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CHAPTER FIVE

"Why did you call me Elizabeth?" asked Lizzy.

"That is your name, is it not?" asked Karr, "You forget that I watched as your sister grew up, and I know what she looked like at your age. Your similarity to your twin is too close to be coincidence. That and your false documents, your experience in driving me, and your confidence at going 216 miles per hour all gave you away."

"You must be mistaken," said Lizzy.

"Your mission to bring into justice Mr. Cooper-the man who caused your supposed death-also betrays you." said Karr, "The one problem is how you can be physically 16 years of age while your twin sister is 26."

Lizzy was silent.

"I resolved this difficulty," said Karr, "by reviewing Mr. Cooper's plans for the machine that destroyed you. I found that it can potentially be altered to a time machine. It seems that you moved forward into time with Kitt, and either grew to be 16 due to the strain of time travel, or due to passing five years of normal time following the incident."

Lizzy's heartbeat accelerated, but Karr took that as confirmation that his conclusion was correct.

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Lizzy, "That's ridiculous!"

"Is it?" asked Karr. But as he spoke, he released a gas through the ventilation system of the car.

Lizzy did not see it coming, and she fell into a deep sleep…

"Do you think Cooper will recognize me?" asked Lizzy, "I mean, I'm just going to waltz right on in and apply for a job there. What if he recognizes me?"

"He might," said Kitt, "But he won't be able to do anything as long as you are with the Foundation."

"What makes you so sure I'll get in?" asked Lizzy, "The Foundation only accepts the best."

"I trained you for the past five years, didn't I?" asked Kitt, "I am positive you can do this, Lizzy."

Lizzy smiled. She always smiled when Kitt called her 'Lizzy'.

"And once you are in," said Kitt, "You can expose Cooper for what he really is, and then we will anonymously drop off the Miles key at the Pentagon without fear that he will attempt to steal it again."

"Alright," said Lizzy, "But what if I find Mom or Dad or Devon there? I don't think I could handle having to be around them without letting them know that I'm alive."

"Devon is retired," said Kitt, "While my research shows that your mother and father still work at the Foundation, they are not as actively involved in fieldwork. It is unlikely that you will come across them."

Lizzy woke up and started. She was back in Kitt. Wait…that was wrong. She shouldn't be in Kitt, should she? She sat up straight, and saw that they were driving in the desert.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, still confused.

"Sixteen and a half minutes," was the answer. But it was not Kitt who spoke to her. It was Karr.

"Sixteen and a half minutes?" asked Lizzy, still confused. She only slept for 16 ½ minutes whenever she had a cold and Kitt knocked her out to scan her.

"Affirmative. We are approximately half an hour from base. Dinner is promptly at seven."

"Wait a second," Lizzy said, "Were you scanning me without my permission?"

"Yes," came the reply.

Lizzy frowned.

"What were you doing that for?" she asked.

"To ascertain the state of your health, as sustained after time travel," said Karr, "Do not deny what is obvious, you have traveled ten years through time. You are in perfect health. I also surgically inserted the earwig comlink."

"What?" asked Lizzy, "You could have just asked my permission, you know."

"If we are to be partnered, and if I am to help you bring Mr. Cooper to justice," said Karr, "We need a form of communication that is without the interference of the other FLAG agents. As such, only I could insert the comlink to be properly assured of no other frequency intersecting our conversations."

"Wait," said Lizzy, "You think the other agents would spy on us?"

"Of course," said Karr.

"Alright, I see your point," said Lizzy, still not trusting Karr, "But I don't like to be scanned without being asked. And I certainly don't like things being implanted in my ear without my knowledge."

"Noted," said Karr, "Permission to test the earpiece."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. If Karr was anything like Kitt, he would bug her about this until she agreed.

There was only one thing to do.

"Permission granted," she said.

Suddenly, her vision started to see double. Her eyesight seemed to readjust colors, and it was almost as if various numbers flew across her eyes. The attack hit quickly, but Karr's reaction was just as fast. In fact, she had barely put her hand to her head when Karr frantically pulled over to the side of the road.

In an instant, she passed out and slumped across the seat next to her.

"What is happening?" she thought. She was very confused. Didn't she just black out? She thought people who blacked out didn't dream. Had she been wrong? Was this a dream?

"Calm down," said Karr, "This is simply a mistake."

"Where are you?" asked Lizzy. There was just darkness; Karr was nowhere to be seen.

"Recalibration is needed," said Karr.

"What? What recalibration?" asked Lizzy.

"Readjustment in three, two, one…"

Suddenly, she woke up. Karr immediately drove back onto the road again.

"What was that?" she asked, confused, as she sat back up again. Her head hurt.

"A minor problem with the earpiece," said Karr, "It typically operates by letting you hear me through radio frequencies, and letting me hear you through your speech waves that travel to the earpiece in your ear."

"Well, what just happened?" asked Lizzy.

"Instead of you hearing me, I was hearing you." said Karr.

"That doesn't make much sense," said Lizzy.

"Not to you," said Karr.

"Did you fix it?"

"Yes," said Karr, "But do not tell anyone of this episode, or I will expose your true identity."

"Alright, alright," said Lizzy, rubbing her head, "As long as it doesn't happen again. That was no picnic."

There was a slight pause.

"Do you have any water?" asked Lizzy.

The steering wheel in front of her opened in the middle, displaying a small Dixie cup of water.

"Thanks," said Lizzy, taking it.

"Do not expect it in the future," said Karr, "The water is only present now because you must be in perfect health when we arrive at base. Otherwise I will be in trouble."

"Um, thanks anyway, I guess," said Lizzy, downing the water and disposing of the cup in Karr's fiery inferno that he called a trash can.

"We are approaching FLAG," said Karr, coming down the road that led to base, "Do not worry, Elizabeth. I will not tell anyone what I have discovered. They would not believe me even if I did."

To Lizzy's surprise, it seemed that more than the agents she had met were standing out front watching them.

"Are they waiting for us?" she asked.

"Yes," said Karr, "They do not trust me."

Lizzy frowned.

In silence, Karr then drove straight up through the middle of the crowd, stopping in front of Ashley. Only then did he open the door to let Lizzy out.

"Sarah, are you alright?" asked a voice.

Lizzy almost didn't respond before she remembered that her alias was Sarah Brown.

"I'm fine," she said, "What is the occasion?"

"You are," said another agent, "We all came out to meet you."

"Well, I'm flattered," said Lizzy.

"I'm afraid we have another job to do before we get you settled in your new room," said another agent, "We should fit you with an earpiece."

"Um, actually, Karr already fit me with one," said Lizzy.

All eyes turned to her, and Lizzy wondered if she hadn't said the right thing.

"Do not tell them you were unconscious at the time," said Karr.

Lizzy turned to look at him before realizing that he had spoken to her through the earpiece. No one else could hear him.

"Really? He fit you with an earpiece?" asked an agent, the one named Gerry.

Lizzy nodded. "Yep," she said.

"And you just trusted him to stick that in your ear?" asked Gerry.

How could she answer that? She was unconscious when Karr did it.

"I guess I figured that he was programmed to do it," said Lizzy, fearing for a second that Karr did not have the programming to insert the earpiece.

"Well," said Ashley, clearly trying to keep the peace, "This is unexpected. But Karr was equipped with the knowledge on how to properly insert the earpiece."

"Very well," said the agent who was supposed to insert the earpiece, "But the device is still a prototype. If you experience any problems with it, let me know."

"Will do," said Lizzy.

"Now that that is taken care of," said Ashley, "Let me introduce you to your new home."

She took Lizzy by the arm and led her towards the building.

"Should we leave Karr out here?" asked Lizzy.

"I will be fine," responded Karr through the earpiece.

"Karr will be fine," said Ashley, "I will show you later where he stays. But for now, your room beckons."

Ashley led Lizzy into the low building, and to Lizzy's surprise they walked up the set of stairs.

"Most of FLAG is underground," said Ashley as they ascended the stairs, "But you are lucky. You get a view. Karr did not want you to be too far away from him in case of emergency, so he asked that your room be above ground."

She led Lizzy down a hallway and, after passing about seven doors, opened one on the left. It led into a single room connected to a bathroom. The bed was wooden, and there was a matching writing desk and dresser. There was also a chair with a footstool, and a bookshelf next to the desk. There was only one window, but it had a commanding view of the driveway up to FLAG and also some nice-looking fields off in the distance, which were well-watered to counter the desert sun.

"Wow," said Lizzy.

"Glad you like it," said Ashley, "Dinner is at seven. Make yourself comfortable."

And with that, Ashley left Lizzy alone in her room. But when she came back at 6:50 pm, Lizzy was sound asleep.

"Where is she?" asked an agent as Ashley walked into the kitchen.

"Sound asleep," said Ashley, "She's had a big day, so I didn't want to wake her."

All the agents in the room looked at one another, but said nothing.

"Ms. Knight, I think we have a problem," said one agent.

"What is it, Samantha?" asked Ashley.

"Haven't you noticed?" asked Samantha, "The teen has already developed a friendship with Karr."

"Wasn't that the point?" asked Ashley, "We were working hard to help him find a driver he liked."

"Yeah, so he would stick around," said Gerry, "And that's only because someone would rather have him close to FLAG than out there in the great unknown."

"And since his contract with FLAG expired," said Samantha, "This link with the girl is our only hope of keeping him close."

"So what is the problem?" asked Ashley, going to the tea kettle and pouring hot water into a mug with a teabag inside it.

"They are too close," said Samantha, "She even let Karr put in the earpiece."

"That's right," said Gerry, "Have you ever seen anyone get so close to a supercomputer in such a short amount of time? Something just isn't right."

"What is the problem?" asked Ashley.

"She shouldn't be trusted," said Gerry, "She's too young, for one thing, and she hits it off with Karr just a little too well. It's like she already knows him. What if she is some kind of plant? What if her sole purpose is to steal FLAG secrets?"

"Is there any proof of these accusations?" asked Ashley.

"Well, no," said Gerry.

"Then what do you intend to do about it?" asked Ashley, stirring in sugar.

Gerry and Samantha looked at one another, and at the other agents who had remained silent. No one spoke.

"That is what I thought," said Ashley, "I have a good feeling about this girl. Give her a chance. Who knows? Maybe she will keep Karr out of too much trouble. And remember, Karr's agreement was to stick with FLAG if we gave him an acceptable driver."

She looked at everyone in the room.

"Give her at least a week," she said.

"All right, let's assume she is legit," said Samantha, "Should we at least warn her about Karr's violent history?"

Ashley pursed her lips and frowned, deep in thought.

Lizzy was sitting inside of Kitt.

"What are you doing, Mr. Cooper?" asked Michael Knight.

"I am about to send Kitt and Lizzy through this atomic scrambler device," said Mr. Cooper.

"I have no idea what you just said," said Michael.

"We must do it now," said Mr. Cooper, "I have to demonstrate this thing before the tsunami comes."

"What tsunami?" asked Lizzy.

"The one about to hit us," said Kitt, "Haven't you been paying attention?"

"But we don't live near the ocean," said Lizzy.

"Quiet, Lizzy," said Kitt, "Let us watch Mr. Cooper's demonstration."

"No!" said Lizzy, "Don't you remember what Mr. Cooper did to us last time?"

"Last time?" asked Kitt, "What last time?"

"He pushed us through on purpose," said Lizzy.

"Lizzy, that's impossible," said Kitt, "We would be dead if that happened."

"NO!" shouted Lizzy, exasperated, "Don't you understand? Don't you remember?"

"We'd better hurry," said Mr. Cooper, "The hurricane is coming."

"Hurricane? I thought it was a tsunami," said Lizzy.

"Well, now it's a hurricane." said Kitt.

"What on earth is going on?" screamed Lizzy.

"Calm down, Lizzy." said Kitt.

Suddenly, Karr drove up and parked next to Kitt.

"You call yourself Lizzy?" he asked.

Lizzy woke up, drenched in sweat.

That was just about the weirdest nightmare she had experienced in a while.

She looked at her watch, and realized that she had missed dinner.

"I wonder if I should get something to eat, or just go back to sleep." She wondered aloud.

"Get something to eat," Karr responded.

It was so strange to have Karr speaking in her ear that Lizzy actually jumped when he spoke.

"Your nightmare was likely brought about by stress and lack of a proper diet," Karr continued.

"Um, okay," said Lizzy. Then, since there was no one else around, she asked him a question.

"Can you tell me where the kitchen is?" she asked.

"It is on the fourth floor." said Karr.

"There are only two floors here," Lizzy pointed out.

"It is the fourth floor underground," said Karr, "Unfortunately the elevator has been closed for the night."

"Well, are there stairs?" asked Lizzy.

"No." said Karr.

Lizzy sighed and moved back to the bed.

"You need to eat," said Karr.

"How?" asked Lizzy, "You said it yourself, the kitchen is closed."

"Neighboring stores are still open." Karr said.

"You mean I can just go out to a store for some food?" asked Lizzy.

"As long as no one notices you're missing," said Karr.

"Well that sounds highly credible," said Lizzy sarcastically.

"We will be back before your training begins." said Karr.

Lizzy thought it over. Karr probably would get her back in time, since the agents at FLAG didn't trust him and would likely go after them if he didn't safely return her back to base.

"Alright," said Lizzy, "How can I get out of here?"

"If you open your window and climb out, you can enter my cabin underneath." said Karr.

"From the second floor? That's a bit of a fall," said Lizzy.

"I can catch you," said Karr.

Lizzy thought about it. Could she trust Kitt with the same thing? If she could do it with Kitt, she could do it with Karr.

"Alright," she said, opening the window, "I'm coming down."

She opened the window, and looked below to see Karr underneath. Placing one leg over the windowsill, she carefully gauged the distance between them. Then she brought the other leg over the sill and sat there precariously.

Underneath her, Karr moved slightly forward.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pushed herself out.

She really hoped she could trust Karr to catch her...