Knight Rider AS

~Los Angeles~

They pulled smoothly into a space on a dark street. Kat cut the engine. She opened the glove box and took out the spare contact lenses. She also found a spool of what looked like thick plastic cables ties. She decided that they might be useful and attached the spool to her belt.

“The building the suspect is hiding in is located just ahead," K.I.T.T informed her, displaying an overhead map. “Approximately fifty-five yards North-northwest of here.” A green line went around the building down the street forming a square patch that zoomed in on the building.

“Run X-Ray and FLIR,” Kat said. She was cool and collected. Now that she was on a mission, there was no indecision. There was just to do. This was what she was used to.

“Running X-Ray and Forward Looking Infrared filters," K.I.T.T announced. The zoomed-in panel turned digital, a bright green cross-section of the interior of the building. Then the infrared filter came down and bright red and yellow humanoid forms appeared on the screen.

Kat inspected the small group gathered on the third floor. The other floors were empty. There were three forms, two together, sitting close to the floor. The third was away from the other two, over by the window.

“Dammit,” Kat muttered to herself. She hurriedly opened her door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“What are you doing?” K.I.T.T asked curiously.

“Our suspect's not stupid. He has someone keeping an eye on the street.” She headed up the street and turned the corner.

“You'll be perfectly safe with me,” K.I.T.T reassured her. It spoke into her ear now, instead of through the modulator.

“That's not why I left,” Kat told it. “It looks too odd for a dark car to stop on a deserted street and no one gets out. Especially if you're paranoid or careful enough to have someone watching the street.”

“That is a good point,” K.I.T.T assented. “What shall I do, then?”

“Just keep an eye on the place, and relay the pictures to my eye-cam if it looks like someone's leaving.” Kat scowled. “We can't do anything until we get a proper I.D on the guy. How are we supposed to know if he's still even there?”

“There is evidence that points to the suspect still being in the building. I will show you.” A screen came on in her eye-cam. It depicted the same picture as on K.I.T.T's windshield. A new filter came down over the screen. A bright purple light pulsed on the first floor.

Kat's stomach felt hollow. “Is that what I think it is?”

“The plutonium is giving off traces amounts of radiation through the container they are using to carry it,” K.I.T.T answered. “The seal is not tight, so there is a tiny leak that I can pick up. There is no danger unless exposed for a lengthy period of time.”

Kat measured the size of the purple light compared to the bright red forms of the people. “That is a bit more plutonium than I was led to believe would be here.”

“I've sent the readouts back to Headquarters. Charles wishes to speak with you.”

Charles face appeared next to the display of the building. “This situation is much more dangerous than we anticipated. Katherine, if you want to pull out, we'll understand. We don't want to put you or K.I.T.T in a situation that you can't handle.”

Kat wasn't going to back out now, and put her brother's job in danger. “No, it's fine, nothing much has changed. We can handle this," she assured him.

He hesitated. “If you're sure.”

“I am.” Her voice was determined.

“Carmen has been heading after you in the semi since you left. She should be in your area within a few hours. Over and out,” Charles said, and disappeared.

“Thank you, Katherine,” K.I.T.T said. “You're helping us far more than we deserve, all things considered.”

“Trust me, I am finishing this mission. Because once it is over, I am personally going to yank this implant out of my jaw and walk away,” Kat said bitterly.

“You are willing to give everything up?” K.I.T.T asked. “I was told that my predecessor's driver enjoyed working with him.”

“I've done my homework. The Two Thousand was practically tailor made for Michael Knight. Me, I'm just getting my big brother's hand-me-downs.” She narrowed her dark eyes. “This is not something I would choose for myself. I don't want to give up my old life. I will not be Katherine Knight.”

“With Sam dead, we'll just have to deal with each other until a new driver is trained,” K.I.T.T's voice was brisk. “I'm looking forward to that as much as you are, I am sure.”

Kat froze where she stood. “What did you just say?” she asked in a tight whisper.

“You can't be upset about that. Someone will have to drive me if you won't.” There was definitely an edge to K.I.T.T's computerized voice. It was slight, but Kat wasn't paying attention.

“Sam's coming back,” she whispered. Her eyes were wide and staring. “This is his job. I'm just helping him out while he's away.”

There was a pause from the car. “Katherine, you brother died a week ago, while training in Base2.”

“Stop saying he's dead!” she shrieked, closing her eyes tightly. “He's not dead!”

“Katherine-” But K.I.T.T was cut off as Kat clapped her hands over her head. She hunched over, buried by sudden grief.

“Get out of my head,” she gasped. “Leave me alone!”

K.I.T.T was silent for too short a time. “Katherine, we are still on a mission. The suspect is still inside of the building, but he could exit at any moment. We must make the I.D and detain him.”

Kat leaned against the alley wall. She gasped in effort. “The mission...” The mission was important. She had to finish the mission. She couldn't go to pieces right now, but it was like trying to hold back the tide with her hands. It went over and around her pitiful resistance. “Sam...” Her voice broke as tears sprang to her eyes. She shook her head violently. “Just... just give me a minute," she pleaded brokenly.

There was a tense pause. “You don't have a minute. One of the occupants is heading out now.”

“Show me," she whispered, her body tensing. She didn't dare move from where she was. She had no idea where the suspect would be heading, and for what reason.

K.I.T.T transmitted the x-ray and infrared scans to her contact lenses. She saw, superimposed on the alley wall, that one of the large red and yellow masses had separated from the group and was heading downstairs.

Then the scene changed abruptly. K.I.T.T dropped the filters as the front door opened and a man stepped out. He switched to his high speed camera, zooming in on the man's face. The picture froze, then separated from the moving image, off to the side as K.I.T.T analyzed the features.

It took less than a second. “It's him,” K.I.T.T announced.

Kat drew in a shaky breath. At this point she had nearly put herself back together. A mask of calm settled over her features, and if her hands shook slightly, she didn't pay attention to them. “Are you sure?” she asked, her voice sounding normal.

“There is a .002 percent margin of error.”

She nodded. “I'll take the risk.”

“He's walking south. If you step out of the alley you're in now and turn the next corner, your paths will intersect.”

Kat exited the alley, doing as K.I.T.T said. She turned the corner and spotted their target. He was walking towards her. He spotted her, and stopped. He gave her a wary look, then glanced around. When he turned back to her, his gaze was interested. He made his way purposefully toward her.

Kat decided to try the direct approach. “Timothy Haver?” she called to him when he was just a few feet away.

That made him pause, wary again. K.I.T.T spoke into Kat's ear. “I detect a slight limp in his walk. I am guessing he's had a previous injury to his left knee.” A red mark glowed over the suspects kneecap. “Right there.”

Kat stepped forward. Timothy took the better part of valor and retreated, but Kat was too quick for him. A quick kick to the knee and he crumpled to the ground. Kat then delivered a sharp blow to the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. It had been so quick, that he hadn't had the chance to cry out.

Kat pulled a zip tie off the spool at her hip and secured it around the suspect's wrists. She left him there, Carmen could pick him up when she got there. The plutonium was the main priority.

“The plutonium is on the move,” K.I.T.T said in her ear. "Haver could have been a decoy."

She swore under her breath. Of course. They send out the recognizable bait, then make their move.

“They have separated it into two unmarked cars. They're preparing to escape,” K.I.T.T continued.

Kat could see why Homeland Security had not wanted to handle this mission themselves. When it failed, they didn't want to be the ones to take the blame. “Tag the cars.”

A tiny hole by K.I.T.T's left headlight opened up. He shot two tracers at the getaway cars as they passed. He opened up a new display on his windshield, an overhead map. The two cars were marked by flashing red lights on the map. They drove next to each other. They were rapidly getting farther away.

“OK, come and get me,” Kat told it, making her way quickly back to the corner.

Within seconds K.I.T.T pulled up in front of her, the passenger's side door open. Kat dove inside. Tires squealing, K.I.T.T tore off after the cars.

Kat slid across the seat and settled behind the wheel. K.I.T.T turned the steering over to her while he closed the door.

“Okay, options,” Kat said as she sped after the two cars.

“We can't take out the vehicles,” K.I.T.T said automatically. “If we jostle them too hard, we might break open the container holding the plutonium. We could follow them to their destination and recover the plutonium there.”

Just then, the two red dots on the screen separated, moving in opposite directions. Kat scowled. “OK, now what?”

“Remember that little button I told you not to press earlier?” K.I.T.T asked.

“Yeah...” Kat said slowly.

“Press it.”

Kat found the black button that was the first of its row. She took a breath, then pressed it.

While still driving, K.I.T.T began to change. He settled lower to the ground, his wheels slid further apart. His chassis became smaller. The back seat folded in on itself. The front seat was now a bit more cramped than it was before. “Pursuit mode,” she said as she realized what was going on.

K.I.T.T had one mode that he could switch to without having to get refitted by Carmen, and that was Pursuit Mode. He made himself smaller and lower to the ground, so as to minimize drag and maximize speed.

It was Saturday night, so traffic was mild approaching heavy, but K.I.T.T swerved through the other cars as easily as if they were going in slow motion. They soon caught up to one of the cars. “Where is your EM Pulse?” Kat asked.

A button on the dash flashed red once. Kat waited until they were right behind the escaping car, then pressed it. The fleeing car stopped immediately, the engine dying. K.I.T.T swerved around it.

“Get the other car,” Kat ordered. She opened her door and flew out before K.I.T.T had stopped. She was just in time to tackle the man escaping from his car.

Soon, she had him pressed face first into the pavement. She tied a thick cable-tie around his wrists.

K.I.T.T. was already gone, after the other car. He shot through the streets, leaving Kat behind, though not completely without his help. “The plutonium is in the trunk," he told her. “I scanned the car before I left.”

Kat grabbed the keys from the ignition, then ran around to the back. She unlocked the trunk and popped it open. Inside was a large metal case. She hefted it out of the trunk. It was easily fifty pounds, but she had carried heavier. It was made completely of lead and secured tightly.

Kat knew the actual amount of plutonium was small, maybe no more than a handful, but only a few grains were required to make an explosive. Most of the case's bulk came from the lead shielding it.

She remembered what K.I.T.T had said to her, about the case having a leak. He had said it wasn't a dangerous one, but the very thought of it sent prickles up the arm holding the case. She wanted to get rid of this thing as soon as possible.

She looked around furtively. No one was walking the sidewalk, but there were plenty of cars passing by. A few seemed pretty upset about the stopped car in the middle of the street.

Kat dragged the unconscious man back up into his car and shut the door. He could stay like that for a while. Then she hefted the case up again and sprinted after K.I.T.T.

No one stopped her, thank God for large cities.

********

K.I.T.T was still sending the display of the fleeing car to Kat's eye cam. He also highlighted his own position as a green dot. The green dot quickly caught up to the remaining red dot.

He sped past the car, turning into its path as soon as he was ahead of it. The car swerved out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. K.I.T.T then maneuvered behind the car, blocking it from escaping. The occupant didn't dare risk ramming K.I.T.T out of the way, not that it would have done him much good if he tried.

The driver opened his door and made a break for it. K.I.T.T fired a tranquilizer dart at the man and he dropped to the ground.

“Where are you?” K.I.T.T asked Kat. He could hear a steady panting coming from the implant.

“About... ten blocks away,” Kat wheezed.

“Would you like me to come and get you?” he asked her.

“No, stay there,” she answered. “I'll be there soon. Don't let him get away.”

“The driver tried to escape,” K.I.T.T informed her.

“Tried?”

"I stopped him."

"Please tell me it wasn't by running him over."

“I have tranquilizer darts at my disposal. I've also contacted Charles. Carmen won't be here for another couple of hours. The plutonium is safe."

"Of course it is. I have it with me." The lead case was getting heavier by the second.

"I'm detecting the plutonium leak coming from the trunk of this car."

"Just great. They had two cases..."

A few minutes later, she caught up to him. K.I.T.T was back to normal now. She stowed her case in the back seat and went to fetch the other one.

“Dammit!” she swore when she checked the ignition. "Where are the keys?" She checked the fallen man, but didn't see them.

"They might have fallen from the suspect's hand and down that storm drain," K.I.T.T suggested.

Kat ran around to the trunk, looking it over. She was weighing the merits of forcing it open when K.I.T.T called from behind her. “Move aside.”

She stepped to the side. K.I.T.T activated his laser, which was hidden over the right headlight. He aimed it precisely on the trunk's lock, destroying the insides. The trunk popped open and Kat retrieved the second case. She stowed that in K.I.T.T's backseat as well.

“Let's go pick up our perpetrators." She lifted the unconscious man up and stowed him in the backseat with the two cases.

They drove back to the other car and picked up the still unconscious man from inside. Timothy Haver was just coming around when they got back to him. “What the hell is going on here?” he demanded as she hefted him to his feet and forced him into K.I.T.T's passenger seat.

She knew that she should say something witty right about now, but she was exhausted. She got into the driver's seat again and they headed out to meet Carmen in the semi.

Timothy Haver looked around the car's interior. “You're not with the police," he said suspiciously.

“I'm with Homeland Security,” Kat lied. Technically it was kind of almost true. Nearly.

“Since when does Homeland Security have Camaros?”

“Have you ever worked for Homeland Security?” Kat asked through clenched teeth.

“No.”

“Then shut the hell up.”

She was immensely relieved when they met Carmen. She had turned around, heading back to the compound when Charles told her that they were catching up. She didn't bother stopping when they reached her, K.I.T.T just drove up the back.

Carmen was there, glaring at a few men in black suits. K.I.T.T opened the passenger's door and they pulled the two men and the plutonium cases out. Kat stayed inside the car for the rest of the trip. The mission was over, but she was still tensed from the ordeal. She wouldn't really feel anything until later.