Act VII, Scene 1
That night, Michael slipped into Thortex after it had closed. He snuck in through an open door when the janitor wasn't looking. He took the janitor's cart as cover, being careful to never let the guards see his face as he searched the offices.
Michael used the keys from the janitor's cart to open various doors until he found one that the janitor didn't have keys for. He pulled out his lock picks and opened it. The room was clearly not an office. There was a chair bolted to the floor, and the chair had straps to hold someone down. There was also a portable generator. But nothing else. Clearly anything that could easily be carried had been taken away.
Then Michael realized there was one other thing. In a corner was Devon's tie, carelessly tossed there. At least Michael knew Devon had been held here against his will . . . at one point.
Act VII, Scene 2
Michael returned to the garage. Kitt was beginning to look like himself again. RC and his crew had made a lot of progress, though there was still a lot more to do: sand, prime, and paint the body. Some doors would be nice, too. But Michael was pleased to see his partner looking so good so fast. He only hoped Bonnie and Melissa were making as much progress on what really made Kitt: his CPU.
RC came out of the Home Office clutching blueprints, schematics, and sketches in his hands. He spotted Michael and came over, grinning.
"Hey, Michael! What d'you think?"
"I can't believe how much progress you and your crew have made already."
A bit smugly, RC replied, "Told you these guys were the best. This may be the ghetto and there may be a lot of unemployment, but when they get to strut their stuff, look out. When they're done, well, this car's gonna do some great things."
Michael smiled at the younger man's enthusiasm. "I can't wait. Where's Marta?"
"In there," RC indicated the Home Office with a jerk of his chin, "with Bonnie and Melissa. If those two could write checks as fast as they make blueprints, no telling what this crew could do." RC paused, then said, "Just as a heads up . . ."
"What?"
RC shook his head, and his grin disappeared. "Melissa's wound pretty tight. She's sniping at Marta. And it's not gonna take much for it to get a whole lot worse, believe you me."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Good luck with that, man." RC looked at his crew. "Hey! Julio, give Chan a little room with that welder, man! You're gonna burn him to a crisp."
RC went to his crew. Michael went up the ramp and into the Home Office. Bonnie was at the computer console, typing furiously. But at least it was furious and not frantic, which he took as a good sign. Marta was watching Bonnie, fascinated. And Melissa was nearby, close enough to help Bonnie as needed but no closer to Marta than she needed to be. Even without RC's warning, he could sense the tension. He also saw how tightly Melissa was gripping her cane.
All three looked over at him as he came up the ramp. Melissa's face fell, devastated that Devon wasn't with him.
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"He wasn't there."
"What about Dr. Quinlin?" Bonnie asked
Michael shook his head. "I got in and up to the security wing on the second floor. Just like Marta said. I even found the room where they'd been keeping Devon. But no one was there."
Melissa said nothing, though the tears glittering in her eyes spoke volumes. Michael decided against mentioning what was in the room. Or the tie rolled up and stuffed in his pocket.
He walked over and hugged her tightly. "Like I said yesterday, I'm sure he's still alive. My guess is that they've got something in mind for him. Something to do with their plans for the Cernium 116."
"But we don't know where he is. And it's all her fault."
Melissa didn't look at Marta, but it was very clear who she meant. For her part, Marta flinched at the accusation. Michael knew that Marta was their only lead to finding Devon. They needed her to be cooperative.
"Not helping, Melissa," said Michael.
And Melissa snapped.
"Not helping? I'm not supposed to be helping. I'm supposed to be in Lafayette, in class. You're supposed to be off on your next assignment. With Kitt. And Uncle Devon is supposed to be dealing with the Foundation Board. But because of her, none of us are where we're supposed to be. Instead of being in classes, I'm here with Bonnie, trying to figure out how to fix Kitt. We don't have time to get him a new MBS coat. So we're designing new features to increase his speed and mobility so you two have a chance of dealing with that thing Nordstrom's created. About a 40 percent increase, in fact. And developed a new braking system to handle the higher speed. But apparently that's not helping."
Melissa pushed Michael away and went to Karr. She got behind the wheel, slamming the door behind her. Which told Michael how upset she was, that Karr would let her slam the door. Karr darkened the window, hiding Melissa from them. Michael knew she was crying. And that he wasn't welcome right now.
"I'm sorry," said Marta softly.
"No, you're not." Bonnie was not as emotional as Melissa had been but was clearly just as angry.
"Look," said Marta. "I didn't know –"
"Yes, you did. Or you should have. You couldn't possibly have believed that Hower was helping you out of kindness. He was benefiting from what you did. And you sent Devon right to him and Nordstrom."
"No one was hurt before," Marta said defensively.
Bonnie scoffed, "That you know of."
Michael frowned and said in a warning tone, "Bonnie."
"You'd better not try telling me I'm not helping."
Bonnie opened a door on a portable shelf, revealing Kitt's CPU. It was attached to a veritable spaghetti plate of wires and terminals.
"Kitt!" Michael was overjoyed, as much at getting his partner back as for the change of topic.
"We haven't had time to install preceptors." Michael and Marta looked confused, so she explained. "Kitt can't hear yet. But I can type messages to him here on the keyboard and he can talk rather than typing back."
Bonnie typed something into the keyboard.
Kitt said, "Michael, is that you?"
"Tell him I'm here and I'm fine and looking forward to having my partner back soon."
Bonnie typed in Michael's message.
"Me too, bro - sick bay ain't my style," replied Kitt, with a ghetto lilt to his voice. Michael and Bonnie exchanged confused glances. "I'm the Knight Industries Two-Thousand, sure enough. Ready to ramble, ready to roll, ready to strut my stuff!"
Marta asked, "Does he always talk like that?"
"No," said Michael a bit confused. "Not usually."
"Apparently, Karr has been sharing some . . . colloquialisms from RC and his crew, which have made their way into Kitt's speech pattern programming," Bonnie said with a smile. "I'll work on that next."
Michael nodded, somewhat reassured. Though Bonnie certainly had her work cut out for her on that front. As if to highlight the size of her work, a loud argument full of colloquialisms erupted outside between some members of RC's crew. RC was able to calm things down, with some more colloquialisms of his own.
Michael said to Marta, "Let's find someplace quieter to talk."
Act VII, Scene 3
Melissa had her head on the steering wheel, sobbing uncontrollably. Karr did what he could for her: darkening the windows to give her privacy, adjusting the temperature and her seat to make her comfortable, and playing music to calm her down. The last was the trickiest: he had to play soothing music that wouldn't remind her of her godfather. He ended up playing country-western music.
Eventually, she stopped crying. Based on his sensor readings, crying had helped more than he would have expected. She was still unhappy but nowhere near as on edge as before.
"I can't believe Michael said I wasn't helping."
"Perhaps it is more a case of not helping in the right way than not helping at all," said Karr thoughtfully. "Michael Knight and Kitt are a formidable investigative team."
"Yes, which is why I am helping Bonnie get Kitt fixed."
"Without Kitt, Michael Knight is . . . crippled. He wants – needs – to act. To go somewhere and do something. But he needs information to know where to go and what to do. Under normal circumstances, Kitt would provide him that information."
"Again, that's why I am helping Bonnie -"
"Bonnie Barstow is quite capable of making the necessary repairs on her own. What she cannot do is find the information Michael needs."
"And you can?"
"We can," Karr corrected. "I can do the necessary searches, as Kitt would do for Michael. I need you to ask the questions, as Michael would do for Kitt. To provide the insights and make the connections. Using non-linear thinking, which humans do so well."
Melissa nodded her understanding. And then got her thoughts in order to figure out what they knew and what they still needed Karr to find out for them.
Act VII, Scene 4
Michael and Marta walked along the sidewalk. They could hear the elevated subway that circled downtown Chicago as the occasional train rumbled by. It was late enough – or early enough, given the hour – that the streets were deserted. But he still kept an eye out for trouble and made sure they didn't stray too far from the garage.
They walked in silence. Companionable silence, but still silence. Michael had thought over what both Melissa and Bonnie had said. And he had to agree with them. Marta really didn't understand the consequences of her actions. He had to make her understand and then hope that she knew something without really knowing it, something that would finally lead them to Devon.
"Marta, about earlier –"
"I know, Michael, I know."
"I need you to be clear about this. Melissa and Bonnie are right." He held up his hand to forestall her apology or complaint, whichever she was going to make. "You helped Nordstrom kidnap Dr. Quinlin and Devon. You helped Nordstrom destroy Kitt and nearly kill me. And because of all that you did, Nordstrom may get his hands on a very powerful radioactive isotope for who knows what purpose."
"I know." Marta hung her head. "And you think of Devon as second father."
"Devon is also Melissa's godfather. She may never see him again."
"Oh! But . . . but . . . but . . ." Marta gathered herself together. "I've told you everything I know about what's going on. Hower or Nordstrom never told me anything other than what they wanted me to do." Marta paused, then acknowledged, "Not that I asked. Or even really wanted to know."
Michael thought for a moment. "Okay, here's what you and I are going to do. You are going to tell me everything you can remember Hower or Nordstrom saying, whether to you or to each other where you could hear. No matter how trivial. No matter how irrelevant. It doesn't even have to be in order, just as you think of things. Maybe that will help us piece things together, okay?"
Marta nodded, then began thinking, remembering. After a few minutes, she began talking. As she talked, Michael began formulating questions. They were going to figure this out. And find Devon before it was too late.
Act VII, Scene 5
Michael and Marta returned to the garage and hurried into the Home Office. Bonnie was still at the keyboard typing. Melissa was sitting next to Kitt's CPU, plugging things in and testing the connections.
"I think we have something," said Michael.
"So do we," replied Melissa.
Michael thought, and then said, "You go first."
Without looking up from her work, Melissa said, "Philip Nordstrom is an alias."
"How do you know?" asked Michael.
"I ran a background check," said Karr. "He has a complete history, but though the records go back to birth, they only started appearing a few years ago. And no photographs until less than a year ago."
"So whoever this guy is, he's has been creating a new persona. And then he got a new face before stepping into it." Michael nodded his understanding. "Any luck figuring out who he used to be?"
"Not yet. However, I have compiled a complete list of all known associates, both individuals and companies, associated with Philip Nordstrom. I am currently working to track them back to find a common thread."
"Right. Now for our information. Marta?"
"A few times, Hower told me he was meeting Nordstrom at a restaurant called The Foundry."
"Are you sure it was a restaurant? Because I've never heard of a restaurant in Chicago by that name." Michael was pleased that Melissa's voice was thoughtful rather than testy. Though she never looked at Marta.
"They were meeting at night, after Hower got off work at Thortex. What else could it be?"
"Could be a bar," Bonnie suggested.
"It is neither a restaurant nor a bar," said Karr firmly. "According to the inventory I have created, Philip Nordstrom owns an interest in a company that designs and manufactures anti-assault vehicles, called The Foundry."
"Anti-assault vehicles, eh? Guess that's where that thing that attacked us was built. Give me the address. I can borrow RC's convertible."
Melissa shook her head, finally looking up but only at Michael. "Karr will take you. He still has an MBS coating. And he can call us if you run into trouble."
"But –"
Bonnie reassured him, too. "Kitt and I are communicating. I type and he talks."
"And I'm almost done connecting the preceptors to his CPU. Should be done any minute, in fact."
"Programming's almost finished, too. So the next time you talk with Kitt, he'll be back to his usual self. Vocabulary wise, anyway."
Karr opened the driver's side door. Michael knew when he was outgunned. He got in and they quickly left. Bonnie and Melissa got back to work. Marta sat down, trying to stay out of the way.
Act VII, Scene 6
At The Foundry, the Juggernaut was ready, complete with a new contact detonating tip as Nordstrom had demanded. Hower forced Devon into the vehicle at gunpoint. Nordstrom finalized the plans with Dr. Von Furst, who was to take Dr. Quinlin to a plane and wait. Although Dr. Von Furst offered to sedate Dr. Quinlin, to make it easier, Nordstrom was concerned that he might have an adverse reaction to the drugs. And Dr. Quinlin's value was his knowledge about nuclear physics. It would make the Cernium 116 that much more valuable.
Nordstrom kissed Dr. Von Furst and then got into the Juggernaut with Hower and Devon. They then drove through a wall into an unused tunnel in the underground subway system.
Act VII, Scene 7
Karr plotted the fastest course to The Foundry. When they arrived, Michael leapt out almost before Karr had come to a complete stop. He headed for the building, using all the cover he could find. Silently, he opened the door and went in.
Like the room at Thortex the previous night, the place was empty. No Juggernaut, no Hower, no Nordstrom, and – most importantly to Michael – no Devon.
Unlike the room at Thortex the previous night, there was someone. One of the technicians who had worked on the Juggernaut was closing up. He turned off the lights and walked out the door. Michael grabbed him, slammed him up against a wall.
Michael had a single question for the technician: Where had Philip Nordstrom taken Devon Miles?
Act VII, Scene 8
Karr called the Home Office. Michael explained to everyone what he had learned: Nordstrom was going to use the Juggernaut to break into the vault to steal the Cernium 116, using the old subway tunnels. And Nordstrom had Devon with him, alive.
Michael told Bonnie and Melissa that he needed Kitt ready to go by the time he and Karr returned to the garage. Karr had an MBS coating, but that wasn't going to be enough to face off against the Juggernaut. He needed Kitt, with all the features Bonnie and Melissa had given him in place of the MBS.
Bonnie let him know, in no uncertain terms, how unreasonable his request was. Kitt was barely at 50 percent, even with all the new features she and Melissa had added. Michael pointed out they didn't have a choice, and 50 percent of Kitt was still better than nothing. While they were arguing, Melissa gave RC and his crew the heads up. It was, as Michael said, Devon's only chance.
Act VII, Scene 9
RC told his crew they had 15 minutes to get the Trans-Am ready. They protested, but RC ignored them with a smile. Melissa went back inside the Home Office, to help Bonnie get Kitt's CPU ready.
RC looked at the dashboard, at a button simply labeled "C". It was not something either Bonnie or Melissa had designed. He would have to ask Karr to pass a message along to Kitt. And hope that Kitt was willing to play along. RC really wanted the reveal to be a complete surprise, and to happen at the right moment.