Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

‘No, Michael.’ Dominic Santini wiped his hands on the rag and glowered at the deputy director of the FIRM. The spy was dressed in an all white three-piece suit with his black eye-patch and wooden cane adding the usual additional eccentricity to the outfit. Dom briefly looked down at his own simple beige overalls and decided that perhaps their contrasting clothing summed up the dissimilarity between the two men more than words ever could; his was the attire of a simple, down to earth man and Michael’s…well, Michael’s was that of someone who belonged to a different world.

‘It’s a simple pick up, Dominic.’ Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III argued passionately as he followed Dom across the hangar to where the Santini Jet Ranger was parked awaiting repairs. Michael had figured that it wouldn’t be easy getting the older pilot to agree to take a mission without the presence of their mutual friend, Stringfellow Hawke, and he’d been right.

‘And I told you, String gave me strict instructions that Airwolf was grounded until he got back and we could work on her together.’ Dom threw his hands in the air.

Michael frowned. ‘I didn’t realise there was something wrong with her.’ The systems in the world’s only technologically advanced and mach capable helicopter were sensitive and required constant maintenance but he’d never known Hawke to ground the machine unless there was something seriously broken.

Dom plastered an innocent expression on his craggy face. It wasn’t that there was something wrong with Airwolf but the older man had finally come to agree with Hawke that she was acting odd; shooting down an attacking chopper when she was on the ground and without engineer or pilot definitely fell into the odd category even if she had saved all their lives. Hawke had wanted them to run more tests before they brought it to Michael’s attention. ‘There’s nothing wrong exactly…’ he replied to Michael vaguely, ‘we just wanted to be sure of a few things before we took her out again. And,’ he stressed the word, ‘we didn’t think you’d be giving us any missions whilst Hawke was away.’

‘So that’s your final decision?’ Michael asked.

Dom nodded.

Michael sighed and tapped his cane on the hangar floor. He stroked his moustache and gestured. ‘Well I guess I have no option.’

Dom raised a bushy grey eyebrow inquisitively.

‘I’ll have to find Hawke.’ Michael said.

Dom straightened, his brow lowered ominously. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

Michael raised his eyebrows and his good eye met Dom’s challengingly. ‘Wouldn’t I?’

‘They’re on honeymoon, Michael.’ Dom barked. Hawke had married the third member of the Airwolf crew, Caitlin O’Shaunessy almost two weeks before in a quiet ceremony at the cabin. Just the memory of the happy day had Dom smiling.

Michael sighed and adjusted his wire-frame glasses. ‘Not anymore.’ He made to leave.

Dom scooted in front of him. ‘Now wait just a minute.’

Michael waited patiently.

Dom sighed and put his hands on his hips. ‘And you wonder why they didn’t tell you where they went.’

‘Will you help me?’ Michael repeated.

‘Why do you need Airwolf?’

‘I need her stealth capability. The science team is not exactly in a location we want to advertise, Dominic.’

‘If you need stealth it’ll need someone on the engineering console to watch the radar profile and monitor all the other systems.’ Dom said gesturing. ‘I can’t do that alone.’

‘No problem, I’ll be the engineer.’ Michael said smoothly. He had acted as the engineer for Hawke on a couple of occasions and knew the systems. He knew he could handle a straight-forward mission.

Dom raised an eyebrow again. ‘I don’t think so.’

The pilot’s refusal had Michael taking another step forward as if to leave.

Dom blocked him again and waved him to a stop. ‘Just hold your horses.’

‘Dominic, we’re on a timetable here…’ Michael said.

‘What’s the rush?’ Dom asked.

‘The scientist we’re picking up needs to be returned to the US immediately for medical treatment.’

‘Medical treatment?’ Dom’s compassion rose in his breast, tugged at his heart strings.

‘The onsite medic has diagnosed breast cancer.’ Michael sighed. ‘We’ve arranged for the scientist in question to be seen by a specialist as soon as we get her back. The longer the condition is left untreated, the more likely it is to be fatal.’

‘Well I guess if it’s a medical emergency.’ Dom muttered. He sighed. ‘A simple pick up?’

Michael nodded.

‘OK. But if you’re going to act as the engineer, you have to do what I tell you. I don’t…’ it was his turn to meet the other man’s gaze with a challenge in his own, ‘I don’t want any arguments when we’re in Airwolf.’

‘OK.’ Michael readily agreed.

Dom peered into Michael’s good eye as if to check his sincerity and harrumphed as he started to clear his tools away.

It didn’t take them long to drive to the Lair, Airwolf’s hiding place in the Valley of the Gods. It was still cold in the valley with snow touching the highest rock formations. They both changed into the lilac uniforms quickly and began the preparations to leave.

Michael glanced around with a renewed sense of disbelief. Only Hawke would choose to hide a multi-million dollar aircraft in a dusty cave, he thought. The younger man’s lateral thinking was one of the reasons why he was such a good operative. The cave did provide a perfect backdrop for Airwolf though; early morning light streamed down the funnel and bathed the black and white helicopter in a golden glow; the rotors glinted and the armour gleamed. He sometimes forgot how beautiful Airwolf was, Michael mused; he never forgot how deadly. He’d lost an eye and the full use of one leg when Airwolf’s creator, Moffett had used Airwolf to destroy the Red Star Control tower during his theft of the machine.

He tore his gaze away from Airwolf and it briefly landed on the platform of equipment he had installed when he had finally discovered where Hawke had been keeping Airwolf. His lips twitched. He knew the stainless steel deck, ringed with a bright yellow railing and housing a computer console, communications and updated security system, was tolerated by Hawke at best. It put a smile on his face as he climbed into the cockpit and took his place at the engineering console

Dom finished his pre-flight check and adjusted his heavy helmet. He had often sat in the command chair of Airwolf in the last couple of years but it felt strange to be setting off on a mission without either Hawke or Caitlin. He pushed their absence to the back of his mind and started the engines. He smiled; ah, there was nothing in the world like the sound of his baby coming on line.

‘All systems showing green, Dominic.’

Dom rolled his eyes at Michael’s voice through the headset. He grasped the cyclic and took Airwolf up. They cleared the Lair and Dom requested the turbos. They shot forward clearing the Valley of the Gods quickly and taking a heading due South.

It wasn’t in Dom’s nature to remain silent for long. They’d flown for only thirty minutes when he gave in to his need for conversation. ‘So what are these scientists of yours doing in the Antarctic anyway?’

‘Examining the ice.’ Michael replied.

‘Examining the ice? What for?’ Dom asked interested.

‘Scientific discoveries.’ Michael adjusted a system. ‘Ice can tell us many things about climate and mineral changes within the earth’s atmosphere. It may even hold the key to our own evolution.’

‘Oh.’ Dom thought it sounded pretty interesting. ‘And have they made any progress?’

‘It’s early days.’ Michael said.

‘How long have they been at it?’ Dom asked.

‘About three years.’ Michael admitted.

Dom raised his eyebrows. Three years and it was early days? He shook his head. ‘You know if that’s all they’re doing I don’t get why it’s such a big secret.’ He frowned.

‘It can take years to get any kind of permission to work on the Antarctic continent.’ Michael said.

‘Because no country has a claim to it?’

‘Every country has a claim to it. That’s the problem.’ Michael sighed. ‘The research station is cleverly hidden in a radar black zone. It’s a triangle of land on the South coast between two huge walls of ice.’

‘Sounds real cosy.’

‘The station is buried into the ice itself. To anyone flying over or doing a land survey without the exact coordinates of the station, they’d never see it.’ Michael continued as if Dom hadn’t spoken. ‘It’s state of the art and a complete secret even from our own people already in Antarctica.’

‘Dodging our own people, huh?’ Dom frowned. ‘I thought you said this was a simple pick up.’

‘It is.’ Michael insisted. ‘I have the details of the planned patrols. We just need to slip between them.’

‘Hmmm.’ Dom sighed.

‘Our own real difficulty will be communications.’ Michael confessed trying for a casual tone.

‘Oh?’ The word was heavy with suspicion.

‘The station location is also a communications black zone.’ Michael kept his eye on the monitor in case Dom turned around. ‘Something to do with the magnetic forces down there.’

‘Now you tell me.’ Dom’s lips firmed. ‘Anything else you failed to mention?’

‘Dominic, as we’re not going to communicate with anyone, the communications problem isn’t an issue.’ Michael reassured him.

‘If you can’t communicate with them, how did you find out about this scientist’s medical condition?’ Dom asked puzzled.

‘They have to move out of the valley by snowmobile and then piggyback any communication on a legitimate one from the scientific communities who do have permission to be there via satellite technology.’

‘And how do you communicate with them?’

‘We don’t.’ Michael said. ‘If we want to tell them something we arrange a visitation.’

‘Then how do they know when you’re coming?’ Dom was completely perplexed.

‘They don’t.’

‘Oh.’ Dom started to smile before a thought occurred to him and he moved to look over his shoulder at the spy. ‘Then…are you telling me they don’t know we’re coming?’

‘They requested a pick up. They know they won’t know when or how exactly we’ll arrive but they know something will be arranged.’

‘Great.’ Dom muttered as he turned back to the front. ‘Just great.’

There was a moment of awkward silence as Dom assessed how the simple pick-up of a scientist for medical treatment had become more complicated in the space of a few minutes.

Michael adjusted one of the systems and decided diversionary tactics were called for. ‘So have you heard from the happy couple?’

Dom glanced over his shoulder a little surprised at the question. ‘Just a quick call to let me know they’d gotten there safely.’

‘And where is there?’ Michael probed.

Dom laughed. ‘Nice try.’

‘I don’t know why their honeymoon destination is such a big secret.’ Michael said.

‘This from the man who was threatening to call Hawke earlier.’ Dom shot back. ‘They deserve some undisturbed time together not having to worry about anything more than…than cocktails on the beach.’

‘It’s Hawaii, isn’t it?’ Michael asked.

Dom looked heavenward. ‘Michael, I’m not saying.’

Michael smiled. He already knew the honeymoon destination; he’d had his senior aide, Marella, track them down on the first day when he’d realised Hawke had failed to offer the information. He altered another system. Dom’s refusal to tell him, his unremitting loyalty to Hawke was one of the reasons why Michael respected and liked the older man, not that he would ever tell him that. He also would never tell him that he agreed with him; Hawke and Caitlin did deserve to have their honeymoon undisturbed.

‘You know Michael, I never got to tell you that I thought it was a nice thing you did for Hawke, sealing the marriage record like that.’ Dom’s voice broke into his thoughts.

Michael shrugged uncomfortable with the unexpected praise. ‘It was nothing. It won’t do anything to deter someone who’s really set on coming after Hawke through Caitlin.’

‘I guess not.’ Dom admitted. ‘We just have to hope that never happens.’

‘I can agree with you on that.’ Michael said quietly. If Caitlin was ever hurt or worse by someone trying to get to Hawke…he didn’t want to contemplate it.

‘Ah but it was a beautiful wedding.’ Dom sighed happy to be given the opportunity to wallow in his memories of the day. ‘She made a lovely bride.’

‘When are they back?’ Michael asked.

‘Four days from now.’ Dom said with a laugh. ‘It’ll be good to have them home. It’s been kinda quiet without the two of them around.’

‘I thought your niece was staying?’ Michael asked. He’d been introduced to Jo Santini at Hawke’s wedding and the small blond pilot had impressed him. He must remember to have Marella check her out, he thought absent-mindedly.

‘Nah.’ Dom sighed regretfully. ‘She got offered another job as a translator in Germany. She headed out straight after the wedding.’ He gave another snort of laughter. ‘I think she’s considering settling down though and I have to admit it would be good to have her home.’

Michael mentally moved the background check on Jo Santini to the top of his to-do list. If the lady was going to be around Santini Air a lot then he needed to ensure she was on the level. He had a feeling Dom would take a different view. He moved the conversation on again.

A couple of hours, and a fuel pickup, later they both realised with some surprise that the journey had passed relatively quickly and they were approaching the Antarctic valley where the research station was nestled.

Dom descended between the icy walls and glanced at the snow-filled landscape below. It was stark and unfriendly. He shivered in automatic reaction despite the warmth in the cockpit.

‘You need to slow up, Dominic.’ Michael said. ‘We’ll be there in five minutes at current speed.’

‘I don’t see it.’ Dom complained.

‘I told you. You’re not supposed to.’ Michael reminded him.

‘Mark the spot then.’ Dom instructed. ‘Prepare to disconnect turbos and re-engage rotors.’

‘Yes sir.’ Michael said dryly. He had a feeling the older man was enjoying the opportunity to boss him around.

Dom harrumphed.

They set down on the ice and taxied forward to park by a concrete entrance almost obscured by the snow.

Dom looked up at the icy cliffs surrounding them worried. ‘We can’t stay long otherwise all our systems will freeze up.’

Michael nodded. ‘I know.’

Dom sighed and switched the engines off. He saw movement at the doorway to the station; their arrival had not gone unnoticed. ‘Michael we have company.’

‘Let’s get into the outdoor gear.’ Michael suggested and handed a set of the thermal wear to Dom. The older man sighed; getting into the clothing in the small confines of the helicopter was not going to be a lot of fun. He was glad though of the protective snow suit, face gear, headwear and gloves as they climbed out of Airwolf and the full icy temperature slammed into him. Dom secured the helicopter and followed after Michael as he limped into the station. They were met by a man yards from the door who waved them in.

The station was warmer than the temperature outside but was still cool. Dom was glad of the snowsuit that he wore and he didn’t remove his gloves. He looked about him with interest as they passed through. The entrance hall was obviously only used to store gear and equipment; nothing had been done to detract from the stark concrete walls and floor and it was almost as harsh and unfriendly an area as the ice outside. Not exactly welcoming, Dom thought. They were led through an open door and down a wrought-iron spiral staircase that took them into the station itself. It was another cloakroom and the concrete was in evidence but someone had painted it in a soothing warm russet colour. A door at the back was wide open and Dom glimpsed another painted corridor beyond it as he followed the example of the others and stripped off his gloves and face-gear. He stopped as the man who had greeted them suddenly turned from hanging his coat up and hugged Michael.

‘It’s good to see you, Michael.’ The curly grey-haired man took a step back from his embrace and with warm sherry-brown eyes regarded the spy fondly.

‘Gregory.’ Michael shook his hand warmly and grinned at him. Gregory was one of his oldest friends. They’d joined the FIRM together, had trained together; had worked together in the early days before Gregory’s talents as a scientist moved him out of the field missions and into research. ‘It’s good to see you again too although I would rather it wasn’t in these circumstances.’

‘The same, Michael.’ Gregory grinned back at Michael. ‘You’ve been in the wars since last we met.’

‘I’ve survived.’ Michael said dryly.

‘You always did.’ A female voice in cut glass English had all three men turning to the inner doorway.

Dom’s eyebrows raised; the woman definitely didn’t conform to his idea of a scientist. She was about Michael’s age; elegant, classically beautiful with porcelain skin, large brown eyes and dark blonde hair pulled back in a chignon without a strand out of place. She was wearing layers of sweaters over jeans. Gold glinted at her ears, wrist and fingers.

‘Gemma.’ Michael said. His good eye ran over the woman briefly taking note of the differences between his memories of her and the reality. ‘It’s been a long time.’

‘Why are you here, Michael?’ Gemma asked her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Michael met her eyes steadily. ‘I came for you.’

Gemma frowned at him and her eyes flickered to her fellow scientist. ‘You told him?’

‘You need to leave, Gemma.’ Gregory said firmly and with the air of someone who had said the same thing many times before.

‘I’ve told you already; I’m not going.’ Gemma whirled and disappeared back into the station.

‘She doesn’t know?’ Dom accused Michael with a large amount of exasperation. Simple pick-up…hah! He was going to have a few words for the spy when the mission was done.

‘I’ll go and talk to her.’ Gregory said.

Michael caught his arm. ‘Let me.’

‘You’d better hurry it up Michael.’ Dom said thinking about the outside temperature and what it was potentially doing to Airwolf’s temperamental systems.

The spy nodded and went after the woman.

‘I’m sorry,’ Gregory said, ‘we haven’t had a moment to be introduced. I’m Gregory Jackson.’

‘Dominic Santini.’ Dom eyed him with interest as they shook hands. ‘You’re a scientist here?’

‘For my sins.’ Gregory led him into the station. ‘You might as well come in and have a drink. Knowing Gemma and Michael this could take a while.’

‘Oh you know them well?’ Dom asked giving into his innate curiosity.

‘Yeah. I was best man at their wedding. Michael usually says that Gemma got me in the divorce settlement.’ Gregory said lightly.

Dom’s eyebrows almost hit the ceiling and his mouth fell open. He snapped it shut. Michael had been married to Gemma? ‘I’m sure you have some fascinating stories, huh?’ He asked as they disappeared down a staircase.—

Michael hurriedly followed after Gemma only just keeping her in sight as she marched through the maze of stairways and corridors with the easy familiarity of someone walking through their home. Emotions churned within him; more than he had expected or wanted. It had been his first sight of Gemma since their divorce and it had been startling to feel the same punch of attraction; the same pull of desire. She always had been a beautiful woman. He sighed as he limped down another set of stairs. He hadn’t been prepared for the regret or the strange mix of old love and new compassion that had prompted him to follow her instead of allowing Gregory to deal with her.

He caught up with his ex-wife just as Gemma got to the door of her quarters. ‘Gemma…’ He was breathless and her name was all he could manage to say.

‘You can leave Michael because I’m not going to.’ Gemma pushed open the door and entered her room. She didn’t try to close the door behind her; she knew Michael well enough to know that a closed door wouldn’t hold him for long. She paced to the other side and stood still, arms folded as she glared at the artwork she’d carefully chosen; anywhere but at Michael.

‘Gemma, Gregory sent us the medical reports on the crew,’ Michael began, ‘we know about the cancer.’

‘He had no right!’ Her brown eyes blazed at him as she whirled to face him.

‘It’s his job.’ Michael shot back. ‘The health and safety of the personnel on this station is his responsibility.’ He sighed and thrust a hand through the grey strands of his hair. ‘But more than his professional obligations, Gemma, he was worried about you. If you catch this early enough, the treatments for this type of cancer are good enough to save lives these days but if you go without treatment the cancer may spread.’

‘I can’t, won’t leave my research.’ Gemma folded her arms and continued to glare at him.

Michael leaned on the doorway and adjusted his glasses. ‘Your research will still be here when you return.’

‘You never understood about my work…’ Gemma muttered.

‘I didn’t come here to revisit old arguments.’ Michael snapped the bitter memory of old arguments tensing his gut.

‘Why did you come?’ Gemma asked meeting his eye.

Michael raised an eyebrow and sighed deeply. ‘Is it so unbelievable that I would come because a part of me still cares about you?’

Gemma arched her own elegant eyebrow. ‘Frankly Michael, yes.’

‘Fine.’ Michael gestured. ‘If you prefer to think that I’m acting on what I think is best for the FIRM and the research project, go ahead. Either way, I’m still taking you home for medical treatment, Gemma. No arguments.’ He held up a hand. ‘You have my word that once you’re cured, I’ll arrange for you to return to your research.’

‘And if I’m not cured, if I’m never cured?’ Gemma blurted out and for a second her fear gleamed in her eyes. She spun away from him.

Michael stepped into the room and gently took hold of her shoulders. He turned her to face him. ‘That won’t happen.’ He reached out and took her unresisting hand in his. ‘I won’t let it, Gem.’

‘Gem.’ She gave a small smile. ‘Nobody’s called me that in years.’ She raised a hand to his cheek and looked at him properly. Old emotions tugged at her. ‘God, Michael what happened to you?’

‘I trusted someone I shouldn’t have trusted.’ He said simply.

Gemma smoothed his hair away from his face. ‘It cost you.’

‘An eye and a busted leg.’ Michael said. ‘I was lucky. It cost others their lives.’

Gemma could see there was more hidden away in the depth of his guarded blue eye and she moved away from him restlessly. She’d lost the right to press him for details or to comfort him when she had walked out on their marriage. ‘I would have wished worse on you at one time.’ She sighed and sank onto the bed. ‘So the FIRM sent you to get me?’

Michael hesitated and sat down next to her. ‘The FIRM didn’t have the resources available to pick you up.’

‘You came without the approval of the FIRM?’ Gemma was astounded.

He shrugged. ‘As I said they didn’t have the resources available to pick you up.’ His conversation with Zeus, the director of the FIRM, had been the usual fence around instructions and loopholes. The older man had made it clear that Gemma’s situation did not have a high priority and official FIRM resources would not be reassigned to retrieve her but then Zeus hadn’t explicitly banned Michael from utilising Airwolf either although he must have known Michael would consider it. It was a fine wire Michael was walking and he was aware that he could fall off at any moment particularly as the FIRM would be taken over by the Company, a larger intelligence agency, in a matter of months.

Michael frowned; he still didn’t agree with the Senate Committee’s decision to amalgamate the two agencies to reduce operational costs but the decision had freed him in an unexpected way; he didn’t owe the Company the same loyalty he had always given to the FIRM and whilst he would never do anything to endanger the safety of his country, Michael was enjoying the new sense of liberty in his decision-making.

‘Actually,’ he continued, ‘they don’t exactly know I’m here.’

‘My God.’ Gemma shook her head in wonder. ‘I wouldn’t have believed it; Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III acting without the explicit approval of the FIRM.’

He smiled wryly. ‘You wouldn’t believe a lot of what I’ve done in the last two years.’

‘We have a lot of catching up to do.’ Gemma said.

‘Yes, we do.’ Michael motioned at the door. ‘We could do it on the journey back to the States.’

She sighed. ‘I’ll need at least an hour to handover my work and to pack…’

He interrupted her. ‘Fifteen minutes.’

‘Michael, I can’t possibly…’ Gemma stopped as Michael held up a hand for silence.

‘It isn’t a negotiation, Gemma. Our transport wasn’t built to withstand freezing conditions for long periods, Gemma. We’ve already spent a lot of the time we had arguing. Fifteen minutes is all I can give you.’

‘Fine.’ Gemma huffed. ‘Fifteen minutes.’

Michael nodded. ‘I’ll go and find our pilot. We’ll meet you up top.’

She nodded. ‘Michael?’

He turned in the doorway, a questioning look in his eye.

‘Thank you.’ Gemma said softly. ‘For coming.’

He smiled and their eyes connected; there was a jolt of remembered intimacy and chemistry. Michael took a step back and out of the room, breaking the eye contact. He breathed deeply and went in search of Dom. He found him in a small kitchen talking with Gregory.

‘Gemma’s just handing over her work and packing.’ Michael said. ‘She’ll be done in about fifteen minutes.’

Gregory nodded. ‘Thanks, Michael.’

Michael shrugged and reached into his inner pocket. He extracted a computer disc and handed it to the other man. ‘This is an update on everything.’

‘Any surprises?’ Gregory asked turning the disc over in his hands.

‘We’re being taken over.’ Michael announced succinctly. ‘By the Company.’

Gregory’s eyes hardened. ‘Damn.’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ agreed Michael. He gestured. ‘All the details are on the disc.’

Dom cleared his throat. ‘I think I’d better go and turn over the Lady’s engines, get the rotors moving.’

‘Why don’t you stay in the aircraft?’ Gregory said smiling at the pilot. ‘I can always bring Gemma out to you.’

‘OK by me,’ said Dom cheerfully.

‘I’ll go with him.’ Michael said.

Gregory stood and hugged him again. ‘It’s been too long, Michael.’

‘Take care, Gregory.’

‘Just you take care of Gemma.’ Gregory said. ‘And try not to kill each other huh?’

Michael smiled and brushed a finger over his moustache as Dom shook the scientist’s hand.

Dom followed Michael back to the cloakroom where they redressed before moving back outside. Even with the snowsuits both men were shivering by the time they got in Airwolf. Dom held his breath and switched on the engines and systems.

‘Come on baby.’ She powered up without a hitch. ‘Ah who’s my angel?’ Dom said happily running his hand over the front console.

Michael looked at the back of Dom’s head and raised an eyebrow. He brought up the system stats and ran through a pre-flight check.

‘So,’ Dom smiled broadly, ‘you and Gemma, huh?’

Michael sighed. He’d guessed Gregory would fill the pilot in on the personal history when he’d left them alone.

Dom turned around to look at him. ‘I didn’t know you used to be married.’

‘Used to be, being the operative words.’ Michael said wryly. ‘A failed marriage isn’t something I like to advertise.’

Dom laughed. ‘Well I can sympathise with you there.’

Michael met Dom’s rueful look and remembered the pilot’s own history; the older man had also had a failed marriage. ‘I guess you can.’ He said.

‘So what happened between the two of you?’ Dom asked nosily. ‘What did you do?’

‘Why do you assume it was my fault?’

‘Well it goes without saying.’ Dom chuckled.

Michael sighed. Dom was insatiably curious and if he didn’t get it from Michael no doubt he’d worm the story out of Gemma on the way home. ‘Gemma was my senior aide; we became involved. When we got married we both had difficulty adjusting so after a couple of years of trying to make it work and failing, Gemma left me and we eventually divorced.’ It sounded so clear-cut, Michael mused, when it had been anything but…

Dom picked up on the regret in the spy’s voice. ‘This is a pretty personal mission for you, huh?’

Michael hesitated before he nodded. ‘I guess it is.’ He admitted.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Dom said exasperated.

‘Would that be before or after I blackmailed you into doing the mission?’ Michael returned. Suddenly the computer in front of him clicked into a diagnostic. He looked at it in surprise. ‘Ah Dominic?’

‘What is it Michael?’

‘The computer is doing something back here.’

‘Specifically?’ Dom asked rolling his eyes.

‘I think it’s a diagnostic, I don’t recognise it.’ Michael tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

‘Punch it through to the front monitor.’ Dom said turning back to look at his own screen. He adjusted the monitor. ‘She’s scanning environmental conditions.’ He frowned. ‘That’s unusual.’

‘Has Airwolf initiated these scans before?’ Michael asked.

Dom shrugged trying not to be concerned. ‘She self-initiates scans all the time Michael. It’s part of her programming to identify potential threats. Why do you think the identification scans kick in like they do?’

‘OK. So why she is scanning environmental conditions now?’

Dom frowned. ‘I can’t pinpoint it. I need to be on the computer.’ He manoeuvred until he could get into the back of the cockpit where he and Michael did an awkward shuffle so Dom could sit at the engineer’s console. Michael hovered at his side.

Dom started to run further scans trying to establish what had triggered Airwolf’s programming. Both men were so focused on the computer they started at the knock on the cockpit door. Michael helped Gemma into the second pilot’s seat, stowing her small pack of belongings in the back of the cockpit.

Her brown eyes were wide as she settled into her seat. ‘What is this thing?’

Michael ignored her and stuck his hand out of the door to shake Gregory’s hand. ‘Thanks Gregory!’

The other man waved him in. ‘Like I said; just take care of her, Michael!’ He helped close the cockpit door and waved another goodbye. Gemma waved back watching until Gregory was safely inside the station as Michael returned to his position beside the engineer’s console.

Dom watched helplessly as Airwolf cycled through more environmental data. She stopped and the scans zeroed in on a spot several miles below the research station in the bedrock of the continent itself.

‘Oh my God.’ Dom said suddenly recognising what Airwolf had identified. A massive shift in the land buried under the ice; an earthquake in progress…it was too late.

The ground moved beneath them violently.

Airwolf shook and shifted as the packed ice and snow underneath her rippled. Gemma screamed and huddled back into the chair hearing a thud behind her as Michael lost his footing and fell, landing heavily on his bad leg. Dom grabbed the console and prayed.

Airwolf initiated her automatic pilot. She lifted off the shaking ground and started to rise out of the valley.

‘What the hell is going on?’ yelled Michael in alarm.

Dom’s eyes widened as they manoeuvred upwards slowly and came to a hover half-way up between the icy walls surrounding them.

Michael crawled into the space behind the front seats and stared through the windshield. ‘My God!’ he uttered quietly.

The ice was breaking apart; huge blocks were falling in front of them, exploding into the ground.

‘Hold on. That earthquake has caused an avalanche. We have a ton of snow headed our way.’ Dom said urgently reading the scans flickering across the monitor.

Michael put his hand on Gemma’s shoulder and she took it with both hands, holding on her fingers white.

‘Cover your eyes.’ Gemma gasped. ‘Otherwise we’ll all end up snow blind.’

Michael and Dom briefly glimpsed the wall of whiteness headed toward them and did as she said.

Airwolf fought to get altitude out of the path of the snow and wind. She struggled, shook viciously and lurched downwards before finding a path through. Her three passengers had a rollercoaster ride as she fought, machine against Mother Nature, to stay in the air.

The sudden cessation of movement worried Dom into peeking. He shakily let out the breath he’d been holding and laid a hand on his heart to calm it. They were hovering in the grey sky. He blinked.

‘Good God.’ He muttered.

Underneath them the once deep valley was almost filled with snow and ice that was creeping forward slowly to the coastline and falling into the sea.

Michael opened his eye at Dom’s quiet heartfelt words. He visibly swallowed in horror at the destruction below. ‘Dom, the research station?’ He asked urgently.

Dom punched in the scan and nothing happened. He tried another with the same result. ‘The surveillance system is down.’ He said. ‘But look at it…’ he gestured, ‘it’s gone, Michael.’

‘Maybe it’s buried…we could dig them out.’ Michael began before he stopped as the older man laid a hand on his shoulder.

‘Michael, there’s just no sign of it.’ Dom sighed sadly.

Michael bowed his head.

‘No!’ Gemma moaned. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She barely felt the squeeze of Michael’s hand on her shoulder.

‘There were twenty people in that station.’ Michael said softly.

‘I’m sorry.’ Dom said unable to think of anything else to say. He concentrated on adjusting systems impacted by the unexpected disaster and initiated their radar suppression. He sighed. ‘We have to set down and do a full system check. I need to get back to the pilot’s seat.’ He moved slowly out of the console and the three of them shifted places until Dom could settle into the main command seat at the front. Michael took his place at the engineer’s console and they all pulled on the heavy Airwolf helmets.

Dom put his hands onto the controls. ‘OK, Michael. Disengage the autopilot.’

‘Autopilot disengaged.’ Michael confirmed.

Dom felt the tremors in Airwolf’s frame. ‘OK, find me somewhere solid to land.’

‘It will take us out of the radar black zone.’ Michael warned.

‘Can’t be helped.’ Dom said. ‘We’ll just have to rely on her stealth and hope we’re too low to be picked up.’

‘Two miles north-east of our current position.’

Dom carefully set Airwolf on course. The two miles felt like an eternity as he wrestled to keep the machine in the air. He switched on the landing gear and brought her down gently.

There was a collective sigh of relief.

‘Michael, pass me my headgear.’ Dom ordered.

‘You’re going outside?’ Michael asked handing the face-mask to the older man.

‘I need to do a visual check on the rotors and the electronics. We took quite a battering.’ Dom answered grateful they hadn’t changed out of the snow suits as he pulled on the protective headwear. ‘When I get out, hand me the tool box.’ He adjusted the face-gear. ‘And whilst I’m outside run a full diagnostic.’ He opened the door and a wash of freezing air swept through the cockpit.

Michael quickly handed him the tool box ignoring the sharp pain in his leg. Dom closed the door and Michael sat back down with a sigh. He began to run the diagnostic. Gemma slipped into the back of Airwolf and sat down on the jump seat next to him.

‘Are we going to be able to fly?’ She asked.

Michael heard the tremor in her voice and looked across to her. Her hair had been disturbed by the helmet and soft tendrils had fallen out of the chignon to frame her tense, white face. She looked devastated and he silently cursed his own stupidity; she’d just lost the people who had been like family to her for the last three years. It was a wonder she wasn’t comatose with grief. ‘We’ll fly.’ He held his hand out to her and she took it. ‘Don’t tell him I said so but Dominic’s a brilliant engineer. He’ll get her back in the air.’

Gemma nodded and suddenly her eyes flooded with tears again. ‘All those people, Michael.’

‘I know…’ He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. ‘There was nothing we could have done.’

‘Gregory…’

‘I know.’ He reached across and she slumped against his shoulder awkwardly. He hugged her to him, sharing her grief for a moment. The console beeped and Michael pushed his grief away to deal with the practicalities of getting them home. He slowly eased away from Gemma.

She recognised the withdrawal immediately and shifted back onto the jump seat, swiping at the tears on her face. She took one shaky breath and then another. Michael concentrated on the diagnostic, noting which systems were failed and which weren’t.

The door opened and Dom climbed in quickly shutting the door behind him. He took off the face-gear and twisted round in his seat to the others. ‘She’s shaken some of her electronics loose but her rotors look OK.’ He said. ‘I’ve fixed what I can but I need to get her somewhere where I can work on her properly. My fingers just about froze out there.’ He nodded at Michael. ‘What’s the news in here?’

‘Communications are down. I’m reading several of her surveillance systems as down. There’s some other data on her engines which if I’m reading it correctly means we might have issues with the turbos.’

‘Punch it through and I’ll take a look at it.’ Dom said. His eyes slid to Gemma. ‘I’m real sorry about your friends.’

Gemma nodded, her eyes gleaming with new tears. ‘Thank you. We…we never got a chance to be introduced. I’m Gemma Carstairs.’

‘Dominic Santini.’

‘You’ll forgive for saying so Mr Santini but you don’t seem like a typical FIRM employee.’

Dom laughed. ‘That’s because I’m not.’ He laughed again. ‘Me work for the FIRM?’ He caught Michael’s eye.

Michael’s own lips twitched. ‘God forbid.’

‘Then,’ Gemma looked at them confused, ‘but then I don’t understand.’ She turned to Michael. ‘I mean I know you told me the FIRM didn’t know you were here but I thought…’

‘The FIRM doesn’t know we’re here?’ Dom interrupted his amusement dying abruptly. He glared at Michael.

‘Marella knows.’ Michael said returning his stare evenly.

Dom turned back to the front, reviewing the data on the front monitor and muttering under his breath in Italian. Michael figured it was probably about him and probably not complimentary.

‘You didn’t tell him?’ Gemma asked incredulous.

Michael shrugged.

Gemma lowered her voice. ‘So if Mr Santini doesn’t work for the FIRM, how do you know him?’

Michael sighed and glanced to see if Dominic was listening. ‘He’s a friend.’

‘A friend?’ Gemma looked forward and then back at Michael. ‘That seems unlikely.’

‘Yes.’ Michael agreed. It was a continual surprise to him too.

‘You have changed.’ Gemma said softly.

‘OK, kids.’ Dom twisted back to face them again before Michael could reply. ‘This is what we’re going to do. We need to find somewhere to fix her properly. I figure we can just about make the west coast of Africa with the electronics I’ve jerry-rigged. It’s going to be a bumpy ride though.’ He looked at Gemma. ‘You might want to come back up to the front, Ms Carstairs.’

‘It’s Gemma.’ She said taking his advice.

‘Call me Dom.’ Dom smiled at her and helped her to put the helmet back on.

They all held their breath as Airwolf powered back up. She failed first time and Dom has to adjust her systems again before the engines ignited. In a few moments they were airborne and heading North.

‘How’s she feeling?’ Michael asked.

Dom sighed. His Lady was definitely limping. She wasn’t getting enough power in the turbos and mach speed was definitely out. ‘She’ll hold together. Never let me down yet, have you, baby?’

‘So how do you know Michael?’ Gemma asked.

‘Oh well that’s kinda a long story.’ Dom said.

‘We have time don’t we?’ Gemma pressed.

Michael sighed in the back. ‘You might as well tell her Dominic.’

Dom settled back in his seat. ‘Well I guess for me it begins with my friend Stringfellow Hawke…’

‘Stringfellow Hawke?’ Gemma asked.

‘I know but it’s a real name, honest. His mother had a real thing about wanting unique names for the boys. I think it was because she was called Jane.’

‘So your friend Stringfellow Hawke…’ Gemma prompted.

‘String went to work for Michael here when they building this lady.’ He patted Airwolf. ‘String was the lead test pilot for her only he didn’t get on with the creator, a guy called Moffett. He didn’t like or trust the guy and the feeling was pretty mutual so String left the programme and came to work for me. But about six months or so later, just over two years ago now, Moffett stole Airwolf and took her to Libya.’ Dom altered their heading slightly. ‘Michael asked String to recover her and he agreed if the FIRM found Saint John, String’s brother. We all thought he was still MIA in Vietnam at the time.’

‘Saint John. I guess his mother really did have a thing about names.’ Gemma commented.

Dom grinned at her. ‘Anyway, String asked me to back him on the mission and we recovered Airwolf.’

‘What about Moffett?’ Gemma asked.

‘There was a shoot out; Moffett didn’t make it.’ Dom said quietly. The images of the explosion of fire and sand as Hawke, in his grief and fury at the way Moffett had tortured and murdered the young female FIRM agent Hawke had been involved with during the mission, unleashed the guns and missiles would stay with Dom until the end of his days.

Gemma nodded. She’d worked at the FIRM long enough to understand it wrought its own justice on occasion. ‘So you recovered Airwolf and then…?’

‘Well String figured that the FIRM would never come through with its part of the deal…’

‘Clever man.’ Gemma commented with a smile.

‘…so he held onto her.’ Dom laughed. ‘You should have seen it when we disappeared under the noses of the guys escorting us.’

‘Yes,’ Michael commented wryly remembering the moment with an acute clarity, ‘it was highly amusing for all of us.’

Dom resisted the urge to turn around and poke his tongue out at the spy. ‘Anyway, Michael was waiting for String when he got back home and offered him a deal. The FIRM would continue looking for his brother and would help String keep her from any other agencies trying to recover her in return for him flying occasional missions.’ He checked their heading. ‘That was two years ago.’

‘Two years.’ Gemma repeated. ‘And he hasn’t found his brother yet?’

‘Not yet but he keeps hoping and we’ve made some progress; we know Saint John made it out of ‘Nam.’ Dom said. He cleared his throat and decided a change in subject was in order. ‘So Michael tells me you’re a scientist?’

The subject moved on and eventually they were quiet concentrating on the flight in the damaged helicopter. They sighted the west coast of Africa with relief.

‘Are you sure you need to put down?’ Michael asked. ‘She seems to be handling OK.’

‘She’s not right. I’d rather not to take the risk of her failing over the Atlantic.’ Dom said. ‘We’re putting down. Try to find somewhere remote with no life-signs, will ya? We’re going to need to stay a while uninterrupted.’

‘Dom, most of the scans aren’t working.’ Michael pointed out.

‘Well use the ones which are.’ Dom gestured at the night sky that had fallen rapidly. ‘We can’t exactly see anything here.’

Michael shot him a look and gave him some coordinates. ‘We should be clear of any known settlements.’

They put down in the middle of the African wilderness and Dom switched off the engines. He sighed and got out. He stretched trying to shift the tiredness and aches. He was getting too old for this type of escapade, he thought grumpily as Gemma and Michael followed him. Dom’s eyes narrowed on the way Michael limped.

‘You OK Michael?’

His question had Gemma spinning to look at her ex-husband with concern. ‘You’re limping.’ She stated.

‘It’s just a little sore and stiff from being sat so long.’ He downplayed the sheer agony of putting any weight on the leg at all.

Dom wasn’t fooled; he’d seen the fall the other man had taken. He gestured. ‘Gemma, there’s some torches in the back. Why don’t you and I set up a camp? Michael, review our supplies will ya?’

Michael opened his mouth to argue but stopped seeing Dom’s implacable face. He nodded.

It was an uncomfortable night in the makeshift camp. They slept under the camouflage net near to Airwolf with a small campfire to keep them warm and ward off any curious wildlife. Michael and Dom still took turns at keeping watch eschewing Gemma’s offer of help. It meant that Dom was up at first light and he set about fixing the systems with a quiet concentration. He had been working for an hour when he heard sounds on the other side of the helicopter; someone was awake. It wasn’t long before they appeared beside him.

‘Coffee?’ Gemma offered him a steaming mug and he took it with a grateful gap-toothed smile. He took a sip almost burning his lips and tongue on the hot liquid.

‘How’s it looking?’ She asked nodding at the open panel.

‘About as bad as I thought.’ Dom said. ‘But I think I’ve just about jerry-rigged the comms systems, at least so we can make contact and arrange a fuel pickup.’ He took another gulp of coffee. ‘I’ll start on the turbine ignitions next. It’ll be a long journey if we have to keep under mach speed; the surveillance systems can wait until we get home.’

‘Michael said you were a brilliant engineer.’ Gemma commented oddly comforted at the innate confidence the older man had in his work.

‘He did?’ Dom couldn’t resist the smile. He’d have to remember to rib the spy about that later. ‘Is he up yet?’

Gemma shook her head. ‘The painkillers you forced down him seem to have knocked him right out.’ She’d heard the muted argument at the last watch change-over.

‘Yeah that was the intention.’ Dom admitted.

‘His leg is worse than he said it was.’ Gemma concluded. She leaned against the wing. ‘What happened to him?’

Dom hid his face in his coffee. ‘Maybe you’d better ask him.’

‘I did.’ Gemma said with a smile. ‘All he would say was that he’d trusted someone he shouldn’t.’

‘Well that’s true enough.’ Dom sighed. ‘But I still think if anyone should tell you the details…it should be him.’

Gemma nodded slowly. ‘He said you were friends. I’m not sure I believed it with the insults you two were trading last night.’

Dom raised an eyebrow. He gave a little huff of laughter. ‘Ah take no notice of our taking pot shots at each other.’ He smiled. ‘That’s just the way we are.’

Gemma smiled. ‘I’d better leave you to work. Is there anything I can do?’

‘Breakfast would be good.’ Dom beamed. ‘There’re some rations in the back of Airwolf.’

‘I’ll find them.’ Gemma promised.

She and Dom had eaten their breakfast and Dom had returned to his work when Michael stirred. He rubbed his hand over his face and replaced his glasses. He blinked at the bright sunshine streaming in through the holes in the canopy and checked his watch. He sighed.

‘Hi.’ Gemma offered him a mug of coffee.

‘Thank you.’ Michael took it and shoved the sleeping bag aside to join her in front of the campfire. He couldn’t hide the wince as his leg protested.

Gemma firmed her lips. Michael would not appreciate the sympathy. She set about making some breakfast for him.

‘How long have you and Dom been up?’ Michael asked.

‘Long enough for us to have had our breakfasts.’ Gemma said adding water to the powdered eggs and stirring vigorously.

‘Someone should have woken me.’ Michael said grumpily. He set his mug on the floor and excused himself limping into the bushes.

Gemma carried on making his breakfast and when he returned she handed him a plate of food and his mug had been topped up with coffee.

‘Thank you.’ Michael said and moved to sit away from the fire under the camouflage net; the sun was becoming very strong and he didn’t need the extra heat. Gemma joined him grateful for the shade the net provided.

‘How is Marella?’ She asked suddenly.

Michael paused in shovelling the eggs into his mouth. He’d been expecting the question since his comment the night before to Dom that only Marella knew about the mission. All he could see was curiosity in her eyes. ‘Good.’ He said.

‘And still with you?’ Gemma asked.

Michael nodded. ‘She had some time away on a foreign assignment but she returned a short while ago.’

‘I’m sure the foreign assignment wasn’t your idea.’

‘Gemma…’

‘Sorry.’ She gestured. ‘It doesn’t really matter now does it?’

Michael sighed and shovelled some food in his mouth. It wasn’t particularly appetising but he knew he needed the fuel.

‘This Moffett Dom talked about last night…was that the same one as at White Sands?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you employed him?’ Her brown eyes were disbelieving.

Michael set his empty plate down and picked up the coffee. ‘I told you that I trusted someone I shouldn’t.’

‘What happened exactly?’ Gemma asked.

‘When Moffett stole Airwolf he blew the control tower to smithereens.’ Michael took a sip of his drink. ‘I was there.’

‘My God.’

Michael shrugged. ‘I was lucky; others weren’t so fortunate.’ He sighed. ‘Dom was right; Hawke never trusted Moffett. He even warned me about him; I should have listened to him.’

Gemma looked over at him. ‘Stringfellow Hawke. I met him didn’t I?’

‘Just after I recruited him.’ Michael shook his head. ‘I’d forgotten that.’

‘He seemed quiet. I didn’t think he’d make it.’ Gemma admitted.

‘People underestimate Hawke all the time. It seems to be one of his gifts.’

‘You respect him.’ Gemma said surprised that Michael hadn’t tried to hide it.

‘I do.’ Michael admitted. ‘He’s one of the best operatives I’ve ever worked with and he’s definitely the best pilot.’ He gestured with his mug. ‘But beyond that, he’s a good man; a good friend.’

Gemma hid her shock by lowering her eyes. The Michael she knew had been wedded to the intelligence life; he would never have spoken of one of his operatives with such respect or…fondness, she realised; Michael was truly fond of Hawke.

‘It’s a shame he isn’t here.’ Michael said. He gave a wry grin. ‘He’s on his honeymoon.’

‘Honeymoon.’ Gemma sighed. ‘I hope he does better than we did at the whole marriage thing.’ She looked across at him. ‘Where did we go wrong, Michael?’

Michael shrugged. ‘We have any number of excuses, Gemma.’ He hesitated. ‘We just got to the point where there were too many angry words; too little compromise; too much secrecy. In the end, neither of us was willing to make it work. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be.’

She gave a small laugh. ‘Maybe you’re right.’

Michael put his mug down. ‘As you say, it doesn’t matter now.’

Their eyes held for a moment. Michael pushed himself to his feet. ‘I’d better go and check in with Dom.’

He limped around the helicopter and leaned against the wing. He briefly watched the other man working. Dom had stripped off with the heat of the day; his uniform jacket had been dumped revealing a grey t-shirt that was already getting liberally soaked through with sweat.

‘You should take more painkillers.’ Dom said not turning from the panel he was working on.

‘How are you getting on?’ Michael asked ignoring the older man’s suggestion.

Dom stopped working and turned around to face him. ‘I think I have audio communications back on line. Give me another few minutes on the ignition systems and I think we’ll be OK.’ He mopped his brow. ‘We’ll need to do a fuel pick up.’

Michael nodded. ‘I’ll test out the communications and call Marella. She can arrange it.’ He folded his arms. ‘Dominic, what Airwolf did yesterday, taking control like that to move us out of danger…has she ever done that before?’

Dom sighed.

‘Dominic.’ Michael saw the truth flit across the other man’s craggy features and he straightened ignoring the shaft of pain that shot up his leg. ‘Is this why Hawke had her grounded?’

Dom swiped at his brow again before he reluctantly met Michael’s eye. ‘Kinda.’ He admitted. ‘But it’s not what you think.’

‘What am I thinking?’ Michael asked tersely.

‘That’s it’s some kind logic bomb like the last time she took control.’ Dom returned.

Michael gestured. ‘So what is it?’

Dom sighed again. ‘We don’t know exactly.’ He glanced at the helicopter. ‘I thought she was just extrapolating her programming the first few times…’

‘She’s done…’ Michael checked the volume on his voice; he didn’t want to alarm Gemma. ‘Exactly how many times has she done this before?’

Dom shrugged. ‘Three times, we think.’ He muttered.

‘Three…’ Michael glared at him. ‘When was the first time?’

‘We think when we rescued Zeus.’ Dom admitted. ‘Airwolf picked up on Hawke’s signal when he inputted her code into the basement security panel and opened the door for him.’

‘That was Airwolf?’ Michael had been on that mission; he had assumed it had been Dom who’d opened the door for Hawke.

Dom nodded. ‘But her system was all hooked up with the security program of that building…’

‘So you figured she saw the building as an extension of herself, recognised her security code and acted on it like she would normally.’ Michael deduced.

Dom nodded again. ‘And the second time is a little ambiguous too. Airwolf picked up on Cait’s SOS signal through the communications system when Hawke and she crashed over the White Sands Missile Range but you kinda expect her to do that even though the signal was in Morse code.’

‘OK.’ Michael leaned back against the helicopter. ‘I can see why you’d think there was nothing major to be concerned about. What about the third time?’

Dom frowned and looked at the helicopter to avoid looking at Michael. ‘She, well, she kinda…shot down a chopper.’

‘She…’ Michael blinked. ‘When? Where?’

‘When we went to rescue String at Racino Pass just before the wedding.’ Dom admitted. ‘We were all out of Airwolf helping to carry String back to her when the chopper attacked. I got cut off trying to get back to her whilst the others protected String. The chopper was lining up again and Airwolf…Airwolf shot it down.’

‘And saved your lives.’ Michael concluded.

‘And saved our lives.’ Dom agreed. ‘Like she did yesterday when she took off like she did.’

Michael rubbed his moustache. ‘I know she saved our lives but…’

‘It was pretty creepy.’ Dom finished.

‘Not quite the word I’d used but…yes.’ Michael agreed. He sighed. ‘So that’s why Hawke had her grounded?’

‘He wanted us to run tests on her when he got back from honeymoon.’ Dom said. ‘He was going to tell you then.’

Michael sighed again. ‘You both should have told me as soon as it happened.’ His words lacked any anger or real annoyance. He knew Hawke would have told him eventually and understood why the pilot had been reluctant to; the last time Airwolf had acted screwy it had severely tested the trust between them.

‘Maybe…’ Dom glanced at the helicopter, ‘maybe we should get Karen to take a look at her when we get back.’ Karen Hansen was the foremost expert on Airwolf’s programming. She was currently working on a project to build another Airwolf for Michael.

‘I think that would be a good idea.’ Michael said.

Dom sighed again as he patted Airwolf’s flank. ‘Between this and all the repairs…String is going to kill me.’

His crestfallen expression prompted Michael to reassure him. ‘No, he’ll kill me.’ Michael said wryly, ‘You,’ he stabbed a finger at Dom, ‘he’ll forgive.’

‘I can only hope,’ returned Dom with a smile in his eyes. He jerked his head in the direction of the other side of the helicopter. ‘Gemma seems to be holding up fine.’

‘She’s stronger than she looks.’ Michael said.

‘Still…it had to be tough for her yesterday, losing everyone she knew like that.’ Dom reminded him.

Michael pushed off the wing. ‘If you’ve got the communications sorted out, I’d better call Marella.’ He opened up the cockpit door and pulled himself into the seat. He took the opportunity of being alone to rub at his leg muscles and the knee joint. It had taken three separate operations to put his leg back together again; the limb was a web of scar tissue and there was no longer a day where he did not go without any ache in the joint but the pain from the fall was excruciating. He took a deep breath and composed himself. He hit the buttons to connect him to Marella.

‘Marella, it’s me.’ Michael said when she picked up.

‘Sir. It’s good to hear your voice.’ Marella said.

Michael smiled. He could hear the relief hidden in the even tone. ‘We ran into some trouble yesterday.’

‘Yes sir. I saw the report on the seismic activity in the Antarctic.’

Of course she had. She’d probably been monitoring the area to ensure Airwolf’s foray had gone unnoticed, Michael thought.

‘Is the station all right sir?’

‘It was buried.’ He winced at the regret and grief in his voice; he was in too much pain to smooth out his emotions. ‘Dominic’s fixing Airwolf now. We need a fuel pick up put on standby. Alert the clinic that Gemma will be checking in as arranged.’

‘Understood, sir.’ Marella said.

‘Is Angelina OK?’ Michael asked. His ten year old daughter had become the centre of his world since he had discovered her in Russia the previous year.

Marella’s voice softened and she nodded. ‘At school and looking forward to seeing you.’

Michael breathed a sigh of relief. He said his goodbyes and disconnected the call before he climbed out. He limped back round to the campfire. Gemma was sitting quietly underneath the camouflage net. Her sad expression brought Dom’s words back to him and he frowned. Michael moved under the net but before he could say anything, he caught the glimpse of movement in the bush beside them. He almost unbalanced on his bad leg as he spun to face a man moving into their clearing.

The intruder was Caucasian, his skin pinkened by the heat of the sun and covered in a film of sweat; his white blond hair was stuck to him. He was dressed in bush camouflage gear and was carrying a large hunting rifle which he pointed at Michael and Gemma. Another man, smaller in frame and bulk, with dark swarthy features and pitted skin joined him.

Michael slowly raised his hands. He started at the sound of Dom’s surprised yell as he too was surrounded by men on the other side of the helicopter. A moment later the older man was pushed around to join them. He was followed by two other men. One was a giant African man with ebony skin and bulging muscles, the other another white blond man but with a slim weedy frame. They all held rifles.

The first man smiled and wiped his brow with a large cotton handkerchief. ‘Well, lookee what we’ve got here.’ He whistled and walked around to Airwolf’s nose. ‘Well, well, well. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a beauty.’ His gaze slid to Gemma. ‘Maybe two.’

‘What will it take?’ Michael asked evenly.

‘Did I ask you to speak?’ The man charged up to Michael until he was in his face and Michael could smell the putrid stink of his breath.

The spy didn’t flinch, didn’t take a step back. He simply held his position. ‘How much?’

‘Oh!’ Realisation dawned in the man’s beady blue eyes and he spun away laughing falsely to his associates. ‘He thinks he can buy us?’ He dropped his act. ‘There isn’t enough money is there boy that could top what I’d get for selling her to say…the Russians?’ He spat on the floor and wiped the excess spittle of his bulbous lips with the back of his dirt-smeared hand. ‘Bring them and cover that machine up. Bart, stay with her. I don’t want no kooks coming and hauling her away.’

‘Yes, Tomas.’ The weedy man lounged back against Airwolf whilst the others pushed their prisoners toward the bush land. They were marched for almost half an hour before they came upon a camp. It was well-ordered with one large tent providing an eating and relaxation area whilst another smaller tent was obviously being used as some kind of office with a radio in clear sight. There were half a dozen sleeping tents on the opposite side of the camp from the eating area. A helicopter with mounted guns stood at the back of the camp; a jeep was parked off to the side.

Dom’s eyes widened at the sight of a cage and the small beaten African man huddled in it. They were all pushed roughly into the structure and their captors walked away leaving them alone. Dom caught Michael before he fell; Gemma dipped around him and took his other side. They helped lower him to the ground.

‘Easy now easy.’ Dom said.

Michael flushed with humiliation as he all but collapsed onto the floor. He suppressed the moan beginning in the back of his throat and tried to focus through the pain. Dom and Gemma sat down beside him. The African man regarded them with concerned black eyes.

‘Is he OK?’ The question was asked in heavily accented English.

Dom looked over at Michael. His face was smoothed into an impassive mask but it still couldn’t hide the lines of pain around his mouth or the gleam of agony in his eye. ‘He’ll be OK.’ The pilot examined the strong cane structure that held them all. ‘We just all need to get out of here.’

‘I am Kano.’ The African man offered his hand and Dom shook it.

‘Dominic Santini.’ He thrust his thumb at his companions. ‘This is Michael and Gemma.’ He gestured at Kano. ‘Do you know what’s going on here?’

‘They are poachers. They are after the horn of the rhinoceros which they mean to sell to Asian countries where such a trophy is considered to hold strong powers.’ Kano said.

‘Of course,’ Gemma murmured, ‘the horn is considered to be an aphrodisiac and helps to improve male performance.’

Dom blushed and hurriedly moved the conversation on. ‘So these guys are hunting illegally out here?’

Kano nodded. ‘I am with the ranger service. I have been tracking them trying to get the evidence to stop them. But yesterday they spotted me.’ He pinned them with a serious gaze. ‘And you? What are you doing out here?’

‘Pilots.’ Dom said before either Michael or Gemma could reply. ‘We had to make an emergency landing in our helicopter. Just got her fixed when they ambushed us. The blonde guy seems to be the leader?’

‘Yes. Tomas Rickmaan. He leads. The others are criminals. Men who will do anything for money.’ Kano gestured with a thin elegant brown hand. ‘I do not believe that they intend to let us go.’

‘Yeah, that wouldn’t be my first guess either.’ Dom agreed.

Kano moved his gaze to Gemma and looked meaningfully at Dom. ‘It is not safe.’ His unspoken worry that the men would specifically harm Gemma shone from his eyes.

Dom nodded. ‘Well we need to find a way out of here that’s for certain. How many of them are there?’

‘I have observed six men.’ Kano said.

‘Do they patrol at all?’ Michael asked trying to focus on their immediate situation and not on the burning pain in his leg.

Kano shook his head. ‘They are out hunting until evening. One man remains and comes every so often to give me some water but otherwise they have left me here alone.’

Michael rubbed his moustache. ‘If they do the same for us, we may have a chance.’ He waved a hand at their captors who were all grouped around the small office tent on the far side of the camp. ‘But we need them to leave.’

‘What are you thinking?’ Dom asked.

Michael explained his plan and the others went over it adding suggestions until they were all happy with their parts.

‘Now,’ Dom said, ‘all we need is for them to leave.’

It was another two hour before Tomas and two of his cohorts left the camp in the helicopter; each hour the prisoners received a ladle of water like animals in a zoo. Tomas left two men in charge, the dark-haired swarthy man from the morning’s ambush and another who looked like his brother. The plan was quickly revised to address the additional man.

It was another thirty anxious minutes before the men came over to the cage with the bucket of water and ladle. One held a gun on them whilst the other came inside to distribute the water. They each gulped the ladle of water greedily. Gemma was the last to drink and as she wiped the drips from her chin, the men began to withdraw from the cage.

Dom moaned suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. He clutched at his chest and bent over still moaning.

‘Dom?’ Michael asked limping over to put his hand on Dom’s back.

‘My heart!’ He gasped slowly sinking to the ground.

Gemma reached out and grabbed the guard with the water. ‘Do something!’ She demanded dragging him back into the cage.

The other guard moved in too, inadvertently lowering his weapon as he strained to look at Dom writhing on the ground groaning. ‘Looks like a heart attack Bill.’

‘Yeah,’ the man put the water bucket down and crouched down beside Dom, ‘he’s not going to make it, Georg.’ He leaned over the old man.

Dom moved with surprising speed throwing his body at Bill bringing him to the ground where he punched him. Bill recovered faster than expected and Dom felt the sock to his jaw as the two men rolled over the ground. Kano grabbed Bill and dragged him off the older man. Dom gasped for breath.

At the same time Dom acted, Michael grabbed the water bucket and threw the contents in the face of Georg. It didn’t stop the guard for long; he struck out with the butt of his rifle and whacked it into Michael’s bad knee. Michael went white, he unbalanced and fell heavily on his other knee; his vision blurred, darkened; for one horrifying moment he thought he was going to black out. He felt the blow to the side of his head rather than saw it.

Gemma picked up the bucket and whacked Georg over the head. He staggered back disoriented. She hit him again with the steel bucket this time full in the face; there was a resounding crack and he dropped like a stone to the ground. She dropped the bucket and picked up the rifle. She aimed at Bill who was wrestling with Kano.

‘Hey!’ She fired the gun and the shot brought both men to a stop. Bill raised his hands and Kano thumped him, knocking him unconscious.

Dom helped Michael to his feet. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of here.’

They staggered to the jeep. Gemma and Kano got in the back whilst Dom got Michael settled in the front. He frowned at the lack of keys and wished fervently for Caitlin; for some reason he’d never managed to get out of her, she was an expert on hotwiring vehicles. He got the engine started and the jeep bounced over the rough terrain heading out in the direction they had been marched, back to Airwolf.

‘We’re still going to need to take out the guard they left there.’ Michael said.

Dom nodded. ‘I know.’

Gemma handed Michael the rifle. ‘Maybe we should go hunting.’

What had been a long march took barely any time in the jeep; Dom slowed the vehicle as they approached the clearing. He kept the engine idling as they peered through the bushes. Dom spotted the guard first. Bart was stretched out asleep under the camouflage net. Michael and Dom exchanged a surprised look; they put the jeep in gear and drove slowly into the clearing; Michael kept the rifle aimed at Bart’s prone form. Dom brought the jeep to a halt. A loud snore emitted from Bart.

Michael covered Dom whilst the older man got out and made his way to the guard. Dom knocked Bart out with a single punch and dragged him away from Airwolf. He started to pull the netting from Airwolf and Gemma helped Michael into Airwolf. Dom ushered a wide-eyed Kano into the front passenger seat and ran round to take the pilot’s seat. He gave Kano a reassuring smile whilst getting them both into helmets.

‘Don’t worry, kid. We’ll drop you off wherever you need to go.’ Dom said

There was a loud roar outside Airwolf.

Dom froze and looked past his passenger out through the door window. His eyes widened in horror. ‘Mamma Mia’ He uttered. A rhinoceros looked back at him across the clearing.

Kano swallowed hard. ‘It is going to charge.’

Dom fumbled and hit the engine buttons.

‘What’s going to charge?’ asked Michael worriedly. He couldn’t see.

Airwolf powered up.

‘Believe me, Michael,’ Dom said, ‘you don’t want to know.’

‘Hurry!’ urged Kano.

‘I’m hurrying, kid, I’m hurrying.’ Dom muttered grasping the cyclic. He started to rise as the rhinoceros pounded across the clearing. There was a crunching sound and Airwolf lurched sideways. Dom managed to steady her and climbed, leaving the rhinoceros disappointed below them.

‘Dominic,’ Michael tapped at the computer monitor, ‘I’m reading that the back landing gear is buckled.’

Dom sighed. ‘Well let’s worry about that when we get home.’ He began to turn away from the clearing. ‘So where to, Kano?’

‘Dominic, radar is picking up a helicopter with side-guns.’ Michael interrupted. ‘It’s heading right for us. I think it’s the poachers.’

‘Deploy the weapons.’ Dom ordered.

Kano gulped at the sight of the guns firing at them through the windshield. He raised his arms instinctively and then lowered them his heart racing as he realised the bullets had bounced off the helicopter.

Dom pulled back on the stick and Airwolf went into a sharp climb. He turned her around and dived back down lining up behind the other helicopter. He triggered the chain guns and Airwolf spat a stream of ammo which missed completely.

‘Dammit!’ Dom muttered. It looked like the targeting systems were also damaged. ‘Give me a redeye, manual targeting.’

‘Missile ready.’ Michael noted.

Dom lined up his target and fired. The helicopter in front exploded in a satisfying manner. Kano made the sign of the cross. He watched the wreckage falling for as long as he could.

‘Where to kid?’ Dom’s question wrested the young man’s attention from the destroyed aircraft and he directed him to a small village. They agreed to drop him just outside and it only took a few moments to reach the destination.

Dom lowered Airwolf to the ground as much as he could without using the landing gear. ‘You’re going to have to jump out I’m afraid. I can’t try landing on her gear here and getting stuck.’

Kano nodded and removed his helmet. He turned to smile at Gemma and Michael in the back. ‘Thank you.’

‘Don’t mention it.’ Michael said and stroked his moustache. ‘Really. Don’t ever mention it.’

Kano smiled broadly and turned back to Dom. ‘Your machine…I have never seen anything like it; a machine with a living spirit.’

‘Oh?’ Dom said laughing to cover his own unease.

Kano smiled at him enigmatically. ‘Thank you, my friends.’ He opened the door and jumped out before Dom could say anything more.

Dom shifted in his seat, looking back at Michael’s pained face and Gemma’s concern as she looked at her ex-husband. ‘Let’s get home.’

Dom nodded and lifted Airwolf up and into the sky. The journey back was uneventful except for discovering the repairs to the communications system hadn’t held which made the fuel pickup an interesting exercise. As soon as it was done, Dom pressed Michael into taking painkillers and resting; the other man’s agony evident. As they neared the Valley, Dom asked Gemma to put a blindfold on and although she complained, she did as she was asked. He positioned Airwolf over the Lair and lowered her down the funnel to her resting place.

‘Uh-oh.’ Dom muttered catching sight of the two people waiting in the Lair.

Michael peered past Dom through the windshield and raised his eyebrows. Hawke was stood directly in front of them; arms folded and blue eyes glaring like lasers at the descending helicopter.

Dom switched on the landing gear and prayed it would deploy with one of three props broken. He figured he could land on the other two and gently set down on the broken one. Hawke and Caitlin both saw the broken landing gear and acted; Caitlin ran to the jeep and brought out a jack. She and Hawke ducked under the rotors and as Dom balanced Airwolf on the two good wheels, they put the jack in place. Hawke hit Airwolf’s side to signal Dom to allow her to come down on the make-shift solution as he and Caitlin moved back out of the way.

Dom was the first out of Airwolf. Hawke walked over to meet him whilst he closed the cockpit door.

‘Ah String it’s good to see you.’ Dom said brightly.

‘Where the hell have you been and what did you do to her?’ Hawke asked gesturing at the broken landing gear.

‘String, I can explain everything.’ Dom began.

Hawke folded his arms and pinned Dom with a sharp blue gaze. ‘Like why the communications system seems to be down too?’

‘I’m going to fix everything, String, I swear.’

‘And what the hell happened to your face?’

Dom sighed, rubbing at the bruise on his jaw and met Hawke’s concerned gaze, his own face downcast and guilty. ‘It’s a long story.’

Hawke’s hand landed on Dom’s shoulder; a little too heavily to be completely friendly. ‘I’m sure it’s going to be fascinating.’

‘Hey, guys! A little help here.’ Caitlin’s shout had both men looking to the other side of Airwolf. She and Gemma were either side of Michael, struggling to support his weight as they helped him over to a chair on the platform.

Hawke strode round and took Caitlin’s place whilst Dom did the same for Gemma. They lowered Michael into the chair. Hawke frowned. His blue eyes jumped from Gemma, who he recognised with surprise, to Michael. He looked in even worse condition than Dom. There was a bruise was forming along the right side of the spy’s pale and drawn face but the way his hands clutched at his bad leg as though he could physically hold the limb together signalled a worse injury. Hawke looked on helplessly as Caitlin knelt in front of Michael and started to undo the boot.

‘No.’ Michael croaked.

‘Michael, we need to see how bad this is.’ Caitlin insisted.

Michael shook his head. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Yeah, I don’t believe Hawke when he says it either.’ Caitlin muttered and continued to undo the straps. She was as gentle as she could be but when the boot was finally removed, Michael couldn’t prevent a cry escaping his lips. Hawke put a steadying hand on his friend’s shoulder and Michael unconsciously reached for it, holding onto it tightly. Caitlin cut open the trouser leg of the uniform up to the mid thigh and gently moved the material away.

She swallowed hard at the disfigured limb and at the clear protrusion of something – a bone or a pin – sticking out of place just underneath the skin around the badly swollen knee joint. She reached into the first aid kit and brought out a syringe and a small vial of morphine to hopefully relieve the pain.

‘Dom, can you get me the ice packs from Airwolf?’ She said calmly filling the syringe with the drug. Dom hurried to fulfil her request.

Michael flinched as the needle went into him and he gripped Hawke’s hand tighter than before. The drug took immediate effect and Caitlin saw the slackening of Michael’s tensed jaw muscles with satisfaction. She took the ice-packs Dom handed her and placed them around the swollen knee, securing them with a bandage.

‘We’re going to need to get you to hospital.’ Caitlin said standing up.

‘The FIRM clinic.’ Michael slurred. ‘Marella…’

‘We’ll radio her on the way. I’ve got the chopper outside. It’ll be quicker.’ Hawke said motioning to Dom. They lifted Michael out of the chair and started the walk out of the Lair. Caitlin caught Gemma as she made to follow.

‘Sorry, but I’m going to need you to wear this.’ She dangled the black strip of material in front of the other woman.

Gemma nodded.

Caitlin tied the blindfold securely over Gemma’s eyes. ‘I’m Caitlin Hawke by the way.’ There was a slight note of disbelief in her voice at her name as though she still wasn’t used to it.

‘Gemma Carstairs.’

‘OK, Gemma, we’re going to head out.’ Caitlin placed a hand under the other woman’s elbow and guided her out of the Lair. The chopper was a small distance away from the Lair entrance; Hawke had parked her under a large outcropping to ensure she wouldn’t be spotted from the air. Caitlin helped Gemma into the middle seat at the back of the aircraft before taking her own seat next to her.

‘All in?’ Hawke asked.

‘All in.’ Caitlin confirmed. ‘Have you called Marella?’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke lifted the chopper off the ground and they made their way to the FIRM clinic as Dom filled them in on what had happened; the original mission to collect Gemma, the earthquake, the escapade in Africa.

Marella was waiting with the medical staff at the helipad when they landed. The doctor and nurses rushed forward to gather Michael from his seat and loaded him onto the stretcher whilst the others disembarked.

‘Sir?’ Marella asked taking Michael’s hand, her dark eyes concerned.

Michael smiled dopily at her. ‘Marella. Look, Hawke, it’s Marella.’

‘Yeah, Michael, I see that.’ Hawke slipped his arm around his wife and Marella glanced up at them worriedly.

It was Caitlin who reassured her. ‘He’s had morphine, Marella.’

Marella’s eyes slid to the blonde woman who had come to stand on the other side of Caitlin and she let go of Michael’s hand. ‘Gemma.’

‘Marella.’ Gemma glared at Michael’s senior aide.

‘Excuse us, people.’ The doctor pushed the stretcher over to the roof elevator. Marella broke the tense eye contact and walked away quickly to catch them up. Gemma moved swiftly to keep pace and they saw her slide her hand into Michael’s as the elevator closed.

‘What’s with the two of them?’ Caitlin asked. Her blue-green eyes were filled with curiosity at the fraught exchange between the two women.

‘Gemma is Michael’s ex.’ Hawke said before Dom could comment.

Dom’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You knew?’ He hadn’t mentioned the personal information in his retelling of the mission.

‘Michael was married?’ Caitlin nudged her husband. ‘You never said.’

Hawke shrugged. ‘Never seemed relevant.’

‘Well I guess that explains the tension between her and Marella.’ Caitlin noted. Marella was always incredibly protective of her boss and Caitlin suspected that both were harbouring feelings that ran a little deeper than the relationship they currently presented to the world.

Hawke nodded. ‘Guess so.’

Caitlin’s eyes narrowed on him. There had been something in his tone; something that suggested he knew more than he was telling. ‘OK. Spill.’

Hawke tried for an innocent look. Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

‘Fine.’ He muttered. ‘Gemma left Michael because she thought he was having an affair with Marella.’

‘And you know this because?’ Dom asked blinking back his surprise.

‘Because I know.’ Hawke gestured unwilling to reveal anything more. ‘Shouldn’t we go in and see what’s going on?’

Caitlin patted his arm picking up on his discomfort. ‘Come on.’

The three of them made their way down the stairs to the clinic treatment rooms. Gemma was waiting in the reception area on a set of turquoise sofas. Hawke caught the attention of a passing nurse.

‘Hey, you think you could take a look at Mr Santini here.’ He caught Dom’s arm before he could escape.

The young blonde girl smiled up at him. ‘Sure.’

Hawke flashed a smile at her, ignored Dom’s annoyed look and slapped his shoulder as he was led away.

Caitlin rolled her eyes at her husband. ‘I’ll just be a minute.’ She excused herself and headed for the ladies.

Hawke meandered over to the sofas.

Gemma looked up as he sat down opposite her. ‘Hi.’

‘Hi.’ Hawke returned her greeting cautiously.

‘It’s been a long time.’ Gemma said.

Hawke nodded. ‘A long time. How are you?’

Her eyes filled with tears again and she shook her head. ‘Not good, I guess.’ She said when she felt she could speak without sobbing.

‘Sounds like you’ve had a tough couple of days.’ Hawke noted sympathetically.

She swiped at her eyes. ‘I can’t believe everyone else is gone.’

Hawke handed the box of tissues on the coffee table. He knew there was nothing anyone could say; her loss was staggering.

Gemma wiped her eyes and blew her nose. ‘I’m sorry.’

Hawke shrugged. ‘You have nothing to apologise for.’

‘Your wife seems nice.’ Gemma said and a small smile lifted the corners of her lips. ‘You two seem happy.’

Hawke rubbed his new wedding ring. It seemed a little strange to be wearing it; a surprise each time that warmed him, reminded him he wasn’t alone any longer. ‘Yeah.’ He glanced down the corridor at the sound of footsteps and smiled at Caitlin.

‘Any news?’ She asked sitting down beside him.

Gemma watched the couple enviously; there was an ease between them, a very evident manifestation of the love and trust they shared in the way they held hands and quietly supported each other. She looked away from them.

Dom rejoined them. One hand was bandaged where he had scraped his knuckles fighting and a small plaster covered a cut on his cheek. He sat down heavily opposite Hawke and Caitlin. He was tired, he thought, all he wanted to do was crawl into his bed and stay there.

The sharp click of heels against the linoleum floor had their heads turning and they all stood up to greet Marella and another of Michael’s aides, an older Asian woman called Kim.

Gemma broke into a smile and rushed forward with outstretched hands. ‘Kim.’

‘Gemma.’ Kim held her hands and smiled. ‘It’s good to see you again.’

Gemma nodded, her brown eyes flickering from Kim to the Hawaiian woman who had accompanied her.

‘Kim will get you settled into the clinic for your treatment.’ Marella explained.

‘I want to see Michael.’ Gemma’s eyes flashed at her angrily.

‘Michael’s gone into surgery.’ Marella said to her. ‘He has to have the pin in his knee realigned.’ She shoved her hands into the white wool coat she wore.

‘I’d like to see him after his surgery.’ Gemma insisted.

‘We’ll arrange something.’ Kim said soothingly.

Gemma nodded. She turned back to Dom and held out her hand. He clasped it with a warm smile.

‘Thank you.’ She said before she allowed Kim to lead her away.

Marella watched her and resisted the urge to sigh with relief that the other woman was gone. She started at the touch on her arm.

Caitlin smiled apologetically but regarded the other woman with concern. ‘Are you OK?’

Marella nodded and shrugged. ‘Michael’s going to be in surgery for a while. There’s no point you guys staying.’ Her dark eyes drifted meaningfully to Dom who looked as though he was going to fall asleep on his feet.

‘We don’t mind waiting with you.’ Caitlin said.

Marella shook her head. ‘I can’t stay either. I have to get back to headquarters. There’s a whole heap of things that will be impacted by Michael’s surgery.’

Hawke squeezed Caitlin’s hand and stopped her from pressing it. He nodded. ‘What about Angelina?’

‘She’s all taken care of.’ Marella appreciated that Hawke had asked. ‘But thanks.’

‘OK, then. We’ll stop in tomorrow.’ Hawke said.

Marella acknowledged him with a tilt of her head, the dark curls of her hair bouncing against her shoulder. They left her alone in the corridor and made their way back to the chopper.

‘Whew,’ said Dom, putting his headset on, ‘I tell you Antarctica was warmer than the atmosphere between Gemma and Marella.’

‘We’ll drop you at your place.’ Hawke said ignoring the comment. ‘You look like you could sleep for a week.’

Dom laughed. ‘You’re not wrong there.’

‘Well, you get until six tomorrow. We’ll start working on fixing what you broke in the Lady early.’

He was satisfied when Dom’s laughter trailed away abruptly.

—

It was the early hours of the morning when Marella stopped by the clinic to check on Michael. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and ignored the ache in her shoulders. It had taken her longer than expected to deal with the fallout from Michael’s injury not to mention a tense meeting with Zeus over Michael’s jaunt to Antarctica. She sighed and opened the room door, slipping inside noiselessly.

Her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness in the room. Michael lay sound asleep swaddled in blankets with only his head peeking out. A cage lifted the blankets from his knee and created a misshapen appearance in the bed. Marella picked up the chart and flipped through it. She frowned at the scrawled writing and squinted in the half-light trying to read it. A sound had her turning sharply to look toward the sofa near the window on the far side of the room. Her eyes met Gemma’s.

‘Excuse me.’ Marella murmured quietly. ‘I didn’t realise you were here.’ She replaced the chart and walked swiftly out. She was half-way down the corridor when she heard Gemma call her name. She stopped and turned back to face the other woman.

Gemma was wearing a night-dress and terry-cloth robe, her feet in slip-on slippers. She felt at a disadvantage compared to Marella’s pristine white suit. Her chin went up. ‘I think we should talk.’

Marella shoved her hands in her pockets. ‘I don’t think we have a whole lot to talk about, Gemma.’

‘How about Michael?’ Gemma pinned Marella with a frank stare. ‘And the fact that we’re both still in love with the same man.’

Marella stiffened. ‘I wasn’t in love with Michael five years ago.’

‘Please,’ Gemma rolled her eyes in disbelief, ‘I didn’t believe it five years ago and I certainly don’t believe it now.’

‘Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth.’ Her dark eyes flashed. ‘And besides, it’s hardly any of your business anymore.’

Gemma’s brown eyes hardened. ‘I let you drive me away from Michael once.’ She crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I won’t do it again.’

Marella took a steadying breath. ‘You’re free to do whatever you want.’ She walked away.

The conversation was in Marella’s head when she alighted from the FIRM limo and headed into the Santini Air office the next day. She gave a knock and went in at Caitlin’s yell to enter.

Caitlin welcomed her with a smile, holding up a finger whilst she finished the phone call she was taking. ‘Yes, tomorrow at two. Bye for now.’ She leaned back in the chair and stretched, her blue-green eyes taking in the shadows under Marella’s and the paleness of the smooth coffee coloured complexion. ‘Want some coffee?’

Marella hesitated and then nodded. Caitlin waved her into a chair and got up to pour them both a mug.

Marella took hers with a smile of thanks. ‘I came for the shopping list.’ She took a gulp of the bitter hot liquid.

‘Here.’ Caitlin flicked the braid of red hair over her shoulder and handed Marella a sheet of paper.

Marella’s eyebrows shot up at the long list of Airwolf parts. ‘Is there anything that doesn’t need replacing?’

Caitlin laughed. ‘Not much.’

‘How did they break the landing gear?’ Marella frowned.

‘Apparently a rhinoceros charged them.’ Caitlin shrugged at Marella’s astounded expression. ‘I know it sounds like one of Dom’s tall tales to me too.’

Marella folded the list and put it in her handbag. ‘I guess this means the Lady’s going to be out of commission for a while.’

‘Hawke thinks at least a couple of weeks,’ Caitlin agreed, ‘and that’s if we get the parts quickly.’

Marella picked up her mug again. ‘Some of these are custom items; it could take a couple of weeks just to get them commissioned.’

Caitlin sighed. ‘Figures.’ She sipped her coffee. ‘How’s Michael?’

‘Resting comfortably.’ Marella said evenly.

Caitlin caught the flicker of something in dark depths of Marella’s eyes. ‘You want to talk about it?’

Marella avoided her gaze. ‘There isn’t anything to talk about.’

‘I know how I felt when Hawke spent a lot of time with his ex-girlfriend.’ Caitlin commented.

‘It’s hardly the same.’ Marella argued, her finger rubbing at the rim of the mug, ‘you and Hawke are together, I mean.’ She sighed and massaged her temple. ‘Michael and I are just colleagues.’

Caitlin hesitated before she continued. ‘Hawke said Gemma left because she thought you and Michael were having an affair.’

Marella’s eyes flew to the younger woman’s. ‘I didn’t realise…’ she squirmed in the chair, ‘I didn’t realise it was common knowledge.’

‘I doubt that it is.’ Caitlin said. ‘You know Hawke; I had to wheedle it out of him.’ She tapped the side of her mug. ‘What happened?’ She gently prodded and waited patiently to see whether Marella would confide in her.

Marella was used to keeping secrets but the temptation to talk to someone was seductive. Caitlin was a good choice of confidante; she was trustworthy, discreet and importantly nothing really to do with the FIRM. She set her mug down and leaned back in the chair capitulating. ‘You can’t ever let on to Michael that I told you…he doesn’t know some of this and…’

‘He won’t hear it from me, Marella.’ Caitlin assured her.

Marella got to her feet and paced to the window. She folded her arms and looked out sightlessly at the bustling airfield beyond the pane of glass. ‘I was assigned as Michael’s senior aide six years ago. I was thrilled. As far as I was concerned it was like winning the lottery. I got to be at the heart of the business and I got to work with Michael, one of our best intelligence operatives.’ She rubbed her arms. ‘He’d recruited me but I hadn’t really worked with him up till then because I was out in the field. As soon as I started working as his aide, we just clicked straight away,’ she turned back to Caitlin who was listening intently, ‘with this really great working rapport.’ She leaned back on the window sill and shoved her hands in the pockets of her skirt. ‘I knew Michael was married so I never thought about him in any romantic way in fact…’ she gave a small laugh, ‘when I first met Gemma I thought we could be friends especially as Gemma had been Michael’s senior aide herself.’

Marella sighed and walked back over to the chair. She sat down and gestured. ‘It became obvious fairly quickly though that the marriage was in trouble. He never said anything but there were signs. I figured the best way for me to support him was by ensuring everything at work ran smoothly.’ She swept her dark hair back off her face. ‘Anyway, initially it was small comments when Gemma would call or visit the office, just snide hints that I was providing Michael with more than professional services. At the end it was outright hostility.’ She met Caitlin’s eyes squarely. ‘Gemma came to see me at my home. She accused me of having an affair with Michael, that all the problems in the marriage would be resolved if I just went away and that if I cared about Michael, I would leave.’

‘Wow.’ Caitlin murmured wondering at the desperation and jealousy that had driven Gemma to confront Marella in such a way.

‘The crazy thing was that I did what she asked and asked Michael for a transfer.’ Marella said with a disparaging laugh. ‘Only he wouldn’t agree to release me.’ She sighed deeply. ‘Looking back I think maybe he knew why I’d asked. Not about Gemma’s visit but the underlying reason.’

‘So you stayed.’

‘So I stayed.’ Marella reached for the mug of cooled coffee and swallowed some wincing at the lukewarm liquid. ‘And a month or so later, about a year after I’d been assigned, Gemma left him.’ She sighed. ‘I went to see Michael after his surgery last night to check he was OK. She was with him and she made it pretty clear that she’s considering reconciling with him.’

‘It doesn’t mean that Michael would consider reconciling with her.’ Caitlin pointed out.

Marella gestured almost slopping cold coffee over the floor. ‘You didn’t see how long it took for him to get over her and she’s the reason why he won’t…’ she stopped abruptly; she hadn’t meant to reveal that much.

‘She’s the reason why you two still haven’t moved beyond the great working rapport.’ Caitlin stated wryly.

Marella felt the heat of a blush across her cheeks even as she replied. ‘I accepted a long time ago that’s all it would be.’

But that’s not all it is, thought Caitlin.

‘I guess I’m just wondering if they do get back together…’ Marella sighed. ‘I’m not sure I could carry on as Michael’s aide if he was with Gemma again.’

‘Talk to Michael before you decide anything, Marella.’ Caitlin said.

Marella set the mug back down. ‘I’d better get back. Thanks for the chat.’ She got to her feet and picked up her handbag. ‘Tell Hawke I’ll get on the list immediately.’

Caitlin nodded. ‘We’ll be by the clinic later. I’ll see you then.’

Marella closed the office door behind her and headed for the limo. She climbed in with an absent thank you at the driver. Marella sighed. Her talk with Caitlin had helped clear her head. She had been honest with Caitlin when she had said that she had accepted the boundaries that existed with her relationship with Michael but she knew some of her defensiveness with Gemma was rooted in the knowledge that she cared more about Michael than she should given their positions. Michael was a good man, an honourable man, someone Marella knew she could very easily fall in love with if she was given the opportunity. She leaned back against the cool leather and closed her eyes; that opportunity was unlikely and if Michael did reconcile with his ex-wife…Caitlin was right; she shouldn’t anticipate what would happen and if it did; she would talk to Michael.

—

After her earlier discussion with Marella, Caitlin wasn’t surprised to walk into Michael’s hospital room and find Gemma sitting with him.

‘Hawke, Caitlin.’ Michael smiled at them and pushed his glasses up his nose before sitting up straighter. He was dressed in pristine white cotton pyjamas and swaddled in a mass of blankets.

‘Well you’re looking better.’ Caitlin said walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek. She took a step back and sat in the chair Hawke had pulled over for her. She smiled across at the older woman in acknowledgement of her presence.

Gemma rose to her feet uncertainly. ‘I’ll come back later. I’m sure you’ll want to chat.’

‘Thanks.’ Caitlin said breezily as Gemma seemed to hesitate, perhaps waiting for an invitation to stay.

Hawke waited until Gemma left before walking around to the chair she vacated. He slumped into it. ‘So how’s the knee doing?’ He asked.

Michael gestured at the cage which held the blankets away from his leg. ‘They put it back together.’ He rubbed his moustache. ‘I thought you two were on honeymoon for another few days.’

‘We had the feeling something was wrong and when Everett told us Dom had left with you and we couldn’t raise Airwolf…’ Caitlin shrugged.

‘I feel bad.’ Michael admitted realising that, however inadvertently, his mission with Dom had curtailed their honeymoon despite his intention not to disturb them.

‘Good.’ Hawke said without a hint that he was joking.

‘Did Dom tell you about Airwolf’s little manoeuvre whilst we were in the Antarctic?’ Michael asked deciding offence was the best defence.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke shrugged. ‘We’ll run some tests.’

‘We should have Karen Hansen take a look at her.’ Michael argued. He stabbed a finger at the pilot. ‘And you should have told me about this before.’

‘We didn’t know if there was anything to tell.’ Hawke said forcefully. ‘We still don’t.’

Caitlin cleared her throat and changed the subject to Angelina. They chatted for an hour before a nurse came in with Michael’s lunch and they got up to leave. Caitlin paused when she realised Hawke wasn’t following her and she looked at him quizzically.

‘I’ll meet you downstairs.’ Hawke said.

She nodded and closed the door.

Michael regarded the pilot thoughtfully and settled back against his pillow. ‘You have that look.’

‘What look?’ Hawke asked.

‘The look that says you have something to say but you’re debating whether to because you might have to make a personal comment.’

Hawke rubbed his chin. ‘I guess I shouldn’t play poker with you.’ He sighed. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

Michael got his meaning straight away and stiffened. ‘It’s none of your business, Hawke.’

‘You’re right,’ returned the pilot, ‘it’s not.’ His even blue stare held Michael’s.

‘She’s going through a bad time.’ The spy said defensively. ‘Between the cancer and the station being destroyed…’ he gestured. ‘I’m only giving her a shoulder to cry on.’

‘Is that all she thinks it is?’ Hawke asked brutally. ‘Because I kinda get the impression she’s thinking it’s something more. Like a second chance with you.’ He saw the other man register the comment.

‘Do you think it’s fair on Marella either having Gemma hang around knowing how she feels about her?’ Hawke continued ruthlessly. Michael visibly flinched and Hawke sighed. ‘I get that you feel responsible for Gemma, Michael, but do you remember what you said to me five years ago the night she left?’

‘I remember.’ Michael muttered, his cheeks reddening with remembered embarrassment.

‘Think about it.’ Hawke held his gaze for a heartbeat before he turned and left.

Michael sighed and looked with disinterest at the food in front of him on the hospital bed-table. He pushed it away, leaned his head back against the pillow and closed his eye, his mind racing back five years ago to the night Gemma left him.

It was dark in the bar, dark but upscale, fancy and discreet. It was the reason why he had chosen it in order to get an update from Hawke. Michael had lost the taste for backstreet dives in his early days as a field operative; they held too many opportunities for brawling. Although tonight…he might have been in the mood for a good old-fashioned fist fight, he thought. He downed the shot of whiskey in front of him and motioned with the empty glass at the bartender for another – his third or was it his fourth? He didn’t glance up as Hawke took the barstool next to him. The bartender put the whiskey shot down in front of him and turned to the new arrival.

‘What can I get for you sir?’

‘Mineral water.’ Hawke ordered. His blue eyes briefly glanced at the whiskey but the gaze that met Michael’s was impassive.

‘Report.’ Michael said shortly.

Hawke waited for the bartender to move to the other end. ‘You were right. Rimmington’s sold the new stock already.’

‘Who to?’

‘Anyone who wants them but mainly to the Middle East.’ Hawke took a sip of his drink. ‘The next shipment will be taken out by chopper next Friday via Panama. I’ve been put on stand-by for a run to Rio.’

‘I’ll have an arrest team ready and waiting in Panama.’ Michael downed the whiskey. He raised his empty glass at the bartender. ‘I have another project that I want to discuss with you.’

‘Archangel, I told you once the Rimmington sting finishes, I’m out.’ Hawke swirled the water in his glass and took another sip.

‘You’ll want this.’ Michael smiled. ‘How would you like to go over mach one in a helicopter?’

Hawke blinked and he gave a short laugh. ‘You’re not serious.’

The two men were silent whilst the bartender replaced Michael’s drink. When he left, Hawke caught Michael’s eyes with his own. ‘You are serious.’

‘Once you’re done with the Rimmington thing, call Marella and get her to set something up for us.’ Michael said. He picked up the whiskey.

Hawke heard the dismissal in the older man’s voice and was tempted to follow the implicit order but as he watched Michael knock back another shot, he remained seated. It took Michael a few moments to realise Hawke wasn’t moving.

‘Was there something else?’ The spy asked, indicating again for another refill.

‘You tell me,’ Hawke invited, ‘you’re the one downing the whiskey.’

Michael was surprised into looking at the young operative; he was dressed in a simple grey suit, the mink brown hair was slightly too long and he had impossibly boyish features with cheekbones half the world’s models would kill for. If it wasn’t for the eyes, he’d pass as another of the young ambitious political set that inhabited the Washington social scene; but those ice blue eyes…cold, unemotional and dangerous; eyes that hinted at the predator beneath the thin veneer of civilisation.

The FIRM shrink had warned Michael that Hawke walked a fine edge between sanity and madness; bottled up rage and guilt for surviving where others hadn’t, kept bottled by a steel core of morality and the tenuous hope that his MIA brother was still alive. That Hawke walked hand in hand with insanity didn’t bother Michael; his core of morality did. The operative constantly defied orders where they contradicted with his own values; not that he couldn’t be ruthless or expedient, but he would be so when he chose to be not for any order. He was definitely not FIRM material and yet…he was an outstanding operative. Michael shook his head and wondered why he liked the young man so much.

The bartender poured out another shot.

‘I’ll take a beer.’ Hawke said before the man could move away. A bottle and fresh glass were placed in front of him along with a bowl of snacks. The bartender moved to serve a newly arrived couple at the end of the bar.

‘Look at them,’ Michael said pointing at the smiling pair, ‘love’s young dream.’ He smiled bitterly. ‘Give them a few years and they’ll be sat back in this bar wondering where it all went wrong.’

Hawke picked up a handful of the snacks along with the clue on what was bothering the other man. ‘How is…’ he searched his memory for the name of Michael’s wife, ‘Gemma?’

Michael downed his shot. ‘Presumably very happy.’ He signalled the bartender. ‘She left me a dear John…or should that be a dear Michael note earlier this evening.’

‘Sorry.’ Hawke picked up the beer bottle and took a gulp.

‘She thought I was having an affair with Marella.’ Michael stared at the empty shot glass; maybe he’d had enough.

‘Are you?’

Michael’s blue eyes slammed into Hawke’s angrily. ‘What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I’m not having an affair with Marella. Not that I can get Gemma to believe that.’ He sighed. ‘Especially since I refused to transfer Marella.’

‘Why did you refuse to transfer her?’ Hawke asked.

‘She’s the best aide I’ve worked with. She gets me. Sometimes she’ll know what I want before I even ask for it,’ Michael said, ‘and I’m not going to make decisions that affect my work because my wife is insanely jealous.’

‘I kinda see her point.’ Hawke said hearing the fondness in Michael’s voice when he spoke about Marella.

Michael downed another shot. ‘If you’re going to sit and drink with me, you could at least pretend to be on my side.’ He gestured. ‘Gemma and I were having problems long before Marella came to work with me.’ He thought about the arguments over the time she spent on her research, over whether to have children, over his secrecy about his work now she was no longer involved with that side of the FIRM, everything and anything. When had they started to argue so much? He couldn’t even remember a time when they hadn’t.

He sighed and stared at the glass, finally admitting a truth he’d long kept unvoiced. ‘Marrying Gemma was a mistake. Wrong woman, wrong time, wrong everything.’ He set the glass down and stood up, reaching for his wallet in the inner pocket of his jacket. ‘Thanks for the company.’ He laid several bills on the bar and walked out of the bar.

The fresh air hit him and the pavement whirled beneath his feet, nausea churned in his stomach. He felt a steadying arm on his elbow…Hawke…

The next thing he remembered, mused Michael opening his eye to stare at the ceiling of the hospital room was waking up fully clothed in his apartment with a head that ached and a mouth as dry as cotton. He’d surmised with some embarrassment that the young operative had helped him back and put him to bed. The next time he’d seen Hawke had been almost two weeks later at the briefing for the Airwolf project he’d told Hawke to call Marella and set up. Hawke had acted like the night in Washington had never happened so Michael spent the whole meeting talking about Airwolf, pleased to see a hunger light up in the pilot’s eyes at the prospect of flying her. It had been as Hawke was about to go that Michael had stopped him, thanked him. Hawke had shrugged and said in his imitable way ‘don’t mention it’ and neither of them had…until now.

Michael sighed. Marrying Gemma was a mistake. Wrong woman, wrong time, wrong everything. His own words taunted him. After that one night of drinking, Michael had simply taken the steps necessary to end his marriage, to end his mistake. His only remaining contact with Gemma had been through their lawyers and through their mutual friendship with Gregory. So what was he doing now, he wondered.

It had been a shock to read Gregory’s report and find out that Gemma was seriously ill. Had it been residual guilt that had prompted him into corralling Dom to help him get to Antarctica to bring her home for treatment? The station’s destruction, their shared experience getting home had brought back old buried feelings of camaraderie, concern and caring; he and Gemma had once loved each other enough to marry after all. But, he realised, it didn’t change the truth of how he felt about their marriage. He reached for the phone on the bedside table and dialled.

‘Gemma?’ He rubbed his moustache. ‘I need to speak with you. Could you come to my room?’ He paused as she replied. ‘Good. I’ll see you then.’

—

Marella’s hand hovered over the door handle of Michael’s private room. She sighed, squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. She tapped lightly, opened the door and stepped through it. She almost sighed with relief; Gemma was nowhere in sight.

Michael looked up from the dinner tray and ignored how pleased he was to see his senior aide although he did allow a small smile. ‘Marella.’

‘Sir.’ Marella scanned him with a critical eye, walking over to stand beside him. He looked rested. ‘You look better.’

‘I feel better.’ Michael said patting his lips with the linen napkin. His good eye surveyed his assistant. ‘You look tired.’

‘That’s very un-gentlemanly of you, sir.’ Marella returned with a smile. ‘Particularly given the reason why I’m tired is your unexpected hospital stay.’

‘I apologise.’ Michael’s lips twitched with amusement. He tapped the bed. ‘Sit and tell me what’s been happening.’

Marella perched on the bed and updated on him on the dozen urgent matters that had crossed his desk that day. He offered advice on one or two, agreed with her decisions on the others. He signed the papers she’d brought and raised his eyebrow at the requisition order for the Airwolf parts.

‘How much?’ Michael muttered.

‘You did take her out without Hawke’s permission,’ Marella pointed out, ‘and she was damaged when you returned her.’

Michael’s eye narrowed on her. ‘Are you implying this is my own fault?’

‘Never, sir.’ Marella placed the signed requisition order back in her briefcase.

‘Thanks for arranging for Meryl to come by with Angelina.’ Michael said. It had been good to see his daughter; the get well card she had made for him took pride of place on the small bedside table.

‘She’s missed you.’ Marella said with a smile. Michael’s daughter was smart as a whip and adorable. She glanced at the clock. ‘I’d better get back.’

Michael nodded slowly as she stood up to leave.

‘One last thing,’ he said halting her departure. He cleared his throat. ‘I’ve arranged to have Gemma transferred to New York.’

Her dark eyes shot to his in surprise. ‘Why?’ She blurted out without thinking. She recovered almost immediately. ‘I’m sorry sir, that’s none of my business.’

‘Actually I think maybe it is.’ Michael said evenly. ‘I’m not unaware that she made life difficult for you around the time my marriage broke up.’

Marella blinked at him.

He cleared his throat. ‘I spoke with her earlier. She needs her family around her and our New York clinic is much closer to her parents and her brother. She’ll travel tomorrow.’

Marella adjusted her grip on the briefcase. ‘I see, sir.’ She frowned and wondered at his apparent change of heart. ‘Did something prompt you…that is,’ she sighed and gave into her urge to check, ‘did Caitlin say something to you, sir?’

Michael looked at her puzzled. ‘No. Actually, it was Hawke.’

‘Hawke?’ Marella wondered if she needed to sit down.

‘I know. The last person you’d expect to interfere.’ Michael gave a self-deprecating smile. ‘He was with me the night Gemma left five years ago.’

‘Oh.’ Marella hadn’t realised Hawke and Michael had been close back then. She remembered the relationship as being completely professional although thinking back perhaps the first early signs of the friendship that now bound the two men had been evident.

Michael gestured. ‘He reminded me of something I said that night that helped me move on back then and helped me view the current situation with a clear mind.’

Marella nodded, her curiosity roused but the expression on Michael’s face told her he wasn’t going to reveal anything further. ‘Well, thank you for letting me know the news.’ She gestured at the door suddenly feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her. ‘I guess I’d better go and get a good night’s sleep.’

”Night Marella. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Yes sir.’ She smiled back at him before leaving, the door closing softly behind her.

Michael shifted position in the bed to ease the ache in his leg but smiling with satisfaction at the way things had turned out. Dammit, he thought grumbling to himself as he got comfortable, he owed Hawke another thank you. Well at least this time, he mused, Hawke hadn’t needed to pick him up off a pavement.

fin.

Next Story: Spirit of the Wolf