Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 6 – Mission de Sauvetage
Chapter 5
F.L.A.G Underground Facility
“Geez KITT, how come you get all the cute ones?” Ian remarked. He was holding the slip of paper Aimée had left on K.I.T.T's dash. A phone number and email address were written on it in black marker.
“What are 'the cute ones'?” K.I.T.T asked him.
“Carmen, Katherine, Aimée...” Ian explained, returning to his desk. “That girl is going to be a knockout when she gets older.”
“Cute being a matter of opinion.” Pierce said, glancing at Carmen.
“I'm confused.” K.I.T.T said. “Are you under the impression that I own Kat?”
Ian gave the car a sympathetic look. “Never mind.” He looked over at Carmen, who had her eyes narrowed at Pierce. “Why is it the clueless ones get all the girls?”
“KITT's got looks and brains.” Carmen answered. “What's not to love?”
“KITT, are you flirting again?” Kat asked as she and Charles headed down the staircase.
“I do not recall ever engaging in any flirtatious mannerisms.” K.I.T.T replied.
“See? Clueless.” Ian sighed and shook his head.
“What do you have for us Pierce?” Kat asked.
“I'll let Kai and Rei take over. They did all of the work.” Pierce turned to the twins.
“We've managed to plot out David's route through the Knight Industries Building on camera.” Rei said.
Kai stretched. “David better give us a raise for this. That was the most mind-numbing six hours of my life.”
“Let's see what you got.” Kat said.
Rei put the camera footage up on the big screen. The camera quality wasn't the crisp High Definition video that KITT usually took, but it was clear enough. “Here is David when he leaves Kat and Andrew Corlan in Corlan's office.” Rei said.
“He was going to go patch KITT into the security system.” Kat told everyone.
The video feed switched from one camera to another, following David's progress to the elevator. Then it switched to the camera inside of the elevator.
“This is where the elevator stopped.” Pierce said. Sure enough, the elevator lights went out and the red emergency lights came on. Everyone watched as David shot out the button panel, the screen went black. “That man is absolutely insane.” Pierce muttered.
The next shot was from outside of the elevator as David opened the doors. Kat's eyebrows shot up. “He did that with an injured shoulder?” She asked in disbelief.
“He says he keeps in shape.” Pierce remarked to her quietly. “I suspect robotic limbs.”
Kat covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her smile. She glanced over at Charles. That intent look was back on his face as he watched the footage.
“Here he is going into the security office...” Rei said.
“And then coming out.” Kai finished. “Now, here is where things get weird...”
The video feed from the next camera was highly distorted. Kat could just barely make out that it showed a stairwell. “David goes in here, then goes missing.” Kai said.
“What's causing that distortion?” Kat asked.
“We're not sure, but it shows up on several camera feeds.” Rei said. “It seems to center around this one man.” She paused the feed. She used her mouse to highlight a dark figure on the screen.
Kat recognized the man, despite the distortion. She knew only one man that dressed all in black like that. “That's the unknown man.” She said.
“We can't think who else it might be.” Rei said. “You can vaguely see a brief struggle.”
“After that it was fairly easy to follow.” Kai said. “We just tracked the distorted feeds.”
The video switched through several more feeds, all of them highly distorted. “Do you know what is causing that distortion?” Charles asked.
“We can only guess that the unknown man was carrying something on him that affected the cameras.” Rei said.
“It's possible.” Kai said. “But there is no way of knowing what it was.”
“You couldn't enhance the images?” Charles asked.
Kai nodded. “We didn't bother with these. This last bit though...”
“This bit takes place in the underground garage. The unknown man took David down here and placed him in the back of this van.” Rei explained. Kat could see that the image was slightly less distorted here. The image cleared when the man left. Rei zoomed in on the back of the van. “No license plates.” She said.
“David is trapped here, until the unknown man returns and checks up on him.” Kai said.
Kat watched as David leaped out of the back of the van and tackled the bigger man. “I think you might be on to something about those robotic limbs.” She muttered to Pierce. The corner of his mouth twitched.
The entire Main Lab watched as David and the unknown man fought. Then David paused. Kat studied David's face. She felt her heart speed up at the look of surprise there. “Why did he stop?” She asked.
They watched as the unknown man had David by the throat. “Why doesn't he fight back?” Kat asked, her voice becoming increasingly anxious. She wasn't sure exactly why, but her heart was pounding now. “What did he see in that man's face?”
“We don't know.” Rei said sadly. “He keeps his back to the camera the entire time.”
“This confirms what we've suspected.” Charles said gravely. “Someone is targeting FLAG.”
“The question is who.” Pierce said ruefully. “I haven't been able to find any information.”
“I have a theory.” Charles said quietly.
Pierce turned his attention to the older man. “What theory?”
Charles shook his head. “Not now. If I am wrong, and I hope I am, I do not want to cause unnecessary panic.”
“If you have some information that could help...” Pierce began.
“Not now.” Charles told him firmly. He glanced quickly at K.I.T.T. “Some of you are not ready.”
Pierce didn't say anything further, but he looked very unhappy.
********
David woke tied to a chair. He struggled immediately, but his arms and legs were bound tightly. His hands were tied to the sides of the chair's backrest, so he could not get free. The chair was bolted to the floor. His body ached all over and his head throbbed.
He took in his surroundings. He was in the middle of a large, empty and dark space. A wooden table was in front of him, illuminated by the room's only light.
He waited silently. He had been captured. There was a reason for that. His captors wanted something from him. They would show themselves eventually.
He didn't have to wait long.
He heard footsteps echoing behind him. He didn't turn to look. He wouldn't be able to see who it was till they reached the light, and turning would show nervousness. He just waited, with his back straight and his eyes forward.
It was the unknown man, of course. David's dark eyes followed him as he walked down the length of the table. He placed a black case on the tabletop. He popped open the locks and pulled out a laptop. It was two-toned in color, the top a glossy black, and the bottom silver.
The man placed the laptop on the table and opened it. He started it up. After a moment, he began typing at the keys.
“Don't you ever speak?” David asked in a bored tone.
The man didn't answer. His hands paused on the keys, but David didn't know if he was looking in his direction or not. He wore his dark sunglasses even now.
“Afraid of being recognized?” David asked, raising both eyebrows. “That's why you wear the sunglasses, isn't it? They couldn't change your eyes.”
“I would concern yourself with your own situation, Director.” Said a deep, rough voice. It was dead. Completely without emotion.
David's eyes narrowed at the laptop, where the voice had come from. The man turned it around, so it faced David. The screen was completely black, save for a yellow line going across it. A yellow light flowed back and forth lazily along the line.
“At the moment, your life hangs from a highly precarious thread.” As the voice spoke, the yellow line expanded, bars moving up and down like an equalizer display.
The man walked over to David. He held a silver syringe gun in his hand. He pushed it into David's side and pulled the trigger. David felt that sharp prick again between his ribs.
A few seconds later, a very peculiar odor overcame him. It smelled like rotting onions. He understood immediately. The odor was in his head.
“Sodium Pentothal. Or Truth Serum in layman's terms.” David said. “It won't work on me.” He said, glaring at the laptop. “While it can be used to suppress higher cortical brain functions, if you are a habitual liar, all it does is make you lie more.”
“We shall see.” The voice came from the laptop again.
A wave of nausea washed over David. He swallowed hard and shook his head. “So, this is all that's left of you?” He asked. “I read the report. You're body was destroyed. A million pieces, scattered, obliterated.” His expression turned indifferent. “Looks like one little, insignificant piece survived.”
There was no movement on the laptop screen for a moment. Then the voice came again. “Hurt him.” It said dully.
The man in black backhanded David hard across the face. Pain exploded behind his eyes and he slumped to the side. His bonds were the only thing that kept him upright.
Slowly, David turned back to the laptop. He tasted blood. He spat across the table. Flecks of red hit the laptop screen. “You don't scare me.” He said, sneering. “Where is that outdated, obsolete CPU Core of yours? How long did it last, damaged as it was? Now you just drift, completely helpless on your own. You're just a ghost in the machine. A mere memory. Nothing but a bad dream.” His dark eyes glittered.
The man struck him again. David's vision swam drunkenly. He began to laugh, a little deliriously. “Is this the best you have? Is this all you can do? Act like a bully?” He asked, turning back to the laptop. “Well, KARR?”
“This is only the beginning.” The voice from the laptop replied.
