Part VII:

 

            “What do you mean someone tried to seduce you?” Devon asked when Kitt told them what had happened.  Bonnie sat in a chair across from Devon at his desk and Michael stood behind her, neither believing what they were hearing.

            “She blew some sort of powder in my face, and I think that’s what made me relax so quickly,” Kitt explained.  “I really had no idea what was going on until she moved onto me.”

            Michael usually would’ve congratulated Kitt on getting into such a position, but the circumstances were much different.  “What was she saying?”

            “I’m not sure,” Kitt said.  “I was paying more attention to her actions than her words.”

            “Naturally,” Devon said sitting back in his chair.  “Do you remember what she looked like?”

            “I can give a description,” Kitt answered.

            “Bonnie, type it into the computer,” Devon said.  He hoped that something would come up online, but alas Kitt’s description wasn’t good enough and the name Tina Sampson was unlisted.

            “We’ll just have to keep an eye out for her,” Michael said.  “I just think it’s a little too close for comfort for someone to focus on you.”

            “She just happened to get me at the right time,” Kitt said.  “Which reminds me; I have to call Rachael.  Excuse me.”

            Kitt went up to his room and flipped through the telephone book until he found Rachael’s name.  He dialed the number and was happy to hear her voice pick up the other end.  “Rachael, it’s Kitt.”        

            “Oh hi,” she said.  She almost sounded irritated. 

            “I was checking to see if you were all right.”

            “Why wouldn’t I be?”

            Kitt frowned.  “You didn’t come tonight.”

            “Kitt, you called me up and told me you had to cancel,” she responded.

            “No I didn’t.  This is the first time I’ve called you all day,” he told her.

            “That’s impossible.  I remember looking at the clock and it was five-thirty when you called me up and hastily told me not to bother showing because you had something come up.”

            “I would never have put it that way,” he said taken aback. 

            Rachael’s voice sounded less irritable after that.  “I didn’t think so,” she said.  “I was wondering what would’ve come up that you had to cancel.  I thought that you didn’t care like I thought you did.”

            “Rachael, you know that I care.  I started thinking the worst while I sat there waiting for you,” Kitt explained.  He decided it would probably be best if he didn’t mention Tina.  “How about tomorrow night then?  No cancellations this time.”

            “You’ve got yourself a date,” she said happily.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            When Rachael hung up the phone she smiled to herself.  She knew that Kitt wasn’t the type of guy that would dump her for something else.  Thankfully that was straightened out.  Now she didn’t have to think about it for the rest of the night and then have to confront him the next time she saw him at the Foundation.

            Back at the mansion, Kitt returned to Devon’s office where the others were still sitting around discussing this mysterious Tina Sampson.  He took a seat across from Bonnie and displayed a puzzled look on his face.

            “Something wrong?” Bonnie asked with concern.

            “Yes,” he said.  “Rachael claimed that I called her at five-thirty and told her I couldn’t make it.”

            “You were on your way there at five-thirty,” Michael said.

            “I know.”

            They all looked at each other in bewilderment.  There was no rhyme or reason why she would do something like that.  It just didn’t make sense. 

            Because of that phone conversation Kitt had with Rachael, Michael had made the suggestion that he should find himself a separate table at the restaurant in case something came up.  However, before Kitt left to pick Rachael up, he had to repeatedly tell them that things would be fine. 

“Really Michael,” Kitt said.  “How many times did you turn off your comlink in the past?”

            Michael turned his head as if to pretend he had no idea what Kitt was talking about, although Bonnie and Devon gave him a suspicious look.  Kitt said his goodbyes and headed out to the front driveway, but for some odd reason, Kitt felt as if there was something drastically wrong. 

 

That evening Rachael sat patiently in her living room reading a book while waiting for Kitt to pick her up for dinner.  Finally, he doorbell rang.  She checked her appearance in the hall mirror before putting a smile on her face and opening the door.  However, Rachael was stunned to see two men and a woman standing outside on her doorstep instead of Kitt.

            “Hello Rachael,” the brown haired woman said.  She nodded her head and the men grabbed the young girl, quickly covering her mouth before she could have a chance to let out a scream.

 

It only took Kitt seven minutes to drive downtown to Rachael’s house.  When he arrived, he found her car parked in the small driveway.  He parallel parked the Knight Two Thousand on the side of the road and headed up to the front door. 

            Kitt half expected Rachael to be waiting to open the door, but there was nothing but silence.  He rang the bell and waited patiently until he finally heard footsteps approaching.  Unfortunately the person he saw wasn’t the person he expected.

            “Come on in,” Tina Sampson greeted him, holding the door open and her arm was outstretched towards the living room. 

            “What are you doing here?” Kitt demanded.

            “I suggest you come in and ask questions later.  Otherwise you’re little girlfriend could experience some slight discomfort.”

            Kitt’s heart quickened as he stepped forward and heard the door shut behind him.  The room was as he last remembered it, but it was missing its owner.  “What did you do with her?” he inquired harshly.

            “She’s just fine,” said another voice coming from the kitchen towards the right.  A middle-aged man emerged wearing a suit and tie.  One hand rested in his pants pocket while the other held a glass of water. 

            “Where is she?” Kitt asked again, rage filling his head, although he knew there was nothing much he could do to help the situation.

            “She’s currently in my custody,” the man replied smoothly.  “And I suggest you do what I want or you won’t have to worry about her again.”

            Kitt saw another man coming from his left; only this one was dressed in casual clothes and seemed that he could break a baseball bat in half effortlessly.  He was drastically outmatched.  His only chance was the front door, which wasn’t guarded. 

            Kitt took a deep breath as his fingers grasped his wristwatch to command the Knight Two Thousand to start as he ran for the door.  The last thing he heard was “get him” that seemed to be coming from the man in the suit.  The next thing Kitt felt was something hard hit the base of his head and he started falling to the ground, although he never felt the impact of the floor.  His fingers had tugged at the watch from the sudden shock of the hit and pulled it off his wrist.  None of the three captors noticed and proceeded to take him to their car, which was parked next door.

 

ßßß

 

            At 11:30, Michael Knight became very anxious.  His gut instinct kept telling him that something was wrong.  Bonnie told him a number of times that Kitt was probably just having a good time and that he should go to bed to get some rest.  Michael couldn’t, however.  It was unlike Kitt to say something and then not follow it.  A few hours were a few hours, not the entire night.

            “Devon, I think something’s happened,” Michael said. 

            “Michael, you’ve been out all night before though you would say it would only be for a little while,” Devon laughed turning the page of newspaper he read while sitting in a recliner in the mansion’s family room.  “Have some faith, my boy.”

            “Devon, I’d just feel better if I knew he was alright.  I mean his little incident with that Tina whatever-her-name-is yesterday and now he’s gone all night scares me to death.”

            Devon sighed and put down his paper.  “Have Bonnie do a search for the Knight Two Thousand’s homing device.  Wherever the car is, Kitt is.”

            Michael did just that, but wasn’t satisfied with the results.  “It says its parked outside of Rachael’s house,” Bonnie had told him.

            “How about the comlink?  Kitt’s been wearing it since he’s been driving the car,” Michael suggested.

            Bonnie typed in the codes to the whereabouts to the comlink.  She hit the “enter” key and sat back once the screen gave the same answer as before.  “He’s still there.”

            Michael exhaled a large breath.  “Alright.  I guess he’s just having a great time or is too lazy to come home.”  Without saying another word he left the office and headed up to his own bedroom for much needed sleep.

 

            Kitt opened his eyes to find himself with a tremendous headache and his body tied to a chair rather uncomfortably.  He surveyed the room he was in and couldn’t remember how he got there no less where he could possibly be.  The room seemed to be some sort of high-tech computer lab with a great deal of large black CPU’s standinh against the wall and a desktop computer sitting on a table. 

            “Ah, I see you’re finally coming around, Mr. Knight,” the familiar voice of the man in the suit said. 

            “Where am I?” Kitt asked, still half asleep.

            “You are in my own little headquarters, as I like to call it.  And you’ll stay here until you do what I want.”

            Kitt looked up at the man who now stood in front of him.  In the background he noticed Tina sitting at the table in front of the computer.  “It’s all ready,” she said.

            “Good.”  The man pulled a nearby chair over and sat down in front of Kitt.  “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering who I am.  And to tell you openly I’m the very person that had your friend Michael Knight shot on your last outing.”

            Kitt’s eyes suddenly opened completely and he finally started to recognize the man.  “Andrew Jacobs?”

            “The very one.”  He laughed at Kitt’s shocked expression.  “You think I’ve been in jail all this time you were freeing yourself of that car.  Well, during your recovery, I was waiting patiently for the right opportunity to present itself to get you here, while my little replica sat in a jail cell.”

            “What do you want from me?” Kitt asked.  He moved his hands around only to find that the bindings were professionally tied and he had no way of escape. 

            Jacobs smiled as he stood up and picked up a bottle of wine that sat on a desk towards the front of the room.  “You’re going to tap into FLAG’s main computers and delete my files that they’ve so cleverly recovered.  After that you will clear my name from the police reports and make it so all of the money found at my estate is to be returned to my private account.”

            “I can’t do that,” Kitt claimed.

            “Liar,” Tina said, receiving a nasty glare from Kitt.

            “You’ve been a computer for the past decade, Mr. Knight.  The codes were downloaded into your memory, I’m sure.  I want it done.  Remember, your girlfriend’s life is on the line, not to mention your own.”  Jacobs pulled the chair in front of Kitt further back and sat down again.

            “You could have found anyone to do this for you,” Kitt said.  “Why did you pick me?”

            “Because you’re the most valuable.  Not only will my name be cleared, but my adversary will be dealt with once and for all.”  He paused and took a sip of his wine.  “Michael Knight has done nothing but given me dreadful headaches for two years now.  And I’m going to make sure he goes away, with your help.  You could count yourself as bait for the fish.”

            Kitt swallowed the lump in his throat.  Now what could he do?  There was no way out.  If he tried to make a run for it he was bound to be greeted with another blow to his head, and that wouldn’t solve anything.  He had no choice but to do as Jacobs wanted. 

            After several minutes, Kitt’s restraints were loosened and he was forced to sit at the table and begin the process online.  Tina Sampson and Andrew Jacobs stood behind him, watching his every move.

            To be honest, Kitt didn’t remember many of the codes that were linked to the Foundation’s systems.  He figured Bonnie had modified such things before his surgery had taken place, because no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with anything.

            For half an hour he sat at the computer and tried to tap into the mainframe, but the results were all the same:  nothing.  He finally sat back and folded his arms.

            “I can’t get in.  They must have erased the codes from my memory,” he tried to explain.

            “And you’ll lose more than that if you don’t do it,” Tina said, pointing a small pistol to the side of Kitt’s head.

            “Now Miss Sampson, that’s not going to solve anything.  If you blow him away we’ll just have to go through the work of finding someone who does know,” Jacobs said.  “I’ve got a better idea.”  He leaned next to Kitt and gently said, “If you don’t get in within the next half hour, I’ll see to it that our little hostage suffers from a terrible accident.”

            Kitt knew he meant Rachael.  He couldn’t help but think how scared she must be; heck, he was terrified himself.  If there was one thing he wished it were that Michael was with him.

            Once again Kitt typed in numerous codes that came to his head, but the computer screen still blinked “Incorrect Access Code.”  Then something came to mind.  When Wilson Knight was dying, he had changed most of the computers to accommodate the new software that was being loaded.  And his last project to be completed was Kitt himself.  The five blank spaces blinking before him on the small screen would fit the only thing that came to his mind: K2000.

            “Access Accepted,” came the words onto the screen. 

            “Excellent,” Jacobs said.  “Now, find the files of the cases.”

            Unfortunately, Kitt knew how to get through this.  He knew he would hate himself knowing that he was freeing Andrew Jacobs, one of the worst hoodlums of the 80’s.  He easily found the file labeled, “Jacobs, Andrew; #87109.”  Clicking on the file with the hand mouse, Kitt saw the number of felonies Jacobs had been charged with since 1979. 

            “Delete them,” Jacobs commanded.

            Kitt slowly typed in a short code, clicked the ‘enter’ key, and then clicked delete.  Then he sat back as he watched the tracking sign fill to the maximum, and completing the deletion. 

            “Now the police reports,” Jacobs said.

            Kitt sat back in his seat.  “That, I’m afraid, is out of my reach.  I was never programmed during my time in the car to have access to the police files unless they were transferred directly.”  Kitt hoped that they bought such a lame excuse, because he could probably do police reports as well if he sat there long enough; it was just going to take some serious time.

            “Andy, that can’t be true.  If he could get into FLAG,” Tina retorted.

            Jacobs thought for a moment.  “I think he’s telling the truth this time,” he said.  “We’ll let him have a little rest.”  He went over to his desk and pressed one of the many buttons on a phone.  “Send Mitchell up.”

            It wasn’t long before the door opened and the man from before walked in.  “Take Mr. Knight here to join the girl.”

            As Kitt started walking in front of Mitchell, Jacobs called, “I think it would be best if you started to figure out how to get into the police reports.”  Kitt frowned as he went down the long and plain hallway and down the stairs to the basement of the building.

            Mitchell led Kitt to the end of a corridor where there was a single door being guarded by one man.  The door was opened and Kitt was ruthlessly pushed in, the door slamming behind him.

            “Kitt!” Rachael cried jumping to her feet from her place on a cot.  “I’m so glad to see you!” She leapt into his arms and gave him a large hug, almost crying on his shoulder.

            “Are you okay?” He asked once she pulled away.

            She nodded a simple yes and wiped the tears from her eyes.  “What’s going on?  Why do they want us?”

            “They want me.  They’re just using you to get me to do what they want,” he explained.

            “But what can you do for them?”

            “What I was good for when I was the car,” he said.  “I’ve already been ordered to delete Andrew Jacobs’ file from the Foundation’s main computer.”

            “Isn’t he the one you and Michael were chasing on your last mission?”

            “Yes.  Luckily they didn’t notice that I copied the file before deleting it.  Bonnie should be able to recover it later.”  He looked around the small room.  There weren’t any windows and the only air vent on the ceiling was much too small to try to crawl through.  The only way out was through the door. 

            “We’re trapped,” Rachael said sitting back down.  “Kitt…I just want to get out of here.”

            Kitt sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  He couldn’t agree more with her wishes.

 

ßßß

 

            Morning came and Michael was alarmed to find that Kitt hadn’t returned home all night.  His first visit was to Devon, who tried to peacefully eat his breakfast on the patio.  “Good morning, Michael,” Devon said before sipping his hot tea.

            “Devon, Kitt still hasn’t come home,” Michael said pointing a finger to the table.  “Look, this isn’t like him.  Now I know what I’ve done in the past, but I know Kitt wouldn’t do anything like this so soon.  Something’s wrong.  You know there is.  And I’m going to her house right now to find out what’s up.”

            Michael didn’t really know why he went to Devon like he did, but he felt he should make him aware of where he was taking off to at seven o’clock in the morning.  He grabbed his keys and wallet off of his nightstand in his bedroom and hurried to the driveway where his SUV was still parked.

            Michael had pulled Rachael’s application file from the main office so he could find her address.  After that it was no problem finding the house.  Especially since the black t-top was parked outside where Kitt had left it the night before.

            Michael looked around to see that nothing unusual was around.  He knocked on the door several times after ringing the doorbell and still there was no answer.  Not even any sounds coming from inside.  The only obvious thing left to do was to pick the lock; only that wasn’t necessary seeing that the door opened the minute he started turning the knob.

            “Kitt?  Rachael?” Michael called.  The house was completely deserted.  He knew that Kitt would never leave the Trans Am parked out in the open.  Something happened and he had to find out what.

            When he turned to leave he noticed a small black watch lying on the carpeted floor.  He knelt down and picked it up, realizing it was the comlink to the Knight Two Thousand. 

            “Devon?  I found Kitt’s watch, and the car is parked outside, but he’s nowhere to be found.  I have no idea what’s going on,” he told Devon over Rachael’s kitchen phone.  But as he was talking, he noticed a small icon flashing on the screen of the watch.  “Hold on…” he said. 

            Michael studied the icon further and recognized the symbol; it was a recording/play icon that was flashing.  “I’ll call you right back,” he said and quickly hung up the phone and ran outside to the car.

            The Trans Am’s door handles were still programmed to open to Michael’s fingerprints and it clicked opened.  He sat down in the driver’s seat and pressed three overhead buttons that would link the radio frequency to the watch.

            “Get him,” were the only two words that were spoken and then some shuffling in the background.  After a few seconds of silence the same voice said, “We’ll take him back to the center and deal with him there.”

            “Jacobs…” Michael said to himself in a disgusted tone.

 

            “Devon, listen for yourself.  That’s Andrew Jacob’s voice.  I’d know it anywhere,” Michael told Devon and Bonnie once he returned to the Foundation with the Trans Am.  “And for whatever reason he’s gone after Kitt.”

            “But the question is where?” Devon asked.

            Bonnie made her way to the small computer that sat in the corner of Devon’s office.  “Jacobs said something about a center.  I’ll type that into the city search and see what it comes up with.”  After a moment she came up with a long list of different places that had “center” as a part of the name in the area. 

            “We’ve gotta think,” Michael pointed out.  “What would a guy like Jacobs want with Kitt?”

            “Who knows,” Bonnie said.  Then her eyes lit up and her mouth slightly opened, as it seemed a small light went on inside her head.  “Cathy said something about the computers were coming up with a weird print out this morning when she turned them on.  Maybe…”

            Michael and Devon watched Bonnie log into the software to see the most recent changes that occurred.  “That’s it!” She exclaimed.  “Look,” she pointed to the screen.  “See anything?”

            “Andrew Jacobs’ criminal file is missing,” Devon said after studying the screen.

            “Exactly,” Bonnie said.

            “So now we know why he wanted Kitt.  Which means that Rachael is either a part of this or she was at the wrong place at the wrong time.  But it still doesn’t tell us where they are,” Michael pointed out.

            “We’ll see if Kitt kept the backup file running.  With some luck I might be able to trace it back to the source.”  Bonnie typed furiously at the keyboard, trying to locate the missing file.  Finally she clicked the mouse and the file popped up onto the screen.

            She scrolled through the pages of information and finally found what they needed.  “That’s it,” she said pointing to the screen. 

            Michael leaned over and saw at the end of the document was “K2000;>>ellingtoncenter<<” He stood straight up with a large smile on his face.  “If I’m guessing this right, K2000 stands for KITT and he’s at the old Ellington Center that shut down last year.”

            “If I’m reading it right,” Bonnie assumed.

            “That-a-boy, Kitt!” Michael said dodging towards the door.

            “Michael, wait!” Devon called after him.  “You don’t know what you’re up against.”

            “Send for police backup.  I’m not waiting for them to kill him.”  With that Michael was gone.

 

            Andrew Jacobs paced his makeshift office several times before shoving a bunch of books on his desk to the floor.  He had once again tried to make Kitt get into the police files, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t happening.  He was starting to believe Kitt was ready to die before doing more for him.

            “Pacing isn’t going to help anything,” Tina told him for the tenth time.

            “What the hell do you want me to do?  It’s been almost twelve hours since we got him and we’re barely any farther,” Jacobs yelled.  He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to think.  “Tell Mitchell to get the girl.  Then inform Mr. Knight that he either does what we want or we kill her.”

            “Hold on a second,” Tina said.  She had been trying to do the job herself, until a computer error popped up at the bottom of the screen.  She clicked on the icon and instantly the documents Kitt was supposed to have erased from the Foundation’s computers were copied to that computer.  “Andy, look at this…”

            “What the hell does that mean?” He asked, completely shaken at the words he saw before him.

            “That’s not the code he used to log in,” she pointed out.  “That twerp sent out some sort of message to FLAG!”

            “Damn it!” Jacobs screamed, slamming his fist against the table.  “They’re probably on their way now.”

            “So now what do we do?” Tina asked as she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

            Jacobs went over to his desk and picked up a walkie-talkie.  “Mitchell, get up here.”

            A second later another voice said, “What about them?”

            “Let Steven stay there,” Jacobs directed.  He threw down the walkie-talkie and started to gather papers and shove them into a briefcase.  “We’re outta here,” he said. 

            “What about Knight?”

            “Let him find his friends burning inside this building.  When Mitchell gets here, tell him to start a fire on both sides of the building.”  He hustled to gather his few belongings and started for the exit.

            “Where are you going?” She demanded to know as she jumped to her feet.

            “Jamaica for all I care,” he said and was out the door.

 

            Kitt and Rachael sat impatiently on the cot.  Their attention was caught when they heard Mitchell saying something like “what about them” to whoever was outside, although they couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.

            “Kitt, what’s going on?” Rachael asked innocently.

            “I have no idea,” he said as he stood up and paced the room. 

            After a few moments they began to hear something rather alarming.  In fact, it was an alarm: the fire alarm.

            “Kitt…”

            “They must have started a fire,” he said looking around again for some way out.

            “Now what?” She asked getting to her feet, starting to feel herself begin to panic.

            Kitt looked around and then had a thought.  He remembered Michael tried something like this a few years ago.  The only thing that made the difference was that Michael had been trained to fight, and Kitt hadn’t. 

            “There’s only one way I can think of,” he told her.  “When I say, start panicking about something so they can hear it outside.”

            “Like what?”

            Kitt thought for another moment.  “Act as if I dropped unconscious or something,” he told her.  “That’ll hopefully get them to open the door.”

            Rachael knew what he was going to attempt.  She quickly thought up words that she could yell and took a deep breath.  “Oh my God!  Kitt!  Kitt wake up!”

            After a moment of yelling, the door clicked and opened.  “What’s going on?” The guard, Steven, asked quite annoyed.

            Kitt tapped Steven on the shoulder and used everything he had to punch the other man square in the side of the head.  Steven jumped back after the blow and Kitt tried to push him back even farther. 

            Rachael watched helplessly as the two fought, but finally Kitt was able to hit the other in the stomach, just hard enough to make him fall to the floor and not want move. 

            “Come on!” Kitt said grabbing her hand.  He could see that smoke was starting to fill the hallways.  He could find the staircase to the first floor easy enough, but after that he had no idea where he had to go to get out. 

 

            Michael had the accelerator down to the floor as he sped down the roads towards the old Ellington Center.  He remembered that it was a good-sized office building on the corner of a main road.  But his heart leapt out of his chest when he saw black smoke rising from the ground.  “Damn,” he said as he pressed the Super Pursuit Mode button to get the car to top speed.

            “Devon!” Michael yelled as he called the Englishman’s office back at the Foundation.  “Devon, they’re burning the building.  You’ve gotta get more than just a swat team out there.”

            “Oh no,” Devon said sitting back in his chair and biting his lower lip.

“Michael, please find Kitt,” Bonnie told him.

            “I’ll find him,” he said as he shut the monitor off and continued his way down towards the burning building.

 

            Kitt led Rachael through the corridors of the hall, which had filled up with a misty-gray smoke.  Neither of them knew where they were going and time was running out. 

            Kitt tightened his grip on Rachael’s hand as she moved closer to him.  If anything, he had to get her out of there.  But hoped remained when he noticed the red letters reading “EXIT” and an arrow pointing down another hall.  “Down here!” He called to her and they broke out in a run.

            “Hold it right there,” said a feminine voice.  Tina Sampson stood behind them, holding a pistol in her hands. 

            “What do you want from us?” Kitt asked her as he turned around.

            “I’m finishing the job,” she said.  “You’re the last person we need running around.  Andy was foolish to take you in the first place, but I’m not letting you slip through his fingers again.  You might not be Michael Knight, but you’ll be just as good.”

            Rachael threw her arms around Kitt’s waist and yelled a loud “No!”

            “Wait!” Kitt yelled and turned so he’d be blocking Tina’s range of shooting Rachael.  “Don’t hurt her.  She has nothing to do with this.”

            Tina smiled.  “Doesn’t matter.  I’m destroying all the evidence.” 

            Kitt pushed Rachael to go into a nearby room so they could dodge the bullet and get away.  As Rachael got into the room and Kitt turned, the trigger was pulled and a sharp shot rang through the hallways. 

            Kitt and Rachael were lucky to have found a room that had another side exit other than the one they had just entered through.  He quickly pushed her to move out and down the hall, hearing yet more shots from the gun behind them.

            After running down a hall and around a corner, Kitt slowed down and grabbed his shoulder.  Blood leaked through his fingers and droplets fell to the floor.

            “Kitt!” Rachael cried kneeling down as he slid to his knees.  “Oh my God, Kitt!” 

            “So this is what it feels like,” he said as his head knocked up against the wall and he came to sit on the floor.  He clutched his shoulder as tightly as he could, not being able to completely cover the wound, which had been struck through his chest, just under the shoulder.

            “Don’t give up on me,” Rachael lectured.  “We’ve got to keep moving!”

 

            Michael hit the Emergency Brakes as he saw the burning building down the street.  Cars had stopped to witness the smoldering ashes falling from the top floor.  He didn’t even bother to correctly park the Knight Two Thousand, but instead turned the car off and jumped out of the seat, barely shutting the door behind him.

            Thankfully the front entrance was yet to be a ring of fire, and he could hear fire engines’ sirens in the distance.  He ran up the stairs two at a time and jumped through the glass doors, not wanting to burn his hands on what could be hot metal.

            “Kitt!” He yelled into the inferno.  He didn’t expect an answer, but that didn’t keep him from going further in.  As he turned a corner he heard something that made his heart leap out of his chest: a gunshot.  He began to fear the worst, but hoped that it wasn’t aimed at who he thought it was. 

            Michael moved slyly around the walls, trying to keep an eye out not only for his friend, but also for the enemy and any falling pieces of the building.  He pulled the collar of his shirt over his mouth and nose to help keep the smoke from getting into his lungs.  He had to find them.  If something happened to Kitt, he’d never forgive himself.

            As he approached another hall that was completely in flames on one end, he heard another shot and could’ve sworn he saw a flash of light through the smoke.  He took a few steps backwards and waited impatiently. 

            Finally, after what seemed like hours, he saw the figure of a woman with her hands outstretched before her start to walk by.  He didn’t waste a second jumping up from behind her and hitting her to the ground. 

            “Sir, you have to get out of here!” A man’s voice said coming up from behind. 

            Michael turned around to see three firemen jogging towards him.  “I’m not leaving until I find my friends,” he told them.  “Get her out of her and hand her over to the police.”

            “Wait!” Another fireman called as Michael continued on down the hall. 

            He had to keep his head down, for the thickening smoke was becoming unbearable to see through.  Then his eyes scanned small red marks on the floor.  He knew it was blood and had a eerie feeling that it was Kitt’s. 

            “Kitt!” Michael called as he broke into a jog.  “Kitt!”

            “Michael!” yelled a voice that sounded like Rachael’s.  “Down here!”

            Michael came upon the two sitting on the ground, Rachael leaning over Kitt’s body.  “You okay?” He asked as he knelt down besides them.  “Oh shit,” he said as he noticed Kitt’s red hand.  “Kitt!  Kitt talk to me pal!”

            Kitt’s eyes opened only slightly and looked up to his best friend.  “I’m sorry Michael.  I should have listened to you…”

            “Never mind that,” Michael said moving over to help Kitt to his feet.  He completely picked him up when he felt Kitt’s legs give out and he began to fall back down.

            Michael carried Kitt and Rachael followed them down the halls that had the exit signs.  Finally the doors came into view, although raging flames surrounded them.  Michael told Rachael to run as fast as she could through the sprinklers that spit water from the ceilings so they could get through without bursting into flames themselves.

            Firemen were waiting for them as the three emerged through the conflagration and onto the sidewalk.  Medical workers instantly ran to their sides and started to push oxygen masks into their faces.  Rachael collapsed from exhaustion onto the ground, and Michael placed Kitt on the ground and he fell to his knees soon after.

            “Kitt,” he said almost completely out of breath. “Kitt…Kitt!”

            The emergency rescue workers moved between Kitt and Michael and began to rip Kitt’s shirt off and place large pieces of gauze to his wound, while more knelt over him and tried to keep him breathing.

            Michael refused the oxygen mask as he forced himself back to his feet and watched the crews lift Kitt onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.  He noticed Rachael walking with other personal into a second ambulance and they drove away.

            Michael would’ve gone into the ambulance with Kitt, but he had the Trans Am to worry about.  He knew that he’d be able to put it in auto cruise so he could rest while it followed the ambulance through town and to the hospital.