Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 5 – Countdown
Chapter 2
Knight Industries Corporate Headquarters, NYC, New York
David assessed the situation grimly. Someone had made an attempt on Andrew Corlan's life. It hadn't been the first attempt on the life of a CEO of Knight Industries. It was somewhat of a cursed position. Not that David believed in curses.
“But, you're saying that this isn't the first attempt... recently?” David asked.
Andrew Corlan nodded. They sat in his office on the 54th floor of the Corporate Building. Two attendants were with them. “In the past week there have been five assassination attempts. None of them have been close to successful. They were attacks on my home, and my security team is the best. This morning's attempt was the closest anyone has gotten.”
“They're starting to come after you here...” David mused.
Corlan gave him a grave look. “David, you've been injured. I'm very grateful for what you've done for me. But, you don't have to be here right now. We have to get you to a hospital.”
David ignored the man's concerns. There was a medical clinic in the building, as many of the technologies they were testing had potential medical applications. The bullet had been removed and his shoulder had been bandaged tightly. He had been given a shot of painkillers as well.
He wasn't worried about his shoulder. There was something wrong here. Not just with the attacks. But so many at once. “Can you contact your head of security? Get the records of the attacks? Reports, security tapes, whatever they have.”
Corlan nodded. He turned to one of his attendants. “Right away, sir.” The attendant said, moving to the side and pulling out a cellphone.
David got busy setting up two laptops on the desk. One he connected to F.L.A.G. Pierce's face appeared on the screen. “Anything?” David asked him.
“We've just sent Katherine and KITT out. We loaded them onto Bishop, they should be there in under an hour.” Bishop was the Hypersonic Transport Jet used to move K.I.T.T quickly over long distances. It hadn't been used before now, as it was strictly for emergencies. Mainly the semi, called Rook, was used for mobile assistance. But this was an emergency. David needed to get the CEO somewhere safe and K.I.T.T was the ideal transporter.
“What about the license plate? Any information?” David asked.
Pierce shook his head. “It was a fake. Of course it was. Still, it was worth a try. I did however, find some rather disturbing information on the net. I've emailed you a link.”
David opened his mail on the other laptop. He found the link and clicked on it. It sent him to a message board. “What is this?” He asked.
“It's a BBS for assassins, mercenaries, bounty hunters...” Pierce said. “Most of it isn't serious, but...”
“My god...” David clicked on a message titled: '$5 million to the person that kills Andrew Corlan, CEO of Knight Industries.' David stared at the message in disbelief. “How blatant can you be?” He asked. “It's like...”
“They are trying to get attention.” Pierce finished. “Our attention.”
David glanced back at Pierce sharply. “What do you mean?”
“I hacked into the site, and traced the message to a server in southern California. Three weeks ago, if you recall, I also traced the virus that attacked us-”
“To a server in southern California...” David remembered. “You never found anything there, correct?”
Pierce shook his head. “It was just a dummy, someone was sending their messages through there from somewhere else. Probably rerouted several times through various servers, just in case.”
David stared up at the ceiling. “So, the one who sent the virus, is also the one that posted this message...” David looked back at him. “What about the men who attacked Katherine? Are they connected to this?”
“They could have been hired from this message board.” Pierce said. “If that's true, then someone really hates Knight Industries. They don't even seem to care that the people they are using get found out. The four mercs that attacked Katherine have already been tracked down and arrested. Only the unknown man is still at large.”
“And he can just get more mercenaries and assassins. People are expendable to him. This message here illustrates that nicely.” David stared at the message. Had Charles been right?
A secretary entered the office. She walked over to Andrew Corlan. “The building has been completely sealed off, no one is allowed in or out. The police have the first three floors contained.”
Corlan nodded. “Then we only have to worry about the people already inside.”
“Yeah, which are the ones that are going to attack you next.” David muttered. He turned to the secretary. “How many people are in the building?”
“Not counting the police? About... three hundred and sixty. I'm guessing.” The secretary answered.
“Have security check everyone out, see who belongs here and who doesn't.” David said.
The secretary looked to Corlan. He nodded. “Go on.” She hurried out the door. Corlan turned to David. David was reading the message again. “You believe there will be more, today.” It wasn't a question.
“There is a deadline here. If you're not dead by midnight tonight, the offer is withdrawn.” David said. He was shaking his head. “This, I don't understand this at all. Don't they realize what kind of madness this will cause? Then again, that's the point, isn't it?” He stared at the computer screen intently. “You don't care how many people die, how much noise you make, how much damage you cause, do you? You just want your revenge...”
“Revenge?” Andrew Corlan looked confused. “What have I done to cause someone to seek revenge on me?”
“Not revenge against you, revenge against FLAG.” David said, looking at him. “It's only a theory though.” He scowled. “I hate theories.”
********
“So, what's the emergency?” Kat asked David.
“Emergency is the correct term.” David answered. He was speaking to her from what looked like an office. “I've sealed off the Corporate HQ. An unknown number of assassins have infiltrated the building. They have by midnight tonight to kill the CEO of Knight Industries.”
Kat's eyes widened. “What do you want me and KITT to do?”
“Once we get Corlan inside of Three Thousand, he'll be safe. You can take him somewhere, don't tell me where, until the deadline. The police will be assisting in the search for the assassins. Your primary focus is protecting Andrew Corlan. Meet up with him when you get here, and do not let him out of your sight.”
“We're landing now. We should be there in about twenty minutes. Thirty if we hit traffic.” Kat told him.
“Over and out.” David said. He closed the comlink.
Kat leaned back in her seat. A lock of blond hair fell over her face. She blew it out of the way.
“Are you still upset that they wouldn't let you fly Bishop?” K.I.T.T asked.
“I should be the one to fly it.” Kat said grumpily. “It makes sense. I've flown jets before. And I really want to try out this one.” She groaned in frustration. “Hypersonic! We're going from New Mexico to New York in an hour, an hour!”
“Perhaps on the next occasion.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” She reached over to the glove compartment. “An 'unknown number of assassins', huh? Looks like I will need these.” She pulled out her spool of plastic handcuffs. They looked like thick cable ties. “How far up can you scan?”
“Approximately ten stories.”
“And you can't somehow scan someone through the eye-cam?” Kat asked hopefully.
“My apologies, no. But I can analyze what the eye-cam picks up. I downloaded the employee database, so we should be able to pick out the assassins.”
Kat nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Where should we escort our CEO?”
"I will choose a random location once we have him.”
“Okay then. Sounds good to me.” The jet had finished landing and K.I.T.T was let out the back. He drove across the airstrip.
“Let's roll.” He said. Kat smirked.
********
Knight Industries Corporate Headquarters, NYC, New YorkThey arrived exactly 22 minutes later. Kat finished 'gearing up'. She was wearing her contacts and her protective shirt. She attached the spool of plastic handcuffs to her belt, hiding it under the jacket of the black business suit she was wearing. She also wore a black skirt and heels. She wasn't normally the heels type, but the business suit would help her blend in with the crowd inside of the building.
Pierce had also given her a new watch. It had a few surprising features of it's own. One of which was that it housed three tiny tranquilizer needles that she could fire at an attacker.
She took her Knight Industries employee ID out. It hung from a metal chain. She pulled it over her head and it dangled down to her stomach. “Okay, almost ready.” She said. She reached onto the floor on the passenger's side and grabbed a black briefcase.
“Are you certain about this?” K.I.T.T asked. “Your heart rate is above normal.”
“I am a bit nervous. But this is what I signed up for.” Kat reminded him. “Besides, I have you watching my back, I'll be fine.” She checked her reflection, pushing a lock of blond hair behind her ear. “Change my ID so it actually looks like me.” She told him.
K.I.T.T took a picture of her, edited out the background, and sent it to the microchip inside of the ID card. It wasn't made from normal plastic. Not only was it Kat's employee ID, but he could change it's appearance to that of any other identification of the same size. It was very useful for infiltration.
“Thanks.” Kat said when the photo on her ID updated. She opened the Driver's door and stepped out. “Wish me luck.” She said, patting his hood.
“Good luck, or bad luck?” He asked.
“Whichever completes the mission successfully.” Kat told him as she pressed the thin button on her shirt, making the material rigid. “Go and find a parking space nearby.”
“Luck.” K.I.T.T said as he drove off.
Kat hurried up to the glass doors at the front of the building. Police officers were stationed at each entrance. She showed the nearest officer her ID card. The officer shook his head. “I'm sorry Miss Knight-” He began.
“No, she's okay.” A woman walked over to them. She was dressed in a dark red business skirt and jacket. An ID card similar to the one Kat had was hanging from the front pocket of her jacket. “She's part of the security team.” The woman smiled at Kat.
The officer let her through. “This way please. I am Mr. Corlan's Personal Assistant.” The woman said. “Mr. Corlan and Mr. Marks are waiting for you on the 54th floor.”
Kat followed the woman, taking a long look around the lobby. Her eyes lingered on everyone there.
Meanwhile, K.I.T.T had found a parking space a few blocks away. He slid into it smoothly and cut his engine. He began analyzing the video feed from Kat's eye-cam. He studied the faces and identifications of everyone Kat looked at. Police and employees alike. He didn't detect anyone unusual.
The woman walked ahead of Kat and pressed the button for the elevator. Kat continued to look all around while they waited.
K.I.T.T sent a message to Pierce, telling him that Kat has arrived and that she was being shown upstairs now.
The elevator arrived. It was empty. Both women stepped inside. “It's the 54th floor.” The secretary said from behind Kat. Kat pushed the button and the doors slid closed.
********
“David, Katherine's just arrived. A secretary is showing her up to you now.” Pierce informed David.
David frowned in confusion. “I didn't send anyone down to greet her.”
Pierce looked confused as well. “K.I.T.T told me that Mr. Corlan's Personal Assistant greeted Katherine. They should be in the elevator now.”
Dread filled David's stomach. He turned to Corlan and his two attendants. “Don't go anywhere.” He ordered. Then he hurried out of the room.
David kept himself in fairly good shape. As soon as he was out of the office he ran swiftly down the hall to the elevators.
********
Kat was watching the numbers above the elevator doors tick by. It was a long ride and standing still was making her uncomfortable. She shifted restlessly.
The woman behind her put a hand to her watch. She pulled the tuner out. A thin wire was attached to the other end, leading back into the watch. She pulled it out to it's full length and wrapped the loose end around her fingers twice.
Without warning, she swiftly looped it around Kat's neck and yanked on it hard, pulling the taller woman back.
