. Seeing Michael’s face when he told him what had happened…it was almost going to be enough to make the trip worthwhile.—

‘They all exploded?’ Michael repeated.

‘Asking me for the fifth time won’t change what happened, Michael.’ Hawke said cheerfully from his seat in the spy’s office.

Michael glared at him. ‘I just don’t understand…’

‘It’s possible the element, whatever it was, became unstable when large quantities were in close proximity.’ Marella suggested. She was perched on his desk, her hands folded in her lap.

‘Yes, it was rather an unfortunate event.’ Armitage said.

‘An unfortunate event?’ Michael bit out. ‘The loss of the artefacts is an unfortunate event?’

‘What amazes me is that it only took four of them to set each off like that.’ Armitage mused oblivious to Michael’s tone.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Marella. Her dark eyes flashed a warning at Hawke who wasn’t bothering to hide his amusement.

‘Well, in the legend, it’s the five artefacts together that will release the spirits from their bonds freeing them to destroy the underworld.’ Armitage said.

‘Hey, that stuff caused enough of a bang without the fifth one.’ Dom pointed out. ‘We were almost toast back there.’

‘I know but…’

‘Professor Armitage,’ Michael interrupted the man smoothly, ‘I’d like to thank you for all your assistance with the mission.’ He nodded at Marella who slid off the desk. ‘Marella will show you out.’

‘Oh, of course.’ Armitage stood up a little flustered. He ignored Marella’s gentle nudge and marched over to shake Michael’s hand. ‘Thank you very much for inviting me. I had a fabulous time.’ He moved onto Dom. ‘Although it’s a shame I won’t be able to write a paper on my experience.’ He shook Hawke’s hand and took Caitlin’s hand in his. ‘It has been a pleasure.’ He said kissing her knuckles before releasing her hand.

Hawke scowled as the Englishman left the room.

Caitlin’s hand slid over his and he turned his over to tangle their fingers together. He sighed at her knowing expression.

Michael’s eye twinkled. ‘You know Hawke there’s really no need for the jealousy act.’

It was Hawke’s turn to glare at the spy. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

Michael grinned. ‘You’re much more Armitage’s type than Caitlin.’

Hawke choked on his drink. Caitlin tapped him on his back as he coughed. ‘You’re telling me…’

‘Armitage plays for the other side.’ Michael said rubbing his moustache. ‘I think that’s the current euphemism.’

Hawke shrugged. He had a ‘live and let live’ philosophy on life. His hand tightened on Caitlin’s; he much preferred his lifestyle and at least Armitage hadn’t really been hitting on his wife.

‘They all exploded…’ Michael repeated again slumping back in his white leather chair.

‘It’s for the best.’ Caitlin said. ‘That stuff was pretty lethal.’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke agreed. ‘Kinda makes you think the Gods knew what they were doing when they hid it away.’

‘They’ve just finished downloading the data from Airwolf.’ Marella said as she rejoined them and took a seat between Hawke and Dom. ‘Our technicians will start analysing the information Airwolf managed to get from her scans and internal sensors. We might be able to work out what happened.’

‘They exploded.’ Hawke said with exaggerated patience.

‘Well, at least there isn’t more of that stuff out there.’ Dom said as Marella punched Hawke in the arm. ‘I don’t mind telling you, I had a bad moment there.’

‘Well, if you have everything you need…’ Hawke began.

Michael waved Hawke back into his seat. ‘Karen Hansen is on her way over.’

‘We sent her the latest logs after you transmitted them.’ Marella explained.

‘As Airwolf initiated her own shutdown before the explosion, I had Karen take a look at them.’ Michael said.

‘It was probably her educational thingy.’ Caitlin said.

‘Thingy.’ Dom rolled his eyes. ‘Is that a word?’

‘You know what I mean.’ Caitlin laughed.

‘Want me to punch him?’ Marella offered.

‘Hey!’ Dom held up his hands in supplication.

‘Maybe it was her educational thingy.’ Michael said. ‘But I’d like to be sure of that.’

‘Has Karen learned anything else from the logs?’ Hawke asked rubbing his chin.

Michael scanned Hawke’s impassive mask for a moment, the deceptive lack of expression. ‘If she has, she hasn’t said anything to me yet.’

Caitlin squeezed Hawke’s fingers comfortingly and changed the subject before Hawke could brood too much. ‘How’s the new Airwolf coming along?’

‘Good.’ Michael said. ‘We’re almost done on the inner shell. There are some new innovations that we’re applying to the outside armour so it’ll take a little longer to finish than we thought.’

‘I can’t believe you’re almost done.’ Dom said shaking his head.

‘Hardly,’ scoffed Marella. ‘There’s a ton of work to complete yet.’

‘Which is why Marella is being reassigned to oversee completion.’ Michael said. He smiled at the collective look of shock on the faces of the Airwolf team.

‘You know the word you’re looking for is congratulations.’ Marella said a little huffily. ‘You’re supposed to be pleased when someone gets a promotion.’

‘We are…it was just a bolt from the blue.’ Caitlin said hurriedly. ‘Congratulations.’

‘Yeah, we’re going to miss you around here.’ Dom said giving Marella a gap-toothed grin.

‘Will you be OK?’ Hawke asked seriously. Marella had been badly injured during Moffett’s attack on Red Star; he couldn’t quite believe she’d want to go back.

She nodded. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Well, congratulations.’ Hawke said with a smile. ‘You deserve it.’ His gaze slid to Michael. The spy’s decision was a shock. Not that Marella didn’t deserve the promotion but he’d thought Michael had started to see his senior aide as something more than…well, his senior aide. And maybe, Hawke thought, that explained the sudden reassignment. A knock on the door interrupted his musing and they all turned to greet Karen Hansen.

She was without the white lab coat, dressed instead in a fashionable feminine shocking pink suit that should have clashed with her hair but didn’t. She immediately headed for the computer greeting everybody absently over her shoulder.

‘You seem excited.’ Michael noted easing his recovering leg into a better position.

‘I’ve finished my analysis.’ Karen said without preamble. She turned around and shoved her hands deep in the pockets of her jacket. ‘Moffett did write the self-preservation code as a logic bomb.’

Michael swore loudly and noted the way Hawke’s face was wiped of all emotion; an indication of how upset the pilot really was. Caitlin looked tearful and Dom…the lines on Dom’s craggy face had deepened with sorrow.

‘We’ll have to ground her…’ Michael began.

‘No.’ Karen said interrupting him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘No?’

‘Sorry for interrupting you, Archangel, but that won’t be necessary.’ Karen said apologetically.

‘Won’t be necessary?’ Michael shifted in his chair.

‘If you just give me a moment to explain?’ Karen asked.

Michael impatiently gestured for her to continue.

Karen tapped a command into the computer and the screen displayed a set of code. ‘This is Airwolf’s original programme.’ She pointed out the lines which detailed the self-preservation code. ‘Here is the code Moffett programmed. Effectively when Airwolf reached a certain level of maturity she would be able to access the code.’

‘Maturity?’

‘The algorithm is slightly complicated but he based it on years of service, along with her learning rate and used memory capacity.’ Karen gestured. ‘Not the point; the point is that when Airwolf became able to access this code, it effectively allowed her to put her own survival over everything else including the commands of her pilot if the pilot could not be identified as Moffett.’

‘It was another bomb.’ Caitlin murmured.

‘Yes. I think Moffett figured that if his first logic bomb was disabled then this would do the trick of wresting control of Airwolf from whoever had control of her if it wasn’t him.’

‘Moffett would be the only one able to fly her safely and without consequence.’ Hawke deduced. ‘Damn.’ It looked like Moffett had won after all…

‘But she hasn’t really taken control off us any of the times she’s used the self-preservation command.’ Caitlin pointed out.

‘Exactly.’ Karen beamed at her like a teacher at a schoolchild who had just figured a complicated math problem. She turned back to the computer and punched in another command. The screen split into two and a second version of code appeared next to the original. ‘This is the self-preservation code currently in Airwolf.’

‘What are you saying?’ Michael asked sharply.

‘This isn’t the original code.’

They all stared at her.

‘You mean you rewrote it…’ Marella interrupted hesitantly.

Karen shook her head. ‘I didn’t do anything and this is where it gets really exciting…’

‘I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.’ Michael said. Marella rose and went over to the bar. She poured him a glass of bourbon and handed it to him.

‘I traced the logs of that first incident where Airwolf used the code to preserve her existence.’

‘In July last year.’ Caitlin said.

‘Yes,’ Karen nodded. ‘Airwolf used the original code to enable a reboot of her systems. She needed to take control because neither she nor her pilot had control at that point. But after the event, Airwolf’s computers self-initiated in a very similar way to how she did when she was under the influence of Moffett’s first logic bomb.’

‘And?’ Hawke bit out.

‘And she reviewed her logs, reviewed the data. She used her educational module to analyse what response she would make in a future scenario and then,’ Karen paused dramatically, ‘she changed the code.’

‘Airwolf changed the code?’ Michael checked he had heard her correctly. ‘Does this mean…’

‘It could be argued that it is just an indication that Airwolf is simulating artificial intelligence.’ Karen said anticipating his question. ‘But actually I think the choice she made is more a sign that she’s developing real intelligence.’

‘What do you mean?’ Dom asked when the others stayed silent.

Karen gestured at the screen behind her. ‘This code is a self-preservation code but gives Airwolf access to it on meeting certain conditions; pilot incapacitated, for example. They all relate in someway to an instance in her records where she would have benefited from having the ability to execute the code. Importantly, she does not have the ability to take control in any given scenario just for her own preservation unless Moffett is her pilot…’ Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. ‘She removed him.’

‘She removed him?’ Hawke felt his bones turn to water with relief.

‘She reviewed every record of him in her memory file and removed him.’ Karen said.

‘We still have to ground her.’ Michael said sadly. ‘We can’t fly her if she can take control for own preservation in any given scenario…’

Karen was almost jumping up and down to get his attention again. ‘We don’t have to ground her.’ She gestured at the screen. ‘Airwolf didn’t just remove Moffett from the code, she replaced him.’

‘She replaced him?’ A strange feeling started to edge into Hawke’s stomach; a fluttery nervousness.

‘Yes.’ Karen smiled at Hawke. ‘She reviewed all her files and replaced Moffett with her current crew. She chose you guys as her safety net. You all can fly her safely.’

Dom’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘I knew it. I knew she was more than just nuts and bolts.’

‘Well.’ Michael slumped back in his seat.

Hawke couldn’t speak; he turned to Caitlin. ‘She chose us.’ He repeated with a small laugh. ‘Airwolf chose us.’

Caitlin smiled through her tears and shook her head. ‘She chose you,’ she corrected him gently, ‘Airwolf chose you.’

fin.

Next Story: Ghosts