Knight Rider 2000

 

Future Doesn’t Matter

 

 

Written by

Scott Kirkessner

 

Based upon KNIGHT RIDER

Created by

Glen A. Larson

 

Original KNIGHT RIDER 2000 Concept by

Rob Hedden

 

New concept by

Scott Kirkessner

 

 

 

When the Ku Klux Klan slowly worms its way into the daily lives of the citizens of Naissa, Alabama, the Knight Foundation is called in by one of the victims of a recent hate crime.  Shawn McCormick, still a learning rookie for FLAG, soon finds herself back in one of her home towns reunited with a former lover who seems more nervous than excited to have her back.  Her investigation deepens when evidence connected to the hate crimes point to her former lover, and it doesn't take long for FLAG to quickly become the new enemies of the KKK.  Now, against all odds, the Knight Foundation decides to take a final stand in Naissa... 

 

Rated R for strong violent content, profanity, and suggestive dialogue.

 

 

 

You know how sometimes there are events in one’s life which test the binds of a friendship?  I guess that’s what you can call this.  As friends, you and your friend go through many hard times.  A boyfriend dumping you, calling up your friend at no matter what hour just to have them greet you by saying ‘what took you so long to call?’  Things like that.  Over time, there are much more intense situations which can test a friendship.  Test loyalties, in essence.

 

They say that friends have a much stronger emotional bond than lovers.  And perhaps that is true, because one of the major people involved in this case was my ex-boyfriend, Jimmy Hawkins.  He and I met in high school when my step-dad moved the family to Naissa, Alabama.  Jimmy and I hit it off well.  I kinda thought of him to be a little hickish, but he had a charm about him that I couldn’t explain.

 

The sad part is that he and I were forced to break up when I left for college in Washington.  We kept contact, but soon lost touch, and I wouldn’t hear from him again until I encountered him back in Alabama.

 

So before I go any further, I guess I may as well introduce myself.  My name is Shawn McCormick.  I am an ex cop from Seattle, now working as an agent for the Knight Foundation.

 

Having only joined less than a month ago, and becoming an agent because of my personal connection to the car, KITT, it is my job to help fight the criminals who operate above the law.  Now some may ask, how does racism tie into that?  You’ll find out soon enough.

 

Racism, hate.  The two words sound completely different, but mean almost the same thing.  The only thing that really had my mind swimming through this ordeal is how can human beings, treat other human beings in such a horrible manner?

 

I know I sound like a televangelist on TV or something, but if you think of it, that is a question that will plague humanity for years to come.

 

Russell Maddock, our CEO once said that he lost faith in human beings.  I don’t blame him, he was a DA.  The human garbage which he helped run through the courts is enough to turn anyone away from hope that humanity will last much longer.

 

A good friend once said that loyalties and trust cannot be dictated, they must be earned.

 

All I have to say, is that this case was a major turning point in my life, and I will forever remember the time and place where I was when the Foundation got a phone call from a reverend in Naissa, Alabama...

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2000

Naissa Baptist Church

Location: Naissa, Alabama

 

My partner, KITT and I pulled up to the scene of about 14 police cars on the premises of what used to be a church.  Oddly, the only thing standing in the rubble was what was left of the cross which was on the small steeple.

 

I was totally amazed as to the destruction which could be done, especially in this time.  I got out of KITT and looked for Reverend Martin Holiday.  I didn’t know who to expect, but when I saw him, I had half the case solved already.

 

Reverend Holiday stood 6 feet tall, wore the usual religious attire.  He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was black.  I knew deep in my heart that this was a hate crime.  Before I could walk over to him, he walked over to me.  I guess KITT’s appearance does attract a lot of attention.

 

I walked up and greeted the reverend and offered my condolences on his loss.

 

“Thank you,” was his reply.  I saw him looking around and his eyes focuses on the chasing lights on the front of KITT.

 

“Reverend, do you have any idea why a crime like this would happen?” I asked, already knowing his answer.

 

“Ms. McCormick, this is primarily a black church.  You and I both know this was a hate crime.”

 

Needless to say, I knew he was right, but I decided to play it right, like a cop, and ask for all the details.  “How can you be so sure?”

 

“Follow me.” The reverend showed me to a side of his house which had a bunch of windows in it.  On them was the word ‘nigger’ written in blood.  KITT analyzed it later and found it to be sheep’s blood.  “Is this the proof you need?” he said, pointing to the graffiti.

 

I felt awful right then and there.  Like I was about to throw up.  I knew that this case could not be solved.  “Reverend did you see anything last night?”

 

“I saw the Klan riding away.” he replied.

 

Shit!  Is what I said in my mind.  No way I was gonna let that fly in front of the reverend.  I had no idea what to do.  So I did what every cop would do in a situation.  Lie.  “Reverend, we will do our best to find the people who did this.”

 

“Thank you, Ms. McCormick.” the reverend said, with distraught in his voice.  Thank the stars that he didn’t make me swear to the truth on a bible.

 

One thing that went through my mind was why the Foundation was called in on this.  Luckily we had nothing to do for about a month so Maddock sent me and KITT and Kevin Williams, KITT’s mechanic, down here on the plane.  “Reverend, why did you call the Knight Foundation?”

 

“Well, a few years back, a good friend of mine, Devon Miles, worked for you guys, and he said if there was ever anything I needed, just ask.  I was sad to hear that he died a few months back.  But I talk to Russell Maddock, and he and I talked for awhile and he agreed to send you down here.”

 

I was kind of angry for Russ’ rush to get us down here.  I was very jet-lagged from the trip from Seattle.  “Reverend, we will do everything in our power to help.” I said, shaking his hand, and walking away, before I bull-shitted myself into a deeper hole.

 

I walked over to KITT, who was patiently sitting there, with a small puppy sleeping on his hood.  Which surprised me too because I knew he did not have a big fondness for dogs.  “What’s up with this, KITT?” I calmly asked, pointing to the dog.

 

“She’s a stray, Shawn, and was tired.  I didn’t ask her to jump up on the hood, but she did, and I just permitted her to sleep there.” KITT replied.

 

Now is it just me, or did an emotionless car show compassion?  I didn’t protest and I got inside KITT.  “KITT, I need you to run a scan of the area.  I want you to scan for anything that could be traceable to the KKK.”

 

“Scans only come up with footprints, Shawn.” KITT replied.

 

“Okay, scan all the footprints, but exclude the footprints of the reverend and his family, police officers, and mine.”

 

“Right away, Shawn.” KITT quickly replied.  One of the good things that I liked about him.  He was obedient to the nth degree.  It wasn’t long before he finished his scans.  I was impressed at his accuracy, and quickness.  “Since most of the compound is grass, these are the only scanable footprints, which are in ash.  They all match, so it came from one person.”

 

“Good job, KITT.  What can you find about the footprint?” I asked, only to dread his reply.

 

“It will take a few hours to run detailed analysis on the footprint and the shoe it came from, Shawn.” KITT replied.

 

“We’ll do it from the plane then.” I said.  I started up KITT, forgetting about the puppy on the hood.  KITT spoke up to remind me, which amazed me all the more.  I got out and took the puppy in my arms and got back in the car.

 

“Surely you aren’t taking that dog with us?” KITT said.  Despite what he said, deep down I knew he thought the little dog was cute.  I put the dog on the seat next to me and drove back to the plane.

 

Knight Air Transport

Location: Crimson Air Force Base (non-active)

 

Leave it to Naissa never to get an airport with capability to handle a Boeing 747.  The only place for that would be Crimson Air Force base, which shut down in 1998.  We got permission to land there, thankfully.

 

When KITT and I pulled into the cargo bay of the plane, we were greeted by Kevin Williams, KITT’s mechanic and systems monitor.

 

“Hey you two,” Kevin said, with a smile.  “did you have fun out in the hot sun?”  Kevin was right about one thing, it was damn hot!

 

I got out of KITT and took the puppy with me.  “I need you and KITT to run an analysis on a footprint we scanned at the fire, think you two can do that?”

 

“Sure,” Kevin said, “what’s with the dog?”

 

“She was a stray who found KITT’s hood to be a nice bed.  I’m just gonna take care of her for now.” I said with a smile, and walked towards the elevator.

 

The 747 was a big aircraft, totally customized to serve as an airborne garage for KITT, and our hotel on wheels.  The entire cargo hold was modified.  In the front was a large galley, and the rest served as the diagnostics center for KITT.

 

The next level up was a little more modified.  The floor was sunk, to create more room for 7 large cabins which lined the left side of the plane, with a small corridor running down the side.  Then there was a small lounge area at the front, with stairs leading up to what used to be the first class level.

 

Four cabins occupied this area, which were for the flight crew, which consisted of the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and extra pilot.

 

Whichever way you look at it, our aircraft was not normal at all.  I walked to my cabin, and went inside, finding the opportunity for myself to stretch.  I set the puppy down who scurried under my bed.  I laid down on my bed, still tired from the rush trip down to Alabama.

I suddenly remembered about someone who I forgot.  Jimmy Hawkins.  Remember how I mentioned that friends have a better bond than lovers?  Well, this is where it comes into play.  After Jimmy and I lost touch, I totally forgot about him.  I decided to give him a call, and see what he was up to, and hope that he still remembered me.

 

When the number was dialed, his voice came up over the speakers.  “Hello?”

 

“Jimmy, this is Shawn... McCormick.”

 

“Shawn?  Is this the same Shawn who went to Naissa High School?”

 

“Yeah....” I replied.  Jimmy always liked to be a smart ass.

 

“The same Shawn who has my letter jacket?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And the same Shawn who said we would never lose touch?” Smart ass.

 

“Yes, guilty on all counts.” I replied.

 

“Well Shawn, how the hell are you?!” he screamed over the speakers with enthusiasm.  I wonder if he was faking it.

 

“I am great Jimmy.  Listen, I’m in town for the next couple of days, and I wondered if you wanted to do anything at all?”

 

“Hey that sounds like a good idea, Shawn.  Of course I wanna do something with you, we sure got a lot of catching up to do!”  Well duh.

 

Jimmy and I talked for a few more minutes on the phone, and he agreed to pick me up at the plane at 8:00pm.  I didn’t have any intention of rekindling a romance with Jimmy at all, but I decided that while I’m back in my town I grew up in for five years, I may as well visit my high school sweetheart.

 

A little while later walked back down to the garage and found KITT and Kevin working hard on the footprint that was found at the fire.  “What did you guys find?” I asked.

 

“Nothing good, Shawn.  It turns out that this type of boot is worn by about 400,000 people in Alabama.”  Nope, that wasn’t good news at all.

 

“However, further analysis show fragments of foreign mud and horse manure which were on the boot.  Also fragments of the boot are missing, in a style which corresponds to placing one’s feet in stirrups on a saddle of a horse.”

 

“Then it is the Ku Klux Klan?” Kevin asked.

 

“Oh, most definitely,” I said, “and the problem is these church burnings are random, and we probably wont be able to find them.  I want you to tap into the sheriff’s office and get all records of KKK related arsons in the past two months.” I said as I walked towards the door.

 

“Where are you going?” Kevin asked.

 

“I got a date.” I replied with a smile, and I walked out of the plane.

 

I walked down the road a little, keeping a close eye and distance to the well-lit plane.  I heard a car approaching, and I looked up to see an old blue Corvette coming towards me.  It stopped and Jimmy got out.  “Hey little lady, need a ride?” he said, with a smile.

 

I ran towards him and gave him a big hug.  “It is so good to see you again.” I said.

 

Jimmy hugged back and walked me over to the passenger side.  He opened the door and I got in.  I was surprised he still drove the same Stingray he drove in high school.

 

“Wow, Jimmy, you sure kept this car in good condition.” I said as he got in.

 

“Yeah, what can I say?  We Southerners like our cars.” He said, driving off.

 

Now first, let me tell some more about Naissa... When I lived there, the only major thing of the town was the Air Force base.  My step-father got stationed there and we all moved with him.  The town basically had, or has nothing.  No fancy restaurant, no major shopping center, nothing that is the simple luxury to you and I which we mainly take for granted.  So where are two people supposed to eat in the town?  Easy, the diner.  That’s what it was called, The Diner.

 

Jimmy and I got our food to go and decided to go back to Raven Rock where we used to hang out.

 

We talked about what we’ve been doing since we lost touch, and I told him about how I became a cop, but then stumbled on a inside plan to run banned handguns on the black-market.  I told him how I was shot in the head by their leader, and that I lost some of my recent memory, but then KITT’s chip was placed in my head and helped me retain my memory.  I told how that I was basically hired right away by the Knight Foundation when they found out about me having KITT’s chip.  When I finished, Jimmy was speechless.

 

“So what are you in town for?” he finally asked.  If I knew Jimmy, I knew that question was burning him to ask all night.

 

I decided to be honest, and tell him why I was really here.  “I’m here investigating a church burning by the KKK.”

 

“Oh really?” Jimmy asked, with a very odd look on his face, which kind of made me suspicious.  But hey, this is Jimmy, he is kind of odd in his own little way, so I really thought nothing of it.

 

“Yes, Reverend Holiday of the Naissa Baptist Church, called us after the church was destroyed by arson.”

 

The weird look remained on Jimmy’s face, and at that time, I still thought nothing of it.  I figured it was just Jimmy being his odd, usual self.  I also remembered that his father was extremely racist, so maybe that was it.

 

We sat on the rocks we used to sit on for hours before, and hours again.  We talked about everything you could think of.  But as Jimmy probed on about my investigation, something told me that there was more than meets the eye here.

 

“How is your investigation of the fire?” he asked me.

 

“It’s going slow.  But if we have any luck, we’ll catch the people responsible for this.  We got a footprint which we’re scanning to see if we can match it.” I said.

 

It was when Jimmy dropped his drink on the rock, but caught it in time, that I got suspicious.  I noticed that he subtly changed the way he was sitting on the rock, which put his boots out of my view.  Now something was up.

 

“What do you find by scanning it?” he asked.

 

I was unsure what to say now.  If I lie like a rug and say that we can find the owner in a matter of hours, what would he do?  If I told the truth and said 400,000 people match, but it has distinct qualities on it, what would he do?  I decided for an altered version of the truth.  “We scanned the footprint and found that about 400,000 people wear that type of boot.” I looked at the stars, and heard Jimmy quietly exhale.

 

“But,” I said, and his head snapped to me, “we scanned some extra items that came with the footprint.  Traces of manure, small pieces missing, and with that info, we can narrow it down a little more.  To maybe about 9 or 10 people.” I said, lying.

 

Jimmy took awhile to reply.  I knew I would ruin everything if I said, hey Jimmy, let me see your boot, so I played it cool.  I looked at my watch and saw that it was near midnight.

 

“It’s getting late,” I said, “we got work to do in the morning.”

 

Jimmy nodded and jumped off the rock and into some dust.  He helped me down.  On purpose, I ignored his boot prints completely, and we walked back to his car.  Everything was running through my mind at once, and at that point, I knew Jimmy was a suspect.

 

 

Jimmy pulled up to the plane, which was lit up like a park, and got out and opened the door for me.  I kissed him and gave him a big hug and walked back to the plane.

 

Upon entering the plane, I immediately went over to KITT and told him the situation.

 

When we exited the plane, I had him scan the vicinity.

 

“There is no sign of a Corvette in the vicinity, Shawn.” KITT reported.  Which was good, because that means Jimmy left.

 

We drove to Raven Rock and I got out and walked over to where Jimmy landed when he jumped off the rock.  Sure enough, the prints were still there.  I got a camera out of KITT’s trunk and took pictures of the prints.  When I got back in the car, I plugged the camera into the dashboard interface and drove back to the plane while KITT uploaded the pictures.

 

When we made it back to the plane, I told Kevin what I found, and asked what should be done.  He uploaded the pictures from KITT, and opened one, which was a clear shot of the footprint that I took.

 

He looked at it, and the brought up the scan of the footprint that KITT took.  He typed on the computer and the two images disappeared.

 

“It will be a few minutes while the computer is closely scanning both of them to see if they match.” Kevin said.  He took out a file and handed it to me.  I opened it and saw it was a chart, with some papers with it.

 

“What is this?” I asked.

 

“It is records from the Sheriff’s office of KKK crimes within the last month.  Check it out, there were little to no crimes in January, February, and early March.  But late last month, they’ve been on the rise, and no one really knows why.” Kevin explained.

 

I read the files.  “The hate crimes happen at random times, most during the night.” I said.

 

The computer terminal beeped and Kevin turned to it.  He brought up the two images of the foot print as they slowly scanned onto the screen.  When they were done, the two images moved over each other.

 

“It’s a match.” Kevin said.

“Oh my God....” was all I could say.  I could not believe that Jimmy was involved with the Ku Klux Klan!

 

Kevin deserves credit for trying to help me out with the situation.  “So you know this guy?” he asked, politely.

 

“Yes, I do.  His name is Jimmy Hawkins, he was my boyfriend when I lived here in Naissa.” 

 

I was about to fill them in more when a wave a nausea came over me.  I started to get sick of the fact that I was associated with this trash.  I quickly walked towards my cabin, and I locked the door once I got in.  I went into the bathroom and I threw up.  I was that sick because of what I learned about Jimmy.

 

I decided to call Maddock.  It was midnight in Alabama, which meant that it was 9pm in Seattle.  The number dialed and I laid down on my bed.  The puppy jumped up and nestled itself nicely in my arms.  Despite the way I was feeling, that little puppy made me smile.

 

“Hello?” Maddock said, sounding a little tired.

 

“Russ, It’s Shawn.  Listen the fire was a hate crime from the KKK, and I know one of the people who did it.”

 

“You do?  How?”

 

“First off, at the fire, KITT scanned a footprint which didn’t belong to any of the investigators on the scene.  We scanned it more and found traces of horse manure, and pieces missing out of the boot, which meant the person rode horses.  Later tonight, I went out with an old friend of mine named Jimmy Hawkins.  When we were about to leave where we were, he left a footprint in the dust, which matched the footprint from the fire.  It’s him, Russell.”

 

There was a long moment of silence until KITT broke into our phone call.  “Sorry to interrupt, Shawn, but police scanners are reporting a fire at a family’s house down on Em Street.

 

The news made me spring up out of bed, scaring the puppy away and across the cabin.  “Holy Shit, I used to live on Em Street.  Russ, I’ll keep you posted!” I yelled as I left the cabin and ran towards the elevator.

 

KITT was started and running by the time I got to the cargo bay.  Kevin was in his passenger seat.  I got in and threw the car in reverse and sped out of the plane.  I turned around and sped towards Em street, which was not too far from the base.

 

I noticed Kevin looking over at me, concerned, but he kept his words to himself.  I still wish he hadn’t. 

 

I turned the corner, barely making the turn at all and we saw a house fully engulfed in flames... I remembered the house well.  It was my house I used to live in.

 

“Oh Jesus!” I screamed as I slammed on the brakes and ran up.  A cop stopped me, but I flashed him my ID and he let me through.

 

I just watched as the house I lived in for only five years burned.  I looked around for the family, and saw them standing across the street.  My heart sunk to my feet when I saw them.  They were black.

 

I wanted to run over to them and do my damnedest to comfort them but I couldn’t.  I wasn’t real angry about the house going up.  I was intent on getting Jimmy Hawkins.

 

Kevin walked up to me, and put a comforting arm around me.  “What does this mean?”

 

“It’s a sign, Kevin.” I replied.

 

“A sign for what?”

 

“A sign for me.  It’s telling me to back off, and leave Naissa.”

 

April 6, 2000

0829 Hrs

 

I laid in my bed, under the warm covers, with the puppy beside me, laying on the floor.  I didn’t sleep at all last night.  I just looked straight at the blank ceiling.

 

Kevin called up to my cabin on the comm-lines.  “Shawn?  Shawn you there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m here, Kevin, what do you need?” The night, I returned to the plane, but asked Kevin and KITT to return to the scene.

 

“We scanned the scene and found a ring in the rubble.  We checked it out with the family and they didn’t claim it, so we brought it back here.”

 

I went to the small refrigerator and took out a bottle of water, while Kevin told me what him and KITT did.

 

I opened a small can of dog food and gave it to the puppy, who stuck her nose up at it at first, but then started to eat.  “What else did you find?” I asked.  My heart sunk again when I heard what Kevin told me. 

 

“We scanned for Jimmy’s boot print and found it.”

 

“I’ll be right down.”

 

I walked into the garage and saw Kevin looking through a microscope.  He must have heard me coming because he looked up.  “Hey, this is the ring we found.” he said, taking it out from under the microscope and handing it to me.

 

I gasped as I saw the ring.

 

“What is it?” Kevin asked.

 

“It’s the duplicate of Jimmy’s high school ring he had made after he gave the other one to me.  He was wearing it last night when he took me out.”

 

“Do you think he planted it there, or someone else did?” Kevin asked.  He was always one who was inquisitive, and asked questions constantly.  He would have made a good detective.

 

I shook my head, and tried hard to think what Jimmy did after he left last night...

 

I see him walking down Em Street, looking at the class ring on his hand.  I see him pulling out a Molotov Cocktail, lighting the rag, and throwing it at the house.  The bottle shatters and explodes and the house goes up.  He rips the ring off of his finger and throws it into the fire...

 

No.  I don’t think it was that.  He is not one to act alone in a lot of things....

 

I see Jimmy walking to wherever the Klan meets, and talking to them, making up some kind of BS lies about the family living on 2010 Em Street.

 

Down the street they come, turning the corner on top of their horses, carrying torches, riding towards the house which used to be mine. 

 

People look out their windows, wondering what the commotion about, and then they see what’s coming, and they run to gather their family, and pray to God ten times over that the Klan isn’t coming for them.

 

Then the Klan stops, and turns towards their target house.  They slowly walk towards the target, clubs and torches in their hands, ready to lay waste to a house with an innocent family still in it.

 

Closer and closer they approach the house, until one finally throws his torch at it, igniting the side.  They cheer in unison as they run and throw their torches and Molotov Cocktails at the house.

Inside, the family, already knowing the Klan is there to get them, runs out the back, and into a neighbors yard.

 

As their end tribute, the Klan hammers a cross into the front lawn and lights it ablaze.

 

Jimmy walks up to face the blaze, and removes his mask, looking down at his finger, he rips the ring off and throws it into the fire.

 

Everyone returns to the horses they rode in on, and rides off into the night...

 

I knew in my mind that is what happened early this morning.  Now all we had to do was stop them.  “Jimmy was there last night, what we have to do is determine how many KKK were with him.”

 

“How do we do that?” Kevin asked.  Another question from the genius.

 

“We talk to everyone we can on Em Street.” I said.

 

We later found out that talking to witnesses of hate crimes are easier said than done.

 

Kevin walked up to one house, and I walked up to the one next door.  We knocked on our respective doors.

 

“Hi, my name is Kevin Williams, from the Knight Foundation, we’re investigating the recent hate crime in this area...”

 

 

“...tell me was there anything you saw or heard early this morning?” I asked.

 

 

Both doors slam in our faces.  I look at Kevin from the neighbors porch.

 

House after house after house turned up nothing.  People were so scared of getting hit next, they lied and said they didn’t see anything, or weren’t home that night.

 

Kevin and I finally walked down to the last house on the street.  We rang the doorbell and an old lady, who was white, came to the door.  “Hello.” she said.

 

“Hello, ma’am,” I said, “I’m Agent Shawn McCormick, this is my partner Kevin Williams, we’re from the Foundation for Law and Government.  We are investigating the fire a few houses down, and would like to know if you saw anything.”

 

We both prepared ourselves for a slamming door, or a lie, but were amazed when the lady replied, “Yes.”

 

“Can you tell us what you saw?” Kevin asked.

 

The lady hesitated for awhile.  “Yes, I can,” she said, “please come in.”

 

We were sitting inside the living room, in front of the air conditioner which was running at full blast.  She introduced herself as Victoria Hamilton.  “I’ve lived in this house since 1953, and I never saw a rash of hate crimes as worse as this.  This is the first time one happened on this block.” She stopped and looked at me for a moment.  “Shawn McCormick, that name sounds so familiar...”

 

“I lived in this town for five years, when my step-father was stationed at Crimson Air Force Base.”

 

“Robert McCormick?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” I replied, “I lived in the house that was destroyed.”

 

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.  It was about 1am this morning, and I heard chanting coming down the street.  I looked out my door, and I saw a bunch of men in white sheets on horses, some carrying clubs, and some carrying flaming torches.  They walked down the street and stopped in front of the Johnson’s house.”

 

“Then what happened?” I asked.

 

“I quickly went inside then.” Victoria said.

 

“So you didn’t see anything at all?” Kevin asked.

 

“No,” Victoria replied, but then I saw her expression change, as if she got an idea.  “You can check the security cameras across the street.”

 

“Security cameras?” Kevin asked before I did.

 

“Yes,” Victoria replied, “when the Air Force was at Crimson, this entire neighborhood used to be for the base.  You know, those stationed here and their families.  To maintain security, they installed security cameras across the street in 1970, on every three light posts.  There was one right across the street from our house.  In the other old base neighborhoods, they installed them too.”

 

“The Air Force would have removed them when they closed down Crimson.” I said.

 

“No, because they only closed down two years ago, and there were about 20 retired families living on the street, they left the cameras up, and transferred the signal to a satellite.  Well, that’s what my son told me, he’s overseas at Ramstien now.”

 

I looked at Kevin, and he looked over at me, and we both smiled.

 

“Mrs. Hamilton, thank you for your help.” Kevin said.

 

I wasn’t ready to let this lady go unprotected, so I offered to have her taken to a safe house.  “Mrs. Hamilton, we are concerned since everyone else on this street refused to talk to us, so we would like you to come with us, and we will arrange to have you transferred to a safe house.”

 

“Is that really necessary?” Victoria asked, obviously concerned.

 

I nodded.  “You may be a viable witness at a possible trial in the future, we need to ensure your safety.  I got a car down the street that will take you to a waiting airplane.”

 

One good thing with the way Maddock runs the Foundation is his ability to prepare for anything.  As a DA himself, he saw witnesses come and go, and sometimes vanish, so we wants to ensure that if we find a witness in a case, but have to stay in town, we would be able to fly them out at a moments notice.  So that’s why he has a LearJet fly with us, wherever we go.

 

Victoria nodded.  “Let me pack a few things.”  She got up and walked into another room.

 

Glad that she was gone, I raised my wrist up to my mouth and spoke into the wristwatch-communicator link that connects me with KITT.  “KITT, I need you down here.”

 

It’s still taking me a little getting used to KITT’s ability to drive himself, but if someone would have been sitting inside KITT down the street, the would have been treated to quite a show.

 

Inside KITT, lights, which signify systems powering up. flash on.  The turbine engine whirs to life.  The gear shift automatically shifts into drive, and the gas pedal is depressed, almost as if by magic.

 

I went outside of the house to meet KITT, who was driving down the street.  I walked over to him and opened the passenger side door, to be greeted by the puppy sitting in KITT’s seat.

 

“Hey you,” I said, petting the puppy, “how’d you get here?”

 

“She must have snuck into my backseat, Shawn.” KITT said, almost too innocently.

 

I took the puppy in my arms and sat down in KITT’s seat.  “Level with me here, KITT.  You like the dog.”

 

“Well, I am very fond of dogs,” KITT said, “when they behave.” he added.

 

I smiled and got out of the car, to meet Victoria walking down the steps, with Kevin carrying her suitcase.  I stepped aside and let her get into the passenger seat.  “Victoria, meet KITT.”

 

“Who’s KITT?” she asked, looking around the car.

 

“I am KITT, Victoria.”

 

I watched Victoria look around the car as KITT spoke up.  “The car talks?” she asked me.

 

“Yes it does.  Victoria, KITT is the state-of-the-art of Artificial Intelligence technology.  He can drive himself, he talks, he thinks, and can do almost anything you imagine.” I said, giving the usual spiel about KITT.

 

“It is a pleasure to meet you, KITT.” Victoria said, still unsure about talking to a car.

 

“The pleasure is all mine, Victoria.  Are you ready to go?” KITT asked, with the utmost sincerity.

 

“Yes I am.” Victoria replied. 

 

I walked over to her, before KITT closed the door, and handed the puppy to Victoria. 

“Here,” I said, “I thought she could keep you company.”

 

Victoria smiled and took the puppy.  “Thank you, Shawn.  Do me a favor?”

 

“What?” I asked.

 

“Find those horrible men.” she said.

 

I gave the puppy one last pet and smiled.  “I promise.”  I stepped back and closed the door, and KITT took off for the plane.

 

I turned to Kevin and we both walked back into Victoria’s house.  He took out his laptop and connected to the Internet.

 

I always was impressed at Kevin’s skill of computers and his ability to work on the Internet.  I guess that’s why Knight Industries hired him.  But I was amused as to how he let nothing stop him on the Internet.... and I mean nothing.

 

“Okay, I’m in.” Kevin said.

 

“In to what?” I asked.

Kevin looked up at me.  “Air Force satellite networks.”

 

I told you so.

 

“Okay, so what do you plan to look for?” I asked, my heart starting to beat more rapidly now that we’ve broken about 15 federal laws.

 

“I’m gonna find the frequency of the cameras on this street, and tap into them, hopefully to get the video feeds from this morning.”

 

Within a few minutes, Wonder Boy was typing away on the laptop, and five separate windows opened up and images from the cameras outside came onto the screen.

 

“Wow.” I said, impressed.

 

Kevin started to say outloud what he was doing.  I guess it made him feel bigger.  I can’t blame him, he should be proud.  “Now I’m searching for the video from this morning from camera three.” he said.  It didn’t take him long before he found the video.  We started watching it, and sure enough, it matched Victoria’s descriptions and partly matched my imagination.

 

“Well now what?” he asked when the tape finished.

 

“Now we talk to the sheriff, and see how he can help us.” I said.

 

 

In the years since I have been away from Naissa, many things have not changed, as I stated before, and one thing that didn’t change was the sheriff.  Which is a good thing too because I knew him when we lived here.

 

We walked into the sheriff’s office and found Sheriff Andrew Whitfield sitting at the desk.  He had more grey hair now.  He looked up.  “Shawnie McCormick, I never thought you would set foot in this town again.”

 

“It’s great to see you again, Andy.” I said.

 

“What brings you back to Naissa?” Andy asked.

 

“The recent hate crimes.” I replied.

 

“You mean Reverend Holiday’s church going up?” he asked.

 

“There was another one this morning.  At 2010 Em Street.”

 

“2010 Em Street?” he asked, “that wasn’t confirmed as a hate crime.  No witnesses came forward, and the fire investigator said the fire was so hot that it burned away any evidence.”

 

“Here’s your evidence, Andy.” I said, handing him a CD.

 

He turned to his computer and put the CD in.  I watched the expression change on his face as the events from this morning played out in front of him.  He looked up at me.  “What is it that you need us to do?”

 

“Nothing yet,” I replied, “but we’ll come to you first when we find out anything.” I said, nudging Kevin and starting to walk out.

 

“Shawnie,” he said, “if there’s anything you need with this, let me know.  I want to catch these son’s of bitches as much as you do.”

 

“Thanks Sheriff.” I said.

 

 

Kevin and I had lunch at The Diner and talked about choices on what to do next.

 

“We could stake out black-owned property.” Kevin suggested.

 

“No,” I said, shooting it down, “we’re in the middle of Alabama, do you have any idea how much property around here is owned by African Americans?”

 

Kevin nodded and took a sip of his drink.

 

“I know,” I said, “we follow Jimmy.  If we play our cards right, this guy is a major player in the KKK here in town.  He can lead us right to them.”

 

“And then what?” Kevin asked another question.

 

“We figure out where they hit next and intercept them.” I said.

 

Kevin paid for both of our bills, and we were outside waiting on the corner for KITT to pick us up.  We got the confirmation that Victoria was at the safe house.

 

KITT whipped around the corner and stopped.  I got in the driver’s side, Kevin got in the passenger’s side, and we started driving back towards the plane.  I got on the Satellite Phone with Maddock, to tell him our plan.

 

“Russ, we think we have a plan to stop the Klan at their next move.”

 

“What is it?”

“We plan to follow Jimmy Hawkins, and see if he will lead us to the wherever the Klan is meeting, so we can find out their next target, and see if we can intercept them.”

 

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Maddock said, “go for it.  I’m on a jet now, I should be out there soon.”

 

“Great, we’ll see you then.” I said as I hung up the phone.

 

“What is the next move, Shawn?” KITT asked.

 

“We’re going to track Jimmy now.  I figure if we can get a good start on him, we will be able to quickly figure out what the next target is.”

 

1316 Hrs

 

We parked across the street from Jimmy’s house.  He walked out, putting on a jacket, and got in his truck and drove off.  I pulled out, keeping a safe distance, and his truck on scanners.

 

Our interest was perked when Jimmy walked into a gun store, and was in there for two hours before he came out with two large long boxes, and placed them in the bed of the pickup.  He made eight more trips.

 

“KITT, we can’t risk him spotting us, because I think he’s going outside to the city limits.  I want you to tag him.” I ordered.

 

“Tag Jimmy, or tag the truck?” KITT asked, only trying to confirm my wishes.

 

“Tag Jimmy himself.” I said.

 

The Virtual Reality display came up on the windshield.  Jimmy was walking towards the truck, and I heard a small popping sound.  All of a sudden, on the screen, Jimmy’s body became yellow, indicating it had been marked.

 

“Good job, KITT, now track him.” I said.

 

“Just a reminder, Shawn, my scanners only have a radius of 20 miles.” KITT confirmed.

 

“Okay, KITT, we’ll sit here and track him.  If he starts to get out of range, let me know okay?”

 

“Sure thing, Shawn.” KITT said.  There was that obedience again.

 

I turned over to Kevin.  “You’re very quiet.” I said.

 

“I know Shawn, I was just... I was thinking, is all.” he said.

 

“About?” I asked, wondering why he was so quiet.  You got to know Kevin to know that this guy is hardly ever quiet.

 

“Why humans have to do this to other humans.” he said, very distraught.

 

“I was pondering that too, Shawn.  What makes African Americans so different from Whites?  It is most difficult to figure out.” KITT said.

 

I couldn’t believe what was happening.  I was trying to explain human nature to a machine.  “KITT, I don’t have a straight answer for that.  If you look at it one way, the only thing separating Kevin and I is our gender.  But we’re still a human.  It’s the same with what is going on now.  There is nothing different between a black man or a white man, except color.”

 

KITT interrupted.  It was amazing, this car, which was, in essence, an emotionless computer, was starting to learn right before my eyes.  “If there is no difference than color, than why do horrible organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan exist?”

 

“I don’t know.” was all I could manage to say.  “KITT, there are some people in this world, no I take that back.  There are a lot of people in this world who don’t understand humans like you or I, or Kevin.  They think, that because they are white, they can persecute, and hurt people of different color.  The think that the white people are supreme race, and believe that no one else is human at all.”

 

“They’re wrong.” KITT said.  “Right?”

 

“Yes, KITT they are wrong,” I said, trying to think of another example to use.  “The Holocaust, KITT, do you know about the Holocaust?”

 

“Who doesn’t?” KITT asked.

 

“Right.  Well, Adolf Hitler persecuted the Jewish people because of their religion, not because of their skin.  He thought that all Germans and other peoples were pure, and human, and thought otherwise of the Jews.  He slaughtered millions of them before he was stopped.”

 

“Why wasn’t he stopped earlier?” KITT asked.

 

“Well, I can’t tell you that either.  The Holocaust was just so bad, people didn’t want to believe it was happening.” I said.  “KITT, humans are one of the very few species on Earth that kill their own kind.  It’s almost like... it’s almost like that it is human nature to destroy ourselves.”

 

“What can we do to prevent that?” KITT said.

 

“We have to learn more about each other.  If we learn about each other, and learn not to hate, then maybe we have a chance.” I said.

 

“Is that possible?” KITT asked.

 

“No.” I said, not wanting to lie to one of the best friends I had.  “KITT, it’s not possible to stop hate.  There will always be people out there who will hate other people.”

 

“It’s amazing...” Kevin said.

 

“What is?” I asked.

 

“I thought that the 21st Century would usher in an era of peace.  I thought we would get rid of all these problems.” he said.

 

“Future doesn’t matter, Kevin.” KITT said.

 

“What KITT?” Kevin asked.  That statement caught my interest too.

 

“Future doesn’t matter.” KITT repeated.  “I know that the coming of the year 2000 and other years to come were hyped up, but that doesn’t matter at all.  If what Shawn says is true, that hate cannot be stopped, then that means that it doesn’t matter what year you are in, or how many zeros are added on to a number of a year.  The future is the future, and no one knows what lies ahead, but what they make for themselves.  The future doesn’t matter.”

 

Now it may sound foolish, but from that moment on, I knew KITT was no longer an un-emotional machine.  He wasn’t a heartless, cruel car, not that he never was, but something told me that he was different, now.  KITT actually learned and knew the value of human life, and forever on I would respect him for that.

 

I looked down at the scanners and saw that Jimmy had stopped.  “KITT, put the auditory feed of the tag through.”

 

“Right away, Shawn.” KITT said.

 

In seconds, we were hearing everything that was going on wherever Jimmy was, and it was to our luck that we had him just where we wanted him.  I listened closely as the Klan chanted ‘white power,’ over and over again.

 

“Tonight’s fire will mark the 50th fire this town has seen in the past month!  We have the niggers running scarred, and soon will run them out of Naissa!  We have to work hard and burn them, and chase them out of this town, forever!!!” The people in attendance cheered.

 

If there was one thing I hated in the world more than anything, it was the word ‘nigger.’  The word itself made my skin crawl, and just.. generally made me more angry and determined to stop the monsters that were slowly destroying my town.

 

“...now, thanks to Jimmy Hawkins, who has gone out and picked up about 30 rifles, we plan to go out into the night down to 614 North 12th Street and see if we can... convince the Kingsley family to move out of town.”

 

“Why the Kingsley’s?” a voice asked.

 

“Isiah Kingsley, who is on the Town Counsel, has proposed a plan to bring in the FBI to, and I quote, ‘deal with the monsters known as the Ku Klux Klan.’”

 

Now is it just me, or did Isiah Kingsley hit their description right on spot?

 

I wasted no time in slamming the accelerator to the floor and driving to 614 North 12th Street.  I heard KITT’s turbine engine whirring at full power, and saw the odometer reading 169 mph.

 

I slammed on the breaks in front of the house and me and Kevin got out of the car and ran to the door.  I knocked on the door and a child, about 10 years old, opened the door. “Hi.” he said.

 

I bent down to get to the little boy’s level.  “Hi, can I talk to your daddy please?”

 

The boy smiled and ran back in to get his father.  The father came to the door.  “Hello,” he said, “can I help you?”

 

“Isiah Kingsley?” I asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m Shawn McCormick, from the Foundation for Law and Government, can we talk to you please?”

 

“Sure, by all means, would you like to come in?” he asked.

 

I was about to say yes when I noticed the little boy clinging to his father’s leg.  “Uh, mind if we take a walk?”

 

“Yeah, okay.” he said.

 

I watched him bend down and face his son.  “Daddy has to go with these two nice people for a little while, so take care of your mommy for me, can you do that?”

 

The boy nodded and beamed.  He hugged his father and ran inside the house.

 

Isiah closed the door and walked down the steps with us.

 

I was so unsure how to say to this man that he was a target of a hate crime.  “I am going to be blunt with you, Mr. Kingsley,” I said, “tonight, you and your family are going to be burned out of your house by the KKK.”

 

Isiah stopped in his tracks.  “You got to be kidding.” he said.

 

“We’re sorry, Mr. Kingsley,” Kevin said, “we didn’t have any idea how else to tell you, but we came from wire-tapping a KKK meeting, and they targeted you because of your proposal to bring in the FBI to help with the hate crimes.”

 

Isiah looked like he was about to become physically ill, but handled the news well.  I mean it is not everyday you learn that you are a target for a hate crime.  “What is it that you want me to do?”

 

I looked up and saw his boy looking out the window smiling at us.  “What’s your boy’s name?”

 

“His name is Devon.” Isiah replied.

 

Upon hearing that name, my head snapped up, with even more attention than before.

 

“Listen... uh, Ms. McCormick.  I will do anything you want me to do, just keep my family safe.”

 

 

In about 30 minutes, Kevin and I made the necessary contacts, and Isiah was inside his house, packing things with his wife and children, and the three of them came out the door, with one suitcase a piece.  He introduced Kevin and I to his wife, Mildred, and his boy, Devon.

 

The black semi truck came down the street, just as they reached the sidewalk.  It stopped in front of the house.  The rear door that KITT usually uses dropped down and the family walked up the ramp and into the semi, which was part diagnostic lab, and part comfort lounge.  I made sure everyone was comfortable, and I walked out of the truck, with the door retracting up behind me.

 

I walked back towards Kevin and KITT, and got inside.  Kevin sat down next to me.  The semi pulled out and drove down the street.  KITT quickly sped ahead of it, and we turn the corner to be met my our escorts...

 

KITT, the semi, and about eight sheriff cars, surrounding the semi, were speeding down the road way leading to the old Air Force base.  We took no chances, and told Sheriff Whitfield what we were going to do.  He was more than happy to provide the family with safe escort to the waiting plane.

 

It was only a few minutes until the convoy sped into the Air Force base and across to the flight line, where the waiting LearJet was sitting, powered up and ready to go.

 

KITT screeched to a halt, and the same went with the sheriff cars, and the semi stopped with a jerk as well.  The door came down and the family walked out the ramp.  The flight crew took their suitcases, and they walked towards the LearJet, to be greeted by Maddock, who flew in earlier, and to have a send off from Kevin and I.  Once the plane was locked and ready to go, we all backed off and let it taxi out to the runway.

 

Maddock came up to us.  “How is the investigation going?”

 

“Good,” I replied, “I talked to Sheriff Whitfield here and he said that he is ready to help us in the stake out tonight.”

 

Maddock shook Whitfield’s hand.  “Nice to meet you Sheriff.  Can you give us some kind of idea of what the stake out will be like tonight?”

 

“We evacuated the two houses on either side of the target house.  Snipers will be placed inside of them and across the street.  There are heavy trees across the street, no one will see your agents and our men there.”

 

Maddock nodded in agreement.  “It’s a good plan,” he said, “and I’m willing to go with it.”

 

Sheriff Whitfield nodded.  “Stake out starts at sundown.  We’ll see you then.” he said, signaling to his men to get in their cars and return to town.

 

Kevin, Maddock, and I, walked to the plane, with KITT following.  “What can you tell me about Jimmy Hawkins?” Maddock asked.

 

“He’s tenacious beyond all comprehension.  Once you get him started on something, he wont stop, and he’ll see it through until it is completed.  His father was extremely racist, and I believe that he might have been in the KKK.  Jimmy was close to his father, and the feelings rubbed off.  I pulled his record.” I said, handing a file to Maddock.

 

He looked through the file.  “All of these are minor offenses.” he said, handing the file back to me.  “Besides a footprint we need other proof to go in and get him.”

 

“You’re saying if the stakeout doesn’t work.” I said.  Maddock always thought for the worse.

 

“Yes, and even if get him at the stakeout, we need further evidence to prove ties to previous fires.” Maddock said.

 

We walked inside the plane, and sat down around Kevin’s computer terminal.

 

Kevin sat down and turned to KITT.  “KITT, interface with my computer.”

 

“Sure thing, Kevin.” KITT said.

 

“Upload the video in your drive.”

 

The video that we took from the security camera popped up.

 

“Where’d you guys get this?” Maddock asked.

 

I explained to Maddock where the tape came from as we watched it.

 

“So that still doesn’t prove that Jimmy Hawkins is under one of those sheets.” Maddock said, but he spoke to soon.

 

“KITT, snap to grid.” Kevin said as gridlines appeared on the video.  “Zoom in at eight-b, zoom 400 percent.”

 

The image zoomed, but was heavily distorted.  It hurt my eyes to look at it.

 

“Enhance.” Kevin said.  The image cleared up and became crystal clear.  We were looking at the image of some thug in a KKK mask.  “KITT, I want you to scan the image that we’re looking at, and map out the facial features.”

 

On the image, green lines appeared, marking out the eyes, the nose, cheek bones, the mouth, everything that a face would have.  KITT then removed the mask, and filled the lines in.  We were looking at an image of Jimmy Hawkins.

 

“Well, I believe that’s the proof you need, Russell.” I said.

 

Kevin turned to face Maddock.  “KITT can do that with every one of them.  In about an hour, we’ll have faces of all of the people who were at the fire this morning.”

 

 

1847 Hrs

 

The three of us packed into KITT and drove back towards 614 North 12th Street, and joined Sheriff Whitfield and his men to stake out the house.

 

It wasn’t long before the sun went down, and we were watching the house for hours.  It was about 9pm when Maddock came over to me again, to ask if KITT saw anything, for the fourth time.

 

“Anything?” he asked.

 

I shook my head.  “No, we’re counting on them coming around midnight.” I said.

 

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

 

I pressed a few buttons, and a 3D display of the house, and the neighborhood came up on KITT’s windshield.  “The yellow dots are where the Sheriff Whitfield’s men are hiding.”  The image zoomed in.  “This is our current position.  To get more power to the scanners to pick up people riding towards here on horses, we cut his radius down to two miles.  We’re ready to go Russ.”

 

“Good work.” Maddock said.  He walked back to the Sheriff’s surveillance van.  I looked over as I heard KITT’s door opening and saw Kevin getting in, with two bags of food in his hand.

 

“Hiya,” he said, smiling, and handed a bag to me, “one XL burger, no tomato, with fries and a strawberry shake.  Just what you asked for.”

 

I smiled.  “Thanks,” I said, opening the bag.  Trust me, you have no idea how you’ll get on a stake out.  Kevin and I both started to eat, not saying much to each other, but we both kept glancing back and forth at the scanners on KITT’s central monitor.

 

It was about midnight when KITT spoke up.  “Shawn, I am tracking a large group of people, heading towards this location.”

 

“How far away, KITT?” I asked.

 

“About two minutes.” KITT said.

 

I got out of the car.  “They’re coming!” I screamed.  “We got two minutes.”

 

Everyone who was in earshot, which was probably the damn town, started scrambling to their positions.  The sheriff got in the van and contacted everyone on the radio frequency, including us.  “All teams, quiet, and wait for McCormick’s signal.”

 

Now, what he meant by that was it was my job to alert the KKK that we were there.  KITT and I planned to turn on his headlights to full power and I would order the KKK to freeze.

 

KITT turned off his red scanner light and was sitting in silent mode.  We waited in the dark, and listened as we heard them chanting, and coming down the street.

 

We waited and waited and finally they reached their target house.  They become louder and the second they walked onto the lawn, I activated KITT’s headlights.  I guess I was so excited about capturing them, I didn’t notice that they did not have torches or clubs.

 

“Freeze!” I yelled over the external microphone.  The lights around the sheriff’s van activated, and about 20 tiny laser dots appeared on each KKK member.  “You are surrounded and about 40 rifles are trained on you.  Get on the ground with your hands on your head!”

 

The KKK slugs followed the directions and got on the ground.  That’s when the Sheriff and his men took over and rounded all of them up.

 

Before they were loaded into the van to take them to the jailhouse, they were unmasked.  When they were unmasked, KITT pointed my attention to something interesting.

 

“Shawn, none of the suspects here match the people from yesterday’s fire.” KITT said.

 

“You mean there is not one person over there that matches the pictures from yesterday’s fire?”

 

“None.” KITT replied.  I then knew something fishy was up.

 

April 7, 2000

0234 Hrs

 

It was about two hours later until Sheriff Whitfield would let me, Maddock, and Kevin in to see the suspects, but interrogating them was no help at all.  No one would tell us where Jimmy was or anything else.

 

We all walked out of the sheriffs office feeling tired, and angry that we didn’t get the answers we were looking for.  “It’s a con.” I said, sitting down on KITT’s hood.

 

“What do you mean?” Maddock asked.

 

“I mean that they knew we were gonna be there.  They knew we were coming, and they set us up for fools.”

 

“Shawn,” Maddock said, “we got ‘em.  Provided we didn’t get all of them, but we got some, and in due time, we’ll pull the answers out of them that we need.  But we’ll leave that up to local law enforcement, okay?”

 

I nodded, still uncertain if we completed the task or not.

 

“Good.  Now we’ll go back to the plane, and get some rest.  We’ll leave tomorrow afternoon.”

 

We all got in the car and drove back to the plane.

 

I tried hard to sleep, but couldn’t.  I wondered to myself how Victoria, and the Kingsley’s were doing back at the safe house.

 

I guess I finally fell asleep sometime before 4am, and dreamt about, of all things, Jimmy.  I imagined that he was way out of town, along with the other KKK and stirring things up in another town.

 

The alarm woke me up at 8am, and I showered, got dressed, and walked down to the garage, to see Kevin, in his clothes from the day before, sleeping inside KITT on the driver’s seat.

 

I gently shook his shoulder.  “Wake up, sunshine.” I said, smiling, hoping to cheer him up.  I knew he was taking it hard about the KKK and what they were doing with this town.  I wondered why he took it the way he did.

 

Kevin woke up and looked at me and rubbed his eyes.  “What time is it?

 

“Eight in the morning.” I replied, watching Kevin yawn and stretch.  I kneeled down and rested my arms on KITT’s door.  “Can I ask you a personal question?”

 

“Sure.” Kevin replied.

 

“I’ve been noticing you’re taking this KKK thing worse than all of us.  How come?”

 

Kevin exhaled and looked at me.  “My father was in the KKK.  I used to remember laying in my bed at night, and he would come home, drunk, bragging about the person he beat, or burned, or who’s house he helped destroy that night.  He tried to get me involved.  He failed.  Me and my mom left him.  The last I heard of him was when he was shot and killed by a black man protecting his house.  And you know what?  I’m glad.”

 

As if by instinct, I placed my arms around Kevin’s neck and attempted to comfort him, feeling guilty that I brought up such painful memories.  “Come on, Kevin, go up to your cabin, grab a shower, get dressed, and meet be back here.  We’ll grab breakfast.”

 

Kevin smiled, got out of KITT and walked to the elevator. 

 

I sat down inside KITT.  “Good morning, KITT.”

 

“Good morning, Shawn.  Did you sleep well?” KITT asked.

 

“Not really, KITT.  I kept thinking about how I don’t believe this case is over.”

 

“That sounds like the topic of conversation between Kevin and I.  We talked until about five this morning when he finally fell asleep.”

 

“Do you think this case is over, KITT?” I asked.

 

“No, Shawn, I don’t.” KITT replied.

 

“Me neither,” I said, stretching, “there is more than what meets the eye here, KITT.”

 

“What do you think we should do?” KITT asked.  It was the first time I actually heard him ask for thoughts on what to be done next.  I knew, that by the end of this experience, KITT would be much more different than when I first met him.  He was so naive, and bitter about being locked away for ten years, so when Michael Knight first introduced me to him, I was almost disgusted.  But then I got to know KITT, and when Michael left, KITT and I became partners.  It was the best decision I ever made.

 

“KITT,” I said, “to be honest with you, I don’t know.”

 

I just sat there in KITT for awhile, waiting for Kevin, but mainly thinking about what could be done next.  I knew Maddock was wrong, and I had to show him the truth.  I knew that KITT was doing everything possible to comfort me, which wasn’t much but the thought counts.

 

Kevin got into the car, looking refreshed and more awake.  “Ready to go?” he asked.

 

I smiled and nodded and started KITT up.  We backed out of the plane and drove to The Diner.

 

Kevin and I were eating inside, talking about whatever came to our mind, but also quietly talking about what we were working on.

 

“Has the sheriff’s department made the suspects talk?” Kevin asked.

 

“Nope.  They’re probably going to be charged with trespassing, misdemeanors, conspiracy to commit arson.  They wont be going anywhere for awhile, but they aren’t talking.” I said.

 

A little while later, we got our bill, and I was about to hand it back to the waitress when I felt an envelope attached to the bill.  I took it off and opened it up, when I read it, I smiled.

 

“What is that?” Kevin asked.

 

As of that moment I was grinning from ear to ear about the contents of the letter we had just got.  “This is the proof that we need.” I said, handing the letter to Kevin.

 

He read it outloud.  “Dear Investigators, you may like to know that the reason we were at the Kingsley’s house instead of the KKK was because we don’t belong to the KKK.  They paid us $2500 each to pose as them, get caught, keep quiet, and then bail ourselves out.  The reason they knew about the stake out was because the deputy, William Taylor, is a part of the KKK.”  When he finished reading the letter, he looked over and smiled.

 

We both walked out the door and got into KITT, to go find the Sheriff’s deputy.  We talked to Sheriff Whitfield, and asked where he was, and told him what was going on.  He was upset, of course, but let us handle the situation, our own way.

 

In a few minutes we were on the road, and found Taylor’s squad car.

 

“KITT, MicroJam his engine.” I said.

 

“With pleasure, Shawn.” KITT replied. 

 

Ahead of us, we looked to see his car stopping abruptly.  KITT stopped too and I quickly got out.  Taylor got out, not realizing I was charging up towards him.

 

I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the car.

 

“Ack!  What the hell?!” he yelled.

 

“Hey Barney Fife,” I yelled, still holding him, “tell me why the KKK knew about the stake out last night, huh?  Tell me why those 20 men sitting in jail aren’t even with the KKK and have $2500 in their pockets now, ready to be paid to bail them out?  Tell me why this letter here points the finger at you as to the leak in the department.” I let him go and threw him to the side.  “Well come on, Deputy, tell me why all these things are true?”

 

“Keep it up,” Taylor said, “and I’ll arrest you for assaulting an officer of the law.”

 

Kevin came up out of nowhere and slammed him down on the hood.  “Guess what, asshole, your boss sent us here, and gave us permission to deal with you in our fashion.  So that means, no paperwork, no charges, no rules.  This letter is your ticket to jail, and our ticket to round up the rest of the racist pricks like you.”

 

I smiled and opened the back door to the patrol car.  Kevin threw the deputy in and I slammed the door.  I got in the driver’s seat, and Kevin walked back to KITT.

 

The deputy leaned against the metal grate separating us.  “Where the hell are you taking me?”

 

I slammed my foot on the accelerator, throwing him back.  I didn’t say anything, I wasn’t in the mood for his crap, and felt that I didn’t need to give him the justification of words.  I just drove down the road, doing 150.

 

“Listen,” he said, “you don’t have any proof that I am implicated into this.  How do I know you didn’t doctor up that letter?”

 

I smiled and slammed on the brakes.  Taylor was not wearing a seat belt and kind of slammed into the metal grate.  I heard his nose break.

 

He fell to the floor, holding his nose, blood running down his hand.  “You... you broke my nose!”

 

I smiled to myself but was kind of relieved that I hadn’t killed him.  After all he did hit the grate at about 150 miles per hour.  But you know what?  He deserved it.  I floored the accelerator again, throwing him back against the seat.

 

After a few minutes of on the road terror for Barney Fife, I screeched to a halt in front of the sheriff’s office.  Taylor hit the grate again, but not as hard.  I got out opened the door, and drug him out of the car and into the office.

 

Sheriff Whitfield looked up from his desk.  “You got him?” he asked.

 

I smiled, “Yes, Sheriff, I do, but we aren’t done with him yet,” I said as Kevin walked in.  “Do you have an interrogation room?” I asked.

 

The Sheriff smiled, and pointed the way.  I drug Taylor down the hall, and slammed him through the doors.  He stumbled and landed on the wooden table.

 

“Have a seat.” I said, smiling.

 

Taylor laid on the table.  At first I thought he was knocked out or dead, but I saw he was breathing too heavily.  Kevin walked over and physically placed him in a chair.

 

Taylor was holding his nose again.  Kevin threw an ice pack at him, and he put it on his nose.  “I’m not talking!” he said, loudly, but I laughed because his voice was about five octaves higher than normal because he was holding his nose.

 

“You know what Barney Fife, you will talk,” I said with rage in my voice, “because if your KKK buddies go out tonight to trash another family, the shit will rain down on you.”

 

Taylor sat straight in the chair, still holding his nose, still sounding like a complete nerd.  “I don’t care what you say, I’m not talking.”

 

I was about to hit him, but stopped myself because I knew that if I hit him, I wouldn’t stop there.  I decided to use my best skills ever... bullshit.  “Kevin, didn’t the sheriff say that the brakes on his squad car were too tight?”

 

Kevin realized what I was doing, and played along.  “Yeah, I think we should go out and test them, maybe Barney Fife would like to come along.”

 

I saw Taylor’s eyebrows rise and he held his nose more.  “You aren’t serious.” he said.  He was holding his nose so tight, he started to sound like Barney Fife.

 

We both turned to him and smiled.

 

 

We talked to the Sheriff and told him what we were going to do.  Within a few minutes, we were speeding down the road, doing about 180.

 

“Kevin, I’m not too sure if this speedometer reads right, what does it say?” I asked.

 

“I think that reads 180 mph, Shawn.” Kevin replied.

 

“That’s what I thought,” I said, smiling, “are you ready to talk Barney Fife?”

 

“You guys are pulling my leg.  You aren’t serious.” he said, a few seconds before he slammed into the grate, his head hitting to the side this time as I lightly tapped the brakes.

 

“Well, well, well, the Sheriff was right,” I said, with a big smile, “the brakes were tight.”

 

“I think you should check them again, Shawn.” Kevin said.

 

“Yes, I think that is a good idea.”  I looked in the rear-view mirror.  “You ready to talk yet, Barney?”

 

This time he didn’t say anything.

 

“Okay,” I said, as I moved my foot to the brake pedal.

 

“Wait!” Taylor yelled.

 

Success! I yelled inside of my mind.  I moved my foot away from the brake pedal, and let the car slow down.  The car stopped and I turned around to face Taylor.  “Okay Barney Fife, there’s 40 more miles of road ahead of us, so unless you want your head smashed in by this grate, I suggest you start talking.

 

“Okay.... the KKK was started here in 1982 by some guy named Cletus McGinnis.  It got my attention in 1995 and I joined up.”

 

“Where’s McGinnis now?” Kevin asked.

 

“Dead,” was Taylor’s reply, “he was killed by some nigger-”

 

On the exact same second he uttered that word I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and quick slammed on the brakes.  Taylor slammed into the grate again.  I turned around to him again.  “Let me tell you this, right now, you say that word again, you’ll be hurting somewhere else other than your head.”

 

Taylor continued.  “McGinnis was killed by some black guy with a shot gun.  Since I was the deputy, I arrested the black guy.”

 

I could tell that the idiot deputy was having trouble not to say the word ‘nigger,’ but he knew I would beat the hell out of him if he said it again.

 

“I became the source for the KKK about everything the sheriff was doing.  That’s how we slid through stings, and stakeouts and everything.  But when it was heard you guys were in town, our leader kinda got scared, and when he heard from me that you and Whitfield were working on a bust, he got a bunch of guys together, and paid them.  Then you guys busted them.”

 

I looked at Kevin, and he rolled his eyes, obviously in aggravation that we were tricked.

 

“I want your leader’s name, address and phone number.” I said.

 

“His name is George Allenby, and he lives at  47 East 9th Street.  His phone number is 555-2231.”

 

“What’s being planned tonight?” I asked.

 

Taylor hesitated, and must have saw my foot near the gas pedal, because he quickly spoke up.  “Tonight at 10pm, we were going to destroy Eice’s Hardware.”

 

My mind clouded with rage as he told me the target for that night.  Eice’s Hardware was a store in Naissa that has been there as long as I could remember.  It stayed in the family, which was black, and I had forgotten that it was still here in town.  I wanted to slam on the gas pedal and get the car up to top speed, and then slam on the breaks, throwing the jerk into the grate again, but I decided not to.  If he dies now, then we lose everything we came here to get.  I smiled to myself, thinking of the perfect plan to get the KKK.

 

Kevin turned to Taylor.  “Is that all?” he asked.  “Is there anything else we should know?”

 

“Just that we have attacks scheduled for the next few weeks and a march through town on April 20th.” Taylor said.

 

I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and turn the wheel, spinning the car around, and throwing Taylor into the door.  I sped back into town to deliver Barney Fife back to the sheriff.

 

 

When we got back to the sheriff’s office, Whitfield greeted us.  “Did you get what you needed?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” I replied, smiling, “we got everything we need, and we’ll let you know what is gonna happen tonight, we’re gonna work on a plan.”

 

The sheriff nodded, grabbed Taylor, and walked back into the office with him.

 

Kevin and I walked over to KITT and got in.  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kevin asked.

 

“Use the Digital Voice Sampler?” I asked, watching him nod and smile.  The Digital Voice Sampler, or what we call the DVS is a new feature that acts just like a normal telephone, but enables the user to speak into it with his or her normal voice, but an entirely different voice comes out on the other end.  Tricking whoever it is on the other end to thinking that one of us is someone we’re not.  Of all the new features on KITT, this one is my favorite.

 

“KITT, is your DVS up and ready?” Kevin asked.

 

“Yes, Kevin, I have the voice patterns of Deputy Taylor stored in the system, what number do you wish to call?”

 

“Dial 555-2231.” I said.

 

Kevin picked up the phone, ready to talk as William Taylor to whoever answered.  Someone finally picked up.

 

“Hello?”

 

“George?  This is Bill Taylor.” Kevin said.

 

“Bill, how many times did I tell you not to call me here.  What the hell do you want?”

“I don’t need your shit, George, this is important.”

 

“What is it?” George asked.

 

“Whitfield wont let me out tonight, he said there’s too much paperwork to be done about the fires, so I gotta stay in man, I can’t make it tonight, man.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah, man, this jerkoff sheriff isn’t letting me out till we get this work done.  I’ll try to make it to the next meeting.”

 

“Okay,” George said, “just don’t blab it out where you were supposed to be tonight.  I thought you were gonna kill that tub of lard.”

 

Kevin was unsure what to say.  “I haven’t got a clear chance yet.  Those outsiders keep nosing around here.  I’ll get to it, don’t worry about it.  I’ll be at the next meeting.” Kevin hung up the phone.

 

1149 Hrs

 

I’ll tell you this, when people think they know for certain that things go one way, and then when they find out that things actually go a different way, they turn into a whole other person.  I’m talking about Maddock’s state of mind when we told him about everything this morning.

 

“This is amazing,” Maddock said, “I can’t believe we get a second chance at this.”

 

“You better believe it, Russ,” I said, sitting on KITT’s hood, smiling, “but tonight is our last shot.  We broke enough laws with Barney Fife this morning.”

 

Kevin laughed.  I knew he had as much fun as I did.  “I tell ya what, Russ,” Kevin said, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna be interrogated by her.” he said, pointing to me.

 

“Either way we had fun with it, and I think we’re all in agreement that the poor bastard deserved it.” I finished, with everyone, including me, laughing.

 

Maddock looked at his watch.  “You guys got about ten hours before they attack, so you probably should get down to their target and warn them.”

 

1219 Hrs

 

KITT screeched to a halt in front of Eice’s Hardware, and I run out and ran inside.

 

“Hello, can I help you?” a man asked me.

“Yes, can I speak to the owner please?” I asked.

 

“Yeah, sure,” the cashier said, “how can I help you?”

 

“You’re the owner?” I asked.

 

“Yes ma’am, Jackson Eice at your service.” he said, extending his hand.

 

I shook it and searched for words to say to the owner.  “Jackson, this is hard for me to say this, but we got a tip saying that this store is a target for a KKK attack tonight.”

 

“You’ crazy.  This is just bullshit, get out.”

 

I wasn’t about to leave.  “Jackson, I swear, this is not bullshit.  We have inside information that the KKK are coming here to burn down this store, and I am not going to let it happen.  Jackson, why would I lie about such a thing?”

 

Jackson stood there for awhile.  “I guess you’re right.”

 

“I know I’m right.  Come on, we got a plane fueled up ready to take you to a safe house.  There are other people there from this town too.”

 

Jackson nodded, opened the register, and took the money out and put it in his pocket, and shut off the lights.  We walked out the door, and I opened KITT’s door for him to get in.

 

When I got in, I noticed the same reaction on his face just like other people who have been in KITT for the first time.  “Wow... this is incredible, this thing must make coffee too.”

 

“I do nothing of the kind.” KITT spoke up.

 

“Oh my God!” Jackson said, with a petrified look on his face.  “It’s you again!”

 

“What?!” I said.

 

“We’ve met before, Shawn, about 18 years ago.  Jackson tried to steal me.” KITT said.

 

“Don’t worry Jackson, he doesn’t bite.” I said.

 

“Yeah, right, but he throws you out of the car and into the police.” he said.

 

I looked over at Jackson with a look of confusion on my face.

 

“It’s a long story, can we just go please?” Jackson said.

 

I started KITT, and pulled into the street, while Jackson buckled his seatbelt and tightened it.

 

2150 Hrs

 

Maddock contacted Sheriff Whitfield, and arranged for another stake out. 

 

We were all outside of the hardware store, ready to pounce on the KKK.

 

KITT was parked across the street in a parking lot, facing the hardware store, looking all too innocent.  The Sheriff had his men almost all over the place, and had more men ready to spring out of ‘undisclosed locations’ and make sure that every person there to destroy the store was caught.

 

Kevin was sitting next to me in KITT, and Maddock was behind us.

 

“What if they come over here and start attacking the car?” Kevin asked.

 

“Well, if they come over here, and they have torches.... don’t get out.” I said, with the two of them laughing.

 

“Shawn, I hate to interrupt, but I am scanning a large group of people heading this way.  They are on horseback, and thermo graphs show that they are armed with torches.

 

“They’re early.” Kevin said.

 

“Since when are racists ever punctual?” Maddock said.

 

“That’s them.” I said.  I got on the frequency to the Sheriff and his men.  “We got the Klan coming in, they’ll be here in a few minutes.”

 

All of us looked over as we heard chants coming from down the street. 

 

Holding torches, clubs, and riding on horseback, they came down the empty street, ready to lay waste to Eice’s Hardware.  My heart started pounding in my chest.  I was filled with rage, and excitement that this would be the real thing.

 

They finally came, and I watched the sheriff’s men ready their weapons, and their spot lights.  We were gonna pour all the light we could on them, hopefully confuse them enough.

 

Finally, they were in front of the store.

 

“Get ready, KITT.  Open the microphone.” I said.

 

My finger neared the headlight button on the steering wheel, and I pressed it.  In seconds, the sheriff’s men had their spotlights trained on the KKK.

 

“Nobody move!” I yelled over the external speakers.  And did you think they listened?  Nope.

 

They scattered, everywhere, and I was amazed to see sheriff cars and men spring out from almost nowhere and block the KKK in.  One started running towards KITT.

 

“Stun him.” I said, as KITT hit him with the built-in ultrasound.  The racist fell down.

 

I looked up as I heard yelling and saw sheriffs wrestling the KKK men to the ground.  Within minutes, all of them were subdued on the ground.

 

Inside KITT, the three of us cheered as we finally knew that we got them.  Now the next step was a personal one for me.  Finding Jimmy Hawkins.

 

I walked up to the scene in front of us, all members of the KKK were on the ground, with a sheriff standing over them.  I looked around, and I found Jimmy, laying on the ground, like a helpless giant, stuck down.  I told the sheriff hovering over him to stand back.  I picked Jimmy up.  “Hello, Jimmy.” I said.

 

“My God, Shawn, do you have to rub it in?  Leave me alone, you won.  Hip hip hooray.” he said.

 

At that moment I punched him.  “You are right, I do have to rub it in.  I wanna know how the man I used to love turned into a sniveling, racist weasel like you.”  I pulled his ring out of my pocket and shoved it in his mouth.  “Have a nice life and go to hell.” I dropped him on the ground and walked away.

 

I walked back to KITT, finally glad that it was over, and got inside, and drove off.

 

In about an hour, every one of the KKK men were squealing like pigs after they saw what happened to Deputy Taylor.

 

We headed back to the plane, ready to leave the next day.  We passed the semi, which was returning our witnesses and targets back to their houses.  Boy, the stories they could tell.

 

By the time we got to the plane, we were very tired, but relieved that this whole ordeal was finally over, and I was grateful that I could go to my cabin, and finally get a nice night of sleep.

 

Little did I know that we weren’t done yet.

 

 

April 8, 2000

1010 Hrs

Knight Air Transport

Location: 165 Miles from Naissa, AL

 

The plane had since taken off after we said our good-byes around the town, and joked that we would never show up again.  I knew in my mind that I would miss Naissa again, but after what happened in the past three days, I was really glad to leave.

 

I was sitting in my room, typing up a report and listening to music, when KITT had to interrupt my peace and quiet.

 

“Shawn, the number you have given Reverend Holiday has been dialed.” KITT said, over the comm-link.

 

I sighed and stretched.  “Put it through KITT.”  As I heard what was on the other end, it sent chills up my spine.

 

“Shawn! Help!  Please, help us!” yelled the Reverend with his wife and children screaming in the background.  I heard things being thrown around in the background.  “Help!  No! No, no, no, no, NO!”

 

And then there was silence.

 

“Reverend?  Reverend?!” I yelled, louder and louder.  I heard the phone being picked up.  “Reverend?” I repeated.

 

“You may have stopped us before, but now the blood of these innocent people is on your hands.  Good luck finding us next time.”

 

The phone went dead.

 

I called Maddock in a panic and told him what was happening.  He had the plane turned around and we landed back in Naissa in about an hour.

 

Before the plane stopped rolling, KITT, Kevin, and I sped out of the cargo bay and towards the Reverend’s church.

 

We pulled up on the scene to see about the entire sheriff’s department there.  My stomach dropped as I saw what they were looking at.  It was the charred rubble of the Reverend’s house. 

 

I got out of the car, and walked towards the crime tape and was about to go under when an officer stopped me.  “Sorry ma’am, this is a murder scene, I can’t let you go through.”

 

“I got ID right here- wait, a murder scene?!” I said, not believing my own ears.

 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he lifted the tape to let me under, “it is a quadruple homicide, but we are waiting for the coroner to come to collect the bodies.”

 

Sheriff Whitfield walked up to me, as I looked at the burnt house.  “I know what you’re thinking, Shawnie.  God knows I’m thinking the same exact thing.”

 

“How did this happen?” I asked.

 

“We held the KKK members here in town for a number of charges, and the judge set their bail at $250,000 each.  This morning, they were bailed out of jail by the Alabama Brotherhood of the Ku Klux Klan.”

 

“Dammit,” I said, “I can’t believe this happened.”

 

“I can’t either,” Whitfield said, “I tried to get the judge to hold them without bail, but he wouldn’t.”

 

Kevin came up to me with the crime scene kit and opened it.  I put on rubber gloves and rubber shoe-covers that went up to my knees.  “Where did you find the bodies, Sheriff?” I asked.

 

He pointed.  “Uh, the bodies were found about two feet in, under a few slabs of wood.  They haven’t been moved, and we’re waiting for the medical examiner to come here and move them.”

 

I carefully walked through the burnt rubble of the Reverend’s house and I immediately found where the bodies were, by a badly burned hand sticking out from under the rubble, as if whoever it belonged to was reaching out from beyond their early grave.  When I got closer, I saw that it was a child’s hand.  I uncovered the debris that was covering them, and struggled all my might from getting sick.

 

The bodies of the reverend, his wife, and his two children lay before me.  Looks of terror on their faces.  I tried to imagine what they were going through.  It must have been hell, and I am glad that they are dead now, rather than being tortured.  But something was different.  I noticed something around their necks.  It was rope.  Why the hell would rope be around their necks if they were burnt to death?  Then it hit me... they were hanged before they were burned.  Tears welled up in my eyes and streamed down my face as I again imagined what happened.  These four innocent people were tortured.

 

I looked up to see four coroner vans pull up.  They were in full protective clothing and started walking towards the house.  I stopped one of them as he passed me.  “The bodies are about two feet in, near the northwest corner”  I didn’t wait for a reply, I just kept walking towards KITT, with Kevin sitting in the seat.

I took off the gloves and the boots, and threw them away.  I sat down in KITT, and closed the door.  The window’s dimmed and became black, and I totally broke down in tears.

 

Kevin put a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I just cried and cried and cried.  He took me in an embrace and just held me, telling me it would be okay, but deep down I knew it would not be okay at all.

 

“Shawn, this is terrible!” KITT said, obviously ripped up in his own way.  “How did this happen?  Why did it happen?”

 

I wiped the tears from my eyes.  “KITT, I can’t answer any of those questions.  There just aren’t any answers to them.”

 

“Why does this have to happen, Shawn?  Why do humans do this to each other?  What is there to hate?  It’s only a difference in skin color.”

 

KITT was showing more compassion than ever, and I knew that he was changing right before my eyes.  “KITT,” I said, “no one knows why this happens, or what makes people hate.  But you’re right.  KITT, you’re so right.  There is nothing to hate.  It’s only the difference of skin color which is why this happened, KITT.”

 

“This is just terrible, Shawn, how can we stop this?” KITT said.

 

“KITT, we have to work hard, and make people understand that whatever is on the outside is not means to hate a person.  We just have to get people to understand, and I know that seems like an impossible task, but I was wrong, KITT, I was wrong.  Hate is not impossible to stop.  It takes people like us to help stop it.”

 

“Let’s go home.” KITT said.

 

“Yes, that is a good idea.” I said, giving Kevin’s hand a squeeze.  He reached over and wiped the tears from my cheek.

 

I started KITT up, and backed out of the scene, turned around, and drove down the long road, towards the Air Force base. 

 

In a few minutes we were airborne again, heading to Seattle.  I sat in my cabin, wishing for the puppy to still be there, and looking up at the ceiling again.  I felt horrible for what happened.  I blamed myself.  Who wouldn’t?  It took a long time, but I finally got over it.

 

A medical examiners report showed that Reverend Holiday and his family all died of suffocation by hanging, before they were burned.

 

A psychological report taken from Sheriff Whitfield showed that he took the burden of guilt hard upon himself for not fighting to withdraw bond from the KKK.  His body was found inside the sheriff’s office with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

 

The KKK from Naissa were scheduled for trial in the Alabama Supreme Court.  They never showed up.  They were absently-charged with four counts of murder each, and 25 counts of arson each.  Authorities have not found them yet.  A $5000 reward has been put up by the Foundation on each of them.  We will continue our search for them and will not stop until all of them have been captured and prosecuted.

 

I celebrated New Year’s Eve 1999 with enthusiasm for the possibilities for events which would come in the year 2000.  I expected that peace would come worldwide, and things like what happened in Naissa would no longer happen.  When I found out what happened in Naissa, it was a wake up call for me.

 

I thought the future would be so clear from December 31, and on.  But after what happened, it has become more like a dark tunnel at night, with only a dot of light at the end.

 

But it is because of people like the one’s at the Knight Foundation, and other people who understand that racism must be stopped, around the world that make that speck of light possible.  I feel that the spot of light is a glimpse of things to come.

 

The hope that the light exists was given to me by KITT.  Because a machine, a computer constructed without any emotions whatsoever, learned the value of a human life.  It makes me wonder how long it will take us humans to learn it too.