Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Story – Episode 3 – The Knight Before Christmas
Chapter 1
“Target building located.” K.I.T.T informed her.
Kat studied the display. Their target was a low building with various scorch marks on the red brick surface and all the windows broken. “What's my objective?” She asked.
“Enter through the front, then meet me on the other side.” K.I.T.T replied.
“Scan for any threats.” Kat told him.
K.I.T.T ran scans through several different filters. “Trip wire located three feet in front of the steps.” He highlighted it on his windshield. “The space under the second step is hollow as well.”
“A trap door?” Kat asked incredulously. “I bet Pierce thought that one up, he needs more imagination.” She opened her door. “See you around.” She said, and sprinted toward the building.
She hopped lightly over the wire. It was a nearly invisible fishing line, but she was looking for it and saw it. She skipped the second step and was soon at the front door of the building. K.I.T.T left her and drove around the back.
Kat studied the old wooden door. The paint on it was faded and chipping in places. It looked like it would fall off it's hinges at any second. “What am I really looking at here?” She asked K.I.T.T.
“Nothing.” K.I.T.T told her.
“That seems too easy.” Kat said, reaching for the doorknob. She pulled the door open easily, revealing a blank wall. “I knew it.”
“I told you it was nothing.” K.I.T.T said defensively.
So now she had to decide if she was going to try and find the real door, or try her luck with one of the windows. She knew she was being timed on this, so she had to decide quickly.
The windows were all broken, jagged bits of glass still clung to the frames. She eyed the sharp edges. She wasn't going to stick her head in there and look around. So, where was the real door? “A little help here?”
“I'm not allowed to give you general help or advice during the test, Kat.” K.I.T.T reminded her. “You have to ask for a specific function.”
“Fine, X-Ray the wall.” Kat said, looking over the wall in front of her.
K.I.T.T sent the scans to her eye-cam. There were no hidden doors in the wall. “Dammit!” Kat swore. “Do they want me to break through the wall?” K.I.T.T was silent. “I don't suppose you can come back and help me?” She asked hopefully.
“I'm sorry, Kat-”
“Yeah yeah, okay, I'll figure this out on my own then.” Kat looked all around wildly. “There has to be something...” She spotted a metal bar attached horizontally to the wall above the fake door. She pondered it for a moment. “Scan the second floor.” She said.
Suddenly she could see a large rectangular hole in the wall right above her. She jumped up and grabbed the metal bar with both hands and braced her feet against the wall. She then hauled herself up.
Her shoulder protested painfully. She had just dislocated it two days ago and was still on the mend, but she hadn't wanted to postpone the test.
She could see the doorway in front of her, because of K.I.T.T's scan, but to her normal eyes, it still looked like a sheer brick face. She reached out to touch it, only to find it had no substance. “Hologram...” She said, impressed. She climbed through.
She was now on the second floor. There were no windows on this floor, so everything was dark as pitch. Kat stood up hesitantly. “Brighten things up for me a bit?”
Her eye-cam adjusted as K.I.T.T dropped the night vision filter. She could see the interior as clear as day.
The room was completely empty, except for a massive hole in the floor just a foot in front of her. Kat's eyes widened. “Good thing I checked first.” She whispered, suddenly feeling faint.
This hole was her next obstacle. Splintered wood jutted out threateningly all around it. She wouldn't be able to just jump down without scratching herself pretty badly. Or worse.
She peered over the edge. “Scan the floor below. Is it solid?”
"The only thing under it is solid earth.” K.I.T.T replied. “Why?” He was starting to sound a little worried.
Kat looked around. She moved to one corner of the room, where the distance between the wall and the hole was the greatest. She had about ten feet to work with. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “I can do this.” She told herself.
“Do what?” K.I.T.T asked anxiously. “Kat, do what?”
But Kat wasn't paying attention to him as she took a strong running start. She pushed off of the floor hard, right at the very edge of the hole, launching herself into the air. She turned over neatly in mid-air, then straightened out, falling fluidly through the exact center of the hole in the floor, avoiding the splinters of death completely.
She bent her knees as she landed one story below, absorbing the shock of the jump. Her legs felt like that they had been turned to jelly, but she had made it. She fell back onto her rear and took a moment to catch her breath, and calm her racing heart.
“How did you do that?” K.I.T.T asked her. There was actual disbelief in his voice. A first for him.
“You saw that?” Kat asked.
“Of course, I've been watching your progress the whole time. But, how did you do that?” He asked again.
“Seven years of gymnastics?” Kat offered.
“I've never seen anyone do anything like that before.” K.I.T.T told her.
“You've obviously never seen the Olympics.” Kat told him.
“It was so...” He searched quickly for the right word. “Graceful.” He sounded like he was trying the word out for the first time. “I would never be capable of something like that.”
Kat couldn't help feeling a little flattered. “It would be a little impossible for you, wouldn't it?” She had caught her breath finally. She regained her feet and headed for the back door.
“Can you do it again?” K.I.T.T asked hopefully.
“Focus KITT, we're in the middle of a test.”
“Right, my apologies.”
Kat studied the door in front of her. “Is this one real?”
“Affirmative.” He answered.
“Okay, then what's wrong with it? Run a scan.” Kat frowned at the door. She wasn't going to be caught by any tricks at the final hour.
“The doorknob is wired to a live circuit.” K.I.T.T informed her, highlighting the knob and wiring in red.
Kat unzipped her black leather vest. Velcroed to the inside was a flat square zippered all the way around. She unzipped the compartment and pulled out a small, flat pair of wire cutters. She snipped the wires attached to the door jamb and the red light on her eye-cam went out.
“Anything else?” Kat asked.
“All threats have been neutralized.” K.I.T.T said. “Come on out.”
Kat opened the door. K.I.T.T. was waiting for her ten feet away, Driver's door open. She slid gratefully into the seat and they drove on. “What's our next challenge?” She asked.
“Navigating on-road obstacles.” K.I.T.T told her. And indeed, the road ahead of them was littered with various obstacles.
As they drove ahead, concrete walls rose high up on both sides. “So, it's 'through' then? No 'around'?” Kat asked.
“'Over' seems like an interesting option as well.” K.I.T.T remarked. Kat spotted a tower of junked cars at the end of the track. But that was the last obstacle. The first was the drawbridge.
It was up of course, and not on their side. A deep pit was carved under it. “Grappling hook, of course.” Kat said.
K.I.T.T fired, hooking the top of the wooden drawbridge. Kat hit reverse and the drawbridge lowered. They then drove to the other side.
Next was the oil slick. Kat knew that it probably wasn't real oil. K.I.T.T could drive through most slippery conditions. Charles would have prepared something that K.I.T.T couldn't get past easily.
Kat thought for a moment. “Clear it with the water cannon.” She said.
K.I.T.T's 'water cannon' was really a small nozzle. It shot water out under very high pressure, using very little water in the process. They cleared the road and he still had half a tank left. They drove on.
Next, there were large metal bars blocking their way. That one was too easy. “We could just ram it, but use the laser.” She said.
K.I.T.T's laser sliced right through the bars easily, cutting them into several pieces. He didn't even slow down as he passed though the hole he had made. The remains of the bars hit his hood and bounced off without leaving a scratch.
Then they were approaching the pile of cars. Kat floored it, her finger over the Turbo Boost button. At just the right second, she hit the button. K.I.T.T's rear boosters launched them into the air. They cleared the tower just barely. K.I.T.T landed on the other side and turned to a halt.
They were in front of another building. “The finish line is here.” He told her.
“Good, we're done.” Kat said in relief.
“Not quite.” K.I.T.T replied.
“No, no, no. You said that the finish line was here, this building.” Kat said firmly. “We're here, we're done.”
“Kat, the finish line isn't down here. It's up there.” He highlighted the rooftop of the building on the side window.
Kat stared up three stories. The door and windows were all boarded up and blocked. There was no fire escape, nor any ladders. She felt her stomach drop down to her feet. “Don't tell me... ejector seat?” She asked.
“A very good idea. I have wanted to test that out.”
Kat gave his modulator an exasperated look. “I'm not doing it.”
“Come on, you told me you used to fly all the time.” K.I.T.T retorted.
“That was in a jet.” Kat told him firmly. “I had a parachute.”
“It's only three stories.” K.I.T.T told her.
“Only?”
K.I.T.T retracted his top, letting bright daylight and frigid air flood in. He folded it easily into his trunk. He turned so he was facing the building.
“No.” Kat stated, crossing her arms. “I'm not doing it. You can't make me.”
“You're right, I can't make you. But you'll fail the test if you don't finish.”
“So? What happens if I fail? David fires me?” Kat asked, rolling her eyes.
“No, you just have to take it again.”
Kat thought for a long moment. “Okay, let's do this.”
“I knew you would see things my way.” K.I.T.T said smugly.
“I'm going to get you for this.” Kat warned darkly. She unbuckled her seat belt.
“Don't worry, I'll be gentle.”
“Seriously, if this goes wrong. I am so haunting you. Think 'Christine'.”
K.I.T.T waited silently. Kat took a few deep breaths. Her heart was trying to bash it's way out of her ribcage. She put her hands over her face and groaned loudly. Then she dropped them to her sides. “Okay, ready.” She said quickly, before she could change her mind.
The seat under her bucked sharply, and she was airborne. Instinct took over and she turned in the air. She landed on the rooftop lightly.
She blinked in shock. That had been surprisingly painless. “Still alive?” K.I.T.T asked in her ear.
She checked real quick, to be sure. “Heart's still beating, surprisingly.”
“I knew you could do it, when I saw that dive earlier.” K.I.T.T told her.
“That was one story, not three.” Kat reminded him. She lay on her back on the rooftop. The cold December air turned her breath foggy. She sighed heavily, watching as a great cloud erupted from her mouth. “Okay, tell me how to get down from here.”
“Down? What is this 'down' you speak of?” K.I.T.T asked.
"Oh, you think you're funny." Kat said sarcastically.
"Nonsense." K.I.T.T replied. "I know that I am funny."
"KITT, we've talked about you developing a sense of humor." Kat warned.
"Roger that, activating 'Mindless-Drone Mode'."
The corner of Kat's mouth twitched. She heard a sound to her right and turned. A hatch opened and Charles stepped out onto the roof. He wore a long black overcoat, and a red scarf. “Would you like to come in out of the cold now? We just have the 'Question and Answer' portion of the test left.”
Kat sat up. “That hardly sounds life threatening. Count me in.” She followed him down into the building.
********
“You did very well on the practical course. But, reviewing your mission notes...” Charles frowned. “Can you answer me one question?”
“Sure.” Kat nodded. She sat across a small table from him. He held a clipboard and pen in his hands.”
“So far, you have had two missions that required surveillance, why have you not used KITT's Cloaking System?” Charles asked in confusion.
Kat stared at him blankly for a second. K.I.T.T's Cloaking system...
The thing that made him invisible. It was one of the first things she had learned about him.
“I, uhm, I forgot about his Cloaking program...” Kat mumbled, her eyes on her hands, which were fidgeting.
Charles arched a brow. He didn't say anything and just made a note on his clipboard. Kat groaned inwardly.
The test only got worse from there.
********
When they were done, Charles escorted her down into Base2 proper. She studied the corridors with great interest. Here was where she could find information she needed.
Her brother had died here.
She had to find out how he had died. If she knew that, maybe she would figure out why he had died.
She memorized the general layout of the underground compound. Charles took her to a small cafeteria. They ate lunch together. Charles tried a few attempts at small talk, but Kat just couldn't pay attention. Her mind was utterly absorbed. How was she going to find the information she needed?
“Have you heard anything new from David?” Kat asked suddenly. She picked at the top of her hamburger bun. “About Sam?”
Charles didn't look surprised. He gave her a sympathetic look. “I know it doesn't seem like it, but David is doing everything he can to find out what happened.”
“Is there anything new?” Kat asked.
Charles shook his head. “I'm sorry, no.” Kat nodded. She had expected as much.
When they were done eating, Charles escorted her through the halls again. Kat noticed that they were going down different corridors than before.
They passed by a door that made Kat stop in her tracks. She turned slowly, looking back at it.
The door was covered entirely in clear plastic. Yellow tape crossed it.
Her heart began to pound in her chest. This was it, right here. Here was something, finally, she could feel it... She took a step toward the door.
“Are you coming?” Charles asked behind her.
She started, turning quickly. Charles was at the end of the hallway, looking back at her. She glanced back at the covered door and composed herself. “Yeah.” She followed him. She felt a pressure on the back of her neck, almost as if the door was staring at her. It eased up only after she had turned the corner.
