Airwolf Legacy

Chapter Thirteen

The next day Sayid patiently waited sitting on the tree trunk. Kristien was late today. Sayid saw the dobermanns coming into view, then he saw Hawke. Sayid stood up and awaited Hawke’s arrival. Hawke was searching for Kristien, the dobermanns were helping. Hawke couldn’t find her, since she had closed off her mind he was in a labyrinth of sorrow and darkness. He was alone. He had found out that Kristien was with Carsten and seven other agents. Where? Well that was the next problem. Nobody knew.

“Hello Hawke.” Sayid welcomed him and looked for his beloved Kristien.

Hawke paused, looked away and then swung round using all the pent up anger from the argument with Kristien and threw a right hook which landed squarely on Sayid’s jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor of the forest.

“What was that for?” Sayid spat out a mouthful of blood and lay prone trying to regain his breathing and he staggered and got up.

“That’s for taking Kristien.” Hawke said through gritted teeth and Hawke again unleashed another devastating blow to Sayid’s head and floored him again. “Now get up and take the rest of what I have to give you.”

“What? I haven’t taken Kristien!” Sayid rolled over, very hesitant in getting up. “I haven’t touched her, what the fuck is this about?”

“What do you mean you haven’t touched her? I have read that sick contract you have given her, you bastard, you have taken her to bed to her in exchange for her freedom.” Hawke spat vindictively waiting for Sayid to get up and take another beating from him. “You make me sick.” Hawke dropped to his knees and swung back his right hand, his left fist holding Sayid’s shirt firmly.

“She turned down the contract.” Sayid held up both his hands with surrender.

Hawke’s right fist hovered in the air just behind his ear, wavering with all the force that he was unleashing.

“She turned it down. I have not touched her, you have got to believe me!” Sayid futilely held his hands up in the air hoping to block Hawke’s forceful blows.

“Then why the hell are you leaving now?” Hawke demanded an answer.

“Kristien would never betray you, not even for her freedom.” Sayid explained to him. “You have got to believe me. I have not gone to bed with her.” Hawke released Sayid and pushed him to the floor.

“If you are lying to me, I will kill you.” Hawke repeated his promise to Sayid.

Sayid backed away and slowly got up and sat on the felled tree trunk, he wiped away the blood that was slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself.

“Kristien came to me yesterday and turned down anything that I have to offer.” Sayid explained.

“Even for her freedom?” Hawke started to calm down, Dominic was right.

“I envy you Hawke.” Sayid told him.

“Envy?” Hawke still didn’t understand what was going on and his anger was still trying to take him over. He decided that he would hear Sayid out before he would take him down and finish him. “Why?”

“Because you have a soul mate.” Sayid explained.

Hawke stopped being angry instantly. Had Kristien spoken to Sayid? And where was she? He struggled to find her with his mind or maybe his anger was still bubbling under everything, preventing him from finding her. “I am listening.” Hawke was short with Sayid.

“I won’t deny that I don’t love her, because I do and I can’t stop. Kristien is an incredible woman, but then you know that don’t you.” Sayid looked at Hawke for any reaction.

Hawke raised an eyebrow at Sayid. “Yeah, she is.” Hawke let out a breath, searching for Kristien, scanning the horizons, trying to connect.

“Kristien explained to me why she would never go to bed with me or any other man for that matter.” Sayid continued to relay what Kristien had told him the day before. “She would rather face life long celibacy than give herself to another man, even if you weren’t still on this earth, she would never be with another man again such is her devotion to you, to what you have.” Sayid replied shaking his head. “You don’t realise what you have got do you? Do you not know that there are very few people have what you have, that millions of others wish that they have it and thousands are still searching for it. What you have when you make love, that the world ceases to exist that all is there is you and her, your heartbeats, your breathing everything as one, floating above all of mankind, breaking all physical bonds to the earth, to know what each other is thinking and feeling all of the time. To have a soul mate, that’s immeasurable.” Sayid looked at Hawke.

Hawke suddenly realised how stubborn he had been the night before, just looking at the circumstantial evidence and putting it together and making a stupid assumption. No wonder Kristien got so upset with him, she only dealt with facts and figures, never assumptions. Could he really have been that stupid? He started to deeply regret everything that he had said to her, accused her of. How the hell would he make this up to her?

Sayid stood up. “I am leaving because I could never have that with her.” He started to walk away and turned. “It was never about sex, I can have sex with any of my concubines. I saw what you had got and I wanted it too. My only fault was that I thought it was transferable. I was wrong.”

Sayid walked away going back down to the main house where he would leave and go back to Saudi Arabia to see out the last days of his Father.

Hawke ran back to the Lodge all the while searching for his beloved Kristien, where was she? And where the hell was Carsten? As he ran back a sharp stabbing pain made him collapse to the ground. He was on all fours, grasping his stomach in severe pain. The knot deep down in his guts had twisted for one final and agonising time. Kristien was in trouble. He could feel her fear.

Hawke reached for his radio. “Dom meet me at the hangar.”

“Sure thing String.” Dominic replied noting Strings voice on the radio. “You ok?”

“Something is wrong.” Hawke struggled to speak, taking short breaths trying to ignore the pain.

Hawke got to the hangar and Dominic ran up behind. Hawke struggled with the retina scan and the hand print ID. The nagging knot was tightening with such vengeance he honestly thought it would burst out of his stomach. Kristien had opened up their connection again and it hit him like a tidal wave. Everything she was feeling, seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling. He could taste blood, lots of it. She was hurt.

Once inside Airwolf Hawke pressed the secure transmission to raise Archangel. Michael appeared on the screen.

“Hello Hawke, you calling for refuelling?” Archangel asked.

“Refuelling for what?” Hawke looked at Dominic puzzled.

“For the high level videoing of the Minotaur meeting with Kristien.” Archangel replied. “You are videoing aren’t you?”

Hawke’s face said it all. “What meeting with the Minotaur?” He demanded.

“Southern France of course. She met with him in Paris this morning.” Archangel replied. “Oh God don’t tell me you aren’t with her?”

“Michael I have no idea what you are on about, but you had better fill me in and give me coordinates to the meeting place. NOW!” Hawke started to undo his shirt to change into his Airwolf Flight Suit.

“Hawke you get down there now, I did not know you weren’t there. What the hell is Kristien thinking going it alone?” Archangel reached across to his notes and pulled out a USB stick. “Why didn’t you or Carsten stop her?”

“That’s the problem Michael, she isn’t thinking.” Hawke said under his breath ignoring the other question posed to him.

“I am sending the mission briefing now.” Archangel put in the USB to the laptop and sent the information directly to Airwolf’s on board computer.

“Got it Michael.” Dominic confirmed checking the screens for all the information.

“Let me know if there is anything you need.” Archangel replied. “Get yourself down there to back her up. Good luck, Hawke.”

Hawke changed into his Airwolf flight suit and put the helmet on and pressed TURB START ONE and Airwolf sprang into life. Dominic checked over the instruments at the EDCC. Hawke pressed TURB START TWO.

They flew direct down to the south of France to the remote Chateau pushing Airwolf to Mach one point four all the way. Hawke looked Airwolf’s on board scanners.

“Anything?” Hawke asked.

“There’s a chopper on the ground with eight people, six with sub normal body temperatures.” Dominic looked at the infrared. “Still can’t find Kristien’s GPS anywhere.”

Hawke flew over the coordinates, the scene below him of eight secret service agents all sprawled out around the helicopter spoke for itself. There was no sign of Kristien.
Hawke brought Airwolf into land and pulled the landing gear knob. Outside Airwolf’s wheels came out and she landed gently on them. Hawke pulled off his helmet and almost fell out of Airwolf and ran over to Carsten and dropped to his knees next to the downed agent.

“Carsten?” Hawke shook Carsten to wake him, the bullet wound was high up in Carsten’s shoulder.

Carsten came too. “Hawke?” He gasped and he groaned with the pain.

“Where’s Kristien?” Hawke questioned him watching Dominic run over.

“Archangel is sending over a medical team, they are five minutes out.” Dominic replied and started to check to see if anyone else was alive.

“They took her.” Carsten grimaced with the pain of talking and he closed his eyes to drift off again into unconsciousness.

“Who took her?” Hawke shook Carsten. “WHO?”

“Bryon.” Carsten whispered before finally succumbing to the darkness.

With that one word Hawke’s broken, brooding heart sank.