Chapter 6

Meanwhile, the others hurried back to the resort. Michael was quiet, as well as anxious, which Star could tell by how he was gripping her wheel. Soon, all three vehicles pulled up to the resort. Michael was the first to get out.

"Michael," Star said, "I think I need to tell you something about last night."

"Not now. We have to get help."

"Yeah, but…"

"Later." He and the other two men hurried up the walk to the main building.

Amy came out of the front door. "Jerry? Michael? What happened? There was this huge rumble and all the electricity went out."

Michael walked up to her. "Amy, there was an avalanche."

"An avalanche? Is everyone okay?"

"No," said Pete. "There's at least two people that were on the trail when it happened. One was Eric. Griffin's gone to look for him."

"Cara was up there too, Amy. Look, we've got to get to them. Can't you call someone to come in to help us?"

She looked around, quickly. "Well, there's the park rangers. But without electricity, I can't operate our emergency two-way radio." She thought a moment, then went over to her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a number.

"Hello, yes. This is Amy O'Rourke from the Dusty's Peak Resort. We've just experienced an avalanche and have at least two individuals who may need rescued. Connect me to the head ranger's office. Yes, I'll hold." Amy then spoke to the three men. "They'll bring up the equipment we'll need, as well as an ambulance, and police if we need it."

"Police?" Jerry asked. "Hold on now. No need to get them involved in this. For all we know, they may not have made it. We could just be wastin' our time."

Michael turned to him. "Are you kidding me? That's your son up there. And my daughter. Don't you even want to try to get them out?"

"Well, of course I do. I'm a concerned father. But I seen this happen before. Not many people survive avalanche's around these parts. It'd just be a waste of money lookin' for 'em."

Michael made a short smirk. "You're some piece of work, you know that?" He turned to Amy. "Well?"

"One second. He said there's roads blocked everywhere because of the avalanche. They're going to have get a plow to get everything up here."

"How long is that gonna take?"

She asked the man on the other end of the line. "Several hours. He suggests we wait before we try a rescue as it might not be safe for us to go back up there."

Michael sighed, frustrated. "Yeah, that's easy for him to say."

He turned and walked out the door.

He made his way down the walkway and got inside the car. "Well," he said, sighing, "looks like it's going to take a while for help to arrive."

"I'm sure they'll be alright, Michael." Star said. A beeping noise came from one of her monitors.

"What was that?"

"My data search. That's part of what I was trying to tell you earlier. Last night, Cara and I followed Griffin up towards the hiking trail. He was talking to Eric. They're both behind the incidents that have happened at the resort."

"Griffin and Eric? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Michael. Cara had me look at their records. There's nothing on Eric. Griffin has a few misdemeanors here and there. Mostly for getting into bar fights and the like. She wanted to tell you first thing this morning, but she must have overslept."

"And that's why she was out there." he sighed. He then sat up, thinking. "If Eric's in on this, chances are a man like his father is, too. Star, I want you to go through any files you can find on Jerry O'Rourke. Look for anything you can find that seems out of the ordinary."

"Right away."

Michael looked over at the huge mountainside.

'I hope you're both okay.'

The pair was slowly making their way through the cave. Cara looked about. "There has to be another opening somewhere." The auto cruise button was then activated, and they came to a stop.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asked Kitt.

"My turbine engine received a lot of water and temperature damage back there. It needs time to repair and recover."

"Too bad we can't get a hold of Bonnie." She looked up. "Kitt, is that movement I see up ahead?"

All that came up on his monitor was a lot of static. "I'm not able to tell."

Cara got out, and shut the door. She walked, forward ahead of him, and was just barely able to make out some movement. Maybe it was a rescue team! She called out loud.

"Hello? Is someone there? We need help!" She saw them move again. "Hey! Help!"

She waited to see if someone would answer. Instead, she heard a squeak, and then a shrieking noise, followed by several shrieking noises. They were coming closer. She could barely make out the small forms that were flying towards her.

Before she knew it, she was being swarmed by a colony of bats!

Kitt heard her shrieks. "Cara! Get inside!"

"I…can't!" She tried to shoo them away. "I can't even see where I'm going!" They were flapping at her head and crawling on her. One scratched her arm with its claw.

"Ow! Kitt! Do something!"

He went through the functions that he knew still worked. "Hold on, Cara. I think I've found something." He activated his sonar, adjusting it to just the right level. He projected the sound, and it hit the bats' overly sensitive ears. They left Cara alone, and flew off in the direction in which the two had just come from.

"Cara? Are you all right?"

She shook for a moment, making sure they were all gone. "I'm okay. I just have this one scratch on my arm though. Doesn't look like a bite mark."

"There's an emergency kit under the back seat."

She got back inside and pulled the kit out. She cleaned the wound using her damp clothing, then rubbed the ointment on it. Finally, she covered it using the cloth wrap.

"You still might need a rabies shot."

She looked at her arm. "It'll be okay. Now, tell me what else isn't working."

He performed another diagnostic. "Other than my turbine, my CPU was also partially submerged. I've lost access to over half my functions, and the other half is operating at low capacity." He stopped for a moment.

"Kitt?"

"There's something sticking to me. Something soft and warm…" He tried to analyzed the substance. "What...? What is this?" He made a disgusted groan. "Oh no! Not that!"

"What's wrong?"

"You won't believe what my tyres are covered in thanks to those rats with wings! I'm going to need a thorough cleaning after this."

"Yeah. I would think so." Cara shivered. She noticed he was turning the heat up as much as he could. "You don't have to do that."

"I'll not have you catching your death of cold. Besides, my heating vents are one of the few features I can still operate."

She then felt guilty. "I'm really sorry, Kitt."

"For what?"

"For getting you trapped. If I hadn't gone after Michael, you wouldn't have followed after me. Now we're both stuck in here."

"Cara, if it hadn't been for you, Michael would have been buried in the avalanche. And who knows? Perhaps I would still be stranded in this tunnel. Then who would have saved me from being submerged back there?"

"So, you aren't mad that I got us into this?"

"Not at all. When I think of the situations your father has gotten me into…" He thought of something. "Wait a minute. Why were you trying to find Michael in the first place?"

'What can I tell him?' she thought. 'That I was looking for Michael because I had another vision?' Kitt would never understand.

"I had something I wanted to tell him." 'Well, that's part of the truth.'

"You seemed awfully concerned."

"Well…I discovered who's behind all the accidents last night." She told him about following Griffin, and the conversation she had overheard with him and Eric.

"That was very dangerous to do, Cara. You could have been discovered."

"Star was with me. I was protected."

"You should have told Michael and myself the moment you came back."

"You were both sleeping." she responded.

"I saw you go in when you returned. You could have told me."

"But I wanted to tell Michael first thing in the morning. I overslept. I just wanted…"

He waited. "Yes?"

"I wanted to tell him myself, so he'd be proud of what I did."

"You think Michael isn't proud of you?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to have any faith in me. All he's been giving me are soft cases and paperwork. He doesn't think I have what it takes." She became quiet.

"Cara, no matter what you may think, your father does have faith in you. He's very proud of the person you've turned out to be. He doesn't doubt your ability to handle yourself for a minute."

"Then why not put me on harder cases?"

"He's your father. It's only natural for him to be overprotective every now and then. We both want to make sure you and Star have all the proper skills you need before you go out into the field."

She thought about what he said. "Well, I guess I can understand that. But I'd still rather not be on desk duty."

"Be patient. We'll be taking on those tougher cases soon enough."

"Guess you're right about that." For some reason, she liked how he included himself in that statement. She then yawned.

"I'm not able to make out the time in my databanks, but I'm guessing it's very late. We should both get some rest."

"Yeah, we should get an early start tomorrow." Cara pushed the seat back and curled up. Kitt was starting to shut some of his main functions down.

"Kitt?"

"Yes?"

"No matter what you may think, nothing happened with me and Eric last night."

He made a slight smiling sigh. "I already knew that, poppet."

She looked up at him. "You did? How did you know?"

"Because like Michael, I also have faith in you. Goodnight, Cara."

"Goodnight, Kitt." She pulled the blanket up around herself, wondering if he noticed her blush.

Eric moved through the dark, the trees and the bushes, trying to make his way down the mountain. He wanted to get help for Cara, but right now he was trying to get away from Griffin, who was following behind, carrying a shot gun.

"Eric?" the older man called. "I know you're there. Better get out here, boy." He followed the sound of footsteps and twigs snapping. "Come on out, ya hear?"

The younger man snuck under a ledge in the mountain side, waiting for him to pass on by. He was still as Griffin stopped near to where he was, then breathed a sigh of relief as he passed.

He was about to climb out, when his foot slipped on a patch of ice. He slid backwards, and fell inside a small opening, falling several feet before tumbling in a heap on the floor of the cave.

Thanks to Phoenix, for her help on this chapter. ;)