Team Knight Rider - Season Two

Chapter Eight: Impossible Target

Dante reached the corner and made a sharp turn, causing his wheels to skid and slide as they rounded the corner. As soon as the gray Ford Expedition stopped skidding its tires grabbed hold of the pavement and started forward with a screech. In quick succession Domino, Beast and the combo car consisting of Kat and Plato followed en suite. The four vehicles raced along the semi-busy street, intent on catching up to their target.

"Do you have them yet, Dante?" Kyle asked.

"I can’t get a lock on them, Kyle," Dante responded, "There’s too much traffic."

The two vehicles they were chasing were both vans, and both contained stolen high-tech computer software that was intended to go to FLAG. Team Knight Rider had been after them for the past three days and had caught up to them just as they were attempting to escape with the equipment. Unfortunately it was rush hour and traffic was heavy.

Just then one of the vans veered off the busy street onto a connecting one. The other one stayed on course.

"They’re splitting up," Kyle announced to the others, "Duke, you stay on this one. Trek, Erica, you too. Jenny and I will take the leader."

"Why can’t I get teamed up with Jenny more often?" Beast complained.

Sitting in Beast’s cab, Duke just shook his head at his truck.

Dante and Domino veered off the street, going after the escaping van while Duke and the others stayed with the other one.

"This traffic’s starting to get pretty thick, Duke," Beast told him, "Pretty soon we’ll have to drive over all these people just to get to the van."

"We’re not driving over anyone," Duke told him firmly.

"You never want to have any fun," Beast accused.

"Kat and Plato can get through this traffic no problem," Trek spoke up.

"Fine," Duke said, "Go after them."

"Why’d you have to open your big mouth?" Erica told Trek.

Trek just smiled.

"Prepare for separation!" Plato announced.

"You always have to be so melodramatic, Plato," Kat told him.

The HSPV sped up towards the back of a large moving van and was about to collide with it when the two motorcycles suddenly separated and drove around it on either side. From there they easily weaved through the traffic to reach the van.

"Lucky suckers," Beast mumbled.

Kat and Plato drove close to the van, just as one of them men inside stuck his head out the window and started shooting at them.

"Watch out!" Kat exclaimed.

"I see him!" Erica said, swerving out of the way of the bullets.

"We have to stop them before they hit someone," Trek told her.

"Duh!" Erica responded.

"Plato," Trek said, "target their back tires."

"You too, Kat," Erica said.

"It would help if you said please," Kat told her driver.

Erica rolled her eyes.

"Please?" she said insincerely.

Kat and Plato moved behind the van, trying to keep out of range of the gunman while getting a lock on the van’s a tires.

"We have a lock, Erica," Kat reported.

"Fire!" Trek commanded.

"Bombs away!" Plato announced.

Kat and Plato fired their missiles, each hitting their targets. The van’s tires exploded and the van started screeching and swerving out of control. The driver of the van hit the brakes hard, causing the van to do a pirouette in the middle of the street. It finally broad-sided a telephone pole and stopped with a loud crash. Trek and Erica drove up to the disabled van and stopped, climbing out. Beast drove up a few seconds later.

"Be careful," Kat warned them, "They’re still armed."

One of the men crawled out of the driver’s side door, blood streaking down one side of his face. He dropped to the ground on his hands and knees. Another slowly got out of the passenger door, hunched over with his back to them. Trek and Erica moved to approach. The man then suddenly turned around and aimed the revolver at them. Trek and Erica stopped in their tracks and raised their hands.

"You really don’t want to do that," Erica told him.

The man smiled smugly, just as Duke, who had been sneaking up behind him, grabbed his shoulder and jerked him around. As soon as he saw the man’s surprised face, Duke drew back his fist and punched his lights out. The man fell to the ground, unconscious. The gun fell to the pavement. Duke kicked it away.

"Good goin’, Dukie," Trek told him, smiling.

"Even Duke got to have some fun," Beast complained, feeling felt out.

"If it helps, I didn’t enjoy it," Duke told him.

"Nice try, Duke."

* * *

Meanwhile Kyle and Jenny went after the other van, containing the thieves’ boss. This street was a bit less busy, but still with too many other vehicles to do anything drastic.

"Jenny," Kyle told her, "See if you can get ahead of him."

"Got it," Jenny said.

Jenny steered Domino into the other lane and sped up. She tried to pass the van, but a bronco truck was blocking her path.

"Out of my way, tough guy," Domino spoke up.

Jenny honked the horn. The driver of the truck stuck his hand out the window and raised a finger.

"Now that was uncalled for," Domino said, insulted, "No one insults my girl like that. Are you going to put up with that, Kyle?"

Inside Dante, Kyle smiled and shook his head.

"Let’s get this guy out of the way," Jenny told her car.

Domino activated her laser and struck one of the truck’s back tires, causing it to go flat. The driver of the truck slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road, glaring at Jenny as she and Domino whipped by. Jenny shot him a smug grin. She then steered Domino in front of the speeding van.

"Now don’t slow down too fast," Domino warned her driver, "I dent very easily."

"Don’t worry, Domino," Jenny assured her, "You won’t get a scratch."

"I’m glad you’re optimistic," Domino said.

Jenny lifted her foot off the gas pedal and pushed gently down on the brakes. As she slowed, the driver of the van had no choice but to slow down too. Behind them, Dante came up close, boxing them in. Jenny pushed down on the brakes harder, and the driver of the van did the same. Soon they were going much slower. The driver tried to get into another lane, but they were all full of other cars.

"OK," Jenny said, "This is it."

She slammed down on the brakes, and Domino slowed down to a stop. The van screeched as it tried to stop. The van slid along the pavement and came about three inches away from Domino’s rear bumper before jerking to a stop.

"See?" Jenny told her car, "Not even a scratch."

"That was too close for comfort," Domino said.

Both Jenny and Kyle got out of their vehicles and ran to the van. The driver and passenger started to get out and run away, but both Kyle and Jenny intercepted them. Kyle grabbed the driver, who jerked around and made a jab at Kyle’s face. Kyle ducked the fist and countered with one of his own. The man fell back against Domino’s bumper. Kyle grabbed him and made him sprawl over the back.

Jenny took care of the passenger, who resisted just like the driver. He lunged at Jenny, but Jenny side-stepped out of the way and tripped him, causing the man to fall on his back. The man gasped, then scrambled to get back on his feet. Before he could attack her again, Jenny punched him in the face, sending him reeling backwards into the side of the van. She then roughly turned him around and shoved him against the van, holding his hand behind his back. She turned to Kyle, who looked back at her and nodded.

* * *

Later the TKR members all gathered around the two vans, both of which had their rear doors open. They peered in to see all the equipment the thieves had stolen. The police were presently leading the four thieves to squad cars. Arrangements were also made to transport the stolen goods back to FLAG.

"I’m glad we got these guys," Trek commented, "There’s some chips in here I was hoping to play around with."

"That’s if FLAG decides to give us any," Duke said.

"They will," Trek said assuredly, "We’re Team Knight Rider."

Kyle uncrossed his arms and headed back to Dante. The others followed shortly.

"Looks like Mobius won’t be getting his Christmas present this year," Duke commented.

Kyle nodded.

"I just wish we could track him down instead of just going after his hirelings," Kyle said.

"Don’t even dare to feel good, Kyle," Dante told him.

Kyle shook his head.

"I’m just tired of going after small fry," he said.

"And I’m tired of all this rush hour traffic," Beast spoke up, "Trek, why don’t you invent something so we can just fly over all the cars?"

Trek grinned.

"Actually," he said, "I do have some ideas for some possible hover-mode alterations."

Erica rolled her eyes.

"Trust Trek to be inventing something in his head," she said.

"Sounds like a pipe dream to me," Duke said.

"Actually," Dante spoke up, "The idea of hover capabilities is feasible."

Kyle grinned and was turning to get inside Dante when something caught his eye. As car had parked on the curb a short distance from them and a young blonde woman climbed out. She was wearing a black business suit and dark sunglasses. Kyle thought he recognized her and he squinted. She saw him and walked towards him purposefully, reaching up to remove her sunglasses. Kyle’s face instantly fell in surprise as he recognized her.

"Kyle Stewart?" the woman said, coming up to him. The other TKR noticed her ad went to surround Kyle.

"Isn’t that James’ partner?" Jenny asked.

Kyle nodded and stared at her as she stopped only a couple feet away.

"My name’s Annie Wills," she told them, "I work as an agent for the FBI."

The others stared at her in surprise.

Annie looked at them all with a severe expression on her face.

"I have some information for you about James," she told them.

* * *

"A year ago, another agent and I were assigned to spy on a man named Paul Bridges," Annie was telling them in the situation room aboard SkyOne an hour later, "He was a high-tech weapons smuggler. We managed to get in under cover and start working for him, meanwhile gathering all the information we could.’

Annie paused, clasping her hands in front of her. She sat in Kyle’s chair. Kyle stood just beside her, arms crossed, looking down at her. They were all listening aptly, as were the vehicles.

"Shortly after that, James arrived and started working for Bridges," Annie told them, "That’s when we first met. The FBI had never even heard of him before. James and I worked together a lot while we were with Bridges, and somehow we became friends. He was very nice and friendly. Then, after about a month, James came to me and asked me to be his partner and to work with him from then on. I wasn’t sure what to do. We still had to take down Bridges, but we didn’t have enough information on him yet. Not to mention that James was still an enigma. I contacted my superiors, and they decided that I should stay with James since he seemed to be even bigger than Bridges himself. So I accepted James’ offer."

Annie took in a deep breath.

"That night James came to me and told me to leave with him," she told them, "He wanted to abandon Bridges and move on. I was obviously reluctant since my partner and I were still trying to take down Bridges. But James was very insistent. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. I managed to contact my partner to tell him what was going on. He told me to stay with James and that he could handle Bridges on his own. So James and I snuck away."

"The very next day, when James and I were long gone, the FBI was anonymously transmitted computer files that belonged to Bridges," she informed them, "They contained detailed information on Bridges’ operation. Someone had somehow stolen it and sent it to us. Bridges was caught and put away that same day. His whole operation was uncovered and shut down. Millions of dollars in military weaponry were recovered, as well as the names of Bridges’ buyers."

"So basically Bridges’ was toast," Duke said.

"Who sent the files?" Trek asked.

Annie shook her head.

"No one knows," Annie told them, "He left the name Helper, but that was it."

Kyle and Jenny exchanged glances, then turned back to Annie, who was not looking very happy.

"Anyway," she said, "I stayed with James to spy on him, not only to find out his involvement in Bridges’ operation but in other illegal activities as well. But I found out that the longer I was with him, the less solid information I really had on him. Though he had been involved in many crimes, I never actually saw him in the act. Even with Vasquez’ missile, there was never any hard evidence linking him to any real criminal activity except for Vasquez’ testimony, and that wasn’t enough."

"Besides when he held that gun on Kyle," Duke spoke up.

Annie continued, "We needed more proof to really come down on him. But James seems to be very talented at hiding his activities, even from me."

"So what’s up with this guy?" Beast asked.

"We think James Arthur is his real name," Annie told them, "But we’re not sure. His name only popped up a year ago. There are no files we could find in any data base on him."

"So what do you want from us?" Kyle asked.

Annie hesitated.

"Look," she said, "I know that deep down, James isn’t really a bad guy."

"Boy, does he have you conned," Erica told her.

Annie looked at her, disturbed.

"I think this time Erica’s right," Kyle said.

"This time?" Erica objected.

Kyle only gave her a short glance before turning back to Annie.

"He obviously has you believing he’s not a bad guy," Kyle told her, "I’m sure if you saw what he was really up to, you’d think otherwise."

Annie shook her head stubbornly.

"I know him," she told them, "He’s not like that."

"From the looks of that rock on your finger, I’d say he had you hooked, Hon," Domino spoke up.

They all looked at Annie’s hand. Her ring finger was sporting an expensive diamond engagement ring. Annie glanced at it with some embarrassment and started toying with it.

"He asked me to marry him," she admitted almost guiltily.

"And you said yes?" Jenny asked in disbelief.

Annie nodded.

"Look," she told them, "I just don’t want to spy on him anymore. I can’t do it. Besides, he’s way out of my league. I realize that now. I talked to my supervisors, and they agreed that we should team up since you’ve dealt with him before."

She looked around the room at all of them.

"I need your help," she told them.

"You want us to help you catch your fiancé?" Dante asked her, "Oh, this is too much."

Annie ignored him.

"He’s planning something," she told them, "Something big. I need you to handle the mission since I can’t."

Kyle uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips.

"OK," he told her, "We’ll do it. Only because I want to see James behind bars for good. But only on the condition that we do this my way."

Annie looked up at him.

"OK," she told him, then added, "But promise that you won’t hurt him."

Kyle shook his head and leaned his hands against the console, looking down on her with a grim expression on his face.

"I understand how you may feel," he told her, "But I think there are some things you don’t understand. Two years ago, James was at least partly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Maybe you remember the Quad-Missile Incident. He admitted it right to my face. So I’m sure you’ll understand that I have to do whatever it takes to keep James from hurting any more people, even if it means hurting him."

Annie looked up at him in shock, then stared down at her hands, shaking her head.

"I didn’t know," she admitted to them, "He never told me."

"There’s a shocker," Erica said.

Annie was quiet for a moment before nodding. She looked back up at them, her face set in determination.

"OK," she said, "I’ll do what it takes to help you catch him. I don’t want anyone else hurt either."

Kyle nodded, satisfied. He straightened up again.

"So what is he up to now?" he asked her.

Annie sat up straight and began telling them all she knew.

"He’s working with a man named Vincent Olivier," she told them, "Olivier is originally from Europe. He came to the US 5 years ago to set up his operation."

"What does he do?" Erica asked.

Kyle spoke up.

"He likes to blow things up," Kyle told them, "I remember hearing about him. His specialty is homemade bombs dressed to kill. FLAG suspects he was involved in the Quad-Missile Bombing, like James. But there was never any proof tying him to it."

"So maybe James and Olivier are old acquaintances who decided to work together again," Duke suggested.

Kyle nodded and turned back to Annie.

"What are they up to?" he asked.

"They’re planning on blowing up a very important building in Washington, DC," she told them, "We’re not sure which one exactly, but we’re pretty sure it’s CIA headquarters."

Kyle frowned.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "That’s a pretty tough target, even for Olivier."

"Sounds pretty impressive," Duke commented.

"James and Olivier are a mean team," Annie told them, "If anyone can do it, they can."

Kyle finally nodded.

"OK," he said, "We’ll go to Washington and check it out."

He turned back to Annie.

"Any idea when they plan on striking?" he asked.

Annie nodded.

"James mentioned that his work would be done by tomorrow night," she told him.

"That means we only have at least 28 hours," Trek calculated.

Kyle nodded.

"It means we have to hurry," he said.

"What are you supposed to be doing?" Jenny asked Annie.

"James told me he’d handle the mission on his own," Annie said, "I’m supposed to be staying back at our hotel in LA."

Kyle activated the communications console.

"JP," he addressed the SkyOne pilot, "take us to Washington."

"Yes sir," JP Wyatt replied dutifully.

* * *

Hours later they were landing at Washington. Kyle and the others were in the garage with the vehicles, along with Annie.

"CIA headquarters has already been made aware of James and Olivier," Kyle was telling them, "Director Storm is tightening security. Beast, Duke, I need you two to keep tabs on hotels and airlines for James and Olivier. Make sure to watch out for possible aliases."

"We’ll get right on it, Kyle," Domino replied.

"The police are checking every package coming into the city," Jenny told Kyle, "Nothing containing any type of weapon or bomb supplies will be getting in through conventional methods."

"That leaves unconventional methods," Trek spoke up.

"Dante, Kat," Kyle told the other two vehicles, "Try to search for any possible hideouts in the general vicinity of the CIA building."

"Try?" Dante asked him, "Kyle, you wound me."

Kyle ignored him.

"Trek and Plato, you two try to figure out a way James and Olivier could possibly pull off their plan."

"Looks like it’s back to the drawing board, Plato," Trek told his cycle.

"Think, man, think!" Plato replied.

"Jenny, Domino and I will drive over to the CIA building and talk to Director Storm," Kyle finished.

Erica frowned.

"What about me?" she asked.

Kyle turned to her.

"You and Annie will dig up all you can on James and Olivier," he told her.

Erica threw her hands up.

"I always get the lame assignments," she complained.

Kyle and Jenny exchanged smiles.

* * *

The wind whipped through Jenny’s loose dark hair as she drove the sexy sports car along the highway. She wore a black skirt and a tight red top, accenting her slim, athletic figure. Kyle sat beside her in the passenger seat wearing a navy suit and tie. He had one arm resting casually on the door frame and was squinting his eyes at both the sun and the wind.

They pulled up to the CIA building minutes later. Jenny put Domino in park, then she and Kyle climbed out and together entered the building. They were immediately led up to the 24th floor to the office of the director. Kyle knocked on the door once they reached the office with the name plate "Director Frank Storm".

"Come in, Stewart!" the man inside beckoned.

Kyle opened the door and allowed Jenny to enter first. The office inside was of medium size, with a simple darkly stained desk sitting on top of thin gray carpet. The man sitting behind the desk was in his late forties and wore a black suit and tie. His hair was short and black, and his face was dark and bore a frown. He looked up at them as they entered, then stood to shake their hands.

"Good to see you again, Stewart," Storm told him.

Kyle nodded.

"You too, sir," he replied, then motioned to Jenny, "This is Jenny Andrews."

"Miss Andrews," Frank nodded to her.

"Sir," Jenny replied, nodding back.

"Please," Storm told them, "take a seat."

They all sat down. Storm folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward, regarding them severely.

"I wish our reunion would have been under better circumstances," Storm told Kyle.

"So do I," Kyle said, "Have there been any signs of James or Olivier?"

Storm shook his head.

"Not even a whiff," he told them, "I’ve had all of my available men scouting the building and the surrounding area for both men, but so far we’ve turned up nothing. We do, however, have some recent Intel about Olivier’s plans. Seems he told one of his buddies he was planning on blowing up this building."

"So this is his target," Jenny confirmed.

Storm nodded.

"It would seem so," he agreed, "though I can’t see him getting away with it. It’s no surprise, however. Olivier’s made it clear he has no love for the CIA ever since we prevented his bombing of the Everton-Tech building back in ’95. But so far there are no signs of a bomb in the building. We’ve searched through it once already, and my men are looking again as we speak. Any and all people coming in are checked thoroughly. We have round-the-clock surveillance on all entrances, even windows and air ducts."

"Sounds like you have it covered," Kyle commented.

Storm nodded.

"If those two do try to get a bomb in here," Storm said with full determination, "it will be their last mistake."

Kyle and Jenny left shortly after since there was little else they could do at the CIA HQ. Storm promised to inform them immediately of any change in status. So Jenny and Kyle climbed back into Domino and drove back to SkyOne to check up on the others.

* * *

"Did you and Plato come up with something, Trek?" Kyle asked the boy-genius in the garage later.

Trek turned to Kyle and Jenny and shook his head.

"Ever since the CIA was warned about the possible bombing," Trek told them, "There is absolutely no way anyone could get in with a bomb."

"Are you sure?" Jenny asked as Annie and Erica walked up to them.

Trek nodded.

"No way conceivable," Trek said, "Unless of course he turned himself invisible."

"Women want him for his wit. The CIA want him for his body. All Nick wants is his molecules back," Plato intoned.1

"I’m sure that James and Olivier will find a way," Annie spoke up.

Kyle nodded in agreement.

"Annie’s right," he said, "James and Olivier must have known what they were up against. They wouldn’t target the building unless they were sure they could so it successfully."

Kyle turned to Beast and Duke, who were both close-by.

"Duke, Beast, any luck?" he asked.

"We got nothin’, Kyle," Beast reported.

Duke shook his head.

"Unless James and Olivier used radically different names," Duke said, "They never got here by plane or train."

"Dante? Kat?" Kyle asked.

"Dante and I found 30 possible hide-outs," Kat informed him, "I found most of them. Dante is cross-checking them right now."

"Kyle," Dante said, "I’ve narrowed the list down to four possible locations."

Kyle nodded.

"We’ll split up," he decided, "Jenny, Duke and I will each take one. Trek, Erica, you take the last."

* * *

Duke and Beast drove up to the old shoe factory and parked in the back inside an alley. Duke glanced up at the rotting wooden window panes, most of which were empty. There was also graffiti all over the brick wall. Inside the windows, the interior was pitch-black. Duke looked at the building with distaste.

"Looks eerie," he commented.

"Getting goosebumps, Duke?" Beast teased.

"Just run a scan of the place, Beast," Duke told him.

"Fine," Beast said.

Moments later Beast spoke up again.

"Duke," he said, "I have four people inside. All of them are carrying weapons. Also, I’ve detected a motion sensor by the rear entrance."

"Looks like they don’t want anybody visiting unexpectedly," Duke remarked.

Duke then lifted his wrist-com to speak.

"Kyle," he said, "I think I found the right place."

"All right, Duke," Kyle responded, his miniaturized head appearing on the face of Duke’s watch, "be careful. The others and I will be there soon."

"OK, Kyle," Duke said. Kyle’s face then disappeared. Duke turned his attention back to the building.

"Well, we can’t sneak in," Duke said aloud.

"Come on, Duke," Beast pleaded, "Let’s just break through the wall. I’m itching to get my tires dirty."

Duke thought for a moment before responding.

"OK, Beast," he assented, "We’ll do it your way."

"Finally!" Beast said with excitement in his gruff voice, "Hold on tight!"

Duke prepared for the impact as he’d done many times before. It wasn’t the first time Beast crashed through a wall. Duke’s body tensed as Beast’s grill met with the brick wall and smashed through. Fallen bricks toppled onto Beast’s windshield, causing a large crack in the glass. Fortunately it didn’t break.

The four men inside the shoe factory jumped at the sudden appearance of a black Ford F-150 only twenty feet away from them. All the men looked in shock at the truck. They had been seated around a small square table, playing cards. Now the cards were scattered about on the floor as the men jumped to their feet. Each of them soon recovered and grabbed their high-powered rifles from the floor. They then began shooting at the truck.

"Can I take these guys out?" Beast asked plaintively.

"Be my guest," Duke told him, "I’m not getting out."

Beast targeted his laser at the nearest man’s rifle and fired. Within seconds the laser heated up the weapon so hot the man had to drop it quickly to the floor to keep from getting burnt. Beast did the same to the others. He then used knock-out darts to take out three of the four goons, leaving the last one to run scrambling for one of the heavy crates stacked in a corner.

"You’ll have to get this guy, Duke," Beast told him, "I only have three darts."

"No problem," Duke said, hopping out.

He ran over to the last man who was trying to pry open a crate with his sore hands. Duke tapped him politely on the shoulder. As soon as the man turned around, Duke rewarded him with a roundhouse right to the mouth. The man toppled back against the crate and sprawled over it. Duke grabbed him and dragged him to where the others were.

"Nice work, Beast," he told his truck.

"Forget it," Beast said, "That was fun."

Duke smiled.

He waited until the others arrived before opening any of the crates. The four men had by then revived but were tied up with some rope from Beast’s cab compartment. Kyle and the others walked inside and joined Duke and the four bad guys.

"They Olivier’s men?" Kyle asked.

Duke looked down at them and nodded.

"I managed to convince them to tell me what they knew," he said, "Seems Olivier hired them to guard these crates until he came to pick them up. They don’t know where he is though."

"Is that all?" Kyle asked.

Duke nodded.

"’Fraid so."

Kyle and the others then walked over to the crates. Duke grabbed a nearby crowbar and opened up the nearest crate. As soon as the plank was off they all gathered around to look at the contents.

"What is this?" Kyle asked in confusion, "Cherry bombs, dynamite, fireworks!?"

"This is all low-tech explosive equipment," Trek noticed, "No way you could blow up a single room with this stuff, let alone an entire building."

"That doesn’t make sense," Jenny said, "Why would Olivier want this stuff?"

"Maybe he’s planning on throwing a really extravagant party?" Erica suggested.

Kyle shook his head.

"This must be a decoy," he told them, "A fake hideout to lead us away from the real one."

"That means we must be close," Jenny said, "They know we’re on to them."

Kyle nodded.

* * *

A CIA team came to take away the four goons for questioning. TKR then drove back to SkyOne. All the way there, Kyle couldn’t help but feel something nagging at him. By the time they parked their vehicles in the SkyOne garage, Kyle decided on a different approach.

"Dante," he told him, "I want you to broaden your search. Try to locate any possible buildings James and Olivier could be at. Check leases dating back up to six months."

"You think they’ve been planning this for a long time?" Jenny asked him.

Kyle nodded.

"My guess is they set this all in motion a long time ago," he said, "A job this big isn’t wrought overnight."

Dante had the information for them only a few minutes later.

"I have it, Kyle," he spoke up, "An apartment building was sold seven weeks ago to a man named Mr. J. Arthur. It hasn’t been rented out since. And it’s only four blocks from the CIA building."

Kyle nodded, satisfied.

"That’s it," he said, motioning to the others, "Let’s go."

* * *

It was late evening by the time TKR parked in front of the dilapidated apartment building. They could see the roof of the CIA building in the distance. Kyle and the others, all in uniform, got out of their vehicles and gathered in front of Dante, looking up at the building.

"Dante," Kyle told him, "Have you scanned the place?"

"Yes," Dante said, "But my sensors pick up no people inside. However, there is a small magnetic field around the entrance."

"It’s probably some sort of security system," Trek guessed.

"See if you can bypass it," Kyle told him.

Trek went over to the door and inspected the locking mechanism. It was attached by a thin wire to a small black box nailed to the side of the door. A red light on the box was blinking at them.

"It looks homemade," Trek observed.

Using a tool Trek took from his pocket, Trek carefully opened up the box. As the others watched, Trek fiddled with it a bit and finally cut each of the wires, one at a time. As soon as he cut the last one, the little red light blinked off.

"No sweat," he told them, opening the door with ease.

Kyle slid past Trek and entered first. The interior was dark. The others followed him in.

"Doesn’t this place have any light switches?" Erica asked.

She took a step forward and bumped right into Duke. Moments later the lights came on. Trek stood next to the light switch and grinned at them.

"Let there be light!" Plato exclaimed.

They all looked around warily, careful for a trap. Kyle searched the ground floor while the others checked the two floors above. They all met by the bottom of the staircase in the foyer empty-handed.

"The place is empty, Kyle," Duke told him.

"Yeah, except for some really tacky furniture," Erica added.

"They have to be here," Kyle said, puzzled.

"Have you checked the basement?" Kat asked them.

Kyle frowned.

"There’s a basement?" he asked.

"I found the schematics of the building," she told them, "It reveals there’s a basement."

"That’s strange," Kyle remarked, "I didn’t find an entrance leading down. Is there access from the outside?"

"Sorry, Kyle," Beast said, "The only entrance to the building besides the fire escape is the door you guys went in through. There’s no door to the basement."

"Why would there be a basement with no entrance?" Erica wondered.

"There has to be one around here somewhere," Kyle said, "We just have to look harder."

Just then Jenny started staring at the staircase.

"That’s funny," she said out loud.

They all turned to her.

"What?" Kyle asked.

Jenny went over to the stairs and inspected the railing.

"The first six steps look brand new," she observed, "But the rest are all old and rotting. Not to mention the sixth step is twice as long as the others."

"Are you thinking secret entrance under the stairs?" Trek asked her with a grin.

"Wes Craven’s The People Under The Stairs!" Plato remarked.

Kyle went over to the stairs and ran his hands over the wooden edges. He made his way around to the front and knelt so he could feel under the lip of the bottom stair. A second later he found something. With a dull click the staircase suddenly gave way. The first six steps lifted up to reveal a staircase leading down. Trek smiled, nodding.

"Cool," he said.

Erica clapped him on the head.

Kyle stepped down the stairs slowly, listening. The others followed him. At the bottom of the stairs they could see that the basement was well-lit. As soon as Kyle reached the bottom, he saw a stack of crates and ducked behind him. The others crowded around him and they all peered over to the rest of the room.

There was much activity in the basement. Six men with rifles slung over their shoulders were moving small crates and stacking them onto a dolly. They also saw Olivier himself, supervising them. He was a tall, wiry man with curly dark hair, as well as a thin moustache and pointy beard. He gave orders to the men in accented English. He sounded a lot like Dante.

"Chop chop, fellows," Olivier told them, "We only have little time before the fireworks start tomorrow."

There was a muted ringing noise just then. Olivier reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"Yes?" he asked, "…They found the decoys already? No matter…. Will we still be able to meet the 6:25 deadline tomorrow evening?…Fantastic!"

Olivier hung up and pocketed his phone, looking very pleased with himself.

"Listen up, gentlemen!" he addressed his men, "Load up the crates and prepare to move out. We’ll be moving to the next hideout in twenty minutes!"

The men quickened their pace. Olivier took a cigar out of his pocket and began smoking it as he watched with satisfaction.

"We have to figure out a way to take them out before they can use those guns," Duke said.

Kyle nodded, his eyes roaming around the room.

"We have to distract them somehow," Jenny said, "Get the drop on them."

"Olivier looks like he’s a bit overly confident in himself," Erica noticed as she watched the Englishman puffing on his cigar.

"Doesn’t he know tobacco will kill him?" Trek asked, grinning.

Erica gave him a look.

Kyle glanced again at Olivier.

"I wonder where his partner is," Kyle wondered aloud.

"I’m right here, Kyle."

Kyle closed his eyes in annoyance. They all turned to see James standing right behind them pointing a gun. He wore a very amused, smug smile on his handsome face. The TKR team all raised their hands.

"I’m impressed," James told them, "I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to see you all here so soon," James told them, "But then again, Kyle, you always were good."

Kyle just glared at him.

Olivier then finally noticed them. He motioned to his men, and the seven of them all converged on the team. Olivier went to stand next to James. His smug look matched the one on his young counterpart’s face.

"Well, well," he remarked, "It appears we have visitors. Judging from the uniforms, my guess would be Team Knight Rider. Am I correct?"

The TKR just glared at their two captors. Olivier chuckled.

"Tie them up!" he commanded his men.

Minutes later the TKR team was sitting on one of the large crates, tied up so that they couldn’t move. James had put his gun away and was leaning against a table, toying with a set of keys. Olivier was still puffing and pacing around the bound team, looking at them with arrogance.

"So," Kyle said to him, "You finally decided to exact revenge on the CIA?"

Olivier laughed.

"Revenge is a distasteful motive," Olivier told them, "I do not participate in it."

"So why blow up the CIA building?" Duke asked, "Did you decide you needed a challenge?"

Olivier shook his head.

"Actually," he admitted, "This whole project was not my idea."

They all exchanged glances.

"You mean someone hired you to do this?" Jenny asked.

Olivier smiled.

"You are very quick, my dear," he told her.

"So who was it?" Kyle asked, "Mobius?"

Olivier frowned. James glanced up at them.

"Actually, no," Olivier told them, "My employer calls himself Chaser."

"Him again?" Erica said.

"Why does he want to blow up the CIA building?" Trek asked curiously.

Olivier grinned mysteriously.

"Actually, I cannot answer that," he told them, "But, I can tell you one thing. Chaser was very interested in capturing a certain group of FLAG agents he knew would try to interfere."

Kyle frowned.

"He wants us?" he asked.

"Actually," Olivier amended himself, "He only wants four of you."

Olivier gave them an evil look. Kyle and the others then caught on with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety.

"What do you mean, only four of us?" Jenny asked.

"You mean you’re gonna let one of us go, right?" Erica asked optimistically.

Olivier’s grin grew positively malicious.

"Oh, one of you will be leaving, all right," he told them, "But not alive. You see, Chaser asked me to do him a favor. He told me that if I did end up catching you, then I was permitted to kill one of you."

The team all took on pensive looks, Kyle more because he was worried for the others.

"And did he specify which one he wanted you to kill?" Kyle asked.

"As a matter of fact, he did," Oliver admitted.

James glanced at Olivier momentarily, then turned to look at Kyle. His face was unreadable.

"So which one is it?" Trek asked.

Olivier looked at them all in turn. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. He then proceeded to circle TKR like a vulture, pointing his gun to the head at each team member he passed. They all returned his gaze bravely as he circled them. Each of them was tense. Kyle glared at Olivier as the evil bomber walked past him. Olivier cocked the trigger.

"Vincent," James spoke up just then, "come on. This isn’t the time or place. We have a deadline to meet."

Olivier glanced at James once, then back at the others. He and Kyle made eye contact. Olivier then shrugged and lowered his gun.

"Very well," Olivier consented, "You are right James."

He turned to the team and grinned evilly.

"We’ll have to continue this game later," he told them.

Olivier then turned and addressed his men.

"Gentlemen!" he commanded them, "Load our guests into the van!"

The team was roughly dragged to their feet and led away by five of the six men. They were led deeper into the basement until to their surprise they came to two vans that were parked inside. On the far wall was the entrance to a tunnel.

"It leads to a garage half a block down," James informed them proudly, "This way we won’t have to worry about your gas-guzzling buddies upstairs."

"How did you manage to get past them in the first place?" Trek asked him.

James gave them a grin.

"If you’ll remember," James told them, "all I had to do was use the manual override codes."

Trek frowned and looked at Kyle. James chuckled.

"Poor Beast," he laughed, "He was pretty upset. He threatened to cover my face with tire marks."

"I’ll help him," Duke threatened.

James just laughed as the five TKR members were shoved one-by-one into one of the vans. They were crammed in along with a bunch of square crates. As soon as they were loaded, the doors were closed. Minutes later the engine started, and they could feel themselves moving.

As the goons drove the van carrying Olivier’s supplies, Kyle wriggled his hands, trying to work himself out of his bonds. He could see the others doing the same. After a few minutes Kyle managed to work one of the ropes loose, and within seconds he had his hands totally free. He then got up and moved over to Jenny to untie her, but just as she did she pulled her hands out from behind her back. She had managed to untie herself too. She smiled at him. He gave her a look, then moved to untie Duke while Jenny helped the others.

"Dante," Kyle said using his com-link, "We need your help."

"We’re on our way, Kyle," Dante informed him, "James came and used our own override codes on us, so we couldn’t do anything." He sounded annoyed.

"I know," Kyle said, "How far away are you?"

"We have you in our sights now," Dante said, "It took us a few moments to figure out about the hidden tunnel. We’ve been following you ever since."

"Good," Kyle said, "See what you can do to stop the van."

* * *

Outside, Dante led the other unmanned cars as they followed the van carrying their drivers.

"Beast," Dante asked him, "Can you fire one of your missiles at the van’s tires so that it will stop without causing very much damage?"

"Dante," Beast told him, "Are you asking me if I can blow something up?"

"He’s asking you to blow something up but not hurt Kyle and the others," Domino told him.

"And you think I can’t do it?" Beast accused.

Dante sighed soundly.

"Please just fire the missile already?" he pleaded.

"All you had to do was ask," Beast said.

A missile shot out of Beast’s missile launcher and flew towards the van. The driver saw this, however, and swerved to avoid it. The missile hit the pavement instead, causing an explosion. The four vehicles detoured around the destroyed part of the road.

"Dante," Kyle’s voice came over com-link, "What was that?"

"Uh, nothing Kyle," Dante lied, "We’ll have you out in a jiffy."

"Hey Dante," Beast asked, "How long is a jiffy?"

"I don’t know," Dante told him.

"I have an idea," Domino spoke up, "Beast, why don’t you just drive up in front of them and block them off?"

"I like that idea," Beast said.

Beast screeched his tires and sped ahead of the van. He then started to make his move.

Inside the van, the TKR team was getting impatient.

"Were you guys gonna get us out today?" Erica asked through her wrist-com.

"Be patient," Kat told her, "Beast is taking care of things."

"Oh boy, we’re saved," Duke said sarcastically.

"I heard that, Duke," Beast spoke up.

Suddenly the five people were tossed to one side of the van as it swerved on the road. Trek was thrown on top of Erica, and Duke and Jenny were tossed together. Seconds later they felt an impact and they were all thrown to the floor. Then the van stopped. Seconds later the lock on the rear door was melted and opened. The five team members then gingerly climbed out of the van and onto slightly unsteady feet.

"What the hell was that?" Duke demanded.

"Sorry," Beast apologized, "I got a little carried away. Are you all right, Jenny?"

Jenny rubbed her sore arm and nodded.

"Fine, Beast. Thanks."

Erica winced as she saw a bruise forming on her thigh.

"That’s gonna hurt in the morning," she commented.

Kyle moved around to the front of the van where two of Olivier’s men were. They had both been knocked unconscious by the impact.

"Dante," he said, "contact Storm. Tell him that Olivier and James may be on his way. And tell him we caught two of their men."

They loaded the two goons into Dante, then with Kyle driving the van they brought them all to the CIA HQ building. Storm himself was waiting in the garage for them, along with some of his men who took the two goons away.

"Good work, Stewart," Storm told him.

"Any sign of them?" Kyle asked.

Storm shook his head.

"No," he said, "And there’s no sign of that other van either."

Storm’s men unloaded the crates and opened them up.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Storm demanded, holding up a firecracker.

Kyle and the others looked inside the crate and found the same low-tech stuff that was in the last ones.

"What is this?" Jenny asked, "Where are all the explosives?"

"What’s Olivier doing hauling around a bunch of crap like this?" Duke wondered.

"Something’s up," Kyle said, "Olivier wouldn’t be caught dead with such third-rate materials. He must be keeping the real equipment somewhere else."

"We’ll interrogate those two men you caught and get them to tell us what Olivier and Arthur are up to," Storm said, "I’ll contact you when we’re through."

Kyle nodded absently, deep in thought. Storm then turned and left.

"Maybe Annie can tell us something," Jenny suggested.

Kyle shook his head, then irritably walked over to Dante and climbed in.

* * *

They found Annie in the situation room going through some computer files. They brought her up to date on what was going on.

"Do you know what James and Olivier could be up to?" Jenny asked her.

Annie shook her head, baffled.

"I have no idea," she admitted, "It’s not like James to play games like this. He usually likes to get right to the point."

Kyle frowned and turned away.

"Dante," he said, "It’s back to the drawing board."

"Oh, good."

* * *

1 Quote taken from 1992 John Carpenter film "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" starring Chevy Chase & Daryl Hannah.

On to Part Two