Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Caitlin Hawke watched her husband sleeping and smiled contentedly. She loved looking at him when he slept with his body sprawled across the bed next to hers, his face relaxed into the boyish features she had first fallen in love with. Her eyes caught on the faint scar still visible through his hairline where the doctors had performed brain surgery to save his life. She was truly blessed, she thought as her hand brushed lightly through his short brown strands. Stringfellow Hawke had survived the helicopter explosion that had taken Dominic Santini’s life and in the months since Hawke’s recovery, their marriage had grown stronger than ever. In a couple of weeks they would celebrate their one year anniversary and Caitlin knew he was planning something to surprise her.

A faint gurgle from the crib in the corner of the bedroom alerted her to the baby’s awakening and she reluctantly eased away from her husband to see to their son. Caitlin wrapped a light robe around her body on her way across the bedroom, carefully sidestepping around Tet, Hawke’s dog, who seemed to have decided that his new primary role in life was to guard the baby. For a moment, she simply looked down on her child with awe and let the wave of love roll over her as she smoothed a lock of reddish brown hair away from his face. Nicky’s blue eyes, so like his father’s, smiled up at her; his tiny hands and arms waving madly. She reached down and picked him up.

‘Hello, little man.’ Caitlin kept her voice low and breathed in the baby scent of him before she shifted position to cradle him in her arms. His mouth automatically started seeking her breast and she grinned. ‘Hungry, are we?’ She sat down in the rocking chair and rearranged her robe to allow him to feed. He was gaining weight at a good rate despite his premature birth. She rocked gently as Nicky suckled and wondered at the happiness stealing over her.

A slight movement in the double bed caught her attention and she looked up to find Hawke watching her.

‘Hey.’ Hawke murmured as his eyes travelled over her. The rocking chair was sat in a shaft of early morning sunlight that turned Caitlin’s long red hair to burnished copper and cast a golden glow over the tableau of mother and child.

‘Hey.’ She smiled at Hawke and lifted Nicky to burp him.

Hawke shoved the covers back and followed his impulse to walk over and kiss her good morning. He eased back to marvel anew at his son and his hand gently stroked over Nicky’s head. His eyes glanced off the clock on the mantel over the bedroom hearth. ‘He’s better than an alarm clock.’ He noted.

‘Hmmm.’ Caitlin nodded and settled Nicky back against her. After almost two months of motherhood there was a consistent routine that she was incredibly thankful for. She smiled up at her husband. ‘You should get ready for work.’

Hawke dipped his head and kissed her deeply before he headed for the bathroom.

Caitlin sighed as she watched him disappear. Nicky kept her occupied until Hawke came out and she slipped in to shower while he dressed and kept an eye on their son. He took Nicky downstairs to give Caitlin the space to finish getting ready. He started a pot of coffee and was in the middle of setting up for breakfast when Caitlin joined him. She shooed him out to spend the time with Nicky as she prepared eggs and toast. They ended up at the dining table, Hawke holding his son with one arm as he forked up eggs with his spare hand. Caitlin watched him jiggle his son who blew bubbles of drool at his delighted father. She made no move to take the baby. Since Hawke had begun working at Red Star as the lead test pilot for the world’s latest technologically advanced and mach capable helicopter, she knew he missed spending time with Nicky.

Hawke looked across the table at her and saw the indulgent adoration in his wife’s face. ‘He’s growing so fast.’ He commented.

‘I know.’ Caitlin said. ‘The doctor’s very pleased with his progress.’ She sighed heavily. ‘We should probably think about organising the christening soon.’

Hawke felt his lips twitch at her disgruntlement and guessed the reason for it. ‘Maggie nagging you again?’

‘She might have mentioned it.’ Caitlin admitted wrapping her hands around her mug. Her mother called regularly and after New Year she had gone from dropping subtle hints about the christening to outright questions. Her mother hadn’t been pleased that their choice of godparents had not included any of Caitlin’s siblings. Hawke’s elder brother, Saint John, was standing as godfather and their good friend, Marella would be confirmed as Nicky’s godmother. She bit her lip. Her actual siblings – both her brothers and her sisters – seemed to understand a lot better than her mother and even her father had been quietly supportive that they should choose who they wanted without interference. She sighed.

Hawke reached across the table and snagged her hand. He tangled their fingers. ‘It’ll be OK.’

‘I know.’ Caitlin murmured. Her mother would get over it eventually.

Hawke’s eyes narrowed on her blue-green eyes. He had overheard the phone call and knew the christening was only part of the reason why his mother-in-law was upset. Caitlin had let it slip that she was going back to work on the last call and from what he had heard Caitlin’s mother disagreed with the decision. He was honest enough to acknowledge that he liked the routine they had settled into in the previous few weeks; there was a certain amount of male satisfaction in returning home after a day’s work to his wife and child. But he also knew his wife and that staying at home wasn’t in her nature. They had agreed as a couple that Caitlin would officially return to work soon after their wedding anniversary.

He rubbed Caitlin’s fingers comfortingly. ‘I’d better go to work.’

‘Yeah.’ Caitlin agreed. ‘Are you doing more low altitude speed tests today?’

‘So Michael tells me.’ Hawke said dryly.

Caitlin smiled. Hawke’s relationship with Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III had come along way since they had worked together on the first incarnation of Airwolf. The two were close friends and Hawke’s recent rescue of the former spy in Washington had only cemented their relationship further. ‘Can you check whether they’re all coming over to celebrate Marella’s birthday tomorrow night?’

‘Why are we doing it tomorrow night?’ Hawke asked puzzled. ‘Isn’t Marella’s birthday on Saturday?’

‘It is.’ She agreed and shrugged. ‘Michael said he has something special planned for Saturday that doesn’t involve us.’ She smiled wickedly. ‘I think he’s going to propose.’

Hawke shook his head at her. ‘I don’t know. He and Marella seem pretty happy as they are.’

‘I bet you ten dollars he proposes.’ Caitlin said her eyes glittering with the challenge.

‘Deal.’ Hawke said easily. He sighed and got to his feet. ‘I’d really better go.’ He waited until she had put her coffee mug down before he handed Nicky to her. He grabbed his jacket and they walked out of the cabin together. He dropped a kiss on her lips, another on Nicky’s head. His blue eyes met hers and saw the longing there she couldn’t quite hide. ‘You want to come with me?’

Caitlin focused on him in surprise. ‘I thought we said we’d wait another few weeks before I went back to work.’

Hawke shrugged and patted Tet goodbye absently. ‘Everyone would love to see you and Nicky, and what’s another few weeks anyway?’

‘To my mother probably everything.’ Caitlin retorted.

Hawke repressed the urge to sigh. He was fond of Maggie but there were times he could quite happily tell her to butt out. ‘Your mother has nothing to do with this.’ He said firmly. ‘You know I support you wanting to go back to work right?’

‘You’re only saying that because you want me where you can keep an eye on me.’ Caitlin joked inwardly pleased with his support.

‘Well, yeah…’ Hawke admitted.

Caitlin laughed. She reached over and kissed him. ‘I love you.’

Hawke captured her lips again. ‘I love you too.’ He said smiling. His thumb brushed over her lips. ‘See you later.’

She smiled. ‘Later.’

He reached into his jacket pocket and took out his sunglasses. He slipped them on as he swung his leg over the bike. A moment later the engine roared to life and she watched him disappear down the mountain trail. She sighed and shifted Nicky in her arms, her eyes gazing at the silvery waters of the lake and tranquil scene. She headed back indoors and put Nicky down before clearing up.

The morning passed quickly; she had established a routine since Hawke had gone back to work and she sat down with a mid-morning mug of coffee with Nicky happily asleep in his crib having completed a list of chores. She tried to lose herself in the book she had picked up but eventually gave up and wandered over to the crib.

Caitlin leaned against the wall and watched Nicky sleep. It hadn’t been an easy pregnancy; she had suffered with bad morning sickness, been kidnapped for her child and had spent two months watching her husband fight his way back to her after falling into a coma. But the moment she had held Nicky, it had all been worth it. She loved her son and she loved being a mother. So why wasn’t it enough, she wondered. Her sister Erin was a full time mother and loved it.

She shoved a hand through her red hair. She did consider herself blessed. Marella had been injured saving Michael’s life and had lost the ability to have children so Caitlin knew how lucky she was that she had Nicky and it wasn’t just Nicky; she had a gorgeous husband who adored her and a home she truly felt was a sanctuary. She had what most women only dreamed about.

Only it wasn’t enough.

Caitlin sighed. She had never considered not going back to work and looking back through all her conversations with her husband, she realised Hawke had never indicated that he wanted her to do anything but what she wanted to do. She smiled a little. Hawke was fairly traditional deep down and she was sure a part of Hawke would prefer she stay at home; that he had never mentioned it to her showed how well he knew her, she mused. But then she and Hawke were very similar in many respects; neither of them was very good at staying on the sidelines. She knew she would go stir crazy staying at the cabin every day and there was already a large part of her that was looking forward to returning to work, getting involved with the new Airwolf helicopter, having conversations with adults, flying again…

She pushed away from the wall and went back to the sofa. She curled up and resolutely picked up her book. In another few weeks she would be juggling a job along with her marriage and her child, she should make the most of her time off and stop letting her mother’s disapproval get to her. She had lived with it most of her life for one reason or another; this was no different, she told herself firmly. She took a sip of her coffee and reread the page she had abandoned. She was three more pages along when the radio crackled.

‘Caitlin. Are you there?’

Caitlin smiled at the sound of Jo Santini’s voice. She got to her feet and wandered over to pick up the mike. ‘Hi, Jo. I’m here. What’s up?’

‘We seem to have a problem with the engines on the Lady. You think you could come out to the Lair and take a look?’

Caitlin bit her lip. Dom’s niece was part of the team that had taken over custody of the original Airwolf helicopter along with Hawke’s brother, an air force major and an agent for the Company, the intelligence agency who theoretically owned her. The new team and the old one were fairly uneasy around each other despite efforts on both sides to build bridges. Still, looking over Airwolf would get her out of the cabin for a while…

‘Sure.’ Caitlin radioed back. She glanced at her watch. ‘I’ll be there in about an hour.’ She signed off and headed to the nursery area on the top landing; going anywhere with Nicky required planning and packing a substantial bag. It didn’t take her long to gather what she needed and she packed everything into the helicopter. She dialled the satellite phone and waited.

‘Hi, Caitlin.’ Marella’s warm voice travelled down the line to her. ‘How are you and my favourite godson?’

‘We’re fine.’ Caitlin said. ‘How are you? You guys are still coming over tomorrow right?’

‘We are. I wouldn’t miss it.’ Marella said.

‘It’s just a quick call,’ Caitlin said hurriedly, ‘can you give Hawke a message for me when he’s done flying?’

‘Sure.’

‘Can you let him know I’m heading over to the Lair? The Airwolf team are having problems with the engines. I don’t want Hawke worrying if I’m not back when he gets home.’

‘I hope you’re charging them for your services.’ Marella teased.

‘I might mention that to them.’ Caitlin said laughing. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Marella said goodbye and Caitlin put the phone down. She left the cabin and secured Nicky in his baby carrier into the passenger seat of the helicopter. Her pre-flight checks were done in with a practised efficiency before she took to the skies. There was just nothing like flying to make her problems disappear, she thought happily as she turned in the direction of the Lair.

—

‘So you have to test this electronics panel to rule it out before you start on the starter engine switch itself.’ Caitlin tapped the panel in question with a screwdriver. She felt comfortable even wedged under the console; Airwolf always felt like home to her and the lilac flight suit added to the sense of familiarity. ‘You can see the wires are loose?’

Jo nodded and brushed her blonde fringe back to get a better look as Caitlin tightened the tiny screws that held the wires in place. ‘Why would they loosen like that?’

‘High speed manoeuvres.’ Caitlin murmured. ‘You should be checking these three panels,’ she gestured at them, ‘during your regular maintenance checks.’

‘Right,’ said Jo wondering whether she should mention they didn’t really do regular maintenance checks. She sighed. She guessed they were going to be doing them from this point forward.

‘So you can see I’ve just tightened the loose wires.’ Caitlin replaced the panel. ‘That should do it.’ She wiggled backwards out from under the engineer’s console.

Jo followed her and took position on the jump seat as Caitlin tested her work by punching the start button. The engines fired and they heard the thud of the rotors in the bubble of the cockpit.

Caitlin smiled in satisfaction as she watched the system information flicker across the monitor. Her smile fell away and she frowned.

‘Didn’t it work?’ Jo asked.

‘It worked but your rotor power systems are out of alignment. In fact, half of the systems are out of synch.’ Caitlin muttered. She adjusted the balance and inputted in the commands to readjust the power ratio. ‘You guys do perform regular maintenance checks, don’t you?’

‘Well…’ Jo sighed as Caitlin’s eyes shot to hers. ‘Not exactly.’

‘Jo!’ Caitlin motioned at the monitor. ‘These systems are temperamental and sensitive. They need constant maintenance. Just looking at this, half of what I corrected before the mission to Russia is back out of whack.’ She shook her head. Dom was probably rolling over in his grave at the state of the helicopter, she thought sadly; the older pilot had been a top engineer and he had taken great pride in maintaining Airwolf.

‘We just don’t know half this stuff.’ Jo said defensively. ‘I mean you never taught me and the guys don’t even have what you did teach me.’

Caitlin pressed her lips together. Jo was right. There had barely been time to teach Jo the basics before they’d had to hand Airwolf over. She sighed. ‘Well, listen up because I’m about to give you a master class.’

For the next hour, Caitlin took Jo through the Airwolf systems showing her how to maintain them. They were in the middle of going through the turbo power ratios when Mike Rivers stuck his curly, blond head into the cockpit.

‘Ladies.’ His boyish face lit up with a cheeky smile that made it all the way to his green eyes.

Caitlin felt a smile tug on her lips. Rivers was an irrepressible flirt. ‘Mike.’

‘Lunch is served.’ Mike said with a grin.

Jo rolled her blue eyes and made her way out of the cockpit. Caitlin followed her out. Her eyes immediately picked out her brother-in-law on the other side of the Lair. Saint John was sat cross-legged on the floor of the steel platform which housed a number of computer, security and communication systems. He was waving a soft toy at his nephew who was lying on a blanket. Nicky’s tiny arms were reaching up for the stuffed animal. Caitlin wandered over and leaned on the yellow railing to look fondly at them both.

‘Having fun?’ Her Texan accent rolled through the words.

Saint John’s hazel eyes glanced up at his sister-in-law and he smiled ruefully. ‘He woke up.’

‘Yeah, your brother uses the same excuse with me.’ Caitlin said smiling. ‘I don’t believe him either.’

Saint John looked properly abashed and Jo hid a smile as she took a drink of water. There weren’t that many people who could chastise Saint John and get away with it.

Mike hurried over with a plate of sandwiches to rescue his team-mate. ‘For your pleasure today, madam, we have cheese sandwiches or,’ he smiled, ‘cheese sandwiches.’

Caitlin laughed. ‘I guess it’s a cheese sandwich then.’ She picked up her share, accepted the bottle of water Jo offered her and wandered up the ramp to perch on one of the consoles with her lunch. She took a hungry bite.

‘So how are the systems looking?’ Saint John asked pushing a hand through his short light brown hair as he picked up his own lunch.

‘We’ll finish resetting the turbos systems after lunch and she should be all fixed up for the time being.’ Caitlin said. ‘I’ll come back next week and take Jo through the rest of the systems. And I’ll put together a maintenance checklist for you that should help.’

‘How did you learn all this stuff?’ Mike asked curiously.

‘Dominic.’ Caitlin said softly. ‘He knew her inside out.’

‘Uncle Dom always made sure his aircraft were in top condition.’ Saint John remembered fondly.

‘He’d be horrified at the way we’ve been treating her, huh?’ Jo said guiltily.

‘Well, you weren’t to know.’ Caitlin said diplomatically.

‘How did you get involved with Airwolf?’ Mike asked as he climbed up onto the yellow railing with his lunch.

Caitlin swallowed her mouthful of sandwich and waved the rest at the air force major. ‘Do you mean how did I meet Hawke or how did I get involved with Airwolf?’

‘It’s not the same story?’ Mike asked.

‘Oh no.’ Jo grinned. ‘You should tell him how you got involved with Airwolf. I like that story.’

‘I don’t think I’ve heard that story either at least not fully,’ Saint John mused, ‘I think you’ve only ever told me how you met my brother.’

‘I don’t tell it as good as Dom did.’ Caitlin warned.

‘Well, Uncle Dom did have a talent for telling stories.’ Jo said leaning back in her chair. ‘But I’m sure you’ll do fine.’

Caitlin chewed another mouthful of sandwich and washed it down with some water before she started. ‘I guess it began when Dom and Hawke got injured doing a stunt for a movie.’

‘I heard they did a lot of movie stunts.’ Mike commented. ‘They were considered best in the business, weren’t they?’

‘I’d love to get that side of Santini Air up and running again.’ Jo said wishfully.

Caitlin gestured at her. ‘I’m sure Hawke and I could give you some contacts.’

‘So my brother and Dom were injured doing a stunt.’ Saint John prompted.

‘Yeah. They were both laid up in hospital, Dom with a sprained back and Hawke with a broken arm. They were pretty banged up.’ Caitlin’s sight turned inwards as she remembered the hospital room. She smiled. ‘They still managed to laugh about the accident though. Anyway, I was visiting when Marella turned up. I thought she was a doctor.’

‘You didn’t know her?’ Saint John asked surprised.

‘No.’ Caitlin shook her head. ‘I’d only been working with the guys at the air service for about a month.’

‘But you knew about Airwolf?’ Mike checked licking his fingers.

Caitlin nodded. ‘Sure. Hawke rescued me in Airwolf when we met.’

‘The way my brother tells the story, you rescued him.’ Saint John said picking Nicky up and cradling him as he started to fuss.

‘We kinda rescued each other.’ Caitlin waved her hand. ‘Anyway, I knew about Airwolf but Hawke and Dom kept telling me that she was a figment of my imagination.’ She took a sip of water. ‘They wanted to keep me out of it, keep me safe.’

‘Which is why you didn’t know Marella when she turned up at the hospital.’ Mike gently drew her back to the story.

‘Exactly.’ She pointed the water bottle at him. ‘Well, Marella showed up to tell the guys Michael had gone missing in East Germany.’

‘He goes missing a lot.’ Saint John commented wryly.

‘He was a spy for a long time,’ Caitlin said in Michael’s defence, ‘and his experience in East Germany…it was particularly nasty.’ She crossed her arms. ‘He got played by someone he thought he could trust. They arranged for him to be kidnapped and brainwashed with a new serum.’

‘Brainwashed?’ Saint John repeated patting Nicky’s back softly. ‘To do what?’

‘To kill the Committee that ran the FIRM.’ Caitlin said. ‘The team that took him counted on Hawke going after Michael and rescuing him.’

‘Which Hawke did.’ Mike surmised.

‘But he and Dom were injured.’ Saint John said puzzled.

‘Which is where I came in.’ Caitlin said. ‘Marella was under surveillance so she couldn’t help. There was no way that Dom could manage the engineering console in Airwolf although Hawke could just about fly her.’

‘But they needed someone on the engineer’s console going into enemy territory.’ Jo chipped in.

‘They knew I knew about Airwolf despite all the teasing and Hawke trusted me.’ The pride she had felt back when Hawke had asked her to help was still evident in her voice. ‘So I got recruited but it was only supposed to be a one-off. Dom came with us because he had to train me on the job.’ She shook her head. ‘I was so naïve. Absolutely clueless about what I was getting into.’

‘But the mission was successful.’ Mike said.

‘Of course but then the bad guys wanted us to be successful.’ Caitlin smiled. ‘Even so, that first mission. It was incredible and when I managed to pull it together for the rescue, I was so proud of myself.’ She sighed. ‘By the time we got back, Hawke had worked out that the rescue was too easy. He managed to load Michael’s gun with blanks so when Michael attempted to kill the Committee, he wasn’t successful.’

‘The brainwashing serum worked?’ Mike whistled. ‘Wow. That must have been some dangerous stuff.’

‘Yeah, that was the general opinion.’ Caitlin gestured. ‘The FIRM sent us back to retrieve the serum and the formula. They wanted to ensure the East Germans and the KGB wouldn’t have access to it.’

‘Understandable.’ Saint John said. He’d worked with the Company long enough to appreciate how the spy business worked.

Caitlin nodded. ‘So we went back and I got to be part of the mission again as Dom wasn’t recovered, and both Hawke and Michael were needed to go in and get the serum.’ She sighed. ‘It was rough for Michael going back but we got everything and got out.’

‘And from that moment on you were part of the crew.’ Mike concluded.

Caitlin laughed. ‘Hardly.’ She pointed her water bottle at Airwolf. ‘I was sat at the engineer’s console on the way back and happened to mention that we should talk about the next mission. Michael asks me ‘what mission?’, so I say, ‘oh you know; the next mission you assign them to do in this helicopter.” She shook her head smiling. ‘All three of them in unison went ‘what helicopter?”

Mike started chuckling as Jo giggled and Saint John broke into a smile. Caitlin smiled ruefully. ‘Hawke and Dom made it clear when we got home that my involvement was a one-off, never to be repeated experience.’

‘So how…’ began Mike perplexed.

‘I’m not sure.’ Caitlin admitted. ‘They seemed to be determined to stick to it and then…’ her eyes flickered to Saint John, ‘Hawke received some information that you might be in a prison camp in Laos.’ She bit her lip at the sight of the pain that flitted across her brother-in-law’s face; Saint John was slowly coming to terms with the fact that his lack of contact with his brother had condemned Hawke to sixteen years of searching for him. ‘He and Dom went to find you which obviously they didn’t.’ She continued. ‘When they got back, Hawke told me he was taking me for a drive. He brought me out here.’ She gestured at the cave. ‘It was the first time he’d allowed me to see where Airwolf was kept. He took me up and started to teach me how to fly her. The next day, Dom brought me out for my next lesson.’

‘Why?’ Mike asked frowning. ‘Why did they suddenly decide to include you?’

‘Hawke’s never really explained why he had the change of heart and I’ve never asked.’ Caitlin admitted with a shrug. ‘If I had to guess I think Laos convinced them that it might have been useful to have a third pilot especially when one of the team was on the ground.’

‘You’ve never asked?’ Jo was astounded. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’ Caitlin confirmed. She shifted her weight and looked over at the other woman, tried not to think about how her words were going to affect Saint John. ‘Whatever happened in Laos was rough on Hawke. I didn’t want to make it worse for him by raking through the ashes of it.’

Mike noticed Saint John’s bowed head and the way his friend’s hand tightened on the baby’s toy he held. He cleared his throat. ‘So you started to get trained and became the third crewmember.’

‘Over time.’ Caitlin said her eyes switching to the young pilot. ‘At first, I would help out if Dom was unavailable or if they thought it was good practice for me. They didn’t tell Michael so mostly they invited me along if it wasn’t an official mission.’

‘But Michael obviously knew you knew about Airwolf.’ Mike said confused. ‘Why keep you a secret?’

‘Michael knew I knew about Airwolf and knew I could operate the engineer’s console if Dom wasn’t around, but he didn’t know they’d taught me to fly Airwolf.’

‘Why not?’ Mike asked.

Caitlin took a drink of water before replying. ‘The relationship we have with Michael took a long time to build.’ She explained. ‘At the time, we still had some trust issues and the guys knew the longer they kept the fact that I could fly Airwolf a secret, the longer they had an advantage they could use.’

‘So you guys didn’t trust Michael back then?’ Saint John placed the sleeping baby back into his carrier.

‘Back then.’ Caitlin stressed. She knew Saint John wasn’t overly fond of the spy.

‘What changed?’ Mike asked curious. His own team had endured its own share of trust issues and he was interested to understand how the old Airwolf team had gotten past theirs.

‘Michael.’ Caitlin said with a smile. ‘And us.’ She gestured. ‘Time.’

‘What do you mean Michael changed?’ Saint John queried rising to his feet and stretching before leaning back on the railing next to Mike.

His sister-in-law sighed at Saint John’s tone. ‘When I first met Michael he had a very clearly defined loyalty hierarchy; America, the FIRM and then his personal relationships.’ She gestured. ‘Michael always acted honourably,’ she stressed, ‘but within those boundaries.’

‘And now?’ Saint John prompted.

‘The FIRM no longer exists.’ She shifted a little uncomfortable with the discussion. ‘I don’t think Michael feels the same way about the Company. I think he feels more able to put some personal relationships ahead of his loyalty to the Company and his relationship with Hawke is one of those.’

‘You’re that certain of him?’ Saint John questioned folding his arms across his chest. He had his doubts about the spy although helping Hawke rescue Michael in Washington and Michael’s attempt to help foster a better relationship between them had helped to change his initial negative impression a little.

‘It takes time to earn trust,’ Caitlin said, ‘and we spent the time together as a team. I can’t tell you the exact number of times Michael has come through for us or us for Michael; all I know is that I know if I had to count on Michael to come through for me right now, I know without question that he would do it.’

Saint John repressed a sigh at the certainty in her voice. ‘How’s he doing with his bit of the search for our folks? Is there any news?’

Caitlin took another gulp of water. Hawke and Saint John had come to the conclusion that their parents might be alive and in witness protection after an encounter with a veteran Japanese pilot intent on revenge. ‘He got slightly sidetracked in Washington with getting kidnapped by Terrence,’ she admitted, ‘but his contact is confident of getting the details of your parents’ file to him soon.’

‘What’s taking so long?’ Saint John asked impatiently.

Caitlin looked at him exasperated. ‘Saint John, Michael’s contact is stealing a federal document. If he gets caught it means prison and he’s doing this as a personal favour to Michael. Have some patience.’

Saint John had the grace to look a little ashamed. ‘Sorry. It’s just…it’s been a month since we realised our parents might be alive and it feels like we haven’t gotten anywhere.’

His sister-in-law looked across the platform at him sympathetically. ‘I know but we’ve gone over the coastguard reports, Dom’s old file; there’s just nothing there to provide a hint and the agent in charge of your grandfather’s case has disappeared without a trace.’

‘That seems suspicious to me.’ Mike commented.

‘Do you think it was the Cordelli’s?’ Jo mused. ‘Or the guy who grabbed Uncle Dom?’

‘Edward Sallis?’ Caitlin sighed. ‘As much as I hate to say it, maybe. Sallis didn’t get anything out of Dom so he might have thought Dawson would know something.’ She stooped to check on Nicky for a moment. ‘How are you guys coming with tracking down the information on Yahara?’

‘Not good.’ Jo answered. ‘We’ve got a lot of information on Yahara but little on how he got his information about Alan Hawke.’

‘What about Jason’s intelligence connections?’ Caitlin asked rising. ‘Haven’t they come up with anything?’

‘Nothing so far.’ Saint John admitted unhappily.

Caitlin frowned. ‘Where is Jason anyway?’

‘He’s on an assignment in France.’ Mike explained. ‘He left about a week ago.’

‘Airwolf is only part of what he does for the Company.’ Jo explained.

Caitlin raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Michael had worked on more than Airwolf when he had been their contact but then he hadn’t exactly been a permanent member of the flight crew. It wasn’t any of her business, she told herself firmly. She gestured at Airwolf with her water bottle. ‘Shall we get back to it?’ She asked Jo.

Jo nodded and got up from her chair. ‘You go ahead. I just want to call the airfield and check in with Everett.’

‘Sure.’ Caitlin made her way back to the helicopter climbing into the familiar cockpit happily closing the door behind her. She glanced back at the platform where Saint John had returned to playing with Nicky and Mike was clearing up the remnants of their lunch. She smiled and slipped into the engineer’s chair. She was so focused on the monitor that it was only Mike’s startled yell that got her attention. She glanced up; a jeep came to a screeching halt in the Lair and men dressed in black were jumping out with guns to surround the Airwolf team on the platform before they could do anything. Her eyes widened momentarily before she ducked down behind the console.

Saint John picked up Nicky protectively and held his nephew closely as one of the men motioned with his gun for them to get off the platform.

‘Over there.’ The dark haired man directed. ‘Be sensible. Do exactly what we tell you and nobody will get hurt.’

‘Why don’t I believe you?’ Saint John bit out rubbing Nicky’s back.

The dark haired man who had spoken scowled at him. ‘You’d be wise to keep your mouth shut if you don’t want anything to happen to the kid.’ He turned to a blond haired guy. ‘Check the machine out.’

Saint John exchanged a resigned look with Jo. It looked like Caitlin would be discovered too. He sighed as the man opened up the cockpit and climbed inside. A moment later he reappeared. Alone.

‘No one there, boss.’

Saint John shot a questioning look at Mike and Jo who looked back at him just as perplexed. Where was Caitlin?

—

Hawke took the stairs two at a time and slapped the door to the floor he wanted open with a firm hand. He strode down the corridor acknowledging the odd greeting with a nod of his head as he made his way to Michael’s office. He entered the outer office without knocking.

‘Captain Hawke.’

Hawke didn’t recognise the young blonde at the desk and he ignored the flirtatious smile she sent his way. ‘Michael wanted to see me?’

‘Yes, of course.’ She picked up the phone and dialled the inner office. ‘Captain Hawke is here to see you. Thank you, sir.’ She put the receiver down and flashed another perfect smile at him. ‘You’re to go straight in.’

Hawke gave her a brief nod and pushed the door open. The office reminded him of Michael’s old one at the FIRM headquarters with one wall dedicated to a sophisticated computer set up; a conference table sat off to the right and Michael’s desk was straight ahead with chairs laid out in front of it. Michael was sat behind it in a large white leather chair. He looked over nervously as Hawke closed the office door and walked across the pale beige carpet.

‘What’s this about, Michael?’ Hawke’s impatience rang through the words as he came to a halt in front of the desk. ‘The message said you wanted to see me urgently.’

Michael smoothed his moustache and got to his feet. He was wearing his usual uniform of an all white three piece suit and he took a moment to adjust the cuffs. Hawke’s blue eyes narrowed on the way Michael’s good eye didn’t meet his as the spy reached into a desk drawer and pulled something out. A moment later, Michael stretched an arm across the desk. There was a ring displayed in the box on his open palm.

Hawke blinked at the square cut diamond and he raised his gaze back to Michael’s visibly anxious expression. ‘Why, Michael, I had no idea you felt this way.’

‘Funny, Hawke.’ Michael bit out. He gestured with the ring. ‘What do you think?’

Hawke looked at the exquisitely cut stone set in a band of white gold and sighed as he moved to perch on the desk. He rubbed his chin. ‘I think I owe my wife ten bucks.’

Michael stared back at him bemused.

‘She bet me this morning that you were planning to propose to Marella on Saturday.’ Hawke explained folding his arms across his chest.

The spy smiled reluctantly. ‘She’s right.’ His hand strayed to tug on his collar.

Hawke noticed the unusual nervous gesture with amusement.

‘You still haven’t told me what you think of the ring?’ Michael pressed.

The pilot plucked the ring box from Michael and examined the jewellery closely. It was a beautiful ring and Hawke had enough experience of the finer things in life to appreciate the artistry in the design. ‘It’s exquisite, Michael.’ He handed it back.

Michael felt some of his tension drain away. ‘Do you think she’ll like it?’

‘Who knows what women like?’ Hawke said remembering his own uncertainty when he had proposed to Caitlin. ‘Ask Cait when you come over for dinner tomorrow.’

‘Right.’ Michael closed the ring box and put it carefully back in the drawer. It was good timing; a light tap on the door heralded Marella’s arrival.

‘I heard you were up here.’ Marella said as she walked across the office to Hawke.

Hawke’s eyes travelled over her as he greeted her. Marella was a stunning woman with dark hair tamed into a chignon, smooth café latte skin and dark eyes that always seemed to swim with secrets. She was dressed in a silky white top and matching white pencil skirt with high heels. He wondered briefly if she would white as a bride.

‘Caitlin called me.’ Marella said grabbing Hawke’s immediate attention. She hurried into the message before he got worried. ‘She’s gone to the Lair to help the Airwolf team out with a problem on the engines.’

Hawke sighed partially in relief.

‘I told her she should charge them for her services.’ Marella added sitting down in one of the chairs.

‘Why don’t they call on the Company engineers?’ Michael asked.

‘From what Saint John tells me, they’re trying to keep Airwolf away from the agency as much as possible.’ Hawke said. ‘Keep their ability to influence how she’s used to a minimum.’ He paused. ‘Apparently it was Locke’s idea.’

Michael’s lips twitched at Hawke’s evident disbelief. ‘He’s a good man, Hawke.’

‘He’s a Company man.’ Hawke corrected.

‘So was I once.’ Michael reminded him. He smiled. ‘Of course then I met you.’

Hawke ignored the jest. ‘Locke still hasn’t come through with anything on Yahara.’

Michael shrugged. ‘I haven’t exactly produced anything yet to help with the search for your parents either Hawke. Give the man some time.’

‘How’s your FBI contact doing?’ Hawke asked.

The spy sighed. ‘He’s having difficulties. He’s high up but doesn’t usually get involved with the detail of the witness protection program. It’s going to require some finesse to get the file without getting caught.’ His eye caught the flicker of impatience across Hawke’s otherwise impassive face. ‘I told you this was going to take patience, Hawke.’

Hawke sighed and pushed a hand through his brown hair. ‘I should get back to the hangar.’

‘I heard the tests went well this morning.’ Marella said with satisfaction.

‘There’s a small problem with the turbos at really low altitude.’ Hawke corrected. ‘There’s some static being produced.’

‘At below fifteen feet.’ Marella retorted. ‘How often are you going to go lower?’

‘I don’t know,’ Hawke said firmly, ‘but if I have to go that low I know it’s probably a situation where I don’t want to be picked up by radar or sonar.’

‘Marella?’ Michael’s concerned gaze snapped to his partner.

‘Dorothea’s team are going over the turbos now.’ Marella confirmed. ‘We’re aiming to get the problem identified by the end of the day.’

Michael frowned. ‘Keep me informed.’

Hawke tapped the desk lightly and nodded. He had just slipped off the desk when they all heard shouting in the outer office. All three of them hurried to the door. Hawke raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The petite blonde was standing in front of the door with her gun pointed at a mature man in his forties with greying hair and a rapidly reddening face. Another younger man hovered in the background clearly unsure what action to take, if any.

‘These gentlemen were trying to barge their way into your office, sir.’

‘Traci, you can stand down.’ Michael said mildly as his good eye flickered to his visitor. ‘Deputy Director Evan, what can I do for you?’

Hawke hid a smile at the way the other man tugged at his waistcoat and glared at Michael’s assistant. The guy obviously hadn’t had experience of dealing with Michael’s loyal staff before.

‘I need to speak with you on a matter of some urgency, Archangel.’

Michael’s eyebrows rose at the use of his old codename. ‘You’d better come in.’ He stepped back into his office.

‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Hawke said taking a step away from Michael.

‘Actually, Captain Hawke, your presence is required too.’ Evan’s brown eyes gleamed coldly at the pilot.

Hawke frowned and sent a questioning look towards Michael. The spy shrugged and they all returned to the inner office. Michael gestured for Evan and his associate to take the chairs in front of the desk as he sat back down in his white leather chair. Marella perched on the side of his desk while Hawke stayed off to the side and leaned his shoulder against the wall.

‘You said this was urgent?’ Michael prompted as Evan glared at Hawke.

‘An hour ago we received a telephone call.’ Evan nodded at his companion. ‘Show them the tape, Harvey.’

The younger man brought a small Dictaphone from his pocket, placed it on the desk and switched it on.

It crackled to life.

‘As of ten minutes ago, my men took possession of the aircraft codenamed Airwolf and her team at her secret location.’

Hawke straightened and his blue eyes snapped to Michael’s.

‘Our demand is simple; ten million dollars is to be transferred to the following bank account by midnight or we will use the aircraft in an attack somewhere in the US every hour until the money is received. Any attempt to take back the helicopter will result in a nuclear bomb being detonated somewhere in the US. Do as we say and nobody will be hurt.’

Harvey leaned over and switched it off.

‘It ends with the bank account number.’ Evan said. ‘I need Airwolf’s location.’

Michael and Hawke exchanged an anxious look. Hawke forced himself to settle back against the wall as Michael rocked back in his chair.

‘You’re planning to attack.’ Michael said. It was a statement not a question. ‘What about the bomb they mention?’

‘We believe they’re bluffing.’ Evan said firmly. ‘We’ve been over recent intelligence and there is nothing to suggest that any terrorist group is capable of pulling that off at the moment.’

‘Have you conferred with the NSA or the FBI?’ Michael probed.

‘We’re keeping this in house for the moment.’ Evan admitted. ‘The location, Archangel.’

‘I don’t know it.’ Michael said easily.

Evan’s brown eyes slid to Hawke.

‘And even if I did,’ Michael continued, ‘I wouldn’t give it to you.’

Evan’s head snapped back around to the spy.

Michael stabbed a finger at him across the desk. ‘You cannot take the risk of a nuclear bomb being detonated in the US by storming Airwolf’s location.’

‘The intelligence we have…’

‘Is incomplete without reference to the NSA and the FBI.’ Michael leaned forward.

‘With all due respect…’ Harvey began.

‘He’s right.’ Evan said cutting across the younger man.

Harvey stared at him.

‘Archangel, you and I both know as soon as the rest of the alphabet soup hears wind of this, the Company will lose all control of this situation.’ Evan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘There’ll be a state of emergency declared and everything will be run from the sit room at the White House.’

‘With good reason.’ Marella noted.

Michael leaned back as he fully understood Evan’s strategy. ‘You’re not planning to rescue the team. You’re planning a strike on the location.’ His good eye flashed a warning to Hawke who was stirring angrily. The pilot eye’s iced over but he kept quiet.

‘That’s insane.’ Marella said her voice rising. ‘Given the demand it’s more than likely that the terrorist group has split its forces.’

‘A team with Airwolf and another with the bomb.’ Michael concluded. He stared at Evan. ‘Your strategy will fail.’

Evan flushed. ‘My orders…’

‘I assume don’t include destroying half of the US with a nuclear bomb.’ Michael said bluntly. ‘This strategy is ill-conceived. Even if you knew Airwolf’s location and took it out, you know it’s likely the group are split if there is a bomb and will detonate it anyway and you cannot verify for certain the likelihood of whether there is a bomb or not until you confer with the other agencies and you know it, Marshall.’ His finger stabbed the desk.

The use of the deputy director’s first name had Harvey’s eyes widening.

Evan sighed. ‘What are you suggesting, Michael?’

‘Give it to us.’ Michael said. ‘We’ll handle it.’

‘I can’t do that.’ Evan objected.

Michael leaned back in his chair. ‘Marella, get the President on the line for me.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Marella’s hand reached out for the phone and Evan shot forward to slam his own hand over the receiver.

For a second he glared at Michael before he subsided back into his chair. ‘Fine.’ Evan snapped. ‘But I want to be kept informed. As far as the Company is concerned I’m still in charge of this operation.’

Michael nodded and gave no other sign of his pleasure in the other man’s capitulation. ‘I’m going to need all the intelligence you have on the current situation.’

Evan sighed. ‘There isn’t much. We think this is probably a group operating within the US itself. There’s been no chatter on the international scene of anything like this op.’ He gestured. ‘We don’t really know where to start looking.’

‘Maybe at the beginning would be a good idea.’ Michael said.

Marella nodded. ‘Of course. Airwolf’s location. They must have found someway of finding it.’

Harvey went to say something and stopped. His green eyes darted back to his superior.

Evan gestured at him. ‘You might as well tell them.’

‘Jason Locke is missing.’ Harvey said. ‘He was due in Paris five days ago but never arrived.’

‘We think it’s likely he was snatched here in the US,’ Evan added, ‘and tortured for the location.’

‘You’ve written him off.’ Michael deduced.

‘As soon as they had the location they had no further use for him.’ Evan pointed out. ‘He’s probably already dead.’

‘Not necessarily.’ Marella argued. ‘If they plan on using Airwolf for an attack on US soil, they have to fly her.’

‘So they keep Locke as a way to control the rest of the team…’ Michael said.

‘Or as a back-up source of information.’ Marella concluded. ‘It makes sense.’

‘Locke is not the priority here.’ Evan said rising to his feet. ‘I’ll return to headquarters. I expect hourly updates and if you need anything, contact me.’ He scowled at the spy. ‘Don’t blow this, Michael.’

Evan turned on his heel and strode out, Harvey following like a dutiful puppy in his wake.

‘Michael…’ Hawke pushed away from the wall.

‘A minute, Hawke.’ Michael snatched up the phone and dialled a number from memory. ‘Robert? Yes. No, we have a situation.’ He explained the demand. ‘Can you get me the latest NSA intel? Yes. I think so too. Good. Thank you.’

‘Bob Delaney?’ Marella asked as Michael hung up the phone.

‘He’s getting us the latest NSA information.’ He paused. ‘And he’s informing the President.’

Hawke scowled. ‘Dammit, this isn’t the time for politics, Michael.’ He started to walk out of the office.

‘Where are you going?’ Michael asked exasperated.

‘To the Lair.’ Hawke snapped. ‘My family are being held hostage in case you missed that, Michael.’

‘Hawke, wait.’ Michael quickly moved to intercept the pilot. ‘I know you’re worried about Caitlin and the baby, and your brother, but this is a tactical situation and there’s more at stake here than just their lives.’

‘I’m only concerned with them.’ Hawke said jerking his arm out of Michael’s grasp.

Michael stepped in front of him fearlessly ignoring the anger raging in the depths of the pilot’s blue eyes. ‘And they’ll have a better chance of surviving if you don’t go barging in all guns blazing just like Evan wants to.’ He took a breath. ‘You know that.’

A muscle twitched along the tense line of Hawke’s jaw. ‘So what do you plan to do?’

Michael allowed himself a small sigh of relief. ‘We need intelligence on the situation in the Lair. It might help give us more information on this bomb and whether that threat is real or not.’

‘We could do a recon in the new Airwolf.’ Hawke suggested.

‘Good idea.’ Michael said. ‘But I was thinking something a little more subtle to begin.’ His good eye slipped to Marella. ‘Is there anyway we can get access to the surveillance equipment in the original Airwolf?’

‘Remote access.’ Marella said nodding. ‘Karen could set it up.’

‘Let’s go.’ Hawke said impatiently pushing past Michael.

Marella sighed and patted Michael’s arm as they followed the pilot to the main computer control room. By the time they caught up with Hawke, he was already ensconced with Karen around a computer console.

‘Can we get the remote access to work?’ Michael asked as he and Marella came to a halt behind them.

Karen Hansen didn’t look up from the monitor. She was the lead computer programmer for the new Airwolf and had grown fond of the Hawkes. ‘We might need an assist from the artificial intelligence.’ She said. The original Airwolf had developed self-awareness with some clever programming from her twisted creator Charles Moffett and when it had become apparent that the Company would gain control of the original machine, they had transferred the intelligence to the new helicopter and altered the programming. The intelligence had seemingly found a way to transfer between the two aircraft though and Karen was hoping that she would provide them with a way to establish a link. ‘There.’ She smiled in relief, her red bob swinging over her shoulders as the monitor suddenly filled with rapidly executed code and a control prompt appeared.

‘Are we in?’ Michael checked.

‘We’re in.’ Karen said. She frowned. ‘That’s odd.’

‘What?’ Hawke demanded.

‘The surveillance systems are already running.’ She typed in a command. ‘Here we go.’ The monitor changed to Airwolf’s video feed.

They all took in the scene in silence. The Lair entrance was blocked by a large black jeep. Two men in black outfits guarded the entrance; another leaned against the railing his gun pointed towards the lockers on the other far side of the cave; a final man sat at the communications console on the steel platform.

Hawke frowned. ‘Karen, can you get me a better shot of this guy?’ He tapped the screen lightly.

‘Sure.’ She zoomed in.

‘Run an identification scan.’ Michael ordered.

‘Yes, sir.’ Karen typed in the command.

‘I think I know who he is.’ Hawke admitted reluctantly.

‘You do?’ Michael asked.

Hawke leaned on the desk and looked back at Michael. ‘After the incursion where Saint John went missing, there weren’t many of our original unit left.’ He sighed. ‘The intel was screwed up badly on that mission, most of us went down; Vidor, Mace, my brother, me.’ He folded his arms. ‘They transferred those of us who made it back to an offensive strike team supposedly made up of the best pilots from the army and air force combined.’

‘Right. I remember.’ Michael said. ‘That’s where you met Kovak, Miller and Oshiro right?’

‘Right.’ Hawke rubbed his chin. ‘And Sam Roper.’

‘He was part of the Air Force contingent.’ Marella surmised.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke turned back to the monitor and gestured at the frozen picture on the screen. ‘And so was this guy.’

‘Paul Bridges.’ Karen confirmed. ‘US air force major. He was discharged in 1980.’

‘Could this be personal?’ Michael asked.

Hawke shook his head. ‘I don’t see how. Bridges and I barely knew each other.’ He sighed. ‘Army stuck with army…’

‘And Air Force stuck with Air Force.’ Michael finished.

‘Just the way it was.’ Hawke said. ‘I doubt Sam and I would have gotten to know each other if he hadn’t saved my life.’ He gestured back at the monitor. ‘Karen, can you return to the video feed? I want to check that everyone’s OK.’

Karen pressed a button and the live images came back into focus.

‘Where are the Airwolf team?’ Marella asked.

‘Here.’ Hawke said pointing to the far left of the screen.

Karen changed the angle of the camera and the Airwolf team snapped into view. Hawke breathed in sharply at the sight of his brother sitting on the ground Nicky in his arms. Jo was sat to one side of him; Rivers to the other. He frowned.

‘They don’t seem injured.’ Marella said.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke straightened and looked back at his friends, his heart in his throat. ‘So where’s my wife?’

—

Caitlin slid carefully out of the missile compartment and crawled across the cockpit floor to the back of the front seats. She peeked over them cautiously. OK, she thought despondently, her hopes that the situation would have been resolved in the hour or so she had waited hadn’t come true; they were all still captured. She snuck back to the engineer’s console and frowned at the video playing on the monitor. Her vision narrowed on the image of the Airwolf team and zeroed in on her son. Nicky seemed to be asleep on Saint John’s shoulder. She closed her eyes on an emotional wave of relief; her brother-in-law was obviously keeping the baby close. Her eyes snapped open. She had turned the surveillance systems on before she had clambered into the missile compartment but hadn’t directed them at anything. Her mind raced over the possibilities and she found herself reaching for the communications buttons and a headset. She connected to Red Star using an encrypted emergency channel checking all the while for any sign that the men keeping the team hostage might move and discover her.

‘Hawke.’ Caitlin whispered. ‘Come in. Hawke.’

The video channel flickered into immediate life and she channelled the audio through the headset only to ensure there was no noise in the cockpit. Hawke looked back at her through the monitor.

‘Caitlin? Are you OK?’

To anyone else Hawke’s face might have appeared expressionless but Caitlin had been his wife for a long time. She could see past the mask to the worry lurking in his blue eyes and buried in the calm tone of his voice. ‘I’m OK.’ She murmured hurriedly reaching out a hand to the screen. ‘I’m in Airwolf.’

Michael appeared on the screen. ‘They don’t know you’re there?’

‘No.’ Caitlin glanced over at the platform. ‘When they checked the cockpit I hid in the missile compartment.’

‘Good thinking.’ Michael praised her. ‘It gives us an advantage.’

‘Do you know what’s happening?’ Caitlin asked.

‘The group sent a demand to the Company; ten million dollars by midnight or they use Airwolf to attack targets on US soil.’ Michael said succinctly. He leaned forward. ‘Any attempt to take back Airwolf and they’ll detonate a nuclear bomb somewhere in the US.’

‘We don’t know for certain there is a bomb.’ Hawke said. ‘It could be a bluff.’

‘A big bluff.’ Caitlin replied. She swallowed hard. ‘I guess a rescue is out then until we find out whether the bomb exists and if it does, take it out of the equation.’

‘As much as I hate to say it,’ Michael said, ‘I think that’s the immediate plan.’

Caitlin looked at Hawke’s grave face through the monitor. She knew he would prefer to have Nicky and her safe first. ‘Well,’ she said trying to think through the options, ‘we should all be safe at least until midnight, right? After all, they presumably need the team to fly Airwolf.’ She sighed and rubbed her arms. ‘So what do we know and how do we find this bomb?’

‘What we know is very little.’ Michael admitted. ‘We think the group has Locke and that’s how they got your location.’

‘Locke’s supposed to be in Paris.’ Caitlin whispered sneaking another look at the cave.

‘He didn’t make it.’ Hawke said.

‘Caitlin, the only other piece of information we’ve been able to find out is that guy at the communications console on the platform is in an ex-air force major called Bridges.’ Marella said.

‘We flew out of the same unit in ‘Nam for a while after Saint John went missing.’ Hawke explained. ‘But we weren’t really friends.’

‘And that’s about as much as we know.’ Marella finished.

‘That’s not a lot.’ Caitlin murmured.

‘We really have to find out whether the bomb exists.’ Hawke muttered.

Caitlin frowned. ‘This guy Bridges has been sat at the communication console a while.’

‘You think he’s using it?’ Marella asked instantly catching onto Caitlin’s point.

‘Can we find out?’ Caitlin asked.

Karen appeared on the video. ‘We should be able to establish a link across the network. Hold on.’

Caitlin waited anxiously until the monitor suddenly changed and the data flew across the screen.

‘There’ve been two calls in the last hour. One from the console and one to the console.’ Karen confirmed. She shook her head. ‘I can’t trace them.’

‘Why not?’ Michael asked.

‘The encryption is very sophisticated. I think he’s bounced the calls off a couple of satellites.’ Karen bit her lip. ‘I could probably track it but it could take time.’

‘What about Airwolf?’ Caitlin suggested. ‘Can’t her artificial intelligence do all of this really quickly?’

‘It would be risky for her to transfer to the network.’ Karen said. ‘She needs an open connection to her programming in the new Airwolf computer.’

‘It’s no more risky than her transferring to this computer in the old machine.’ Caitlin pointed out.

‘Besides we have no way to ask her.’ Karen said.

Caitlin’s eyes met Hawke’s in the monitor. ‘You could try talking to her again, Hawke.’

Hawke cleared his throat. ‘Airwolf, this is Captain Hawke. Can you establish a link with the communication system in the Lair?’

Yes.

The text appeared on the monitor.

Michael’s mouth fell open before he snapped it shut again. He never got used to seeing Airwolf respond to Hawke.

‘Establish a link with the communications system in the Lair and decrypt the last two communications and display on this monitor.’ Hawke ordered.

Request confirmed. Link established. Decrypting messages. Displaying.

A video of Bridges played. The first message had him confirming Airwolf and the Lair were secure. The second message showed another man confirming team beta was in position and that they had the prisoner.

‘Prisoner.’ Caitlin repeated. ‘You think they meant Locke?’

‘Possibly.’ Michael said.

‘Airwolf,’ Hawke asked, ‘can you trace where the second message originated?’

Request confirmed.

A moment later a set of coordinates appeared on the screen.

‘That’s just outside LA.’ Marella said. She shook her head. ‘If they were going to set off a nuclear bomb wouldn’t it make more sense for them be somewhere else?’

‘They can always use Airwolf to escape the blast.’ Hawke pointed out. He gestured. ‘We should go check this out.’ His blue eyes flickered back to his wife. ‘Caitlin…’

‘I’ll stay here.’ Caitlin said trying to lighten the moment.

‘Karen will stay on the comms channel.’ Michael said. ‘Stay connected for as long as you can but if it looks like you’re going to be discovered…’

‘I’ll hide in the missile compartment.’ Caitlin confirmed. Her eyes stayed on her husband. ‘Be safe.’

Hawke nodded. ‘You too.’

It didn’t take long for Hawke, Michael and Marella to make their way to the hangar and prepare to leave in the new Airwolf helicopter.

Michael adjusted the helmet and shifted on the engineer’s chair. He fidgeted as Hawke finished the pre-flight checks. He noticed Marella’s fingers were tapping anxiously on the arm of her seat at the front.

‘You two don’t have to come.’ Hawke said quietly.

‘I’m coming.’ Michael stated authoritatively.

‘So am I.’ Marella said. ‘We have no idea what we’ll find out there. You may need us.’

Hawke sighed and adjusted his position in the commander’s seat. He punched in the start button and checked the systems as the engines fired and the rotors gained power. ‘Michael, lay in the coordinates.’

‘Coordinates are laid in. Course plotted.’ Michael confirmed.

‘OK. Let’s take her up.’ Hawke raised the cyclic and felt the aircraft vibrate underneath him. He raised her off the ground and hit the turbos. They shot forward across the dusty expanse of Devil’s Anvil, quickly leaving the Red Star complex behind.

‘Michael, scan ahead to the coordinates.’ Hawke ordered. ‘I want to see what we’re heading into.’

‘Right.’ Michael tapped in the instructions. ‘We haven’t tested this system yet have we?’

‘There’s always a first time for everything.’ Hawke said dryly.

‘Scans are showing an abandoned factory.’ Michael said with a frown. ‘Two helicopters on the ground. One vehicle. There’s a man outside by the vehicle.’

‘Scan the building for life-signs.’ Hawke suggested.

Michael changed the scan and reviewed the data. ‘There are three life-signs on the ground floor outside a room with another life-sign in the room.’

‘Locke must be inside the room with the guards outside.’ Marella said reviewing the data on the front screen.

‘So we’ve got four unfriendlies.’ Hawke murmured. ‘Any sign of that bomb?’

‘Scanning.’ Michael said. He sighed. ‘I’m picking up faint traces of weapons grade plutonium in the East side of the building. It could be a bomb.’

‘We need to go in and check.’ Marella said.

‘It’s too risky. I can’t descend with the guy outside. We’ll get discovered.’ Hawke said roughly. ‘If they might alert the team at the Lair, everyone there could end up dead.’

‘We have to take that risk.’ Marella argued. ‘If this is a bomb, we can’t let them arm it.’

Hawke’s jaw tightened.

‘Hawke, we care about them too but if this bomb goes off, at this range, they won’t survive it and neither will the rest of the West coast.’ Michael said gently. ‘This has to be our priority.’

Hawke knew Michael was right but it didn’t change the sick feeling in his gut from knowing what they were about to do would put his whole family at risk. There had to be a way to ensure that risk was reduced, he thought desperately. ‘We need to take the bomb out of the equation without risking the team at the Lair.’

‘That just might not be possible.’ Michael said sighing. His eye narrowed at the monitor. ‘Hawke, the man outside just got into one of the helicopters. He’s leaving.’

Hawke grimaced. ‘Let him go. It makes life easier for us if he’s not here.’

‘Nobody else is coming out.’ Marella noted. ‘Look, maybe this is our opportunity.’ She gestured. ‘Maybe I can sneak in and just sabotage the bomb. They’ll be none the wiser until they try to arm it. It’ll give us some breathing space to try and attempt a rescue at the Lair.’

‘Can you do sabotage it?’ Hawke asked.

Marella shrugged. ‘I have some experience with bombs. I can try.’

‘OK then.’ Hawke shifted position a little. ‘Here’s the plan; you two will sneak into the factory and sabotage the bomb.’

‘I can go on my own…’ Marella began.

‘No.’ Both men spoke in unison.

‘You’ll need a look out.’ Hawke said.

‘He’s right.’ Michael added. ‘I’ll provide you with back-up while you deal with the bomb.’

‘Your main priority is sabotaging the bomb without alerting the bad guys at the factory that you’re there.’ Hawke said.

‘What about Locke?’ Marella asked.

‘What about Locke?’ Hawke replied.

Marella frowned at him. ‘Shouldn’t we try to rescue him?’

‘Not right now.’ Hawke said.

‘Would you say that if it was Saint John in that room?’ Marella asked sharply.

‘Probably not.’ Hawke admitted as he turned his head to meet her dark eyes firmly. ‘But then it would probably be you telling me that any rescue attempt would only endanger the lives of the people back to the Lair.’

‘So, we deal with the bomb…’ Marella summarised.

‘And then put together a simultaneous rescue plan.’ Hawke said. ‘We get the team at the Lair sprung at the same time as pulling Locke out.’

‘How are we going to do that?’ Marella asked.

‘Let’s deal with one thing at a time.’ Michael suggested.

‘We should contact Caitlin and warn her.’ Marella said.

‘I’ll do it once I drop you.’ Hawke adjusted their course slightly and raised their altitude. He didn’t want the departing helicopter seeing them approach. They waited until the helicopter had gone before Hawke dived to the ground and dropped them.

‘Good luck.’ Hawke said watching them leave. He took Airwolf back up and hit the buttons to connect to the original Airwolf. ‘Caitlin?’

‘I’m still safe and so is everyone else.’ Caitlin confirmed. ‘Nicky’s asleep. Saint John’s been taking good care of him.’

His hand gripped the stick tightly. ‘You’re doing the right thing hiding, Cait.’

She sighed. ‘What’s going on your end?’

He filled her in on the plan to sabotage the bomb. ‘You should be prepared, Cait.’ He said gruffly. ‘If anything goes wrong, if they get discovered…’

‘It’ll go bad for us here too.’ Caitlin finished.

—

Saint John shifted position trying to ease the cramp in his left leg. The floor of the Lair was rock; hard, uncomfortable and dusty. He adjusted his hold on his nephew careful not to disturb the sleeping baby. They had been sat on the floor of the Lair for a long time. Their captors hadn’t bothered to speak with them again and demands to know what was going on had been met with another threat to harm one of them. He sighed.

Mike pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his arms lightly on them. ‘You thinking missile compartment?’ He murmured in a low voice, his green eyes intent on the two men by the platform.

‘Only explanation.’ Saint John replied knowing his friend was referring to where Caitlin had disappeared to.

‘I don’t see how it helps.’ Jo whispered.

‘It’s an advantage.’ Saint John pointed out, his hazel eyes sliding to Jo’s worried blue gaze.

‘And any advantage is a good one.’ Mike quipped.

‘How do you think they found us?’ Jo wondered out loud rubbing her arms. The Lair wasn’t a warm place to be in winter and she was starting to feel the bite of the cold through the thin Airwolf uniform.

‘Locke.’ Saint John said.

‘No.’ Jo automatically denied it. ‘He would never have given us up.’

‘Not willingly, no.’ Saint John allowed.

Mike’s face grew grave. ‘So they have him.’

‘Or had him.’ Saint John regretted saying the words when he saw Jo flinch. For all her intelligence work and experiences with Airwolf, she hadn’t developed the hard shell that Locke had, Saint John’s cynicism or Mike’s military detachment. He reached over and squeezed her hand apologetically. ‘But let’s think positive, huh.’

Jo nodded and ignored the press of tears at the back of her eyes.

‘They’re obviously keeping him somewhere else.’ Mike noted.

‘So there’s more of them than just this team here.’ Jo surmised. She removed the band restraining her hair in a ponytail and shook it free.

‘Anybody else think it’s unusual that we’re still alive?’ Mike commented quietly.

‘I hadn’t.’ Jo said dryly. ‘But thanks for bringing it to my attention.’

‘They need us to fly Airwolf.’ Saint John said. ‘But they’re not after the Lady.’

‘Because this would all be over by now if that’s what they wanted.’ Mike agreed.

‘So, they need us.’ Jo sighed. ‘I guess that’s a good thing.’

‘They only need one of us.’ Saint John reminded her.

‘They’ll use the rest of us as leverage?’ Mike guessed lifting a hand lazily from his knee. ‘You do this or the rest of your team will be killed.’

‘Great.’ Jo commented rubbing her nose.

‘They’re obviously waiting for something.’ Saint John commented. ‘It might buy us some time.’ His eyes flickered to Airwolf.

‘What are you thinking?’ Mike asked.

‘See the camera.’

Mike and Jo gave the equipment a quick look.

‘It’s angled over here.’ Jo noted.

Saint John nodded. ‘It moved position a while back.’ He patted Nicky almost absently.

‘Caitlin’s using the surveillance systems to check on us.’ Mike said softly.

‘And if she can use the surveillance systems then I’m thinking it’s likely that she’s got access to communications and has alerted my brother to what’s going on.’

‘So we’re going to get rescued?’ Jo’s eyes brightened.

‘We should try and help String and Caitlin as much as possible though.’ Saint John said thoughtfully.

Mike’s green eyes narrowed on Saint John. ‘You have a plan?’

‘Maybe.’ Saint John admitted.

‘Does it involve me getting shot at?’ Mike asked suspiciously.

Amusement flitted in and out of Saint John’s eyes briefly. ‘Maybe.’

Mike sighed. ‘I knew it.’

—

Michael held his gun firmly and scooted across the concrete to take a position by the back door they had identified as their way in. Marella took position on the other side, her own gun ready in her hand.

Michael tested the door. ‘It’s locked.’

Marella holstered her weapon. ‘Cover me.’ She unzipped her pocket and took out a lock-picking tool. Seconds later there was an audible click as the lock snapped open. She resumed her previous position and when Michael opened the door, she dived through her arms extended. She covered the corridor as Michael entered the building. He moved past her position and came to a halt a few feet away at an intersection. Marella moved past him and covered him as he moved forward again. They continued in the same pattern until they reached their target; the room where they had located the plutonium.

Michael motioned for Marella to look around as he remained as lookout on the door.

She kept hold of the gun as her dark eyes scanned the room. A crate in the far corner caught her attention and she hurried over to it. She swallowed hard at the sight of the slim cylindrical device. The bomb was ready to be activated with a keypad in the centre to be used to enter the code. She took out the radio Hawke had given her.

‘Airwolf, this is Marella.’

Michael looked over at her briefly hearing her make the call.

‘Go ahead, Marella.’ Hawke responded.

‘It’s definitely a bomb.’ She confirmed.

‘Can you sabotage it?’ Hawke asked.

‘I need to get into the inner workings. I’ll contact you again when I have an answer.’

‘Acknowledged.’

Marella returned the radio to her pocket and pulled out a small screwdriver. She began to remove the outer casing around the keypad. Her fingers shook as she carefully lifted it away and revealed the mass of wires underneath. She swore and felt her heart sink. She took out the radio.

‘Airwolf, come in.’ Marella radioed.

‘Do you have a status on the bomb?’ Hawke asked.

‘I do.’ She sighed. ‘I can’t sabotage it.’ Her eyes darted again to the wires. ‘This is more sophisticated than anything I’ve seen. From what I can see there are dummy wires,’ she gestured at it, ‘some feedback loops and a bunch of other stuff I’m not sure about.’ She licked her dry lips. ‘I’m scared if I cut something I’m going to activate it.’

‘Get out of there.’ Hawke said. ‘Radio me when you’re clear of the building. I’ll pick you up where I dropped you off.’

‘Right. Out.’ Marella hurriedly started to reattach the casing. She had just got the last screw tightened when Michael stiffened.

‘Someone’s coming.’ He said. He pointed at a door on the opposite side of the room and they both hurried towards it. Michael opened it and looked inside. It was a small, dark and dank storage room but it would do as a hiding place. He motioned for Marella to get inside and followed her. He had just closed the door when he heard the sound of the men entering. He pressed his ear up against the door as Marella huddled beside him.

‘Hurry up.’ A voice growled.

‘I told you, the boss wanted me to reset the code.’ A younger male voice replied.

‘I don’t see why we have this thing anyway.’

‘Worried the boss might actually blow it, Hank?’

‘It’s a nuke.’

‘So.’

‘You really don’t have a conscience do ya, Lyle?’

‘That’s why the boss likes me.’

‘You trying to take on Bridges as the boss’s golden boy?’ The man’s harsh laughter resounded through the thin closet door. ‘Good luck with that.’

‘Bridges has got the easy job.’ Lyle said absently his mind obviously occupied with his work. ‘There, done.’

‘Come on. Let’s get back to Terry. I don’t like leaving him with the prisoner; I think he was starting to feel sorry for the guy.’

‘I don’t see why we don’t waste him.’

‘Boss wants him alive.’

‘I was talking about Terry.’

The echo of their laughter grew faint as the two men exited the building.

Michael peeked out and opened the closet door fully when he confirmed they were alone.

‘That was close.’ Marella said quietly.

‘Let’s go.’ Michael gestured for her to go first.

They made their way out of the building swiftly, radioing to Hawke as soon as they were clear of the door. Both of them were relieved to be back in Airwolf and hurriedly put the heavy helmets back on as they took their seats.

Hawke ascended back to an altitude where they couldn’t be detected. ‘OK.’ He said. ‘What are our options?’

‘What about getting in a bomb disposal expert?’ Caitlin asked across the communications link. ‘Someone like Babe?’

‘Babe got redeployed with the takeover of the FIRM, I’m not even sure where he is.’ Marella looked over her shoulder questioningly at Michael.

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know either.’

‘There must be someone in the Company though.’ Caitlin pointed out.

‘We don’t have the time to get someone.’ Marella replied.

‘It’s not time that’s the problem,’ Hawke said, ‘it’s sneaking someone in and sabotaging the bomb without endangering everyone at the Lair.’

‘We have time.’ Caitlin insisted. ‘So long as nobody attacks the Lair, they won’t set that bomb off, correct?’

‘True.’ Marella radioed back.

‘Maybe we’ve been thinking about this the wrong way.’ Michael said tapping his moustache thoughtfully.

‘What do you mean, Michael?’ Caitlin asked.

‘We’ve been assuming the main threat is the bomb.’ Michael explained.

‘Right.’ Marella agreed.

‘But the demand was clear that the bomb would only be set off if there was an attempt to take over the Lair.’

‘I don’t see where you’re going with this, Michael.’ Marella admitted. ‘If we don’t take the bomb out of the equation we can’t take back the Lair and Airwolf.’

‘I think Hawke was right earlier.’ Michael clarified. ‘I think we need to go simultaneously to both locations. We take control of the factory, secure the bomb and get Locke out at the same time as hitting the Lair. Once we have the bomb we can get an expert in to defuse it with all the time in the world.’

‘That could work, Michael.’ Hawke said.

‘The timing would have to be perfect though.’ Caitlin said. ‘If one team is able to warn the other…’

‘Then we’ll have a problem.’ Michael nodded. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think it’s the best plan any of us have come up with yet.’ Hawke turned it over in his head.

‘The only risk is if they have a remote detonator.’ Marella said.

‘We could use the systems in Airwolf to jam any radio signals.’ Hawke said reluctantly.

Michael stared at the back of Hawke’s head. He knew the pilot would prefer to be at the Lair. ‘We could get Zebra Squad to make the hit on the factory.’ He mused. ‘They can bring the jamming equipment with them.’

‘That will take time to set up.’ Marella pointed out.

‘Let’s head back to Red Star. We can start the ball rolling.’ Michael said.

Hawke swung Airwolf around and hit the turbos.

‘We still need a plan for getting everybody out of the Lair safely.’ Caitlin said some of her weariness creeping out into her voice.

‘I think,’ Hawke said, ‘I might have one.’

—

The fifth man that entered the Lair was wearing the same black outfit as the four men who held the Airwolf team hostage. He glanced briefly at the helicopter, his admiration gleaming in his eyes. As a pilot he could appreciate the sheer beauty of the machine sat in the centre of the cave, her black armour gleaming under the track of artificial lights that compensated for the dying light of the day. His eyes glanced off the three huddled hostages over at the far side of the Lair and frowned. Was one of them holding a baby? He shook his head a little before he strode onto the platform.

‘What took you so long?’ Bridges didn’t bother looking up from the console.

‘Had orders to stop off at the boss’s place. Everything’s in place and we’re good to go ahead.’

Bridges nodded. ‘Good. Stay with the chopper outside. Radio if you see anything suspicious.’

‘Right.’ The new arrival turned back to stare at Airwolf again. ‘Man, she is a beauty.’

‘Outside, Hamilton.’

‘Aw, come on. You can’t tell me you aren’t hot to fly her.’ Hamilton gestured at the black machine. ‘Don’t you even want to take her out for a spin before we get what we came for?’

‘I do what the boss tells me.’ Bridges said mildly. ‘You’d be wise to do the same.’

Hamilton shook his head. ‘You’re a real cold fish, you know that Bridges.’

‘Outside, Hamilton, now.’ Bridges’ dark eyes flashed at the other man who held both hands in supplication before he made his way out of the Lair.

Hamilton sighed in disappointment as he sneaked another look at the black and white helicopter. She looked like an awesome machine, he thought as he reached in his jacket pocket for a cigarette. He lit up and wandered back to his helicopter. He blew out a stream of blue smoke and something moved in his peripheral vision. He whirled around; he barely had time to register the fist coming towards him.

Hawke looked at the guy lying face down in the dirt and sent an anxious glance towards the front of the Lair. It didn’t look as though his surprise attack had been overheard. He quickly dragged Hamilton behind a rocky edifice and began efficiently stripping the man of his black clothes. A few minutes later, Hawke pulled the black baseball cap further down to cover his face and slipped his sunglasses back on. He tested the ropes on the man he had knocked out and checked that the duct tape was secure across his mouth. He didn’t want the guy yelling and alerting the team inside. He walked out to the helicopter casually and checked the front of the Lair. There was no movement. He quietly opened the main engine cover and reached into a pocket for the small charge he had stowed during his change of clothes. He pressed it against the main engine. They were taking no chances on any of the men escaping with the knowledge of Airwolf’s location. He replaced the engine cover and lounged casually up against the helicopter his back to the Lair hoping that in the gathering dusk he would pass for the other guy if someone peeked out to check. He checked his watch. Five more minutes and it would begin.

The plan was risky. He could feel the nerves gathering in his stomach and gut. Michael and Marella were back at the factory overseeing that part of the operation while he and Caitlin dealt with the situation at the Lair. He knew his brother would continue to keep Nicky safe during the attack but the urge to run in and snatch up his child was strong. Hawke took a deep breath. They had gone over every possible scenario. There just wasn’t a way to get Nicky to safety before they attempted something. It was a situation that he knew was pulling Caitlin to pieces inside the helicopter. He was proud of his wife though. He knew how difficult it was for her to sit and watch events from the safety of Airwolf while everyone else including their son remained at risk; her natural instinct, just like his, was to do something. But she had acted like a complete pro with the hostage situation; she had hidden and given them an important advantage. He checked his watch; one minute. He took out his gun, reviewed the magazine again and removed the safety. He kept the gun in his hand but hid it behind his back as he walked slowly toward the Lair, the final seconds counting down in his head. He crouched down low behind the jeep and waited.

Right on cue, the lights in the Lair went out, plunging the cave into semi-darkness save for the thin dying sunlight that cast the helicopter in an eerie twilight.

Hawke could dimly see Saint John across the cave moving swiftly to place Nicky in his carrier and hand it to Jo while their captor’s attention was elsewhere. He saw the Airwolf team getting ready to move.

‘What the hell?’ Bridges dark eyes narrowed and he immediately turned to the communications console. The whole terminal went dead.

Airwolf powered up; the roar of the engines startling the men who murmured anxiously and backed away from the shadowy machine.

‘Tanner, Phillips! Get to the chopper! Radio Beta we are under attack.’ Bridges shouted. He turned his eyes widened at the sight of the last member of his team suddenly running towards the hostages who were moving.

Jo dived for Airwolf as Mike tackled the guy running at them head on. Saint John went for Bridges ensuring the man’s attention was on him and not on Jo and the baby. Keeping Nicky safe had to be the priority no matter how foolish the move.

Hawke moved. He shot the first man leaving the Lair point blank; the second threw himself at him in a desperate attempt not to get shot too. Hawke struggled to keep a grip of the gun; his assailant was making an attempt to wrench it from his grasp. They rolled around on the floor and Hawke heard the dull crack of a gunshot inside the Lair and a sharp cry. He kicked out and the other man fell back. Hawke didn’t waste time; he backhanded the guy with his gun-hand, the weight of the weapon adding extra power to the blow. The man fell back, his head slamming into the sharp corner of the jeep’s wing mirror. His face registered a moment’s surprise before he slid down the car door to lie dead on the floor. Hawke didn’t pay him any further attention; he jumped onto the bonnet and slid over the vehicle, landing on both feet before rolling to a nearby rock for cover as one bullet and then another hit the ground by him.

‘That’s enough!’ Bridges yelled.

Hawke sneaked a glance over the rock and his heart leaped into his throat. Bridges stood just in front of the platform with a gun pointed at Saint John’s head which he held in his other hand. His brother was on his knees by Bridges and looked dazed; there was blood running down his face from a gash on his temple and another more worrying red stain creeping over the front of his Airwolf uniform from a gunshot wound. Hawke’s worried blue eyes stilled into icy calm as he assessed the rest of the situation. Rivers had successfully overcome his opponent and taken his gun; he was in a similar position to Hawke on the other side of Airwolf. Jo had made it to the helicopter and her worried face gleamed palely in the dim cockpit.

‘Give it up, Bridges!’ Hawke yelled over the noise of the rotors. ‘It’s over!’

‘I don’t think so.’ Bridges said. ‘I know you, Hawke. I know how important your brother is to you. All I want is out.’

Hawke was silent for a moment as he considered the other man. ‘What are you suggesting, Bridges?’

‘Throw down your weapons and power down the helicopter. You let me leave in the chopper out the front, free and clear. No coming after me.’

‘And you’ll just let my brother go?’ Hawke let his incredulity colour the words.

‘I’m not an unreasonable man, Hawke.’ Bridges said.

‘You shoot him and you’re dead.’ Hawke said.

‘You won’t take the risk of me killing your brother, Hawke.’ Bridges said confidently. ‘Drop the weapons and get that machine powered down.’

Hawke sighed and put the safety back on as he threw the gun over the rock. ‘Do what he says, Rivers.’

Mike put his own gun down.

Airwolf powered down.

Bridges smirked and shoved Saint John away. The pilot sprawled on the ground in front of him. Hawke rose up slowly to stare at him as Bridges made his way out of the Lair; the ex-Air Force Major kept the gun on Saint John until the very last moment when he turned and sprinted past the jeep.

Hawke ran to his brother and felt for a pulse as the two women jumped out of Airwolf and Mike ran up.

Saint John groaned.

Hawke gave a sigh of relief as he knelt by his side and pressed his hand against the gunshot wound to stem the blood. ‘You OK, Saint John?’

‘Shot.’ He looked up at his younger brother. ‘Nicky?’

‘He’s fine, Saint John.’ Caitlin knelt down and let him see into the carrier to the sleeping baby. She glanced over at Hawke. Their eyes caught and without words they checked the other was OK.

Saint John grimaced. ‘I think I’m just going to pass out now.’

‘We need to get you to a hospital.’ Hawke said as Jo pushed him aside and replaced his hand with a sterile bandage.

‘Locke.’ Saint John said gritting his teeth against the sharp pain in his head. ‘You have to go after Bridges. He’s our only link to Locke.’

‘Michael and Marella are getting Locke.’ Hawke said his eyes flickering to Caitlin. She shook her head; she hadn’t heard from them. He frowned. He hoped nothing had gone wrong at the factory.

‘We need to go after Bridges anyway.’ Mike said hearing the helicopter departing outside. ‘We can’t let him leave.’

‘No.’ Hawke ordered, his blue eyes snapping to Mike’s. ‘It’s taken care of. We need to get Saint John to a hospital and secure everything here.’ He gestured at Airwolf. ‘Help me get him inside.’

Mike was tempted to argue but a glance at his injured friend had him reaching down to assist Hawke. The two men lifted Saint John into the passenger seat of the aircraft.

‘Jo, you take Saint John to the hospital.’ Hawke ordered.

‘But…’ Jo wondered at Hawke’s decision not to take his brother himself.

‘We’ll be right behind you.’ Hawke promised. ‘Please, Jo.’ He laid a hand on her arm.

Jo nodded and got in the helicopter. They all moved out of the way as Airwolf took off, ascending up the funnel into the night sky.

‘Can you handle the clean-up here?’ Hawke asked Mike quickly.

Mike sighed. He wanted to head after Bridges; he wanted to make sure Saint John and Locke were OK; but he knew they needed to split up. ‘Sure. You go and be with Saint John.’

‘Thanks, Mike.’ Caitlin flashed him a grateful sigh.

‘There’s another man tied up outside.’ Hawke said as he started to usher Caitlin out of the Lair.

‘I’ll get him.’ Mike promised.

Hawke nodded. ‘Thanks.’ He put his arm around his wife and led her around the jeep and out into the Valley of the Gods. ‘We’re parked around the back.’ He murmured gently. He glanced over his shoulder. Mike was already kneeling by the man he had knocked out and tying his hands more securely together.

The couple hurried around the Lair. The new Airwolf helicopter sat under an outcropping, hiding her from view from any other aircraft. Hawke helped Caitlin inside. He secured Nicky’s carrier to the counter-measure specialist chair as Caitlin accessed the engineer’s console.

‘I’m getting Airwolf to return power to the Lair’s security and communications network.’ Caitlin said typing her commands into the monitor as the helicopter powered up.

‘Get a fix on Bridges’s helicopter,’ Hawke said, ‘and if he’s in range, send the signal to blow the charge.’

‘Right.’

Hawke accessed their communications system. ‘Archangel, this is Airwolf, come in.’

‘I read you, Airwolf.’ Michael replied.

‘The Lair is secure. What’s your status?’ Hawke asked as he eased the helicopter out from under the rock.

‘We could do with some assistance.’ Michael said calmly.

‘On our way.’ Hawke said. He glanced back at Caitlin. ‘Ready?’

‘All systems are green.’ Caitlin confirmed. ‘We need to divert to take care of Bridges though. Coordinates on your screen. He’s out of range for the signal to blow the explosive.’

‘Not for long.’ Hawke said turning back to the front and raising the cyclic. They ascended rapidly and as soon as they were clear of the rock formations, Hawke called for the turbos. They shot forward.

‘Bridges is in range.’ Caitlin said scanning ahead. ‘Sending the signal now.’ The explosion registered on her monitor. ‘That’s a hit.’

‘Let’s go help Michael and Marella.’ Hawke said swinging Airwolf around and heading back to the factory.

—

Michael put the radio down and glanced around the wall he was using for cover. The initial attack had gone very well. Zebra Squad had stormed the East side of the building and the nuclear bomb was secure. Marella and a small team of men were holding the room. The jamming equipment was on and seemed to be working given there had been no explosion. Unfortunately, the second objective to recover Locke had not gone to plan.

He and his men were stuck at one end of the corridor while all three men holding Locke hostage were at the other; the room where Locke was held behind them. There had been a brief shooting match before each party had made a hasty retreat to cover.

Michael turned back to the Zebra Squad commander. ‘Options?’ He asked.

‘Let me send some men around the outside, sir.’ Kinsey had worked with Michael for a long time and was an experienced soldier. ‘We can gain entry through the window of the room Agent Locke is being held in and get him out. Out flank the unfriendlies from behind.’

Michael considered it and gave a sharp nod. ‘Do it. I’ll provide a distraction here.’

Kinsey signalled to two of his men and they left at a quick jog.

Michael tightened his grip on his gun and sighed. ‘Gentlemen, this is futile. We have the bomb and the team holding Airwolf has been subdued and arrested. Surrender now and you’ll be treated fairly.’

Across the corridor, Lyle took out the remote detonator for the bomb.

Hank scowled at him. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘Boss gave the order, Hank. If it all went to hell,’ he smiled evilly, ‘so do we.’ He pressed the button even as Hank lunged for him. They both froze.

There was no explosion.

Lyle threw the remote across the floor. ‘Damn thing doesn’t work!’

Hank breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I think we should surrender.’

Hank frowned at Terry’s whiny voice. ‘Shut up or I’ll shoot you myself.’ He peeked out and sighed at the sight of the soldiers holding the end of the corridor. ‘We need to get out of here.’

Lyle stared at him. ‘But the boss…’

‘Can go to hell.’ Hank growled. ‘I’m not dying for this.’ He gestured with his gun. ‘Come on. I know another way out.’

They moved down the corridor and down a door that led to the basement.

Michael frowned at the lack of response. He peered out and considered the silence. He signalled for two men to check it out.

‘They’re gone, sir.’ One of the men yelled.

Michael grabbed his radio as he limped down the corridor to Locke’s room. ‘Kinsey, this is Archangel. The three men have escaped. I’ll get Locke. You find them.’

‘Yes, sir. Roger that. Out.’ Kinsey replied.

‘Airwolf, this is Archangel. Do you read?’

‘We read, Michael.’ Caitlin confirmed.

Michael smiled in relief. It was good to hear her voice. ‘Our three guys have escaped from the building. I think they’ll try for the helicopter.’

‘We should be with you in five minutes.’ Hawke radioed.

‘How’s Locke?’ Caitlin asked.

‘We’re about to find out. I’ll contact you shortly. Out.’ Michael nodded at the soldier with the ramming device. The door gave way with a loud bang. Michael didn’t wait for the cover of his men but dived in himself, gun extended. He lowered his weapon at the sight of Locke. The other agent was chained to a bed. He was naked, his dark skin covered in a welt of bruises and marks. He appeared unconscious.

Michael took the two steps over to him and checked his pulse. It was weak but it was there. ‘Get the medics in here now.’ He ordered over his shoulder.

‘Yes, sir.’ The soldier saluted smartly and left.

Michael grabbed a blanket and covered Locke before he dealt with the chains. His good eye shot up at a slight movement.

Locke looked at the other spy in confusion through drugged eyes. ‘Archangel?’ He croaked between dry lips.

‘It’s me.’ Michael assured him. ‘We’re here to get you out.’

‘Bomb.’ Locke forced out. ‘There’s a bomb.’

‘We know.’ Michael said. He laid a hand comfortingly on the other man’s shoulder to keep him still. ‘We have the bomb and your team are safe.’

‘Safe?’ Locke said wonderingly.

‘Safe.’ Michael repeated.

A shriek of engines above them and an eerie howl had both men staring at the grey ceiling as though they could see past the concrete to the blue sky and the helicopter that had flown over.

‘Airwolf.’ Locke said his eyes drooping shut.

Michael sighed and reached for his radio. ‘Hawke, we have Locke. He’s in bad shape but he should live.’

In Airwolf, Hawke answered the communication as he circled back over the factory. ‘We read you, Michael.’ He responded. His eyes narrowed on the departing helicopter exchanging fire with Zebra Squad outside the factory.

‘Hawke, we don’t have any weapons or counter-measures.’ Caitlin reminded him worriedly.

‘We have them,’ he corrected her shifting in his seat, ‘they’re just not loaded.’

‘Well, that ship doesn’t have that problem; it’s loaded for bear.’ Caitlin said. ‘I’m reading 30mm canons and sidewinder rockets.’

‘We can take them.’ Hawke said confidently. He sent Airwolf into a dive cutting between the helicopter and the men on the ground. Shrapnel bounced off her armour and the enemy helicopter swung around to follow the new threat.

‘They’re right behind us.’ Caitlin said.

Hawke let them follow using his own skills to avoid the patter of canon fire that shot out at them. He sent Airwolf into a wide arc over the countryside allowing them to creep into range for the missiles.

‘They’ve got one off at us.’ Caitlin confirmed.

Hawke hit the turbos and pulled back on the stick sharply. Airwolf ascended in a power climb leaving the missile without a target. Hawke dived, picking it back up and headed directly for the enemy helicopter in front of him. At the very last moment, he swung away and hit the turbos. The missile hit the other helicopter and it exploded in a ball of fire.

‘Nice flying.’ Caitlin said relieved.

Hawke shot her a look over his shoulder. ‘Contact Michael. Tell him his bad guys are eliminated.’ He spared a look at his son who had slept through the excitement and sighed. Nicky was safe. Caitlin was safe. Saint John…he rolled his shoulders trying to ease the tension out of them. ‘Tell Michael we’re going to the hospital.’

‘Right.’ Caitlin felt the smile creep across her face despite her worry for her brother-in-law. Her hands ran over the console in front of her. It was good to be back.

—

Saint John opened his eyes and groaned at the bright hospital light. He hurriedly closed them again.

‘Hey, you’re awake.’ Hawke threw down the magazine he had been leafing through and leaned forward in the uncomfortable plastic chair he had been waiting in.

‘What happened?’ Saint John asked rubbing a hand over his face as his foggy mind tried to piece together why he was in hospital.

‘You got shot.’ Hawke told him succinctly.

‘Yeah,’ Saint John gave a short laugh, ‘I figured that much.’

‘You were distracting Bridges from Nicky.’ Hawke’s throat closed abruptly as the image of his brother running recklessly across the Lair came flooding back to him.

Saint John lowered his hand and his hazel eyes caught his brother’s blue ones firmly. ‘He’s worth it.’

Hawke reached out a hand and Saint John grasped it tightly.

‘Thanks.’ Hawke said gruffly.

Saint John glanced down at their joint hands and squeezed Hawke’s. ‘What are brothers for, huh?’

Hawke managed a small smile. ‘I know you charged Bridges for Nicky – for which I’m incredibly grateful but you know I’ve just gotten you back. I’d like you to hang around a while longer.’

Saint John felt his chest tighten with emotion. ‘Don’t worry.’ He murmured. ‘I don’t intend doing anything so foolish ever again unless it is absolute necessary.’

‘Good.’ Hawke rubbed his thumb over Saint John’s callused knuckles.

‘So what’s the damage?’ Saint John asked wincing.

‘Flesh wound to the shoulder. The bullet didn’t go in too deep so you should mend pretty fast.’ Hawke gestured with his free hand at Saint John’s head. ‘And you’ve got a mild concussion.’

‘Where’s everyone else?’ Saint John asked.

‘Caitlin took Nicky home. He was beginning to get cranky.’ Hawke said. ‘Too much excitement.’

‘Jo? Mike?’ Saint asked as he shifted position in the bed a little.

‘They’re both with Locke.’

‘How is he?’ Saint John asked.

‘Bad.’ Hawke didn’t sugar-coat it. ‘He’s down the hall.’

Saint John grimaced and made to sit up. Hawke moved to help him.

‘Give me a hand, huh?’ Saint John said. ‘I just want to go check on him.’

Hawke sighed but he did what Saint John asked. There was a brief argument about whether to use the wheelchair which Hawke won by simply removing his hand from under Saint John’s elbow when the other man tried to stand. Hawke pushed his self-conscious brother down the corridor.

‘Why’d they have to make hospital gowns so…?’

‘Breezy?’ suggested Hawke.

Saint John tugged at the gown in question. Hawke hid a smile and pushed the door to Locke’s room open and wheeled Saint John in.

Mike and Jo immediately stood up from their chairs and hurried over to welcome their team-mate.

‘Saint John.’ Jo leaned down and hugged him.

‘Easy.’ Saint John said not minding the hug at all. ‘I need oxygen.’

Jo eased back and pulled a face at him.

Mike grinned at his friend. ‘Thought we might have lost you there for a minute.’

‘Yeah,’ Saint John reached out a hand which the other man clasped warmly for a moment before letting go. ‘Wasn’t the plan for you to get shot this time?’

‘Hey, I got shot last time.’ Mike joked.

‘Are you sure it was the last time because I’m sure it was your turn.’ Saint John retorted.

‘Hey.’ Locke’s cracked voice had all of them turning to the bed where the African-American agent looked back at them with amusement shining from his dark eyes. ‘Some of us are trying to rest over here.’

‘Jason.’ Jo and Mike abandoned Saint John to move to Locke’s side and Hawke pushed Saint John further in the room so he could sit by the bed.

He put a hand on his brother’s uninjured shoulder. ‘I’ll head out, Saint John. Leave you guys to it.’

‘Don’t leave on my account.’ Locke said his eyes flickering to the younger Hawke brother.

Hawke shrugged easily. ‘I have to get home to my wife.’ He patted Saint John’s shoulder. ‘We’ll bring Nicky by for a visit tomorrow.’

Saint John nodded. He reached up and grabbed his brother’s hand again. ‘Thanks, String.’

Hawke smiled back at him. ‘Any time.’ He squeezed his brother’s hand and released him.

‘You two seem good.’ Jo noted after the younger Hawke brother had left.

Saint John waved a hand in a vague gesture not wanting to discuss it. ‘So anyone want to fill me in on what happened after I left the Lair?’

Mike shrugged. ‘Hawke and Caitlin followed after you guys. Archangel sent a clean-up crew to the Lair with Marella.’

‘That was after he got me out.’ Locke murmured. He gestured at the glass of water on the bedside table and Jo handed it to him.

‘Archangel got you out?’ Saint John repeated.

‘From what I got out of Marella,’ Mike said perching on the end of Locke’s bed, ‘she and Archangel raided the factory where they were keeping Locke and apparently a nuclear bomb. They coordinated the attack with Hawke and Caitlin’s move at the Lair so neither hostile team could alert the other to counter-attack.’

‘Clever.’ Saint John sighed.

‘Hawke’s plan.’ Jo commented.

Saint John smiled proudly. ‘He always was the best strategist in the business.’

‘Well, I guess we have to find a new Lair.’ Jo said with a sigh crossing her arms.

‘Not necessarily.’ Mike said. ‘All the individuals involved in the raid were captured or killed.’

‘Not all.’ Locke contradicted him. ‘There was someone calling the shots. They’re still at large.’

Mike frowned. ‘So new Lair then.’

‘No.’ Locke shook his head tiredly. ‘We’ll beef up security; leave it where it is.’

‘Is that wise?’ Saint John asked.

‘A new location would be easier for people to find and it’s likely that whoever’s involved will think we’ll have moved her.’ Locke took a sip of water. ‘We can spread a rumour that we have. It should cover the bases.’ He shook his head. ‘You know I could have sworn I heard Airwolf over the factory.’

‘You were drugged pretty heavily, Jason.’ Jo commented. She sighed. ‘I’m just glad we’re all in one-piece. That was a close call.’

‘Too close.’ Locke said his eyes landing on Saint John.

‘We made it.’ Saint John said quietly.

The four friends smiled at each other and before the atmosphere got too sentimental, Mike changed the subject and within moments the room rang with laughter.

—

The cabin was filled with singing. As the chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ reached its crescendo, Marella grinned happily and accepted the traditional birthday hoorays with delight.

Michael’s daughter, Angelina, beamed at her across the table. ‘Don’t forget to make a wish.’

‘I won’t.’ Marella promised smiling at the beautiful girl. With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Angelina was destined to be a stunning woman. Marella took a deep breath and blew out the candles on the chocolate cake.

‘Why don’t you all head to the fire?’ Caitlin suggested. ‘I’ll bring the cake and coffee over.’

‘Let me give you a hand.’ Marella offered.

Hawke took the plate she held and gave a little push towards the sofa. ‘That’s my job. Go and sit. It’s your birthday.’

Angelina snagged Marella’s hand and pulled her towards the fire where the two dogs were waiting to be petted. Michael smiled at them and got up from his seat to help the other couple clear away the debris of the meal.

‘That was delicious, Caitlin.’ He said placing a stack of plates by the side of the sink. His good eye caught Hawke and the pilot smirked before he went over to the living area to keep Marella distracted whilst Michael talked to Caitlin.

‘Hawke caught the fish.’ Caitlin said scraping the plates into the trash.

‘I need your opinion on something.’ Michael said lowering his voice. He glanced worriedly over his shoulder and seeing Hawke had successfully engaged Marella’s attention, he turned back to an openly curious Caitlin. He withdrew the ring box from his trouser pocket and showed her the contents careful to keep his back firmly to Marella so she couldn’t see what he was doing. ‘What do you think?’ He asked.

Caitlin smiled broadly and wiped her fingers on a tea-towel before she held the box to examine it more closely. ‘It’s beautiful, Michael.’ She said careful to keep her voice low.

Michael took it back and returned it to his pocket safely. ‘You’ll think she’ll like it?’

Caitlin’s delicate features softened. ‘Michael, it’s from you; she’s going to love it.’ She patted his arm reassuringly and he gave a sigh of relief.

‘Thank you.’ He said.

Caitlin handed him the cake knife. ‘Why don’t you go and cut the cake before she starts to get suspicious? I’ll organise the coffee.’

They were soon sat down and the cake was quickly demolished. Hawke wrapped his arm around Caitlin and pulled her closer as they watched Marella and Angelina disappear to deal with a crying Nicky.

Michael took a sip of the bitter drink and looked across at the couple. ‘How were your brother and Locke?’ He asked. He knew the couple had visited the hospital earlier.

‘OK given the circumstances.’ Hawke said. ‘Locke was still a bit out of it.’

‘He took quite a beating.’ Michael noted. ‘It’ll take some time for him to come through it.’ He paused. ‘You know he heard the new Airwolf when we were in the factory. Did he say anything to you?’

Hawke shook his head. ‘No.’

‘He might have put it down to his drugged mind hearing things.’ Caitlin said.

‘Let’s hope.’ Michael sighed.

‘How long are we planning to keep it a secret from them?’ Hawke asked. ‘They’re going to find out sooner or later.’

‘I know.’ Michael sighed again. ‘I’ll talk to the director.’ He smiled. ‘He’s very happy with us at the moment.’

‘Well, we did pull his bacon out of the fire.’ Caitlin laughed.

Michael pointed a finger at her. ‘Especially as he got a very unwanted call from an unhappy President wondering why he’d been kept out of the loop but pleased that he understood the Airwolf team and his favourite pilot Stringfellow Hawke had been successful at containing the situation.’

Hawke fidgeted uncomfortably at the remark. ‘Isn’t the director sore you leaked it?’

Michael shrugged. ‘The President apparently refused to name his source and they can’t prove I was responsible for the leak.’ His blue eye twinkled. ‘Evan got rapped sharply over the knuckles for not maintaining control. I think they think he was responsible.’

‘I guess this helps with your case to move the Airwolf programme out of the control of the Company.’ Hawke noted.

Michael nodded. ‘We impressed the President and got him unhappy with the Company. It worked perfectly.’

‘And everyone got out alive.’ Caitlin said pointedly.

‘That too.’ Michael accepted. He sighed. ‘I’ll feel better when we track down this mysterious boss though.’

Footsteps on the stairs had their heads turning to smile at Marella and Angelina walking back towards them.

Michael put his cup down. ‘Well, we should head home.’

‘Daddy…’ Angelina complained.

‘We have things to prepare.’ Michael reminded her.

Her young face broke into a mischievous smile. ‘Right.’

Marella rolled her eyes in mock resignation. ‘Come on guys. Can’t I have a hint?’

‘Well…’ Angelina began.

Michael put his hand firmly over his daughter’s mouth. ‘No.’ He ruffled Angelina’s hair. ‘Let’s go before you give the game away.’

Marella hugged Caitlin. ‘Thank you for everything this evening.’

‘I’m glad you liked it.’ Caitlin hugged her back and grinned as she stepped away. ‘Although I’m glad I had the whole day to get it ready.’

‘You’re coming back to work on Monday though, right?’ Marella asked.

‘I am.’ Caitlin confirmed. The previous day’s events had confirmed her decision. She wanted to get back to work and Nicky would be safer if he stayed in the crèche at Red Star while she worked.

The couple wandered out to the porch and watched as their friends got into the white helicopter on the pier and took off into the night sky.

Hawke slid an arm around Caitlin’s waist. ‘I don’t know about you but I think an early night is in order.’ He brushed his lips across hers deepening the kiss and pulling her closer.

Caitlin smoothed a hand through his hair. ‘Are you sure you’re OK with me going back to work on Monday?’

‘I’m sure.’ Hawke said tightening his hold on her. His blue eyes smiled at her. ‘If you’re in the back of the cockpit with me, at least I can keep you from getting taken hostage.’

‘I’m OK.’ She said.

Hawke nodded and kissed her again. His old fear of losing her, losing his family had raised its head but he was handling it. He just needed to hold her. ‘Let’s go inside.’

Caitlin nodded. They walked in arm in arm and ignored the clutter of the coffee cups as they headed upstairs stealing kisses on the way.

‘Hawke?’ Caitlin asked as they reached their bedroom.

‘Hmmm?’

‘Why did you decide to make me part of the Airwolf crew?’

He looked at her taken aback by the seriousness of the question. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. ‘You’ve never asked me that before.’

She fiddled with a button his shirt. ‘You’d just got back from Laos and I didn’t want to ask too many questions.’

‘You thought it had something to do with Laos?’

‘It didn’t?’

Hawke shook his head.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow. ‘Then what?’

He sighed and his hands stroked down her back as she looped her arms around his neck. ‘You remember just before I went to Laos your plane got hijacked?’

She nodded. ‘Hard to forget.’

‘There were moments when we were searching for that plane I thought I’d lost you.’ Hawke confessed. ‘It was the first time I realised how much I cared about you.’

Her brow creased. ‘What has that…’ her eyes suddenly widened in realisation, ‘so you thought you’d put me somewhere safe like in the back of the cockpit with you.’

‘Maybe.’ Hawke admitted. ‘I figured that if I wasn’t so determined to keep you away from Airwolf then I could have given you a lift to Texas, you wouldn’t have needed to have caught a commercial flight and you wouldn’t have been in danger.’ His lips twisted wryly. ‘Pretty convoluted thinking, huh?’

Her response was to kiss him.

He smiled as she eased back. ‘What was that for?’

‘Because I love you, Stringfellow Hawke.’ She smiled wickedly. ‘Of course,’ she said as he tugged her over to their bed, ‘you still owe me ten bucks.’ She squealed as Hawke grabbed hold of her and she found herself pinned beneath him.

‘I love you too, Mrs Hawke.’ He whispered.

Caitlin was smiling when he kissed her.

fin.

Next Story: Best Laid Plans