Chapter VII - Out of the Past

Just north of the Grand Canyon...

Roland Laschewsky shook his head to try and stop the spinning.

Uhhhhh, I feel like I just got decked by the Terminator...

The dash had put a dent in the musclebound bodyguard's forehead, he was sure of it. Roland hoped he wasn't disfigured, he couldn't afford to loose his moonlighting job as a Chippendale's dancer. Despite Goliath's excellent air conditioning system, he was starting to feel the heat.

And now he was on his way back to the lift platform to pick up Mobius. He wanted to finish off the TKR, but his boss sounded pissed, so...

He pulled the rig to a stop by the lift and waited as it finished it's trip back to the surface. Mobius was there, just as he had said he would be, back in his motorized wheelchair.

"Lower the trailer's ramp, you idiot1" he snarled and Roland quickly hit the switch.

The ramp lowered and Mobius rolled up and into the back of Goliath. As the ramp raised back up he surveyed the damage dealt to the top of the trailer by Domino. All that remained of the particle cannon was wires and pieces of the hydraulics that had raised and lowered it.

"A waste. They will pay." growled Mobius and he locked his chair into a set of bolts that protruded from the floor. Activating his armrest screen, he locked into the frequency of the cab's internal camera.

In the cab, Roland started as the small video camera, that was set between the seats, came alive and turned to regard him. Mobius's voice issued from a speaker set into it's side.

"What are you waiting for Roland?" demanded his boss, "Get my creation moving."

"Your what?" asked Roland in confusion.

"Goliath, you idiot!" roared Mobius's electronic voice and Roland threw the Mack truck into gear and set off across the desert.

Mobius's camera turned to look out the windshield. He regarded the desert ahead, now cleared of most debris by the sandstorm, which had departed as quick as it had appeared. Near by he could see the huge mound of twisted rubble that had been Skyone. And farther beyond he could see two figures making their slow way across the sand.

"Roland, alter your course for those two." ordered Mobius, "We've eliminated three of the members of TKR, now let's finish the job."

Roland grinned and hit the accelerator. Goliath headed full tilt toward Kyle and Trek. The end was approaching...

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Kyle trudged across the sand, supporting Trek, who had just started to walk on his own a few minutes ago. He had insisted on going to Sky One to look for survivors, and Kyle had agreed, as long as they take it slow.

But know as they got closer, they could see that several fires had broken out all over the downed jet. Some burned with a blue flame and Trek was very worried about them.

"Those are chemical fires, they're burning very hot." he remarked, "If they reach the fuel tanks-"

He was interrupted by a loud explosion and a red-and-green fireball shot out of the front of the wing, and then a second detonation erupted from the fuselage. The two threw themselves down, as most of Sky One burst into flames, then exploded across the desert in a cloud of smoke and debris.

Kyle and Trek looked up from the safety of the sand at the skeletal inferno that had once been their aerial HQ.

"So much for survivors.." moaned Trek, letting Kyle help him to his feet, "This day has been a total downer. Should have joined IBM, not TKR."

"Shhh, do you hear something?" asked Kyle.

"You mean all my friends being deep fried? Or my Go-Bot collection going up in smoke?" quipped Trek.

"No, not the fire, I think I hear someone coming." said Kyle.

"Erica and KAT?" suggested Trek, half-hoping they had somehow survived the crash of Sky One.

Kyle pointed beyond the wreck, toward the Vault, and they saw a familiar black titan heading toward them at full speed.

"Oh, fantastic, this day just gets worse-and-worse!" said Trek, the fear in his voice evident.

"Let's move, Trek!" said Kyle, and the two turned back and began to head back across the desert.

"Where are we going? We can't outrun Goliath, and there's no cover!" gasped Trek as they moved across the ground as fast as they could.

"I don't know, just keep moving!" ordered Kyle, and he looked back at the quickly approaching rig.

He estimated it was halfway to them, from the Vault. They were near the Grand Canyon, but not that close. This was it, they had completely run out of luck.

"Not that we've had much of any today..." muttered Kyle.

"What was that?" asked Trek.

"Just that we're not close enough to the canyon for cover." said Kyle.

"Not what you said, man. I mean, why's your watch blinking?" asked Trek again.

Kyle raised his watch and saw that Trek was right, a green light blinked on it's face. That meant he had an incoming call from an unknown frequency. He activated the link and raised it. No image appeared, but the speaker came on.

"Stewart, you there?" came Michael Long's voice.

"Knight, that you?" demanded Kyle, still running alongside of Trek, who had regained some strength at this new development, "What happened, where's Jenny?"

"Jenny's wounded, but stable." replied Michael, "We destroyed Mobius's satellite link, and Starr is dead. But her boss escaped."

"We saw Goliath heading back to Vault just a while ago, Roland must have picked Mobius up." supplied Kyle.

"Where's Goliath now?" asked Michael.

"Making a beeline for Trek and I, guess this is good-bye." replied Kyle, sadly, "It was nice to work with you, even for the short time we did."

"Don't get all mushy now, Stewart, it ain't over yet." replied Michael, "KITT and I have a surprise for our pal Mobius!"

"You and KITT? What do you mean?" demanded Kyle, with a ray of hope in his voice.

"You'll see, just hold on." and Michael cut the link.

Kyle and Trek looked at each other in hope and confusion, but kept on running toward the Grand Canyon...

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The Vault's lift, which had again descended into the depths of the storage facility, returned to the surface, bearing a passenger. Untouched by the sun's rays for nearly eleven years, it glinted and glowed like black lightning amongst the yellowish-brown panorama of the desert.

Matte black and low to the ground, the classic 80's sports car purred upon the lift platform. A crimson visor slid back-and-forth and a mechanical hum issued from it.

KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand Trans-Am, had returned.

"Michael, I have located Goliath." said KITT from within the interior of the fantastic car, "It's on a collision course with two fleeing figures."

"Go, KITT!" ordered Michael and the black vehicle leaped from standstill to fifty miles an hour in less than a second.

They accelerated across the terrain, and the red digital read-out increased from 50 to 75, than 110, and then maxed out near 150 mph.

"Maximum speed reached, Michael." stated KITT.

"Can we reach them in time?" asked Michael.

"Not at our present speed, Michael." said KITT.

"Time for Super-Pursuit Mode!" replied his driver and he hit the SPM button mounted on the dash.

"Engaging Super-Pursuit Mode." replied KITT and panels popped and slid open all over his exterior.

The front of the car extended outward and split into two sections, one going up, one down. Acceleration fins slid out of the sides of the vehicle and the trunk rose, exposing the mini rocket jets hidden there. Thruster ports clicked into view behind the back tires, and de-acceleration ports appeared facing opposite to them, behind the passenger and driver windows.

KITT shot forward at a fantastic rate and his dash indicators went from Normal Cruise mode right to Pursuit mode, skipping right over Cruise. The speed indicator accelerated rapidly, leveling out at an incredible 260+ mph.

"Whew! Yeah!" gasped Michael in jubilation, as he had forgotten the rush he got from traveling at KITT's highest speeds.

Up ahead a dark dot appeared, which soon became Goliath, demonically huge and black, even more menacing than KITT and Michael Long remembered. Directly ahead of it, but not for long, ran Kyle Stewart and Trek Sanders. As they watched, the two TKR members separated, giving Goliath different targets. They truck didn't hesitate for a moment, altering course directly for Kyle.

"No way Garthe kills anyone else!" roared Michael and he deactivated Super Pursuit Mode, instantly causing KITT's exterior to revert to his original form, and the car rapidly slowed down for better maneuverability.

"Michael, remember when we first tried ramming Goliath?" asked KITT.

"How could I forget, Buddy. We nearly totaled both of us, and the rig was barely scratched. Why?" replied Michael.

"At that time we didn't have Super Pursuit Mode." said KITT, "I have an idea..."

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Onboard Goliath, so intent on running Kyle Stewart down was Roland, that he nearly failed to see a new blip appear on the Mack's radar. Wrenching his gaze from his target, he glanced out of the passenger window and saw a strange black sports car heading directly for them. It had a glowing red visor reverberating back-and-forth just below it's hood, and it was coming fast.

"Yo, Mobius, we got company." he said, turning his boss's camera toward the approaching Trans-Am.

"It...can't be...!" came Mobius's gasp from over the radio.

"Can't be what?" asked Roland.

"It's Michael Knight's car: KITT!" exclaimed Mobius, a sense of dread stealing over him, "But no matter, he can't stop me, KITT's no match for Goliath!"

"They're not slowing, though." observed Roland.

"Don't worry, they tried this before and wrecked KITT almost completely. If Knight want's to commit suicide, that's his problem." replied Mobius, but then the car seemed to change, panels slid open all over it, and it suddenly shot forward at them, at an impossible speed.

"What in the Hell-" shouted Mobius, then KITT rammed into the front of the rig!

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"Kyle, look!" shouted Trek form over the sand dunes, causing him to turn and look back.

A fantastic site met his eyes, for out of nowhere a lean black sports car rocketed into Goliath's cab, knocking it off it's course toward Kyle. A tremendous crash of twisting metal echoed across the desert and the car deflected off the Mack, spinning to a halt right in front of Kyle.

As Goliath shuddered to a halt, almost jack-knifing over, Kyle got a good look at his savior, and he recognized the fabled KITT in all his glory.

"Thank god, where the heck did you come from?" gaped Kyle, resting his palm on the slightly crumpled hood.

"A dealership in Detroit, originally." replied KITT, "Quick get in!"

Kyle obeyed, as KITT reverted back to Cruise Mode, panels sliding back into place, though the hood stabilizers ground their gears loudly as they disappeared back inside. Kyle pulled the door closed and looked over at Michael Long, hunched over the wheel, fingers skipping across the dash's keyboard.

"Problem?" asked Kyle.

"Hitting Goliath stalled the engine." said Michael in frustration.

"And damaged the advanced acceleration systems." added KITT, "Don't ask for Super Pursuit Mode again."

"How's Goliath doing?" asked Kyle, and KITT answered by activating one of the dash screens, revealing the rig motionless on the sand, it's grill twisted and torn, the entire lower right side of the cab mashed in.

"Amazing! How did you do it?" asked Kyle, "Our cars couldn't even scratch Goliath, and you nearly flipped it."

"A combination of high speed and calculating the exact angle of-" KITT started to reply but was interrupted by his engine roaring back to life, "Very good Michael, sorry I couldn't do that myself, but I'm still trying to get used to being complete again, and-"

"Just go, KITT! We'll all have our proper reunion later!" interrupted Michael and the car took off, and headed right for Trek, pulling alongside him. Kyle jumped out, and helped him into the narrow back seat.

"Well, it's about time, didn't know what you guys were doing just sitting there." said Trek, "Where'd you get the classic ride, Long?"

"Classic?" said KITT in annoyance, "Michael, have I gotten old?"

"We both have, buddy, and I think an old friend is about to try and accelerate the process." Michael scowled as Goliath roared to life behind them, turned and headed back their way, accelerating to full speed once more.

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"Kill them, kill them all!" screamed Mobius , nearly insane with rage, "Ram that car, DRIVE them into the earth!"

"Y-yes, sir!" stammered Roland, shaken and bleeding from the temple wound he had received when KITT's impact had knocked his head into the doorjamb.

He threw Goliath into high gear and they rocketed across the desert, bound for the now fleeing black car. The Trans-Am began to weave back-and-forth making it hard for Roland to stay on target, the bodyguard had his work cut out for him just keeping the Mack on it's wheels. This day had gone from great to not so great, all in a moment. Roland was beginning to get a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

"Faster, you idiot!" screamed Mobius.

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"What now, Michael?" asked KITT, as they swerved back-and-forth across the desert, trying to throw off their pursuer.

"I'm thinking..." said Michael, "Any ideas guys?"

"Getting the hack outa here's my favorite." said Trek in the back.

"Any weapons on board, KITT?" asked Kyle, "We've pierced Goliath's armor in two places. The front of the cab, and the top of the trailer, where Domino took out the cannon."

"Sorry, KITT's design doesn't include rockets or lasers." replied Michael, "Never liked to stoop to that level to accomplish our missions."

"Hey, times have changed since you last rode across the desert, Long." retorted Kyle, "We have to compete with a new breed of techno-criminal."

"We aren't outdated, Stewart," shot back Michael, "We saved you, don't forget!"

"Hey!" interrupted Trek, "Calm down guys, save the animosity for Mobius."

Michael and Kyle halted their argument, and turned back to monitoring Goliath's approach.

"KITT, how close are we to the Grand Canyon?" asked Trek.

"Less than forty-five seconds, if we alter our course." replied the car.

"Do it." ordered Trek and Michael glanced at Kyle, who nodded his approval, so he turned KITT toward the canyon. Goliath followed.

"What now, kid?" asked Michael, "If you see a solution, don't hold out on us."

"This is going to sound crazy, but that button beside the Super Pursuit Mode switch, is it what I think it is?" asked Trek, unfolding his plan.

And once the rest of them had heard the idea, even KITT himself was flabbergasted...

To be continued...