CHAPTER 3

DEPARTURE

The next morning, at the appointed time, everybody gathered in the warehouse laboratory where the time travelling equipment was located. For the occasion, everybody showed up in their casual attire. RC wore a pair of faded jeans with a Chicago Cubs T-shirt, Bonnie wore a simple long sleeved shirt with a pair of light blue jeans, and Michael wore a white T-shirt that said "Adidas" on it underneath his leather jacket with his deep blue jeans and white sneakers.

The night before, Dr. Anders and his team worked at completing the final calibrations for the time vortex they were about to open. Now, all was ready!

As soon as he arrived, Michael Knight helped himself to a cup of coffee from the steaming pot still on the percolator.

"You know, Michael, you really oughta be laying off that stuff... I hear it's not good for you..." Bonnie said to him.

"AW! Gimme a break, Bonnie!" Michael retorted.

With that, the familiar drone of KITT's car engine echoed throughout the laboratory as Devon drove up.

"Hey, Devon!" Michael cheerfully said, raising his cup of coffee.

"Good morning, everybody!" Devon said with a smile as he exited the car. For this occasion, Devon wore a pair of black denim pants, tennis shoes, and a dark blue turtleneck sweater underneath a simple grey jacket. Everybody thought he looked weird "dressed down", as they were so used to seeing him in a 3 piece suit.

"Is KITT ready for our journey?" Bonnie asked.

"More than ready!" Devon replied. "I've had KITT's new suspension reinforced to handle the rugged terrain, made sure his fuel tank was filled to the brim; and most importantly, put an extra coating of formula on his molecular bonded shell, just in case!"

"Whoa, Devon!" RC said in surprise. "What are you expecting, that a nuclear bomb would suddenly drop on him!?"

"Very funny, RC!" Devon grumbled. "No! It's just a precaution. In case we run into any... sharp teeth, I think was how they called them? I did notice a few large scratch marks on KITT's passenger side door, when you were brought back from that period two years ago... I deduced that those scratches could only have been left by those dreadful monsters!" He glared at Michael.

"Yyyyyyeah, well... That's more a result of KITT hitting one of them square in the jaw..." Michael said nervously.

Devon rolled his eyes.

"But it was in self defense!" Michael said defensively.

"Well, in any case, I hope you all brought your luggage! KITT, open your trunk, if you don't mind..." Devon said.

"Yes, Devon." KITT replied as he did just that.

"WHOA! Look at all this stuff!!" RC commented as he saw what was inside KITT's trunk.

"And he even brought the tent! How very thoughtful of you, Devon!" Michael also commented.

"Yes! Well, I made sure we'd have everything we'd need for... camping out..." Devon said. "You can't be too prepared, I always say! It'll be just like the time where, as a young lad, I went on an African safari with my..."

"Save the camping stories for our dino friends! Okay, Devon?" Michael interrupted.

Devon reluctantly nodded.

"Boy! I can't wait to get there! This is gonna be FUN!" RC said with excitement.

"Dr. Anders, if you please?" Devon said to the young scientist.

Dr. Anders nodded as he started typing out a sequence on his computer. Everybody heard the humming sound and saw the small lightning flashes as the gateway slowly came to life to create the time vortex. Dr. Anders' team kept the original teleporting amplifiers and converted them into time vortex amplifiers. The humming sound began to increase in pitch, and the lightning flashes increased as the time vortex began to form until it looked like a screen of smoky blue haze.

"The more I look at it, the more I find myself mesmerized by it..." Michael said in awe.

"Isn't it GREAT!!?" Dr. Anders said extatically.

"It's a MIRACLE, Dave!" RC said shaking his head in disbelief, as he had done every time he saw the time vortex appear before his very eyes.

"So I can trust you to reactivate the vortex in 72 hours once we're through?" Devon asked the young Doctor.

"You can count on us, sir! 72 hours is more than enough time to say 'hello' to your old friends..." Dr. Anders smiled as he let out a little laugh.

Devon smiled at his attempt at humour. "So how much time would've lapsed since we've returned from that era?" He then asked the young doctor.

"I've calculated the time differential to be about two months, according to the Gregorian calendar." Dr. Anders said in response.

"You sure about this, Michael?" Bonnie asked the tall man standing beside her.

"Quite sure!" Michael smiled. "The Great Valley looked to only have one season, and there was plenty of food around to fuel their healthy appetites. They should still be there."

"I hope you're right..." Bonnie mused.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Will you stop worrying!? Everything's gonna be FINE! Trust me!" He placed his hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner. Bonnie smiled up at him.

"Okay! It's ready!!" Dr. Anders announced as he made one final check of his computer console.

"Splendid!" Devon smiled. "Well then, shall we?" He then said to the others as he walked over towards KITT.

Everybody followed suit.

Devon climbed into the passenger seat while Michael took his usual place in the driver's sest. Bonnie and RC made themselves comfortable in the back seat.

"Okay buddy, you ready?" Michael asked KITT.

"Ready, Michael!" KITT responded. "Although I am concerned about our re entry. It was quite rough the last time, if my memory circuits serve me correctly..."

"You can handle it, buddy! Don't you worry!" Michael said with encouragement.

"I certainly hope so!" KITT said in response.

Michael back KITT up to the very edge of the warehouse to make sure he had enough space to accelerate KITT up to 25 miles per hour, which was the speed Dr. Anders calculated for a proper entry into the time vortex so KITT doesn't come out too "hot" on the other side.

After letting out a breath, Michael announced. "Okay, gang! Here we go!! We're going ADVENTURING!!!" Then he put his foot on the accelerator. KITT's tires screeched on the floor of the warehouse as he sped towards the vortex. He then dissapeared into the vortex under a flash of light, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.