Chapter 20

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Cara and Star drove in silence during the long drive back to CompuTech. Cara was lost in her own thoughts. Star was the first to speak.

"We'll arrive at CompuTech Industries in about ten minutes, Cara."

"Great."

"You still haven't told me what your plan is to stop them?"

"We're getting the formula for Kitt's shell back. Or should I say 'I' am."

"But how?"

"I'm going to hand myself over to them. Once I have the formula, I'll give it to you along with my necklace, then 'you' are escaping back to the Foundation."

"What about you?" asked Star.

"Sacrifices will have to be made." she said.

"No, Cara." said Star. "I can't allow you to endanger yourself." She turned on the auto cruise mode.

Cara pressed it back. "Star, we don't have a choice here. You heard Alex. He'll destroy the Foundation and everyone in it if I don't return. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not, but…"

"No buts. You are to leave CompuTech once you have my necklace and the formula. That's an order, got it?"

"Yes, Cara." They continued quietly for a few moments. "Ya know, I'm really going to miss him." Star thought aloud.

"Him?" asked Cara. "Who? Michael?"

"Well, yes, Michael, but I was thinking of that 'older' model. He does tend to grow on you, doesn't he?"

"Yeah." Cara said, quietly. She couldn't even put into words how much she was going to miss Michael and Kitt.

Soon enough, they pulled up to the gates at CompuTech. A guard was there to greet them. Smitz. Cara looked at him with daggers in her eyes. He had been the one who ratted on her that night. He walked over to the car, shocked to see her. "Miss Anderson? Is that you?"

"Yes. It's me. Tell Mr. Harrison I've returned with Project S." The guard looked around. Was this some trick by FLAG? "It's alright." she told him. "I'm alone." He nodded and went to call Harrison from his booth. Cara looked at the huge building. She had never wanted to see this place again.

The guard came back over to her. "Okay, you can come in." She drove through the gate, into the parking lot where they were met by Harrison and his other guards.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" asked Star.

"More than sure." She pulled up and got out. The guards parted as Alex made his way through.

"Carrie, I'm rather surprised to see you so soon. Where are the others?"

"Others?" asked Cara.

"I'm not stupid, Carrie. Is Knight suddenly going to come flying over that gate now and save the day?" Harrison asked, sarcastically.

"No. He doesn't even know I'm here. I've come on my own."

He was happy with her answer. "Then you've come back to us. Oh, Carrie. How happy this makes me." He moved to hold her. She pushed him away.

"Not so fast." she said. "I have conditions of my own."

"Conditions?" asked Harrison. "Who do you think you're dealing with?"

She held up her hand. "First, you will stop this madness of trying to topple the Foundation. Your father never meant for things to go this far."

"Carrie…"

"Second." she continued. "You will not do anything to harm Michael or Jonathan."

"Reasonable enough." he said. "They're useless to me anyway. What else?"

"You won't destroy Kitt."

'She is a fool.' Alex thought. "Why do you care about what happens to that machine?"

"I just do. You won't harm him. I won't let you."

He saw that she meant it. He had never seen her so serious. 'No matter.' he thought. 'I'll destroy the car anyway.' "Very well, love." He went to hold her.

"And four!" she said, stepping back. "You are 'never' to touch me, 'ever' again. I'm your operative. Nothing more."

"You drive a hard bargain, Carrie."

"I'm offering you my freedom, Alex." Cara said, flatly. "I intend for you to pay a high price for it."

Alex smiled. Finally, the old Carrie was coming back to him. He would play along for the time being, but soon the Foundation would be destroyed and there would be nothing she could do to stop him.

"I must admit, I rather like this side of you, Carrie." He turned to his guards. "See? What did I tell you? Now 'this' is a woman." He offered her his hand. "Very well then. I agree to your terms."

"You mean it?" asked Cara.

"You have my word as a gentleman."

She looked up at him. Cara knew very well Alex would break his promises to her, but she had to get to the formula. She shook his hand.

"Welcome back, Carrie. Guards, have 'S' put back in the hanger." He motioned towards the building. "Shall we?"

Cara looked at Star and winked. "Yes."

Alex followed her on the way in. "I've missed you, Carrie. You won't believe what I have planned for us now that you're back."

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They walked to his office with a guard following them. Alex opened the door for Cara. "Make sure we're not disturbed." he told the guard. He shut the door behind himself. "Have a seat."

She did. She looked around for possible places he could have hidden the formula for the shell. She noticed a safe in the wall where he usually kept his most important documents. Cara gave him her full attention as he sat down in his chair.

"Well, Carrie. I imagine these past few weeks were very traumatic for you. Must have been hell living at the Foundation."

"I managed to handle myself just fine. You certainly didn't help things much."

"Believe me, what I did was for your best interest. Can't have you working for the enemy with that other vehicle." Alex noticed her expression. "You grew quite attached to K.I.T.T. Didn't you, Carrie?"

"Does it matter?" she almost snapped. "S and I are back. I'll probably never see him again."

"Glad you see it that way." He got up out of his chair. "Because I think it's time to forget about the past and discuss the future. Our future." He walked over to her.

"What are you talking about?" Cara asked, annoyed.

He sat back against the desk. "I've been thinking. Once 'Project S' becomes public, I'll be famous. Not to mention even more wealthy. I'll need someone to share that glamorous life with." He reached for her hand.

Cara pulled away from him. "Don't touch me."

"But, Carrie, love," he said, taking hold of her left hand, "how will I be able to do this then?" Alex took a ring from his pocket and placed it on her finger.

"Alex?"

"I know you said not to touch you, but the fact is that I need you, Carrie. Without you, 'S' would never have been possible. You're just the kind of woman I need in a wife."

"What about Dedra?" she asked.

"What about her? She and I are history. I realize looking at you now what a fool I was. Let me make it up to you, Carrie. Let me make 'all' your dreams come true." He kissed her hand. "Well, what do you say?"

Cara was at a loss for words. A few months ago, she wouldn't have hesitated in saying yes. But all the money in the world wasn't worth what he had done to her, all that she had lost since she first arrived at CompuTech. And deep down she knew…there was someone else she cared for.

"Alex…I…"

A guard entered the room. "Mr. Harrison, Project S is ready for inspection."

"Good." He got up. "Stay here. Think it over. I'll be back in a few minutes." He kissed her cheek and left.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Now to get to the formula. "Star?" she called on her comlink.

"Cara? Are you alright?" asked Star.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Look, Alex will be down there to check you out. I need you to buy me some time while I look for the formula."

"Will do."

Cara made her way over to the safe. "Can you undo the lock on this safe for me?"

An image of the safe came up on her monitor. Her micro jam pulsated throughout the lock and opened the safe. "Thanks, Star. Keep Alex busy." Cara picked up the folders and started to go through them on the desk.

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Harrison entered the hanger. He smiled at his experiment. "Ah, S, nice to have you back. Did you enjoy your stay at FLAG? They had better not have messed with your systems."

"Yes, Mr. Harrison." Star responded. "They were very nice to me and…Carrie."

"And did you come into contact with the Knight Industries Two Thousand?"

"Yes, sir."

"What impression did it give you?"

Star thought a moment. "Well, he's very…"

"He?" interrupted Alex. "S, let's get one thing straight. That car is not a 'he'. Nor are you a 'she'. You're both computers, lacking sentiment, emotions, and personalities. You are an experiement, not an entity of any form. Understand?"

Star wished she could have run him over. She preferred Kitt over this jerk any day. But she needed to keep him busy. "Yes…Mr. Harrison."

"Good. Continue."

"It can be very arrogant, pompous, stubborn…"

"Good." said Harrison. "Then you'll be looking forward to your new assignment."

"What new assignment is that, sir?"

"Why, to destroy K.I.T.T. and Michael Knight of course." he said.

"Sir, I'm confused." said Star. "Didn't you just promise Miss Anderson that no harm would come to either?"

"She'll get over it." scoffed Harrison. "Most females do."

"I see." Star wished Cara would hurry so they could get away from this madman. "Mr. Harrison, I don't think I can do that."

"What do you mean?" asked Alex. "You're mine. You do as 'I' command."

"No, Mr. Harrison. I was programmed to take orders only from Carrie. And I know for a fact that she will not agree to this." Star said.

Harrison grew angry, then calmed down somewhat. "So, I cannot change your mind then?"

"No, Mr. Harrison."

"Very well." he said. "Fair enough." 'I was hoping it wouldn't come to this.' He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "In any case, I have a new feature for you, S."

"Really?" asked Star. "What kind of new feature?"

"Oh, you'll know what it does soon enough, S.T.A.R." He knelt and attached the box to the underside of the car. 'At least 'S' will go out with a bang.' thought Harrison.

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Meanwhile, Cara was frantically looking through the papers. "Oh, come on." she said, quietly. "Where the hell is it?" Then, in the last folder, she found the formula. "Got it!" She gathered up all the papers and put them back into the safe.

Just as she turned around, her arm knocked over a small glass. It crashed to the floor. The guard waiting outside ran in. "What was that?" He saw Cara close the safe. "What are you doing?" He aimed his gun at her. Cara jumped and kicked it from his hand. She knocked him down from the other side and took off. The guard made his way over to the desk and sounded the alarm.

Cara ran as fast as she could. "Star! I need you! Meet me in the parking lot!"

"I'm coming." said Star. She went into auto cruise mode and took off.

"What the…follow it!" Harrison yelled at his guards.

Star pulled up in the parking lot. "Open the door!" yelled Cara, taking off her necklace. She was able to throw it, along with the formula, into Star from a distance away.

"Cara, get in! We can still make it!" the car called.

Cara tried to make a run for it, but a guard grabbed her from behind.

"Cara!" yelled Star.

"Forget about me! Go back to the Foundation!" she hollered. Star had no choice but to obey Cara's order. She headed for the metal gate.

"Stop the car, you fools!" yelled Harrison. The guards shot at Star, but it was no use. She jumped over the gate and disappeared. "It's got the formula and the necklace, sir." said one of the men.

"Damnit!" Harrison walked over to Cara and grabbed her arm. "That was 'not' a smart thing to do, Carrie." He noticed the watch on her wrist. "What's this?" He ripped it off of her and recognized it as one of the comlinks made by FLAG.

"So, it was a trick all along, was it? Well, here's what I think of your precious Foundation." He threw the comlink on the ground and began to stomp on it.

"No! Stop it!" screamed Cara, trying to save the watch. "Devon gave that to me! Stop!" The guards held her as Alex destroyed Devon's gift.

Alex then walked over to Cara, yanking her head back. "Guess Dedra was right about you after all. No matter. I have ways of dealing with 'your' kind. But, you already knew that, didn't you, dear?" He released her. "Take her inside." he ordered the guards.

Star looked on from a nearby hill. She felt helpless as she watched Cara being dragged back into CompuTech. The car took off. She had to get help. She had to get Michael and Kitt. Star only hoped they could save her before it was too late.

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