"Dismantled? Does that mean destroyed?" Andrea's breath caught in her
throat. Suddenly she knew what she was dealing with. Her palms started to
sweat. She remembered back a couple of years when she was a newcomer to her
precinct. She was fresh out of the academy and had returned to her home
county of Nashville to join the local police force. Not that she had wanted
too, but her parents where here and they had insisted that she move closer
to them. When a position as a Tennessee State trooper had opened up, she
had sprung at it, eager for some excitement. Her first assignment had
walked through the door on day one.
- flashback -
The main doors banged open as a middle aged man rushed through. He was holding a child's lifeless body. "Please! Someone help please! I didn't see he! I swear! He came out of nowhere." Andrea jumped up and caught the body of the child, just as the man crumpled to the floor. She quickly felt for a pulse but didn't find any. She met the eyes of sergeant Allan Bank. Gently she set the child down on Allan's desk where he covered it with his coat. Struggling to keep from crying herself, she knelt beside the trembling man. She had never before seen a grown man break down like this and was not sure how to approach him. "Sir? Sir, please get up. Sir, it's going to be alright." "Alright." The word was spoken softly, whispered even. "I've done the unthinkable. I shouldn't have, couldn't see." Andrea knelt down and laid a hand on the poor man's shoulder. "Sir, I hate to ask, but I'll have to take a statement from you." The man looked up. Andrea's eyes fastened on the man's neck. A white collar; the man was a priest.
She had been the one assigned to that case. It was a simple accident. The child had slipped from his mother and had run into the street headed over to the candy store. The minister had been on his way to service. He was driving well under the speed limit but as the child had stepped into the street from behind a parked car he didn't stand a chance. The child's mother had been devastated as she had lost her youngest child, but didn't press charges. The minister's parting words that day had haunted her for many months: "My mission in life is to protect and nurture. I've done the exact opposite. How can I keep on living.?"She had watched the man exit. She had just witnessed a man of faith lose that faith. It was a moment she would never forget.
- end flashback -
Kitt was replayed his own words: "There is just cause for my being dismantled." He meant them, but he was puzzled. Those words were self- destructive. He had never computed such things. It shocked him, but the words had clearly shocked Andrea as well. She had lapsed into silence. Just as Kitt was about to ask Andrea if she was all right, she spoke: "Kitt, you're a computer. Can you access the computer within the police station?" Kitt thought about it. "Is not hacking into an government computer a felony?" Kitt did not see any point in doing so. Andrea grimaced. "I guess so, but as I do have clearance and I was only going to tell you to pull up a copy of a report I wrote years back. I'm thinking I can view it, since I wrote it." She did have a point, Kitt decided. Within seconds, Kitt had required access to the precinct's computers. "There seems to be a error in one of the newly installed programs." Andrea looked amused. "The whole thing crashed. I couldn't even type up the report on you! The PC-guy is coming to check it out on Monday." Kitt registered her comment and located and repaired the minor programming error in the program. "The program is now working fine. What report did you wish to access?" Andrea shook her head. Kitt had repaired the precinct's computer in two seconds! "Yeah, umm the case number is 270379/23. It was my first case. The clip that you just showed me made me remember it." Lights danced on the dash and a hard copy of her report was printed. "Wow! Talk about fast service! Hey, did you read it? Go on, see if it rings a bell." Kitt processed the data he was confused. "Perhaps you should -as they say- spell it out for me." Andrea gave a short laugh. "The situation that you're going through is no different then the one the report is about. The priest had the same misgivings and questions that you're facing. He didn't mean to kill a child. It goes against his nature, training, his very way of life to take a life. Even his training, his knowledge of there being someone forgiving up there, didn't help him. There's only one thing that can help you get through this. No, make that two things: time and friends. You have both." Kitt went back to the report. Victim: Jeffery Hill, age 4. Ambulance on the scene in minutes, child dead on arrival. Driver of accident vehicle: Father David M. Johnson. Type of vehicle: 1982 Ford Thunderbird Charges: dropped
Time and friends Andrea had said. Was it? Could it be that simple. He did see the similarities in the report and his currant situation. Perhaps he should contact Michael. Perhaps he could make this right. Perhaps.
- flashback -
The main doors banged open as a middle aged man rushed through. He was holding a child's lifeless body. "Please! Someone help please! I didn't see he! I swear! He came out of nowhere." Andrea jumped up and caught the body of the child, just as the man crumpled to the floor. She quickly felt for a pulse but didn't find any. She met the eyes of sergeant Allan Bank. Gently she set the child down on Allan's desk where he covered it with his coat. Struggling to keep from crying herself, she knelt beside the trembling man. She had never before seen a grown man break down like this and was not sure how to approach him. "Sir? Sir, please get up. Sir, it's going to be alright." "Alright." The word was spoken softly, whispered even. "I've done the unthinkable. I shouldn't have, couldn't see." Andrea knelt down and laid a hand on the poor man's shoulder. "Sir, I hate to ask, but I'll have to take a statement from you." The man looked up. Andrea's eyes fastened on the man's neck. A white collar; the man was a priest.
She had been the one assigned to that case. It was a simple accident. The child had slipped from his mother and had run into the street headed over to the candy store. The minister had been on his way to service. He was driving well under the speed limit but as the child had stepped into the street from behind a parked car he didn't stand a chance. The child's mother had been devastated as she had lost her youngest child, but didn't press charges. The minister's parting words that day had haunted her for many months: "My mission in life is to protect and nurture. I've done the exact opposite. How can I keep on living.?"She had watched the man exit. She had just witnessed a man of faith lose that faith. It was a moment she would never forget.
- end flashback -
Kitt was replayed his own words: "There is just cause for my being dismantled." He meant them, but he was puzzled. Those words were self- destructive. He had never computed such things. It shocked him, but the words had clearly shocked Andrea as well. She had lapsed into silence. Just as Kitt was about to ask Andrea if she was all right, she spoke: "Kitt, you're a computer. Can you access the computer within the police station?" Kitt thought about it. "Is not hacking into an government computer a felony?" Kitt did not see any point in doing so. Andrea grimaced. "I guess so, but as I do have clearance and I was only going to tell you to pull up a copy of a report I wrote years back. I'm thinking I can view it, since I wrote it." She did have a point, Kitt decided. Within seconds, Kitt had required access to the precinct's computers. "There seems to be a error in one of the newly installed programs." Andrea looked amused. "The whole thing crashed. I couldn't even type up the report on you! The PC-guy is coming to check it out on Monday." Kitt registered her comment and located and repaired the minor programming error in the program. "The program is now working fine. What report did you wish to access?" Andrea shook her head. Kitt had repaired the precinct's computer in two seconds! "Yeah, umm the case number is 270379/23. It was my first case. The clip that you just showed me made me remember it." Lights danced on the dash and a hard copy of her report was printed. "Wow! Talk about fast service! Hey, did you read it? Go on, see if it rings a bell." Kitt processed the data he was confused. "Perhaps you should -as they say- spell it out for me." Andrea gave a short laugh. "The situation that you're going through is no different then the one the report is about. The priest had the same misgivings and questions that you're facing. He didn't mean to kill a child. It goes against his nature, training, his very way of life to take a life. Even his training, his knowledge of there being someone forgiving up there, didn't help him. There's only one thing that can help you get through this. No, make that two things: time and friends. You have both." Kitt went back to the report. Victim: Jeffery Hill, age 4. Ambulance on the scene in minutes, child dead on arrival. Driver of accident vehicle: Father David M. Johnson. Type of vehicle: 1982 Ford Thunderbird Charges: dropped
Time and friends Andrea had said. Was it? Could it be that simple. He did see the similarities in the report and his currant situation. Perhaps he should contact Michael. Perhaps he could make this right. Perhaps.