Knight Rider 2020: Knight of the Assassin

“It’s too quiet,” Chase whispered to Kitt over the comm. link. “Are you sure we’re clear?”1

“I never said we were clear,” Kitt replied. “My scanners are inoperable here.”2

Alec pulled Chase back by his collar, causing him to nearly throw a punch.3

“Wait,” Alec ordered. “Don’t move an inch.”4

Alec put his high-power rifle up and looked through the night-vision scope, aiming for a guard on the catwalk in the rafters a few hundred feet away. He loaded and perfected his aim, and two shots rang out through the warehouse.5

McKurra dropped his gun, stepped back against the force, and pressed his hand against his left shoulder.6

“Get the hell out of here!” he ordered Chase, who immediately took off. 7

Alec picked up his rifle and started in the forward direction – straight for their original goal. It was now or never. Other guards opened fire, rousing the machine gunman into action. A hail of fire erupted around Alec, who flattened himself against the wall. The gun continued firing at what would have been him had he not stopped. Heart pounding, shoulder throbbing, he glanced towards the catwalk at the gun station and manned his rifle, targeting a fatal shot. However, he couldn’t hold the gun still for long. His coordination was faltering enough that he stumbled slightly at the kickback of the shot. He ducked and scooted out of the way almost in time to avoid another hail of fire.8

Almost in time.9

A 12mm grazed the side of his face while two 8mm hit their target – one to the chest and another to his torso.10

He knew his limits. He had both met and exceeded them with a single mistake.11

-_-_-12

'Vital signs rapidly declining; find Alec quickly.'13

Karr’s mindset was clear. He refused to let any other thought sidetrack him.14

The Charger’s massive V8 roared to life and the car spun around, bolting into the warehouse without hesitation. Kitt wanted to stop him, but knew that his brother was dangerous under the pressure of his trait blind fury. Alec was strong and he could work through more pain than Karr cared to think about, but three vital shots and a graze were unquestionably out of the limits.15

His scanner began sending out sonar as soon as he was in the door to find openings in the walls, and Karr realized the warehouse was set up as almost a maze. His CPU began processing the possibilities after mapping the entire warehouse, finding only a single way into the heart of the structure. Karr was prepared to do whatever he must.16

-_-_-17

“Wait, what?” Brett asked over the car-to-car communicator. His camera was set between Koda’s two front seats, so that the open road, the dashboard, and the steering wheel were visible. Brett’s hands were on the wheel. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”18

“I am on my way home, Brett,” Kitt repeated. “Chase is with me.”19

“No, no, what did you say about Karr and Alec?”20

“We had to leave them, Brett. Chase needs prompt medical attention.”21

“Chase, can you talk? Are you okay?”22

“Yeah,” Chase groaned in a hoarse voice. “How much longer, Kitt?”23

“About twenty minutes, Chase,” Kitt replied, gently reclining the seat for his driver. “Put your leg up on the dashboard. You need to keep it elevated.”24

“Please, Kitt…don’t ask me to move…”25

“Chase, you have to,” Brett broke in. “If you don’t you’ll lose more blood than we can replace in time. And you don’t want to leave Kitt an orphan again, do you? Chase? …Chase!”26

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Chase finally answered. The only thing he had understood was his name.27

“I’m going back for Karr and Alec,” Brett announced, spinning the Shelby around. Tire smoke billowed around Koda’s prow, coaxing an unenthusiastic grunt from the AI. “Kitt, are you taking him to the hospital or the infirmary?”28

“The infirmary; we know the surgeons there.”29

“Good, good…if we don’t radio by six, then…never mind, just stay with Chase.”30

Brett hung up the communicator and ran his hand through his dark brown hair.31

“Do you really think we will be able to get both a panicking 6500-pound MAGtech Charger and its possibly wounded driver?” Koda asked. The hint of sarcasm in his voice had vanished by the time ‘possibly’ came out.32

“I don’t know, Koda. We’ll just have to wing it.”33

“Why don’t we ever plan a strategy?”34

“Because if something happens and our strategy can’t go on, we’ll have worked ourselves into a corner.”35

“Brett, order is success.”36

“Not always. Don’t worry, buddy,” Brett encouraged, patting the dashboard. “We always find a way. Remember the La Guardia case?”37

“The sniper in the La Guardia Airport, home in sweet New York, yes, I remember.”38

“If we could improvise there, we can here.”39

“We wouldn’t have had to improvise and I wouldn’t have had to destroy a five-hundred-thousand-dollar escalator if you had just taken your badge off like I suggested.”40

“Hey, I was too focused on the sniper to think about the metal detectors.”41

“Brett, it was a mistake that almost cost you your life.”42

“I thought he would have been smart enough not to shoot in the middle of the food court anyway.”43

“He shot you in the lung!”44

“And you picked me up and took me to the hospital like the partner I thank God I have every night.”45

“...You really have a way with words.”46

“Good. Now are you in or not?”47

Koda’s air intakes gave a gentle sigh as he adjusted himself to the highway. “Oh Captain, my Captain.”48

Brett rubbed the black suede of the steering wheel and leaned the seat back. Koda took control immediately as he took his hands off the wheel. 49

Whatever was coming, he was ready.50

No...they were ready.