Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 5 – Countdown
Chapter 3
Knight Industries Corporate Headquarters, NYC, New York
David reached the elevator doors just as they slid open. He stopped suddenly and stared in surprise.
Kat looked down at the woman lying at her feet. “Sorry, but strangling me won't work.” She rapped her stomach with a knuckle, making a sharp sound. “Indestructible turtleneck.”
The woman just glared up at her. The expression on her face turned pained. She was cradling her sides. “I think you broke one of my ribs.” She complained.
“No worries.” Kat said as she bent down next to the woman. “They have excellent doctors in prison.” She bound the woman's hands behind her back.
Kat looked over at David finally, who had composed himself by this time. “Get that.” She said as the elevator doors began to close.
David stepped forward, standing in the way of the doors, which slid back open. Kat hauled the assassin to her feet. “Come on, your leg's aren't broken.” She pulled the woman's ID off of her pocket, and took a look at it. “Fake, a very nice job too. How long have you been impersonating Andrew Corlan's Personal Assistant?”
“A week.” The woman said tightly. “It wasn't worth it. I spent too much time stopping other assassination attempts so I could have him for myself.”
“Well, you can tell the Police what you did with the real-” She paused, looking at the ID again. “Amy Weber.” She picked up her briefcase and prodded the woman out of the elevator.
David spotted two officers coming out of another elevator. “Over here.” He looked at both of their badges carefully before turning the assassin over to them. He turned back to Kat. She was smiling smugly. “What?” He asked.
“Come on. I just took my first assassin down. In the elevator on the way up here.” She said.
He gave her a shrewd look. “It's only to be expected.” He said dully, turning away from her and walking back down to Corlan's office.
Kat scowled at his back. “What do I have to do to break that facade of his? Die?” She asked quietly.
“Let's not test that theory.” K.I.T.T replied in her ear. “I think you did very well.” He pointed out.
“Well, at least someone appreciates my efforts.” Kat said, a little more loudly.
David ignored her. “We've evacuated everyone from this floor, and the ones above and below it. We can better identify someone who doesn't belong here that way.” Suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass, and a shout. David and Kat hurried back to the office.
Kat surveyed the room quickly. The large window behind the desk had three holes in it. Corlan and his two attendants were cowering on the other side of his massive desk, away from the window. Corlan was clutching his upper arm, which was bleeding.
Kat immediately fell to the floor and crawled over to them. David pushed a button by the door and the large vertical blinds began to close slowly. The sniper took a few more shots at the desk before the blinds fully closed.
David moved over to the window, ducking low. He peered around one of the blinds carefully. “There's a building that's under construction across the street.” He announced. “The sniper is most likely there.” He pulled out his cell phone.
While David contacted the police downstairs, Kat checked on the CEO. “It's just a graze.” The older man assured her. “Damned lucky I dropped my pen at that moment.” He smiled weakly.
“It'll have to be bandaged up.” Kat said, inspecting the wound.
“I'll get a first aid kit.” One of the attendants got to his feet and hurried out of the room. Kat didn't blame him for wanting to get away.
“Not to be impertinent,” The CEO began. “But, who are you?” He asked Kat.
Kat held up her employee ID. “Katherine Knight. I work for you.”
The CEO looked confused. “I've seen a picture of KITT's driver. You don't look like her.”
Kat glared at a lock of blond hair that had fallen in her face again. “Yeah.” She reached up and took out one of her contacts. “See? Brown.”
The CEO smiled. “Of course.”
Kat smiled back, then replaced her contact. “Is it clear?” She called to David.
“All clear.” David said. “The police caught him as he was fleeing.”
“That's a relief.” Kat stood up. She helped the CEO to his feet. “Let's get you downstairs.”
“Not yet.” David said. He walked over to her. “Did you bring it?”
Kat handed him her briefcase. “Everything you requested.”
David took the briefcase, then turned to the desk. Both laptops had been shot, they were worthless now. He cleared them out of the way and placed the briefcase on the desk. He popped it open. There were several items inside, nestled in black foam.
David pulled out three silver pens. He handed one to Corlan and one to Kat. “Short range trackers, so Three Thousand knows where we are in the building.” He turned the top and slid his own pen into his inside jacket pocket. Kat and Corlan did the same with their pens.
“KITT says he can see where we are.” Kat told him.
David nodded. He went back to the briefcase. He pulled out a small black box. A wire dangled from it. “This will allow Three Thousand to patch into the security cameras in the building. I will head down to the Security Office on the 10th floor and hook it up.” He looked directly at Kat. “Take Corlan to a more secure location. One without windows preferably. Once this is hooked up, Three Thousand will guide you out of the building safely.”
Kat nodded. “Will you be all right on your own?” She asked.
David pulled the last item out of the briefcase. It was a compact semi-automatic pistol. Kat recognized it as the Smith & Wesson CS45 Chief's Special. He loaded the clip and took the safety off. “Of course.” He answered calmly.
“Then, we'll meet you downstairs.” Kat told him. David nodded. He hid the gun in his jacket, then headed out of the room.
The attendant came back in after David left, carrying a large First Aid Kit. Kat set to cleaning and bandaging Corlan's wound. She worked quickly. “Do you have another office somewhere?” She asked him. “A place without windows?”
“The Boardroom. There are no windows there. It's on the 55th floor.”
Kat nodded. She taped the bandage to Corlan's wound firmly. “Let's go.”
********
The painkillers were wearing off and David's shoulder was starting to sting. At least it was his left shoulder. He would still be able to use his gun efficiently. The pain was distracting though.
He walked to the elevator, slipping the tiny black box into his pocket. He pressed the button and the elevator doors slid open. It was empty. He stepped inside and pressed the button for the tenth floor.
At around the 26th floor the elevator stopped suddenly. The lights went out and the red emergency lights came on. David swore, pressing the emergency call button. He waited a minute, but got no response. He pulled out his cell phone and his rarely used Bluetooth earpiece. He called Pierce and pocketed his phone.
“Pierce, the elevator I'm in has stopped.” He could hear Pierce typing.
“All of the elevators are stopped.” Pierce told him. “I'm talking with the Head of Security now. They're saying that the Operator's room is locked.” David swore again. “You think something's happened to them?”
“Of course something has.” David answered. He sized up the elevator doors. “They're probably dead.” He tried prying the doors open. They wouldn't budge.
“You won't be able to open them.” Pierce told him. “They're locked electronically in case of emergency.”
“Can you override it?” David asked.
“Not form here.”
“What if I took out the button panel?” David asked.
“It might work.” Pierce assented. “But doing so could be very dangerous-”
David had stopped listening to him. He pulled out his gun and fired two shots into the panel. The red emergency lights went out, plunging the small space into darkness.
“You shot the panel, didn't you?” Pierce asked.
David tried prying the doors open again, feeling where they met with his fingers. His shoulder responded to the exertion with nearly unbearable agony. He ignored it, single-minded in his task.
Finally, he got the doors open. He reached out again, feeling where the doors for the floor were. The doors were three feet above the elevator floor. Those slid apart more easily. He crawled out of the elevator into a brightly lit hallway. “I'm out.”
“Geez David. You're not really an android or something, are you? Knight Industries Five Thousand or something like that?” Pierce asked.
David took a second to catch his breath. He checked on his shoulder. Blood had soaked through his bandage, staining it red. “I bleed like anyone else.” He said shortly. “I just keep myself in shape.”
“I need to be put on your exercise regime.” Pierce commented.
David jogged down the hallway, heading for the stairs. “You wouldn't last a week.” He said dryly. “I'll contact you once I patch Three Thousand into the camera system.” He pulled off the earpiece and put it in his pocket. He hit the stairs and headed down to the tenth floor.
********
“KITT says the elevators are out.” Kat told Corlan.
“The stairs are this way.” Corlan said, leading the way. Kat followed him closely, keeping an eye out.
“We could have stayed in the office.” One of the attendants commented.
“They already caught the sniper.” The other said.
“He was probably not alone.” Kat told them. “It's best to move the CEO to a safer location.”
Andrew Corlan turned and faced the three of them. “I'm not asking you two to put yourselves in any more danger. You can leave now, head down to where the Police are.”
The two attendants looked at each other, then back at their boss. “Sorry Sir, we're leaving.” One said. The other nodded.
“Then go.” Corlan told them. When they hit the stairs, the attendants headed down while Kat and Corlan headed up.
“Looks like it's just you and me.” Kat commented ruefully.
“My life is in your hands, Katherine.” Corlan said gravely.
“Do you call all of your employees by their first name?” Kat teased him as they reached the top of the landing.
“Of course.” Corlan replied. “It promotes familiarity and camaraderie.”
“I can see why you're CEO.” Kat pushed the stairway door. It didn't open. “Why is this locked?” She asked.
********
David reached the Security Office. He showed the Head of Security his ID and moved to the camera room. He handed the black box to the technician there, who hooked it up. “Are the elevators still out?” He asked.
“Yep, the key to the Operator's room is missing as well. They're breaking the door open with an ax now.” The technician tapped a monitor. David could see what he said was true.
After the box was hooked up, David exited the Security Office. He headed back to the stairs. He would join Kat and help keep Corlan safe.
He pushed open the door to the stairs and was struck from behind. He stumbled forward, then turned on his attacker, lashing out automatically.
His blow didn't faze the tall man standing behind him. He was struck again, on the side of the head. He was disoriented, collapsing against the wall.
The man in front of him was dressed all in black. His black hair was slicked back, away from his face. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. “I knew you'd be around here somewhere.” David muttered as the bigger man lifted him up by his shirt.
David reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his pistol. There was a brief struggle, then a shot was fired.
