Chapter 3: Back to the Past
December 6, 1941: Los Angeles: The wormhole opened and KARR appeared and activated camouflage mode and then transformed into a vehicle from the era. They drove out of the alley they had found themselves in, and then they saw a much older Vladimir Knight walking from his company to a bus stop nearby. Michael honked KARR's horn at him and the man walked and climbed into the disguised vehicle from the future.
"What brings you people back here?" he asked, irritated. Trinity then climbed out then climbed in the back seat and Vladimir climbed in. Michael brought up the picture on the heads-up display of Hitler holding a tablet during WWII.
"Is that Kelor?" Vlad asked. Michael nodded. "Your son, Eustice gave the Axis Powers plans for Kelor after the young man left college. When was that? 1917?" Michael asked. Vladimir stared at the man and then it dawned on the Kryptonian what had been done.
"He's corrupting my legacy," He finally said. KARR then brought up a recent screen shot of Eustice Bernard Knight, a multi-millionaire making money on government access and selling secrets to Axis Powers allied countries.
"We need to catch him and stop him," Trinity said defiantly. "This whole thing disrupted the timeline and it all started with Eustice," She said. The man nodded sadly. "He will pay for his crimes not only against my family and against the name of Zod, but also against these United States of America," He vowed. Michael smiled and then reminded him, "Vladimir Zod is dead remember that. You took the name of Vladimir Knight. Don't ever forget that," he said shaking the man's hand.
"Mr. Knight, thank you," he finally said. They arrived back at Knight Estate and they then heard the voice of Kelor speak as they entered the house. "Good day, Mr. Knight. I see you have brought guests. The same guests as before. Did they bring that pesky ancient prototype with them," Kelor asked sardonically. "Kelor, they are our guests and they shall be spoken of with respect and courtesy," Vladimir reminded the AI. "Very well Mr. Knight," Kelor finally said.
"Bring me up to date on what my son is doing?" He asked. "Your son? Sir, you haven't spoken to Eustice in years," Kelor protested. "Just do it," Michael replied. A small holographic image of the Knight Industries, Germany branch came up. They saw Eustice Knight, in his 30's having his son Wilton who was 17 being shipped back over via boat to get him away from war-torn Germany. Eustice was packing clothes in a suitcase for the young man.
"I have a grandson," Vladimir said. "And it's that grandson who will build the very first prototype of its kind, to help with law and order and justice," Trinity pointed out. "You mean KARR had an earlier version?" Vladimir asked. Kelor brought up the files. They saw a hologram of a customized 1982 Firebird Trans Am.
"Where did you get that from?" Michael wanted to know. "Your vehicle has the imprint of this vehicle's files stored in its artificial intelligence system" Kelor said matter-of-factly. "Kelor, can you tell me about Eustice Knight's finances, please?" Michael asked. The AI opened another holographic image of various European banks that showed the young man's money...large sums of money were being transferred to a German bank.
"Who runs that bank?" Trinity wanted to know. KARR popped up, his voice modulator did anyway. "That bank is owned and run by Adolph Hitler's Nazi party," He said matter-of-factly. Kelor asked. "How did you know that?" and Michael smiled. "It's a blitzkrieg procedure that was programmed into this version of KARR by a German programmer who works for a computer firm in 2014 that I know. This programmer's father was a German Jew who endured life under Hitler's regime," Trinity said.
Kelor asked Michael, "Who are you doing this for?" and Michael had a grim look on his face.
"My wife Bonnie, who lost her life in an alternate 2021 and my daughter Brianna Stephanie Knight who would have graduated college in 2021. She was born in 1989. I want to see my wife again," He said. Vladimir smiled. "Love and life are good things to fight for, my friend," he said and he moved to an old shelf and he pulled out a purple crystal.
"Install that in your vehicle. It will give you instantaneous transportation to any location in the world in any time period. When you return home it will burn out, so remove it or else KARR will explode," Vladimir warned. Michael handed it to Trinity who went to the garage to install it.
"What else will you need?" Vladimir asked. Michael then nodded to the prissy voiced Kelor. "Can you clone his programming codes into KARR as we may need the advantage," He said. "Your car, no matter how advanced can't handle or adapt to Kryptonian technology," the man warned. Trinity came back in. "I designed KARR with Kryptonian technology in mind," She said with a smile. "The Crystal is installed," She said to both men. They nodded as Kelor brought up roads to Berlin, which was the capital of Nazi Germany. Most of them were unoccupied except by German tanks or jeeps.
"We'll take this southern installation which is not very well guarded and infiltrate this office. That's Eustice's offices right?" Michael asked Kelor. Kelor gave an affirmative. They walked into the garage and saw KARR transform into a WWII jeep. Trinity and Michael climbed in and then a bright light surrounded them and they were gone.
Outskirts of Berlin: a Jeep appeared out of nowhere and Michael saw the lonely office of Eustice Knight that was guarded by two guards who were inside the facility. Trinity smiled at her friend. She used her super speed and took care of it. Michael shook his head and the woman and they then carefully undressed the unconscious guards. "We need to get rid of the guards," Michael remarked. Trinity smiled and a few seconds later, the guards were gone. Michael pulled out his lockpicking kit and broke into a file cabinet. He saw various files of figure heads around the US and the world that the Nazis needed to eliminate. "We need to get rid of Kelor's files that Eustice has access to," as he re-began digging through the files again. Trinity then noted a car pulling up as she glanced out a window. "It's Eustice! He's here," She said. Michael quickly closed the file and they stood in attention as the man came in with his son. They gave him the traditional Nazi salute and he returned it.
"Have you seen my jacket," he asked them as he motioned for them to be at ease. They both shook their heads. They then saw Wilton come in. "I'm packed, Father," the young man said. Eustice smiled at his son. "Very good, my son. Stay with these guards," he instructed. The boy nodded. Wilton, Michael remembered from reading up on Wilton's life that the young man would be turning 18 next month and would be drafted by the US military shortly after his arrival at New York harbor.
"What's wrong?" Trinity asked Wilton. "I'm scared," he replied. She smiled at the boy. "Don't be! This war will be over soon," She reassured the boy. She offered him a smile.
"I've lived around the world but what I want is a world with no hatred, no crime. Only Justice to be served," Wilton said. Michael stared at the boy. "Then make that your goal. I met a man much like you who only had one goal in mind which was to bring justice in a land broken by lawlessness. If you want a world where Justice prevails, then make that your dream. You've got the money and the power to do that. Take the family name and make it stand for something," Michael suggested. Wilton nodded. They then heard Eustice call for the boy. The boy ran.
"Let's get back to it," Michael said as they looked out the window and saw Eustice and Wilton leave, presumably for the local airport.
"KARR, can you set up a perimeter for us while we look for Kelor's designs?" Michael said into his earwig. The vehicle gave a response and Michael again picked the lock of the file cabinet and began going through the files. He then found it. The detailed files for an artificial intelligence device. Michael then found a lighter and burned the files.
"Now all we have to do is sneak into the Fuhrer's office or home and destroy the duplicate," Trinity said. "We can do that," Michael said. She then looked at what he was wearing and then smiled. "You're a smart man, Mr. Long," She said. "Michael Long is dead. Never forget that," He said. He then motioned for them to climb into KARR who was still disguised as a jeep. They were headed for something they never thought they would see...to break into the Fuhrer's office and destroy a piece of Kryptonian technology and restore the timeline….
To Be Continued….