Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 9 – KITTnapped
Chapter 5
David's phone rang again. He picked it up without checking the caller ID. “We're in the chopper now, Pierce.”
“I am not Pierce.” A rough voice said in his ear.
David's eyes narrowed. “What do you want with me now, KARR?” He asked.
“I must confess disappointment that with everything I put you through, you did not once fear me.” K.A.R.R replied.
“I still don't fear you.” David said blandly. “You're the one who's scared. That's what you keep trying to push on everyone else. Your own fear.”
“Perhaps you will change your mind once you see this.”
The phone beeped. David pulled it away from his ear and looked at the screen. K.A.R.R was sending him a video feed. It showed Kat in the middle of a large circle of car parts. She was holding something in her hands. Her head was bowed.
At the bottom of his screen was a timer that was counting rapidly down. It read: 2:47
David's face hardened. He put the phone back to his ear. “KARR, listen to me right now.” His voice was deadly. “You have a choice. You can let them both go right now. If you do, then I will grant you mercy.” K.A.R.R was silent. David's anger exploded. “Do you hear me?” His voice rose. “One day I will find you, alone and broken. And I will not hesitate to end you!”
The phone line went dead.
********
Kat lifted her face up to the ceiling, trying not to let tears seep out of her eyes. She blinked them away rapidly.
Her body went still as she stared up at the rafters above her. There were black boxes attached to each one. Each box had a red LED set into it. They glowed brightly in the shadows.
She brought her eyes down, looking around in alarm. Each of the support beams in the factory also had a black box attached to it. Each of these also had a red light. As she watched, each light turned green.
“Kat, leave, now.” K.I.T.T warned.
Panic was rising up inside of her uncontrollably. She kept looking all around. “You want me to leave you?” She asked, fear making her breathless.
“You have the only part of me that matters in your hands right now.” K.I.T.T said. “You need to get out of the building as quickly as possible. There is an emergency exit about thirty feet to your right. Go!”
Kat ran. She hurried to the emergency exit. She ran into the handle and the door sprang open. A loud blaring filled the air. She ran headlong away from the building. She didn't make it very far before the warehouse blew.
The explosion made the concrete under her feet tremble. The force of the blast picked her up and threw her like a giant hand. She scraped against the pavement painfully. K.I.T.T's CPU Core flew from her hands, landing a few feet away.
Kat lay on the ground, dazed and hurt. She turned her head, looking at K.I.T.T's CPU Core. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled slowly over to it. She reached one hand out. It was bleeding from a scrape that ran from her pinky down the side of her hand to her wrist. She grabbed the box and pulled it close to her. She curled her body around it protectively and passed out.
The sound of sirens filled the air seconds later.
********
F.L.A.G Underground Facility
Charles walked into David's office. He closed the door behind him. He walked over to David's desk and held out a few sheets of paper. “Here is the log KITT took of the events in the warehouse. KITT's CPU Core is currently locked in the Clean Room while Carmen prepares the Corvette for him.”
David took the papers. He looked over them quickly. His eyes hardened to orbs of jet. “You know something that you are not saying.” Charles said solemnly.
“Yes.” David answered, his eyes still on the papers. He patted the edges on his desk, pushing them together. He placed the papers in his top desk drawer.
“You won't tell me what it is, will you?”
“After looking at this, no.” David said. “But I will tell you something else.” Charles waited patiently. David looked up at him, his eyes still hard. “I tell you this because I know you won't tell anyone else, and because you are the only person here I trust. There is no doubt in my mind now. FLAG has a traitor.”
********
When Kat came to, she was lying on her back. Her hands were empty. She tried to sit up immediately, panic jump starting her heart. Hands gently pushed her back down onto the bed.
Bed?
Kat looked around anxiously, then relaxed. She was back at F.L.A.G, in the Med Room. Eric, a member of Dustin's team, was holding her shoulders down. “Don't move so suddenly, you might pull something.” He cautioned.
Kat lay still and he straightened up. Dustin came into view. “Are you in pain?” He asked.
Kat winced. “Yes, thank you for reminding me.” She said. “What's the diagnosis?”
“Minor burns. Some nasty scrapes, bruising. You'll live.” Dustin smiled at her.
“I was hoping for good news for a change.” She sat up carefully. “What about KITT?” She asked.
“You'll have to ask Charles or Pierce, they're both waiting outside. Shall I let them in?”
“By all means.” Kat said.
Dustin disappeared from view. He was back soon, with Charles and Pierce in tow. Pierce stood n the back, looking worried. Charles looked troubled. He walked over to Kat's bedside.
He gave Kat a look of deep gratitude. “Thank you for rescuing KITT.” He said.
“Just the CPU Core.” Kat said dully.
“Everything else can be replaced.” Charles assured her.
“Everything?” Kat asked. “Even the memories that are stored on his other hard drives?”
“We keep a backup of those hard drives here.” Pierce said. “It'll be current up to right before you two left to save David. He'll have lost a few hours, but it's not bad, all things considered.”
“I guess we'll never know how he was captured in the first place.” Kat said sadly.
“David is investigating that now.” Charles told her. “He even has a few leads.”
“That's good.” Kat said, her dark eyes brooded. “When can I get out of here?” She asked.
“Just let me give you a once over, and you'll be free to go.” Dustin told her.
Kat waved her arms, shooing the other men from the room. “You heard the man. Out.” She said. Pierce smiled weakly as he turned and exited the room. Charles followed him. Eric went back to other work.
********
David looked up as his office door opened again. “Good evening, Karen.” He said. “What brings you here?”
“Just seeing if you made it back in one piece.” Karen said, her face a mask of calm. She carried a manila envelope and a newspaper under one arm.
David spread out his arms, looking down at his chest. “I seem to be all here.” He said, then he dropped his arms. “What's the real reason you're here?”
“I'm delivering bad news.” Karen said.
“You do that quite a bit.” David remarked. He leaned back in his chair. “In fact I seem to recall seeing you walk into my office three years ago, carrying a manila envelope not unlike that one.”
Karen's turquoise eyes narrowed slightly. She tossed the envelope she carried onto his desk. David reached for it. “Don't bother opening it.” She said. “I'll give you the gist of it. The FBI has rescinded our contract with FLAG.”
David looked up at her with an expression that was almost like alarm. “You can't do that.” He said.
“It was decided by those higher up the ladder than I am.” Karen said. “This place is falling apart, David. Your car returned from being kidnapped as a fifteen pound piece of scrap metal.” David bristled. “You yourself were kidnapped. Your Driver has been nearly killed on several occasions. The FBI cannot rely on FLAG.”
“The Homeland Security contract is gone too, isn't it?” David said. Karen nodded. “Well, that's it then.” David said, his voice rising. “Without those contracts, Knight Industries is done.” He rubbed his temples with his fingers. “I'm starting to think manila envelopes are cursed.”
“Well, you're wrong. Knight Industries is not doomed.” Karen told him. She unfolded her newspaper. It was a copy of the Wall Street Journal. She laid it out on the desk. The picture on the first page showed the blown out Knight Industries Headquarters.
“You've been away, so you don't know yet. Due to the recent 'terrorist' attack on Knight Industries, the Federal Government has stepped in, offering 300 Million dollars in aid to rebuild Knight Industries HQ. And, since Knight Industries has always been one of the Military's top suppliers, they are offering an additional 600 million dollars in grants.” Karen gave David a superior smile. “As of yesterday, Knight Industries is in the black. You should thank KARR.”
David's eyebrows shot up as he quickly read the article on the front page. “I don't believe this...” He said slowly. He lifted the paper off of the desk, turning to page eight.
“Well, if you can believe in curses on manila envelopes, perhaps you will believe in the blessings of newspapers.” Karen looked amused.
David narrowed his eyes at her over the top of the newspaper. “FLAG can do whatever it wants, now.” He folded the newspaper up and smiled to himself. “Charles will be pleased.”
“Don't smile like that.” Karen said. “I know that look, and it frightens me.”
David gave her a long look. “We all fear something.” He said.
********
Kat walked into the Main Lab. She wore a pair of soft suede pants and a light, loose shirt, so as not to aggravate her burns. The Corvette sat on the circle in the middle of the room. Carmen's gray clad legs stuck out from underneath it.
“How are you feeling?” Kat asked quietly.
“It's better to be inside of a body, though I must admit I miss the Camaro.” K.I.T.T answered in her ear.
“Carmen will talk to David, get you a new one.” Kat assured him.
“Okay, you're all hooked up.” Carmen said, sliding out from under K.I.T.T. “I'll put the kickplate back on later. Just try it out.”
The red light on K.I.T.T's hood came on. It flowed back and forth quickly. “Thank you, Carmen.” K.I.T.T said. “Being vulnerable was not enjoyable.”
Carmen patted his hood. “De nada.” She said fondly. She turned and walked over to Kat. She wrapped her arms around the taller woman and squeezed tightly. “Thank you so much, Katherine.”
Kat gasped for air. Her various aches protested painfully. “Carmen, I can't breathe.” She rasped. Carmen released her and stepped back. “Everyone's gratitude is going to kill me.” Kat said, smiling.
Carmen grinned. “There are worse ways to go.”
They looked up as the door to David's office opened. Karen and David walked out. Karen headed up the stairs while David leaned on the railing and looked down at the Main Lab.
Carmen frowned at David. “Is that man smiling?” She asked.
“I think so, is that what's giving me chills?” Kat answered.
“Pierce, Charles.” David called down. The two men looked up at him. “I'm giving you both the green light on the Crawler Project.”
Pierce's eyebrows shot up. “What? Really?” He asked in disbelief.
Charles looked delighted. “Now, this is a good day.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with the real David?” Pierce demanded. “And, he's not coming back, is he?”
David frowned at Pierce. “Don't push your luck.” He said. He turned and went back into his office.
Pierce mimed sighing with relief. He wiped at his brow dramatically. “Whew, it's the real David.”
“What's the Crawler Project?” Kat asked Carmen.
Carmen shrugged. “No idea. I guess we'll find out soon enough.”
Kat stretched her weary muscles. “I think I'm going to head to bed early.” She announced. “Wake me up if I need to save the world or something.”
“Before you go, I have a question. How did you manage to get back from Phoenix safely after I was kidnapped?” K.I.T.T asked.
“David borrowed a car from Karen.” Kat told him as she walked to the metal staircase. “It's a good thing you called her, or we would have been stranded.”
“I'm in awe that David had the strength to drive back to FLAG in his condition.” K.I.T.T said.
“Don't be silly, David passed out right after we left. I drove us back.” Kat said. She headed up the stairs.
“You drove another car?” K.I.T.T asked indignantly. “I was only gone a day, Kat.” Over at his desk, Ian suppressed a giggle.
Kat rolled her eyes. “Good night, KITT.” She said as she made it to the top of the stairs.
“What kind of car was it?” K.I.T.T called after her.
Kat turned around and looked down at him. “Stop being silly, I can't tell if you're joking around or not.”
“It was red, wasn't it?” K.I.T.T asked.
“It was a white Nissan Sentra.” Kat said. “Happy?”
“A Sentra?” K.I.T.T's voice betrayed a hint of disbelief. “Why would you drive a Sentra? Were you inebriated at the time?” Pierce hid a snicker with his hand.
Kat buried her face in one palm. “Good night, KITT.” She said firmly, turning away.
“It's all right. I forgive you.” K.I.T.T said in her ear. “I can see you had no other choice.”
Kat shook her head as she walked out of the Main Lab. “Welcome home, KITT.”
