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Dear Michael,
If you are reading this, then I am most certainly dead, and you most certainly am not, and that is the most ideal situation. This was inevitable, and I am at peace with the result. It has been pointed out to me numerous times that I am the one who has carried on the legacy of the Knight Foundation to its fullest degree. I am also the one who has brought on the dangers that we now face. The chaos is not going to end with my death, or the death of any of our enemies, because there will just be more. I am the Knight Foundation, and now, with my passing, it must end. The Knight Foundation was a visionary’s dream, and it has fulfilled that dream, while in turn creating a side-effect nightmare. I have spoken at length with Daniel Maldrake, and we came to the agreement that the only way to end this, the only way to keep our children safe, is for you to retire, and for the Foundation to pass on into its place in history and hand the reins over to those who are fully outfitted to handle the situation that the Foundation gave birth to. Your noble cause is to assure that my children and your children, the present heirs to the Knight Legacy, live to see it. That is not going to happen as long as the Foundation continues to exist. It is nothing more than a target that picked at us until there were nothing but bones.
In this package, is the legal paper transferring custody of Mikey and Devonne to you and Bonnie. It is up to you, to raise them and assure that my memory does not fade, and for them to know what an amazing heritage they have. They are Knights. Plain and simple. It has been worked out that they and you will have a trust conservator ship to live off of the rest of your days. The rest of the Knight Holdings will revert back to the Knight Trust where it will await all of them coming of age. Maldrake and I have arranged for you, Bonnie and the kids to go into a new life, a life of retirement and ease, one that all of you have worked so hard for. Please, honor these wishes. My only real wish is for you and the children to not have to worry about the mess that I created. I love you, Michael. Thank you for giving me a purpose, and meaning.
Sincerely,
Danielle Knight
Michael looked up, the tears flowing from his eyes, Mitch was coming back, his head bowed. The pile of parts kept accumulating. Kitt’ pile kept getting larger. The thing that was the most obvious was the act that part of his scanner had been retrieved. It was nothing more than dark plastic lenses.
“Three days. That is how long it took to clear the debris from the water. The majority of the helicopter was found. Most of Malachai’s body was found. The explosion was so hot and so concussive that it blew him apart and burned most of his skin off. They also retrieved more of Danni, including several parts of her titanium infrastructure. We were only able to retrieve approximately 40% of her body the rest was most likely washed out, along with Kitt’s body. The same amount of him was retrieved. They took the larger amount of the damage, since they were already damaged severely at the time of impact.”
The light faded on Kitt’ scanner, and then brightened to a new day, as people, many in dress military uniforms, had gathered on the lawn of the Foundation near the mausoleum, shadowed by the burnt out remains of the Foundation.
“We told the kids on day two of the recovery. They took it better than we did. I guess so many years of preparing for her not to come back, made it easier for them to accept, though we are still waiting for a delayed reaction. Maldrake and his office made all the arrangements for Danni’s funeral. Over 1,000 people showed up, from all walks of life, and were as destroyed as we were. Even the Vice President was there. There was at least 1,000 more security officers there as well.”
Michael, Bonnie and the kids were dressed in all black, accepting condolences from those in attendance. Michael was in shock.
“It was beautiful, a fitting way to lay her to rest, and she was laid next to Duncan, and Kitt was laid next to her. That was an interesting cremation, but that was kind of typical with everything that the Foundation stood for. Interesting.”
Danni’s urn was carried into the Mausoleum by Maldrake, followed by the Knight Family. There were tons of people crying all around them.
“I honored her wishes. We officially shut down the Knight Foundation and transferred the rest of the holdings to the Knight Conservatorship. As promised, we were transferred into a high level witness protection program, and moved to a secure location immediately after the funeral. Mikey and Devonne were transferred to mine and Bonnie’s custody, where we will raise them as our own children.” Michael continued.
Michael, Bonnie and the kids were escorted into the back of a Suburban, as the sun began to set. Michael looked back at the burned out remains of the Foundation house, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“We closed that chapter of history. A history of meeting one man’s dream of making a difference, and the history of the woman who fulfilled the mission. I leave this record of our accomplishments, missions and efforts in the hope that a new time will come for a new generation to continue on the legacy and missions of one man’s dream. I leave this so that maybe the next generation will learn from our mistakes and our accomplishments. This is my last contribution to the Knight Foundation Legacy.”
The suburban pulled out, followed by a line of escort cars. One car hesitated to join the rest of the line for just a moment. It then joined the rest of the cars as they drove off towards the sunset.
The tissues are not on the house...