5. P R E D A T O R S : Nightmares

Part I: CHAPTER VIII

"This is ridiculous," Abidan grumbled as he and Renee continued to walk through the haven. "We've been searching for hours and haven't found him anywhere! We checked the observatory, we've contacted his friends, we've even gone to the facility! It's like he vanished!"

"Or he's hiding," Renee suggested. "He probably thinks he's in trouble for some reason."

"He is an accomplished hacker," Abidan pointed out. "He might've been going through restricted files. Again."

"Wait! There he is!" Renee pointed into the distance, where they spotted their quarry—Dan Darren—walking with Kimberly Kingsley. "Dan!" Renee shouted. "Don't move!"

Dan looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. "Sorry, Kimmy—that's my cue!" he cried, giving her an apologetic grin and dashing away.

"Hey! You can't just—OOH!" Kim stomped her foot on the ground angrily. "JERK!"

"Come on, Dan! You're not in trouble!" Abidan yelled after the runaway scientist.

"I've had enough of this," Renee muttered with a scowl, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a Taser-like device. She closed one eye and aimed the object at the fleeing scientist.

A concentrated wave of electricity slammed into Dan's back, causing him to scream and fall to the ground, where he began to spasm uncontrollably.

Renee smirked and walked up to Dan, standing over him. "Gotchya."

-

"I swear, whatever you think I did, I didn't do it," Dan stammered, sweating profusely.

He sat at his desk in Xirxine Northwest's headquarters, which was currently completely empty save for a few guards and the chairpersons (and Dan, of course).

"You're not in trouble, Dan," Abidan insisted. "We just need your help. It's important."

"M-my help? For what?"

"We need you to dig up some information on one of International's scientists," Renee explained. "One with a spotty track record and a penchant for the inhumane."

"Uh... okay." Dan swallowed hard and turned on his computer, quickly logging into Xirxine International's database. "Which one?"

"The one currently assigned to Mr. Barakoa," Abidan responded with a dark expression on his face. "Dr. Annie Woods."

Dan typed and clicked for a few seconds before saying, "Sorry, Mr. Chairman—looks like her file's off-limits. All International personnel Level 7 clearance and above are."

"Well, why do you think we brought you here?" Renee asked, annoyed. "To point and click? Hack it, Dan."

"Are you sure about that, Ms. Chairwoman?" Dan asked uneasily. "Their firewalls are way stronger than the ones I made for us. It might take a while."

"We don't have a while," Abidan snapped. "So get to it."

"What? I'm on a time limit?!" Dan cried.

"Dan..."

"Okay, okay, I'm doing it!"

-

A few more minutes of "pointing and clicking" later, Dan asked, "So... you guys mind telling me what's going on?"

"If we tell you, we'd be putting you in danger," Renee replied. "What we're dealing with here is a straight-up madwoman. Any mistakes on our part could prove to be lethal for people very close to us."