"DOC!" I yelled, grabbing the steering wheel. I wished that the time-circuits weren't in the way so I could slide into the driver's seat.

With no one stepping on the gas pedal, the Delorean slowed. I held the steering wheel, even though there wasn't anything out there to steer around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the black Trans Am keeping pace with me. As the Delorean slowed, the Trans Am slowed.

Great. So I was going to have to confront who ever was in that black car. There was no escaping it. Even if I was somehow able to step on the gas, there was no way that the Delorean could outrun a Trans Am.

I found the emergency brake. The Delorean ground to a halt. Beside it, the Trans Am executed a picture-perfect stop, sending a small puff of dust ahead of it.

For a while, neither I nor the driver of the Trans Am moved. I wasn't sure what he wanted, and I figured he probably didn't know what I was there for, either. We sat in our cars, watching the dust settle.

Might as well get this over with. I opened the gull-wing door of the stainless-steel Delorean.

The black car stayed closed and silent, aside from an ominous whirring sound.

I stepped away from the car, holding my hands up to show that I was unarmed.

"Whoever you are, I'm not armed, and I'm not dangerous. So do whatever you're going to do and get it over with!" I yelled.

The car door opened. Out stepped a very tall man with dark, curly hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket. I was thinking he must be very hot inside that jacket out in the desert. The man held up his hands.

"I'm Michael Knight." He said, "don't worry, I'm not armed either. I'm just a little curious about your car."

I eyed the red light on the front of the black car, "I'm a little curious myself." I admitted, lowering my arms.

"I'll show you if you'll show me." Michael Knight said.

I hesitated, thinking of the possible consequences of showing someone the time circuitry, and whatever Doc had installed to convert the car into a teleporter. But chances are this Knight guy wouldn't know a flux capacitor from Mr. Fusion.

"You've got a deal." I said.

He walked over, "That's some car you've got. How did you drive it from the passenger seat?"

"It wasn't easy." I gritted my teeth. I hoped he wouldn't ask any more questions on that subject. I couldn't even explain to myself how come I was suddenly the only one inside.

Knight strode to the open gull-wing door, "Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead." I said. I hoped that whatever he had to show me in his car would be worth the stuff in mine. I got into the driver's seat and he folded his long legs into the passenger seat.

"What is all this?" Knight asked, gesturing to the time circuits.

"The car really belongs to a friend of mine." I answered without answering, "I don't know what most of it does." It wasn't a lie. About the only thing I understood about the car was that the flux capacitor somehow made time travel possible, and that Mr. Fusion powered it now in place of plutonium. And that the car's engine ran on gasoline.

According to the fuel gauge, I was again out of luck.

"Not again!" I groaned. At least I wasn't in the old west, though.

"What?" Knight asked.

"I'm out of gas." I said.

"Oh," Michael Knight replied, "Well, there's a town about 20 miles away with a gas station. I could give you a ride into town and back, if you'd like."

"uh," I wasn't sure about leaving the Delorean out in the open in the middle of a desert and riding with a stranger into a town 20 miles away. But what choice did I have?

Doc, why do I get into these situations?

I looked at the black car, "Doesn't it get hot in there?" I asked.

Michael laughed, "No, I've got a really good air conditioning system!"

I couldn't see how this was funny. Until I got into his car.

Then I could believe it had a good air conditioning system, as well as any other kind of system you might be able to imagine. The dashboard was covered with buttons and switches. There were two screens for who-knows-what. The steering wheel looked for all the world as though it came out of an airplane.

"What kind of car is this?" I asked, a bit awed.

Michael smiled secretively, "A special one."