A Dark Knight
"Mother, where are you going?" Garthe asked coldly.
She sighed. She was tired of answering to her son. He seemed to have forgotten exactly who he was talking to.
"I have business to attend to." She walked to her car, her son following. He opened the door for her and helped her in.
"Where and who are-"
She cut him off. "Do you know who you are talking to? I know what I am doing. I do not make mistakes. Your job is to get KARR and Goliath finished. Do I make myself clear? I want everything ready to go when I get back." She looked at him coolly.
"My apologies, mother. I did not forget who I was speaking to. I am just concerned about what you may be doing."
"Do not worry about me or what I am doing, Garthe. Worry about getting things ready." And with that, she steered her car out of the compound.
Garthe stood watching until the tail lights disappeared. Angrily he turned on his heel and walked into the warehouse. On one side his beloved Goliath was being rebuilt, better than before. He was using the new nano-technology that he had discovered on what was left of KARR's old body. The other side was where people were working around the clock on rebuilding the Knight-Automated-Roving-Robot. The exo-skeleton was not being rebuilt into the car's new body. That had been the government's doing. He did not need it for his plans.
"Sir?" Garthe turned to see a young man in a lab coat standing next to him. The young man looked very uncomfortable.
"Well?"
"The CPU is not cooperating. I've been trying to rewrite-" WHACK! The young man flew backwards and fell to the floor. There was a welt forming from where Garthe's hand had connected with his face.
"Who asked you to do anything other than install the CPU as it is?"
"No one," he whispered, holding his right cheek.
"Then I suggest you do as you're told from now on. Or suffer worse consequences. Now, get back to work!" The young man nodded meekly, got up and scurried back to his work station. He knew Garthe would have him killed if he did anything like that again. He had a feeling that once the projects were finished, that no one would make it out alive. He knew he had to get out. And soon.
Garthe watched him scurry away. He made a mental note to have the man removed. Permanently. He swung back around to watch another man move away from Goliath's shell and walk towards him. His eyes burned into the other man's. He saw him cringe and slow down as he approached Garthe.
"And what do you want?" Garthe snapped.
"Uh, sir, uh, we're having some problems with adapting the nano-technology to the shell Mr. Knight," he stuttered. He backed away a few steps, not wanting to get hit.
"Where is Williams? He's in charge of adapting the nano-technology," Garthe seethed.
"I-I'm not sure where he is, sir," the man replied nervously.
"What the hell do you know?" Garthe growled.
The man gulped. "Daniels said something about meeting Williams to go over the data they collected this morning," he said cautiously. He backed up a few more steps, eying Garthe Knight's hand becoming a fist.
"Find them and have both report to me immediately," Garthe barked at the cowering man. The man nodded and scurried away quickly. Cowards, he thought, all of them cowards. It won't matter, except for a few trusted employees, no one was going to leave the complex alive. He would make sure of that.
A Few Hours Later... Night falls on the complex...
Steve knew that this would be his only chance to escape. The guards would be changing shifts and he could get away safely. He hoped. He looked at his watch and saw that he only had to wait a minute more. Everything was timed down to the exact minute, just like when he had been in the Air Force. He sprinted across the open field, about 100 yards, to a cluster of trees in no time. He surveyed the wire fence before him. He could hear the electrical hum. It was six foot high, made eight feet by the two foot extension of electrified barb wire. He crouched down and sprung himself up and over the fence with inches to spare, landing safely on the other side. He took one last look behind him, making sure that no one had seen him. Feeling safe, he made sure the disk in his back pocket was intact. He estimated it would only take five minutes to cover the two miles south, where he knew there was a car waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, he started to run into the dark night.
Inside his disappearance was discovered minutes after his escape. The head of security, Frank Dixon, knew what he had to do and what was coming. He turned to his second in command, his younger brother.
"Joe, I have failed in my duties. You're in charge now." Joe nodded, knowing what was going to happen. Frank left the office, walking across the compound to the warehouse, where he would find Garthe Knight.
"Mother, I trust your business went well?" Garthe asked Elizabeth.
"I hired someone to clean up the mess you left in England," she stated simply. He glared at her. She leveled her gaze at him. "Quit acting like a spoiled brat. Now, where are we with Goliath and KARR?"
"They are both ready. We were unsuccessful in combining the nano-technology with the molecular bonded shell on Goliath. So, I had the technicians use the nano-technology only. The car is fully functional and is currently awaiting instructions," her son replied. "KARR is dangerous-" There was knock on the door. Frank entered the room and explained the situation. Joe arrived a few minutes later, to see his brother's lifeless corpse on the floor. Only Garthe was in the room.
"I certainly hope you do not make the mistake your brother did. Clean this up and figure out where this Steve Austin went. Do not disappoint me," Garthe spoke, a hard edge to his voice. Joe saluted then bent down to dispose of Frank's body.
