Chapter 10: Burnin' up the road, hitting overload

"Alright Karr, can you scan the building?" Knight asked as the black and silver Trans-am glided to a stop outside DT Garage. Karr made an annoyed sound. "Of course I can. Scanning."

Knight waited patiently, knowing that the cars gold scanner light would be rippling back and forth as it did its job. He turned his attention to the monitor, waiting for the car to display the results. The screen stayed dark. "Karr?"

"Yes?"

"Have you finished the scan?"

"Yes."

"Can you show me on screen please?" Knight asked through gritted teeth.

"I can do one better," Karr replied smugly as two blue lights lit up underneath the car's windshield. Knight raised an eyebrow as a HUD appeared, seemingly on the windshield, a 'window' opening up containing a highly detailed three dimensional model of the building, far better than anything the Knight 2000 had been capable of when first constructed. He paused as Karr added in more details, including the presence of the office computer and the security system.

"Bonnie's been busy."

"I believe Professor Graiman designed it for the Three Thousand. Bonnie installed one in me. What do you think?"

"It's impressive," Knight replied, before returning to business. "How good is that security system?"

"It is well equipped to provide its function," Karr replied. "However, I can easily disable it with my micro-jammer."

"Do it."

The monitor's image shifted, zooming in on the main area of the garage and closing down on the central alarm unit, before stripping the casing away and moving down to the specific components. On screen, a sidebar appeared, the micro-jammer indicating it was activated, thin blue lines swirling in from the edges of the main graphic, forming a circle around the alarm panel as Karr's systems beeped, and produced a tone that sounded slightly like an electronic door being deactivated and opened. With that noise, the lights on the box went dead, as Karr's voice announced with its usual steely tone. "Security system disabled."

"Alright," Knight replied, stepping out of the car, pulling an earpiece from the glove compartment. "Find somewhere to hide so you don't draw attention to yourself."

The car responded by coming to life with a rumble, and glided off stealthily. Knight sighed to himself, and leapt onto the fence, climbing it rapidly and swinging over the top, dropping down on the other side. He fumbled with the door for a few minutes, wishing that he'd paid more attention when Michael had taught him how to pick locks, before giving up. "Karr, can you do something about this lock?"

Karr scanned it quickly, its image flashing onto his monitor, despite the lack of his driver. "Of course. I can also describe the make, model and serial number of the device."

"Just opening it will be fine."

Unknown to Knight, the graphic on Karr's screen flashed red three times, and the lock clicked open. That was audible to Knight as Karr's steely voice came over the ear-mike. "Done."

"You are a regular wonder on wheels."

"I am aware of that," Karr replied.

Knight grinned as he slipped into the garage, panning a torch back and forth, briefly. He noted that the Civic was still there, and decided to examine it later. First things first though, he thought to himself, and turned on the computer. "Ok Karr, do your thing. Find me a stock inventory. Then scan the store room upstairs, and tell me if they don't match up. And while you access the computer, find anything you can about jobs done, and include that in your analysis of the part listings."

"As you wish," Karr's steely voice came back.

Knight headed over to the Civic, and examined the tyres. "Same make of tyres. Shame I can't turn on the under chassis neon."

"Do you really think its one of the cars used?" Karr asked over the comm. link.

Knight frowned. "I don't know. The tyres are fairly common, particularly among street racers. And Civic's aren't difficult to get hold off either. Plus I doubt they'd be stupid enough to pull the jobs, and then service the cars they're using at Dom's garage. No-one could be that stupid."

"Not even Vince?" Karr asked. Knight chuckled. "No, not even Vince. How's your analysis going?"

"It's finished," Karr answered matter of factly.

Knight waited patiently for a few minutes. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did you find Karr?" Knight sighed.

Karr's reply was blunt and to the point. "I haven't found any discrepancies. Yet."

"Any suggestions?"

"Maybe we should investigate at Harry's?" Karr suggested. "We may find something there. Just because there's nothing to find here, doesn't mean they aren't connected."

"You think that they bought stuff at Harry's and not logged it here?"

"It's a possibility," Karr answered.

Knight nodded thoughtfully. "We'll check it out tomorrow."

"May I suggest you leave the garage quickly?" Karr asked. "I've been monitoring the police band. Someone's reported a possible break in at this address, and an officer has been dispatched to investigate."

"Karr," Knight replied. "Next time, just tell me the cops are coming." He groaned silently to himself and turned the computer off, and exited the garage. "Alright come get me Karr," he said through the comm. link and climbed back over the fence. As he dropped to the ground, the black and silver Trans-am pulled up, the door opening automatically. Knight slid over the cars hood, and got in, the door shutting behind as the Trans-am pulled away automatically.

"Where to now?"

Knight shrugged as he settled in and took the wheel, switching the car to manual piloting. "Any suggestions?"

"Racing," Karr replied eagerly.

Knight laughed at the vehicles enthusiasm. It made a refreshing change to the cars usual attitude. He shook his head slightly with amusement. "Alright. Let's go race."

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Knight arrived just as the other cars were returning to the market street. He guessed the first race had already taken place as he got out of the Trans-am, and headed towards the team. "So who won?" he asked, before frowning slightly. "Who raced for that matter?"

"Chumpy won," Letty told him with a grin, as Brian climbed out of the blue Skyline looking smug, until Letty shot him down. "I think it was more the car than skill though."

Knight grinned slightly. "Who'd you run against?"

"Leon for starters," Brian replied. "That guy with the NSX you ran against the night before, and some guy with an RX-8."

"There gonna be another race?" Knight asked. "Changed my mind about racing tonight. I'm in."

"You won't win," Dom said. "No way can you beat a Skyline in your Trans-am."

"You don't race the car, you race the driver," Knight replied. Dom shrugged. "Your funeral. You're racing Kat."

"Shit," Knight shook his head, slightly amused, heading back over to the team, wearing a mock dismayed face, watching as Dom got two more drivers, and called for everyone to head out.

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Knight pulled the Trans-am to the start line, pulling alongside Kat's black R34 Skyline GTR V-spec. The tiger on the side was a good metaphor for the cars phenomenal power although he knew that wasn't the reason she'd used it. On Karr's other side, an Arden Jaguar A-Type pulled up, and on the other side of Kat's Skyline, an Evo VIII. He doubted either car could keep up with the Skyline. He knew Karr could beat it if he wanted, but that would blow their cover wide open. "Ok Karr, we want to keep it close, but we have to throw this. No way is anyone going to believe a Trans-am beating an R34."

Karr made a noise of protest, but Knight shushed him. "Just remember we have a job to do."

The car stayed silent, but Knight knew it was sulking. He revved the engine, keeping it ready to go, hearing the noise of the other cars alongside. The go was called, and he took off, letting the Trans-am take the lead at first. The other cars caught up, Kat drawing alongside. He marvelled how someone so small could keep control over a car as big and powerful as the Skyline. "What do you think Karr, nitrous or turbo?"

"Both," Karr replied as the Skyline shot forward, Kat triggering her nitrous. The other two cars struggled to keep up as Knight hit Karr's turbos, then pressed nitrous. The car surged forward with incredible power. Knight struggled to keep the car under control as Karr's monitor flashed up a warning signal as the black and silver Trans-am vibrated, drawing level with the Skyline. Kat flashed him a cocky smile, then found NOS 2, the second shot pushing the Skyline forward. Knight didn't dare push Karr any harder now, regretting what he'd done. He knew the car could have kept up with the Skyline, without hitting the nitrous at the same time as the turbo, but he'd done it anyway. The Skyline crossed the line ahead of him, Karr crossing second, the other two cars passing seconds later. Knight pulled the Trans-am to a stop, smoke hissing from the cars hood. "You ok Karr?"

"I think hitting the NOS while using the turbos was a mistake," Karr informed him. Knight shot the car's dashboard a dirty look. "It was you who suggested it."

"We'll have to have Bonnie take a look. And fix things so that this doesn't happen again," Karr suggested, ignoring its driver's comment. "However, I do not believe we have done too much damage."

"I hope not, or Bonnie will kill me," Knight muttered, falling silent as they headed back to the start.

Karr was silent too, then offered, "I hate losing."

"Console yourself with the knowledge that if we weren't undercover, you could and probably would have won," Knight told him, pulling the Trans-am to a stop. Leon was congratulating Kat as Dom handed over her winnings. Knight pushed his way through the crowd. "Good race," he told her, offering his hand. Kat shook it. "I'm surprised your Trans-am managed to keep up as long as it did."

"I think I may have damaged the engine doing so," Knight admitted sheepishly.

Kat gave him a wink. "Any excuse for losing to a girl."

Knight smiled. "Believe what you want."

"I saw the smoke," Kat told him. "You still wouldn't have won, but I'll give you that you did damage your car."

"I'll have Jesse take a look for you in the morning," Dom offered.

Knight shook his head. "Nah, that's ok. Sure Jesse's good, but he wouldn't be able to make heads or tails of my car's insides. I know someone who can take a look for me."

"Whatever," Dom shrugged.

Knight sighed. "Come and take a look," he offered. Dom raised an eyebrow and followed over. The crowd followed, not sure what was going on. Kat had to admit she was curious to find out how a Trans-am could have kept up with her Skyline for as long as it had. Knight reached in to Karr, and popped the hood. Smoke hissed, and a smell of scorched ozone hit his nose, telling him that they'd done more damage than Karr thought. Bonnie was going to kill him.

Dom whistled at the cars engine. "That is not your standard Trans-am engine."

"I told you," Knight shrugged.

Jesse was studying it intently. "I can recognise a few things Dom but…wow. Knight, you got a manual for this thing?"

"Probably somewhere," Knight shrugged. "But it'd be way over my head."

"Damn, I don't know what half this stuff does," Jesse admitted. "Some of it doesn't even look like its part of the engine."

That's because it isn't, Knight thought to himself. He noticed the look he was getting from Dom and the rest of the crowd and shrugged nonchalantly. "My friend likes to come up with new things. She's done an amazing job."

Dom gave him a look that said he wasn't buying it, and looked like he was about to say something, when they heard sirens. "Shit."

"Cops!" Leon exclaimed. Everyone ran to their cars, taking off as the cops pursued them. Knight leapt into Karr. "Time to go pal."

"I couldn't agree more," the Trans-am replied, accelerating quickly, squealing to a stop as a black and white pulled in front of them. Knight could see the cars gold scanner bars rippling back and forth reflected in the police cruisers paint as he hit reverse, spinning the car through a j-turn and heading in the opposite direction, swerving around more police cars. His eyes widened as two blocked his path, and then smiled. "Time to go skiing," he said, and pressed the cars ski mode button. There was a sound of rushing air as the cars right hand side leapt up, the trans-am driving along on its left two wheels between the cop cars, then a thud as it dropped back down onto all four tyres, and sped away into the night.

End of Chapter 10…