"I think your father is up to something," Jack whispered as he sat down on the couch in the rec room.
Paula had only been back from her business trip for a matter of minutes. She'd gone to the recreation room in order to unwind and stay away from people for a while, but Jack had quickly found her.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure." He paused. "I think he's going to do something bad."
"Like what?"
"I don't know...but murder is a possibility."
"Murder?" The word shocked Paula just as much as it had shocked Jack when Gina said it to him. "Have you lost it, Jack? Where did you ever think up something so crazy?"
"I didn't. Gina Morgan did. She said that someone was planning to murder some people. Lots of people."
Paula closed her eyes tightly, trying to decide whether Jack was telling the truth or playing some sick joke on her. "Did she tell you that Elias was the one who was brewing up this plan?"
"No."
"Then why do you think he's the one?"
"I don't know. I just do."
Paula shook her head, sighing angrily. "Jack, don't be getting all paranoid on me. My father is the most peaceful, compassionate man on the face of the Earth. He'd never kill anyone.
"As for Gina, I don't think you should be taking her ranting seriously. There's too much going on in that poor girl's mind for her to make sense of it all."
Jack said nothing.
"Now, just forget it and let me take a nap," Paula ordered. "And don't go around telling everyone that my father is going to commit mass-murder. These people would kill anyone who even joked about that. Especially Johnny."
Neither Jack nor Paula noticed the man standing in the shadows behind them, nor did they notice as he quietly left the room, smiling ominously.
Jack heard labored, frantic breathing as he ran through a densely wooded forest. He had no idea how he'd gotten there, or where he was running to, but one thing was certain: he couldn't stop running. His body wouldn't obey his commands to stop and rest. He just kept moving, a sense of urgency in his mind.
Finally, he stopped his frenzied traveling as he neared a large chain-link fence that was topped with razor wire. He looked around, and then effortlessly leapt over the obstacle, landing silently on the other side.
Jack wondered how he'd cleared the fence so easily, and had no inkling as to why he'd even done it. It was as if he was watching it all through someone else's eyes, trapped in someone else's body.
He mindlessly surveyed the area. It looked like some sort of military compound. There were two watchtowers and many military-type vehicles around. Several drab buildings stood nearby. Guards patrolled the area, but amazingly, none noticed him.
He spent the next few minutes silently searching through buildings, until he came to one full of computers and huge monitors. He looked through several documents, none of which he could readily understand. It wasn't a matter of literacy; he read the papers and information-filled computer screens just fine. It was more a matter of retention. As soon as he read a word, he somehow forgot it. The information just didn't register in his brain.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing siren sounded, and several red lights flashed. Fear enveloped him, and then overcame him as he heard a deafening roar.
Jack gasped loudly, almost choking on the air as it entered his lungs. He felt that he was about to be discovered, or even killed. But nothing happened. He didn't even hear the sirens, or see the flashing lights any more.
He looked around him. His surroundings were very familiar. A few feet away was a writing desk. The walls were dark and made of wood arranged in beautiful panels. There was a closet door in front of him across the room, and a larger door to his right. Underneath him was a large bed.
Jack sighed when he realized where he was and what had just happened. He lay down and closed his eyes. "Just a dream. Just a strange dream."
Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang, and Jack jumped in surprise. He slowly dragged himself out of the bed, and picked up the device's receiver.
"Hello?"
"Jack," Altman said over the telephone, "meet me at the helipad in five minutes."
"There's been another break-in," Elias said as he, Jack, and Ray loaded into Altman's Bell Jet Ranger helicopter, one his smaller, more "civilian" aircraft.
"Where?" Jack had a strange feeling.
"At a Shadow facility a few miles from here. The men there said that the perpetrator was some sort of strange animal. I thought since you have the ability to feel animals' thoughts, you would be a great help in possibly finding the intruder."
Jack's strange feeling changed into one of sickness and dread as he thought of his strange dream. "I saw it."
"Saw what?" Ray and Elias asked in unison.
"The break-in. I saw the break-in."
"How could you?" Ray asked. "You weren't there."
"No. I wasn't there physically. But I was there mentally. It was like a vision."
"You mean you could see what the creature saw?" asked Altman.
"Yeah. I don't know how, though"
Altman thought for a while, and then asked, "I was right. You can feel its thoughts, correct?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you could have psychically seen what this creature was seeing?"
"Maybe." Jack looked out the window, seeing a very familiar facility down below the helicopter. It was the place he'd visited in his dream. "Wait. Make that a 'yes.'"
